A View to a Thrill (Masters and Mercenaries Book 7) Read Online Free Page B

his head, his hands held up. “Nothing. I did absolutely nothing and that’s the problem. I told her I should be the one protecting her, not the other way around. She should have given me the gun and stayed down, though I’m not sure why she needed protecting from the delivery guy. Is she allergic to MSG?”
    Simon’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I overreacted. But she’s not giving up that gun to anyone. Is that understood? Now, I believe Chelsea’s come to speak to me on rather urgent business. I have to cut our chat short. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think we should stay.” JT looked at his cousin. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I don’t like a minute of it. I think we should call someone in. If you’re so worried you won’t answer the door without backup, something has to be done about it. We’ll call in the police or the feds. I’ve got contacts.”
    Michael groaned. “This is Simon’s gig. You can’t play the CEO card with him.”
    “He’s my family,” JT replied with a stubborn look. “You watch me. I know you two think I’m the soft one, but I can be a ruthless bastard when I want to be. I will protect this family with everything I have.”
    Simon softened slightly. “I’m asking you to let me handle my own business, JT. This is my territory. If I need help, I will ask you.”
    “Come on, brother. I think he can handle it. He’s not the same skinny kid who showed up at the house thirty years ago. You don’t have to protect him anymore. The same goes for me.” Michael put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go get a beer and we’ll talk.”
    With obvious reluctance, JT Malone allowed himself to be hustled out the door.
    She’d known Simon had cousins here in Texas, but seeing them, being in a room with them, made it more real. So often he was some sort of god in her head. Cool, calm, collected. Infinitely sexy. He was damn perfect in her mind.
    And he’d been a skinny little kid who needed protecting. She’d needed protecting, too. She remembered clinging to her sister’s hand during the flight from North Carolina to Moscow. They’d watched their father kill their mother and then they’d only had each other.
    “I’m sorry about that.” Simon moved to the big bar in his kitchen and started unloading the bag he’d set there. “My family can be a bit overbearing at times.”
    “They love you.” That was obvious. She’d made a study of Simon, but the truth wasn’t always in data. It was the frustrating thing about life. Data, information, numbers were her specialty, but while she’d known about Simon’s ties to Malone Oil, she hadn’t counted on the fact that Jackson Tyrell Malone, billionaire heir to what amounted to an American kingdom, would truly love and want to protect his family. Or that his family would buck and fight against the constraints of that protection.
    “Of course they do. They’re my family.” He brought down a plate and began to spoon food onto it.
    That was easy for him to say. Family hadn’t been so easy for her. Just thinking about her “family” made her leg ache. Of course the damn thing ached all the time, and running around the Metroplex for eight hours hadn’t improved the condition. She needed a distraction, and work was her drug of choice. “What’s your wireless password?”
    She needed to get on the web and continue her investigation. Whoever was pissed at her likely had blabbed to someone else. There were always tracks. Always hints and clues there for a smart girl to connect.
    “Eat.”
    “That’s a terrible password.” They had to work on his security. A password should be something utterly random. At least seven characters long, and with a myriad of numbers, letters, and symbols. Too many people made the mistake of choosing something meaningful to them like “ilovedan” or “cutekitty.” Yeah, those suckers got hacked and fast.
    She dragged out