Daniel POV
Daniel watches him check the security cameras for the third time that hour.
He shouldn't be watching. Should be working on his schedule or returning calls or doing literally anything other than studying the way James Morrison moves through his penthouse like he owns it. But something about the way this man carries himself pulls at Daniel's attention in a way he can't explain.
The way he moves. Controlled. Precise. Like every gesture has been calculated a thousand times before. Like his body is a weapon and he knows exactly how to use it.
The way he watches everything. Never relaxed. Always scanning. Always aware. His gray eyes catch details that normal people miss. A shift in air pressure. The angle of a curtain. The way shadows fall differently when something is wrong.
The cadence of his voice. Low. Measured. The kind of voice that makes people listen without knowing why they're listening.
Daniel forces himself to look away.
He's sitting at his kitchen table with a laptop full of emails he hasn't answered and coffee that's gone cold an hour ago. He should care about the emails. The healthcare bill is dying in committee and his staff is panicking. Grace called three times yesterday asking what strategy he wanted to use to save it.
Instead Daniel is wondering if James Morrison has a girlfriend.
That thought comes out of nowhere and Daniel almost laughs at how pathetic he is. Someone tried to kill him last night. His entire security team has been replaced. His life has exploded into chaos. And he's sitting here wondering about his bodyguard's relationship status.
But James moves past him on the way to the balcony and Daniel catches a scent that isn't cologne. Just skin and something clean and familiar in a way that makes his stomach clench.
Daniel looks at him again when he thinks no one is looking.
There's a scar above his jaw. A thin white line that's barely visible. Daniel finds himself staring at it like the answer to everything is written in that small mark. Like if he just looks hard enough, she'll remember something important.
She. Not she. He'll remember.
Daniel's face heats up.
He almost remembers touching that scar. Almost remembers the feel of his fingertip tracing that specific line. The memory stays just out of reach though, like a dream after waking. You know it meant something but you can't grab hold of the details. Can't make it real.
By evening Daniel is losing his mind.
James has finished installing the new security system and is now reviewing protocols in Daniel's office. His presence fills the space in a way that should feel invasive and somehow doesn't. Somehow it feels like coming home.
Daniel stands in the doorway pretending to ask about schedule updates but really just listening to the way James explains things. The sound of his voice. The specific way he pronounces words. The rhythm of his speech that feels like muscle memory even though Daniel knows this is the first time they've met.
Except it doesn't feel like the first time.
It feels like Daniel is remembering something he forgot.
James looks up from the security protocols and catches Daniel staring.
Their eyes meet for a moment and Daniel sees something flicker across James's face. Something raw. Something that looks like pain. Then it's gone, replaced by professional distance.
"The system is secure," James says, looking back at the laptop. "You can rest tonight."
But Daniel can't rest.
That night he lies in bed listening to the silence of his penthouse. James is in the guest room down the hall. Daniel knows because he heard him settle there an hour ago. Heard the door close. Heard the careful quiet of someone trained to make minimal noise.
Daniel stares at his ceiling and wonders if James is sleeping.
Wonders if he's watching over Daniel the way a bodyguard should or if there's something else happening here. Something Daniel doesn't understand but feels in his chest like recognition.
He thinks about getting up. Walking down the hall. Asking James questions that he doesn't have words for yet. How do I know you? Why does your voice sound like memory? What are you doing in my apartment in the middle of the night?
Instead he stays in bed and tries not to think about how long it's been since he wanted someone this badly.
Three years. That's how long. Three years since someone walked out of his life and left him broken in a way he couldn't fix. Three years of throwing himself into work and politics and success, all of it just distraction from the fact that some part of him never moved on.
And now his bodyguard is sleeping down the hall and Daniel is thinking about touching that scar again.
That thought terrifies him more than the assassination attempt.
By morning Daniel has decided to ask Grace for background information on James Morrison.
He sits in his office waiting for her to arrive and tries to convince himself that it's about security and not about trying to understand why this stranger feels like someone he's known forever.
Grace arrives with her usual fierce energy and immediately notices something is off.
"You slept," she says. It's an accusation.
"I did."
"No you didn't. You're wearing your paranoia face. Also you're staring out the window like you're waiting for something to happen."
Daniel turns away from the window. "I need you to run a background check on James Morrison. Full background. Everything you can find."
Grace sits down slowly. Her sharp eyes narrow.
"The new security consultant?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I need to know who I'm trusting with my life," Daniel says.
Grace doesn't look convinced but she doesn't argue. She just nods like she knows exactly what Daniel is really asking.
"Okay," Grace says. "I'll dig. But Daniel, be careful."
"Careful of what?"
"Of wanting to know someone's background because you're attracted to them instead of because you actually need to know their background."
Daniel opens his mouth to deny it. Closes it. Can't actually deny it because Grace can read him like she reads security briefings.
"Just be careful," Grace repeats.
That afternoon James is reviewing security footage in Daniel's office when Daniel walks in. James looks up and Daniel feels that same electric pull of recognition. That sense of knowing something he doesn't know he knows.
"I want to understand how you knew about the breach," Daniel says abruptly.
James turns his attention back to the footage. "I was nearby. Monitoring the building."
"Why were you monitoring my building?"
"Because Senator Williams recommended I keep a close eye on you given the threats."
It's a clean answer. Professional. But Daniel knows it's a lie. Or not a lie exactly. A truth that's hiding something bigger.
"What's your first name?" Daniel asks.
James pauses for just a moment too long.
"James," he says finally.
"Just James?"
"Just James."
Daniel steps closer. Close enough that he can see the tension in James's jaw. Close enough that he can see those gray eyes carefully controlling what they reveal.
"I feel like I know you," Daniel says quietly.
James stands up. When he does, he's close enough that Daniel can feel the heat from his body. Close enough to see that scar up close. Close enough to remember that his fingers have touched that exact spot before.
"You don't know me," James says. But his voice cracks slightly.
"Then why does it feel like I do?"
James's hand reaches up like he's going to touch Daniel's face. Daniel holds perfectly still, waiting. Hoping. His heart pounding because he's about to remember something that changes everything.
Then James's phone buzzes.
He pulls his hand back like he's been burned and looks at the message. His entire body goes rigid.
"What is it?" Daniel asks.
James looks at him with an expression that looks like the beginning of goodbye.
"Your father just called federal investigators," James says. "He's about to give them information about illegal government operations. Within hours everyone is going to know about the shadow organization. Within days they'll be looking for me."
"Who are you?" Daniel whispers.
James looks at him for a long moment. Like he's deciding whether to tell him the truth or disappear again.
"Someone who shouldn't be here," James finally says.
And Daniel understands that whatever this is, whatever James Morrison is hiding, it's about to burn both their lives to the ground.