Enemy Outside (Unseen Enemy Book 2) Read online

  Dallas held her tightly, stroking her hair. “OK, baby, OK. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

  All of a sudden, Olivia’s legs gave out under her completely, and he scooped her in to his arms. He backed up and sat on her bed with Olivia across his thighs, her face pressed in to his shoulder. Dallas’ one hand was buried in her hair; the other stroked her tense back, making big circles around and around, trying to soothe her.

  Her tears and shaking slowed, then stopped, and her body went soft against him. He pulled back to see her face. She was gray with shock, her lips bloodless. Alarmed, he forced those gorgeous brown eyes to meet his own blue ones.

  “Olivia? Talk to me, hon. You OK?”

  She nodded. “Y – yes.”

  He took her slim hand. “God, you’re freezing.” He rubbed it between both of his, trying to warm her up, and pulled her closer. “You’ll be OK in a few minutes. Just sit still.”

  Dallas needed a few minutes himself. He was starting to realize just how badly this situation could have turned out, and he closed his eyes. He’d get angry as hell later, he resolved; right now, his only priority was to hold her until she felt safe again.

  But Jesus Christ, if I hadn’t given her my private number that day at the hospital… this whole thing could have gone down way different.

  It took a little while, but Olivia’s head started to clear and her thoughts were more coherent. They were moving in a straight line again instead of tumbling around like a box of toys falling down the stairs. Something occurred to her now and she took a deep breath.

  “Dallas?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How did you get in without the code?”

  He looked at her, decided to tell her the truth. “The front door was open when I got here.”

  “So… so he just – just walked out?”

  “Looks that way.”

  “But – how did he get in?”

  “We’ll worry about that tomorrow, Olivia. Right now, I need to get you out of here and someplace safe and secure. You feel like you can walk?”

  “Yes.”

  “OK. Pack a bag.” He stood up and carefully set her on her feet, watching her to make sure she didn’t sway or fall again.

  “A bag. OK.” Numbly, she moved to her closet, glad to have something to do. “Where am I going?”

  “My place. Tonight, you’re staying with me, baby.”

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, Dallas was wide awake at six o’clock, as usual. He turned over on the sofa in the living room and stretched, wincing a bit at the cramp in his muscles. Bodies like his weren’t really meant for sleeping on sofas, but he had wanted to be between Olivia and the front door. His loaded gun was on the floor next to him, since he knew that when dealing with the kind of fucker who’d been in Olivia’s house the night before, there was no such thing as having enough precautions in place.

  He listened for a few seconds, his ears straining to hear if there was any movement in his bedroom yet, but all he heard was her soft breathing. Still out, then. Dallas quietly got to his feet, padded down the hallway and looked in to the master bedroom.

  She was curled up in his bed, her glorious red hair spilling across the pillow. Her stunning face was relaxed and sweet, and he found himself wanting to just go over to her, slide in between the sheets with her, take her in his arms. He’d kiss her awake and then do every single naughty and nice thing to her that he could imagine.

  Dallas shook himself. He’d had a thing for Olivia Jameson for years, but then, who hadn’t? Her hot body and gorgeous face had been on every men’s magazine cover, and she’d been photographed more often in bikinis and lingerie than fully clothed. Plus, Dallas had a serious weakness for redheads, and Olivia was the tastiest, most perfect redhead he could imagine. He’d been halfway in love with the woman staring at him from the photos for as long as he could remember. The idealized, fantasy woman, that is.

  But when his friend Dean Jessop got together with Emma, it brought Olivia into Dallas’ life; for real, in the flesh. And from the word go, Olivia had been a surprise to Dallas. He’d had years of experience dealing with celebrities, and she was hands-down the most down-to-earth, toughest, kindest famous person he’d ever met or dealt with.

