Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel (11 page)

“You knew him?” Amour asked.

“Yes. I knew him before she did and was here the day she’d met him. He was the handy man here at the time. I tried to convince her to try and snag one of the millionaires here, but she insisted on going out with the help.”

Amour was not happy about the snide remark she’d made about her father. Instead of responding to it, she sipped her wine and decided to let Jason handle the questioning. The way she was feeling right now, she knew she would say something she would regret and this whole trip would be a waste. She looked over at Jason and saw him studying her expression. She could tell that he knew exactly where her mind was.

He turned to Angela. “You mean Ted Crawford?”

“Yes, that was his name. Ted. He was so wrong for her.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he changed her.”

“What do you mean?”

“When she got with him, she realized after a while he wasn’t good enough for her.”

“Why do you say that?” Jason asked.

“Because he didn’t have anything to offer a woman like her, she was way out of his league.”

Amour felt the tension build up inside of her. Her lips thinned and her breathing became rapid. It was definitely time to wrap this up because she was about five minutes away from throwing her drink in this woman’s face. She looked back up at Jason and he gave her look telling her to keep her cool. She obliged and continued to sip her wine.

He quickly turned back to Angela and said, “Maybe she loved him.”

“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t love, she just felt sorry for him because he was such a loser.”

“Why do you say he changed her?”

“Because he had her thinking that it was okay to settle for someone like him and she started being all boring and letting herself go. But when the wealthy men here started to take interest in her, she quickly learned that being with one of them was a much better option. She just took it a little too far though.”

“Took what too far?”

“Her “options”. Once she’d gotten a taste of one, it was like a high for her. She’d started sleeping with every member here and turned into quite the little slut. I tried to tell her to slow down. When you work here, you only date one member you know, keep it classy. You’re supposed to leave the member hopping to the groupies that hang out here. If she had just listened to me in the first place and snagged one when she’d first gotten here, she would’ve been set for life and wouldn’t have had to jump from man to man because she would’ve already known what the good life was all about. She certainly would’ve had a father that could’ve provided substantially for her child.”

“You really didn’t like Ted did you?”

“Oh god no! Once she’d dumped him, he went crazy.”

“What do you mean?”

“He started coming up here threatening her and the members here telling them to stay away from her. We had already fired him but he still kept showing up because of Carly. She was forced to quit also because of him. I didn’t see her much after she’d left, maybe a few times. Last thing I heard was that she’d gone back to Ted and died shortly after that of a heart attack.” She pursed her lips. “Please.”

“You don’t believe that was the cause of her death?” he asked.

“I know she had one, I just think he caused it.”

Jason frowned. “Why? Wasn’t it something natural?”

“That’s what I’d heard, but he didn’t let her go anywhere or do anything. He certainly stressed her out enough. She probably aged twenty years just by being with him. Trust me, he abused her mentally and physically enough to give her a heart attack. Hell, she probably figured out a way to give herself one so she could get out of that trap of a relationship with him.” She laughed softly.

“That’s a pretty serious accusation.”

“Well, when you work closely with someone for two years you tend to get to know them pretty well.”

“I see. Were you a server too?” Jason asked.

“No, I was a hostess. I couldn’t have all those men pawing all over me every day. Don’t get me wrong, most of them were total gentlemen but some of them were just animals. I stayed in the front, occasionally moonlighting as the owner’s assistant and worked my way up in the company. Now I’m co-owner. See what a little hard work and dedication can get you?”

“Yeah, that’s very impressive.”

Amour finished her wine and sat the glass on the table. “I need to go outside for a minute.” She rose from her chair. “It’s getting a little stuffy in here, I need some air.” She couldn’t take any more of this bitch.

Jason looked up at her. “Okay, I’ll be out in a minute. Don’t go too far alright.”

Amour had never been so pissed off in her entire life. Getting up and walking out was all she could do to keep from reaching across the table and punching the hell out of her. She’ll let Jason handle this; he was used to it. It was better this way. She was far too upset and buzzed off the glass of wine she drank to spend another minute listening to this bullshit. “I won’t. I’ll meet you outside.”

Amour sat in the passenger side of the car just staring out of the window looking as if she wanted to punch a
hole straight through it.  Not that he blamed her one bit. Angela had said some pretty harsh things about her parents. He didn’t know them, but what he did know is if someone would’ve said those things about his mother, he would’ve been just as pissed if not more. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said softly.

