Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (44 page)

“Chaise,” she answered after several long seconds. Bull noted she didn’t give a last name. “What’s yours?”

“Bull,” he answered, thinking to himself that two could play that game.

“I can see why,” she mumbled under her breath.

Bull chuckled at her bravado, the sound reverberating through his chest, and said, “Let’s start over. I’m one of Noah’s best friends and a long-term employee of Steele Security, Colton Lanier.”

Bull held out his hand to shake hers while keeping the other one on the wheel. She looked at him for a second before relenting and taking his hand in hers. “Chaise,” she paused and Bull noted that her eyes darted to the
Quickie-Mart
sign as they passed before she added, “Martin.”

“Well, Chaise
Martin
, it’s nice to meet you,” Bull replied, emphasizing her last name and letting her know that he didn’t believe her, but he decided he shouldn’t push the issue any farther. He knew true fear when he saw it and she wasn’t that good of an actress that she could fool him. Her terror was real and he would allow her some anonymity for now—until he felt he had given her enough time to trust him.

She nodded once in response and let go of his hand to wrap her arms around her legs again. She let out a long breath of exasperation and Bull had the feeling she was about to start crying on him. He didn’t do
feelings
too well.

“Want to tell me what’s going on, Chaise?” Bull asked in a much more relaxed tone than he felt inside. He didn’t want to add to her stress and make her start crying, but he needed to know what he was dealing with in this case. He had to keep him and the other men safe, but his main concern at the moment was Brianna and Noah’s safety.

She started to speak a couple of times but stopped both times before she got the first word out. She studied Bull’s profile, trying to determine what she should and shouldn’t say. He could tell by her rapid eye movement and her increased breathing rate that she was very uncomfortable in his presence. He just didn’t know why that was.

“Um, Colton, right?”

Bull nodded. It felt strange being called by his given name but she seemed more comfortable with it, so he would deal with the discomfort for the sake of a client.

“Colton, I’m scared, okay? Really,
really
scared,” she spoke slowly and emphasized each word. “I don’t know who I can trust.”

“But you trust Noah?” Bull asked and noticed how her body immediately tensed even more at the mention of his name. Bull stopped at the red light and turned to look her directly in the eye. “Chaise, do you trust Noah?”

She nodded her response and bit her bottom lip in apprehension. “Yes, I do. But I know him,” she turned her face away and peered out the side window for a few seconds before adding, “Or, I used to, anyway.”

Bull clenched his jaws and gritted his teeth. He really didn’t like the vibes he was getting from Chaise
Martin
about Noah and Brianna.

“Look, Chaise. It seems like something else is going on here. I told you—whatever you think you and Reaper had together, you don’t. He got married today, and even if he wasn’t married, he’s completely in love with Brianna. I will protect them both from anyone or anything that comes against them.”

“The light’s green,” she answered, purposely avoiding Bull’s direct comments. Bull stomped on the gas in response.

“You need to start explaining some things to me, Chaise, or this is the end of the line. You can get out here and call a cab,” Bull stated with finality.

Chaise obviously believed him because she jerked her head in his direction, her mouth parted in surprise, and her eyes opened wide in fear. “I told you—it’s not like that. I knew Noah when we were in school. He’s a little older than I am, but we were not romantically involved
at all
. I just didn’t know anyone else to go to.”

“About?” Bull asked, but before Chaise was able to answer, Bull continued in a stern, commanding voice. “Hang on, Chaise. And keep your head down.”

Bull jerked the wheel to the right and made a sudden last-second turn. The car immediately behind him did the same and he knew without a doubt that they had a tail. He calmly picked up his cell phone and called Rebel. Chaise had no time to process his command or to even determine if she should be afraid.

“Black full-size truck, Florida tags, black-out tinted windows. Yeah. Let me know. Thanks, man.”

Bull’s clipped phone conversation gave Chaise no indication of his intentions or why he was talking about a black truck with tinted windows. His demeanor change was almost imperceptible. The only real difference was now his eyes darted between his rearview mirror and the road ahead instead of trained on her.

“Colton, what’s going on?”

“We’re being followed. Rebel is going to shake our tail for us so we don’t call unnecessary attention to ourselves,” Bull answered in a tone that belied the severity of the situation. It was as if she had asked for the time and he was merely supplying her with the information.

“Shake our tail?” she asked, dumbfounded.

Bull laughed, “You know, I never really thought about how that sounded until you said it like that. Rebel’s going to make the bad guys lose us in four, three, two, one.”

Suddenly, another Steele Security SUV darted out from a side street immediately in front of the large, black truck that was tailing them. The driver of the truck barely had time to slam on their brakes to keep from hitting Rebel. With nowhere else to go, thanks to oncoming traffic and Rebel’s SUV blocking the rest of the road, the black truck had to come to a complete stop.

Bull drove on and watched as Rebel and Shadow exited the SUV and approached the truck with their pistols drawn. Confident the two men were capable of handling whoever was following so close that their tail was immediately made, Bull took Chaise to one of the rarely used mainland buildings of Steele Security.