Page 5 of Protecting Bianca

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I know it’s last minute, but I need the best guy on this.”

I chuckled. “I didn’t realize you were that close with the CEO.” Chewing off a bite of my sandwich, I waited for River to make some glib comment back.

“Lizzie works there.”

Ah. “Oh, I get it now.”

After a pause, he added, “And Bianca.”

I nearly choked on a piece of turkey.

That was when I understood his hesitation. Bianca Rimoli was River’s sister and my ex-girlfriend. We had come to blows over her. When River found out I was dating his sister, he made it clear he was not going to let it happen.

I coughed out a chunk of bread and managed to squeeze an “oh” through my throat.

The feminine voice continued, “Tell him.” I realized this was Lizzie and wondered how much she knew of the situation.

“Bianca doesn’t know that I’m calling you right now.”

“Ok.”

“She hired another bodyguard, and Lizzie tells me the guy isn’t working out, but Bianca won’t budge. I don’t want some stupid adolescent drama to cost me the lives of my girlfriend and sister.”

“I understand.”

“So, will you do it?”

I put the sandwich down, having lost my appetite. My stomach knotted, and I closed my eyes. How would it feel to see Bianca again after all these years? Was her brown hair long and her temper still short? Did she still love the first snowfall, or did she prefer the summer now?

“Will Bianca be all right with this?”

“I don’t know. It was a long time ago. She’s never mentioned you since.”

A muffled voice interrupted River, but he pressed on. “I’m pretty sure she’s moved past it.”

Pretty sure, huh? Well, I guess I was about to find out.

“Text me the address. I’ll be there in the morning.”

“Thanks, man.”

“I don’t know if you should be thanking me yet. If I remember your sister, there will be hell to pay for going behind her back.”

“Yeah. But at least she’ll be safe and I can live with that.”

Me, too.

“Talk to you later, River.”

Returning to my desktop—my sandwich forgotten—I continued my game. Some of my friends were online, and we chatted while we killed mummies. My mind went blank, and Ididn’t think of the past or what had happened. Before I climbed into bed that night, my only thought was what would it be like to see her again?

*

It took me twenty minutes to drive from my Park Avenue penthouse to Grapevine’s head office. It took me less than five minutes to walk past the security guard stationed at the entrance, ride the elevator to the tenth floor, and reach the CEO’s desk without having one person stop me. For a company that was under threat, it was at best humiliating. At worst, deadly.

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