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  “What’s James’ job around here, buddy?”

  The assistant looked absolutely terrified of Ace but manage to stutter, “James is the assistant director, the second man to David, sir. Please let go of my shirt.”

  Ace realized he was gripping into the man’s shirt tightly and quickly released him. The assistant practically stumbled over himself as he scuttled off in another direction, trying to get away from the bulky bodyguard as fast as possible.

  He heard the faint sound of laughter in the dressing room and turned to get a quick peek at the source. Jennifer was giggling at one of the women smearing blood down her cheek. It was amusingly odd, to see the contrast of the gruesome face Jen had painted on her, to the beaming smile she dazzled the crew with from some inside joke. He kept in the background as they continued their conversation. Her mouth was intoxicating to look at. She had perfectly round lips, naturally a soft pink, so kissable.

  Snap out of it, man! You can’t be getting distracted and make another mistake. I’ll end up as a damn chew toy for the twins if I screw this job up.

  The thought of Pearl’s and Joe’s punishment for a failed outcome on such a high-profile job instantly jolted him back into reality. He turned from the cheerful scene inside and focused back on protecting one of the mafia’s biggest assets.

  Chapter 4

  JENNIFER

  Exhausted, she wiped the fake blood from her cheek, uncovering her despicable freckles. Why genes had decided to pull such a cruel trick on her, she’d never know. She had just managed to scrape the rest of the grime from her face when Makayla rushed in, carrying two garment bags hooked over her shoulders.

  “Your gown, Jen, and Mr. Bailey’s tuxedo,” she draped them gently over the couch, “The limo will be outside at 6.”

  “Thank you, Makayla, you can go home for the day. I won’t need anything else.”

  Makayla nodded and left the room, picking up her handbag on the way out. In her place, Ace entered, looking suspiciously at the bags on the couch. He picked up the nearest one which when unzipped, by luck, happened to be his tuxedo. She wanted to surprise him with her evening gown.

  “I’ve asked David if you can use the dressing room next door to get ready. Don’t worry, the shower has all the essentials and I’ve ordered a fresh towel to be placed in there for your use. Just wait for me outside when you’re done.”

  Ace turned to her, “I don’t think it’s a good idea leaving you by yourself in here.”

  “Don’t worry, no one can get in. I’ll lock the door behind you. Besides, nearly everyone has gone home for the evening. I’ll be fine.” But even saying it, she felt a slight uneasiness in the pit of her stomach.

  Ace tensed for a moment, then seemed to know better than to argue with her and silently left the room, carrying his tux over his arm. She couldn’t wait to see him all dressed up. Better yet, she had an excuse to grab on to his arm when they were walking around. She wanted to get a proper feel of his muscles after the teaser she had earlier, when he was comforting her on the couch. His abs were relaxed, but she could feel them bulging through his shirt.

  As promised, Jennifer clambered out of her seat and locked the door behind him, double-checking it just in case. Even though she was locked in the room, that didn’t mean the stalker couldn’t post a letter under the door or leave a gift waiting for her outside. Ace would probably spot that before she did. She was glad that he had taken the envelope off her, but dreaded to know what was contained within that periwinkle blue envelope.

  Scrubbing the rest of the dirt from her forehead, she undid her dressing gown and let it pool around her feet on the tiled floor. The cold air bit at her skin, and she could feel her nipples tighten. Time to get ready.

  Cranking the water in the shower up to high heat, she climbed into the jets and let the water spray off her curves. Lathering her body, she cleaned the stench of the set away and smothered herself in her usual coconut scent. Her shoulders relaxed as the steam surrounded her and her troubles seemed to melt away, if only for that moment, while she showered. When she could drag it out no longer, she turned off the taps and opened the shower door. Quickly, she wrapped the woolly towel around her and tried to seal in the heat escaping her skin.

