Page 3 of The Shadow

I drape one arm over my chest as if you could even tell by looking at me that I even needed to wear a bra. I clutch my bag of food in my hands as the elevator climbs to our floor at an agonizing pace. My eyes are focused on my short, skinny legs that never blossomed into full hips but continue straight upward on my petite, boyish frame.

“Good night.” The doors barely open enough for me to squeeze through them before I’m bolting from the elevator and scurrying down the hallway to my door. Just before I step inside after unlocking my door, I glance to my right and see Harvey looking down the hallway toward me right as a manicured hand reaches out and grabs him by the shirt, tugging him over the threshold.

Chapter 2

Harvey

“Whoa, Jason Momoa’s in the house, ladies and gentlemen.” Luka, one of my business partners and best friends, slow claps as I walk into our offices.

It’s been a few months since we’ve all been together. After the intensity of the last few cases we took and the addition of wives and babies over the last few months and years, we all agreed to take several months off.

“Original,” I grunt. “You think of that all on your own?”

“I for one like it,” Alex adds and before I can thank him, he adds, “but we both know you grew it out to look like Jason Momoa for the ladies.”

I shake my head, ignoring their comments while I make myself a cup of coffee then walk over to my desk to read through a few of the briefs. We don’t hang out as often as we used to. Hell, we don’t even see each other every day like we did for almost two decades in the military, but these men are closer to me than any family ever was. We met when we were still kids, all enlisting for different reasons. For me, it saved me. If I hadn’t enlisted, I know damn well there’s only two places I’d be right now: the ground or prison.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jameson says as he walks up to his desk. “I thought morning sickness was supposed to stop after the first trimester.” He runs his hands over his face. “But apparently not.”

“Shit, man,” Alex says. “Juliette had that too, morning sickness all the way through the second trimester. Then she hit the third and”—he snaps his fingers—“it went away overnight.”

“Great. So you’re telling me Blaire has to endure this for two more months? Poor woman is already miserable.” He plops down in his chair, his normally alert face looking worn and tired and his wife hasn’t even had the baby yet. But I know it’s the pain and struggles that Blaire is having to endure that’s killing him.

“How’s she and the baby doing otherwise?”

“Good.” He sighs. “Which is shocking. It’s crazy what women’s bodies can endure. I just wanted this to be special for her…” He trails off, staring outside for a moment. He and Blaire didn’t plan on having kids, and then one day, it just changed for them. They both agreed it’s what they wanted, but the road to get there has been less than easy.

“Now that we established that Jimmy and I have been in full dad prep mode and Luka and Harper have been chasing their toddler around,” Alex says, looking back over at me. “What the hell have you been up to?”

“Same old.” I shrug. “Hit the gym, did some private work, and got my sleep.”

Alex eyeballs me suspiciously before he and Luka shake their heads. “And how many women?”

“Not as many as you think.” It’s no use, they don’t believe me, but the woman I brought home last night, well, she was the first in a long—very long—dry spell. We both knew what the night was about. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even remember my name the next morning, or maybe she never even knew it. But the second she left, a feeling of instant regret took up residence in my chest and I can’t seem to shake it.

“I think your not as many and my not as many are two very different things.” He laughs.

Being teased like this is my own doing. It’s not like I’ve lived a saintly life or a celibate one. At one point in time, I’m sure I thought this would never end, but the days of a new woman in my bed every week have long since disappeared, all those times I heard older guys say that it would eventually lose its luster finally catching up with me.

“You’re about to be thirty-five this year, man. It’s time to settle down,” Luka adds. He’s not wrong and the thought has certainly circled my brain more than once in the last few months. I’ve chalked it up to the fact that I’m not getting any younger and all of my friends are doing the marriage and family thing. Maybe it really is biology to crave those things the older you get.

An image of Aspen in her flowery pajamas and toweled head pops into my brain. I feel a smile pull at my lips at the thought of her. I could tell she was embarrassed; her face looked like she’d just walked off the sun. I hadn’t seen her in months. I even wondered if she’d moved out of the building but figured she wouldn’t sign just a few months’ lease. Had we been alone, I’d have told her I liked her slippers.

“All right, guys, let’s go over some cases and see what we feel we can handle.” Jimmy pulls me from my thoughts of Aspen, a place that for some reason or other, my brain has recently started taking comfort. Maybe it’s because she is a familiar face, even though she and I have barely spoken since we’ve been around each other over the years in our mutual friend group, or maybe it’s because lately it seems like she’s different.

Her timid nature and almost impish-like stature has always been a stark contrast to my six-five muscular frame and mostly tattooed body. She’s quiet and reserved, something we do both have in common, but there’s something else about her that’s always intrigued me. I can’t put my finger on it and I don’t know what kind of woman she is, but secretly, I think I want to know.

I lean back in my chair, kicking my feet up on another chair as Jimmy reads over a few cases that have come across our desks. That niggling feeling that I’m missing something creeps up my chest. I think back to last night, the way Aspen avoided eye contact with me in the elevator. That in itself is nothing new, but she looked scared, her eyes framed by dark circles and her already thin frame bordering on waiflike.

I refocus my attention back to the discussion, reminding myself that not only is Aspen Wilder not my problem, but I could very well be making up a problem that doesn’t even exist. I shove the thought back into the recesses of my mind, deep where all the guilt I harbor for not being there to protect my mom still resides.

“We’ve got a few of the regular cases, celebrities in town for an event, a few high-ranking officials and an athlete.” He flips through several more pieces of paper. “Actually, more than we can handle during these dates. Luka”—he stands and hands him the stack of papers—“you and Alex focus on these. I want you two to go through the dates listed and coordinate a schedule where you can accommodate the most clients.”

“On it,” Alex says, following Luka as they walk over to one of the large whiteboards in the office.

When the four of us retired from the military and decided to open our own private firm, Four Forces Security, we were prepared for it to take some time before it got off the ground. Thankfully, the exact opposite happened and within six months of opening our doors, we were already working major cases for foreign dignitaries and A-list celebrities. When Jimmy saved the life of one of the most powerful billionaires in the world and then ended up marrying his daughter, it really sealed the deal for our firm.

“Whatcha got for me, boss?” I slowly remove my feet from the chair as Jimmy walks over and drags it closer to me before taking a seat.

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