Page 31 of Duty Unbound

His grin spread wide, like I’d just handed him the keys to a muscle car. “On it, boss.”

We moved with the precision of a well-oiled machine, each of us knowing exactly what needed to be done. By the time we entered the main house, we were already cataloging every single point of failure.

Mel stood at the entrance, tablet pressed against her chest like a shield, her eyes meeting mine with a flash of recognition. We hadn’t managed more than a brief exchange last night amid the madness of police radios and Nova’s dramatic retelling. Her quiet “thank you” for staying on the phone had been almost lost in the commotion. No thanks had been necessary—I was just grateful I hadn’t been forced to listen helplessly while some psychopath tried to break in to that bathroom where they’d barricaded themselves.

The woman who’d been pale and visibly shaken last nighthad transformed herself overnight. Though shadows of exhaustion lingered beneath her eyes like bruises, her spine was now ruler-straight, her jaw set with determination. The vulnerability I’d heard in her voice over the phone had been carefully tucked away, replaced by the composed, efficient manager I’d first met—a protective front, I was beginning to realize.

She stuck close as we worked, still in those damned heels, following our every move, scribbling notes.

“I need to know what’s changing,” she said, glancing up at me.

Her voice was steady, but I caught the flicker of something deeper in her eyes. Fear. Last night had shaken her—not that she could be blamed for that.

“We’re reinforcing every entry point, updating surveillance, and setting up stricter access protocols,” I told her. “No one gets in or out without clearance.”

She nodded, lips pressing together. “Good.”

She didn’t ask unnecessary questions or slow us down. Just kept taking notes, absorbing every detail. It wasn’t typical. Most clients didn’t care about the logistics—just the end result. But Mel was different.

I caught myself glancing at her as Logan rattled off the weaknesses in the alarm system. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her brows drawn in concentration.

I didn’t let myself think about how delicate that hand looked. Or how the faint scent of vanilla and flowers followed her when she moved.

This wasn’t about her. It was about the job.

Jace tested a section of the perimeter fencing, giving it a solid shake. The metal rattled like it belonged on a chicken coop instead of a multimillion-dollar estate.

“This thing’s a joke,” he muttered. “I could cut through it in under a minute.”

That wasn’t an exaggeration. The fencing in this section wascheap, hastily installed, and barely secured to the ground in some spots. Not just inadequate—dangerous.

“Fix it,” I ordered. “I want anti-climb spikes up top and pressure sensors along the base.”

Jace nodded, already pulling out his phone to put in a supply order. Meanwhile, Ty was fortifying the main entry with high-grade locks and steel reinforcement bars.

By the time the sun started dipping lower in the sky, Logan had the surveillance system rewired and ready for testing.

“We’re covering every blind spot,” he confirmed, tapping on his tablet. A series of new feeds popped up on the screen, showing real-time footage from every corner of the property. “Nobody is getting back on this property without us knowing.”

I nodded, watching the screens as the system calibrated. “Good.”

Mel was still following us, quiet but focused, writing everything down on her tablet. She’d barely spoken in the last hour, but I could feel the weight of her attention, the way her eyes took in everything we were doing.

When she wasn’t responding to Nova’s texts. With the moved-up timetable, Jace hadn’t gotten around to doing his computer voodoo on that situation yet.

“You always go this extreme?” Mel asked, tucking the tablet against her hip.

I glanced at her. The breeze lifted strands of her dark hair, but she didn’t brush them away, too busy studying the perimeter line.

“Only when the threat’s real,” I said.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of her tablet. She didn’t argue, didn’t try to downplay it. Because we both knew the truth—this wasn’t some overblown precaution.

The stalker was real.

The fact that he’d been close enough to capture Nova changing, close enough that he had probably still been outsidewhen Mel entered the room… I swallowed a surge of anger at how exposed they’d been.

And while Nova might have been brushing it off like it was just another minor inconvenience in her pop star life, Mel wasn’t fooled. She saw the risk. Felt it in her bones.

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