Ultimate Risk (R.I.S.C. Book 6)

by Anna Blakely

  Mac gasped. Her head tipped back even further, her hips thrusting against his as her body searched for the relief she knew he could give.

  Coop continued his hand’s upward journey, stopping when he felt the smooth silk of her panties. Using his middle finger, he lifted the lacy edge, moaning when he touched her bare skin there.

  Sliding the digit beneath the fabric, he moved toward the spot he knew was already hot and wet. It was all for him, and he couldn’t wait to—

  There was a knock at the door, followed by Trevor’s annoyed voice. “Have the bullets stopped flying, or do I need to throw on a vest?”

  Shit.

  Coop froze, his eyes shooting to Mac’s. He’d completely forgotten they were in the other man’s room.

  “We should probably answer him,” she whispered softly, breaking through his thoughts.

  With a muttered curse, Coop stood, pulling her to her feet as he went. He gave her a few seconds to smooth the front of her dress and run her fingers through her hair before responding.

  “Don’t worry,” he hollered to the closed door. “You’re safe.”

  And a total cock-blocker.

  “About damn time.” Trevor entered the room. “You two kiss and make up yet?”

  Their teammate stopped short as he took in their appearance. Coop knew exactly what the other man was seeing.

  Mac’s skin was flushed with arousal, her lips swollen and red from his kisses. Her hair was still in a bit of disarray, and he was sporting more wood than a goddamn lumberyard. Not that he gave a shit.

  Trevor’s gaze slid from them to the rumpled bed and back again. “Never mind. Forget I asked.” He came further into the room. “Pizza will be here in five. I know you both said you weren’t hungry, but I figured that would change after you hashed everything out, so I ordered enough for all of us.

  Coop was hungry, all right. For something a lot more satisfying than pizza.

  “Thanks, Trevor.” Mac offered their friend a smile. “That was thoughtful.”

  Clearing his throat, Coop nodded. “Yeah, thanks, man.”

  “I take it we’re all good, now?”

  “We’re good,” Coop and Mac answered Trevor in unison.

  The former Delta Force operator studied them a second longer. “You know, I think I liked it better when you two were fighting.”

  Coop grinned as someone knocked on the door. Trevor looked through the peephole and back to them.

  “That’s a first.” He turned and looked at them. “Pizza’s early.”

  For the next hour, the three sat around Trevor’s room, eating and talking through what their next step would be. Mac reminded them of her lunch date with the lawyer to sign papers and get the keys to her uncle’s estate.

  Her plan was to get the keys and go straight to the house. Her thought was whoever was behind it would most likely be watching her every move.

  If the willed estate was the trigger for the whole blackmail scheme, seeing her there may push them into contacting her to make arrangements for the money drop.

  Coop wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but at least she didn’t fight him when he told her he’d be accompanying her to lunch.

  If someone thought he and Mac were close enough they could use him as leverage, his traveling with her shouldn’t be all that surprising to the son of a bitch watching her.

  Rather than sharing Mac’s room with her—which Coop really, really wanted to do—she’d insisted he take Trevor’s extra bed for the night.

  When he tried arguing it was for her safety, she’d quickly called him on his bullshit, pointing out the fact that he wouldn’t demand to stay with the other guys on the team for protection.

  He really hated it when she made a good point. He also knew there was more to her reluctance than good old-fashioned stubbornness.

  Even though Trevor hadn’t said anything about their obvious make-out session, the other man had to suspect they’d crossed that forbidden line between partners.

  Coop respected Mac’s wanting to keep their relationship private, so he backed off. For now.

  The guys on their team weren’t stupid, though. For the past year, Coop had put up with teasing rumors and whispered comments. They all already assumed something was going on between him and Mac, and he was tired as hell of pretending he didn’t have feelings for her.

  That stops now.

  As far as Coop was concerned, once all this shit was behind them and they were back home, he was going to make it clear. To his teammates and to Mac.

