Under His Protection
1893 Words
Elena moved closer despite his warning glance.
Three words had been written across the page in blood.
She belongs underground.
Roman read the blood-written message once.
Then he folded the paper with terrifying precision and handed it back to the biker standing in the corridor.
“Burn it.”
The man hesitated. “President—”
“After Knox photographs it.”
His voice never rose, but every person nearby moved faster.
Elena stared at the closed vault door, half expecting Darius Cole to appear from the shadows. The concrete corridor suddenly felt too narrow, every darkened doorway concealing another threat.
“How did he escape?” Roman demanded.
“Someone pulled the fire alarm on the north side,” the biker replied. “Two prospects left Cole to help secure the exit. When they returned, he was gone.”
“Find them.”
“They’re unconscious in the holding room.”
Roman’s jaw flexed.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then wake them up.”
He turned to Knox.
“Lock down every Kings property. No one enters or leaves without being searched.”
Knox nodded. “What about her?”
Elena disliked the way both men looked at her.
Roman’s answer came without hesitation.
“She stays with me.”
“I have a name,” Elena said.
Neither man acknowledged the comment.
Roman moved past her toward the corridor.
When she did not immediately follow, he looked over his shoulder.
“Elena.”
She folded her arms. “You cannot simply announce that I’m staying with you and expect me to obey.”
“I can tonight.”
“No, you can’t.”
Roman walked back toward her.
The corridor seemed to shrink around him.
Blood still marked one side of his face. A tear ran through the shoulder of his black shirt, exposing a shallow scrape beneath it. He appeared entirely unconcerned by either.
Elena noticed both.
She hated that she noticed.
“Someone used access credentials from my company to enter this building,” he said. “Someone knew you were working late, and someone sent a threat directly to your phone.”
“That does not make you my jailer.”
“No.”
Roman stopped inches from her.
“It makes me the man standing between you and whoever wants to drag you underground.”
The phrase turned her stomach.
She thought of the message written in blood.
She belongs underground.
“Why would anyone care about me?” she asked.
Roman’s silence was answer enough.
“Because they saw you with me?”
“Yes.”
“That is ridiculous.”
“Men have started wars for less.”
“I’m your assistant.”
“You’re a weakness they believe they can exploit.”
Elena searched his face.
“Am I?”
Something dark passed through his eyes.
Roman stepped closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
“You are now.”
The words sent a dangerous warmth through her, despite everything happening around them.
Before she could respond, Roman placed a hand against the small of her back and guided her down the corridor.
Elena stiffened.
“I can walk without assistance.”
“I’ve seen your ability to follow instructions tonight. I’m not taking chances.”
“Your instructions were suspicious.”
“My instructions were designed to keep you away from armed men.”
“They failed.”
“Because you ignored them.”
He pressed his palm more firmly against her back as they entered the garage.
The attack was over, but the aftermath remained.
Broken glass littered the concrete. Bullet holes marked two pillars. Men moved between damaged vehicles while others loaded the wounded into black SUVs.
Elena tried not to look at the covered body near the eastern wall.
Roman noticed where her attention had gone.
His body shifted, blocking her view.
“You don’t need to see that.”
“I already know people died.”
“Knowing and seeing are different.”
“So are being protected and being controlled.”
“Tonight, they’re the same thing.”
They reached a black armored vehicle surrounded by several bikers.
Knox opened the rear door.
Elena stopped.
“My purse and coat are upstairs.”
“They’ll be brought to you,” Roman said.
“My car is still here.”
“So is mine.”
She looked toward the motorcycles.
“Which one?”
Roman’s gaze moved to a sleek black bike parked apart from the others.
Even stationary, it looked aggressive.
“That one.”
Elena could easily imagine him astride it, black leather stretched across his shoulders as the city blurred behind him.
The image appeared too clearly.
She forced her attention back to the SUV.
“I’m not going anywhere until I can speak to my sister.”
“You can call her from the car.”
“You took my phone.”
Roman pulled it from his jacket and handed it over.
The message still filled the screen.
Elena locked it quickly.
“I need to tell her something believable.”
“Tell her you’re working.”
“It’s after midnight.”
“She knows who you work for.”
Elena glared at him.
“Get in the car,” Roman said.
“No.”
Several bikers suddenly found the damaged vehicles extremely interesting.
Roman leaned closer.
“Do not test me in front of my men.”
“Then stop ordering me around in front of them.”
His eyes narrowed.
For one charged second, Elena wondered whether he would physically place her inside the SUV.
