Protecting His Assets (14 page)

A lightbulb suddenly went on. “Oh, jeez,” she said with a gasp. “That’s about the same time your father…”

“Killed himself,” he finished in a stone-cold voice. “In the house. With my birthday party going on right downstairs. In the circumstances, it seemed in poor taste to attend the prom a week later.”

She put her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Maybe, but she knew well that time could never completely heal those kinds of wounds.

Her mother’s death hadn’t been as dramatic or public, but it had been tragic all the same, and it had shaken her to the core. April was still haunted by those final days, by the gaunt shell that her lively, beautiful mother had become at the end. And she regretted all the things she’d never gotten to say, and all the things they’d never do together.

Thinking about it now made her angry with her father for pushing her away when they needed all the time they could get with one another.

“Wait a minute.” She paused to connect the dots as she recalled the news stories she’d been reading yesterday about the incident and looked up at Nolan. “That means your birthday is…”

“Next week,” he admitted with a clenched jaw. “But it’s not really something I go out of my way to acknowledge these days.”

They spent a few moments in silence after that. The backseat of the limo seemed to get smaller as both of their pasts piled on in to join the party.

“Well,” he said with a wince and a chuckle. “This is a sorry start to our first date.”

The fact that he was calling it a “first” date unnerved her. She’d pretty much convinced herself that this was a one-off fueled by curiosity on both their parts, and when she could think about it in those terms, she’d still felt safe and in control.

In fact, she’d been expecting him to lay a practiced seduction technique on her pretty quick, proving he thought of her the same as all his other women, but so far he’d been a complete gentleman.

“So tonight…why did your mother decide to combine your father’s memorial with a charity event?” she asked, clasping her hands in her lap to keep them to herself. The temptation of Nolan’s proximity was so distracting she could barely focus on the conversation.

He nodded. “She’s on the board for the organization, and she
hated
the idea of anyone patting her hand and whispering false condolences on the anniversary of my father’s death. She decided to turn it into something productive instead.”

“That’s a wonderful way to approach it. From what I read today, this thing is going to be the event of the season. You must be proud of her.” April had spent the afternoon reviewing the in-house security arrangements with the venue staff and making plans to beef it up where necessary, to keep Nolan safe. It had relieved her mind to learn that everything was already very organized. “Your family went through a lot, but she sounds like an amazingly strong, resilient woman.”
Like you,
she wanted to add, but that would have betrayed just how much she’d been thinking about him beyond what a bodyguard should think about her client.

She winced. He hesitated so long that she was sure she’d stepped over the line. He’d made it more than clear that he didn’t like to discuss his personal life, and asking after one’s mother was definitely venturing into personal territory.

“It’s okay, I didn’t mean to pry. I respect your boundaries, and I would never—”

“After my father’s death, my mother retreated from the city and all the social connections she had here. It was too painful for her to face those people, and it took a long time before she wanted to return. But now that she finally has, she refuses to hide from our past. Instead, she wants to use what happened to help others with similar problems.”

“You’re very lucky to have someone like her as a role model,” April murmured, her throat tight as she thought of her own mother.

“She and my sister are the reason I started Optimus Inc. with Harrison.” She was struck numb by the tenderness that crept into his smile when he spoke of his family. He obviously had a soft spot that couldn’t be diluted by his typical insouciance, and she found it endearing and completely irresistible.

She cleared her throat. “Your family lost a lot. A husband, a father, a provider.”

“It was hard on them,” he admitted, glancing out the dark tinted windows.

Her heart squeezed.
It was hard on you.

She wondered if he realized that she could see the reflection of his solemn expression in the window; that his carefree, impudent mask had slipped to reveal the pain he still carried with him. “You wanted to help your family get back their security and their pride.”

He turned back to her. “Yes, but mostly I just couldn’t stand the looks of pity from people who’d pretended to be our friends. I couldn’t stand being labeled and ashamed of something I had no control over, so I resolved to make sure they could never pity me again.”

“Well, you’ve definitely managed to turn all that around. The press loves you, and your family is climbing back to the top of that social ladder.”
All he needed was a stunning, equally connected wife
.

His mouth thinned. “And I refuse to let anything happen to jeopardize that.”

She shook off her disappointment. He hadn’t seemed like the type to find wealth and social status so important, but after spending the last two days together, she understood why they would be. The playboy persona was just a mask—and not a very good one for anyone who’d spent even a few hours with him. Nolan assumed responsibility for his family at an early age, and he would never fail them, because he cared…and she thought he probably couldn’t bear the thought of being likened to his father.

His inflexible position regarding the situation with the anonymous threats made more sense now, too. Nolan hated for anyone to have control over any part of his life. The fact that he’d let her intervene as much as he had was actually pretty surprising. She had a feeling that determination came from the same place as his resolute desire to master the art of boxing as well.

