Playing His Dangerous Game (6 page)

Royce frowned. ‘Yes, there is. We need to talk about our strategy for handling your case going forward.’

Your case.

Those two words were a harsh reminder that his concern wasn’t personal. He was just doing his job.

She knew that.

Of course she did.

So why was there a distinct pang in the centre of her chest?

Shara moved away from the heat and the smell of him. She wiped a hand across her eyes, removing the last traces of tears. ‘I repeat: there’s nothing to talk about. You’re just making the situation worse. Don’t you understand that?’

‘That’s why you didn’t want a bodyguard?’

She nodded. ‘I want you to butt out. I can’t make it any clearer than that.’

Royce folded his arms across his chest and stared her directly in the eye. ‘Oh, you’re being crystal-clear. Have no doubt about that. But that is precisely the reason we need to talk.’

Shara frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

Royce sighed and reached out, fleetingly touched her cheek with his fingertips. It was the lightest of touches, and lasted for barely a second, and yet it had a rippling effect right through her system.

‘I know you don’t.’ His tone was odd. ‘And therein lies the problem.’

‘Stop talking in riddles,’ she ordered.

‘OK. You don’t like my approach to handling your ex?’

Shara shook her head. ‘No, I don’t. It’s too confrontational. You’re just going to escalate the situation. And I won’t have that. I
won’t
.’

‘You may just have to, because—’

Shara stamped her foot. ‘Because nothing. I don’t care whether my father hired you. I don’t care what his instructions are. This is
my
life, and I’m done with everyone interfering.’

Royce stared at her long and hard. His chocolate-brown eyes were veiled but at the same time penetrating. Finally he said quietly, ‘No, you’d rather continue to play the victim.’

He might as well have hit her. Her head went back. Her heart leapt into the back of her throat. A shudder so deep
and penetrating that it rocked the lining of her soul ripped through her.

She staggered back from him. ‘You take that back. You take that back right this minute,’ she gasped, barely able to get the words out through numb lips. ‘I’m not playing at anything. I
am
the victim.’

Royce inclined his head. ‘You
were
a victim. It’s your choice whether you continue to be one or not.’

Her hands clenched and unclenched. ‘If I were a man I’d hit you into the middle of next week for saying that. I made a choice not to be a victim the day I left Steve.’

‘Then why aren’t you fighting back?’

He asked the question softly. Somehow that had far more impact than if he’d shouted.

‘I
am
fighting back,’ she said, but her voice was little more than a whisper.

His eyes didn’t waver from hers. ‘How? Tell me that.’

The words were blunt and to the point. They attacked without mercy.

Shara blinked, an unsettled feeling attacked the base of her spine. ‘I left him.’

Royce waved a dismissive hand. ‘I’m not denying that, but what have you done since then?’

‘I—’ She snapped her mouth closed. ‘Well, I—’

What
had
she done?

Her mind sifted through the catalogue of her actions since Steve’s harassment had begun and she didn’t like what she was seeing. Ignoring his behaviour, turning the other cheek, avoiding going anywhere she was likely to run into him. Not exactly fighting actions, were they?

‘Everything you say and everything you do regarding your ex-husband is submissive. It’s as if you’ve chosen a course of passive resistance where he’s concerned.’ His eyes bored into hers, serious and determined. ‘You don’t want to be confrontational because it will make him angry and if you make
him angry, then he’ll retaliate. You’re feeding his power over you. Can’t you see that? You’re letting him keep control. If you don’t break that pattern of behaviour nothing will ever change. He’ll always have a hold over you.’

Shara stared at him and kept on staring.

The breath was locked in her lungs so tightly they felt as if they were going to burst. Her heart was beating so fast and so hard she was sure her ribs would crack at any moment.

He was right.

She didn’t want to admit it, but he was.

It was as if Royce had stripped away an invisible veil that had prevented her from seeing her own actions clearly.

‘God, I’m such a fool,’ she said, burying her face in her hands.