  She was his, both on and off the field. Someone messes with her, it’ll be the last thing they do.

  “Are you crazy? Your guy almost killed her!”

  “Relax. My guy did exactly as instructed.”

  “Don’t tell me to fucking relax. If she dies before she hands over that money, I’m screwed.”

  “You just have to do like you’ve always done and trust me.”

  “Trust you?” He snorted. “You forget I’ve known you a long damn time, so trusting someone like you is a huge fucking pill to swallow.”

  “You have known me a long time, so you should know I’m a man of my word.” He stepped closer. “And let’s not forget, this whole thing was my idea. You came to me for help after getting yourself into this mess. I’m doing all this shit as a favor to you, so maybe you should try to act a little more grateful.”

  “Oh, get off your fucking high horse. You’re doing this because this is going to benefit you damn near as much as it will me. So quit trying to act like you’re doing this for anyone but yourself.”

  The man wasn’t wrong. Still…

  “Last chance. It’s not too late to call this off and forget the whole thing.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m not calling off shit.”

  His words were certain, but his eyes told a different story. “You’re absolutely sure you want to go through with this?”

  Part of him hoped the other man would say no. He’d always liked Abigail, but her fate was sealed the moment she chose to betray her family.

  In a rare show of emotion, the other man’s eyes glittered with remorse. “I have no other choice.”

  Then unfortunately for Abigail, neither did he.

  6

  The next morning, after a quick shower, Mac ordered some food and much-needed coffee before heading across the hall.

  She, Coop, and Trevor sat down and went through a list of anyone and everyone she could remember from her uncle’s organization who could possibly know about her and the money.

  Given that her time with him had been relatively short, plus over eleven years had passed, the list wasn’t very long. In fact, it was easily narrowed down to two. Her uncle and Luca.

  Since her uncle was dead…

  The second she’d gotten the blackmail note, she’d known in her gut it was Luca. After talking with him yesterday, however, something felt off. She needed to figure out what.

  After breakfast, Trevor used his laptop to set up a conference call with Jake to fill him in on everything up to that point. As predicted, their boss wasn’t thrilled that Coop had taken off after her, but only because Coop hadn’t given Jake a heads-up first.

  Other than that, their boss had been surprisingly understanding, stating Coop’s actions were the sign of a good partner. Something in Jake’s eyes told Mac the man wanted to say more regarding Coop’s reasonings for coming here, but thankfully he didn’t.

  Barely used to the thought of she and Coop becoming more than friends, she definitely wasn’t ready for whatever was going on between them to be Facebook official.

  And after yesterday’s mini-tryst in Trevor’s room, she was one hundred percent certain the guy knew what was up. Thankfully he was too much of a gentleman to mention it.

  Fast forward a few hours and she found herself finishing a delicious meal at a quaint café not far from Henry’s office. Coop had insisted he tag along, and Trevor was at a separate table acting as if he were there alone.

&nb
sp; “Okay, one more signature and we’re done.” Henry flipped to the packet’s final page.

  Mac signed her name—her given name—on the line at the bottom of the page.

  “Excellent. Here you go.” Henry handed her the keys to her uncle’s house. “Congratulations, Abigail. It’s all yours.”

  She stared at the keys. Keys that would take her back to the one place she’d sworn never to return to.

  Just thinking about returning to that house caused a cold sweat to form on her skin.

  “You okay, sweetheart?” Coop’s warm hand rubbed across her back.

  To keep things simple, they’d decided to introduce Coop as her boyfriend. He played the part convincingly well.

  “Yeah.” Mac offered him a forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

  Though the boyfriend-girlfriend part was for show, she knew the concern shining in his beautiful, caring eyes was very real.

  “The code to the gate and the alarm system is zero, seven, zero, two.”

  Her eyes shot to Henry’s. “My birthday?”

