Page 23 of Forbidden Access

“And your new wife? I can’t believe you got married and didn’t invite me to the wedding.”

“We didn’t invite anyone. We wanted to keep it low-key.”

“Well, you sure didn’t succeed. It’s all over the newspapers. I was shocked when I read it. So, who is she? Can I meet her? When are you going to introduce her to the guys?”

The guys were their weekend rowing crew, the ones who knew Damian better than most.

“We’re laying low for now,” Damian said. At least that part was true. “Reporters are camped outside my place. I had to get security.”

“Serves you right, man.”

Damian chuckled, relieved Doug wasn’t too mad. Doug was one of the few people Damian could trust, one of the very few who knew about his past. Doug didn’t know much about computers—he was a real estate developer—but he had a brother who was in and out of jail and understood better than most the mess Damian was in with Aleksandar Markov. “But I promise I’ll have you and the guys over as soon as things settle down. I’ve got a conference coming up in Florida, then I might take a short honeymoon, but I’ll be back.”

Alone. He’d have to explain why his marriage had fallen apart in less than two weeks. He rubbed his chin, the stubble rasping under his fingers. Was all this trouble worth it? Maybe he should’ve just hidden away in Alaska or somewhere and flown in for the presentation. He’d dropped off the grid before; he could do it again. It would’ve saved a lot of hassle.

“You didn’t mention Doug when you gave us a list of names to vet,” Thorn said, coming into the living room.

Damian looked up, her presence pulling him out of his thoughts. “I forgot. He was away, and we just hang out sometimes at the boat club.”

“The boat club?”

“Yeah, I like to row. It helps me let off steam.”

She studied him, her gaze lingering on his chest and shoulders. Her eyes felt like a physical touch, and he had to resist the urge to pull her closer. “You like the outdoors?”

He grinned. “You could tell?”

“You have enough stuff in that garage to start your own adventure company.”

He chuckled, appreciating the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. “True. Maybe I’ll do that one day. I could use a change of scene.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Her smile was tentative, but the warmth in her eyes was real. Gone was the prickly bodyguard, replaced by someone he was starting to care about—though he wasn’t sure who that someone was just yet.

“When do you find the time to use all of it?” she asked, her body angled toward him as she perched on the couch.

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I don’t work all the time, you know.”

She paused, her forehead creasing in thought. “I don’t understand you. You’re a computer geek, but you went to war. You developed your own cryptocurrency, but you also row and ride a motorcycle. How does that work?”

He grinned, leaning back. “What can I say? I’m a complex individual.”

She snorted, but he could see the curiosity in her eyes.

“I’ve always loved the outdoors,” he confided, feeling a strange urge to share more with her. “If I hadn’t gone into computers… If my life had been different… I’d probably be an engineer traveling the world. There’s something immensely satisfying about physically and mentally challenging yourself.”

Thorn nodded, understanding in her eyes. Her job required a similar blend of physical and mental resilience, and he could tell she got it.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “I love what I do. My brain just works that way—I see solutions where others see problems. But that’s only one side of me.”

He was opening up more than he ever had with anyone, and it was both unsettling and liberating. Why did it matter so much to him what Thorn thought? She was just his bodyguard, wasn’t she?

“What about you?” he asked, shifting the conversation back to her. “You said you were prejudiced because of what happened to you.”

Thorn stiffened, her walls going up instantly. “It’s not important.”

“It is to me.”

She turned back to him, her gaze hardening. “Why? Why does it matter? I’m just your bodyguard.”

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