He directs this question at Nak.

“Until the authorities can sort out the issue Jaxson is having, then it’ll be twenty-four/seven.”

A full case.

Holy hell. A full freaking case.

“Jax,” Jaxson grunts.

We all look to him.

“I don’t like being called Jaxson. And I’ll need someone who can be at my side, as your boss said, twenty-four/seven. That means coming away with me on business, the lot.”

Oh boy.

Pick me!

Nak turns to Kyle and me.

“I’m putting Laney on this one, with Kyle as her backup. She’s been showing great progress in the last six weeks, and the six cases she’s done have been successful. She’s ready to take on a full-time case. You two can rotate, so you can have few days off in the time you’re working for Jax. Kyle, you will start out with Laney until she’s comfortable, then she can take the reins.”

“A woman?”

This comes from Jax, and we all turn to him again. He’s staring at me now, really looking at me. The muscle in his jaw is ticking, and he’s pissed way the hell off.

“Have you got a problem with that, Jax?” Nak asks. “Delaney is one of my best. She’s capable of doing the same job any man can.”

Jaxson fucking Shields snorts. Loud and obnoxious. “I highly doubt that.”

“I can assure you of it,” Nak mutters.

“No offense,” Jax grunts at me. “But I would rather have a man on my back. I’m not sure you can do anything for me if I’m in danger. Hell, I could knock you on your ass with the flick of my hand.”

The arrogant piece of shit.

“Would you like to try that?” I challenge, crossing my arms.

He stands. I was right, he is tall. At least six feet. He stalks towards me and stops, glaring into my eyes. “I absolutely would.”

“Mr. Shields,” Nak grates out. “Unfortunately the rest of my team is fully booked. Kyle has a few weeks before he starts another case, and then Delaney is the only one I have left. She’s it. You either take her or you don’t, but I can assure you that you won’t find another bodyguard in this area as good as the people on my team.”

Jax tears his scowl from me and aims it at Nak. “I have money. I can find another bodyguard.”

“Away you go then,” Nak challenges. “But if you’ve done your homework, you’ll know that the most elite bodyguards are on my team. If you want one of the same caliber, you’re going to have to splash out big and pull one from another state. But there are clear advantages to having a bodyguard who has experience living and working in the city. If you’re willing to forgo that, then we’re finished here.”

Jax’s jaw tightens, and I know as well as Nak does that he’d be paying a shit load of money to pull one in from another state. At least double what he’s paying us, and he’s not guaranteed to get a good one. Nak has made a name for himself, people come far and wide to get his team.

“You’re asking me to put my life in the hands of a female?” Jax spits.

“If you’d like to try her out,” Nak says, waving a hand at me. “Be my guest.”

Jax turns to me, and his eyes narrow. “As a matter of fact,” he says, his voice low. “I would.”

Oh shit.

*   *   *

I stand on the training mat, staring at Jax. He’s taken off his shoes, his jacket, and is only wearing a white button-up shirt and his pants. His hard eyes are trained on me. I swallow, because the nerves inside my body are on high alert. If I screw this up, I am losing my chance at getting a big case. Working that often is a big deal, and if the other guys weren’t booked up, I know they would all jump at the chance. These are the kind of jobs that make your career.

I would have preferred a few more small cases but a 24/7 case is massive. But that is how Nak runs things. Once someone passes their training, they are handed big cases right from the word go. Nak has some warped belief that it makes them the best, because they’re thrown right into the middle of it. Even though I was the one held back the longest, I know Nak must believe in me to throw me in the deep end after such a short time.

“Well,” Jax grunts. “Are you going to show me what you’ve got, girl?”

Girl.

He’s doing that on purpose. The asshole.

“Sure,” I say casually. “When you come at me. Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

He bares his teeth at me, then steps forward. No lunging. Not Jax, he’s confident, it’s written all over him. He doesn’t need a surprise attack, because he believes he can take me down without it. He’s wrong. When his arm swings out to catch me, I step to the left and swing my body around in a fierce kick, loving how it feels when it connects with his hip.

He grunts and his hand lashes out, catching my foot while it’s still in the air. He jerks it and I bounce forward on the one still on the floor. I take the chance to catch him off guard and perform a pretty impressive maneuver, using my free foot to hook around his leg, then while he’s holding my other foot, I jerk and pull his leg hard. He stumbles and drops me. I land on my back and bounce up quickly.

Now he lunges at me.

He captures me in a headlock and I laugh, reaching around and pinching the skin behind his leg, hard. He bellows and his muscles flex around my head before he lets me go. He moves quick, which is rather impressive, and his foot lashes out, tripping me. I fall to my back and his body comes down over mine, capturing my hands and shoving them above my head.

“What now, girl?”

I grin at him, then I take a deep breath and slam my forehead into his face. Nak taught us all this little trick when we first started. There’s a certain spot on your head that if you hit someone else, it doesn’t hurt so much. You don’t have to hit hard, because if you get them in the right spot it sends them into a daze. In this case, I slammed my forehead into his nose. He rears back and frees my hands. I use my free hand to drive my palm into his jaw and he falls to his side.

I take the chance to push my boot into his side and roll him to his stomach. He tries to push up but I’ve already got one of his hands. I jerk it up behind his back and he grunts in pain. I lean down and whisper into his ear, “Not bad for a girl, hey?”

Then I let him go and stand up.

Nak, Kyle and I watch as he pushes up and gets to his feet. He turns to us and there’s blood dripping from his nose. Nak is doing a poor job at hiding the pride in his eyes, and Kyle is grinning. Jax’s eyes shoot to me and narrow. Then he turns towards Nak and grunts, “Fine, but if she screws up, know that I’ll be on your back, and I’ll be riding it fucking hard.”

Nak nods. “She won’t screw up. Laney is more than capable of protecting you.”

Jax glares at me again. “We’ll see.”

He’s still not convinced.

I’ll change that.

CHAPTER FIVE

Nak paces the room while Kyle and I sit, watching him. He’s listing off all the rules that come with protecting Jax. I’m listening, trying to get them all in while suffocating my nerves and trying desperately to bring out my brave. This is my first major case and I can’t afford to screw it up. I need to be professional and efficient and alert.