An Unforgettable Lady(119)

The guy flushed.

Smith came quickly across the room. "Tiny's staying and that's final."

"Why? They have the man behind bars so the danger is gone. I'm not a minor and I'm not a mental case so I don't need a guardian. I also didn't ask for your opinion."

Without looking away from her, he said, "Vic, give us a minute."

His partner disappeared without a word.

But left the damn duffel.

"I don't think we have anything else to say to each other." Grace was having trouble meeting his eyes so she picked up a piece of paper from the desk. It was a memo she'd written about the new expense account policy.

"Look at me." When she refused, Smith slammed his fist into the desk. She jumped and caught a pen before it rolled on the floor. Reluctantly, she shifted her eyes to his. "Dammit, it's not like Marks has a confession from the guy. He may not be the one. You've got to take care of yourself."

"I am. I'm dissolving my relationship with Black Watch. The exposure I've had to you boys so far has been as traumatic as anything else in my life lately." She let out a tense laugh. "You know, I always figured there'd be some dramatic moment when you'd come out of nowhere and save me. Somehow, I don't think the job you did on that porch door quite counts. But then real life doesn't have much in common with the movies, does it?"

Because in Hollywood, they would have ended up together, she thought.

She reached for her purse and pulled out the check she'd written before, the one he'd turned down. "Are you ready to accept this now?"

"I don't want your money."

"But you will take it, won't you? So there'll be no ties left between us, so the cut will be a clean one."

John took the check, looking grim.

"Now, take your buddy and get out of here," she told him.

"Tiny is staying." John's jaw was set but she refused to be intimidated by the force of his will. Or swayed by it.

"Tiny or Vic or whoever he is can go to hell and so can you. I don't need another tough guy in my life or in my bed. From now on, I'm sticking to my own kind."

"I don't give a good goddamn what you say, Tiny is going to be here tonight."

"Oh no, he isn't. I fired you and your whole team!" She was being totally irrational but had no way to stop herself. She'd lost sight of everything but the hollow core in her chest.

"Black Watch is off my payroll."

"So he's going to do it pro bono."

“I’ll have him arrested for trespassing."

"I'd like to see you try," John countered coldly. "The NYPD won't touch one of my boys, Countess."

Grace leapt to her feet, balling her hands into fists. Her body was trembling. "Get out! Just get the hell out of my life!"

He was silent for a long time.

And then she was surprised when he acquiesced, simply turning and striding across the room. When he got to the double doors, he paused. His head went down, as if he were bracing himself.

"Good-bye, Grace."

And with those two, simple words, he left.

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

Blindly, she began shuffling papers on the desk, pulling out sheets from files at random, making a mess. Faster and faster, she rifled through them, searching for nothing at all.

The tears fell from her eyes onto her father's desk, leaving water spots on her memos and contracts, policies and reports.

She was still crying silently twenty minutes later when Kat buzzed.

"Yes?" Grace cleared her throat. "What is it?"

"That man is still here," Kat said quietly.

Tiny. Vic. John's partner. Another hard man with a gun. "Well, he can sit and rot for all I care."





chapter

24





After talking with Tiny about the Gala, and hearing the man decide to let Grace go ahead with attending the event, Smith hopped in a cab and went to her home. On the way there, he was thinking that Tiny was probably right. The risk to her was small, especially with Marks's men there, and Tiny promised to cover her like she was the president of the United States, the Pope, and Nelson Mandela all rolled into one.

As soon as Smith opened her front door, a compelling urge not to leave her kicked off a wave of self-doubt that had him cursing. Rushing through her home, he gathered his things while doing his damnedest to ignore the subtle smell of her perfume lingering in the air. Before he left, he took a last look at the photo of her and her father.