When Day Breaks

CHAPTER 8

EDEN came awake with a grogginess she normally didn’t feel in the mornings. She wiped at her eyes attempting to rub some of the bleariness away and remembered the two pills Raid had forced down her throat.

She glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after eight. At least she hadn’t slept the entire morning away. She had a lot to do before leaving for Paris.

After a quick shower, she went through her skin care regimen but left off makeup. Her skin needed to breathe so she’d look her best for the upcoming shoot.

She dressed casually in a pair of comfortable jeans and an oversize shirt. After slipping her feet into a pair of flip-flops, she went in search of the others, who were no doubt making plans without her.

She rolled her eyes as she walked from the bedroom. She had no doubt her father and brothers were overreacting, but they were genuinely worried, especially her dad. After her mother’s death, he’d been extremely overprotective of her to the point of absurdity, but she didn’t want to add to his worry, so she just went with it when he got in one of his moods.

Everyone was drinking coffee and the television was on a local station. She waved, not really knowing what to say to the group of people her father had hired to protect her. They seemed a quiet bunch anyway. Except Joe. He seemed to be the leader and so far had done most of the talking. And yet it wasn’t Joe she’d noticed. It had been Swanny. There was something about the quiet man. In a group with that much testosterone it was odd that she’d hone in on Swanny but there was no explanation for it.

As she accepted a cup of coffee from Raid, she stood back, quietly observing the people she’d be spending the next week with.

Skylar was petite and cute with sparkling eyes and long blond hair, but in her case appearances had to be deceiving or how else would she land a job with a company like KGI?

Edge was a huge man with strong features. His ears had the beginnings of the cauliflower ears associated with boxers or mixed martial artists. His nose had a slight bump that told her he’d likely broken it at least once. He had dark eyes and hair that hung to the tops of his shoulders.

Her gaze drifted to Swanny. Quiet and observant. He had a scar down one side of his face that ended right at the corner of his mouth. It was as if someone had taken a knife and slashed open the side of his face. The scar was puckered, the ridges uneven as if he’d simply been sewn back together with little care for his appearance.

She wondered what had happened and how he’d gotten such a terrible injury.

As if sensing her scrutiny, his gaze found hers and he turned the scarred side of his face away from her. He did that often. She’d noticed when he caught her looking he always turned the scarred side of his face away. As if he were self-conscious about his appearance.

He fascinated her and she couldn’t pinpoint why exactly. He wasn’t handsome in a classic sense. But he had strong features and a rugged quality that appealed to her feminine instincts. He was a man who had complete honor. She was positive of it. Of all the team members of KGI, it was Swanny she put her trust in most, and damn if she knew why. As she studied him harder, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She was attracted to him. Sexually and emotionally, which was pretty stupid considering that (A) she was a job to him and (B) they’d only just met. He likely thought she was crazy staring at him all the time. She’d be mortified if he took her interest as merely gawking at his scars, like a train wreck she couldn’t turn away from.

In her job she was surrounded by men most women would consider gorgeous and yet she found them too pretty. Too . . . perfect.

Swanny’s gaze swung to her as if sensing her prolonged perusal and for a moment he held her gaze, returning it in equal measure. Faint heat flooded her cheeks but she couldn’t make herself look away. His eyes mesmerized her, his gaze seeking as if he could see into the heart of her. She hoped she wasn’t obvious in her attraction.

He averted his gaze first, turning away. Disappointment seeped into her chest because she’d seen no sign that he returned her attraction. Just a steady gaze, returning her study in kind. He probably thought she was some brazen hussy on the make.

She turned when she heard the local news break in with a special report. The entire group stopped what they were doing and listened intently as the reporter spoke in rapid tones.

There’d been another shooting, and a suspect was in custody. She caught her father’s look of surprise and frowned. Before she could remark, her cell phone rang and she glanced down to see an unknown number on the screen.

Remembering that she’d given the detective her number, she hit the button to accept the call and brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Miss Sinclair?”