That’s what he’d assumed, but he didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. He wasn’t very good at providing comfort. “I’ll bet a million dollars that everything she said was a bunch of bullshit.”

She looked up at him. “How do you know?”

He didn’t know, he’d just hoped saying that would take away at least some of her anger. “I don’t know, just a hunch I guess.”

“Those things she said about my father…that just doesn’t sound like him at all.”

“Well, like you told me before, you know him better that anybody.”

“Do you think she was lying about my mother also?”

He saw that she was clenching her bracelet. He could also tell that what Angela said about Carly in particular is what hit her the hardest. Reaching across to take her hand into his, he said, “After everything that’s been going on up until this point, I question anything anybody tells me. You tend to learn pretty quickly in my line of work that everyone is not always what they seem to be and everything that comes out of their mouths is not always the truth.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Stopping at a red light, he looked into her eyes. He could see the pain, confusion and the fear in them. This was beginning to be a lot for her to bear. “I had planned on going back to the station to question Captain Westfield about lying to us, but if you’d rather go home I’ll understand.”

“I’d rather go home now. I’m hungry and I have another headache.”

“Do you want to stop somewhere to eat?”

She rubbed her temples. “No, I’ll cook something. Let’s just stop at a grocery store. I just want to eat and relax. I can’t deal with anymore of this today.”

“Okay. Not a problem.”

The market was practically empty so they were in and out rather quickly. “I can cook the food if you want, that way you can rest until it’s done.” Jason said as they rode up the elevator of the hotel.

“Actually that would be great because I still have a headache and that will give the aspirin time to work.”

“Alright, just go to your room and lay down and I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

Stepping out of the elevator into the dimly lit hallway, Jason suddenly felt an eerie feeling. He wasn’t sure where it had come from, it was just…there. He stepped in front of Amour signaling for her to stay behind him as they walked a few more paces.

“What’s wrong Jason?” Amour asked quietly.

He put his finger up to his lips. “Shhh…”

As they approached the sharp corner of the hallway, there was the slightest hint of a noise…a whisper, barely audible, but definitely there. His experience as a bodyguard had made him extremely sensitive to his surroundings and also, extremely sensitive to danger. Keeping her behind him, he placed the grocery bags he was carrying on the floor and took a quick peek around the corner. Just as he’d suspected, someone was there standing outside the door of her suite next to the maid’s cart. He couldn’t tell who it was exactly, but the one thing was for sure, unless the maids in this hotel wore black ski masks, this person was not there to clean her room.

“Jason,” she whispered from behind him. “What’s going…”

He interrupted her by turning towards her and putting his finger to her lips. “There’s someone at your door. Stay here.”

Removing the gun from his waistband, he slowly turned the corner of the hallway. Pointing it at the intruder, he made absolute sure he had a good shot of his head before he spoke just in case he need to fire if it came down to that. “Who the hell are you?” he shouted catching eye contact with the stranger, but he said nothing. “I said who…are…you? And what the hell are you doing here?”

Jason’s eyes never left the assailant’s, and before he knew it, the maid’s cart
came flying towards him, flipping over and its contents spilling onto the floor. A loud gunshot sounded in his ears followed by the sound of a bullet whizzing past his head and hitting the wall behind him as he ducked back around the corner. Gun still in hand, he quickly peeked back around the corner and fired one shot at the assailant as he ran the opposite way down the hall. When Jason started to chase him, the intruder turned around firing another shot causing him to duck around another sharp corner of the hall.  Pointing his gun in from of him, he continued to run in the assailant’s direction but eventually lost him in the maze of the hotel hallway. “Shit!” Angry at himself for letting him get away, he banged his fist against the wall in disgust. Hurrying back to Amour, he found her curled up on the floor with her knees at her chest and her arms wrapped around them, trembling.

“Amour?” he called out to her.

“Jason!” She quickly rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh my god! Are you okay? I heard the gunshots when you were gone. I was so scared and I didn’t…”

He held her close to him, feeling her heart pounding against his chest. “It’s alright, I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“I am. Who was that? What did they want?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

“That scared the shit out of me!”

“I know, let’s go get your things, you’re not staying here anymore.”

