Page 11 of Brown Sugar
“Exactly right,” Tommy cuts in with a lecherous grin. “Which is why we’re only hiring the best. We’ve had several security concerns in recent times, and we want to make sure Kiana’s safe. What do you say, Mr. Jeffries? Is this a job you’re interested in?”
I look from Tommy’s curious face to Hal’s wiggling eyebrows and take a second to mull over my options. I still want to get the hell out of here. I still want to curse Hal out for ever trying to rope me into a job like this.
Nine months might not sound like a lot, but in the world of celebrity, it’s almost a lifetime.
But this gig pays enough of a salary I could take the next five years off. Finally get my shit together. Maybe confront losing Jax…
With a labored sigh, I scrub a finger over my brow like I’m pained. “Alright, but on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“I want to meet the client first. I need to know she’s not a complete brat.”
“Meet Kiana? Of course!” Hal says. He cranes his neck as he scans the club floor. “She should be around here somewhere… ah, there she is! She’s… she’s by herself… is she alright?”
Tommy and I turn to follow Hal’s gaze. I pick her out of the crowd immediately.
A woman standing off twenty feet from where we are with her arms folded over her chest and a glum expression on what’s otherwise a pretty face.
She looks… troubled.
As if she’s just received bad news.
If Hal’s to be believed, she had a huge night, winning an award and pulling off a great performance.
So what the hell’s got her so down?
I don’t have time to wonder. In the next second, as she walks off toward a side exit, I’m spotting the guy that’s just walked through. He’s sporting a hoodie and shades inside the dark club and has one hand stuffed inside his pocket like he’s about to pull something out.
Senses on high alert, I go into bodyguard mode.
I launch myself from the leather sectionals where we’re seated in the VIP area, cutting a direct path toward Kiana. My size and strength come in handy in moments like this, shoving and shouldering people out of the way.
I make it in the nick of time. Just as the guy in the hoodie withdraws a gun and squeezes the trigger.
I collide with Kiana at full speed, wrapping her up in my arms, taking her down with me to the ground.
6
KIANA
ONE WEEK LATER…
“You’re overreacting, A,” I sigh. “It wasn’t that serious.”
Amari’s jaw drops open. “K, are you kidding me?! You wereshotat!”
“I wasn’t… he never… I hit the floor before anything happened.”
“I’m sorry, but are you arguing that you narrowly moving out the way of the bullet means it doesn’t count?” Amari asks, blinking slowly. She follows me through my penthouse apartment until we’re in the kitchen and I’m opening the fridge. “Do you realize how bad things could’ve got? You could’ve died… or at least been seriously hurt!”
“But I wasn’t. Grape?” I hold up the container of seedless purple grapes I’m about to snack on.
When Amari remains frozen in place, still gaping at me, I move on. Popping a grape into my mouth, I return to the open space of my living room.
It overlooks West LA, the sky a bright blue outside my wide, panoramic windows. Amari eventually shuts her jaw and follows me back toward the sofas.
“I just think you’re not taking it seriously.”