  With no entitled star ego to speak of, Olivia had kept the focus on Emma every minute of every day, doing whatever had to be done to pull Emma through her cancer treatment. Olivia was an amazing person, and Dallas had come to like her very much… the real her. The one who sat in hospital waiting rooms, drinking coffee with real sugar and 2% milk and eating doughnuts, her face tight and anxious as she waited on news about her friend. The one who had a serious weakness for eighties music, and who could air-guitar the hell out of ‘Eye of the Tiger’. The one who made her own sushi and who could drink him under the table when she got in to the saki. The one who hadn’t even told anyone about having a stalker, because she didn’t want to draw attention away from her sick friend, not even for one moment.

  That was all over now, though. Olivia had had a far-too-close close call last night, and so she wouldn’t be able to hide any of this from anyone else. She’d have to get some help and support of her own, and Dallas was determined that it was going to start with him.

  Gently, he shut the bedroom door and went back in to the open-plan living room and kitchen. He made the coffee, then pulled on his boots and lined jean jacket against the early winter chill and took his cup on to his front porch. He glanced over to his left, and was relieved to see Dean standing the next house over, on his own porch, clutching his own coffee.

  The men nodded at each other and Dallas beckoned at Dean. “Can you come over, man? I’ve got to talk to you.”

  Without a word, Dean walked down the front steps and across the small path separating their houses. He raised his eyebrows at Dallas, knowing that something serious was up. After three tours in Afghanistan together, watching each other’s backs and keeping each other’s lives intact, they were able to read each other like books.

  “What’s up?” Dean said leaning against the railing.

  Dallas sighed. “Olivia.”

  Dean cocked his blond head. “She’s OK?”

  “She’s here.”

  Dean stared at Dallas. “Liv’s here? Like… here here? In your house?”

  “In my bed.” Dallas took a big sip of his black coffee.

  Dean grinned. It’s about fucking time, Foreman. Took you long enough to make your move, man. “Uh-huh. So, she came home with you last night? Why didn’t you just stay at her place, since you were there already?”

  “It’s not like that, man. She’s got bad trouble.”

  Dean’s whole demeanor changed now. “What kind?”

  “Stalker trouble.”

  Dallas had just filled him in when they heard a noise inside the house. They turned to see Olivia standing there, her hair tousled and her eyes still tired.

  “Hey, Olivia,” Dallas said. “You OK?”

  She nodded. “Better.”

  “You want a coffee?”

  “Yeah.” When she saw Dallas coming back in, she shook her head. “No, it’s OK, stay where you are. I’ll get it myself.”

  “And grab that blanket off the sofa, baby. It’s chilly out here.”

  Dallas and Dean watched her in the kitchen, their instinctive desire to protect and care for other people coming to the fore. They were both physically huge men, both highly-trained and skilled, both lethal and both with numerous kills under their belts. If anyone was even thinking about hurting Olivia, they’d have to get through Dean and Dallas first, not to mention their other friends and Dean’s fellow ex-Rangers, Chris and Jim.

  Olivia came out on the porch now and Dean gave her a hug. She returned it, and her smile was a bit shaky.

  “Dallas told you?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”
He touched her hand. “Why didn’t you say something, Liv?”

  She shrugged, dropped her eyes. “Blue Star was supposed to be handling it for me, and besides, Emma’s been my priority for the past few months. It just – it wasn’t so important. Or so I thought.”

  Dean sighed. “I know that this whole thing with Emma’s been front-and-centre, and that’s been the case for all of us. But a stalker? Sweetheart, that’s serious shit. You don’t mess around with this kind of thing.”

  “I’ve just had so many weird and creepy e-mails and phone calls over the years, so many ugly and horrible things said about me on the internet… I guess by now, I just don’t know what a real threat looks like anymore.” Olivia bit her full lip. “I trusted Greg to tell me when to worry and when to just let it go. I trusted the wrong guy.”

  “Well, don’t you worry about Greg Wallace,” Dallas said. “I’ll be paying him a visit at the Blue Star Security offices this morning.”

