Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Serena

By the time we made it home, playful Duke had somehow turned into Grumpy Cobra. New cameras had been placed under the eaves, and the front door looked different.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing at the new rectangular glass panel nearby.

“Palm scanner,” Constance answered. She put her hand against it, and the door clicked to unlock.

I followed her inside.

“Terry’s been busy,” she commented, touching the new keypad with a dozen buttons and lights. “Big upgrade.”

Duke only grunted.

I went up to my room to change without another word to Mr. Grumpypants.

When I came back downstairs, my kitchen was full of security professionals having a heated conversation.

“I tell you, she won’t go for it.” That was Mr. Grumpypants himself.

Their discussion stopped when I walked in.

Lucas Hawk’s presence dominated the room. He turned over a piece of paper.

The man scared the crap out of me, but it was time to be bold. I walked straight up to him. “I won’t like what?”

He didn’t blink. “We think we should move you to a more secure location.”

I shook my head. “Cobra was right. The answer was no yesterday, and it’s still no today.”

Terry tried to hand Duke a bill without me seeing.

I speared Duke with a look. “You bet on my answer?”

Duke pointed next to him. “He bet. He lost.”

I crossed my arms. “You guys are unbelievable. I said from the beginning that I would not be chased out of my house, and now you want me to leave the same day you upgraded my security system to Fort Knox?”

Duke raised his hands in surrender. “Not me.”

Loudly, I let Lucas have it. “I hired you to protect me, not lock me away.”

Lucas tried calming hand gestures. “Just a minute, Serena.”

I looked him in the eye. “I’m listening. You tell me why you can’t handle the job.”

“We got a clear enough view of the guy’s face from one of the traffic cameras to run facial recognition.”

I nodded. This was standard TV and movie fare. “So who is he?”

“We’re only at ninety-one percent certainty,” Lucas explained. “But we think it’s Tony Spinelli. He’s a freelancer, a former Special Forces gun for hire to the highest bidder, and a very bad actor. If it were some local schmuck, I wouldn’t be recommending this, but this guy is a pro.”

“He was a tier-one operator,” Duke added. “A guy who’s worked with him called him top-notch but unpredictable, which is why he got booted.”

Lucas flipped over the paper they’d been looking at. It was a picture of Black Jacket Guy.

My leg started to twitch. “That’s the guy who ran me off the road.” Now I had a name to go with my fear, a name I’d never forget. Tony Spinelli .

Winston looked my way. “I checked with the Bureau, and he’s been close to making their ten-most-wanted list for a kidnapping in Georgia that they think was one of many. The woman got away and told a story of multiple other women being held for human trafficking. Word is his brother, Johnson, runs that business. But he’s slippery, and they’ve never nailed down a case against him.”

I hated to admit it, but their scare tactics were working. I gritted my teeth to make the most difficult decision of my life. Then Duke’s advice came back to me. “If I start running, it will never end,” I told them. “If you need to hire additional people, do it.”

Lucas looked around the table. “Okay, people, it’s all hands on deck for now.”

Nods followed. I relaxed.

“You got that, Jordy?” he asked.

“Got it, Lucas.” Jordy’s voice came from the phone sitting face up on the granite. So, the group had been complete. Jordy was here all along.

I squeezed into the space between Constance and Terry. “What does this mean?”

Terry chuckled. “It means Constance is the only one getting a full night’s sleep.”

“Duke, Terry, and Winston will split the night-time guard duty,” Lucas explained. “Constance stays in the building while you work.”

“I want that post,” Winston complained.

Constance stuck out her tongue. “You should’ve stayed a consultant.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “And Duke is on standby while you work, to handle any off-the-premises time.”

Duke wore something less than his bite-a-lemon face, but he clearly wasn’t happy. He raised a hand. “I know you’ve been talking to Singleton and March. They’re good guys, and they’d fill out the team nicely.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Lucas nodded. “I’ll see if they’re available and ready for trial by fire.”

“A frogman is always ready,” Duke answered.

It reminded me of his tattoo about always getting back up.

When he met my eyes, it was still with that sour face.

After a moment, I left the group and went upstairs to wait for the Chinese takeout they’d ordered. They continued talking about camera coverage and other things I didn’t understand.

Half an hour later, a knock sounded at my bedroom door.

“Come in.”

It was Duke carrying a tray. “I made a plate for you. Not sure what you like, so I’ve got a little of everything.” He shut the door behind him.

“Thank you.”

The tray had two plates. “That’s more than I can eat.”

He smiled. “I thought I’d eat with you.”

For a moment, I thought I’d heard him say he wanted to eat me. That’s how out of control my hormones were. Scooting back against the headboard, I smiled for the first time tonight. “I’d like that.”

He sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed and placed the tray between us. “We should talk about us.”

My chest seized. I’d never seen a movie where a conversation that started with those words ended well.

Duke

Serena looked down, disappointment clouding her beautiful face. “What about us?”

“I thought things would be slower here at the house, and we’d have time to be alone. But…” Swimming a mile in frigid water was something anybody would consider hard. But right now, I’d rather have started a five -mile swim than face this conversation.

“You want to call it off? Is that it?” she guessed.

“No.”

Her face lit up as she let out a breath. “Good.”

The difficulty had just moved to a ten-mile swim. I took her hand. “But with everybody here… We can’t…”

Confusion filled her eyes as she yanked her hand back. “Stop telling me what I can and can’t do.”

“It would look?—”

Anger welled up in her eyes. “You’re ashamed of wanting to be with me.”

I tried for her hand again, but she pulled it away, denying me the physical connection I needed to express what my words kept messing up.

“You should go.” Her words cut deep.

Then I did the one thing I shouldn’t have. I got up off the bed.

She glared at me. “Coward.”

Seething, I launched myself at her, taking her mouth with mine before she could scream.

She fought for two seconds before anger morphed into desire, and she clawed at my hair, pulling us together the way I wanted. Her tongue fought mine for control, and her hand slid down to cup my aching cock.

“I want you,” she mumbled.

I pulled away, regaining control, and stood. “No. I don’t think?—”

“Damn, you’re stupid.” She crossed her arms over her full tits. “This isn’t a time for thinking.”

“Dammit, woman.” I pointed an angry finger at her. “Stop interrupting and listen for a change.”

She grimaced, but for once didn’t argue.

“I don’t want my team to think less of me, so until I talk to Lucas, we need to keep a lid on this.”

“Does—”

“Don’t…” I cut her off with a finger to her lips. “Say a thing. I want you, too, but I won’t sully either of us by sneaking around. When the time is right, we’re doing this in the open.”

She nodded with a sigh. “When?”

“I’ll let you know.” I picked up one of the plates. “Now eat your dinner and know that we’re going to keep you safe.” I went to the door. “One more thing. It’s not safe to call a SEAL either stupid or a coward.”

“Sorry about that.” She blew me an air kiss.

I blew one back and closed the door behind me.

Blowing air kisses? Since when did I do that?

As I walked down the stairs, fear crept up my spine. That had been dangerously close to acting like a real boyfriend, and I didn’t do relationships. I could handle a fling or hell, even a fuckbuddy, but not a real girlfriend. Not since Marilyn.

Then my real fear reared its ugly head. I’m not good enough for Serena. She may want more than I can offer.

A long, lonely night lay ahead of me. I knew sleep wouldn’t come until I jerked off to thoughts of Serena. Vicarious pleasure would have to do until I got this shit sorted out. And, if I woke up in the middle of the night, I’d have to repeat the process to get back to sleep.

I stopped and considered turning around.