Royce grasped her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. ‘No, you’re scared. I understand that. Fear does strange things to people. No doubt you’ve become conditioned to react the way you have.’

She released a bitter laugh. ‘You’re right. I thought I was being tough and strong by ignoring Steve’s harassment. But I can see now that all I’ve been doing is what I learned to do during my marriage.’

‘Which is?’

‘Keep the peace. Don’t provoke. Play it safe. The only difference between now and then is that I’ve been doing it long-distance.’

‘Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s perfectly understandable.’

She snorted. ‘You think?’

He nodded. ‘I
know
.’

‘I think you’re being overly generous, but thank you for saying it.’

‘Don’t thank me. I never say anything I don’t mean. What you need to do now is focus on the future.’

Shara hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about the future because Steve’s harassment had chained her to the
past. Now, for the first time, she had a glimpse of a future in which she was free and in control of her own life.

As if reading her mind, Royce said, ‘Keep in mind that the dynamic has changed.
I’m
involved now. That adds an entirely new dimension to the situation. The bottom line is that you don’t have to be scared any more. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll keep you safe.’

Shara stared up at him, an emotion she couldn’t quite define sweeping through her. ‘I want to believe you. I really do. But you don’t know what he’s like.’

Royce shrugged. ‘I don’t need to. I’ve dealt with some pretty tough characters in my life.’

‘Still—’

‘Still nothing. I’m an expert. Brady isn’t. He doesn’t stand a chance against me. I
will
protect you. That’s a promise.’

Shara wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe him so badly that she could taste it.

But that meant placing her trust in a complete stranger.

Her trust
and
her safety.

But what choice did she have?

‘Trust me,’ Royce urged, as if he sensed all the doubts swirling around in her head.

She nodded her head jerkily.

‘Truce?’ Royce asked, holding out his hand.

‘Truce,’ Shara said, taking his hand.

A tingle of something that felt very much like electricity shot up her arm. As it did so a disturbing thought jumped to the forefront of her brain.

Royce might protect her from Steve, but who was going to protect her from Royce and the magnetism that had burst to life between them?

Royce wanted Shara to return to the house with him, but she refused.

‘If you’re worried about your car, don’t be,’ he said. ‘I can have someone come and pick it up.’

Shara shook her head. ‘Why put someone else to the trouble when I’m already here?’

Why indeed?

Royce had to admit that her attitude grated on him—but for all the right reasons.

Fiona had had little or no respect for her father’s household staff. She’d dropped clothes willy-nilly on the floor and had left towels in the bathroom in much the same way.

The fact that Shara hadn’t jumped at his suggestion hinted that she was different.

It was only a little thing, admittedly, but Royce had learned that a person’s values were reflected in
everything
they did—both the big and the small.

Shara’s response just didn’t gel with his initial impression of her.

But then his impression of her was changing all the time, wasn’t it?

When the household security system—a system
he
had personally installed—had alerted him to the fact that Shara was sneaking out of the house, he’d been furious.

Stupid
and
thoughtless
were two of the more polite words that had sprung into his mind. So too were
irresponsible
and
reckless
.

The stunt she’d pulled had reinforced his opinion that she was spoilt and self-absorbed, but their conversation just now forced him to acknowledge that that wasn’t entirely true.

Shara had refused a bodyguard out of a misdirected sense of self-preservation. Scraping back the surface had revealed a woman who was strong and courageous.

Because it took courage to admit when you were wrong.

And it took courage
and
strength to face your fears.

And that was exactly what Shara was doing.

She might have gone about it the wrong way, but she
was
trying.

He couldn’t help but admire her for that.

‘Coffee, I think,’ Royce said when they entered the house. ‘Unless you’d prefer something stronger?’

Shara shook her head, sending her hair swirling around her shoulders. ‘I don’t need anything stronger. I’m not going to fall apart on you again.’ She smiled a twisted kind of smile. ‘One meltdown a day is my limit.’

