Alpha Male Incorporated Under Your Protection (4 page)

“Zander, I can’t talk to you anymore. I need to finish packing and then head on over to Frank’s. I want to get a look around the property. I might call you later on tomorrow or the next day to set up some surveillance inside and outside of the house.”

“Do you think it’s that bad you’re going to need cameras already?” Zander questioned, the joking tone completely gone from his voice.

Jax didn’t think it had moved to that point already, but he wanted to have everything in order just in case. He hated to be unprepared when it came to his job. “Like I said, let me check the entire place and then I’ll get back to you.”

“Fine, I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Walking over to the phone, Jax pressed the end button and then made his way back over to his bed to finish packing. Slowly, he looked over everything spread out across the mattress making sure that he had everything he needed for his trip.

Seeing the remaining items out in the open had his long buried memories of why he’d retired from being a bodyguard in the first place rushing back If he hadn’t been overseas on an assignment none of it would had happened and she would still be alive. He should have turned down that last assignment and he would have been home to protect her. The entire incident would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Chapter Four

“Jax, I truly can’t tell you how much this means to me,” Frank told Jax as he walked into the house an hour later carrying his bags. “I’ll be able to rest a little easier now since I know Sahara will be in safe hands.”

Placing his bags down near a living room end table, Jax turned around and waited while Frank closed and locked the front door. After reading all of the threats before leaving his house, he was glad that he decided to take the job too.

The pull he felt towards Sahara was something unexpected and he wanted to explore it more and he was positive this was the best way to do it. He’d been around other good-looking women before. There was just something about Sahara that made her different...and it had some kind of hold on him.

“After thinking about it some more, I decided it would be for the best if I moved in your place tonight and that’s why I’m here,” Jax said.

“I’m thrilled you accepted, but I can’t tell you if Sahara will be as happy as I am,” Frank admitted.

“No, I’m positive that she won’t share the same opinion,” Jax admitted.

Looking around the living room, Jax suddenly noticed that it was awfully quiet. He didn’t hear other noises going on inside of the house. Where was Sahara? Why did he get the feeling that she wasn’t at home? She should have been home from the mall hours ago. Damn it! He wouldn’t be able to guard Sahara if she truly didn’t believe her life wasn’t in serious harm.

“Where’s Sahara? After I get unpacked I need to talk to her about her schedule and how some things might have to change. She needs to understand that with all of these threats hanging over her head she can’t go wandering around all over town by herself.” Jax could already tell he was going to have a battle of his hands with Sahara.

“Sahara is a very stubborn young woman when she sets her mind to do something. It’s very difficult to change it,” Frank told him as he moved away from the door. “How about I show you to your room and then you can take a better look around the property until she gets back home from her shopping trip?”

“That’s fine with me,” Jax answered as he turned and followed Frank up the staircase. He had to figure out the layout of the house so he would be able to protect Sahara more effectively. She would go by his rules and learn to like them because disobeying them might cost her life.

Jax continued to walk closely behind Frank until his friend stopped at a door at the end of the hallway.

“Here’s your room,” Frank said, pointing to the door behind his back. “I had the housekeeper change the sheets and add fresh towels to the room before she left. If you need anything else just let me know and I’ll get it for you.”

Jax glanced at where his room was located to the end of the hallway figuring out the distance. He needed to be on guard at all times while he was doing his job.

“Where’s Sahara’s room?” he asked. Jax didn’t think that her stalker would be bold enough to break in the house, but he wasn’t going to take any changes. “How far is it from mine?”

“It’s right across from yours,” Frank said. “I thought it might work better if the two of you were close together. I want Sahara to get the best possible protection from you.”

Wonderful
! To have someone who was actually on the same page as him for a change was a good feeling. Now if he could get the person who needed to be to see things his way.

“Good,” Jax stated. “Now, let me get everything put away in my room and then you can show me around. I want to see how the property looks at night and then I’ll take another look in the morning. I want an image of both ways in my head.”

Frank nodded at him. “Get yourself settled in and I’ll go out and pick us up something to eat. Do you have anything special you’d like?”

Jax had been so caught up in getting ready for this new assignment that he just realized that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Is that chicken place still open called ‘Twelve in a Bucket’? I haven’t eaten from there in months.”

“Yeah it is. It doesn’t close until nine on Friday nights. Let me go and pick something up. I’ll get something for Sahara too. I seriously doubt that she thought about eating anything on her shopping trip with Raya. When those two are together they aren’t thinking about anything except buying clothes and having fun.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Frank walked away from him and then went back down the stairs. A few minutes later, Jax heard the front door open and then close.

Grabbing his bags off the floor, Jax opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside. The bedroom was beautifully decorated with dark mahogany furniture with a dresser night stand and thankfully a king size four poster bed which was actually big enough for his entire six foot six inch frame.

Going over to the bed, Jax placed his black bags down on the mattress. Unzipping the smaller bag, Jax removed his gun, checked it for bullets and then slipped it in the back of his jeans pulling his white t-shirt down over it.

Most bodyguards didn’t carry a weapon unless the danger to their clients was high enough to call for one, but he wasn’t like most bodyguards and he liked carrying a gun. It was best he started being prepared now because he didn’t know what her stalker’s next move was going to be. He wasn’t about to take any chances with Frank’s or Sahara’s lives while they were on his watch. Just in case anything came up, he would like to be ready for it.

Jax finished getting unpacked and arranging the bedroom the way he required it before placing his two bags in the very back of the closet.

Later, he would check with Frank and see if he could get him a small refrigerator inside his bedroom. Yeah, Frank knew he was a vampire, but his buddy didn’t know how many times a day he needed a liquid boost compared to eating regular food. It was just one of the things about being a vampire he kept to himself.