Part of her wanted him to try.
The thought horrified her.
Roman seemed to read something on her face because his expression changed. His gaze dropped slowly to her lips.
When he spoke again, his voice was rougher.
“Get inside willingly, Elena.”
“And if I don’t?”
His hand settled at her waist.
The contact sent heat through the thin fabric of her blouse.
“I’ll make the decision for you.”
Knox cleared his throat from beside the open door.
Roman’s hand disappeared.
Elena climbed into the vehicle before her pride could create an even worse situation.
Roman slid in beside her.
Knox took the front passenger seat while another biker drove.
Two motorcycles pulled ahead of them. Two more waited behind.
Elena watched the convoy form through the tinted window.
“This is excessive.”
Roman checked the ammunition in his gun.
“Cole escaped from a guarded room beneath one of the most secure buildings in the city.”
“Fine. Moderately excessive.”
The SUV began moving.
Elena called her sister.
Maya answered on the fourth ring, her voice thick with sleep.
“Elena?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s midnight. Where are you?”
“Still with Roman.”
Roman glanced at her.
Maya became instantly alert.
“With Roman Vale?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“A security issue came up at work.”
“What kind of security issue?”
“The complicated kind.”
Maya was silent.
“Are you in trouble?”
Elena looked at Roman’s bloodstained face, the gun resting against his thigh, and the armed bikers escorting the vehicle.
“No,” she lied. “I’m safe.”
Roman’s attention remained fixed on her.
“Are you sure?” Maya asked.
Elena swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Do you need me to come get you?”
Roman shook his head once.
Elena resented him for answering a question that had not been directed at him.
“No. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She ended the call before Maya could ask anything else.
“You lied convincingly,” Roman said.
“I learned from watching corporate executives.”
Knox coughed into his fist.
Roman’s mouth almost moved.
Almost.
The city passed in streaks of white and gold beyond the windows. They left the industrial district and entered the glittering center where Roman owned more property than Elena could name.
The SUV finally descended into a private underground garage beneath Vale Tower.
Roman’s penthouse occupied the top three floors.
Elena had attended two company events there, but she had never seen the private level.
An elevator carried them directly from the garage.
Roman stood close beside her, one hand resting near his gun. Knox faced the doors, scanning the numbers as though expecting an attack between floors.
When the elevator opened, Elena stepped into a space of glass, black stone, and muted light.
The city stretched beyond enormous windows.
Roman’s home was immaculate.
And almost completely devoid of personality.
“No photographs,” Elena observed.
Roman removed his jacket.
“I know what my family looks like.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
Knox entered behind them and checked the adjoining rooms.
Roman crossed to a bar built into the far wall.
“Drink?”
“No.”
He poured two fingers of whiskey for himself.
Elena watched him take the glass.
“Does alcohol usually follow gunfights?”
“It follows long days.”
“You were shot at.”
“A frequent occupational inconvenience.”
“In which occupation?”
Roman took a drink.
“Both.”
Elena stared at him.
“How long have you been president?”
“Eleven years.”
“And CEO?”
“Twelve.”
“You’ve been running a motorcycle club and a billion-dollar corporation at the same time?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“So are half the deadlines you meet.”
She almost laughed.
The sound caught in her throat when she remembered the body beneath the sheet.
“You killed someone tonight.”
Roman set down the glass.
His expression did not change.
“Yes.”
The honesty unsettled her more than denial would have.
“Do you feel anything about it?”
“He was firing toward you.”
Elena’s breath caught.
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“It’s the only answer that matters.”
Roman stepped closer.
Without the leather jacket, he looked more like the man from the office again, but only from a distance. Up close, blood marked his skin, and violence still lived in his eyes.
Elena pointed toward his face.
“You should clean that.”
“It isn’t mine.”
“You’ve said that.”
“Then stop looking at it.”
“I’m looking because it’s distracting.”
Roman’s eyes darkened.
“Is that the only reason you’re looking?”
Heat climbed Elena’s throat.
She turned away.
“Where am I sleeping?”
“Across the hall from me.”
“I’ll take a guest room farther away.”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Roman moved toward a hallway.
Elena followed, more because she refused to be left alone than because he had directed her.
He opened the door to a large bedroom overlooking the city.
New clothing sat folded across the bed. A toothbrush, toiletries, and a sealed phone charger rested on the dresser.
Elena stopped.
“How did this get here?”
“I had my staff bring it.”
“When?”
“While we were driving.”
She lifted one of the shirts.
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