Page 89 of Dangerous Temptation
Vasquez and Hanson converged on the scene. One went for the reporter and the other went for the camera. Vasquez planted himself like a wall in front of the video guy, and the man lost coverage. He tried to come from another angle, but everywhere he turned, he was hindered. Vasquez wasn’t that much bigger, but he was stronger and he was faster.
‘Back away from my client,’ Hanson ordered. Using a move that was deceptively simple and amazingly effective, he used his mass to bully the reporter away.
‘Don’t you touch me!’ she snapped.
He held up his hands. He hadn’t put a finger on her, but it was clear he would if she didn’t stand down.
The bulldog reporter went up on her toes. ‘Elena! Do you know where those hundreds of millions of dollars went?’
Elena hung her head. She was about to make a break for the bathroom again, because she felt sick. Such a wonderful event had been ruined. People were starting to come around the corner to stare. She’d learned to be oblivious to the whispers and finger-pointing they received at the restaurants they visited, but this was entirely different. Their supposed crimes were being shouted out so everyone could hear, but none of it was true.
‘Do you really want to talk scandals, Caroline? Underhanded schemes?’
Alex stepped forward, dropping Elena’s hand. She reached for him, but the tables had turned. Hanson was now keeping his client away from the reporter. He’d planted his heels into the ground and was pressing his shoulders back into Alex’s chest to keep him off the nasty little journalist.
‘Is it true that you slept with the sixty-year-old station manager in Buffalo to get an anchor spot?’
The look of glee on the reporter’s face froze.
Vasquez had his cellphone out and was making his own documentation of the confrontation.
‘Alex,’ Elena breathed. She didn’t want to go down this road. They had to take the higher ground. She’d been dragged through the muck for too long. They both had. She hated what this was going to do to him. She knew how reporters twisted things around.
His voice dropped to a cutting tone. Ax, indeed. ‘I have it on good authority that you’re doing the same here. Is that how you plan to get to the top, Caroline?’
‘Cut,’ the woman hissed at her cameraman. She made a slashing motion across her throat. ‘Stop filming.’
The man merely stood there, gaping at her. Anger flooded his face and his brow crumpled. From his response, there might be some truth to Alex’s angry words.
Elena caught Vasquez by the back of his jacket. They didn’t need to stick around to see any more. ‘Go,’ she ordered. ‘Get us out of here. Now!’
Chapter Fourteen
Back at the penthouse, Elena thanked the bodyguards. They’d showed why Alex had hired them. They’d whisked them out of the zoo so fast, she barely remembered riding in the golf cart again. James had been waiting with the car running at the gate. They’d all executed their jobs with the utmost of skill, and she was grateful they’d been there.
But it was time for them to go.
She politely shooed them out of the penthouse and into the elevator lobby. Vasquez hesitated. He didn’t say anything, but he did lift an eyebrow.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she assured him.
Alex was inside the apartment and at the bar. He’d already knocked back one shot of whiskey. He was still steaming from the reporter’s ambush – not of him, but of her – and he wasn’t in good shape.
‘Will he?’ the bodyguard asked.
She nodded. ‘I’ve got him.’
She’d take care of him. All he’d been doing since they’d returned to the city was try to take care of her.
Vasquez nodded. ‘I’d like to post one man here and another downstairs.’
He lifted his hand when she started to protest. ‘In case any reporter tries to use the stairwell.’
She rolled her eyes. She hadn’t even considered the idea. It would be a long haul, but after tonight, there wasn’t much she’d put past the media.
‘OK. Thank you for everything.’ The security detail hadn’t only protected them physically. Vasquez had forwarded his recording of the incident to both Alex’s lawyers and his PR team during the ride home.
‘You’re welcome, Miss.’