He laughed, pleased that she wasn’t taking herself too seriously. ‘You didn’t have a meltdown. You just—’

‘Had a meltdown,’ she said dryly.

Whatever it was she’d had, she’d regrouped marvellously.

He shrugged. ‘Everyone has a release valve that goes off occasionally. That’s what keeps us sane.’

‘I can’t see
you
bawling your eyes out.’

Royce grimaced. ‘I must admit I prefer hitting the gym.’

‘Maybe I’ll think about doing the same thing next time.’ She picked up the kettle. ‘How do you take your coffee?’

Royce told her, and watched as she bustled around the kitchen.

She moved with an easy grace that obviously came naturally. It was a pleasure watching her move about.

‘So, if you don’t hit the gym, what do you do to relax when the pressure is on?’ he asked.

‘Listen to music,’ she replied promptly.

‘What kind?’

She shrugged. ‘Nothing too heavy. I like pop and light classical music. If I close my eyes I can lose myself in a song. It’s a great way to escape—if only for a little while.’

Royce remembered the way Shara had been swaying and twirling to the music the previous evening. He cocked an eyebrow. ‘Is that what you were doing in the club last night? Trying to escape?’

She grimaced. ‘
Trying
being the operative word. Except I kept getting interrupted. First by Tony and then by you.’

‘Tony is the guy you gave short shrift to?’

She plonked a mug down in front of him with more force
than necessary. The coffee rolled around the edge of the cup but somehow managed not to spill.

‘That’s a rather cutting remark,’ she said, taking a seat opposite him.

‘I’m just calling it as I saw it,’ he returned unapologetically.

He’d been on the receiving end of that kind of dismissal once before and he knew how it felt. Fiona had laughed in his face for thinking she’d ever been serious about him. That laugh had cut him to the quick.

‘Well, for your information, Tony has been making a nuisance of himself. He won’t take no for an answer. Last night I had to tell him straight to leave me alone.’

‘I see,’ he said, digesting this new piece of information and realising that it put a different slant on the scene he’d witnessed.

‘Or are you one of those guys who thinks that no means yes?’ Shara asked, breaking in on his thoughts. ‘Because if you are then we’re not going to get on at all.’

Royce held up his hands. ‘Not me. No means no in any language. I have a strong sense of right and wrong. It’s one of the things that led me to starting my business.’

‘Good.’ She tapped her fingertips on the tabletop. ‘If Tony had two brain cells to rub together he would have backed off earlier. The ink is barely dry on my divorce papers. My ex is still harassing me. The last thing I want is to get involved with someone else. Is that so hard to understand?’

Royce shook his head. ‘Not at all. In fact it’s perfectly understandable.’

Royce remembered how he’d felt when he’d discovered Fiona had betrayed him. He’d been sure he’d never get involved with a woman again.

He had, of course.

Sex was a powerful motivator. He had no intention of living the rest of his life like a monk.

There was, however, one major difference.

Since Fiona he had always maintained a cool distance emotionally in all of his relationships.

If he’d been using his head back then he would have known that something wasn’t quite right about their relationship. In fact, he’d have known there was something downright fishy about the whole situation.

If he’d had his wits about him he’d have seen through the web of lies and deceit and seen Fiona for exactly what she was—someone who was using him for her own ends.

At the time he’d thought her interest in him—and the case—was sweet. Instead all she’d been doing was pumping him for information—both literally and figuratively.

‘You say that as if you’re speaking from personal experience,’ Shara commented, breaking in on his thoughts.

‘I am. I doubt that any man—or woman, for that matter—reaches the grand old age of thirty-four without having been burned once or twice.’

She raised one neatly plucked eyebrow. ‘Once or twice?’

Royce stared back. ‘Once. I always learn from my mistakes.’

S
HARA
was staring at him, a mixture of sympathy and sadness in her eyes.

Royce ignored the former, but the latter made his heart constrict.