The two of them walked up to the door of Amour’s suite as the guests of the hotel cautiously started to come out of their rooms wondering what all the commotion was. As Jason stuck the key card in the lock and opened the door, he could hear the other guests asking various questions and he could also feel their eyes on him. Stepping inside the living area with his gun in hand, he paused for a moment again signaling Amour to wait behind him. He quickly turned to her and whispered, “I want to make sure it’s safe for you to come in. If it is, I want you to hurry and pack your things but we won’t be able to leave right away because of what just happened. I’m sure by now someone called the cops so we’re going to have to talk to them.”

“Okay. Can I come in with you? If that lunatic comes back, I don’t want to be standing out here.”

“Wait until I check this area first.” After making sure the living area and kitchen were clear, he checked the small hallway, the guest bathroom and bedroom which were also clear. “You can come in now. It’s clear in this part of the suite, but stay close behind me okay.” 

“Alright.”

Walking down the short hallway, he noticed that the door to Amour’s bedroom was cracked. He turned and whispered to her, “Did you leave the door open when you left?”

“I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think so.”

“Wait here.”

Approaching the door, he slowly opened it all the way giving himself a clear view of the television, the end of the bed, and the window straight across from him. Gripping the handle of his gun, he slowly stepped inside. Pausing in mid-stride, he stared ahead in slight disbelief of what he thought he was seeing out of his peripheral vision to the left of him. His
suspicions were confirmed when he slowly turned in the direction of the blurry figure.
What…the…fuck…

The lifeless body of the hotel maid on the floor of Amour’s bedroom was not something he expected to see. She had been shot point blank in the forehead at close range from what he could tell. He’d seen the result of those killings more times than he cared to remember.  He remained silent as his eyes locked on a large white envelope that rested on the maid’s chest. Walking over to the body, he picked up the envelope and quickly stuffed it in his pants covering it with his t-shirt. That was illegal, he knew that, but whatever was inside the envelope was obviously meant for them to find and could possibly help them. Jason wanted to leave no stone unturned.  Trying his hardest not to alert Amour by reacting too suddenly to the body, he moved around as quickly and quietly as could, but she entered the room before he had a chance to stop her.

“Jason, the police are…Oh my god!”

He quickly scooped her in his arms burying her face in his chest so she wouldn’t see anymore of this. She was trembling and breathing rapidly. He had to get her out of there before she had a full on panic attack. Quickly rushing her out of the bedroom, they ran straight into three police officers as they entered the living area.

One of the officers stopped them and said, “We got a report of gunshots and were told that the two of you were involved in the shooting.”

Jason tried to make Amour have a seat on the sofa, but she clenched tightly onto his arm instead. “Yes, there’s a body in the bedroom, one of the maids,” he replied.

“The officer stared at him with an incredulous expression. “Is that right?” He instructed the other two officers to go inside the bedroom. “You know anything about that?”

Jason’s lips thinned and his eyes lowered. “It might have something to do with the asshole in the black ski mask that was coming out of the room when we got here.”

“Would this
asshole
be the reason for the three gunshots that the guests on this floor heard?’

“Yes.”

“Where is this person?” the officer asked.

“How the hell should I know? He ran. I doubt if he stuck around.”

“Why didn’t you call us when you saw this person?”

“Maybe because I was too busy trying to protect
her
and nearly getting my head blown off in the process. That may have something to do with it.”

“Well, no one else on this floor saw this alleged person, why is that?”

Amour perked up suddenly. “He’s not lying to you and he didn’t do anything wrong! He was protecting me, he’s my bodyguard! He acted in self defense!”

“So
you
say,” the office replied.

Jason took in a deep breath and said, “Look, all you have to do is look at the surveillance tapes on this floor. Surely a hotel of this status has pretty good security personnel. If you check those out, you’ll see that I’m telling the truth.”

“We plan to do that, but in the meantime, why don’t you tell me what happened.”

Jason did not appreciate the officer’s pompous attitude towards him. “She and I were walking to the suite when I saw the person coming out of door. I raised my gun to him and asked him who he was and what he was doing here. He pushed the maid’s cart towards me and then fired one shot off in my direction. I retaliated by firing a shot of my own and then chased him down the hall. He then turned and fired another shot at me so I ducked behind another corner of the hallway. By the time I came out of the corner, he was long gone.”

