Page 70 of Breach of Honor

“One night?” Her tone was hesitant, but I knew she was considering it.

“Just one night. But you can say no if you want. It’s why I called you.” Shit, I hoped she didn’t say no after I’d already told Jason yes. I could always put him up in a hotel, but it would make me feel like crap.

“He can stay for one night.” Still, her tone was uneasy. I hated hearing her this way.

“Are you sure? You don’t sound so sure.”

“He’s your friend. We need to find common ground.”

“Damn, I love you. Thank you, baby.”

“No need to thank me. I like making you happy just as much as you like making me happy.”

“That is so sweet, I think I just got a cavity.” I listened to her laughing, probably gripping her stomach. “Breathe, M…” I’ll never forget when I’d had her quite literally rolling-on-the-bed laughing back in February. She couldn’t stop, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she couldn’t breathe. Scared the shit out of me. I bolted to the kitchen searching for a paper bag, my heart hammering against my chest. I learned then Miranda hyperventilated easily.

Her soft gasps into the phone kicked my heart into gear.

Miranda inhaled, then slowly exhaled a few times, and I copied her as if I were there with her. “Sorry. I know how this bothers you.” She inhaled deeply again and released a cleansing breath.

“It’s okay. Better?”

“Mhm. I need to go though. My twelve o’clock will be here soon.”

“All right, have a good day. Love you.”

“Love you too, handsome. See you tonight.” She ended the call.

I didn’t even have time to wipe the smile off my face before Jason waltzed in after a single knock on the door. His hands were in his jean pockets as always. He had on his standard attire; black V-neck shirt and shiny black oxfords.

He reminded me of the guy on thatLucifershow. Simone had only mentioned the actor about a gazillion times.

“Hey, your secretary said you weren’t busy.”

Interestingly, Jason didn’t have his usual cocky swagger act on today as he sat in the chair in front of my desk. Again, he seemed nervous, jittery.

“Everything okay? You’ve been off since you arrived at my place.”

“What? Yeah. Oh yeah, I’m good. Just got work stuff on my mind.” Jason relaxed in the chair.

Work stuff? I didn’t really believe him, but then Jason wasn’t much of a businessman, so maybe he was just stressed. Either way, I didn’t have time to worry about it.

“Let me wrap up a few things, then we can go.” I turned my attention back to my laptop to finish an email I’d started before I called Miranda.

Another client wanted to make a withdrawal from their account. It shouldn’t have been a big deal—it was their money after all—but fifty grand for a European summer vacation was a lot. I hated how my stomach roiled every time a client wanted to withdraw a large sum of money. If it weren’t for the breach, it wouldn’t faze me. Of course I was going to give them the money. We couldn’t afford to appear weak or panicked with our clients. I just wished my blood pressure would calm the hell down.

“What’s going on here? It’s like fucking Fort Knox at the visitor’s desk. If it weren’t for Jorge speaking up, I would have been patted down and had that wand scanner thing ran over my body.”

“New security protocol.” I finished typing the email. York had made it crystal clear I wasn’t to talk to anybody aboutanything. I knew as much, but keeping all this information to myself was wearing on me.

“What for? I mean… everything okay in the land of the St. James billionaires?”

I slowly raised my eyes to his, then narrowed them after hearing a shaky element in his voice. His eyes darted away.

“Seriously, your family is on top of the world with SJI and your side ventures”—he shifted in his seat—“and offshore accounts.”

I closed my laptop and stood. “We’re just fine. Let’s go.” My gut tightened. I wasn’t sure why, but suddenly I felt off.

Must have been the fifty Gs I just approved to transfer out of the Barrett account.

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