“I require your services.”
Dempsey’s eyebrows shot up. “Now I’m more intrigued.”
“Perhaps you expected something else?” Jack asked, knowing he did.
“My article came out yesterday and it has to be said, mate, you seem very protective of Belle Abbot,” Dempsey remarked.
“You’ve been watching,” Jack noted and Dempsey grinned.
“Avidly.”
Jack lifted his chin. This didn’t surprise him. He hadn’t seen him but he already knew this to be true. It was another thing he’d learned in his brief research. Mickey Dempsey was thorough.
Dempsey’s gaze became intense. “I meant her no harm. I hope you understand that. And I assumed, considering the way you are with her, you would protect her from –”
Jack interrupted him, “Belle’s fine. And your article yesterday is not why you’re here.”
“So maybe you’ll get to explaining why I’m here?” Dempsey prompted.
Jack again lifted his chin. “First, I’ll need your assurances that if you take the assignment I’m about to offer you, everything about it will be confidential.”
Interest flashed in his eyes even as Dempsey straightened in his chair and shook his head. “Mate, I think you get what I do for a living.”
“I do, indeed,” Jack replied.
Dempsey held his gaze as he responded, “So it’s not just what I do. It’s who I am. And I can’t turn it off because a billionaire asks me, threatens me or pays me.”
Again, Jack did not delay.
“Belle’s in danger,” he shared, watched Dempsey’s eyes flare with a different light and the man’s head jerked.
Jack watched as he shifted slightly in his chair, his gaze never leaving Jack’s when he came to the wrong conclusion, “You’re you, mate. Cole is an ass but he would never be stupid enough to –”
Jack cut him off, “Cole is not my concern.”
“Then what’s your concern?” Dempsey enquired.
“Taking you back, I need your assurances that if you accept this assignment, everything about it will be confidential.”
“And taking you back, I told you I don’t work that way,” Dempsey returned.
Jack took in a breath and nodded once. “Then I’m afraid I’ve wasted your time. But I thank you for it anyway.”
Dempsey didn’t move.
Jack reached for his mobile and while tucking it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, he looked to Olive and declared, “I’m off to the airstrip. Are you coming to The Point or staying in London?”
“I have a few things to do in London,” Olive replied.
Jack stood, muttering to Olive, “Fine. I’ll be working at The Point the rest of the week.”
“Belle’s in danger?”
This came from Dempsey and Jack, who had dismissed him, looked to him.
And when he did, Jack noted he didn’t look intrigued. He looked concerned.
This also didn’t surprise him. Indeed, he’d been counting on it.