Chapter 56

"Time to go," Daniel Mercer growled down at the two women.
Claudia tossed her long blond waves back over her shoulder and glared up at Tyson's goon. Despite spending weeks in the guy's company, he wasn't even remotely softening toward her. He acted as though she were a glass wall. A thing he could touch and guard, but also see right through. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't anything else either. It drove her nuts. It drove her to be uncharacteristically stubborn when he made suggestions she wasn't particularly fond of. Like when he suggested in no uncertain terms that she could meet her friend in Tyson's fortress of a penthouse rather than at a restaurant.
They had been back in the city for three days. Tyson had business to attend to and he had been unwilling to leave Claudia even for a day. She felt the same way, so she had accompanied him back. In the city, he wanted her to stay in the penthouse at all times where she was safe. In fact, he had insisted. Claudia had systematically broken him down using her ultimate methods of persuasion, which included logical argument about how careful she would be while surrounded by an army of bodyguards , and mind sizzling blowjobs. Tyson had been unable to withstand the lethal combination and had finally allowed her to go see her friend.
She opened her mouth to tell Daniel off for trying to cut short her gal pal time with Anya, who was filling her in on tons of juicy details about her champion fighter boyfriend. Much to Claudia's amusement, Anya leapt in before she could. The tiny woman stood up and went toe to toe with one of the scariest guys Claudia's imagination could conjure.
"Dude, what exactly is your problem?" Anya snapped, crossing her arms in front of her. She looked like a miniature combatant in her black studded jeans, camo tank top and signature heavy boots, blue-tipped hair brushing against her shoulder blades. "Why don't you go give cold lessons to an iceberg for a few hours? I don't even begin to understand why Ash might consider you a friend. Why don't you back off, we're talking here."
Mercer said nothing. He didn't even look down at the much shorter woman who was confronting him. He stood tall and solid next to Claudia's chair where he had posted himself for the last half hour. His imposing stature had frightened off anyone that might have approached the table in one of the city's downtown boutique restaurants. Consequently, the two women had only received water since arriving, despite the stellar online reviews. Claudia suspected her glowering ornament frightened the staff of Dockside Cafe. When she first noticed their reticence in approaching the women, Claudia had asked him politely to either sit down or go stand by the door so they could talk in peace. Without a word he had declined both suggestions.
"What exactly is your problem? You're a bodyguard, as in you guard her body," Anya demanded and pointed at Claudia. "You don't get to dictate when we're done here. We'll let you know when we're ready to go. Now why don't you do us a favour and go be a good statue over there."
Daniel tilted his head down, studying the annoying woman with quiet menace, like a cobra judging the best moment to strike. Claudia jumped to her feet, inserting herself between the two of them, disliking the extra chilling glint that had come into Daniel's eyes. She had no doubt he was picturing all the ways he could dispose of Anya's small body.
Anya poked her head around Claudia's arm and glared up at him. "I know people," she said, drawing a finger across her throat for emphasis.
Claudia stifled a laugh and quickly turned to hug Anya. "It's been great seeing you again, Anya. Let's do it again sometime, after I have a chat with Tyson about boundaries."
Still glaring fireballs up at Daniel, Anya hugged the taller woman back and mumbled, "Dogs without manners."
Daniel took a step forward, hooked Claudia by the arm and pulled her out of Anya's grip, texting the driver that they were on their way out. Claudia waved at Anya, hoping she didn't look too much like a woman being abducted from a popular restaurant. She stood stiffly in Daniel's grip as he led her out onto the sidewalk and whisked her into the car with a hand on top of her head to protect her from the frame. Slamming the door shut he got into the front passenger side, next to the driver.
Claudia was reminded sharply of the first night she met Tyson King. Of how he had taken her forcefully out of the gambling club he was now buying and pushed her into his vehicle. She had been so terrified that he was planning on handing her over to Dante and Franco. The memory made her temper soar even more, so she wasn't particularly careful when she spoke to Daniel.?
"What exactly gives you the right to dictate to me," she demanded, smacking the back of his seat with frustration. "Do you get off on humiliating women? Because if so, congratulations, mission accomplished. You made me feel like a child back there, incapable of making my own decisions. You treated me like I can't even walk by myself!"
