**SNEAK PEEK - The Shadow **

CHAPTER 1-Aspen

“Good evening, Miss Wilder.”

My back stiffens, the voice of my boss interrupting me as I pack up my things to leave for the day. His voice once sent a flutter of butterflies through my belly. Now, it sends ice through my veins. 

“Evening, Mr. Blake.” I attempt a smile but it’s weak at best. “I hope you have a good evening.” I swing my bag over my shoulder and keeping my chin tucked down, I attempt to skirt past him. 

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Before I can stop him, his hand darts out and hooks my waist. “Got a hot date?” His smile is meant to be flirty, probably disarming even, but it does the exact opposite. My stomach clenches beneath his touch, my hands twisting the leather of my purse handle so tightly that it squeaks. 

“No.” I laugh nervously. “Just home alone, per usual.” I mentally kick myself at the mention of being home alone. At least he isn’t aware that I’ve moved since his last unexpected visit to my apartment.

“I can change that, you know.” He leans in, a warm puff of air from his mouth hitting me in the cheek. I can smell the overly sweet notes of his cologne, something that once drove me wild. His wavy blond hair falls heavy over one of his bright-green eyes. To any other woman, Conner Blake is a fantasy. That unattainably rich, handsome boy next door who grew into the country club type that always knows just the charming thing to say to disarm you.

At least, that’s exactly how he got me.

I glance over my shoulder as I reach for his hand. “Mr. Blake.” I shove his hand away from my body and lower my voice. “I thought we agreed that it was a mistake and shouldn’t happen again.”

His smile fades, my rejection a clear blow to his ego but not a detrimental one. I’ve seen this movie before and I know well enough that he’ll only come back swinging harder next time. 

“Shouldn’t being the operative word there. I never said wouldn’t.” I’m frozen in place, his large body still blocking my exit. He stares at me for several seconds, making zero effort to hide the way he undresses me with his eyes. “Well, if you change your mind”—he winks at me before reaching out to touch my chin softly—“give me a call.” 

I don’t move again until he’s exited my office and I hear the chime of the elevator doors opening and then closing again. 

My shoulders sag when I finally step into my own empty elevator car and lean against the back wall. I close my eyes during the quick descent down the fifty floors to the lobby, the scent of his cologne still lingering in my nostrils and on my skin where he touched me.

“Good night, guys,” I smile and wave to our two security guards and our receptionist before exiting the building and walking the two blocks to my train stop. I don’t fully relax until I’m behind the glass door of my apartment lobby with Marcus, the doorman, between me and whatever is outside. 

“Looking beautiful as usual, Miss Aspen,” Marcus says when I scurry into the lobby. “You’re gonna give someone a heart attack one of these days.” He clutches his chest comically, making me laugh. 

“Thank you, Marcus.” I blush at his comment, even if he’s a sixty-two-year-old man with no ulterior motives, he’s still dashingly handsome. The salt and pepper of his once dark hair has now traveled from just his temples to the better part of his head. His matching mustache and goatee paired with his round tortoiseshell glasses give him a professor look. 

“Got a really good riddle for you this week,” he says as he walks me over to the bank of elevators. “What is there one of in every corner, and two of in every room?”

I repeat the riddle over to myself as I think through it. “One in every corner…” 

This is a game Marcus and I have been playing for the last few months. I think it was his fun way to break the ice with me as a new tenant but it’s kind of morphed into our thing. The first time he asked me I was waiting in the lobby for the movers to show up.

“You like riddles?”

“Riddles? Like word games?”

“Exactly.” He smiles broadly, perfectly white teeth gleaming behind his lips. His eyes crinkle with the lift of his cheeks, making me smile in return. 

“I do. Do you have one for me?”

He rocks on his heels like he’s thinking. “How about this one… What disappears the moment you say its name?”

I cock my head to the side and tap my chin like I’m deep in thought when the answer comes to me. “Silence.”

Marcus’ eyes grow wide. “Ohhh, you’re not just a new tenant, are you?” He gives me a sly grin. “You’re a smart one.”

“Thank you.” I giggle. “In your defense, I’m kind of a big word person.” I glance around and hold up my hand like I’m about to tell him a secret. “I do crossword puzzles in pen. The hard ones.”

