Necessary Risk (Bodyguard) (13 page)

“Can they trace the number?” If they could find out who’d sent the picture, they’d have an actual lead on who was harassing her.

Sean’s mouth was a thin, firm line as he studied the message, tapping the screen a few times, calling up information about the date, time, and sender. Finally he let out a short sigh. “I’d bet my next paycheck that this came from a burner phone, but I’ll get Antonio on it.”

She balled up her paper napkin and threw it across the room, needing an outlet for the fear coursing through her. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back, refusing to let them fall. “I’m sick of this! First they attack me, then they vandalize my home. And now they’re making sure I know that they’re watching not just me, but my friends, who have nothing to do with this.”

Sean laid a hand on her shoulder, and she felt instantly calmer. Anchored somehow. “They’re just trying to scare you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s working.”

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “As long as I’m here, I promise you that you have nothing to be scared of. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and to find out who’s behind this. Nothing’s going to happen to you or your friends.”

She took a deep breath, and then another, barely fighting off the urge to press her face into his palm. “I know.”

His eyes held hers for a few moments, her fear slowly melting until only a simmering rage was left.

“This makes me so angry, Sean. If they think this is the way to get me to back off from Choices, they’ve got the wrong idea.” If Sacrosanct, or whoever the hell was behind these attacks, thought threatening her friends and scaring her was the way to go, it would soon learn the hard way that Sierra Blake didn’t deal with bullies.

“I’m proud of you. Not everyone has your strength or bravery.” He studied her intently, probably looking for signs she was cracking. But pride shone in his warm brown eyes, and she believed him.

She laughed softly. “I’m also incredibly stubborn.”

He shrugged, and that lopsided smile she liked so much made an appearance. “Call it what you want, I’m impressed.”

Chapter 10

I
t had been two days since Sierra had received the text message with the photo of her friends, and nothing had changed. Whoever had taken the photo had been well hidden in the shadows and wasn’t visible on any of the security camera footage. As suspected, the number was untraceable. Sean was right—the call had been made from a burner cell, and according to the police, whoever bought it had paid cash for it. The cops were still working on the case, but no hard leads had turned up. They were no closer to finding out who was behind the harassment or confirming Sacrosanct’s involvement than they’d been nearly a week ago.

Trying to push all that aside, Sierra walked down the bright, spacious hallway, her heels clicking against the marble floor. Sean’s footsteps echoed a few feet behind her as they made their way toward the conference room at the end of the hallway. The Choices head office was housed on the tenth floor of an office tower on South Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles, and Sierra had been asked to attend a meeting with the board of directors. As she walked, she smoothed her slightly damp palms over the fabric of her black shift dress. She pushed open the glass door and glanced over her shoulder at Sean.

As it always did now when she looked at him, her heart fluttered helplessly in her chest as her stomach did a slow, enticing swirl. He tipped his head toward the door.

“I’ll be right outside. Good luck.” He winked, and the flutters and swirls kicked up a notch. She blew out a short breath, nodded at him, and stepped into the conference room. Despite her involvement with Choices, she’d never attended a board meeting before, and although she’d told herself over and over again that being invited was probably a good thing, there was a tiny part of her that was sure the board was going to get rid of her. The harassment had made the news, and maybe they’d figured it wasn’t worth the negative attention to keep her around. Aside from an initial phone call after the harassment had started, no one from the organization had checked in with her, which had left her feeling slightly insecure.

The board was comprised of a dozen people, eight women and four men. Sierra had met many of them already—at fund raisers, functions, other meetings. She smiled politely as heads swiveled in her direction and she took a seat beside Vanessa Miller, a young ob-gyn who also acted as a spokesperson for Choices, tackling the more difficult medical questions Sierra wasn’t equipped to answer.

Leslie Grant, the president and CEO of Choices, smiled and nodded at Sierra. With her elegantly cropped white-blond hair and slim-fitting navy blue suit, she looked every inch the corporate executive. Despite her friendly demeanor, Sierra found her intimidating. She always felt self-conscious and hyperaware of herself around Leslie, wanting desperately to earn her approval.

“Why don’t we dive right in?” Leslie asked, and a young woman rose from a seat in the corner and passed out file folders to everyone. Sierra flipped hers open and began scanning down the page.

Whoa. This was big.

“As you can see from the information in front of you, we have the opportunity to apply for a large federal grant. Very large.”

Sierra’s stomach bottomed out when she saw the figure.

Fifty million dollars.

Leslie continued. “The purpose of the grant is to fund an initiative focused on improving the state of women’s health across the country through awareness, education, and advocacy about things like contraception, STD testing and treatment, pre- and postnatal care, and cancer screening and prevention. Across our country, approximately seventeen million women are uninsured. The sex education offered in many states is, frankly, a joke.”

She tapped the folder on the table in front of her. “This is the Jane Project, which is the umbrella name for the many subprograms we would be able to run with the grant money, all with the same singular focus and working within our already established framework: better health for women nationwide through improved education and access to services. Some of the subprograms include free STD testing, a teen pregnancy prevention program relying on evidence-based sexual education and ensuring access to a multitude of birth control options, free prenatal care for expectant mothers in targeted demographics, and free cancer screenings and health checks for women in correctional institutions, just to name a few. We’ve called it the Jane Project because every woman, regardless of age, race, or socioeconomic status, deserves access to the services we provide. Sierra, we’d like you to be the public face of this campaign.”

“Really?” she asked, pride flowing through her.

