His Nasty Virgin

JESSE

“What do you mean you don’t know where she is?” I asked Devin as he pulled up the building’s surveillance footage.

“Look, we were all busy with the same thing. I didn’t realize I had to babysit.”

“Just find her.”

“There,” he said, pointing at one of the many video boxes on his screen. It replayed Vivian waltzing right out of the front doors of Pegasus Star Security. None of the men I had posted at the front desk even batted an eye. I made a mental note to berate them for it later.

“Right under our noses,” Theo commented, sounding almost amused.

“Dammit,” I hissed. “I looked away for two minutes. Two minutes.”

“Relax.”

“Don’t tell me to relax.”

“What’s the problem, man?” Devin asked. “Maybe she wanted to take a little stroll around the block. She’ll be back.”

“She’s not supposed to be out by herself.”

“Why the hell not? It’s the twenty-first century. Women can do whatever they want.”

“Because it isn’t safe!”

Devin and Theo stared at me. I could hear the gears grinding inside their skulls.

“She’s a client,” Theo realized aloud. “Under your protection.”

Devin frowned. “Why weren’t we informed? She’s not on any roster. This should have been done by the book.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I’m watching her as a favor. Pro bono. I’ve been using my penthouse as a safehouse location.”

“Jesus,” Theo mumbled. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“There’s no time to explain. We need to get her before they do.”

“Who’s they?”

“The Azure Cartel.”

Devin gawked. He never gawked. “What the fuck kind of shit is she in?”

“The deep kind,” I muttered, teeth grinding so hard my jaw was sore.

“Where do you think she’d go?” Theo asked, ready to jump in. I could always count on him to act first and ask questions later. That’s what made him my second in command. He was reliable, and honorable.

Ava had been quiet for a while, watching everything unfold. She held Cassie, patting her back gently in a soothing pattern. “She mentioned something about her friend,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s relevant or not.”

I knew exactly who Vivian was referring to. “She’s going to try and look for her friend,” I said. “She needs proof. Proof that can only be obtained by going back to her place of work.” I snatched up my jacket and pulled it on. I pointed at Theo. “Hold down the fort until I get back.”

“Will do.”

“Where are you going?” Devin demanded, but I was already out the door and running to unlock my Porsche.

As far as traffic violations went, I made about a hundred of them. Speeding through red lights. Failing to brake at stop signs. Almost running over a hipster who wandered too far from the bike lane.

I could see Blue Cloud Financial’s massive logo on the side of its operations building, a beacon of sorts. When I screeched around the corner, I arrived just in time to see a group of men attempting to shove someone into the back of an unmarked white van. There were people around, but they did nothing. Just took out their phones to record what was going on.

Fucking bystanders.

I didn’t slow down. Instead, I slammed on the acceleration and braced for impact. Glass shattered.

Metal crunched.

Tires squealed.

I took out the front of the van with my car, rendering it useless. They weren’t going anywhere. I made sure of it.

I somehow managed to drag myself out of my Porsche. Disoriented. Ears ringing. Joints aching. It was a miracle nothing was broken. The adrenaline coursing through my veins numbed any injuries I might have sustained.

The only reason I was able to stand up straight was because my vision was locked onto Vivian like a hawk. They had their filthy fucking hands on her, and that wasn’t going to fly. Not now. Not ever.

One of the men had been hit in the crash, knocked over, and unconscious on the pavement. That left only four. Two of them peeled off while the other two grabbed Vivian by either arm and attempted to drag her off. She kicked and screamed and scratched, managing to hit one of them in the gut with her elbow.

I took care of the first pair. They were fast, but I was furious. I landed a swift throat punch to the guy on my left, followed by an unforgiving kick to the chest of the man on the right. They keeled over, winded and incapacitated.

The fourth assailant let go of Vivian’s arm and charged me, brandishing a knife from his pocket. He had the advantage and we both knew it. There was no time for me to draw my gun, and even if there had been, I wasn’t going to risk opening fire when so many civilians lingered around. That was a recipe for disaster.

He swiped at me ferociously, the blade whizzing past my ear on numerous occasions. I managed to duck out of the way. This wasn’t a fair fight at all. I was too distracted by the fact that Vivian was still struggling in the arms of her captor, failing to free herself from his knuckle-white grasp.

“Vivian!” I shouted out to her.

I knew it was a mistake to get distracted the second my attacker swiped at me. His blade sliced past my upper right arm, the sting excruciatingly deep. The smell of rust and salt filled my nose. Red soaked into the fabric of my jacket, streams of it trickling down the length of my arm and dripping from my fingers.

I avoided taking another slice but received a kick to the inside of my knee instead. My legs buckled out from under me. My assailant swung his closed fist, knuckles connecting with my jaw. My skull vibrated. Everything hurt. I was seeing double.

“Jesse!” Vivian screeched.

The man trying to drag her away made the mistake of clasping his hand over her mouth. She opened wide and chomped down with all her might. He yelped in agony and recoiled, giving her just enough space to punch him square in the nose. He fell back and hit his head on the curb. Out cold.

She ran to me but couldn’t get past the knife-wielder. He glared at her, murderous intent in his eyes.

“You stupid bitch,” he hissed. “You and that redhead pain in the ass are going to pay.”

“Redhead?” Vivian panted. “You mean Molly? She’s alive?”

“Not for much longer. Not if I have anything to say about

-”

I lunged at him, batting the knife out of his hand and trapping him in a chokehold. I squeezed with all my might, counting the seconds until he was perfectly still. He wasn’t dead. Unfortunately. But at least he was no longer a threat.

Vivian ran to me, inspecting my arm. “Oh my God, Jesse.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

You’re bleeding.”

“It’s fine.”

“Fine? How is this fine? We need to get you to a hospital.”

“No. You’re coming with me back to the safe house.”

“Look, I know you’re mad at me, but you need to see a doctor.”

“I’m not mad, Vivian.” I stared her down, barely able to keep my voice level. “What I am is really. Fucking.

Disappointed.”

“Jesse, I-”

“Stop. Talking.”

I looked her over. Apart from the emotional and mental trauma of almost being kidnapped -again- she seemed alright physically. Still, Vivian was on the brink of tears, the rims of her eyes red and white glossy. Any other day, I would have scooped her up and kissed her until she felt better. But this was different.

“What you did was stupid,” I said, reaching into my pocket for my phone. I called Devin, who answered in a hurry.

“Did you find her?”

“Yeah. I need you to send a car and a cleanup crew to my location. Have them deal with the cops when they get

here. I’m taking Vivian back to the safe house.”

“Send a car? What happened to yours?”

“Totaled it. Which reminds me, call the dealership. She’s going to need a new… everything. Copy?”

“Jesus. Yeah, copy that.”

I ended the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket, turning to check on Vivian. She was trembling, clutching something tightly in her hands. I was too angry to ask her about it. Instead, I covered my wound with my palm and applied pressure to staunch the flow of blood. I wasn’t going to lose the arm, but it still hurt like hell.

“We really should take you to the emergency room,” she said, voice so quiet and small I barely heard her over the gathering crowd. Some of them were taking pictures. Not good.

I shrugged off my jacket and draped it over her head, pulling her close to my chest. I still had a job to do, and that was making sure my client was secure. I couldn’t risk anyone getting a good look at Vivian. There was no telling who was watching. It was highly likely the cartel had members nearby, keeping a finger on the pulse. She was exposed out here, a lamb with a target on her back.

Her well-being came before mine. That was the job.