Since he was done getting his room in order; now, it was time for him to check out the rest of the place. The first space he would investigate would be Sahara’s bedroom. He had to see if there were any hidden dangers in there that should be taken care of as quickly as possible.

Leaving his bedroom, Jax headed across the hall. Without a doubt, he would bet money there would be something inside there he would consider dangerous and request it to be changed.

Sahara might not like him looking around her personal space without her permission, but it was part of his job and it had to be done for her safety.

Chapter Five

Jax noticed that the enormous amount of space in the room allowed him to maneuver easily around the large four-poster bed. This was good if the worst happened and he had to protect her from inside of here.

The height drew his eyes upward, drawing out the rooms perfect proportions. The lavender bedspread was a brilliant shade for the bed and the room, giving the area a disarming and charming effect.

Over at the left side of the room was an heirloom chest topped with a runner and it was just a shade darker than the bedspread adding something personal to the room. Other little accessories hung on the walls like a framed hand-written song by Sahara with a butterfly picture underneath it. On the night stand was a pair of reading glasses along with a couple of books placed next to them.

Towards the open patio doors was a sitting area with a keyboard, a guitar and a few other musical instruments. Moving closer, Jax picked up a black spiral notepad off of a small white table and flipped through it. He noticed several songs lyrics written inside. He couldn’t help but read some of the words and was very impressed by how deep and meaningful some of the songs were.

Sahara has more talented than I was giving her credit for,
he thought
. It takes a gifted person to write some of the thoughts she has down on those pages.

Jax placed the notebook back where he got it from and then walked out the opened French doors. Standing out on the patio, he saw numerous hazards that would have to be addressed beginning with the fact that Sahara couldn’t leave her patio open like this when she left the house.

Leaning over the edge, he saw additional problems for Sahara in the backyard. There were several bushes and overgrown trees that any stalker could find pleasure in hiding behind while watching Sahara inside her bedroom without ever being noticed.

Jax doubted Sahara ever thought about locking the patio doors at night while she was sleeping. Since she was on the fourth floor of the house, she probably thought that she was safe and sound. But, in reality she wasn’t, since a stalker would find a way to get up here to her no matter how long it took.

Before retiring from being a personal bodyguard, Jax worked a lot of cases with numerous clients, but hands down this had to be the most unsafe environment he had ever seen. Sahara’s bedroom as well as the rest of the house would have to go through several changes before he would feel like it was completely safe for her to be living here.

Walking back into the bedroom, Jax stopped in his tracks when he heard a sound outside in the hallway. The footsteps were too light to be Frank’s and Jax knew that they weren’t Sahara’s because she had more of a bounce to her footsteps than the person who was coming.

Moving quickly behind the bedroom door, Jax pulled his gun from behind his back and waited quietly for the person to enter. A second or two later, a figure walked inside the bedroom and made their way over to the bed.

Jumping out from behind the door with his gun raised, Jax hollered. “Stop right there! Who in the hell are you?”

“Oh my God!” A petite young African American screamed as she dropped the two shopping bags and spun around. Fear was clear in her light brown eyes and all over her pretty face as her big eyes swung down to the gun in his hand and then back up to his face.

`“Answer me!” Jax yelled again.

`“Sahara! Help me!” she yelled instead of answering his question.

Jax heard the sound of feet running up the stairs and smelled the scent of Sahara’s perfume way before she even entered the room. Seconds later, she burst in.

“Raya, what’s wrong?” Sahara asked. “Why are you screaming?”

“He has a gun,” the girl whispered pointing a shaky finger in his direction.

Sahara’s head snapped around and she gasped as her eyes landed on the gun then her shocked eyes connected with his.

“Jax, what in the hell are you doing in my bedroom with a gun?” Sahara demanded.

“Who is she?” he asked not looking in Sahara’s direction keeping his gun on the girl who looked like she was poised and ready to run any second if he allowed it.

“It’s my friend Raya August. God, I’ve known her since we were both thirteen years old. Put the gun down and tell me why you’re in my house but more importantly my bedroom,” Sahara demanded again. “Good God, she isn’t my stalker!”

Jax slowly lowered his gun, put the safety back on and slid it back behind his back. “Sorry, I heard someone coming and I thought it might be your stalker. I was only doing the job that Frank hired me to do which is keeping you safe.”

“You pulled out a loaded gun on my best friend because you thought she was going to hurt me?” Sahara snapped. “Are you out of your mind? I want you out of my house now! I don’t care if Uncle Frank gets upset with me or not.”

Sahara rushed over to her friend who looked like she wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. He didn’t feel bad at all about pulling the gun. He couldn’t let people he didn’t know get close to Sahara; until he was positive they wouldn’t be a threat to her well-being. Now that he knew Raya was Sahara’s friend she wouldn’t get the protective bodyguard treatment from him anymore.

“Are you okay, Raya?” Sahara asked her friend before tossing him a hard look. “Jax is an asshole. Don’t pay any attention to him.”

Raya nervously glanced in his direction and then quickly looked away before she answered. “I’m okay,” she whispered, “but I think I’m going home. It’s not every day that a guy jumps out of the shadows and pulls a gun on me. I need time to calm down and stop my heart from trying to beat out of my chest.”

After hearing Raya’s comments about him, Jax started to feel a little bad about his actions as he moved closer to Sahara and her nervous friend. Sahara might have a valid point. He couldn’t go around pulling out a gun on everyone he saw around her.

Every single detail of bodyguard work was very challenging which made the job more demanding than it should. However, he didn’t get to the top of his game and able to open Alpha Male Incorporated by jumping out from behind doors scaring the shit out of women. Now that he was back out in the field, he would have to take his own advice he gave his employees.