His mouth falls open and a roar of laughter fills the wide-open lobby of the building. He clutches his belly. “You and I are going to be fast friends. Marcus Darvey.” He holds his hand out toward me. “Doorman extraordinaire and lifelong Chicagoan.”

“Thank you, Marcus. I’m Aspen Wilder.” I shake his hand but he brings it to his lips and bows, kissing the back of it. 

“You let me know if you ever need anything at all.”

“Oh.” I perk up. “An O.”

His face falters and he snaps his finger dramatically. “Thought I had you with that one.” He pulls out the small scrap of paper he keeps score on and scratches a tally beneath my name. 

“Is it getting close yet?” 

“Not even.” He holds the paper up and below his name are only two tally marks while beneath mine—well, too many to count quickly. “How’s the new job going by the way? They putting that big brain of yours to good use?”

“Good.” My voice hitches and I cough to try and hide my discomfort. “It’s certainly challenging but I enjoy that.”

“You tech people are so much smarter than me.” He laughs. “My daughter is always trying to give me one of those fancy new phones you kids all have.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flip phone, holding it up. “This right here has worked for me just fine.”

“You’re not missing much.” I hit the button again to call my elevator. “Just gives people even more access to contact you in multiple ways.”

“Bah.” He waves away my comment as he makes his way back toward his post. “I’m still trying to figure out Netflix.”

“Good night, Marcus.” I smile and wave before stepping into the elevator and riding up to my fifteenth-floor apartment. 

I can’t help but smile every time I open my front door. I have worked and saved for so many years to be able to afford a place like this. Sure, I had to rent the smallest apartment this place offered, but I at least have my own bedroom, even if it is a closet, and a doorman outside the building. But the reality is, if it hadn’t been for my massive promotion from assistant to Mr. Blake to senior security analyst within the company over the last year, I never would have been able to afford this place. 

I swallow down a thick lump that’s formed in my throat, the same lump that always forms when I think through my promotion. It’s not that I didn’t have the degree and certifications for the job because I graduated top of my class; it’s the fact that I had hardly any experience and it wasn’t until after…

“No.” I squeeze my eyes shut and will the thoughts to disappear. “You deserve this,” I say aloud to myself as I kick off my shoes and walk over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and see what I have in the fridge for dinner. 

I push aside the half-wilted salad that I promised myself I’d finish for dinner tonight. I grimace when I pop the lid open and smell the contents. Immediately, I toss it in the trash before looking through my freezer and cupboards with no success. 

“Shit.” I reach for my phone and scroll through the never-ending food options on one of the many delivery apps I’ve recently come to rely on. It wasn’t always like this. I love cooking. I enjoy packing my lunches for the week and treating myself to takeout on the weekends now and then. But ever since that night… it feels like slowly my life is starting to disappear, or at least the control I thought I had over it. 

I scroll mindlessly for several more minutes before settling on one of my regular orders. A falafel pita with a side of baba ganoush and hummus. I toss my phone onto the couch, knowing I have just enough time to hop in the shower and change into my pj’s before my food is delivered. 

My hair is wrapped tightly in my microfiber towel and my skin is freshly moisturized with a thick layer of lotion. I step into my new daisy pajama shorts, complete with matching button-up top and mint-green slippers that have a giant daisy printed on them. I hear my phone ding from the living room that’s only a few feet away from my bathroom, alerting me that my delivery person is approaching my building. 

I grab my keys and dart out my door, locking it behind me. I don’t make a habit of running down to the lobby of my building in my pajamas, but considering it’s almost eight on a Friday night, I can guarantee that everyone else in my building is either in for the night or already out. The elevator door opens just as my courier drops the food with Marcus.

“I had a feeling it was for you before he even said the name.” Marcus holds my food out toward me, his eyes drifting upward. “Hey, you look like Marge Simpson.” He chuckles, nodding toward my bright-blue towel that I completely forgot was piled high atop my head. 

I look up and reach to touch it, my cheeks blushing slightly when I hear Marcus step away and greet another resident. 

“Good evening, Mr. Ransom, miss.” He nods toward the woman on my neighbor Harvey’s arm. My cheeks go from slightly pink to glowing in a matter of seconds. 