  She started. “You will?”

  “Damn right I will.” Dallas’ blue eyes were hard. “I assume I’ll be firing his incompetent ass on your behalf?”

  She laughed. “Yeah, you will. And will your security company be taking over my protection?”

  He grinned down at her. “I kinda thought we already had, darlin’.”

  **

  Emma Cartwright stared at the door, confused.

  Why is Liv standing in the doorway to Dean’s bedroom? In her pyjamas and carrying a cup of coffee?

  Emma sat up. “Ummm. Hi?”

  “Hi.” Liv came in and perched on the edge of the bed. “How you feeling today?”

  “OK.” Emma glanced at the clock. “Wow, I slept.”

  “You were exhausted,” Liv said gently. “Dean said you came back here after the party last night and just passed out.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Emma took the coffee gratefully. “Thanks. Now… to the important question. What are you doing here? And why are you in your pj’s?”

  Liv sighed. “I have something to tell you, Em, and you’re going to be a bit surprised.”

  Emma studied her friend’s face. “Wait. Did you stay over with Dallas?”

  Liv paused. “Uh, yeah.”

  “Finally!” Emma said. “Jenny and Kat and I have been waiting for you two to get together!”

  Liv blinked. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “OK, well, you’re still waiting. Nothing like that happened.”

  “So… you stayed at Dallas’ place but didn’t sleep with him?”

  “Yeah. No. Ummmm… the thing is, Em, I had a bit of a problem last night and I called Dallas for help.” Liv dropped her eyes. “I needed his… his skill set.”

  Emma was wide awake now; she was well aware what Dallas’ skill set included. She sat straight up, her beautiful face worried. “What did you need Dallas’ help for?”

  “OK, I’m going to tell you everything, I swear. Just promise me that you’ll let me finish, and you’ll freak out when I’m done. Deal?”

  “Yeah. But I do not like the sound of this one bit.”

  As Liv talked, Emma’s already-pale face got whiter. She gripped her cup of coffee tightly, and waited for her friend to finish talking. Then she sat quietly for a minute, just gathering her thoughts.

  “Are you OK?” she asked.

  Liv nodded. “I was shaken up last night, but I’m fine now.”

  “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Emma asked. “Why did you go through this all by yourself?”

  “I was – I just…” Liv floundered, not wanting to make Emma feel badly for having been her focus. “I just had – other things on my mind. More important things.”

  Their eyes met, and they understood each other.

  Emma smiled. “Well. Those ‘other things’ are doing better now, right? They’re a bit more under control than they were even one month ago… so can we turn our attention to you? Just for a change?”

  Liv’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded; she was surprised at what a relief it was to finally be honest with her friend about what had been going on. Until that exact moment, she hadn’t realized just how stressed and scared she’d been for months, or how alone she’d felt in holding her secret tight to herself.

  Emma saw her tears and held out her arms. Liv moved in to them, weeping. Emma stroked her hair, soothing her as Liv had done for her so many times over the past several months.

  “It’s OK, Liv,” she said. “We’re all here for you, hon. You’re not alone, I promise. We’re with you.”

  After a few minutes, Liv pulled back. “Thanks, Emma. I’m OK.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before…”

  “It’s OK. I’m just glad you told me now.” She gave Liv one final hug, then let her go. “So where’s Dallas? And Dean, actually?”

  Liv grinned, and her confidence and spark were both back in full force. “They’ve gone to Blue Star Security, and Chris and Jim are meeting them there. They want to have a word with Greg Wallace.”

  “Oh, boy,” Emma said, imagining the four of them sitting and glowering across an office reception area. “I think Greg’s about to have kind of a bad morning.”

  “I’d say so,” Liv said. “I’d say he’s about to have one hell of a bad morning.”

  **

  In her five years working as the receptionist at Blue Star Security, Cordelia Patton had seen many large men sitting in the waiting room. She’d also seen lots of angry people in those chairs. But on this particular Saturday morning, she was a bit taken aback to see four very huge, very gorgeous, very furious men standing over her, looking like they were seriously contemplating throwing the chairs right out the window.