She’d been wrong before. Except for the fact that they were both accomplished and connected, Nolan wasn’t anything like Jeremy. Yes, he was from that world, and yes, he was charming. He was flirtatious. But those traits were backed by a genuineness that her ex had lacked. Behind Nolan’s playboy antics was a deeply motivated man.

No, he might not be like Jeremy, but his drive and ambition made him even more untouchable to someone like her, because Nolan was headed for great things, and if he did finally settle down, he was going to need someone who could play the game just as well as he did. April knew she was not that person.

The car slowed, and April looked out the window. “We’re here,” she said. The event was being held at the Met.

She shifted to the seat closer to the front and tapped on the glass. It slowly slid open, and John twisted around in the passenger seat to grin at her. “What can I do for you, ma’am?”

She reached through and punched him on the arm. “First of all, you can quit ma’aming me.” She turned serious. “Everything’s in place?”

He tapped his ear, indicating that Nora was on point at the other end. April was also wearing a mic and an earpiece, but in order to maintain a semblance of privacy, she wasn’t being patched into the main feed. Nora would be able to hear everything she was saying, but April would only get an earful if there was a security emergency.

“Two of our guys are making extra rounds at all the entrances, as per your suggestion,” said John. “And there’ll be another three inside on the floor, including me.”

That had been the original plan, but she was glad to have confirmation. “Good. That should be enough.”

He nodded and turned to Nolan. “Sir, please remain in the vehicle until we give the all clear.”

The window closed again. “Are you sure all this is necessary?” Nolan asked.

“Given the rapid escalation of the incidences of violence against you, we need to take greater precautions when you’re out in public.”

“But this is a pretty busy place. Only a nutcase is going to try something in a room full of people, at a charity event no less.”

She raised her brows. “And you think we’re
not
dealing with a crazy person because…?”

He laughed. “I guess you have a point.”

“The museum has good security, but I identified a few weaknesses in their program and just want to make sure everything gets covered properly. We can’t afford to be lax,” she reminded him.

He reached out and pulled her back across the space to the seat right beside him. His arm slipped around her waist, and suddenly the shadowy car seemed as intimate as a darkened hotel room. She’d been focused on his safety only a moment ago, but now his mouth was a mere inch from hers, and she couldn’t think of anything else.

“I love when you talk security to me,” he murmured in a low voice, making her stomach flutter.

A day after meeting Nolan, she knew. She
knew
she was in trouble. It was crazy how much he affected her.

She couldn’t deny the spark between them, but neither could she ever forget that they were completely wrong for each other. Even if their jobs, their position, and their futures weren’t in conflict, neither of them were ready for a relationship. Nolan was focused on his company, and she needed to focus on her father. Tonight was just business.

Chapter Nine

W
hen April had opened her door to him, he’d experienced a moment of true speechlessness; and Nolan always had something to say…usually something antagonizing or provoking. This time, though, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to say anything but the absolute, unvarnished truth. She was gorgeous, and he’d wanted her to know it.

She still hadn’t let her hair down, even for an evening like this. That was the first thing he’d noticed. The high, sleek bun only gave her the timeless beauty of Grace Kelly and exaggerated the stubborn tilt of her chin and the fire in her eyes. The dress she’d bought was a perfect choice. It was understated but cut to highlight every curve. She’d put on just a hint of makeup, enough to add some smoke and mystery to her already striking features. A powerful combination that left him dizzy with lust, which might prove to be awkward when they danced…and they
would
dance. He’d have it no other way.

The crowd was thickest near the entrance, and even as he put his arm around April to shield her, she shifted to put herself directly between him and everyone who looked as if they might be approaching them.

He could have told her that none of these people were dangerous. These were the people he’d grown up with. Silly, rich, bored. They were here tonight, and they would be at the next event tomorrow, and the one after that, because there was nothing of actual substance to their social butterfly lives.

As a teenager, Steve had imagined that adulthood would consist of party after party, with the occasional business lunch thrown in, and an endless string of beautiful women. It had seemed reasonable to assume given the example provided by his father, who had thrived in just this kind of environment. But then everything had fallen apart, and the same men who’d played golf with Robert Nolan, drank with Robert Nolan, and worked with Robert Nolan, had started talking about how they’d always known he was unstable and it was no surprise that he couldn’t manage his own company. They’d told their wives not to invite his wife to their homes and told their children not to play with his son and daughter. The man who’d never spent an evening alone in life had been lowered into the ground with less than fifteen mourners at his funeral, including his devastated family.

At first, Steve had tried to change their minds. He’d begged and pleaded for his friends to stand by him, watched his mother and sister cry too many times. But it hadn’t taken long to figure out how the world really worked, and he’d become determined that no one would ever see that weakness in him ever again. He’d worked hard to maintain the image of a carefree playboy, knowing it was the best way to make these people forget about how broken and shattered he’d once felt.