Such a young and beautiful woman shouldn’t have so much sadness in her eyes.

Royce wanted to take her hand in his and say something—anything—to banish that unhappy look.

To make her smile.

Or laugh.

It wasn’t an appropriate reaction—just as almost kissing her by the side of the road earlier hadn’t been appropriate.

He stared deeper into her eyes and saw a question burning there. It was clear she wanted to ask him more about what had happened, but he had no intention of trading war stories.

He hadn’t even told Travis and Jackson, his two closest friends, what had happened with Fiona. The last thing he wanted was anyone feeling sorry for him. The important thing was that even though he’d been hurt at the time the experience had provided an invaluable life lesson.

Getting involved warped your viewpoint.

Emotions fuzzed your objectivity and made you vulnerable.

He’d acted like a stupid fool with Fiona, but—as he’d just
told Shara—he’d learnt his lesson and had no intention of repeating the same mistake twice.

Something in his expression must have warned Shara not to pursue the subject, because after taking a sip of her herbal tea she said, ‘You mentioned that having a strong sense of right and wrong led you into starting your business?’

Royce grasped the change of subject with both hands. ‘Kind of. To be honest, I had a whole other career mapped out. I was going to be the world’s next Bill Gates. The security business picked me rather than the other way around.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘And how did it manage to do that?’

Royce rubbed the side of his jaw with his fingers. ‘I’ve always had a thing about supporting the underdog. I guess it came from being bullied as a child.’

‘
You
were bullied? I find that hard to believe,’ she said, making no attempt to hide her incredulity.

‘Why?’

Shara blinked, then waved a hand towards him. ‘You just don’t look the type.’

‘Because I’m big?’

She nodded.

‘Big doesn’t necessarily mean aggressive, you know.’

‘I suppose not.’

‘Strange as it may seem, my size was one of the reasons I was picked on in the first place. I was taller than everyone in my class. A couple of the other kids assumed that because I was big I was also tough. They decided to see just how tough I was.’

‘You mean …?’

He nodded. ‘They decided to fight me whether I wanted to fight or not. I hated it.’

‘I can imagine,’ she said.

‘After I’d been beaten up a few times my dad decided we’d better do something about it.’ His smile was rueful. ‘He enrolled me in a local karate class. I never looked back.’

‘So instead of getting beat up you did the beating instead? Why do men always have to be so macho? Surely there was a better way of dealing with the bullies than meeting violence with violence?’

Royce shook his head. ‘You have it wrong. Martial arts training gave me confidence. I wasn’t scared any more. And because I knew what I was doing I could dissuade most of the bullies without hurting them. Strange as it may seem to you, I actually abhor violence.’

‘You sure picked a strange profession, then.’

He grinned. ‘Not really. My business is mostly about prevention. I can’t stop other people from behaving aggressively, but I can protect others from being hurt. Which is exactly what happened at school.’

Shara frowned. ‘I’m not following you.’

Royce picked up his cup to prevent himself from reaching across and smoothing the small furrows on her brow with his fingertips. ‘If I saw another kid being picked on I stepped in before the situation went too far. I made it clear to the bullies that they’d have to deal with me if they did anything.’

‘And did they heed the warning?’

‘Some did. Some didn’t,’ Royce replied, taking a sip of coffee.

Shara raised an eyebrow. ‘And the ones who didn’t?’

‘Let’s just say that they didn’t need a third warning,’ he said simply, his gaze steady on hers.

Shara drew away from him, looking horrified. ‘What did you do to them?’

He frowned at her reaction and leaned across the table. ‘I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. If you’re imagining bloody noses and broken bones then you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t operate that way. The only thing that got injured was their pride.’

‘I see.’

‘I hope you do. Because the last thing I want is for you to think that I’m some kind of thug.’

Not only was his professional reputation important to him, so was his personal one. A man should protect his character as solidly as he protected himself.

