Proof (Targes Executive Protection Book 1)

I should have been relieved as Cass brushed past me. Based on his demeanor, I knew he wasn’t going for any kind of weapon, so I should have been thanking the man upstairs for letting me off so easy. Cass hadn’t been a guy to fuck with before he’d gone to prison.

Actually seeing the man in the flesh made me realize how stupid I’d been when I’d told Axel we had a tail and to get our charge to safety while I confronted whoever was following us. I’d already known who it was, of course, and I’d ignored every one of Axel’s orders to get back in the car. My frustrated colleague had finally followed protocol and done his job… get our charge to safety first.

I’d been so certain I was ready to confront Cass in person after seeing only images of him via the media. His hair had been much longer than I remembered. He’d always kept it short since that was what the military had required. It was still the deep shade of brown it had always been, but he was no longer clean shaven. His lips, those had been drawn tight with fury. I’d never been on the receiving end of that look. I’d only seen him smiling. Even with all the horrors he’d likely seen as he’d served his country, he was always smiling whenever he’d been able to come home between deployments.

His striking blue eyes had sucked me in from the moment he’d pressed his chest against the barrel of my gun. His physical transformation had kept me so preoccupied that he’d managed to disarm me like I’d been nothing more than a child playing with a toy gun. Cass was heavier than he’d been, but it was all muscle. He’d still had tattoos running up the length of his right arm but the beautiful image of a flock of blackbirds flying away from something had been marred by a long, thin scar. He’d been wearing a gold watch on his wrist and a matching chain around his neck, both gifts from his grandmother that he’d received when he’d turned eighteen. The combination had made him look dangerous and distinguished at the same time.

Despite the circumstances, my dick had noticed and admired every part of the man from his snug black T-shirt to his tight, denim-covered ass.

My body hurt from when Cass had thrown me onto the car. I’d been certain that his powerful fist had been meant for me, but it had hit the trunk instead.

Taking his anger out on his precious Mustang Boss—his dream car. That had been unexpected.

In the few seconds between Cass releasing me and walking away, anger and confusion took over and I strode after him, grabbing his arm without thinking. The man immediately turned, knocked my hold loose and grabbed my wrist, painfully twisting it. His eyes were wild as he scanned our surroundings, seeming not to notice he was on the verge of snapping my wrist. Tears stung my eyes as I tried to wrestle free of his hold. I may as well have been trying to free my hand from a block of cement.

I didn’t recognize this Cass. Seconds ago, he’d acted like I was at fault for everything that had happened and now he was exactly like he’d probably been on the night he’d killed three people before shooting me and leaving me for dead.

“Cass,” I said softly even as pain consumed my entire arm. I hadn’t wanted to say anything. I’d just wanted to fight my way free of his painful hold on me and walk in any direction that he wasn’t, his cryptic statement about losing something too be damned.

A split second after his name left my lips, he dropped my arm like it was burning him. I bit back the moan of pain that was trying to escape my throat as I cradled my injured hand. For the briefest of moments, he seemed confused, then distressed. Then, just like that, he was turning his back on me again.

Despite his harsh lesson, I couldn’t let his words go.

You’re not the only one who lost.

What the hell did that mean? Was the asshole trying to somehow justify what he’d done?

“What did you lose, huh? A couple years of your life? This stupid fucking car?” I snapped as I glanced at the Mustang. I still remembered when he’d had the heap of junk towed to our house. He’d been so excited to finally have something of his own.

Something his family couldn’t touch… something they couldn’t take from him.

Jesus, JJ, get a grip.

“Oh, I know,” I continued. “You lost access to all your daddy’s money. I guess he didn’t grease enough palms to get you out sooner. Or did whoever paid you to take out that witness⁠—”

That was all I got out before he turned, wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck, dragged me toward him and slammed his mouth down on mine. I opened mine to order him to release me, but no words came out and not just because his tongue dipped between my lips. I was too busy welcoming his intrusion.

If he’d intended the kiss to be some kind of harsh punishment then a few wires in his brain must have gotten crossed because the kiss, as hungry as it was, was also painfully gentle.

Seeking.

Cherishing.

I didn’t want gentle or any of that other shit.

I didn’t want a lot of things in that moment.

Most of all, I didn’t want him to stop, which was exactly what he was planning to do because he was loosening his hold on the back of my neck.

I left the past behind me and didn’t give one cent about the future. I wanted here and now. I wanted time to stop. I wanted to know what it was really like to be kissed, but I didn’t want just anyone to show me that. I wanted it to be Cass. It had to be Cass.

A few guys had tried to kiss me as they’d fucked me, but I’d always turned my mouth away because it had always felt strangely wrong to allow that level of intimacy.

Nothing about what was happening in this moment felt wrong, so as Cass began to pull back, I followed. I took control of the kiss. It should have felt awkward and weird because I’d never kissed any of the guys I’d been with before my life had gone to hell. Even my first boyfriend, who’d been more of a fuck buddy than anything else, hadn’t kissed me.