Some would say he’d succeeded too well. No one outside of his immediate circle—which included his mother and sister, Ben Harrison and his fiancée, and Meredith—knew who the real Steve Nolan was today.

Ironically, the only other person he knew as intensely private as he was would be April Porter. She was reserved and defensive, nothing like the venomous, superficial people he had become used to.

As they stepped into the wide foyer of the museum, Steve noticed the first of April’s extra security personnel, and it didn’t take long to pick out the rest. He was used to making a production of entrances, but this was a little ridiculous. Too many nondescript black suits; dudes pressing their index finger to their ears and whispering, apparently to no one.

Someone was going to notice, probably the press. And as soon as that happened, the shit was going to hit the fan. Ben was already worried. He’d called in a panic just before Steve had gone to pick up April. Apparently this morning’s incident had been leaked to the most shameless rag on the net,
Daily Scoop
, which meant it had gone from a single slashed tire story to death threats painted in pig’s blood across his windshield.

Steve had briefly considered cancelling, but he and Ben both agreed that he needed to be visible tonight to prove to the world—and the large number of their local shareholders that would be in attendance at the gala—that he wasn’t running scared, everything was under control, and they didn’t have to worry about putting their money into Optimus Inc.

He and April hadn’t taken more than ten steps through the crowd when someone called his name. “Brace yourself,” he murmured.

“What? Why?” April immediately went into bodyguard mode. She stiffened, at full attention as she scanned everyone’s faces.

He put a quelling hand on her arm and chuckled. “Terrorists are not about to descend,” he said. “But almost as distressing…my mother is bearing down on us.”

Her mouth dropped open as if that was indeed distressing. She smoothed a hand over her hip. “It won’t be that bad,” he promised. “As long as you don’t show any fear, she can’t steal your soul.”

She glared at him. “Are you
never
serious?”

“It’s bad for the colon. You should keep that in mind, you know.” He grinned then turned to face the approaching woman. “Mother! What a surprise to see you here.”

She smiled like the cat that caught the canary as she looked up at April and leaned in to kiss Steve’s cheek. No air kisses for his mother. No, she planted both lips full on him, leaving a lipstick mark that he’d have to rub away as soon as she left.

“I organized this; you knew very well I would be here. If anyone should be surprised, it’s me.” Her gaze narrowed in April’s direction. “You showed less than no interest in this event when I asked you to come.”

“And I still have no interest in it,” he admitted with a tight-lipped expression, but he squeezed her hand. “But I do have this crazy interest in checking in on you every once in a while.”

His mother beamed, and it was nice to see her happy. She’d shed too many tears since her husband’s death, but now that she’d finally returned from her self-imposed exile, she laughed a lot more, and she seemed to be having no trouble re-forging the society connections that had snapped ten years ago through no fault of her own. Steve only wished that she and Grace would let go of the past completely. He couldn’t bring himself to understand the point of a memorial service for a selfish, stupid man who’d destroyed his family and then taken his own life. There must be some other way to bring much-needed recognition to a worthy charity.

She kissed his cheek again.

“Cut it out. My date is going to get jealous,” he teased, rubbing his cheek.

As if she’d been waiting for the opening, his mother said, “And are you going to introduce us?”

“April Porter, ma’am. I’m pleased to meet you.” Like a drill sergeant, she sharply stuck out her hand. His mother looked down at it with a bemused expression before accepting the offering, and they shook hands—probably more vigorously than his mother had expected.

“I’m Sarah Nolan,” she answered, giving April an up-and-down look of assessment. She knew him well and understood that while the paparazzi might have caught him with a couple of bimbos in the past, he wouldn’t have dared bring someone to a public event being run by his mother without thinking long and hard about it first. “So, Ms. Porter, do I know that name?”

“I’m sorry, I-I don’t think we’ve met before.” April looked a little lost, but Steve understood exactly what was going on.

He leveled his mother with a hard look. That might be the typical first question out of every other matchmaking mama—is the girl’s family good enough?—but she knew better than to judge people by such false qualifications. Her own husband had come from the finest New York stock, with a lineage that went back generations, and look how that had turned out.

She’d seen the warning in his eyes and backed down…a little. “Well then, how did the two of you meet?”

“Oh, well, I’m…” She looked to him, uncertain what to say.

He swore under his breath. He should have warned his mother ahead of time, but he wouldn’t lie to her now. “She’s my bodyguard,” he admitted quietly.

Her socially polite expression turned to one of shock and fear. “Bodyguard? Steven, do you want to explain why you need a
bodyguard
?”

Shit
. “It’s no big deal, but I should have called you, and I meant to but the time got away from me. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, okay?”

“What kind of trouble are you in?” Her voice had gotten very thin.