“And you think this
person
killed the maid?” the officer said cocking an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Jason didn’t kill her!” Amour suddenly said, stepping in front of Jason.

“And why should I believe
you
?” the officer asked.

Jason pulled her back towards him. “I couldn’t have killed her. I wasn’t even in the room at the time of her death. And if you check the bullet in her head, you will see that it didn’t come from my gun.”

“Let’s just go down to the station so you can make statement and file a report.”

“Fine,” Jason said.

The officer signaled for his colleague to come over to them after seeing him in the hall. “I’m going to have to confiscate your weapon as well. Please place it on the table. Officer Moreno will escort the two of you to the car outside the hotel.”

Jason obliged and the two of them walked with the officer out of the door.

* * *

Amour sat on the small balcony outside Jason’s apartment trying to ease her anxiety. The business at the police station had taken up most of
the evening and she was exhausted. This whole thing was beginning to be too much for her and it was all happening so fast. Between the threatening phone calls, lying cops, being shot at and finding a dead maid in her suite, she was about ready to have a serious nervous breakdown. She closed her eyes and breathed in the warm night air. “Try to calm down Amour,” she said to herself. But that was easier said than done at this point.

She looked down and stared at the pack of cigarettes she’d placed on the small table in front of her. “No…” she whispered to herself. It was an unwelcomed habit she’d picked after getting off pills a year ago. The withdrawal symptoms were hard to cope with, so a fellow team member recommended that she take up smoking to ease them. She refused at first because she’d grown up seeing how addicted her father was to them. But she’d also seen how relaxed they’d made him when he was stressed. She stood her ground though, reframing from smoking until she’d realized she wasn’t superwoman.

The constant headaches, stomach cramps, shakiness and anxiety eventually became too much for her to bear causing her to give into temptation. Smoking her first cigarette gave her what she needed. Not the high that she’d gotten from the pills, but a different one; a calming one. The relief was only temporary, but it was better than nothing. At that point, she’d understood why people got so addicted to nicotine. That prompted her to vow only to smoke them when she was stressed…
really
stressed.

Being an ex drug addict, she knew that probably wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to do, but it was all she’d had the strength to accomplish at the time. So here she was again, stressed and in need of nicotine. She only needed one, and then she can put them away and never look at them again.

Picking up the box, she studied it for a few seconds before flipping the top open and sliding one of them out. The cigarette felt good between her fingers and the light odor coming from the box smelled even better. Placing the filter between her lips, she picked up her lighter and lit the flame. The large hit she took of the cigarette instantly sent a calming feeling throughout her entire body.

Closing her eyes, she placed her feet on the table in front of her and crossed them at her ankles. “Sweet Jesus…” she whispered to herself after blowing out a small puff of smoke. The taste of it, the smell of it and the pure pleasure that the tiny object was giving her, almost made her get down on her knees and worship it. Sitting back in her seat, she basked in the glory of the night air, and the slight high the nicotine was giving her.

“Amour?” A low male voice came from behind her.

Shit
!
When the hell did he get here?
  She tried her best to fan the smoke away with her hands to no avail. “Jason…hey! I thought you were asleep.”

He stepped onto the balcony and stood beside her. “I couldn’t…are you smoking?”

“I only do it when I’m stressed.” She blurted out, dropping the cigarette on the floor of the balcony.

“But you seemed so grossed out at Daniel Riley’s place.”

She took her legs off the table, slid her foot in her flip flop and stepped on the cigarette putting it out. “Those were cigars, it’s different.”

He sat in the chair beside her.
“How? It’s still tobacco.”

“You’ve never been a smoker, so you’ll never understand.”

He spoke through a yawn. “Fair enough. How long have you been out here?”

“About an hour; I couldn’t sleep either. This whole thing just has my mind all over the place.”

“Yeah we’ve got quite a mess on our hands,” he said.

“Jason you’re not a suspect in that maid’s murder are you?”

“As of right now, probably not or they would’ve arrested me there, but I can tell the cop who questioned us thinks otherwise.

“Yeah, I noticed. That worries me.”

“There’s no need to be. The hotel surveillance footage cleared me of any wrong doing outside of the suite and as soon as ballistics comes back and they see that the bullet in her head didn’t come from my gun, they’ll clear me of that also. They just don’t want me to leave the city now.”