Claudia expected Daniel's customary reaction of not reacting at all. So she was surprised when he shifted in his seat, turned his bearded jaw toward her and stared at her like he might a particularly annoying bug. "You have no idea what gets me off, little girl, so don't talk about things you don't understand. If it amused me to humiliate you, trust me, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month. In my opinion, you can't walk by yourself, talk by yourself or do anything without getting yourself into trouble. You belong to the boss and that makes you my responsibility."
Claudia gasped and pushed back in her seat until her spine moulded against the leather. It wasn't far enough away. She could still feel the ever-present menace radiating from his skin. Such a contrast from his big, sexy boss. Tyson could be scary, but his adoration for her cancelled out his terrifying demeanour. She wished in that moment that she were with Tyson, safe in his arms.
"Don't talk to me that way," Claudia said, trying to sound angry.
Daniel just looked through her, replying, "Stop acting like a child," before turning back to face the front of the car.
They didn't take the car elevator up, instead coming to a halt in front of the huge luxury apartment complex. Daniel was in the process of giving instructions to Mike, the driver, when Claudia decided she'd had about all of Daniel Mercer's oppressive presence that she could handle. She reached for the door handle and opened it.
Daniel quickly turned in his seat and snapped, "Stay put and wait for me."
"Bite me," Claudia snapped back, standing up on the sidewalk in her three-inch Saint Laurent heels and slammed the door shut. She glared swiftly at Daniel as he hurriedly finished his conversation with Mike and reached to open the door.
Claudia reached for the swinging door of the lobby and entered the richly furnished, air-conditioned room. She automatically turned to smile at the concierge on her way to the elevators when she noticed he was missing from his post, which was highly unusual. Apprehension tingled up and down her spine as Claudia hesitantly approached the big marble reception desk. Peeking over the top, she saw him.
Her mouth opened in a soundless scream. Her hand automatically came up to cover her gaping mouth. The regular concierge, an older man named Oscar, was laying flat on his back, eyes open in a sightless stare. There was a hole in his forehead, with burn marks around it where someone had shot him point blank. Claudia backed away, gasping for Daniel. Her shocked gaze met his, pleading for help, as he stepped into the lobby. His usual stoic expression turned to concern at her white face and glassy eyes. His sharp eyes swept the lobby.
Just as Claudia was about to tell him about the dead man, the door separating the lobby from the main floor garage banged open and two men holding semi-automatic rifles stepped through. Daniel acted so swiftly Claudia didn't even have time to process who they might be. He lunged toward her, hooked her around the waist with a thick arm and jumped over the concierge desk, turning as he went to keep his back to the guys who were just realizing their prey was in the building.
Claudia landed hard on the floor next to the dead concierge with a very heavy Daniel landing on top of her. She groaned at the impact, but bit her lip so Daniel could effectively do his job without worrying about her. He rolled off of her, coming up in a crouch and pulling a gun out of the shoulder holster hidden under his jacket. Claudia whimpered and covered her head when a spray of bullets hit the marble desk, raining chunks of stone and wood down on their heads.
Daniel returned fire from the side of the desk, telling them without words that it was in their best interests to keep their distance. Silence followed as she heard them take cover behind the marble pillars that ran the length of the lobby. One of them shouted, "Give us the woman and you walk, Mercer."
Daniel snorted and laughed coldly, replying with a gruff shout, "If you know my name, then you know that's not going to happen. Leave now, and I'll give you a head start before I go hunting."
A burst of gunfire answered his deadly statement. Daniel returned fire while Claudia huddled next to him, the hem of her skirt brushing against the dead guy on the floor next to her. She held herself stiffly and wondered if she was going to get out of this situation alive. They had asked for her, which indicated they might want her alive. She wasn't sure ‘alive' was a good way to be if they were planning on taking her to Dante or Franco. She had to force herself not to clutch Daniel. He needed space if he was going to defend them.
The gunfire stopped for a few seconds. The ding of the elevator sounded deafening in the silence of the lobby. The elevators were directly to the right of her and Daniel's position. If another gunman stepped out, they'd have a clean line of sight, unimpeded by the reception desk. If it was a resident, they would probably die. Claudia held her breath and then moaned in distress as a young woman stepped off the elevator. She wore a floor length skirt under a jean jacket. Her long dark hair swept down her back in gorgeous disarray. She couldn't be older than twenty-five.