Breaking Her Rules (9 page)

“You like it when I order you around,” he murmured as he shoved the covers off and stretched out.

He wanted to ask her to join him in a shower before she had to go to work, but knew neither of them would make it out in time. She had to meet with her team and he had an early morning conference call.

Her gaze briefly strayed down his body, desire evident in her eyes, but she shook herself as if she needed to clear her head. “Only in the bedroom…don’t you forget it.” At that, she turned and

practically sprinted from the room.

Wyatt scrubbed a hand over his face and sat up. After a night of simply holding her—and dreaming

about how good things could be between them—now he was faced with a day of meetings with Iris by

his side in professional mode. Just fucking great.

* * * * *

Iris glanced at Vincent who was sitting in the driver’s seat of their SUV. Wyatt was in the back seat sitting between Kell and Jay. Sitting behind them in the long palm-tree-lined driveway was another

SUV with four Red Stone personnel. Unfortunately, Wyatt was only permitted to bring two people of

his choosing into the actual meeting. Since Keibler—her number one suspect—was going to be in

attendance, Iris was edgy.

Henry Forest, the eccentric millionaire who was hosting this get-together, was paranoid about his

privacy and didn’t want too many people in his home. Of course he didn’t need to have the meeting

here, but a year ago he’d been attacked in public at a well-known Miami restaurant and hadn’t left his home since. So if anyone wanted to do business with Forest, they had to come to him.

“I don’t like this,” Vincent murmured to her, though the others in the vehicle could clearly hear.

“Me neither, but…” Iris trailed off and watched as an unfamiliar SUV pulled up beside them. They

didn’t exactly have a choice. Wyatt needed to attend this meeting. He’d explained to her that Forest was selling a company that Wyatt was determined to purchase. Not because of the company, but

because he wanted one of the employees and couldn’t get him any other way. Some young genius.

From a tactical point of view, the secured meeting spot made their job less complicated because

any attackers would be easier to filter out, but Iris didn’t like bringing Wyatt anywhere public at this point. And she didn’t like leaving her team outside. Well, technically she could leave two of her men in the foyer at the front of the house, but for the actual meeting itself, just she and Jay would be inside.

They were ten minutes early and she wanted to wait until her main suspect arrived before she let

Wyatt out of the vehicle. She kept an eye on the extended cab SUV next to them. The driver’s door

opened and a man with a simple black suit and tie exited. He opened the back door and two men and

a woman slid out. She recognized the two men from one of the files she’d recently obtained on

Wyatt’s competitors. Zac Thorton of Thorton Enterprises, and his new business partner, Mark

Keibler. Thorton was tall with blond hair and a blinding white smile she got to witness when he said something to the petite woman on Keibler’s arm.

Keibler had a similar all-American look about him. She guessed he was six feet tall, his dark hair

was cut close to his head, he had an easy smile for the woman next to him and the security people he was talking to. He glanced at the darkly tinted SUV Iris was in, but didn’t seem to realize it was

occupied. He wiped off an imaginary piece of lint from his double-breasted suit jacket and Iris was under the impression he just wanted to look at his reflection.

“Who’s the woman?” Iris asked as she scanned the female with clearly Asian ancestry next. The

woman wasn’t in the file she’d read and Iris knew a lot of security people from the other companies around Miami. It was a niche industry. Naturally she didn’t know everyone, but the two men in suits that had rounded the vehicle to join the trio were employees from a company she’d worked with

before.

“Don’t know. Date, maybe,” Wyatt said from the backseat, but there was a note of hesitation in his

voice.

“Hmm.” The woman’s glossy black hair was pulled back against her neck in a sharp twist and

secured with two hair sticks. She wore a clingy red and silver formal dress that dipped low enough to show cleavage without being obscene. It was held up with spaghetti straps and clung to every inch of her lean body before flaring out slightly near her knees to fall in a graceful wave to her feet. She could have a weapon strapped to one of her calves or even those hair sticks could be deadly. “Has

Keibler ever brought a date to one of these things?”

