Knight in Shining Armor

A knight in shining armor is not always the righteous and kind-hearted man. Sometimes, he’s the one that speaks his mind and uses his fists. He is not perfect but if he loves you…. he loves you.

~ Chapter One…~

Kelsey frowned at the busy signal coming from the other end of the phone. What was going on with her cousin Lauren. She did not understand how she could just fall off the face of the earth after calling her two weeks earlier talking about her new job at Parker Industries. Something was very wrong. Lauren always stayed in touch with her since her mother took off and she had to live with the evil grandmother from hell. She knew that Lauren was tougher the she looked but she still worried about her. She was the sister that she always wanted. Kelsey sighed as the elevator doors closed and she pressed the button for the lobby. She had to clear her mind today. She had to mediate a case for her father involving Mr. Antione. He was a man of little humor so her father said when he briefed her about the case. She did not blame the man for not having humor when contracts were not met. However, she would make judgment based on facts and nothing else. She stood still in the elevator for a few seconds before trying again to call Lauren one last time before the doors opened. She could not get the woman out of her mind. The doors opened as another frown crinkled her brow. She walked through the lobby of the expensive apartment building still wearing the frown as she headed for the front door. The door man smiled at her as she approached. Kelsey could not resist returning the grey haired man’s smile.

“Good morning Miss Monroe,”

“Good morning Mr. Chuck,”

She smiled as the elderly black man chuckled. Everyone in the city knew him. He was like the ambassador. He was what everyone called a good man, close to perfect as one could get in many eyes.

“I saw the frown as you came through the lobby. Now what has you troubled?”

Kelsey sighed. “I still can’t reach Lauren.”

Mr. Chuck looked concerned for his favorite dweller within the apartments. “You said that she was starting a new job. Maybe she’s too busy to return your calls.”

“No she would call me no matter what. I was planning on going down there. Daddy said that I should look up Tristan Dreshian from Hammel Brothers he said that he could help me. My father went to school with his father.”

“So when are you going?”

“Well you know that software consultant Randall Williams that has been in our office for like three weeks because technology and William Monroe don’t mix, well he told me that it was easy to find her. He said that he worked with a guy in the government and he owes him a favor. We met with him last week and he said that he would forward it on to the bureau in Chicago. He and Randall have been in conversations for a while. He said that he could look her up for us. He sent him an email four days ago.”

“That may take some time.”

Kelsey nodded. “It might but I do feel a little better knowing FBI is looking for her. She’ll probably freak out on me when they find her and blame me.”

Mr. Chuck now frowned. “Never.” A beautiful smile filled Kelsey’s face.

“So where is Mr. Williams today?”

“He has a client across town. I probably won’t see him ever again but I thanked him so did daddy.”

Mr. Chuck grunted. “He didn’t want anything more.”

Kelsey chuckled. “He just came there to fix the software and that was all. I know nothing about him personally.”

“Still not looking for that big strong hunk of a man.”

The way she rolled her eyes made Mr. Chuck bellow with laughter. “That’s my girl. As I have said before all men are evil...so evil.”

Now it was her turn to laugh. She was so breathtaking when she laughed. Mr. Chuck knew men found her hard to ignore. He had seen them do double takes when she walked by them but they were afraid of her success and strength. She would never lean on them for financial support. She knew who she was and did not need a man to validate her existence. Her kind of confidence made men feel weak. Some men needed to dominate in order to feel strong.

“Ahh that laugh makes me happy.” Mr. Chuck took her by the hand and helped her out the door. He wore a smile until he saw who waited for her outside. Randall Williams wore an expressionless face until Kelsey turned and saw him. His face broke out in smiles.

“Good morning Miss Monroe.”

Kelsey wore a stunned look on her face. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a client across town.”

“I did but he cancelled. It’s nice to be the boss you can take the day off…like now.” His smile was a smirk and that did not make Mr. Chuck feel comfortable.

“What company do you own?” Mr. chuck asked.

“Beltar systems, its everywhere…even here. probably on your phone too.”

Kelsey smiled at him. “You’re pretty successful.”