“No trouble,” he assured her firmly. He was the one to kiss her on the cheek this time, silently pleading with her to let it go. “Everything’s fine, I promise.”

She looked slightly appeased, but a frown line creased her forehead. “I’ll expect your call
first thing
in the morning.”

He raised his right hand. “Bright and early, hangover or no.”

A gentleman wearing a headset who appeared to belong to the museum appeared at his mother’s side and tapped her on the shoulder with a subtle clearing of his throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed before pasting on a smile that looked much less natural than before he’d spilled the beans, and he only blamed himself.

“Hey, I know you have work to do tonight, so we’ll be on our way,” he told her. “Don’t worry about anything, okay?”

She nodded, but the shadows in her eyes didn’t go away, and he knew she was reliving the night a gunshot had rung out through the house and she’d run into her own bedroom and found her husband’s blood splashed all over the walls. The night she’d realized everything had been falling apart around her for months and Robert had kept her completely in the dark until it was way too late.

He hated that he’d scared her and made her feel the same way as she had that day. When she squeezed his hand one last time and disappeared back into the crowd, he heaved a sigh of regret.

Blinking, he looked around at all the lights and decorations. “I should have told her that everything looked great. Do you think she wants me to tell her that everything looks great?”

April put her hand on his arm. “It does look great, and I’m sure she knows it. I’m so sorry, Nolan. I froze when your mother asked who I was. I should have come up with something instead of putting you in that position.”

He shook his head. “It’s my fault. I should have told her what was going on sooner. I kept putting it off because I didn’t want her to worry.”

He looked down and realized he had her hand in a grip so tight her fingers must have gone numb, but she hadn’t said a word. He let go abruptly. “I’ll talk to her and my sister tomorrow.”

“I can have our guys keep an eye on her for the balance of the evening,” she suggested. “So far, we’ve had no reason to believe that the attacks against you have any possibility of extending to your family, but I’ll suggest we keep some light surveillance on Mrs. Nolan and your sister until we’re certain that the matter is resolved.”

He hadn’t wanted to admit that this whole thing might touch them, but he couldn’t risk it a minute longer. He nodded. “Thanks.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What was that? Did you just accept my professional judgment? Did you just say thank you?”

He really had been an asshole.

She turned her head and murmured in a low voice, talking into a microphone, arranging protection for his mother right away. The idea that he needed April and her agency to protect him and his family still drove him insane, but he realized just how grateful he was to have her.

The crowd was getting to him. The laughter and clinking of glassware had become abrasive. He needed to move, and this was no place for a boxing match.

He slipped his arm around his bodyguard’s waist and smiled when she let out a gasp of surprise. “I think it’s time to dance,” he murmured in her ear.

“Ah, wouldn’t you like to make the rounds first, or get a drink?”

“Do you need a drink?” he asked.

“I don’t drink when I’m on the job.”

“I thought you were on a date.”

“I might have to agree with you,” she teased with a grin. “After all, I met your mother and everything.”

“And how many other guys have introduced you to their parents?”

She pursed her lips and shook her head, eyes sparkling like they were made of stars. “I’m not telling you that.”

“Well, at the moment, I have absolutely no interest in alcohol, or mingling.” He gazed into them and was mesmerized. “Or anything else but you. Don’t make me wait any longer to hold you in my arms. That’s the only reason we’re still here.”

Her eyes flashed as she glowered up at him, making her even more bewitching. “Your mother was right, wasn’t she? You had no intention of coming to this thing at all, did you?”

He shrugged. “I won’t deny that the temptation to get you all decked out and show you my moves was definitely a deciding factor.”

She raised a sculpted eyebrow, but he recognized the playful smile tugging at her mouth. “Your moves?”

With a chuckle, he steered her into the Great Hall. Tables had been set up along the perimeter and the wait at the bar was long and three lines deep, but they were headed for the center of the almost deserted dance floor. The alcohol hadn’t been flowing long enough yet for most people to drum up enough bravery for dancing. April herself suddenly looked nervous, glancing over her shoulder as if marking the nearest exit.

He stopped and let go of her, but held out his arm in invitation.

“Maybe we should—”

“Dance with me, April Porter.” His voice lowered. “Here. Now.”

To his surprise, she took a deep breath and closed the distance between them. She laid one hand on his forearm and the other in his open palm, but as the band started to play a modern waltz she stiffened almost immediately. Panic lit her eyes and she bit her lip harder than usual.

With a soft smile, he ducked his head to whisper in her ear. “There’s nothing to it. Just follow my lead.”

H
eat exploded in her cheeks the moment he realized she didn’t know how to dance.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, drawing back. “This isn’t going to work. We should probably just stop before I embarrass—”

He tipped her chin up and smiled into her face. “It’s easy. If you can dance around an opponent in the boxing ring, you can do this,” he promised.