“Good evening, Marcus.” He nods toward him as he makes his way closer to where I’m still standing by the elevators. 

Oh God, oh God, oh God. 

I try to will my cheeks from flaming but I know it’s no use. I’m absolutely mortified even further when I catch a glimpse of how ridiculous I look in the mirrored reflection of the elevator. Especially standing next to the five-eleven model on his arm with legs longer than my body. 

When the door opens, Harvey holds the elevator door and motions for me to step in first. I do and he and the woman follow behind me. 

“Good evening, Aspen.” He offers me a nod, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. I can tell he’s trying not to stare at me and my get-up. The muscle on his heavily tattooed forearm twitches when he presses his hand against the woman’s narrow waist. 

“Hey, Harvey, nice to see you.” My voice sounds quiet and shaky. The woman on his arm doesn’t even bother to look my way. Instead, she runs one hand over his impossibly broad chest while the other tangles in his wild dark hair that he’s grown out. 

I haven’t seen Harvey Ransom in a few weeks. Last time was when we were at a cookout at the house of our mutual friends, Blaire and Jameson. The same cookout that my friends teased me about getting with Harvey. And while the thought of letting a man like that have his way with me is only ever going to be a fantasy, I might have briefly let myself wonder what it would be like if we ended up together. 

Then again, as a man who owns and operates his own private security firm with Jameson and their mutual friends, Alex and Luka, who are also Special Forces, I imagine he’s not around a lot. And when he is, he usually has company on his arm. Company that consistently looks like they’ve walked off the Victoria Secret runway with ten-foot legs and boobs that defy gravity.

I’m not wearing a bra! 

I drape one arm over my chest as if you could even tell by looking at me that I even needed to wear a bra. I clutch my bag of food in my hands as the elevator climbs to our floor at an agonizing pace. My eyes are focused on my short, skinny legs that never blossomed into full hips but continue straight upward on my petite, boyish frame. 

“Good night.” The doors barely open enough for me to squeeze through them before I’m bolting from the elevator and scurrying down the hallway to my door. Just before I step inside after unlocking my door, I glance to my right and see Harvey looking down the hallway toward me right as a manicured hand reaches out and grabs him by the shirt, tugging him over the threshold.

CHAPTER 2-Harvey

“Whoa, Jason Momoa’s in the house, ladies and gentlemen.” Luka, one of my business partners and best friends, slow claps as I walk into our offices. 

It’s been a few months since we’ve all been together. After the intensity of the last few cases we took and the addition of wives and babies over the last few months and years, we all agreed to take several months off. 

“Original,” I grunt. “You think of that all on your own?”

“I for one like it,” Alex adds and before I can thank him, he adds, “but we both know you grew it out to look like Jason Momoa for the ladies.”

I shake my head, ignoring their comments while I make myself a cup of coffee then walk over to my desk to read through a few of the briefs. We don’t hang out as often as we used to. Hell, we don’t even see each other every day like we did for almost two decades in the military, but these men are closer to me than any family ever was. We met when we were still kids, all enlisting for different reasons. For me, it saved me. If I hadn’t enlisted, I know damn well there’s only two places I’d be right now: the ground or prison. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Jameson says as he walks up to his desk. “I thought morning sickness was supposed to stop after the first trimester.” He runs his hands over his face. “But apparently not.”

“Shit, man,” Alex says. “Juliette had that too, morning sickness all the way through the second trimester. Then she hit the third and”—he snaps his fingers—“it went away overnight.”

“Great. So you’re telling me Blaire has to endure this for two more months? Poor woman is already miserable.” He plops down in his chair, his normally alert face looking worn and tired and his wife hasn’t even had the baby yet. But I know it’s the pain and struggles that Blaire is having to endure that’s killing him. 

“How’s she and the baby doing otherwise?”

“Good.” He sighs. “Which is shocking. It’s crazy what women’s bodies can endure. I just wanted this to be special for her…” He trails off, staring outside for a moment. He and Blaire didn’t plan on having kids, and then one day, it just changed for them. They both agreed it’s what they wanted, but the road to get there has been less than easy. 

“Now that we established that Jimmy and I have been in full dad prep mode and Luka and Harper have been chasing their toddler around,” Alex says, looking back over at me. “What the hell have you been up to?”