“No. And I don’t like those hair…things,” Wyatt said.

Iris inwardly smiled, liking that they were on the same wavelength. Vincent and Kell murmured in

agreement. Some days Iris wondered what it would be like if she didn’t see every person as a

possible threat or seemingly innocuous things as potential weapons, but knew she’d never want to

live life like that. She liked being aware and would rather be paranoid than dead. “We wait until

they’re inside, then we follow. Everyone clear?” she asked for the benefit of the men in the SUV

behind them. She quickly received affirmatives and luckily Keibler, Thorton, and the others headed

across the stone walk to the mansion moments later.

As they started to exit the vehicle, Wyatt received a phone call so they all remained silent until he was finished. The conversation had been mainly one word responses so Iris couldn’t even guess what

it had been about.

However, his voice was smug when he said, “The other buyers backed out. It’s just going to be us

and Thorton Enterprises.”

Iris knew the basics of the deal, but didn’t like anyone backing out at the last minute. The other

potential buyers hadn’t had any red flags show up, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out to get Wyatt.

Tearing her gaze from surveying the quiet surroundings, she turned in her seat. “Why?”

“Because they know I’m going to win the bid.” He not only sounded smug, he looked it. Those

piercing blue eyes watched her carefully.

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re very sure of yourself.”

“When I want something, I go for it and I don’t let anything stand in my way.” He was silent for a

moment as they stared at each other. She knew he was talking about more than the deal and damn her

traitorous body, her nipples tightened at the thought of being on the receiving end of his pursuing nature. She was still kicking herself for agreeing so easily to give their marriage a shot, but waking up in his arms this morning had been heaven. While Iris didn’t like to get accustomed to anything—or

attached to anyone—because she knew things and people could be taken away in an instant…getting

used to Wyatt’s strength was something she could easily do. Too easily.

Tearing her gaze away, she looked at Vincent who was watching her with a heavy dose of curiosity

in his eyes. She knew he’d never say anything though. Not publicly. He’d wait until they were hanging out in a casual setting then pounce and grill her. The man was nosy. So far she’d managed to deflect his questions about how she’d ended up married, but she knew her time was coming. “I don’t care

what this Forest guy says. With these last minute changes, all of us are going in. The other team can wait in the foyer, but you and Kell are coming with me and Jay.” She glanced at Wyatt, expecting an argument, but he just nodded, his demeanor surprisingly acquiescent.

Good. She hated arguing with clients and Wyatt was so much more than a client. Still, she wasn’t

fooled into thinking he was simply okay with her decision. She was ready to walk if Forest refused to let her team guard Wyatt, but she wasn’t so sure Wyatt was. That was a problem she’d have to deal

with if it arose.

Chapter 8

Wyatt was conscious of everyone and everything as they entered the grand foyer to Forest’s home.

Iris held onto his arm, as if she were his date for the evening. Other than her security team and his most trusted people, no one actually knew they were married. Looking back he wondered if he should

have courted her longer, given her a huge wedding that she deserved. Of course she’d no doubt hate

something like that. Truth was, he would too. He didn’t need something overdone and garish to show

the world how much he loved her. He’d just needed to lock her down.

Not that it mattered. She’d run from him. At least she was with him now, even if it was on a

temporary basis. Wearing a formfitting black dress covered with small silver bursts that reminded

him of fireworks, she moved with a liquid grace that had him wanting to shove her dress up and take her against the nearest flat surface.

But she wasn’t remotely thinking about sex. Though her expression was casual, he could feel the

tension humming through her as she spotted Keibler and the rest of his crew standing at the foot of one of the curving staircases that descended into the foyer. Two men wearing dark suits watched them

carefully from the high balcony above where the stairs joined. They were no doubt armed. Forest’s

security. Wyatt had seen them on multiple occasions with the man when he’d actually ventured out in public.