So why did it feel so natural now? Why did it feel like I’d been doing it my entire adult life? Why did Cass’s soft groan as my tongue mated with his make butterflies dance in my belly? Why did I feel hot all over?

The answer was that I didn’t give a shit. I’d been given a taste and now I wanted the whole bottle.

I threaded my fingers through Cass’s soft hair and angled his head so I could take full possession of the kiss. My entire body felt ready to go off like a rocket, but there was one particular part of me that was nearly there.

From a kiss.

From his kiss.

I forced myself to break the kiss long enough to draw in some much-needed air. I was already pulling Cass’s mouth back down to mine when he whispered, “JJ.”

It wasn’t that he said my name… it was the way he said it that had reality slapping me in the face. His voice was soft, sweet, needy… relieved.

He might as well have followed Sully’s example of how to get my attention. A bucket full of cold water and a couple dozen ice cubes.

I shoved Cass backwards.

Hard.

Only he didn’t have far to go because at some point when I’d taken control of the kiss, I’d taken control of him too because his back was plastered up against the side of his car and I was the one pinning him there.

“Oh, Jesus,” I croaked as I stepped back and wiped my hand across my mouth.

Thankfully, Cass didn’t say anything or try to take me into his arms again. I couldn’t read his expression at first but there was no missing the moment when whatever thing had caused him to kiss me in the first place disappeared. His face hardened as he glanced at the hand I’d wiped my mouth with and then he was gone. In his car, tires squealing, engine roaring.

Gone.

Sharp, blinding light hit my right eye and then my brain was on fire as flames licked along my scar. It was all I could do to remain standing. I had no awareness of anything but the agonizing pain in my head. There was no image this time, but it didn’t matter. I knew the cause.

I had no idea how long I stood there for or if anyone drove past me. It could have been minutes or hours before the stabbing pain behind my eye eased enough for me to take stock of my surroundings. My gun still lay on the shoulder of the road, the clip a few inches away. My jacket, which the hot sun had turned into my own personal oven, was rumpled and pushed off my shoulders just the slightest bit. Had I done that or had Cass?

Fuck, what difference did it make?

My phone began vibrating in my jacket pocket, but I didn’t answer it right away. I needed to get my shit together first. I laughed harshly. It was a little late for that. I’d just made out with the man who’d killed a federal agent, the witness he’d been assigned to protect, and the innocent child who’d been too young to really understand what was happening. Cass had murdered all three in cold blood, but he’d fucked up when it had been my turn. He’d left a witness.

Though I really hadn’t been much of one. Cass’s bullet had seen to that.

I grabbed my gun and put the clip back in. I searched out the bullet that Cass had ejected from the chamber and added it to the clip.

An approaching car had me pulling myself together so I once again looked like the professional I was supposed to be. I was surprised to see that it was the SUV I’d been riding around in for the better part of a week.

“I told you not to come back for me,” I grumbled when Axel stepped out from behind the steering wheel.

“And I told you to call me in five or I would be coming back,” the good-looking guy responded. The man should have ticked all of the boxes on my roster of guys that I wanted to fuck for real.

He wasn’t on it.

No one was.

Well, no one had been.

“Did you get the guy? The tail?” Axel asked. I could hear our outraged client yelling from the back seat about being late for something, but I drowned out the rest of her words.

“Yeah… wasn’t a tail. Just some harmless kid in his dad’s muscle car hoping to get her attention.” I motioned toward the back seat. “I’ve got his information so we can run background on him if we need to.”

Axel held my gaze for a moment, his dark eyes searching out my words for any lies. I kept my cool as I made my way to the passenger side of the car, but my thoughts were consumed with wondering how long Cass had been following me for and to what end. If he’d wanted me dead, he’d had every opportunity to do the job and be gone long before anyone appeared to witness the event. I’d only noticed his car the day before and while I’d been sure it was him based on the Mustang alone, I’d had to be one hundred percent certain. The second I’d seen him that morning as we’d reached our charge’s house, I’d confirmed it was him and had begun planning how to confront him.

I hadn’t had any legal reason to stop him, but legalities hadn’t been my first concern when I’d realized the man who’d tried to kill me two years earlier, a man I’d ironically trusted with my life at that time, was following me, probably to finish the job.

I avoided Axel’s glances as he got the car moving again and simultaneously calmed down the actress as she demanded an explanation for what had happened. I didn’t pay her any attention because I was too focused on one question and one question only.

Would Cass leave and never come back as I’d ordered?

The question wasn’t really the issue, though. It was the answer that had me rattled. Cass needed to go anywhere that I wasn’t.

Problem was, the knot in my stomach didn’t ease at the thought of never seeing Cass again. It only grew and tightened until my body was so rife with tension that it had Axel asking me, “You okay?”

No.

I definitely wasn’t the fuck okay.

“Yeah,” I said as evenly as I could. “All good.”

I glanced at Axel, who seemed satisfied with my response.

At least someone was, because I sure as shit wasn’t.