He grins and holy shit, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen—it also makes my cheeks burn hotter. I snap my mouth shut and spin quickly, slipping on the tiled floor. Jax’s hand lashes out and catches me before I go down, and he jerks me upright, pulling my back flush against his chest. He leans down and whispers into my ear, “I thought you were the bodyguard, and yet here I am saving you. I think you might need more training.”

Asshole.

“Enjoy your bathroom break, Mr. Shields,” I say stiffly, shoving out of his arms and marching out of the room.

When the door swings closed behind me, I sigh and press my back against the wall. I’m an epic failure. I just said the word penis so many times the man probably thinks I’m nuts. I scrub my hands over my face and take a few calming breaths. Get it together, Delaney. Act professional. Don’t let him taunt you. Don’t let him get to you.

The door swings open a minute later and Jax walks out. He stares at me with amusement in his eyes, then he stretches his arm out. “Aren’t you going to take me back?”

Jerk.

I wave my arm. “After you, sir.”

His eyes flash and he turns, walking towards the meeting room. When we arrive, I open the door and glance in. All the same men are still there, so I step aside for Jax. When he’s safely resumed his meeting, I shut the door quietly. Then I close my eyes a second and gather my thoughts.

I can do this.

I can.

I will.

CHAPTER EIGHT

We break for the day a few hours later, and I take Jax downstairs for refreshments before he’s due to leave. When we step into the elevator, I do a quick scan before finding a spot close to him, but not so close that I’m in his space. He’s talking to his business associates still, and I’m keeping my eyes moving, looking for any suspicious activity. There seems to be none, so I relax.

I wonder where Kyle is?

I can’t check my phone, so I just keep on doing my job, hoping he’ll come back soon. I glance around, watching everyone interacting and finding it rather fascinating. All these people seem so professional, yet their conversations are so, well, bratty. They’re complaining about another person, something someone did, and generally whining about life.

Bitter fools.

Something catches my eye to the left-hand side of the room, and I turn my head, glancing at one woman and one man standing just outside the sectioned area. They’re whispering, their faces serious¸ and then the girl, a tall brunette, fixes her eyes on Jax. My heart speeds up and I step a few paces closer to her, until I can hear what she’s saying.

“It is him, I’m sure of it. It’s too hard to tell from back here.”

“Yeah, it’s him. You need to go in there,” the man says. “Element of surprise always works best.”

Surprise?

My heart starts pounding.

“Fine, but if this ends badly for me, you and I are going to talk,” she says.

Then she steps over the rope that shows other guests they can’t come into this area, and starts running full throttle towards Jax. Her hand goes into her jacket and I react before thinking it through, like I’ve been trained. I lunge at her, catching her around the waist and knocking her face-first onto the floor. She lands with a thump and a piercing scream as her nose cracks. I take her arms and jerk them behind her back, hissing, “Who are you?”

She’s squealing too loudly to say anything, and everyone has stopped to stare. “Let her go!” shouts the man who sent her in as he jumps the rope.

I pull out a gun, and point it at him. “Stay back.”

He halts and his eyes flick over to where Jax is striding towards me. “Red?” Jax says, and I look up to see him staring at the man. “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” Red says, his eyes angry. “Can you get that bitch off her?”

Oh shit.

Jax turns to me, his eyes so full of fury I flinch. “What the fuck are you doing?” he hisses. “Fucking let her go.”

“She was charging towards you,” I say, easing back and letting the girl’s hands go.

“I was going to surprise him, you fucking psycho!” she screams, pressing a hand over her nose, where it quickly fills with blood. “He’s my best friend.”

“Jesus, Tori, is that you?” Jax says, kneeling down and removing her bloodied hands from her face.

“Yes,” she squeaks. “Surprise.”

She has so much blood that I know, I just know, her nose is broken. I used too much force. Shame floods my body as Jax lifts her to her feet, his face gentle as he strokes the blood from her cheeks and lips. Then he turns angry eyes to me. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he barks.

“She was running towards you, she had her hand in her jacket,” I whisper.

“I was going to throw this on him,” Tori growls, pulling out some streamers. “I haven’t seen him in person for two years and it was meant to be a surprise.”

Oh God. I’m terrible at this.

“Jax is in danger and I was just doing my job,” I say, my voice shaky.

“Your job?” Jax roars. “Your job is to protect me, not hurt my friends.”

“I could have you charged,” Red snarls.

My knees wobble and I know they’re right. I should have stepped in front of the girl, and pulled her aside without using much force. Instead I threw myself at her, slammed her face onto the floor and hurt her. She probably could charge me for it.

“Wait,” Tori says, turning to Jax. “You’re in danger?”

“Not now,” he says to her, but his eyes are pinned to me. “You need to get me a meeting with your boss, I want you off my fucking case. You’re unprofessional and dangerous.”

I swallow and tears sting my eyes.

“What’s going on here?”

The sound of Kyle’s voice filling my ears only makes things worse. I turn slowly to see him striding in, his face tight. He looks to Tori, who is tucked in Jax’s arms, and then his eyes dart to me. “What the hell happened?”

“What happened?” Jax barks. “What happened is she broke my best friend’s nose when she crash tackled her to the ground and slammed her face against it. I want to speak to Nahko, right fucking now. I want her off my case, I don’t care what it costs me. She’s dangerous and reckless and isn’t ready.”

“She was running towards him,” I try to protest.

“And you didn’t try to stop her without force?” Kyle demands, crossing his arms. “You know that’s the first rule.”

“I didn’t think, she was running so fast, her hand in her jacket, I just reacted.”

“By smashing my face into the floor?” Tori screams, then whimpers and covers her nose.

“I didn’t … I’m sorry … I…”

“You know better,” Kyle yells in my face. “You have been taught better. You know to always try to redirect a threat without force.”

“She could have had anything in her jacket.” I try to defend myself but I know I screwed up bad.

“Yeah, she could have, but you still don’t react with such force. You should have stepped in front of her, putting your hand up. If she pulled out a gun, or shoved past you, then you could take her down. You know this, Delaney. You’ve been taught.”