“Same old.” I shrug. “Hit the gym, did some private work, and got my sleep.”

Alex eyeballs me suspiciously before he and Luka shake their heads. “And how many women?”

“Not as many as you think.” It’s no use, they don’t believe me, but the woman I brought home last night, well, she was the first in a long—very long—dry spell. We both knew what the night was about. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even remember my name the next morning, or maybe she never even knew it. But the second she left, a feeling of instant regret took up residence in my chest and I can’t seem to shake it.

“I think your not as many and my not as many are two very different things.” He laughs.

Being teased like this is my own doing. It’s not like I’ve lived a saintly life or a celibate one. At one point in time, I’m sure I thought this would never end, but the days of a new woman in my bed every week have long since disappeared, all those times I heard older guys say that it would eventually lose its luster finally catching up with me. 

“You’re about to be thirty-five this year, man. It’s time to settle down,” Luka adds. He’s not wrong and the thought has certainly circled my brain more than once in the last few months. I’ve chalked it up to the fact that I’m not getting any younger and all of my friends are doing the marriage and family thing. Maybe it really is biology to crave those things the older you get. 

An image of Aspen in her flowery pajamas and toweled head pops into my brain. I feel a smile pull at my lips at the thought of her. I could tell she was embarrassed; her face looked like she’d just walked off the sun. I hadn’t seen her in months. I even wondered if she’d moved out of the building but figured she wouldn’t sign just a few months’ lease. Had we been alone, I’d have told her I liked her slippers.

“All right, guys, let’s go over some cases and see what we feel we can handle.” Jimmy pulls me from my thoughts of Aspen, a place that for some reason or other, my brain has recently started taking comfort. Maybe it’s because she is a familiar face, even though she and I have barely spoken since we’ve been around each other over the years in our mutual friend group, or maybe it’s because lately it seems like she’s different. 

Her timid nature and almost impish-like stature has always been a stark contrast to my six-five muscular frame and mostly tattooed body. She’s quiet and reserved, something we do both have in common, but there’s something else about her that’s always intrigued me. I can’t put my finger on it and I don’t know what kind of woman she is, but secretly, I think I want to know. 

I lean back in my chair, kicking my feet up on another chair as Jimmy reads over a few cases that have come across our desks. That niggling feeling that I’m missing something creeps up my chest. I think back to last night, the way Aspen avoided eye contact with me in the elevator. That in itself is nothing new, but she looked scared, her eyes framed by dark circles and her already thin frame bordering on waiflike. 

I refocus my attention back to the discussion, reminding myself that not only is Aspen Wilder not my problem, but I could very well be making up a problem that doesn’t even exist. I shove the thought back into the recesses of my mind, deep where all the guilt I harbor for not being there to protect my mom still resides. 

“We’ve got a few of the regular cases, celebrities in town for an event, a few high-ranking officials and an athlete.” He flips through several more pieces of paper. “Actually, more than we can handle during these dates. Luka”—he stands and hands him the stack of papers—“you and Alex focus on these. I want you two to go through the dates listed and coordinate a schedule where you can accommodate the most clients.”

“On it,” Alex says, following Luka as they walk over to one of the large whiteboards in the office. 

When the four of us retired from the military and decided to open our own private firm, Four Forces Security, we were prepared for it to take some time before it got off the ground. Thankfully, the exact opposite happened and within six months of opening our doors, we were already working major cases for foreign dignitaries and A-list celebrities. When Jimmy saved the life of one of the most powerful billionaires in the world and then ended up marrying his daughter, it really sealed the deal for our firm. 

“Whatcha got for me, boss?” I slowly remove my feet from the chair as Jimmy walks over and drags it closer to me before taking a seat. 

“I’m not positive I do—yet.”

“Meaning?” 

“I was talking to one of my contacts, a friend of my father-in-law’s, at his country club this weekend. My contact was telling me how a friend of his might need our help. The guy is apparently the CEO of some big media company, very prominent and well-known.”

“Get himself into some hot water with some unsavory types and now needs our protection?” I struggle at times to separate my emotions from the job, something I never thought I’d struggle with after being in the military. But after seeing these types, guys who think they can buy their way out of anything, do the same shit time and time again, only to pay someone like me to bail them out, it’s really left a negative taste in my mouth. 

