Page 52 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

“She’s sleeping. Adrenaline crash. But she should be fine after a nap.” Chase shrugged as if it were no big deal.

“I can’t believe you put her in danger like that.”

“Kylie’s fine. She had fun. Which, after this morning, she needed.” Axel chimed in.

We were in the room with Mateo’s bank of computers, which had become our base of operations in the house. I glared at the duo. “You fucked her in the back seat when we’ve got Santos hunting her.”

“I had it under control. He won’t get her on my watch.” Axel scowled.

“Oh really? If that were true, he wouldn’t have surprised us all this morning with his visit.”

“And how do you want us to handle this, boss?” Mateo asked from his seat before the bank of monitors and computers. The guy was one of the most brilliant computer hackers in the world. I’d seen him infiltrate computer systems that were supposed to be impenetrable.

“Chase, I need you stocking the yacht. Use the underground escape tunnel we located to access the marina.”

“Are you certain that’s necessary?” Chase asked, his voice laced with skepticism.

“I don’t want to leave anything to chance. Santos is unpredictable. His move this morning proved it. While this house is grand, it won’t survive a direct assault.”

“Do you think there will be one?” Axel asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“We can’t pretend it’s not a possibility. It’s best if we prepare for the worst. While you guys were out playing today, I packed clothing, medicine, toiletries, including feminine supplies for Kylie. And I also started packing it with food and water and anything else we might need. Luckily for us, Kylie’s bastard of a husband had used the access tunnel to smuggle guns, drugs, and anything else illegal through that tunnel, and we’ve got the cart with the trailer to haul supplies. I want it fully loaded by tonight.”

“Do you think an attack is imminent?” Mateo asked. “Because I’ve not been able to find any chatter on the matter.”

“Which means Santos is planning something big. We can’t make any assumptions. If we do, he’ll make a move that will take us all down and leave Kylie to fend for herself against that madman.”

“What do you want me to do?” Axel asked.

“Guard her. Don’t let her out of your sight. Santos isn’t above kidnapping. And we’ve seen what happens to his victims. So that means for the time being, keep your hands to your fucking selves. There’s far too much on the line.”

“I’m on it and her. You know I won’t allow anything to happen to her.” Axel nodded.

“I’ve been working to increase security. This morning, I installed more motion sensors and cameras around the property far enough away from the house to give us time, should an attack come,” Mateo stated.

“What do we tell Kylie?” Axel asked. “If we’re distant, it will fuck with her head.”

I gritted my teeth. Still pissed about the shopping excursion this morning. But, there was a part of me that was glad. It forced Santos to play his cards. And instead of sitting and stewing, waiting for him to make a move, now we knew he was gearing up to make his play.

“I’ll talk to her. You guys get to work. Mateo, I want hourly updates. Chase, I want all the supplies set aside in the basement loaded onto the yacht by dinner time. Axel, patrol the inside of the house. I’ll go watch over Kylie until she’s awake.”

“You got it, boss.” Mateo swiveled in his chair, his fingers flying over the computer keyboard.

Chase and Axel nodded solemnly. I left the command center and headed to Kylie’s room. Santos wouldn’t get her. There was no way I would allow him to take another person I cared about from me.

***

Kylie

Awareness crept into my limbs, and I stretched. Rising, I felt renewed after the skydiving and great sex.

Gideon sat in a chair facing my bed, his face unreadable.

“Gideon. Is everything okay?” I couldn’t stop my heart rate from speeding up.

“We need to talk.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry about this morning. You were right, and it was stupid of me. It won’t happen again. And I’m not mad at you. I know you’re just trying to protect me.”

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