The First Pages:
"I will not sleep with you in my bedroom!" Anis glared at Simon. Angry he'd even
think of suggesting the idea. "Especially not you."
No! She was not sleeping with a six foot two inch, dark-haired Greek
god who had an absolutely perfect physique. Especially not when his
deep green gaze constantly distracted from her duties.
That she would even be attracted to the man… Simon. Yes, the name suited
him. How she could even be attracted to Simon defied understanding. After
all, she hadn't successfully foiled thirty years of suitors to fall foul
of this-stranger. Anis was grateful for the anti-aging drugs, though.
She may be sixty-seven years old but her body was still a nice, supple
twenty-five.
Her problem was simply a symptom of the latest calamities the Company
was suffering. She was allowing herself to become unbalanced, drawn
away from the tasks that really needed her attention.
"I assure you, Miss Anamer," Simon told her respectfully. "The last thing I intend
to do is sleep."
Anis felt the blush creep up her cheeks and cursed silently. She hadn't
lost control of herself like this since she'd been a green teenager
working on the central Rim expansions. Back then she'd been a junior
manager helping to construct the 300th to 321st levels in the Rim of
the huge space base they called the Anamer Gas Mining and Refinery
Corporation.
Anis's father had taught her many things about managing during those
years and the most important had always been "don't give yourself away." Every
Anamer was trained, almost from birth, to treat every transaction as
a business one and to keep their thoughts-and feelings-very close to
the chest.
Of course Simon hadn't meant "not sleeping" with her in that way-he'd
not be sleeping with her in her bed, in fact he wouldn't be sleeping
at all-but with the current distraction, her thoughts had filled in a
thousand non-existent blanks and she'd totally embarrassed herself.
"All our agents at the Pangalactic Bodyguard Bureau are skilled in discretion.
We only see or hear what our employers wish us to see or hear," Simon continued
as if her blush was of total irrelevance.
Anis gave a mental hmmph as the clicking noise in the air supplier began
again. She glared at it for a moment, wishing she could turn the thing
off but knowing she couldn't. Being one thousand levels down from the
Hub and without an air supplier meant the room would soon be filled
with stale, toxic air. The annoying thing was she'd had it replaced
only a few weeks ago.
"You'd think being the CEO and President of the Company would mean I never got
defective equipment," she said dryly, trying to regain a grasp on the situation
at hand.
Simon gazed at the unit and gave it the same stripped-to-the-bone assessment
he'd given her when they'd first met just a few hours earlier.
Anis absently waved aside the problem of the air supplier and walked
to the small autobar in a corner of the bedroom. She needed a quick,
hard drink. She knew what the attraction was, of course. Simon was totally
unaffected by her. Simon did nothing. He just wasn't interested in her
physically-well, not physically in the way other men were interested
in her. Not that it was a bad thing. She really did need to concentrate
onthe Company and the recent assassination attempts. But she still had
some pride.
Then again, since when had she wanted to be the object of a man's desire?
Why on Poseidon did Vinnis arrange for bodyguards for them all anyway?
Surely her brother had seen the Company handle insurgents before, even
sporadic assassination attempts from the odd anarchistic group. With
a population of almost ten million it was unavoidable. Some group or
another always planned, thought or wished for a coup.
Anis's father had established the Poseidon Military, then heavily funded
the police force and the Qinada to counter the occasional unrest. The
Qinada, the internal investigations department, often efficiently-if
not ruthlessly-proved their worth in the protection of the Anamer family.
It remained a source of Qinada pride that most of the organized crime
was restricted to Beta Quad. Now known as the Blade Quad because of
the numerous gang related knife fights that took place in the Beta
Quad Bilges.
Anis shook her head sadly. Vinny had every right to worry in a way. Six
months ago he'd lost the use of his legs in a nearly successful assassination
attempt. Another three months and the nanomed treatment should fix
the nerve damage and he'd be able to walk again, but she could tell
the experience would never leave him.
Five assassination attempts against the family in six months gave her
something to be worried about, agreed-but bodyguards? Worrying, she
also realized, wouldn't help. She needed some positive action to deal
with the problem, something to help Kellan. As head of Qinada, Kellan
had already hinted his personnel losses in this investigation had been
unusually high. Anis was determined to find out why.
"You may be discreet." Anis accepted Simon's word. "But this is my room, my sanctuary." The
only place in the Company where she could be free from the exacting demands of
others. "I would like to keep it like that."
"I've worked as a personal bodyguard for many women. You won't even know I'm
here."
Anis forced her hand not to tremble as she took another long sip of her
drink. It was stupid being this affected by a man, a bodyguard no less-she'd
fallen into one of the true clichés of romance realvids. Anis finished
her drink with a hard swallow. She refused to become a cliché.
It may take a day or two but she would have her room to herself. One
man wasn't going to disrupt fifty years of hard-handed business training
and undermine her decisions-even if he did look at her with that icy-cool,
unaffected gaze.
Anis toyed, for a moment, with stripping naked and flaunting her body
at him. Prepared to languish in the breakdown of his calm facade. She
didn't, because her only reward would be to stand naked before that
calm, assessing stare.
God! She hadn't even felt this way about Jacques before she'd discovered
him embezzling millions. Their divorce and Jacques' subsequent sacking
and exile from the Company had been a mere formality compared to this.
"I feel uncomfortable about you staying in my room," Anis told him, laying down
her concerns openly. "Couldn't you provide a female agent?"
Simon had the grace to look apologetic. "Agent Karis is too low in rank
and is currently assigned sleep duty to your sister, Carrie," he answered.
"Agent Holly is on assignment for another week. Of course, as soon as she is free Agent Holly will be shipped to Poseidon VII to assist and will take over your nighttime watch. There are no other female agents of sufficient rank available."
"So why does rank mean Carrie gets Karis and not the CEO?" Anis thought she already
knew the answer but felt annoyed enough to press the point.
"Agent Karis is only a rank three P.B.B. agent," Simon replied patiently.
"And your brother Vinnis indicated you were a high priority risk. Therefore as a rank one agent, and the P.B.B. coordinator on Poseidon VII, I've taken responsibility for your sleep duty myself until I can be relieved by Agent Holly."
Anis felt a surge of irritation. Simon's arguments were all logical and
sound. She'd be willing to bet he could play the boardroom as well
as she could. The clicking in the air supplier suddenly became a clatter.
"Will you shut up!" Anis snapped at it.
Before she'd even finished the sentence a two-inch hole appeared in the
supplier facing. A glittering silver ball flew out of the hole, heading
directly for her.
Anis just had time to blink before she felt something fly past her and
the Remote Assassin fell, sparking, to the floor at her feet.
Shaken, but refusing to show it, Anis carefully picked up her nightgown
from where her maid had left it on the bed. She gave a curt nod to
Simon as he put away his needle gun. Frowning, Simon bent down to examine
the destroyed bot.
"Take care of that, will you," she said. Refusing to reveal how much the attack
had shaken her, Anis turned and walked into the bathroom. "I need to take a bath."