“Actually, no. Shocking, I know.” Jimmy reads the expression on my face. “He’s actually going through a pretty bitter divorce and he’s worried that his soon-to-be ex-wife’s connections might find their way into his house in the middle of the night.”

“Damn, what’d this guy to do to the wife to piss her off that bad? And who the hell is the ex-wife that she has connections that’d be willing to take him out?”

“That,” Jimmy says before pushing off his knees to stand up, “is all the information I got out of him before he had to leave. I gave him my card and he said he’d pass it along to the guy. So, if he does, I want you and me on it.” He points toward me before turning to walk to his desk. “That’s why I need you free.” He reaches into the drawer and grabs the keys to his cherry-red 1968 Chevy Corvette Stingray. “In the meantime, though, let’s head over to the mayor’s office. He’s got something he wants to run by us.”

I get up and follow him to his car.

“So what’s going on with you?” Jimmy glances over at me, his hand casually draped over the steering wheel. He’s got that look on his face, the one that tells me he’s not going to give it up no matter how many times I tell him there’s nothing going on with me. 

“Not much. Just tired, I think.”

“You’re irritated. It’s written all over your face, it’s in your tone with the guys. I know they love to rib you about the lady shit, but that’s nothing new so I know that’s not it.”

“I couldn’t get—” I don’t have the balls to finish the sentence but there’s no need to. The silence is loud and fucking clear. 

“Shit. First time?”

“Yup.” I keep my gaze out the passenger window. If I didn’t know exactly why it happened, I’d be embarrassed. 

“So what happened? You just roll over and go to sleep?” I finally look over at him and he shrugs. “Sorry, it’s just never happened to me before so I’m genuinely curious.”

I shake my head and laugh under my breath. “Yeah, pretty much. It was embarrassing, I’ll give you that.”

“What was the issue?”

“Uh.” I glance out the window again quickly. “I know it’s going to sound weird, but I actually ran into my neighbor in the elevator going back up to my apartment. I had a—a woman with me. It just threw off my night.”

“Threw off your night?” He repeats it back to me and it sounds just as unbelievable as when I said it. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I don’t know, she’s a nice lady. She’s respectable and nice. It just got in my head. I didn’t want to be disrespectful to her. What if she could hear me—us?”

“Your apartment is a luxury high-rise. You can’t hear through the walls, no matter how much of a god you think you are in bed.” He can’t hold back his laughter. “Besides, what about the fifty other times you’ve brought a woman back to your place since your neighbor moved in? Why only think about it now?”

“It hasn’t been fifty—and probably because I saw her. I’ve never ran into her when I’m bringing a woman home. I felt like I was giving a bad impression.”

“A bad impression? Harvey, your reputation is that you bring home a different woman every night. No offense but we both know you—ohhh, wait.” He smiles and I look over at him. “The crush, it’s manifested into something more, hasn’t it?”

“Pshaw.” I brush off his comment. “Fuck that. No. Even if I was interested in her more than finding her attractive, that’s not going to stop me from getting business done. I’ve just got a lot on my mind is all and I was trying to be respectful.”

“So all that to say, the reason you’re irritated is because you have blue balls?” 

I laugh along with Jimmy, even though that isn’t the reason I’m irritated. He’s wrong about the blue balls, but he’s not wrong about it being about her. I meant what I said to him; I wanted her to have a better impression of me than everyone else. I don’t know why and I really don’t care to dig into it. All I know is, there’s something about Aspen that has me intrigued and more importantly, there’s been a significant change in her behavior since she’s moved in. She’s gone from quiet and shy to downright skittish. 

“Well…” Jimmy turns to face me after parking the car outside the mayor’s office. “If it does ever turn into anything more with the neighbor, maybe this could be a cute story you share with her someday.”

I roll my eyes and get out of the car, following behind him as we walk into the building. The fact that he knows my neighbor and his wife is best friends with her isn’t something I’ve conveniently forgotten to tell him. It’s a detail I don’t need any of them knowing. Unless, like Jimmy said, it ever did turn into anything between Aspen and me. But considering she looks at me like I’m a predator about to pounce, I doubt it will ever be a conversation we will have.