“Shay, this is why my baby sister dragged me out of the bed at four in the morning when I’d barely gone to bed. It’s why I got in my car and drove my ass here. You need help.”
“Yes, I do need help,” she admitted.
“Then let us help you.”
“You don’t understand. I don’t trust strangers. After my divorce last year, the press is finally starting to leave me alone. I don’t want anyone around who might leak stories to the media.”
“What do you want us to do here? KSI needs access to you to protect you.”
“You’re not understanding.” She stood and started to pace. “Desi said you could help me.”
“I’m trying.”
She heard the frustration in his voice and knew it was her fault. She wasn’t being clear. “I want your help, Max, because Desi trusts you. I feel like I know you, as much as she talks about you. You’re not a stranger to me. The only person I’ll give complete access to me is you.”
“Me?”
“If you want to be my bodyguard, I can do that, but I won’t agree to anyone else unless you’re here too. I’m afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Did Desi tell you anything at all about me and my divorce?”
“No.”
“Of course she didn’t.” Shay sighed dramatically. “I was married to Duncan Kane. We went through a very nasty, very public divorce last year.”
She watched as the realization of who her ex was washed over Max. Everyone knew Duncan Kane, Hollywood’s darling and action star extraordinaire. What they didn’t know? He was a first-class asshole who wanted to control everything she did and then bitched if she so much as hinted at having a thought of her own. He was verbally abusive, and he became physically abusive in the last few months of their marriage.
If it hadn’t been for Desi, she might still be married to the man. She’d been drowning in self-doubt to the point she started to believe his bullshit. Desi found out and put an end to it. She threatened to tell the media their darling wasn’t so darling. He let Shay leave after that. Des may be a little flighty at times, but Duncan knew her well enough to know she never lied. She’d do what she said she’d do.
It had taken Shay months to regain her self-esteem while dealing with rumors and the press hounding her. She couldn’t handle them on her twenty-four-seven again. If someone from Max’s firm slipped them information or photos…no. Her nerves couldn’t take the constant worry alongside the fear she was now feeling thanks to a stalker.
“I’m not a bodyguard, Shay. It’s not what I do.”
“You do work for a security firm, don’t you?”
He smiled the laziest smile, and for a moment she forgot the press and her stalker. That smile of his was going to be her undoing.
“I do. I find people who don’t want to be found. It’s not all bodyguards.”
“You’re the person who goes out and does stakeouts on cheating spouses?” Desi sang Max praise after praise. If that was what he was in charge of, she was sunk.
He laughed. “Sometimes, but I rarely do those cases. My cases are a bit more involved, a little dangerous. Say you stole half a billion dollars from the studio here and went into hiding. I would find you. It might take some time, but I always find who I’m looking for.”
“So, you can find the stalker?”
That grin came back out. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll find him.”
He sounded self-assured and more than a little cocky.
“Still, unless you’re here, I don’t want a bodyguard. I need to know my secrets aren’t sold or pictures aren’t released to the press. I just got those vultures off my back. I can’t handle them and everything else.”
That wiped the smile off his face. “I assure you, everyone at KSI is vetted. Most are ex-military or police. No one there would ever violate your privacy like that. It’s why we’re hired by people like you to begin with.”
“People like me?” She arched a brow. It didn’t sound like something complimentary coming out of his mouth.
“Actors, musicians, creative people.”
Uh-huh. She had his number. He didn’t like actors, musicians, or creative people.
She let it slide.
“Look, Mr. Sheridan…”
“Call me Max.”
“Max.” She let his name roll around on her tongue. She liked it. “I’m willing to pay your company a large amount of money not only to help me find this stalker, but to keep me safe while you do it. But the only thing I’m asking in return for that exorbitant fee is that you, not some unknown bodyguard, are right here with me twenty-four-seven. Desi trusts you, and I trust her, so that means I trust you by default.”
To an extent.
In the film industry, sometimes your own family sold you out for money. Something else she was intimately familiar with.
He sighed, and she saw how much it cost him to bite back his irritation, but she wasn’t going to budge on this. She had to trust someone, and Desi vouched for Max. Desi saved her life, for all intents and purposes, so that gave her more credit than any firm’s professional declaration. She promised Shay that Max could be trusted. That was all there was to it.
“I need to discuss it with Viktor and Kade Kincaid. They’re the owners of the company. It’ll be up to them if your demands can be met or not.”
“That’s fine.”
“If they agree to this nonsense…”
“It’s not nonsense, Max. I’m scared. I just want to know no one is going to take advantage of me. You’re Desiree’s brother, and she vouches for you. She said you wouldn’t let me down, that you’d keep me safe.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, but it was loud enough for her to hear.
“Please, Max?” She didn’t bat her eyes at him. She simply looked at him, letting her fear and the stark reality of the situation she was in shine through her expression.
“Fine. If the owners agree, I’ll do my best, but you’re going to have to agree to Jasper or Cole as well. They’re the best we have and know how to protect you, what to look for, while I track this asshole down.”
“Track him down?”
“That’s what I do, sweetheart. I find unfindable people, and I’m damn good at it.”
That much she believed.
Max asked for her cell number, and she gave it to him without hesitation. He also collected the keys to her apartment. Desiree assured her he was above board, and she believed her best friend.
When he left, Shay felt better than she had since she walked into her apartment and found it broken into.
Maybe everything would turn out okay after all.
Max cussed all the way to the KSI office. How did he let Desi get him into these situations? He called her to tell her the fuck off, and she didn’t even bother answering her phone. Granted, it was late in San Francisco. To make himself feel better, he left her a blistering message telling her exactly what she was going to do when they went back to the ranch over the summer. She was mucking stalls every day they were there for this fucked-up situation.
The place was still dark, so he let himself in, flipped on the lights, and found his way back to the kitchen. First thing he did was put on a pot of coffee. Viktor and Kade should be here soon. He’d sent a text to them both telling them to hightail it to the office ASAP to deal with the demands of a potential new client. He’d also texted Jasper to see if he was on a case, and if not, to get his ass here as well.