Page 72 of Somebody's Watching Me
“It’s not the same thing.” Annabeth crossed her arms, that stubborn crease on her brow firmly in place. “You’re not my husband and shouldn’t have to do that.”
“I know I’m not your husband, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to do it.”
Everyone started talking at once, and Liam shouted over the rising noise. “Well, as we are all so painfully aware, I’m no one’s husband either, but that doesn’t change that you three are not going anywhere without a shadow until this investigation pans out.”
“I can take care of myself,” Jamison huffed. “I don’t need some random person following me around every time I leave the house.”
“Random person? Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t making myself clear.” Liam took a few steps back to lean on the counter next to Simone. “Samuel is with Evie. Rowan can take care of Annabeth.” He lifted his mug to take a casual sip. “And you get me.”
Jamison’s usual rosy complexion paled to an almost sickly color before rebounding into blotches of red and purple. Only once had Rowan seen her like this, arriving at a point where she was so incensed she couldn’t tap down her temper before it exploded. It had been when two members in upper management made innuendos during a meeting with their teams, suggesting that if Samuel were fucking his stepsister, what would stop him from fucking his half-sister too.
Word got out, and thankfully, Samuel had been away in North Carolina, or else the men would have lost more than their jobs.
But Jamison wouldn’t let it go.
After the two were no longer employed at Fairweather, she had come to him to help her dig up as much dirt on them as she could. With the blessing of Ben, they exposed every dirty little detail of their lives, andwith each unveiling, Jamison would get the same wild look in her eye. She was methodical and almost evil in the way she made them suffer.
No wonder Liam had moved closer to Simone. The man knew he needed protection.
“All day, every day.” Liam wagged his finger in the air, creating a circle. “Around the clock.”
Chest pumping, Jamison got in Liam’s face, and Rowan pulled Annabeth out of the strike zone, sacrificing Simone to her fate.
“William.”
Unfazed, Liam shrugged a shoulder. “If you’ve got a problem, take it up with management.”
“Jesus Christ, leave me out of this,” Ben mumbled, continuing to read his phone at the table. “Samuel, you’re up.”
“If you don’t want Liam, we can assign Izzy to do the job,” Samuel offered, his eyes going wide as if that were the best idea he’d ever come up with. “Liam said she reminded him of you, and yesterd—”
Silencing her husband by placing a hand over his mouth, Evie gave Jamison a sympathetic smile. “It’s for the best.”
Choked noises came from Jamison, each more incoherent than the next. Rowan thought they might be words, but really, it sounded more like a countdown to total annihilation.
Liam continued to sip his coffee as if this were a normal Sunday morning. “You should eat,” he remarked casually. “Annabeth and Rowan have been making breakfast.”
“My man, you can leave us right the hell out of this conversation.” Rowan pulled Annabeth further away when he noticed the kitchen knives were a little too close to where Jamison stood. “This is your deal.”
Jamison’s mouth opened to speak—snarl—at Liam, but Simone stepped between them.
“I trust no one else to do the job.” Simone glanced over her shoulder at Liam. “But with Selah coming home today, this old house is gettingcrowded, and I think it’s best if you move out to the cottages for the time being. Abe wants to stay at his place, and it would give me peace of mind to know you and Rowan were out there as well.”
Rowan was going to give Simone a big, fat kiss at the first opportunity. She’d just given him the green light to stay over.
“He has his own place. Rowan isn’t staying here,” Annabeth argued. “And Abe doesn’t need babysitters.”
“Rowan needs to stay close since he and I will be working together non-stop,” Liam said over Simone’s head. “But I don’t see why I need to move out to the cottage. The reading chair in Jamison’s room is fine.”
“You’re not staying in my room again.” Jamison joined Ben and Abe at the table. “And if my dad is staying over, along with your parents coming, then Selah with his family, and the Izzy person, there really is no room.”
“I’m good with a cottage.” Not caring where he stayed as long as he was close, Rowan agreed with the plan. “But are we setting up our command center in here or out there?”
Liam scowled at Jamison gloating in her chair. “I’d like to use the media room if everyone is okay with that.”
The media room would be ideal. The soundproofing alone would allow them to concentrate, and he had overhauled the back office around two years ago, giving it a full upgrade. “Yeah, the office in there has almost everything I need,” Rowan said.
“That’s fine. I can work in the dining room, and so can Jamison,” Ben replied, shaking his head at his daughter when she started to speak again. “And since we’re all going to be under one roof, with the cops and feds around, I expect everyone to behave.”