  The other man smiled and nodded. “You should also know, your uncle paid the mortgage in full years ago,” Henry informed her. “The only expenses you’ll have will be property taxes, utilities, and basic up-keep. When do you plan to move in?”

  “Oh, I’m not moving in. I’m selling. In fact, if you have a realtor you can recommend, I’d love to get their number. I want to put it on the market before I return home tomorrow morning.”

  Jake, Trevor, and Coop had all agreed making her visit here a short one was the wisest decision. Though she knew part of it was because they felt protective of her—which was both sweet and annoying as hell—Mac also couldn’t ignore the logic in their reasoning.

  She’d been in town over twenty-four hours and hadn’t received a single message or phone call of any kind. Other than the shots—which she was convinced were nothing more than a warning—the only remotely eventful interaction she’d had was with Luca.

  Problem was, he was the one man she’d suspected to be behind the threats, yet he hadn’t mentioned the money at all. At this point, Mac was beyond frustrated.

  If whoever had sent her those damn pictures wanted her so badly, why hadn’t they contacted her yet? The waiting and uncertainty of it all was driving her freaking crazy which, according to Coop, was exactly what the bastard wanted to happen.

  Mac hated to admit it, but he and the others were right. The longer she stayed in this Godforsaken town, the more time the asshole had to continue torturing her with their twisted game.

  Truth was, she wanted to be back home. There she could almost pretend like everything was back to normal. If she was at home, maybe she and Coop could explore what was happening between them.

  You know what’s happening.

  “Oh.” Henry’s disappointed voice snapped her attention back to him. The man’s kind face fell a little, appearing genuinely disappointed. “I thought maybe you’d stay. The property is quite valuable, you know. You really should give it a few days and take some time to think about it. I mean, the house is yours, so you’d have free lodging for as long as you’re here.”

  Mac was shaking her head before the sweet man had even finished talking. “There’s nothing to think about.”

  “Abigail—”

  “It’s Mac,” she cut him off curtly. Letting out a slow breath, she used a more polite tone. “I go by Mac, now.”

  “My apologies.” He swallowed. “Listen…uh…Mac. The loss of your parents all those years ago must have been devastating. Then to be uprooted and sent to live in that huge house with an uncle who was constantly working.” Henry sighed. “I can imagine you must’ve been quite lonely there at times.”

  Unable to keep up the pretense any longer, Mac decided to lay it all out for him.

  “Henry, the months I spent living in that house were the worst of my entire life.”

  Clearly surprised, the man blinked. “I didn’t realize you were so unhappy with Tony.”

  She barely contained an eye-roll. “I may have been a teenager, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew all about my uncle’s business dealings. What he really did for a living.”

  “You mustn’t listen to rumors—”

  “I witnessed him order the execution of a man, Henry. His name was Mark Shaeffer. He was a doctor who borrowed money from the wrong person. Tony was that person. Shaeffer wasn’t just a doctor desperate to get out of a financial bind. He was someone’s son. A husband. A father. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”

  “Uh, no.” Henry’s gaze faltered.

  “Was,” Mac corrected. “Who he was. Mark Shaeffer is dead, Henry. He’s been dead eleven years. I know, because I was staring into the man’s eyes when Luca blew his brains out.”

  Several seconds went by as Henry struggled with how to respond. “I-I know nothing about that.”

  Damn. He’s lying.

  “It’s okay, Henry. As Tony’s lawyer, I understand attorney-client privilege is very important to you. So is loyalty. Even now, with Tony dead, you won’t confirm or deny such an accusation, and that’s okay. As my uncle’s trusted friend, I would never expect you to. But honestly, the only good memories I have from my time in that house are the ones when I got to see you. So I hope you can understand why I need to sell it and move on from this place. For good.”

  “I’m truly sorry you were so unhappy here. Of course, your wanting to sell is perfectly understandable. If you’ll give me your phone number, I have an excellent realtor who will do right by you. I’ll text you her information.”

