“We can’t really blame her,” said Luke. “She already lost her parents. If she admitted to herself that Joslyn was the one who caused that car crash, she’d lose everything.”
“Emma might not figure it out. There’s no need to tell her anything that could hurt her even more than she already is.”
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not telling her anything. But if she gets her hands on Joslyn’s bank statements and sees strange deposits coming in once a month, she’ll want to know who it’s from.”
“It’s not like she’s a master sleuth, Luke. Even if she sees them, she won’t know they’re from you. I’m assuming you covered your tracks, right?”
Luke had done plenty of covering. Michael had taught him more than he ever wanted to know about sneaking around in the digital world. Normally he wouldn’t be worried about the truth coming out. But Emma wasn’t normal. “Emma might not be able to figure it out, but she has time and money on her side. All she has to do is hire the right guy, and she’ll never speak to me again.”
“Never speak to us again,” pointed out Michael. “She’s going to think I was involved too. But there’s an easy enough fix.”
Luke rubbed the ever increasing crick in the back of his neck. “What’s your easy fix?”
“We have to find the people she hires and make sure they know that we’ll pay them more than she ever will.”
Jace took a deep breath of the cool fall air as his feet pounded on the concrete jogging path in Central Park. It was too crowded for his liking, but the rotating door of crazy personalities was one of the things he enjoyed about New York. Working with Victoria had been his first job in the city and he couldn’t say he hated it. Not sure if he’d ever want to live there forever, but it had a certain charm.
It would be a nice place to pass the time while he decided what job he was going to work next. One of his old military contacts had already messaged him about some abandoned fuel station in the Ukraine that needed guarding for some reason—probably because there was something much more explosive than fuel in the underground tanks—but Jace enjoyed his time stateside, and his taste of the corporate world was more interesting than he ever expected it to be. Or it was until the whole mess with Joslyn got sorted out. Once Victoria was free from death threats, he thought he was going to explode with boredom.
Besides, he had a feeling even someone as rich as Victoria couldn’t afford his fee for a full-time, year-round position. He was never a nine-to-five kind of guy.
But he could use this break to get back to his normal self. He’d put on a few pounds from sitting in one position for so long and it shouldn’t take him longer than two or three weeks to get back to his preferred fifteen percent body fat. His heart rate monitor beeped and he increased his pace, making sure he stayed in the peak zone to keep his endurance up.
At least he’d been able to keep his running schedule. Most people didn’t see the benefit of continuous endurance training, but he’d been in places where the ability to run five miles straight had come in handy more than once.
Right after he hit the four-and-a-half mile mark, the phone strapped to his arm buzzed. He debated letting it go to voicemail and checking it after his run, but at the last second, he pulled off to the side of the pathway and checked the screen. It was from a number he didn’t recognize.
“Jace here.”
“Jace! I’m so glad you answered,” said a rushed, feminine voice from the other end. “This is Emma Devereaux. We met yesterday outside Hunt Tower. I was hoping we could schedule a meeting to discuss my hiring you for a job.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. Shit. He never thought she would actually try to hire him. Didn’t she say that she was going to check him out first? How the hell could she have done a thorough look into his history in less than a day? “I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you so soon.”
“Well, I’m not in town long and would like to tie things up rather quickly. Do you have time later today?”
“I’m booked solid today,” he lied.
“Strange how a man between clients is so busy. I didn’t realize there was this much competition for your services,” she said with just enough bite to let him know she was onto him.
“I don’t want your business. Do I make myself clear?”
“Oh, I suppose that’s clear enough. I suppose I’ll just have to go back to Hunt Tower and track down Victoria myself then.”
Jace gripped the phone tighter in his fist. “What?”
“Well, you aren’t going to help, so I suppose I’ll just have to do everything myself, right? I’ll have to go back to Hunt Tower and I’ll refuse to leave until Victoria will see me.”
He’d misjudged Emma. She was every bit as crazy as her sister. “Security won’t let you get anywhere near her.”
“I have my ways, Jace. Anyway, I appreciate what little time you’ve given me. Now I really have to get ready.”
“Wait! If you really want to meet, we can meet. But I am not taking you on as a client, understand?” At least if he had her in person, he could look her in the eye and decide just how dangerous she was. He’d written the tiny Southerner off as harmless yesterday, but apparently she had a bigger bite than he thought. He just needed to see for himself whether she was bluffing.
“Great,” she said, the smugness clear in her voice. “Where and when?”
“Meet me at a coffee shop just outside Central Park in one hour. I’ll text you the address.” He hung up before she could respond. Morning traffic could be a beast in the city, but it was her own problem if she had to rush to make it in time.
He sent her the address and tucked his phone back in his armband before he continued on his run. So now the heiress knew he was involved with Victoria somehow. He made damn sure that his name stayed out of the press, so she must’ve seen him in one of the pictures that leaked.
But he didn’t work for Victoria anymore. If Emma wanted to storm Hunt Tower for a second day in a row, it really wasn’t his responsibility. Gordon could handle the heiress half his size, and Victoria had more than proved herself in stressful situations.
So why had he agreed to meet with her? He really needed to get back in the field. Working in corporate America had already softened him. So what if Emma got arrested for trespassing? Her family had the money and lawyers to take care of her.
He was half tempted to cancel the whole thing. But hell, she was right about one thing. He didn’t have a full schedule. Maybe if he met her in person, he could actually convince her to leave him and his former client alone. Jace had a feeling his intimidation skills worked much better in person than over the phone.
“I’m heading out for the day. Let me know about any plans before you make them this time, okay?” Emma gave Luke a pointed look.
He smiled up at her, no sign of lingering resentment from their argument on his face. “I promise. You will be included in the planning stages next time.”
“Glad to hear it.” She pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator and placed it in her oversized bag. She could grab something to eat at the coffeehouse. Jace didn’t seem like the kind of guy to walk around with an oversized latte in his hand, but she wasn’t about to question his meeting spot. As long as he showed up and didn’t stand her up, she’d be happy.