Wyatt murmured that to Iris who only nodded. “They’re in my files.” Her lips barely moved as she

spoke.

Yeah, Wyatt didn’t doubt that Red Stone Security had extensive files on anyone and everyone he

might come in contact with over the next week. He’d given them all the information he could think of, but they had a lot of resources. Which was one of the reasons he’d hired them.

Keibler’s expression narrowed on Wyatt when he finally spotted him. He flicked a glance at Iris,

then paused and practically undressed her with his eyes as he scanned her from head to heeled feet.

Wyatt wanted to pummel the guy for even looking at her that way, even though he couldn’t blame him.

She looked beautiful.

“Breathe,” Iris murmured and he realized his jaw was clenched tight, his body completely tense.

When he met her gaze, she gave him a half-smile. “He’s just looking at me to piss you off. Don’t let him get under your skin.”

Nothing ever got to him. Until Iris. He’d never cared if anyone looked at his dates. Iris was

different. And she was wrong about why Keibler was looking at her, but she was right that he needed to breathe. While Wyatt had more to offer Forest in this deal, Forest was also eccentric as hell. He could decide to sell the company to Thorton Enterprises because he liked the color of Thorton’s tie.

Wyatt forced himself to relax.

Iris leaned close until her mouth was close to his ear, her warm breath making everything around

them funnel out for a second. He could drown in her scent, in the pure essence that was all her. “I think the woman is part of his security. Females in this business are rare so I’m surprised I don’t know who she is, but she moves like a pro. Maybe she’s new. Either way, steer clear of her.”

“You know you’re the only woman for me.” His words were as low as hers.

She quickly averted her gaze and swallowed hard. “Stay close to us, we’re using the opposite

staircase,” she said quietly to her team.

He belatedly remembered about her earpiece and that everyone had just heard what he said. While

her team might know they were married, this was still her job. It rankled him that she had to keep that cool façade up at all times, but he understood it. He’d pulled himself up from nothing so on that level, he got why she was always professional. Didn’t mean he had to like that he couldn’t pull his wife into his arms the way he wanted.

As they headed for the west side staircase, Wyatt gave a brisk nod to the other group. He knew

Keibler would take offense and imagine it was somehow a slight, but Wyatt was used to the other

man’s paranoia.

At the top of the stairs they were immediately stopped by the two guards he’d spotted when they

arrived. And two more men in suits appeared from the shadows, heading toward the east staircase to

stop the other group.

After they were patted down and turned over their weapons—which could be retrieved when they

left—Iris, Wyatt and the others were led down a long hallway with intricately carved crowned

molding gilded with gold. There were also priceless paintings hanging every few feet. Wyatt

recognized more than a handful of them, two as original Picasso’s—an artist he’d never learned to

appreciate. In his opinion, art should be appealing, not a visual nightmare. Their group was silent, but farther down the hall behind them he could hear Keibler’s obnoxious voice and follow up laughter

from the female. God, he hated these in-person meetings when this bullshit could all be taken care of over a conference call. Or a more neutral location.

He might have hired Iris but now that they were actually out in public and the threat was looming

over him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that anything could happen to her. And he knew deep down he wouldn’t let her protect him from a bullet or anything else. He’d die trying to protect her.

There were two more men in suits waiting at the last door on the right. The dark-haired one on the

left looked over the security team in an assessing manner, barely looked at Iris, then he focused on Wyatt. “You can bring in one person.”

“The deal was two.”

Iris tensed beside him, but he gently squeezed her arm.

The guard shrugged. “It’s one now.”

Wyatt gave him a shrug of his own. “Fine.” He turned to leave, Iris and the others following, but

the guard stopped him.

“Wait.”

Wyatt turned back to find the guy murmuring to someone clearly not the other guard. He probably

had a similar earpiece to the one Iris was currently using. He tilted his chin at the closed door. “You can bring two.”