Page 1 of A Very Titan Christmas
CHAPTER ONE
Titan Group Headquarters, Virginia
Bryce Richmond hadnot expected the gut punch of pain to hit him like a tidal wave when he walked through the tinsel and trimmings of Titan Group’s lobby and into its war room. Well,hiswar room now that he’d signed a contract with the private security group. He and Jared “Boss Man” Westin had agreed on one year of service to see if Bryce could stomach the good life.
This time of year wasn’t the right time to make that decision, though. It was as if a switch had flipped the day after Thanksgiving, and Bryce couldn’t go down a street or walk into a store without it looking like elves had thrown up on everything. That reminded him of what he didn’t have: a home, much of a family, and his brother, who had died in a freak accident after surviving a war.
Jared narrowed his focus on Bryce, as though he were reconsidering their arrangement. “Don’t tell me all this holiday cheer has you second-guessing yourself.”
“No, I’m ready. Throw me in the deep end.” Bryce hadn’t thought his brother’s memory would be so close to the surface at Titan. He wanted to get out of the office. “Whatcha got for me?”
“Actually…” Jared cracked his knuckles. “Your timing couldn’t be better. How do you feel about a little hometown trip?”
His eyebrows arched. He had family somewhere in the Midwest but had spent his childhood moving up the East Coast. “I don’t have a hometown. I moved around a lot.”
“Silverberry Ridge, Vermont. Your background check included it as a place you once called home.”
Ah, the picture-perfect mountain wonderland he’d left at the end of his junior year of high school. That small town in the mountains had taught him the ropes about life and love. It also might have been one of the reasons—that and escaping a chaotic home life—he’d joined the army after graduating high school. The army afforded no distractions or heartaches. “Yup.”
“There’s a security summit in the works. Very classified and off the books.” Jared let out a long breath. “It’s a tangle of Porter’s security detail, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, local police, and the like, and we’ve been asked to supplement the protection details. Fun, right?” He shrugged. “But it should be fairly basic.”
A new wave of tension ratcheted through Bryce’s chest as he anticipated what Jared would say. Bryce had left baggage in Silverberry Ridge. “The usual security details generally handle their jobs fine.”
“Usually, they do,” Jared agreed. “Are you familiar with Senator William Porter?”
A growing pressure stiffened the muscles in his jaw. “Mm-hmm.”
“Silverberry Ridge is Porter’s hometown.”
“Mm-hmm,” Bryce managed again.
“The summit will be held at his family lodge.”
Bryce swallowed hard.
Jared snorted. “Actually, a lodge sounds like a cabin. This is a small family resort.”
He knew it so well.
“Home for the holidays at Christmastime,” Jared said.
Bryce cleared his throat. “It’s not my home anymore.” Not to mention, he hadn’t bothered with holidays in years. Callhim Scrooge, but mistletoe and merriment made him saybah, humbug.
“The senator’s wife will be there,” Jared continued. “She’s used to the whole dog-and-pony show that these things become, but because it’s so hush-hush and because his security will have their hands full, the senator has hired us to keep an eye on his wife. Easy peasy.”
“Just the wife?”
“Affirmative. Why?”
Bryce shrugged. “People spend the holidays with their families and their kids.”
“No.” Jared shook his head. “You’ll be briefed on their personal details, but our sole responsibility is Eloise Porter.”
Only the senator and Mrs. Porter. This was doable, though a headache brewed at the back of his skull. “How much do you know about Eloise Porter?”
Curiously eyeing him, Jared cocked his head. “How much doyouknow about Eloise Porter?”
Bryce rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. How much should he share? “It’s a small town. She was one of those bubbly, PTA-president types.”
