Page 37 of Burning for Him

Leaning back in his chair, Ian nodded. “Understood. And I wasn’t really going to fire you—thought about it, but you could’ve successfully sued us, so...” He shrugged. “I also wouldn’t have fed you to the dogs—you’d give them indigestion, and Kat would have my head. Those damn dogs eat better than I do. Anyway, at least I don’t have to worry about Jenn falling for some piece of shit I hate or someone from my club.”

Doug smirked. “Nope. That’s your thing. Neither Jenn nor I have any desire to participate in the lifestyle.”

“Thank fuck for that. It’s bad enough to know you’re sleeping together. I don’t need thoughts of you two involved in any form of kink play bombarding my brain.”

He had to fuck with the man. Justhadto. “Well, we’re not into a lot of the stuff that goes on at the club, but a little spank?—”

Ian slammed his hand down onto his desk so hard that it had to hurt. “No! I will fucking shoot you in the balls if you say one word about what happens between you and her behind closed doors, and I won’t think twice about it.”

Chuckling, Doug held up his hands in surrender. “Message received.”

“All right. This is the part where I say, if you hurt her, they’ll never find your body.” When Doug just grinned, Ian gave him the finger and then changed the subject, handing him a blue folder. “Fair warning, the rest of her uncles and I will grumble about this for a while, but as long as Jenn is happy, we’ll back off...for the most part.

Doug took that as a win and kept his mouth shut.

“Now, moving on. We have a new client in need of a bodyguard. Lainey Hall is a twenty-six-year-old,” Ian paused and glanced at a piece of paper on his desk, “social media influencer, whatever the fuck that is, with a stalker. The police took a report but told her, since there were no threats or laws broken, there wasn’t much they could do. So, she wants twenty-four-hour protection until the guy is stupid enough to do something and get arrested or smart enough to leave her alone.”

While Doug knew what an influencer was, as did most people under sixty-five, Ian didn’t have a single social media app on his phone or computer. He also resisted anyone’s attempt to educate him on the current trends. His response was always that he paid his employees well to scour various sites or apps for intel on a target or client when needed, so he couldn’t care less about not knowing anything about them.

Opening the file, Doug scanned the intake form, which contained the client’s basic information that Colleen had collected during an initial phone call. A few pages from Brody were under that. He’d tracked down the stalker’s name, date of birth, home address, driver’s license, vehicle information, and place of employment just from the guy’s TikTok handle, @4evrLaineys. For TS’s head hacker, it was probably child’s play to get all that.

Their new client resided in nearby Palm Harbor, while her stalker lived in East Tampa—too close for comfort. Usually, that type of creep was across the country or even on the other side of the world from their victim, and just harassed them online. But so far, according to the intake form, he’d only made contact with Ms. Hall through direct messages on her social media accounts. “Okay. This works out perfectly. Madsen, Spade, and Jacobson finished up their last detail on Saturday, so I’ll put them on it. I’ll grab Spade now and head over to the client’s house for the interview, if she’s available, then set up the schedule.”

“Good. Now get out of my sight, tinsel-twat. And yes, I’ve penciled you in on my twat-roster. If you don’t piss me off anymore, I may change it to ink in a year or two.”

Doug’s jaw clenched. He’d been the bodyguard for some brats and elitists before, but few compared to Lainey Hall, “Social Media Influencer, Extraordinaire.” Her words, not his. He was surprised she knew any fourteen-letter words. Most of her sentences included many of the current slang and buzzwords, as if she were filming a video to upload to the internet later. She kept flirting with him and Nolan Spade, who would be her leadguard, while trying to impress them with her self-proclaimed celebrity status.

Through Trident, Doug knew several famous people—some well-known actors, a director, two record producers, a few professional athletes, and an internationally adored country music star—and this chick didn’t even come close to being in their league.

A glance at Spade said the man was no more impressed than Doug was, which was nil. Granted, the woman was physically attractive, but she thought way too highly of herself, which was a huge turnoff—not that Doug was interested in her in any way, shape, or form. She was dressed in a baby-pink cotton crop top, which showed off her tan abdomen and belly piercing, and a matching pair of shorts that were so skimpy, they were almost indecent. Combined with her flirting, he was a little uncomfortable and kept biting his tongue to avoid telling her to go put on something more appropriate. She had no situational awareness and appeared oblivious to the fact that she was alone while scantily dressed, with two strange men she’d only met a few minutes ago. Doug had no doubt she would be a source of annoyance to the guards protecting her.

She seemed to think everyone in the world knew who she was, given that she had over a million followers on TikTok. Doug didn’t want to burst her bubble—only because she was a paying client—and tell her that left about eightbillionpeople in the world who didn’t know or follow her. Neither Doug nor Spade had heard of her before looking up her social media accounts prior to the meeting at her home. Her videos primarily focused on fashion, makeup, and local clubs and restaurants in and around Tampa. He wouldn’t be surprised if she were one of those influencers who demanded free stuff to promote a brand.

“So,” Doug interrupted her bragging about how many views her latest video had gotten. “Tell us more about this guywho is allegedly stalking you.” He glanced at the first page in her folder that he’d brought with him. “His TikTok handle is @4evrLaineys, and he’s been messaging you?”

“Yes! And it’s notallegedly—he’s stalking me. And that’s not his only profile. He’s creepy A.F.”

Doug nearly snorted when she used the initials for “as fuck” in her dialogue. God, she was three years older than Jenn, and yet he thought Jenn was far more mature than her. In the past, he wouldn’t have hesitated at dating a twenty-six-year-old, only five years his junior. But now, after talking with Ms. Hall for all of ten minutes, the age gap between him and Jenn seemed smaller than ever.

Removing a picture from the folder, he showed it to his new client. “Have you seen this guy before?”

She flipped her hair over one shoulder before leaning forward to study the photo. With her arms crossed under her breasts, it pushed them up and together. If she was trying to seduce either of them, it wasn’t working because both men averted their gazes.

“Damn, he’s hot!”

Gritting his teeth, Doug fought the urge to tell her off before walking out. “That wasn’t my question. Have you seen him before?”

“No, I definitely would’ve remembered him. So, that’s the guy who’s stalking me?”

“We believe so. His name is Evan Jenkins. Sound familiar?”

She shook her head. “Never heard of him. Why doesn’t he have photos of himself on his profiles? If he wasn’t so creepy, I might’ve agreed to go out with him. I keep blocking him on all my accounts, but he just makes more profiles with similar names. Since you know who he is now, can’t you go threaten him or something and force him to stop contacting me?”

As Spade bit his bottom lip to keep from either laughing or saying something rude, Doug took a deep, calming breath and released it. “Um, that’s not how this works. We can pass on his information to the police and ask them to speak to him, but we don’t go around threatening people. The police can’t force him to stop either, unless things escalate. My guards will protect you while we gather evidence of the stalking, and when we have enough, we’ll file for an order of protection on your behalf. Then, if he shows up anywhere you are, we can detain him and have him arrested.”

“So, until something happens, you two will be my bodyguards wherever I go? Cool. At least you’re both seriously hot.” Before either man could stop her, she spun around on the couch and used her phone to take a selfie with them in the background.

Doug stood, snatched the phone from her hand, and quickly deleted the photo before she had a chance to post it anywhere.

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