“Absolutely. You’re a wonderful speaker, and as we go forward in the grant application process, we’ll need all of the public and political support we can get. You’ll be speaking, lobbying, attending events. To start, there’s the annual Choices fund-raising gala later this week, where you’ll have the opportunity to speak to several influential politicians, and a symposium on women’s health in Miami we’d like you to speak at next week. You’ve been tremendously influential up to this point in garnering support for Choices, and we think you’re the perfect fit for this campaign. You’re smart, well-spoken, and comfortable in the public eye. People like you.
We
like you,” she added, smiling warmly.

Sierra bit her lip, not quite sure what to say. “Of course, I’ll help in any way I can.” She’d already been planning to attend the fund-raising gala with Rory, but now she was looking forward to it even more. There was so much they could do with fifty million dollars. So many women they could help, lives they could potentially save or change for the better with something as simple as a free Pap smear, or a free IUD.

“I’m glad you’re on board. We need all hands on deck as we apply for this grant. We’re not strangers to negative press.” She paused, drumming her fingers on the table. “There’s another organization also applying for the grant, and they have enough momentum behind them that they could potentially win it if they sway enough support their way. Have you heard of the Pregnancy Support Center?”

Sierra frowned, her mouth twisting slightly. “Don’t they have those billboards? The ‘Pregnant? Scared? We can help’ ones?”

Leslie nodded, barely concealing a sneer. “That’s them. They market themselves as a pro-choice women’s health organization, but at the core, they’re actually anti-abortion, anti–birth control, and anti–premarital sex. They believe women shouldn’t have sex unless it’s with their husband for the express purpose of making a baby. These are likely the same people who believe health insurers shouldn’t have to cover birth control, and that employers shouldn’t have to provide any kind of maternity leave.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand the logic of wanting all women to be mothers—whether they want that for themselves or not—and also refusing to support mothers with maternity leave or access to affordable health care. I shudder to think what an organization like that would do with fifty million dollars.”

“I agree,” said Sierra, shuddering right along with Leslie. She’d heard of organizations like the Pregnancy Support Center, masquerading as pro-choice but with ulterior motives. In some areas of the country, there were far more Pregnancy Support Centers than Choices branches. “Whatever you need, I’m your woman. I’m thrilled and honored to spearhead the public face of this campaign for you. I’ll do my absolute best to make sure we get that grant. I promise,” she added, so proud her ribs suddenly felt too big for her chest, poking at her and expanding outward as she filled up with pride, hope, and determination.

“Do the public appearances concern you at all?” asked Clark Nunes, the senior counsel for Choices.

A twinge of fear slipped between those puffed-up ribs like a tiny little needle, deflating her with the smallest prick. “It shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve hired security, and I’ll go over everything with them. I’m sure it’ll be OK,” she said, completely unsure it would be OK. Sean hadn’t even let her go to the Chateau Marmont for a few drinks with friends. What was he going to think about a fund-raising gala? A speech at a symposium in Miami?

Shit.

“I hope it’s not an issue. We need you,” said Leslie, her long, slender fingers drumming the top of the table. “You’ve already been through enough because of your work for us. I’d hate to expose you to more harassment. Maybe this is asking too much.”

“No. It’ll be fine.” It had to be. Choices needed this money; the organization could do so much good with it. “I want to do it.” Despite the doubts she’d had since the harassment had started, she knew now that she couldn’t back down. She couldn’t let the bastards win, and she had the opportunity to help Choices and potentially make a real difference.

Hopefully, Sean would see it that way too.

After a few more agenda items, the meeting was adjourned, and Sierra rejoined Sean in the hallway. As always, her heart and stomach did their little roller coaster act when she laid eyes on him.

“How’d it go?” he asked, falling in a half step behind her, his hand at the small of her back. She wanted to ease back and melt into that simple, protective touch.

“They want me to head up a new campaign. They’re applying for a grant, a huge one, and they’ve asked me to be the public face of it.” Disbelief still tangled with pride. Sometimes she had a hard time believing that they really took her seriously. Knowing that they saw her as more than just an empty-headed actress meant a lot to her.

“Of course they did. They’d be crazy not to,” said Sean, pressing the call button for the elevator with his thumb. As they stepped inside, she filled him in on the details, her excitement growing as she spoke. She paused before telling him about the necessary public appearances, hoping she wouldn’t have to fight him on it, but prepared to if needed.

He sighed, his broad chest rising and falling as he pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s not ideal, but I guess we have to make it work, don’t we?”

“Yeah?” She looked up at him, and her breath stuck to her ribs. He smiled crookedly at her and she felt suddenly giddy with relief. And maybe something else too. Something she wasn’t supposed to be feeling.

“Yeah. We’ll figure it out. If this is what you want to do, I support you.”

“Really?”

“One hundred percent. This is important.”

The elevator doors slid open, and they walked out toward the lobby.

“Sierra?” She recognized Jack’s voice instantly and turned around, spying him several feet away by a different bank of elevators. He looked much improved since she’d last seen him in person. His complexion was healthy, his black hair thick and shiny, and his piercing blue eyes clear, not bloodshot. Those eyes raked over her, and she was happy to find she felt nothing but a mild curiosity as to what he was doing here.

Those eyes had once seemed so appealing to her. But then she’d learned how they saw her, and everything had changed. He’d hurt her once, but the wound had healed, leaving scar tissue but no real pain. She’d loved him, and he’d never felt the same about her. He’d made her believe he had, though. And she’d fallen for it. She’d given him her heart, her trust, when all he’d wanted was her name and her body.

He approached, and Sean intercepted him, a hand extended. Jack flashed a megawatt smile and shook it.

“Sean Owens, Virtus Security,” said Sean as Jack’s eyes widened and he winced under Sean’s grip. Now that he was standing with Sean, it seemed almost laughable how she’d once thought Jack so tall, so strong. He looked like a scrawny teenager compared to Sean.