Page 38 of Guarding Grace
“Yeah?” His tone made it sound ominous.
“Serena is on the way. Don’t let her get in the middle of anything there.”
“Copy that.”Great.Duke’s woman and Grace’s best friend, Serena Benson, could be a handful at times, and now I was going to be responsible for two hard-headed women.
Zane arrived not long after the call, and before Serena. “Duke’s woman, Serena, is going to be here soon,” I warned him.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I think she’s cute.”
Zane clearly needed a mouth filter installed. If Duke overheard a comment like that, Zane would need emergency dental work.
I shook my head. “It’s a storm warning, sailor. She might want to take charge of things. Don’t let her. Also, you’re now responsible for two women instead of one. If those Russo pricks come looking for trouble and hurt Serena, then Duke?—”
Zane raised a hand. “I get it. If anything happens to his woman, I pay the price.”
“No.” I poked him in the chest. “If anything happens to either of them, you pay the price.”
He smirked. “I thought you wanted to throw Grace off a bridge last week.”
“Protection is the job. My personal feelings are irrelevant. Understand?” I had acted terribly toward her last week, which had been normal for us. But since the attacks on her—not to mention our lip-lock moments—things had shifted. Now, with the news Lucas had just given me about Pete, I had to keep things from getting out of hand.
“Understood.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Does she like Italian food?”
“No.” Of course Grace loved Italian food. “Concentrate on the job. The threat can come from anywhere.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t let her leave the office,” I warned Zane. Grace’s last two ventures out onto the street had not gone well. “Let’s go.” I brought Zane with me into the demo room.
When she heard the door open, Grace excused herself and removed her headset. “We’re almost done.”
“Sorry, but I have to run an errand. You know Zane here.”
Grace nodded and waved at Zane. She’d met him at the dinner last night.
“He’ll be with you until I get back.”
She’d always been happy to see me leave in the past, but today her smile faltered. Things really had shifted between us.
“I’ll stay out of your way,” Zane assured her.
She shooed us out of the room with a hand motion.
Back in the front room, Peyton was meeting with two new customers who’d arrived.
As I walked past, I heard her tell them they could squeeze in a meeting with Grace after her current one finished.
Downstairs, when I drove out of the parking lot for the meeting with Russo, an odd sense of foreboding passed through me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t feel right.
Grace
Serena was waitingby my office door when I escorted Gina Eclestone out of the demo room. I smiled and gave Serena a nod. “We’ll be back in touch to schedule a time to bring the samples to you,” I told my client.
Serena shifted from leg to leg. To her credit, she knew enough to not interrupt me, even though her expression told me she was irritated, to put it mildly.
Gina smiled. “Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to it.”
This had gone better than expected, and the installation would be oneto be proud of. I noticed a man I didn’t recognize on our reception couch. Zane was at an empty desk near my office, facing him.