  After drying off, she found her lacy underwear from earlier and slipped into it. Feeling that little bit sexier, she took a glance at herself in the mirror and smiled. She took her garment bag from the couch and placed it on the clothes hook on the back of the door. Carefully, she started to unzip and reveal the gown that had been chosen for her this evening. It was a bright red, sequined, floor-length, strapless gown. Even this seemed a bit much for Jennifer. What was her wardrobe stylist thinking?

  Although it will definitely catch Ace’s eyes. Along with every other person on the planet.

  So much for the lacy bra. This baby wasn’t made for practicalities such as push-ups. She unhooked the back and flung the bra to the side, easing the dress from the bag. Uncased, it was even more stunning than before. With fumbling fingers, Jennifer managed to get into the dress and zip up the side. Of course, it fitted her body perfectly and clung to every angle and bump the natural landscape of her body formed.

  After she finished her makeup and teased her hair into gentle waves which tumbled over her shoulders, she was finally ready to examine herself in the full-length mirror. Paired with simple black stilettos, a glittering clutch, and a diamond choker, she wandered up to inspect the overall look.

  Jennifer was not vain by any means, but damn did she feel good looking at herself tonight. The dress made her feel like the star everyone saw her to be. She scanned her eyes over everything, ensuring there was nothing out of place before she decided to present herself to her new bodyguard.

  Opening the door, her eyes had to adjust to the darkness. She could see him standing a few feet away, back turned towards her, the blue glow from his mobile lighting up his chiseled jaw. When he heard the door, he turned to face her. His mouth literally dropped. Jennifer tried her best not to blush as his hungry gaze devoured every inch of her body. She could see the lust build up in his eyes and more so his lower region. Even in the dark, she could see he had an erection. If her looks could do that to him, wait until he saw what she could do physically.

  “You look amazing,” she was surprised to hear him stammer.

  “Why, thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself, mister.”

  With the help of the light flooding out the dressing room behind her, she was able to see him properly. The tux was slightly looser than she might have wanted in areas, and he had that permanent frown tattooed across his face, but still he looked delicious. If only she was allowed to eat him up right then and there.

  Who says you’re not allowed?

  She smiled, “You ready to go or are we just going to stand here all night admiring one another?”

  Ace shocked her with laughter as they headed over to the studio doors. Evening was creeping up on them as the golden hues of sunset danced across the building rooftops. The last rays of the sun dwindled as the cold night took its place. As organized, a limo lay waiting outside. Makayla would have driven the car back to Jennifer’s house and posted the keys into her mailbox as usual.

  Always the gentleman, Ace opened the door for her to climb in and he clambered in the other side. As they pulled away from the studio, she made the mistake of looking back. There, crouched around the corner of the building was a figure.

  “Ace! It’s him!”

  He flipped around instantly to follow her gaze, but the man was already gone.

  “Where is he? I’ll get the limo to stop and I’ll go find the fucker!” She could feel the anger pulsing through his voice.

  “He just disappeared. I doubt we’d be able to find him. I’m pretty sure he knew that I saw him and that’s why he ran away. Evil bastard, lurking in the shadows. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been here.”

  The thought almost brought tears back to her eyes. Ace
seemed to notice and pulled her into him, stroking her gently.

  “I’m not going to let him get to you. Not now, not ever. Remember that. You’re under my protection.”

  Jennifer sniffed back the tears and straightened up. She almost protested when he released her from his sideways embrace and let her scoot back to her own side of the seat. Some liquid courage. That would help the night running a bit slowly. Shuffling forward, she opened the limo’s mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of champagne. Ace seemed to understand and grabbed two flutes from the holder beside him. They swapped so he could pop the cork. The sound made her flinch as always, but she managed to steady her hands so that he was able to pour two sparkling glasses. Once he had managed to lodge the bottle into the holder, she handed him the glass and they tentatively sipped.

  “Did you read the letter?”

  He looked up from examining the bubbles in his glass.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t want to know what it said, but was it from him?”