“Alright.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t in the line of fire in the hall and you curled up in the corner.”

“Honestly, I was just scared to death and that was the first thing I’d thought to do. I thought whoever that was had shot you.” She looked down at her lap. “I thought you were dead.”

“Well I’m not.”

“Yeah but still, I don’t want you risking your life for me anymore Jason. You barely know me, it’s not worth it. I’ll just hire another bodyguard or something.
Someone that I haven’t become so close to.”

He scooted his chair closer to hers, placed his hand on her face and turned it towards his. “Amour, I’m not leaving you. I promised you my help and I told you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I meant every word of it. We’re in this together.”

She looked down again. “But…”

He lifted her face back up to his. “I
will
protect you Amour. You have my word.” Before she could protest, he leaned in and gently pressed his lips against hers giving her a short but very sensual kiss. “You said you trusted me right?” he whispered before planting another gentle kiss on her lips.

She breathed in deeply and swallowed. “Yes…”

He placed more short and gentle kisses on the corner of her mouth, and then her cheek. “Then trust me on this.”

Her eyes closed as she threw her head back allowing his lips and tongue to slowly travel down her neck. So many sensations flooded through her entire body all at once as all previous thoughts and worries began to slowly disappear. She quickly became wrapped up in the pleasure of his presence, the smell of him…his lips…his tongue…his slightly calloused hands that slowly rubbed up and down her outer thighs as he kneeled between her legs. She allowed the pleasure to further have her as his lips began to move back up her neck making their way up to her lips again. This time he kissed her a little longer, a little harder, as if he was savoring the taste of her; taking her mouth and claiming it.

Breaking their kiss, he placed his hands on her face and stared at her. His hazel eyes looked almost black as his hunger for her began to possess him and his breathing became more rapid. He licked his lips and his eyes traveled down her body studying her as if she were a gourmet meal ready to be devoured. He gave her another quick kiss on the lips before slowly making his way back down her neck again leaving another trail of wet caresses, this time going a little lower giving her a quick lick between the top of her breasts. Continuing his exploration of her body, his mouth made his way down to her waist pressing his lips on her hip bone and then gently on the top of her thigh. She could feel the slight coolness of the air on her skin as he lifted her tank top above her stomach were he planted even more erotic kisses.

Sitting up slightly, she allowed him to slowly lift her shirt over her head before dropping it onto the floor. Her skin tingled in anticipation of his touch. “Your body is so beautiful.” he whispered as his large hands slid up her waist, covering her ribs before cupping her bare breasts. She let out a low moan as his lips began to make the same journey moving up her body closer to her breasts. Her limbs weakened and she took in several gulps of air. “Such perfect tits.” he said seductively, rubbing his rough fingertips over her sensitive nipples causing them to instantly harden from the contact. “Now let’s see if they taste as good as the feel.”

She felt the simultaneous pleasure of his warm tongue flicking over her right nipple as his finger tips gently pinched her left one. The sensation caused a powerful volt of electricity to shoot through her body traveling straight down to her belly. “Ohhh…”

“You like that sweetheart?” he whispered before blowing a puff of cool air on her wet nipple.

A few seconds later, she felt his tongue again; this time giving another quick lick to her left nipple and pinching the right one evening out the pleasure. Instead of feeling more pleasure, she felt a sudden distance between them when he rose to his feet and stepped back.
Was he stopping? He can’t! Not now!
“No...” she cried out, barely able to speak.

“I’m not going anywhere baby, just turning off the light.”

Flicking the switch, he headed back towards her. She could barely see him because of the darkness, but she could feel his body heat. Anticipation consumed her when he kneeled between her legs again. Grabbing her hands, he placed her palms on his bare chest causing her stomach to flutter. She wasn’t aware that he had taken his shirt off, but what she
had
been aware of, was how warm and hard his muscular body was amidst the cool night air as her hands slid down his torso. She felt the hard muscles of his abdomen clench from her touch. Knowing that he had this reaction to her made her want him even more…she needed…more. Her hands went from his waist to his lower back where she slowly slid her hands underneath the waist band of his pajama bottoms cupping his firm ass. A low moan escaped from his throat as he pressed his lips against hers parting them with his tongue and trusting it inside. He devoured her lips and tongue as if he needed them to survive, and she loved it…she craved it.