Randall returned his attention to her. He loved her big brown eyes but thought that they would look better green like his. Even though his were natural she could pull it off even with her deep brown skin. He was what people called light skinned but he loved black women with dark skin tones and she had to be the most gorgeous one that he had ever seen. She was the successful one. She worked with her father, also a lawyer but she was phenomenal. She would probably want to lead in any relationship that she would have but if she were with him she would want for nothing. She would stay at home and be his eye candy. Randall watched the warm wind blow her thick curly hair around her face and shoulders. He could see the many shades of brown and red in the strands as the sun shone on them. Though her hair was beautiful he wished it were straight and black. Curls were not the easiest thing to get your hands through. He did not understand this natural hair movement going on in the black women’s community. “I try to be.”

Kelsey smiled and moved to walk past him. ‘Where are you off to.”

“I have a meeting that I have to attend.” She moved her hair from her eyes suddenly wishing that she had put it up.

“Boring lawyer stuff.”

She looked back at him and smiled. “Yeah boring lawyer stuff.”

Mr. chuck walked past the two of them and towards the street to hail a cab for her.

Nickolas Antoine stared out the window of his cab deep in thought. What was the penalty for stabbing a man these days? He had gotten three different answer. His 2 brother said a couple of years while his parents said that they would disown him if he stabbed anyone warranted or not. His family knew of his disappointment with Arthur Batten’s son James. This man wanted to build a tribute to his father and Nickolas sold him the land to do it. He even gave the man six extra months to pay the note. This was an act of kindness rarely seen by the bank owner with a hobby for real-estate. He understood the love of family and wanted to help. James apparently took that kindness as weakness. Instead of paying the note James decides to start building on the unpaid for property. It angered Nickolas that Arthur Batten’s son thought that he would just let him get away with this. He wanted to go hands on with James but Jerry Burke his lawyer talked him out of it and suggested this meeting. The Monroe law firm would mediate between he and James and his lawyer Kalus and Hent. Nickolas was tired of excuses. He wanted his money or James needed to vacate the land. Nickolas looked to his left and saw Mr. Chuck in the street trying to hail a cab.

“Stop here Kalif I know him.”

The driver smile. “Everybody knows him.” He slowly stopped his cab and Mr. Chuck came to the window. He smiled when he looked back in the rear seats.

“Mr. Nickolas good morning.”

The smile from Nickolas was true and genuine and not a smirk. He was not hiding anything. “Do you need a cab for someone.”

“Yes I do.”

“Where to?”

“Abramoff square.”

Nickolas raised an eyebrow. “I am headed there myself. I can take the fare.”

Mr. Chuck turned back and extended his hand to Kelsey. Nickolas watched her walk towards the car with her curly hair flying in the wind. She tried to control it but it had no master. The dark blue dress was business attire but she looked exceptional in it. Her stride was graceful and sexy. Nickolas smiled as Mr. Chuck opened the door and she popped her head inside.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“Trust me I would not stop if it was not.”

“He is telling the truth Miss.” The driver replied. Kelsey smiled again and got inside. Randall suddenly appeared beside Mr. Chuck to see who Kelsey was sharing a cab with.

“I am Kelsey Monroe.” She extended her hand towards him. His strong hand gently swallowed hers.

“William Monroe firm...”

“Yes,”

“You are the mediator.”

Kelsey looked at the black hair and hard but handsome face of the man beside her. The dark blue eyes were piercing and trying to invade her mind. He was the imposing figure that she had heard. “Mr. Nickolas Antione.”

“Yes,”

“You don’t think that they will object to this cab ride."

Nickolas began chuckling. He could not give a damn what James or his lawyers thought. “Didn’t you read the folders on me my lawyer sent over.”

Kelsey slowly pulled her hand from his and smiled. “Yes I did and excuse my ridiculous statement.”

Randall watched the man inside the cab. He would have to find out about the man if he thought that he would become a problem. She could fall for his bad boy persona if he did not let this man know that she was taken. “How about lunch later?”

Kelsey looked towards Randall. “Ahh I don’t know how long this will take.”