Shara shook her head, sending her hair swirling around her shoulders. ‘How could I think that after what you did this morning?’

Royce frowned. ‘You’ve lost me. What did I do this morning?’

‘When you got angry you reminded me so much of Steve that you frightened me. As soon as you realised what was happening you immediately backed down.’

Royce still didn’t get the point. ‘I did. So?’

She smiled an odd kind of smile. ‘Steve would never have done that. He seemed to enjoy scaring me.’

The admission made him grit his teeth as a wave of fury rode up his spine. It nauseated him to think about what Shara had had to endure.

Royce took a deep breath, surprised by the depth and intensity of his reaction. He’d dealt with numerous sleaze-buckets over the years—had witnessed more sordid and downright awful situations than he cared to think about. But he accepted them as part of the job.

It was a fact of life that those things existed.

There was no point getting emotional about it. Doing so was just a waste of time and energy and achieved nothing.

Instead, he dealt with ugly situations the same way he dealt with everything.

With discipline and self control. And with calm, cool logic.

So why the hell was he sitting here wanting to smash something at the thought of what Shara had had to endure?

Royce wasn’t sure, but his reaction set alarm bells ringing.

‘Unfortunately I’m not surprised. These guys get their rocks off pushing other people around.’ He curled his lip. ‘But
you don’t have to worry about that. Be assured that Brady won’t touch you while I’m around.’

Shara stared at him with big wide eyes, ‘I think I’m beginning to believe you.’

Shara could hardly believe those words had come out of her mouth, but they had.

Royce’s confidence was reassuring. So too was the strong sense of justice he’d just been talking about.

But talk was cheap. Actions always spoke louder than words—and the way Royce had come to her rescue this morning, paired with the way he’d backed down when he realised he was frightening her, were ample evidence that he meant what he said.

She could, she was beginning to realise, trust Royce—at least to some extent.

She pushed her empty mug away. ‘It’s still a big leap from dealing with a couple of schoolyard bullies to operating your own business.’

He flashed her another of those bone-melting smiles that made her heart turn over. ‘I know. In fact it’s a bigger leap than you can even imagine.’

‘Go on.’

‘My career transformation started when I was hauled up to the headmaster’s office one day and accused of hacking into the computer network to change the grades of some of the students.’

‘But you didn’t,’ she said without hesitation.

Royce raised an eyebrow in her direction. ‘You sound very sure.’

‘A man with a strong sense of justice wouldn’t cheat like that.’

‘Well, your instincts are right. I had nothing to do with it.’

‘So what made them accuse you?’ Shara asked, resting her chin on her cupped hands.

It was only human nature to be curious about someone you were going to be sharing a house with for the foreseeable future, Shara assured herself. It wasn’t as if she was interested in him or anything like that.

‘They had no proof, if that’s what you’re asking. Their excuse was flimsy, to say the least.’ She gave him an enquiring look. ‘They thought I was the only student capable of hacking into the system.’

‘Obviously you weren’t, since it was someone else.’

He nodded. ‘Exactly. I can understand why they thought it was me, though. I have a knack for computing. Since it was one of my subjects they knew that. Still, I was furious at being unjustly accused with so little evidence.’

‘I can imagine.’

It was the kind of injustice that Shara could understand. When Steve had first turned on her shortly after their wedding she’d been bewildered. But quickly on the heels of her confusion had come the question: What have I done to deserve this?

‘So guess what I did?’ Royce asked.

The question dragged Shara back to the present. ‘I wouldn’t have a clue.’

‘I offered to find out who the hacker was,’ he said, with the same panache as someone pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Shara sat back in her chair. It was an idea that hadn’t even occurred to her. ‘That’s a unique solution—but how on earth could you do that?’

‘Actually, it was quite easy. The hacker was an amateur compared to me, so tracing him wasn’t difficult.’ Royce pushed his chair back from the table and crossed an ankle over a knee. ‘But it gave me the idea that maybe it would be challenging, not to mention more interesting, doing that kind of thing for a living instead of straight computer work. So I decided to find out. I approached a well-known security company to see if they’d give me a part-time job.’

