Page 4 of Treasured
Mary was a knockout.
I needed to be smart now. Wanda Frost had been my brother’s fiancée until he was shot and killed. I’d teamed up with my brother’s friends, who ran Cole Security, to help get her out of the company he’d started.
Since returning stateside, my mission had been to reclaim the company that was rightfully mine. Two weeks before, I’d had a meeting with Mark from Cole Security, as Wanda was selling guns illegally.
The years training to be a Navy SEAL were still fresh as I retired my uniform, but once again I was running in Devon’s shadow. He’d trusted these men, and they remembered him as the saint he was.
They’d found Mary as a source to target while I handled the legal paperwork to oust Wanda from the company.
So there I was, out to prove that I, Dwayne Jenson, was better than my older brother had been. I’d earned better grades in school, continually outperformed him in every physical challenge, and went to church every week to talk one-on-one with my creator—something Devon had always said was stupid.
And then, he was gone. My older brother, who judged me, now no longer called, and that had been hard.
Guess it was harder on my security team, though, since they continued to share stories about how wonderful Devon had been every time we were together, like on this night, at the table.
I mostly listened, but my first mission to get intel on who worked at my company had just grown more interesting.
Nothing had prepared me for the pretty blonde who had sauntered past. For the first time in a while, I was alive, and my nerves were on edge for her return.
As I waited, I circled back to my table and my new associates. Natalie asked, “You were just talking to Mary Steel?”
The sharp eyes of Mark Dixon and his wife, Charlie, were on me like laser pointers on a gun, and I stood at attention. “Yeah, the opportunity presented itself more easily than I imagined.”
Mark winked, like he wanted to laugh at me though we weren’t that close. “Look, Thunder Thighs, the blonde can’t distract you from why we’re here.”
The blonde was most definitely for pleasure and not a mission. But they were right. I didn’t need to get distracted. She had information I needed.
Even though my body craved far more—and a tiny voice in my head whispered there was more—I gave a curt nod. “I’ll find out about Arthur and Wanda if she knows anything.”
Charlie motioned with her head. “Your girl is coming back. I can run a background check on her, if you need.”
“Stop. When Wanda walks in, I’ll be ready to remind her that she can’t keep me from my company.”
The farther away from work people, the better. Mary and I needed to be alone. I met her halfway between the dance floor and where she’d gone, and I immediately said, “There you are.”
She turned to me, but she shook her head and asked, “You’re still here?”
I cocked my eyebrow and met her sarcasm with my lips turned up. “Are you upset?”
“Surprised.” She spun toward the room. “Look around. There are tons of beautiful women here tonight that are more in your league.”
She was selling herself short. Her curves were deadly and would fill my dreams tonight. So no one else would hear us, I whispered into her ear, “None as interesting as you.”
She turned back toward me and heaved that perfect chest that was neither too big nor too small as she asked, “What’s your name?”
The lights flashed near the stage, and I smelled the sweet air around her as I said, “Dwayne Jensen, ma’am, and yours?”
With her thumb, she pointed toward the stage and said, “Mary Steel.” She took a step back. “And it looks like I’m needed onstage.”
I followed her, asking, “Running away from me again?”
She shook her head and said, “I’m here to do my job.”
I winked at her and said, “Funny. Me too. Go and finish yours so we can get a drink.”
Her hips swayed as she rushed onto the dance floor and up the side of the stage.
Mark’s voice came through my earpiece: “The other target of yours is here, Thunder Thighs.”