“Well text me when you are done and we can plan something.”

“I don’t know I have a lot of work to do.”

Kalif looked in the rear view mirror and watched his boss’s reaction to this man trying to get a date on his time. The crinkled brow was the first sign of danger.

 Randall nodded. “If you change your mind I’ll text you my number.”

Kelsey nodded then thought for a moment. “How do you know my number. “

“I was in your office for few weeks.”

Kelsey smiled. “Oh…okay.”

Kalif pulled away from the man. “Was that really necessary for him to make a scene like that.”

Kelsey relaxed in the seat beside Nickolas. “He is new to the city. I think father and I are the only people that he has spent more than a day with.”

Nickolas frowned at her words. “There is more to his proposal than that.”

Kelsey faced Nickolas. “No,”

Kalif watched the doubt form on Mr. Antoine’s face. “You might not want there to be more but there is.”

“Mr. Antoine I have no designs with Mr. Williams. He is just trying to make friends.”

Nickolas snickered. “Okay we will see how that goes. What does he do?”

“I prefer to concentrate on your case Mr. Antoine.”

“His bag said Beltar Systems.” Kalif answered.

Nickolas smiled at his personal driver. “Thank you Mr. Mola.”

Kelsey looked around the cab. It was not the normal stuffy cab. It was spotless and smelled like fresh linen. The seats were soft and clean and the floor was as if vacuumed recently. Kalif’s face was not the one on the picture on the front dash. This cab belonged to Helena Danter an older Latino woman.

“You stole someone’s cab?”

“No…Mr. Nickolas paid them for it. I am his personal driver.”

Nickolas was texting something when Kelsey looked at him. He turned off his phone and placed his phone back in the breast pocket of his black suit. “I like things a certain way.”

“I read that in the folder.”

“Good then I won’t have to explain myself.” His blue eyes seemed to darken as he spoke. He was already getting annoyed about the meeting. She could understand his anger. It was her job to try to keep it contained long enough to make this work.

“No Mr. Antoine you do not have to explain yourself.” Kelsey turned away from him knowing that this was going to be a long meeting if James Batten was anything like this man.

~~~~

Randall walked into his temporary apartment and placed his phone and keys on the kitchen counter and stretched his back. Today was not going the way that he wanted it. He expected a call from his contact but the news that he received was not what he wanted. The money was not as much as they wanted. So he and his partner were going to stall. Randall walked out of the kitchen and his phone rang. He walked back into the kitchen and hit the accept button.

“So how is she?”

“It’s a them. Parker said that he would pay more for the both of them.”

Randall walked into his living room and slumped down on the sofa. “Really how much more.”

“One million more,”

Laughter filled Randall Williams temporary home. “Kyle, one million… that has to be the most that were have ever extracted from a kidnap and rescue.”

“The guys will be proud. Are you sure that the bureau there in New York have no interest in this?”

“None what so ever. They are swamped as it is right now.” The laughter from the other end made Randal smile. He usually scouted their targets thoroughly before deciding to con them. His computer genius made it easy but this one just fell into his lap. He had to admit that the gorgeous Kelsey Monroe had a lot to do with his decision to help her. He did not care about her cousin. All he cared about was getting laid and the money. Her parents William and Yvonne Monroe were loaded.

“What about her Miss Monroe? What are you planning on doing with her?”

“All the naughty things that I can think of. Let Lauren use the clean phone to text her so she won’t get suspicious. I’ll let you know when to start sending the ransom messages.”

“Let me guess when she starts ignoring you.”

Randall chuckled. “Women love me. She will fall as they always do and we will both get paid for it. Are you heading for the safe house now?”

“Yeah he’s driving now. We will get there by tonight I’ll call you then.”

“Alright,” Randall set his phone down and placed his hands behind his head thinking about Kelsey Monroe and what it would take to get her into his bed. If he had to hurt Lauren to get her to agree he would go that far but he preferred not to. He wanted to keep what he was doing a secret so that he and his team could move on to the next target. He would have to play this one carefully. She was not going to be an easy one to catch.

~~~~