  “Thank you.” Mac took Henry’s phone and entered her number in his contacts.

  “Well.” The man looked at his watch, suddenly in a rush. “I hate to eat and run, but I have an appointment I can’t miss.”

  “Of course.”

  All three stood. Coop pulled out his wallet to cover the check, but Henry held up a hand to stop him.

  “Put that away. This was my treat.”

  Coop glanced over at Mac before sliding the wallet back into his jeans pocket. “Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  With a handshake between the two men and a final hug for Mac, she and Coop watched as Henry went on his way. As soon as he was gone, Trevor tossed a few bills on his table and made his way to where they were.

  “Your friend’s a liar.”

  Before she could respond, Trevor turned to Coop and asked, “What’s he lying about?”

  Coop glanced at Mac, unsure if he should say more. She nodded.

  “It’s okay. He knows the whole story.”

  A sliver of pain flittered across her partner’s face, but he stayed on course. “Did you see his reaction when you described Shaeffer’s murder? He knew exactly what you were talking about.”

  She sighed. “Yeah. I saw it.” Mac would never understand how someone as nice as Henry Doyle could be mixed up with the mob.

  “I don’t get it.” Coop looked down at her.

  “What?”

  “Doyle makes a living keeping guys like your uncle on the streets. How can you sit there and be all buddy-buddy with him like that?”

  “I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but what I said about him was the truth. My uncle always seemed to, I don’t know, look past me when I was around. But Henry saw me. He always took the time to ask how I was, and not in the dismissive way most people do when they ask that question. He’d bring me a surprise, nothing big or fancy. A candy bar or something. But Henry acted like he actually cared. No one else around me during that time ever did.”

  “Mac.” Coop raised a hand as though to pull her to him but she stepped back, out of his reach.

  “I didn’t tell you that so you could feel sorry for me.”

  His dark brows turned inward. “I don’t feel sorry for you. At least not the way you’re taking it.”

  Mac grabbed her purse from the back of her chair and started in the direction where she and Coop parked.

  “This is anot
her reason why I never wanted you or anyone else on the team to know about me. Not any of it. The last thing I want is for you to look at me with freaking pity.”

  Not him. Never him.

  “Whoa, why are you getting so upset?” Coop and Trevor both caught up with her in two long strides. “I mean, yeah, I feel bad for what you went through when you were a kid, so what? That shit was rough, Mac. No one should have to go through what you did. Especially at sixteen.”

  “Well, I did. And I survived quite well, thank you very much.”

  “Stop.” Coop spun so his body was in front of hers. “Just…stop. I don’t pity you, okay? And I’m sure as hell not attacking you, so will you please take a fucking breath?”

  “He’s right, Mac,” Trevor threw in his two cents. “You should listen to him.”

  She looked up at him and realized he was telling the truth. There was no pity there. Only concern and another emotion she refused to acknowledge.

  It couldn’t be love. She didn’t deserve it. Not from Coop. Not from anyone. Even so, she needed to apologize for being such a bitch.

  “You’re right.” She puffed out a breath. “This whole situation, being back here…it’s messing with my head.” Though she was talking to both men, she couldn’t seem to look away from Coop. “You’re trying to help, and I appreciate it. I shouldn’t be taking my frustrations out on you guys. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right, Mac.” Trevor spoke up from beside her. “We all have our own personal demons. Some of us have been lucky enough to have already taken them down, that’s all. But try to remember, none of us did it on our own.”

  Mac shifted her gaze to the other man. She knew exactly what he was referring to. Not so long ago, Trevor had leaned on the team when he had to fight off one hell of a demon from his past. One that had used the woman Trevor loved as a tool for revenge.

  Thankfully, Trev got to Lexi in time, and the two were now happily married and living their best lives. Something that never would have happened without the help from the team.

  So let them help you for a change.

  Admittedly, Mac had never been very good at asking for or accepting help from anyone. Maybe it was time she started working on that.