Page 12 of Eye Candy

“I understand your reluctance, but seeing as how she was kidnapped from this very house with no footage of the suspect, Lola wants her own man on the job.” Whoever he was, he sounded articulate. Perhaps the man in the suit? This Sylvester Luciano I’d heard so much about?

“Are you trying to say it was an inside job?” Kieran’s voice held a sharp edge.

Wait a second. Lola wanted her own man on the job—as in, her own man watching me? Another freaking bodyguard?Jesus Christ. You’d think I was the most wanted girl in this city at this rate.

My lips curled into a frown, and I peered around the edge of the opening on the wall, peeking inside the room. My dad and Kieran were turned to the man in the suit. My dad looked resigned while Kieran appeared furious; he folded his arms over his chest, and though I couldn’t see the expression on his face, I’d bet it was one for the books.

“I’m not saying anything,” Sylvester spoke, “but we are missing someone as well. Lola hopes that by putting one of our men on the case, we’ll find her.” This next part was spoken to my dad: “He’s been with my family for years. His parents served my father. I trust him with my life.”

I moved my stare to the other man in the room, to the one standing off in the corner, away from the others. He was big. Not fat, but insanely tall. Like six and a half feet, maybe? Maybe less. It was hard to tell since he wasn’t nearby, but he was definitely on the bigger side. Tall like a mountain, wide like a bus. His arms were crossed, much like Kieran’s, but he had bulging muscles and veins, telling me just how strong he was.

Thatguy was Lola’s man? He was a freaking monster, and she wanted him to watchme? How was I supposed to trust that this beast of a man would protect and not, you know, do other things that strong men were tempted to do when they were alone with a weaker girl? At least I had Kieran on my side.

It was like the big man could sense me, like he could feel me staring at him, because right then, his head slowly turned away from my dad, Kieran, and Sylvester. His stare moved to me, and I was too slow in pulling back and hiding behind the wall. He definitely saw me. Oops.

“Kieran, there’s nothing we can do. If Sylvester and Lola want this, then we will accommodate them. If they think it’ll help them find their missing person, I’m all for it.” Even though my dad said that, it sounded like he felt the opposite. He’d rather not have the stranger here, too.

God. Having Kieran shadowing me was bad enough. Now I had to have that big beast of a man following me around, too? Would I ever get a moment to myself, or would someone always be right outside my bedroom door, ready to spring into action because they thought my kidnapper would try to take me again?

My left hand ached, the ghostly sensation of the two fingers that were gone tickling my hand, mingling with the dull pain. My bandaged hand hung at my side, and I lifted it up, staring at it with unease.

Would he come for me again? Would my Devil show his face one more time, or had he abandoned me after being my keeper for so long?

I heard my dad sigh. “I assume she’s out in the hall, eavesdropping on this entire conversation.” A little louder, he called for me, “Laina, you can come in. There’s someone you should meet.”

Kieran warned, “Vance, I don’t think—”

“Enough, Kieran.” The tone my dad took told me it was final; there would be no arguing with him about this particular decision. The big beast of a man would become my bodyguard, just like Kieran.

Yay.

Holding my head high, I fluffed up my hair and walked around the corner. My gaze was quick to flick between my dadand Kieran, then Sylvester and the quiet, large man in the corner… though it mostly lingered on the latter.

My dad had taken a sip from his glass, though he damn near choked on it when he saw my hair. “Laina. What—what did you do to your hair?” His eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. It was a funny sight. He was the only one visibly freaking out about it; the others in the room, including the mountainous mystery man, looked like they didn’t care one bit about it.

“I got it done,” I said. “I like it a lot. I wanted a change.” It wasn’t the only thing I wanted to change about myself. Just wait until the other thing I ordered got here; I bet my dad would try to keep me from leaving the house once the look was complete.

“It looks—”

“Good,” Kieran cut in, shooting a look at my dad, as if warning him not to insult me in front of his guests. I was a little surprised he had my back in such a way, even more surprised when my dad actually listened to him.

“Yes. It looks… good.” The words were tough for him to get out, and he had to take a moment to finish drinking what was left in his short glass. “Laina, I want you to meet Sylvester Luciano.”

Sylvester, the man in the suit, came over to me, offering me his hand. He was a good-looking man, a mop of blond hair on his head and piercing blue eyes. He didn’t look like the typical mafia man. “It’s good to meet you, Laina. I didn’t get the chance to speak with you in the hospital.” I gingerly took his hand, shaking it. Thankfully he was a righty like me, otherwise this handshake wouldn’t be happening.

“The hospital?” my dad questioned. “I didn’t know you visited her in the hospital.”

Pulling back from me, Sylvester threw a look at my dad. “Yes. Lola did. She wanted to ask her some questions, see if she remembered anything.” He must’ve sensed that my dad wasn’t too happy about that, for he added, “She’s taken it upon herself to try to protect the girls in this city. We have a man on the force that—”

“Told you about my daughter before I was alerted,” my dad said, sounding grumpy about it. “I see.”

Sylvester gave him a tight-lipped smile before turning back to me. He gestured to the man in the corner. “That’s Big Mike. He’s a good man. He’ll keep you safe. You can trust him, Laina. He doesn’t talk much, but don’t let that fool you. It just means he’s watching extra hard.”

I didn’t know if he was trying to make a joke or not, so I stayed quiet. I did toss a glance at the man in question, however. Big Mike, he’d called him. I think I’d just stick with Mike.

To Mike, Sylvester said, “Let me know if you need anything or see anything.” To my dad, he nodded his head. “Have a good night, Mayor Hawkins.” He said nothing else as he strolled out of the room, holding his head high, as if he hadn’t just annoyed each and every one of us by leaving Mike here.

Everyone moved their stares to Mike, unaware that, in the hall, Tessa had gotten home and passed Sylvester on her way. “What—” She hurried into the sitting room, instantly spotting Mike in the corner. She drew her gaze to my dad. “What’s going on, Vance?” The sound of the front door opening and shutting with Sylvester’s exit was the only reason the room grew less tense.

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