Page 6 of Locked Down

Austin opened the bag and took out the lemon poppyseed muffin.“No. Nothing happened overnight that should affect it.”He broke off a piece of muffin and popped it in his mouth and then made appreciative noises.“Thank you for the muffin, darlin’.”

She sat down in the chair across from his desk. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself to start the conversation.

“You added a meeting to my schedule at six-forty-three this morning but failed to provide details.”His blue eyes pinned her down.

The air hissed out of her lungs. So much for the muffin. She tried to stay relaxed and even took a sip of her chai latte. She caught Floyd stealing a glance in her direction with a smirk on his face.Shit. This was going to be bad.

“Yes,”she said finally,“I did. Sorry for the late notice. I didn’t realize it would be happening today.”

Davis stared at her, ignoring the muffin completely.“What would be happening?”His eyes narrowed.“I don’t like surprises.”

Nerves jangled along her spine. Her uncle had saved her from life on a commune back when she was a teenager, so she owed him everything, but she still found him intimidating sometimes.“After someone shot at you last week, I—I was upset. We were at the charity function Thursday night.”She bit her lip. She’d never been much good at lying but she needed to pull this off. It was for his own good.“I’m afraid I confessed my fears to Cal Wallingford when I physically bumped into him. He asked why I was upset and the whole thing poured out. He suggested you beef up your security. He said he’d send someone over. I got notice that the man he was sending would be here this morning at eight.”

Floydtskednext to her and shook his head.“You should know better,”he murmured.“No one likes surprises.”

She ignored him and watched her uncle’s face closely. His expression was blank but she knew the wheels were turning. She just didn’t know what direction they would be spinning. Was she in a huge amount of trouble? Would he be angry with her? No one wanted Austin Davis angry with them. He could be cold as sin and just as brutal. So far, she hadn’t had to endure that aspect of his demeanor, not since she’d been a teenager, but this could be the breaking point. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

She rushed to explain a bit more.“I’m sorry, Uncle Austin. But you’re the only family I have since Mom and Dad refuse to leave the commune. The thought of losing you, well, it was just overwhelming. I—I’m sorry if I put you in a difficult position. Mr. Wallingford was so nice. He seemed genuinely concerned and offered his help. I—I just couldn’t refuse.”It was all true, to a point. She did consider her uncle her only family and she didn’t want to see anything happen to him. The rest was a complete fabrication.

Her uncle studied her and then finally let out a long breath.“Well, I appreciate your candor, even if it’s a bit late, on your chat with Cal Wallingford. I understand your concern but truly more security is not necessary. There will always be people who don’t like what I stand for, but they cannot be allowed to prevail. I will see whoever Cal sent over and then send them on their way. I’ll call Cal and explain you were just overreacting. That should cover it. But, Invicta, do not do this again.”He pointed his finger at her.“You’ve put me in a very difficult situation.”He turned towards his computer.

Floyd had his stare glued to his phone.

Vic’s stomach sank to her shoes.“I’m sorry,”she said as she rose from the chair. She was being dismissed. She turned and headed out of the office. Now what the hell was she going to do? She’d given it her best shot and come up short. Not to mention she owed Archer Gray a favor. That thought made her blood pressure spike. Oh god, did that mean she owed Cal Wallingford as well?

“Joyce?”her uncle said into the speakerphone.“Get me Cal Wallingford. I know he’s an early riser. He should be at his office by now.”

“Yes, sir,”Joyce said as Vic walked by her desk. All the air went out of Vic’s lungs. If he checked the story with Wallingford, would he find out it was all a lie, or was Wallingford in on it? Why hadn’t she gotten Ryker Sterling’s contact info?

She went over to her cubicle, which was down the hall from her uncle’s office, and crashed onto her seat. She worked next to all the other assistants and gofers. No special treatment for a family member. Although her uncle did give her special assignments, like the other night at the charity function. He wanted her to eavesdrop on a certain group’s conversations. It wasn’t her favorite thing and she rarely heard anything of value, or at least she didn’t think it was of value, but her uncle never said one way or the other.

Her stomach hurt. She pushed her chai away. There was no way she could drink it now. What the hell had she been thinking? She should’ve kept her mouth shut and trusted that her uncle knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, she didn’t think he did, at least not when it came to his safety.Three more weeks. Then she would be free to do what she wanted. What did she want? She pushed the question aside. Now wasn’t the moment.

She played with the papers on her desk. Tony Rodriguez and Vincent Miller were the two main bodyguards in her uncle’s world. Vinny organized everything and Tony was backup. Tony was alright. Not the swiftest bunny in the woods but seemed like a nice enough guy.

Vinny, on the other hand, made her skin crawl. She didn’t trust him one bit. He always seemed to be staring at her. He supposedly was in the military and knew what he was doing but she wasn’t so sure. She let out a sigh and tried to change her thinking about Vinny. He’d kept her uncle safe so far, and who knew what he endured when he was in the military. It was best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Vinny was probably a good guy. That said, she didn’t care to be alone with him.

There had already been two attempts on her uncle’s life, that she knew of. Once on the road in Virginia when he was on his way to someone’s hunting cabin, an event her uncle dismissed as some fool hunter shooting at things he had no business shooting at. The second attempt had happened when someone tried to run him over as he crossed the street. She’d been there for that one. Her uncle dismissed it as a drunk driver, but she knew the truth. Someone had been aiming for her uncle and he was so lucky he hadn’t been hit.

Her palms dampened as she sat in her cubicle and stared at her blank computer screen. If Austin Davis found out this thing with Ryker Sterling was a set-up, he’d be furious. Furious Uncle Austin was seriously frightening. He was scary on a good day, but when he was angry… Not because he would physically attack whoever had offended him. No, his words would be carefully crafted to do far more damage than his fists. And she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of any of those words. Funny how he could reduce her to that fearful teenager again with very little effort.

“Hey, you okay?”a voice said from over the top of her cubicle wall.

She glanced up.“Hey, Tracy. Yeah, I’m okay. Just got up late this morning. Made me a bit discombobulated.”She forced herself to straighten in her chair.“How are you?”

Tracy Langham smiled, making her dimples show. Her long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and her big blue eyes looked a bit tired.“Hangin’ in. You know. Your uncle is really into this new project so we’re working double time on it. Lots of late nights and early mornings.”

“Can you tell me anything about it?”Vic asked. Her uncle hadn’t let her in on his super-secret project yet. She dared not ask him about it but she kept hoping Tracy would tell her. She was an ace marketer and great with graphics. Vic had to assume it was some new marketing campaign he wanted to run. The Senate re-election race was way off yet so Vic didn’t think it was that.

Trace shrugged.“Not yet… But soon. I’m booking a vacay after this one. If I can get the time off.”

“Don’t blame you one bit. You deserve it.”She offered her friend a smile.

“Oh, gotta go,”Tracy said and then disappeared.

A few seconds later, Joyce appeared in front of Vic’s desk.“You cleared a Mr. Ryker Sterling?”she demanded.“Why wasn’t I told about this?”

Vic gritted her teeth. She and Joyce were oil and water no matter how hard she tried to be nice to the woman.“Yes, I did. He has an eight a.m. meeting with Unc… Austin.”Joyce thought it was unprofessional of her to use the word uncle around the office.“I put it on his schedule this morning. He is aware of it.”

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