  She got to her feet, nervous and hoping that whatever the problem was, it didn’t land on her. “Good morning. May I help you?”

  “You may,” the one with cold blue eyes and dark hair said. “We need to see Greg Wallace, please.”

  “Do you have an appointment?” Cordelia squeaked. She knew full well that they didn’t; she also knew full well that hardly mattered to them.

  “No,” said the man with shaggy blond hair and piercing green eyes. “But we’re going to see him anyway.”

  The other two men nodded.

  “Um.” Cordelia cleared her throat. “May I ask what this is regarding?”

  The first man studied her. “It’s regarding one of Blue Star’s clients who could have been hurt last night, because your boss couldn’t be bothered to fucking pick up his phone when she called for help.”

  Cordelia gasped. “Oh, my God. Who? Which client?”

  “Olivia Jameson,” the other blond man said, his gray eyes steely.

  She gasped again. “Liv? Is she – is she OK?”

  The men paused and looked at her now.

  “You know her?” the first man said with a Texan drawl. “You know Olivia?”

  “Oh, yes.” Cordelia blinked back sudden tears. “She’s great. For my birthday this year she gave me a luxury spa weekend. She said that I work too hard and she wanted me to have something relaxing and special. She even took care of my son for the whole weekend so I didn’t have to pay a babysitter… Liv’s amazing.”

  The man’s blue eyes warmed up. “Yeah, she is.”

  “It’s her stalker, isn’t it? Is she hurt?”

  “No, hon.” The man was gentle now. “She’s not hurt at all and she’s safe.”

  “Thank God.” Cordelia wiped her eyes. “And what? She called Greg and he didn’t answer?”

  Dallas, Dean, Chris and Jim nodded.

  She tightened her lips. “OK, sit down. I’ll get Greg out here. Give me two minutes.”

  They watched her go down the hallway and then they exchanged looks.

  “You get the feeling that she’s going to kick his
ass before we even get to him?” Jim asked.

  “She may,” Dallas agreed. “She looked mighty irritated.”

  They heard shouting now, and they switched their attention to the voice, which was rapidly coming closer to them.

  “Jesus fuck, Cordelia!” the man was shouting. “How the fuck could you lose the whole contact list? How?”

  “I don’t know, Greg,” she said. “It just happened. Whoops.”

  “Whoops?” Greg said. “Just – fucking whoops?”

  He stormed in to the reception area now and stopped dead when he saw the four men glaring at him. He focused on Dallas.

  “Foreman,” he said. “What do you want?”

  “Oh, yes!” Cordelia said brightly. “I just remembered that I saved a backup copy of the contact list on the server. Also, these nice men are here to see you. I’ll show them in to the conference room, shall I?”

  Greg stared at her.

  “This way, gentlemen,” she said.

  “Hold up,” Greg said. “What’s this about, Foreman?”

  Dallas met his eyes. “Olivia Jameson.”

  Greg stiffened. “What about her?”

  “You really want to discuss her stalker out here?” Dallas asked as the office door opened and a woman walked in.

  Greg huffed.

  “So, the conference room is this way!” Cordelia twinkled. “Follow me, please.”

  The five men trooped down the hallway after her and she stood aside. “Coffee?”

  “No, thanks, hon,” Dean said. “We won’t be staying that long.”

  She winked at him and he grinned back.

  Greg sat. “So. What’s the problem?”

  “I told you. Olivia’s stalker,” Dallas said.

  Greg made an impatient sound in his throat. “We’ve assessed him and decided that he’s not a significant threat.”

  “No?” Dallas’ voice was deceptively soft. “Then maybe you can explain to me just why that ‘not significant threat’ ended up standing in Olivia’s living room last night, while she was home all alone?”

  “Sorry. He what?”