“Yes, this is she.”

“This is Detective Barnes. I wanted to let you know that another shooting occurred this morning.”

“Yes, I just saw it on the news,” she said. “They reported that a suspect is in custody.”

The detective muttered a curse that sounded suspiciously like “fucking reporters” and then, “Yes, we do have a suspect in custody, but this is a slam dunk. I wanted to let you know so you didn’t worry further. We apprehended the shooter and he confessed to yesterday’s shooting as well. I can’t go into further detail, but I thought you should know so you can rest easy now.”

“Thank you for calling,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. Take care.”

She ended the call and looked up to see every single person staring at her expectantly.

“That was Detective Barnes,” she said. “He confirmed they have a suspect in custody and a confession for yesterday’s shooting.”

The result was complete silence as everyone exchanged glances, as if they didn’t know what to say.

“So, um, I guess all of this is unnecessary,” she said, gesturing toward the members of KGI.

“I disagree,” Raid said firmly.

Her eyes widened. “But they’ve arrested the shooter and it obviously wasn’t personal.”

“I’d feel better if KGI accompanied you to Paris,” her father said, a stubborn set to his face.

Her eyes narrowed. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Ryker slid his arm around her shoulders. “Cut us some slack, Eden. You were almost killed. It would make us all feel better if you had tighter security for your Paris shoot. Besides, they’re already here and plans are in place.”

“Lay off the emotional blackmail,” she muttered. “Raid has already poured it on thick enough.”

Her father walked over to her and framed her shoulders in his hands, his expression serious. “Do this for me, Eden. Please. I’d sleep better if I knew you had the best protecting you.”

She heaved a heavy sigh. “Okay, okay, whatever. But I’m going on record that this is totally unnecessary.”

“Miss Sinclair.”

Startled, she swung her gaze up to look at Swanny, who’d spoken her name softly.

“I think it is necessary,” he continued. “You’re already all over the news as having been involved in yesterday’s shooting. There are hundreds of crazy-ass people out there, and the likelihood of a copycat is possible. You should absolutely tighten your security for the next while at least. Wait for things to calm down. You can’t take this too lightly.”

The rest of the group looked as surprised as she was that he’d said so much. There was a firmness to his voice that told her he was absolutely serious.

“He’s right,” Raid said grimly.

She held up her hands in surrender. “I already said I would go along with it.”

“But you have to take it seriously,” Swanny said. “Which means you do what we tell you and don’t resist. Our job is to keep you safe, and we can’t do that without your full cooperation.”

She blinked but held his gaze, warmth invading her veins as he stared intently at her. This time he didn’t avert the side of his face. He looked at her almost challengingly, daring her to look away first.

“You’ll find I’m not a difficult person,” she said softly.

Swanny grimaced. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were. If I did, then I apologize.”

She shook her head. “No, no offense taken. I just want you to know that I’m not some spoiled diva who throws a tantrum if I don’t get my way. I’ll cooperate fully. I don’t want to make your jobs harder.”

“We appreciate that, Miss Sinclair,” Joe interjected.

“Please, call me Eden,” she said, sweeping the entire group with her gaze, including them all in her request.

“All right, Eden,” Swanny said.

It did funny things to her stomach to hear her name on his lips. She broke his gaze and looked to her father, sure that her cheeks were flush with color. The last thing she wanted was to be obvious. Or come across as desperate.

“When do we leave?” she asked, to cover the awkwardness.

Joe took over then, briskly telling her of the arrangements that had been made. It awed her that they could pull something together this quickly. They were, in fact, taking this very seriously, and for the first time, she felt a kernel of unease. What if they were right? What if some idiot decided to take a shot at her now that she was splashed all over the news?

“We’ll see you off and then catch a flight back home,” Raid said. “I have to be back to work, but we expect you to check in with us often and if anything happens, we want to know about it immediately.”

Eden nodded, swallowing the knot in her throat. Everyone was acting as if it were a foregone conclusion that something would happen.