  “Yes.”

  He was clearly being careful not to reveal too much so as to protect her emotions. It was better this way. It was his job to sort this out after all. She shouldn’t have to think about it much longer. She couldn’t wait for the days where she no longer had to live in fear of receiving another ‘Jenny’ envelope.

  The rest of the journey they spent in silence, mulling over the situation.

  ***

  “You’ll have to tell me where you got that dress, darling. It’s to die for!”

  Yet another inebriated high-maintenance bimbo clung onto her arm as she tried to sip her cocktail. The dress was gorgeous, but if it was going to draw this much unwarranted attention all night, she’d rather go home naked.

  Knowing the pain she must be going through, Ace tried to conceal a smile. It made Jennifer even more annoyed as she tried to extract the woman’s manicured fingers from her side.

  “You’ll have to ask my stylist.”

  With that, she grabbed Ace and led him to the open balcony off the main room. A few couples were there, but Jennifer managed to find them a quiet corner to linger in. The night air seemed to hit her and goosebumps formed on her arms. Seeing this, Ace removed his jacket and wrapped it around her slender frame.

  “Thanks. You want to get out of here soon? If I have to deal with another snooty bitch knocking my martini all over my shoes, I’m going to go mad.”

  “It’s the dress.”

  “Yes, I don’t think I would have caused nearly as much fuss if I had gone all naked,” she giggled.

  “I, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing that,” Ace started to laugh then, realizing what he had said, slapped a hand over his mouth, “Fuck, please don’t tell anyone I said…”

  She stopped him mid-sentence, leaning in close, her breasts pushing up to his chest, their mouths just inches apart. Maybe it was the martini taking hold, but she couldn’t stop herself gently moving in and running her tongue up the side of his neck, leaving a silvery trail glistening in the moonlight. His breath caught in his throat as she snaked her way up. Reaching the edge of his chin, she paved butterfly kisses across his jaw, up towards his ear where she carefully nibbled at his lobe.

  “Don’t apologize,” she whispered before pulling away.

  Jennifer didn’t wait for him to stutter his response, and she grabbed his hand and led him out of the gala. She could feel the crowd’s eyes on her as she pulled him through the masses. They had told everyone who had asked that they were just cousins, but she was sure that no one had really believed it. And if anyone had seen how close she had been outside with him, there would be no feasible explanation as to how they could be related.

  By the time she got down the stairs, she was panting with desire. The limo pulled up almost straight away and they jumped in. Luckily for them both, she only lived a couple of blocks away. She could resist until the privacy of her house, for the sake of both their reputations. She looked over to gauge Ace’s emotions but darkness shrouded his features. As if sensing her uncertainty, he reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a forceful squeeze.

  Once the limo came to a stop outside the house, they both practically leaped from the doors and darted for the front gate. The trees cast heavy shadows over the lock and Jennifer impatiently scrambled for her keys in her clutch. Where the hell were they?

  Upon locating them, she swiftly opened the gate and Ace slammed it behind them. Hidden in the walled front garden, she leaped upon Ace, wrapping her legs around his back. Predicting her moves, he caught her around the waist and held her tight to his torso. Their mouths met in a clash of passion. No longer willing to fight the unspoken attraction between them, a fire smoldered in her belly with every movement of his body against hers. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, nails indenting themselves into his skin. She was sure there would be cuts found all over his back in the morning. His grip strengthened around her waist, and she could feel herself practically melting into his chest.

  A sudden noise from the bushes brought them back to their surroundings, and he carefully placed her onto the ground. Stupid birds. They would continue inside where they could at least make use of her new furniture. Jennifer adjusted her dress as she walked up the pathway to the front door. However, when she went to unlock it, the door swung open on its hinges. What’s going on?

  Peering into the gloom, she tried to make out if there was anything wrong. Ace had noticed the hesitation from her and gently pushed her behind him, his body sheltering her from potential danger. She watched as he felt the edge of the wooden door, splinters snapped off from where it had been forced open. Guess whoever it was, didn’t have the right keys after I replaced the lock.

