His jaw ticked and I could tell that he wanted to bitch me out some more, but he also knew that I was right. So, he nodded and gripped onto my shoulder, squeezing it once before letting go.
“Fine, but if I end up in group therapy with Dr. Sunshine because of you two, I’ll be sure to tell Cap about what happened in San Antonio last year.”
“Wait-” I started, but Craig shook his head.
“Don’t fuck up this job and you won’t have anything to worry about,” he said with a grin.
Sometimes it really sucked to have a teammate that knew everything about you.
CHAPTER NINEFlorrie
I stepped out of the limo and placed my hand in Alec’s. I hated being in the spotlight like this. Normally, I would be the security detail and wouldn’t have to worry about people taking my picture. Nobody ever cared who I was. But this time, I was arriving with Jamie and my team. I was being seen as someone important, and that wasn’t the way I liked to live.
“I don’t know how you stand to come to these things,” I muttered to Jamie as I felt him step up behind me.
“It’s part of the life,” he said, smiling and waving. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Not likely. Besides, I won’t be around long enough to find out.”
Alec started leading me up the red carpet toward the museum where the gala was being held. Craig was behind Jamie, and we were acting as his sort of security, even though his security team was surrounding us. I didn’t care. I didn’t trust them and I would never leave it up to someone else to protect him if we were around.
We stood and got our pictures taken. I plastered a smile on my face and pretended like I wanted to be here. When we finally moved forward, Jamie jabbed me in the side.
“Not so bad, right?”
“That was terrible. I’ll kill you myself if you ever make me do something like that again.”
“Now we’re talking,” Alec muttered beside me.
We walked up to the doors and stepped through as the doorman opened them for us.
“Anyone else getting the feeling of déjà vu right now?” Craig asked.
“Because of the party?” Jamie asked. “Well, my ex-wife isn’t trying to kill me anymore, so not really.”
I snorted and slipped my arm through Alec’s as we moved into the main area. “Someone’s still trying to kill you. Now we just have to figure out who.”
“That’s being awfully presumptuous. We don’t know that anyone wants me dead.”
“Right, you keep being all naive like that,” Craig grinned, putting on a good face as we watched others walk around us.
“It’s not being naive to give my girlfriend the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I’m not worried about her trying to kill me. I’m worried about her marrying me for what I can give her father.”
“And if she can’t get what she wants?” Alec asked. “What do you think they’ll do then? Do you really think they made sure that you got a security team that they could manipulate, but didn’t intend to use them if things didn’t go their way?”
Jamie looked like someone struck him. Obviously, he hadn’t thought things through to that extent. I placed my hand on his and smiled up at him. “Stop looking like you’re going to puke. Remember, we have to put on a good face and figure this out. That won’t work if you look like you’re already in on the plan.”
Jamie put a smile on his face and pretended like one of us said something funny. People filtered into the large space, some talking with Jamie, others more interested in seeing who else was in the room. An hour passed before Tessa showed up on the arm of her father.
“Why is she arriving with her father if she’s making a break with him?” I leaned in and asked Jamie.
“I suggested it. I told her that I thought it would be foolish for her to break from her father. I reminded her that she only had one and that she didn’t have to lose him just because she didn’t want his life.”
“Smart. Now you’ve become the future son-in-law that’s giving a father back his daughter.”
“Well, keep your enemies close and all that.”
I watched in well-disguised disgust as Jamie walked over and kissed Tessa, then shook her father’s hand. The whole thing was wrong to me. They seemed like too much of a team, and not a father and daughter that were estranged. And I guess that was what Jamie wanted to see.
“Showtime,” Alec murmured in my ear, right as he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. “I’m going to start moving around the room, see what I can find out about Tessa and her father. Try not to kill her while I’m gone.”
“I make no promises.”
“I’m going to check out our exits,” Craig said. “Something about this all feels off.”
“Let us know what you find,” Alec said before moving away from me.
I glanced around the room and saw Jamie with his arm resting on Tessa’s waist. They looked natural together, even perfect. But it was all too perfect, too practiced. I didn’t like how she slipped so easily back into Jamie’s lifestyle. If she really didn’t want to be part of her father’s lifestyle, she wouldn’t want to be part of Jamie’s either. Yet, here she was,