It was a logical step, although Shara very much doubted it would have occurred to
her
. ‘And did they?’

‘No, they laughed in my face. They thought it was hysterical that a schoolkid thought he had something to offer them. But that was a mistake.’ Another of those heart-melting smiles flashed across his face. ‘What they didn’t realise was that, one, I don’t like being laughed at, and, two, defeat is not a word in my vocabulary.’

Shara was beginning to realise that—which meant that he was a good man to have on her side. ‘So what did you do?’

He leaned conspiratorially closer and beckoned her to do the same with a crooked finger. He waited until she’d pushed her cup aside and leant across the table before saying softly, ‘I hacked into their computer system.’

Shara almost choked on her own tongue. ‘You didn’t!’

Royce nodded. ‘I most certainly did. I left a message in the inbox of every employee of the company telling them that if they didn’t hire me they’d regret it.’

Shara stared at Royce open-mouthed, then threw her head back and laughed. Not a delicate little giggle but a full-on belly laugh. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like that.

Finally she sobered. ‘I shouldn’t be laughing. That really was very naughty of you.’

‘I know. But do you blame me?’

Shara thought about that. ‘I suppose not. Although with your sense of right and wrong I’m surprised you didn’t think you were crossing the line.’

‘Considering there was no malicious intent involved and that I signed my name to the e-mail, I figured I wasn’t doing any harm other than proving that I was determined.’

‘Oh, I think you managed to prove that,’ she said dryly.

‘The company obviously thought so too.’

Shara frowned. ‘Don’t tell me they threatened you with the police?’

Royce shook his head. ‘No. In fact just the opposite. They were on the phone the next day with all kinds of offers.’

Again it was an answer she hadn’t been expecting. ‘Are you sure you’re not making this up?’

‘Scouts’ honour,’ Royce said, giving her the three-fingered salute that usually accompanied the saying. ‘It takes quite some skill to bypass the security of a security company, you know.’

‘I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I suppose it does.’ Not only was he determined, he was clever right along with it. ‘Did you accept?’

‘Of course. I worked with them through the rest of high school, learning the ropes and the various aspects of the business. Then, while I was at university, I started my own business.’

‘And now you’re the largest and most well-known security firm on the globe?’

‘The biggest and the best,’ Royce said proudly.

Shara frowned. ‘I was less than gracious the last time we discussed this. I apologise. Obviously your success is well deserved.’

‘Thanks, but your apology isn’t necessary.’ He pushed his mug away. ‘Now, enough about me. Let’s discuss our strategy moving forward.’

‘Do we have to?’ Shara demanded. ‘I’m sick to the back teeth of talking about Steve. I don’t even want to
think
about him.’

‘I’m sure you don’t. But we need to go over a couple of things. After that we won’t mention Brady again unless we absolutely have to. Deal?’

‘All right,’ she agreed reluctantly.

Royce stared at her for a long moment. There was something about the lack of expression on his face that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

‘I want you to take out an Apprehended Violence Order against Brady,’ he said quietly.

Shara frowned. ‘I’ve heard of them, but I’m not sure how they work.’

‘An AVO is used to protect a person against both acts of violence and the threat of violence. It covers everything from physical assault to non-physical abuse, such as harassment or intimidation. The order itself doesn’t give a person a criminal record, but the clincher for us is that a breach of the order
is
a criminal offence.’ He leaned forward. ‘If Brady crosses the line once the AVO is in place we can have him arrested.’

Shara shook her head even before he’d finished speaking, her hands clenched tightly together in her lap. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

Royce frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because it’s too confrontational, that’s why.’

Royce stared at her—hard. ‘I thought we’d already had this conversation. Don’t tell me you’re back-pedalling already?’

Shara bit down on her lower lip. ‘I’m not back pedalling. I’m just …’