Page 52 of Protected

“Carrie’s done several pieces on it already, so we talk a lot. I’m sorry. I know she was a friend.”

She launched into the story of how she wound up with a security detail.

“Whoa, Kitten. Carrie didn’t tell me about the break-in. She’s going to be pissed if you haven’t told her about it yet.”

She winced. “I know. Things have just been wild here.”

“Call her. She’ll be worried. I clearly need to catch up on your file. I’ll be home by the end of the week. Possibly early part of next. Until then, you better listen to your detail like a good girl or you’re going to find yourself on the receiving end of my belt.”

“I have way too many bossy men in my life,” she grumbled. His deep laugh rumbled through the phone line.

“It’s good for you, Kitten. I’ll see you soon.” They said goodbye and Darci put the phone down, feeling somewhat better about the situation.

At noon on Wednesday, Michael came to her office with sandwiches and questions. He asked her for a list of people who might be angry at her over her work with the ACSL. Could she have a stalker? Were there any readers who liked leaving mean or weird comments on her blog? Nothing she had to say seemed to offer any leads for him to follow.

Midway through a turkey club sandwich, She got the nerve to ask.

“Have you found out if Kaden is really back in the area yet?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. I’ve been looking. So far, all we have is the Facebook profile. No indication of where he’s living or working if he is in the city.”

She nodded. “You don’t think it’s him do you?”

Michael picked up her hand and squeezed. “I don’t want to rule it out, but with Marlie being connected, I can’t see how.”

She nodded and tried to shove the memories of Kaden’s attack out of her mind.

“Have you told Bradley yet?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“No. I’m not ready for that, so if you could keep this bit of information between us, I would appreciate that.”

Because he was her friend, he agreed. “We’ll get you through this, sweetheart.”

By Friday afternoon, Darci was ready to be rid of the security team. They insisted on canceling meetings or changing locations, and they were smothering her. Even taking a walk among the tourists while she ate lunch wasn’t allowed. When she sent Peter a text expressing her frustration, he just reminded her that a little smothering was better than being kidnapped or killed. She scowled at his picture. He was supposed to be on her side.

Bradley’s place was easier. They had fallen into a routine of dinner, sex, and working in companionable silence on whatever they had brought home from the office. It was the twelve to sixteen hours a day outside the house that was driving Darci insane. She wanted to go back to her own apartment, but after the tire slashing incident, Bradley had refused to take her. Now, it was just after lunch, and Bradley called her office to check on her and tell her he would be working a little late.

The guards were doing their best not to disrupt her life completely, but she felt like a caged animal. There had to be a way to convince him to cut the detail down to one man standing outside her office. The thought of how that conversation would go had her rolling her eyes. Maybe she could cook him dinner and ask especially nice. With Bradley working late that meant she had some time to plan.

19

BRADLEY sat in his office on Friday eating a sandwich. Adara had brought it to him after he finished up his last interview to fill a deputy campaign manager position. He was pretty sure he knew who he wanted to offer the job to, but he was going to wait for Adara to type up her impressions, since she also sat in on his interviews. He valued her opinion and so did the senator.

His afternoon and evening were loaded with meetings to gear up for the campaign, but he couldn’t keep his mind off the redhead he was falling for. He was enjoying their nightly routine, especially the part where he buried himself in her. And the sexy noises she made while they fucked played on a loop in the back of his mind. It was difficult to concentrate on budgets and legislation with those little moans in his head.

The desire to pursue a more meaningful relationship with her, including power exchange, was growing. Bradley just wasn’t sure if she was ready. Despite her hesitance to explore it again, power exchange was important to her, but he knew she still worried about his career.

Hiding her lifestyle wasn’t something she wanted to do, and while he would never admit it to her, she was probably right that the two of them dating would raise some serious questions during the campaign.

The gossip sites were already speculating about him and Darci because of a blog she wrote months ago. Even though she hadn’t named him, and everything on the Internet was just rumors, they’d made waves when they went viral on TV. His involvement with Exposure could come out. He needed a game plan for if that happened.

He thought of his father’s job offer, and he winced. That would be a last resort. His phone buzzed, jolting him from his thoughts. Picking it up, he grimaced. His mother’s face filled the screen. He was not being a great son. He answered as cheerfully as he could manage.

“Hello, beautiful.”

“Oh stop, you’ll make an old lady blush.” He grinned at her response.

“Hi, mom. What’s up?”

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