  Ace put one hand up, signaling her to stay put while he went inside. He only managed to walk a couple of steps into the lobby before he staggered over an object on the floor. Managing to reach the light switch, he flicked it on. They were momentarily blinded by the bright light before they could focus on the obstruction his feet had discovered. There, on the tiles, lay a bouquet of black roses, already wilting from dehydration. Attached to it was a periwinkle blue envelope.

  Chapter 5

  ACE

  Sun filtered through the patio door and warmed Ace’s eyelids. Morning birds whistled their morning tunes as he started to wake. His back was stiff from lying on the couch all night. It was all he could do to stop Jennifer from sprinting from the house, after last night’s discovery, and staying in a remote motel off the furthest highway she could get to. He wondered whether she had managed to get any sleep after the shock of the break-in.

  Ace eyed the bunch of jet black roses on the coffee table where he had left them. He hadn’t got a chance to open the envelope with Jen in hysteria. It had certainly killed the mood, that was for sure.

  Maybe it was for the best. You can’t mix business with pleasure. Pearl would hunt me down and use my balls for earrings if she found out.

  He grimaced as he picked up the bouquet and extracted the envelope from the bindings. Time to find out what the fucking sicko had written this time around.

  Jen,

  How could you do this to me? You thought changing the locks would stop me? You thought hiring a new bodyguard would stop me? We are destined to be together. Nothing can stop me getting to you.

  You’ll appreciate my efforts one day once we are finally as one.

  Stop trying to push me away. It will never work. Don’t make me warn you again.

  M x

  M strikes again, but this time a bit too close to home – literally. Would this guy stop at no ends? If Ace’s presence didn’t scare the man into submission then what would? Or maybe this man was more dangerous than Ace originally presumed. To have got into the house, he would have had to use a lot of force.

  He stood up, grabbing the flowers and the envelope and walked upstairs. As he passed Jen’s room, he noticed the door was slightly open. Quietly, he looked around to check on her. She was sleeping peacefully, although it
was clear from the streaks down her face that it had taken a lot of effort to get to that stage. The poor woman was falling to pieces. He had to get to the bottom of this and fast.

  Striding into his room, Ace chucked the roses and the letter into the box. He was still in the shirt and trousers from last night, so he swiftly grabbed some clothes and headed off to freshen up in the bathroom. After showering, he looked at himself in the mirror. Jennifer must have had a lot to drink last night to be attracted to such a mess. His beard was untrimmed and the scars on his face just added to his mean demeanor. Ace dug around in his wash bag and pulled out a shaver. At least he could deal with one of the problems.

  Fresh-faced, to his standards at least, he walked back to his room to take a look at the stalker’s box of horrors. He started to pull out some of the letters and read through. The gifts in the box consisted of chocolates and, more concerning, underwear garments. Ace cringed at the thought of a lonely desperate guy pawing through a lingerie shop finding pieces to send to a woman who didn’t even acknowledge his existence. Creepy bastard.

  All the letters followed the same pattern: M declaring his love, saying how they were destined to be together and nothing could keep them apart. They appeared to get more desperate the longer it went on, up until yesterday’s note which had taken a slightly darker turn. A warning? What would this man do if she kept ‘refusing’ him? Ace didn’t want to find out.

  Just then there was a knock on the door and a sleepy Jen walked in, a silk dressing gown tied at her waist. Yawning, she rubbed her eyes; then, noticing him reading through the notes, she blushed. He couldn’t help but feel pulled towards her hidden innocence. A woman who was so powerful on set and, clearly, knew what she wanted sexually, was still brought to pinkness at the sight of this freak’s writing. Ace just wanted to wrap her up and protect her from the horrors of the world. But he couldn’t let her get close. It wasn’t meant to be for the Bailey brothers.