We head upstairs to Kaga’s office. Even on the main floor, it’s hard to know the time of day because of the lack of windows. The only way to mark time inside the Aquarium is by the number of people that are present. The bar is eerily silent as the only inhabitants this morning are Kaga and I. Priya won’t come in until the afternoon.
“Steve took her to Jake’s.”
“How does she enjoy her new job?”
“Seems like she hates it,” I admit.
“Rough.”
“Yup.”
“You having Steve follow her everywhere?”
I nod. “Until I can talk her into getting a bodyguard. It’s just a smart precaution. Kidnapping for ransom seems more popular these days. That’s one of the few upsides to the paparazzi. Hard to steal someone who’s followed by cameras every time she steps foot from the house.” We both look downstairs. “Not to mention the random hate-related muggings.”
I can handle myself but Tiny? She’s tough, but she’d never survive a beating from those thugs.
“Maybe you ought to ease up,” Kaga suggests. We pause outside his office door.
I scoff. “This advice from the man who’s monitoring a certain Columbia student’s every interaction with the opposite sex?”
Kaga’s impenetrable facade eases for a moment, and then he concedes my point with a slight dip of his head. “I have overstepped.”
His stiff formality bothers me far more than his ribbing. Kaga’s honor is what prevents him from pursuing the woman he desires. “We’re both concerned about those we care deeply about.”
The clasp of his hand against my shoulder is his signal that all is forgiven. He pushes open his office door, and inside I find Jake, Gabriel Allen, and Steve playing cards.
I look from Gabe to Steve and back again. Neither should be here.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Steve. He should be with Tiny.
“She’s fine.”
I’m already moving toward the exit when Jake chimes in. “I’ve posted someone outside the door across the street, and there’s another guy, former black ops, inside reviewing some investigative tape. No one is getting to her.”
“And you?” I turn to Gabe.
“Making sure you don’t break any laws,” he says, not looking up from his cards.
“Am I paying you hourly as you lose money to Jake and Steve?” Gabe is my lawyer. He’s Jake and Kaga’s lawyer too. Hell, he could represent Steve for all I know.
“Yes.”
Shaking my head, I walk over to Kaga’s well-stocked bar and pour myself an orange juice with a splash of vodka. Breakfast of champions.
“You’ll be pleased to hear that I didn’t touch him.”
“He tell you anything?”
“No. I did find out that he assumed I’d know who sent him.”
“I’m going with Howe, then,” Gabe answers, throwing down his cards and striding over to the one-way mirror that allows Kaga to survey the entire club. “Cards should never be played while the sun is up. We’re toying with the natural order of things, which is why my hand is so bad.”
“We’re going to let the guy go this afternoon. Jake can send a man to shadow him. No harm, no foul. You can continue to represent me without any ethical conflicts.” I slide into Gabe’s abandoned chair and pick up his cards. No matches and no face cards. I wince. That is a shit hand. Turning to more pressing business, I tell Jake, “I need a fulltime bodyguard for Tiny. Preferably female.”
“We call them ‘personal protection service providers’ in the business, and she’s not going to like that,” he says absently, his attention on the pot—which looks to be about a couple grand. Low stakes. He glances at Steve, who doesn’t look up from his hand. “See your five and raise you five.”
Steve matches with his own chips. “Call.”
“It’s just a precaution,” I repeat the excuse I gave Kaga earlier.
“Can I be there when you explain this to her? Because I can’t wait to see how you finesse this. She’ll eat you alive.” Jake lays down his hand. It’s a straight, with a queen high. Steve fans out his cards. Four of a kind, ten high.
“Motherfucker.” Jake curses and pushes away from the table. “Ten grand in three hands. How do you do it, Steve?”
Steve has unholy luck at the card table. It’s unexplainable, and if I didn’t know him, I’d argue he cheated. It’s one thing to have the cards fall in your favor for one round, but with Steve, it’s such a common occurrence that no one really wants to play with him anymore. Except for Jake, who views it as a challenge, and Gabe, because he thinks he can win at everything. He usually does but not against Steve.
Steve just shrugs and pulls in the chips.
“When are you going to ask Tiny to marry you?” Jake asks. “You are going to, right?”
“Tiny works for you for a few weeks and already you think you have the right to ask me about my intentions toward her?” I say incredulously.
“She’s a woman alone,” Jake shoots back. I can see his white knight complex is fully engaged and he’ll be like a dog guarding his bone if I don’t give him what he wants. He’s fiercely protective of all the women in his circle. His little sister gets the brunt of it. I doubt she’s even had one date since Jake got back from the Middle East.
“I haven’t asked because her mother died, and I didn’t want her looking back later thinking I proposed because she was in a bad state emotionally. And before. . .” I stretch out my legs, “before she was busy resisting my obvious charms and would have said no just to spite me.”
“Sounds like you two have a healthy relationship,” Gabe observes.
“Given that all you ass**les are single except for Steve, you haven’t the first clue what a healthy relationship is.”
“Oh, we know. We’re just incapable of being in one,” Jake retorts.
“Speak for yourself,” Kaga interjects.
He and Jake stare at each other for a long time before Jake says softly, “Sorry, old man, but I know you too well. We’ve shared too many experiences. You’re a good man, but you’re not for her.”
Kaga tightens his fists and takes a step toward Jake. We all tense, preparing for a fight. It’s a showdown that’s been a long time coming, but with visible effort, he loosens his fists and dips his head slightly. “If you say so, Jake.” With that, Kaga turns and leaves, abandoning us in his own office. The tension is thick enough to choke on.