Ball & Chain(24)

As soon as dinner wound down and people moved on to drinks and dancing, Deuce stood and tilted his head at Ty to indicate they should go inside.

Ty turned to seek out Nick or Kelly, and immediately found Nick’s sharp eyes on him. He waved at him to follow, and Nick nodded.

At the doorway to the study, a man was standing with a metal-detecting wand. Ty stopped and spread his legs, holding his hands out. Zane did the same as he followed Ty into the study. Ty was still glancing around the room when a commotion arose behind him.

“Why am I being wanded?” Kelly asked.

“Just stand still,” the guard ordered.

“I am standing still,” Kelly said. “What, does that thing not work when I’m talking? It gets distracted? It’s a metal detector with ADD?”

“Jesus Christ, Kels, just let him wand you,” Nick said, rubbing his eyes as he stood behind Kelly, waiting for his turn.

“I usually get dinner first. No, that’s a lie,” Kelly said as the man waved the wand over his chest.

Kelly cleared his throat and nodded, but his eyes were sparkling when he stepped into the room. Nick stood obediently and let the man wand him, but just as Ty knew it would, the wand went off at Nick’s thigh near his pocket.

“Do you have a weapon on you, sir?” the guard asked him.

“No.” Nick unbuttoned his jacket and turned his suit pocket inside out. “It’s shrapnel in my thigh. There are certain frequencies it sets off.”

The man patted Nick’s thigh down, then wanded him again after finding nothing in his pocket. Nick narrowed his eyes. When the man looked up at him, Nick shook his head.

“Not taking my pants off, man.”

The security guy snorted and waved him past.

They were joined in the study by Livi’s father, Theodore Stanton, and her brother, whose name had escaped Ty. Two other men followed along and positioned themselves at the door of the study, not being discreet at all about the fact that they were Stanton’s private security. They called each other English and Hardin. Ty had pegged them as ex-military as soon as he’d seen them, and he guessed the others had as well.

One more man joined them. Despite the casual evening, he was wearing a suit and vest. His movements were fast and nervous, and his forehead glistened with sweat. He carried a smooth worry stone in his hand, and he was almost continuously rubbing his thumb over it. Stanton introduced him as Ernest Milton, the company’s head of operations. He seemed pretty young for such a prestigious position, which probably explained his obvious stress-related issues.

“Gentlemen,” Stanton said as he poured himself a drink and took a thick cigar out of a humidor on a desk in the corner of the room. “I understand Deacon asked you to come here as added security.”

Ty raised an eyebrow. He glanced over his shoulder at Nick and Kelly, who were both frowning hard but not yet looking defensive.

Stanton took a deep breath and looked at his daughter, his expression softening. “I’ve always believed in too much rather than too little, so thank you. And welcome.”

That surprised Ty, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Nick’s shoulders relax. They’d been expecting a little resistance.

Stanton continued. “My family has always received threats. That’s the way of the business, I’m afraid. But when news of Amelia’s birth got out, some of those threats turned their attention to her.”

“How so?” Ty practically growled.

“To be perfectly blunt: as leverage.”

Ty and Zane both turned to Deuce. He’d gone considerably paler. He met Ty’s eyes and nodded. “Kidnapping her and using her to force Theodore to make decisions for the company.”

Ty’s blood began to boil at the mere thought. These people had no fucking idea what kind of fire they were playing with if they came after Amelia.

“I’m sorry,” Kelly said. “But what do you do that’s so important to your competitors to warrant threats of that magnitude?”

“Two years ago, we bid on a defense contract. It was awarded to us over four other companies. There are some . . . sensitive projects being undertaken.”

“Has it escalated since then?” Nick asked.

“We received several specific threats regarding the wedding, yes,” Deuce said, his voice hoarse. “Not just to Amelia, but to Livi, myself, and Theodore and Susan. That’s why we moved the timetable and cut the guest list down to bare essentials.”

“So at its core, this is a corporate espionage issue,” Kelly muttered. He and Nick shared a look. “You should have asked Owen to be your date.”

Nick gave him a solemn nod. “But at least you put out.”