Page 19 of Watch Over Me

Suddenly, Eddie was more than happy not to have to spend hours in the man's company.

"You're welcome to come to the New Technologies Gala with your teammates, though," Lavon told him with a plastered-on smile that tried and failed not to be condescending. "That may give you a better understanding of what we're doing here."

Eddie glanced at Martinez and Jeremy, who nodded slightly but left the final call up to him.

"I'll be happy to," Eddie said, figuring that he might as well make the best of this.

If Lavon wasn't going to give them anything else, they would work with what they had. It wouldn't even be the first time their clients were resisting their help while at the same time asking for it.

Such was life.

CHAPTER NINE

There were some assignments—few and far between, thankfully—that made James question his life choices, with his choice of profession being on the top of the list.

To be fair, he'd questioned it more during his time in the Army, but still, there were some clients of KRK that seriously made him wonder what the hell was he doing in the personal security field.

One of those clients was Albert Corner.

James hadn't liked the guy from the moment they'd done the preliminary checks, but the dislike only grew as the time went on. A bullet point of"Rumored to have had multiple affairs (very likely)"was one thing, but to stand there and watch the guy come onto women in real life made James want to retch.

Senator Corner, in turn, appeared to be intelligent and capable, so how she could stand the man her husband was, James had no clue.

He wished he hadn't seen it so many times before, too—in and outside of work.

"What's making you frown so hard?" Ryan asked, dropping onto the seat behind his desk.

James blinked a few times, getting back to here and now. He'd spaced out rereading his latest report before he could send it off in their internal system and move on.

"Guess," he muttered and deleted the last sentence, which was an unprofessional, even if accurate, description of Albert Corner.

"Is this about Eddie going to the New Technologies Gala?"

James sat up. "What?"

Ryan very obviously held back from rolling his eyes.

"Eddie is going to the New Technologies Gala with Jeremy and Martinez tomorrow, for their potential corporate espionage case."

James opened his mouth, ready to protest, but he caught himself in time. He glared at his computer screen instead.

"I overheard Jeremy and Martinez in the kitchen and thought you should know in advance, in case you get stupid again when Eddie tells you himself. But I see you learned your lesson."

"I can't tell him what to do," James said, trying for indifference, even though he knew his friend could see right through him. "Or them, for that matter."

"That's the lesson, yeah." Ryan tapped his fingers over the armrest of his chair. "What else has gotten you into a mood, then?"

"I'm not in a mood."

"You're definitely in a mood."

James shot him a glare before getting back to the task at hand.

"I'm not doing this with you. I'm about to send the report in, and then I'm out."

With Senator Corner's empty calendar for the weekend, they were in for a bit of free time, and James was looking forward to some peace and quiet.

As if on cue, Ryan's phone rang.

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