by Katie Reus
Giving Quinn a hard stare, Iris tapped a long, elegant finger against her chin for a moment. “I’m going to put a two-man team on Athena this week when she’s at the tradeshow. They won’t be in her way but they’re not going to blend in either. In your suite she’ll be more than secure, but with the tradeshow I think we need people specifically looking out for her during the day. I’ve never known you to overreact to anything and I don’t want to take any chances.”
Quinn breathed out a sigh of relief. He’d planned to ask and was glad he didn’t even need to. “Thanks, Iris.”
She shrugged in that nonchalant way of hers. “From what you’ve told us, in White’s mind you took from him so he’ll want to take from you. Not gonna happen on my watch.”
Quinn hadn’t come out and said that he and Athena were together, but Iris was perceptive. “Thanks. You mind sending the pictures to Travis and me? I’m going to go over everything with Athena tonight, let her know to be on guard. Even if none of these guys are White…” He glanced at the screen again, frowned. It was too damn hard to tell. “I still want her aware.”
“No problem. I’m flagging my top three candidates—none of whom are staying at the casino and all paid in cash, unfortunately—because of their ears.”
Quinn blinked once as understanding set in. He narrowed his gaze at Iris while Margot just shifted uncomfortably against the desk. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked.
Iris just grinned, the action a little feral. “Ears are the new fingerprints.”
Yeah, he knew what kind of technology was available.
Margot snorted and pushed up from the desk. “Maybe one day they will be.”
Iris sighed. “Okay, there are experts that disagree, but the Feds are using it to track people…and so are we if necessary. And that’s off the record. We’ll find your guy one way or another.”
So she was saying exactly what he thought. “I know what the Feds have. You guys have the same technology?”
Iris patted his arm, as if amused, then turned back to the screens. “Ours is better. And since we have very good photographs of White for the program to compare, it’s going to make tracking him, if he comes into our casino, much easier.” She pressed a few buttons on her remote control and all but three photographs disappeared.
She zoomed in on them, placing one on each screen, leaving the fourth screen dark. The top half of the men’s ears were covered with hair sticking out from their ball caps, making it impossible to get a full scan. “The other nine are pretty much a no-go if you use the ear technology alone, but I don’t want to narrow your results too much since the technology is still controversial in some circles. In my opinion, and because of our experiences here using it, it freaking works. But…” She shrugged. “You need to have all the facts.”
He knew about the technology too, how effective it was. “Send all the pictures to me. Were you able to track the three men offsite?” He figured it was almost impossible and definitely illegal, but wanted to ask anyway.
Iris shook her head. “No, but now that we’re aware there could be a problem, no one’s going to get past my guys. I’ll let you know who I pick for tomorrow and have them attached to Athena. Unless you and Travis want to be her shadows?”
His instinct was to say yes, but he paused. Part of the reason he and Travis were here was to help Athena figure out potential security issues for any future tradeshows, get her used to thinking about both sides of the coin with events. She might not want him and Travis to guard her. “Let me ask her first.” If Athena preferred Iris’s guys—and Quinn trusted her to have hired only the best—then he’d deal with it. Of course he still wouldn’t let Athena out of the tradeshow room without him.
That she’d just have to deal with. Because he could compromise but only within limits.
To his surprise, Iris’s lips curved up a fraction. “Smart man,” she murmured.
He figured he understood her meaning, but didn’t comment directly. “I’m going to meet up with Travis and Athena now, go over everything, but I’ve got my phone on me and we’ll be meeting again tomorrow morning at six to head to the tradeshow.”
“Just let me know if you want my guys to shadow her or replace you on the ground. Either way they’ll join you at six sharp. And, I’ll send you their resumes,” she added, clearly reading the expression on his face.
“Thanks.” Now that he’d gotten this out of the way, it was time to come clean with Athena and tell her what Grant had found in Miami and that Glenn White was potentially in Vegas. Maybe he should have told her sooner, but he hadn’t wanted to needlessly worry her.
Not when she already had so much on her plate. This was her first job with Red Stone and he knew she needed to be focused. But her safety came first and if White thought he could hurt Quinn through Athena, Quinn had no doubt the bastard would try.
When he reached his floor he immediately went to Travis’s door, knocked.
A few seconds later Travis opened the door in jeans, a T-shirt and his cell phone held loosely in his hand. “Hey, I was about to do a video call with Noel, everything cool?”
“I wanted to do a run down with both you and Athena at the same time so I don’t have to do it twice. Want to wait?”
Travis shook his head as he stepped out into the hall. “Nah. I felt bad lying to Athena about where you were. I hadn’t planned to say anything but she asked.” The door shut with a soft click behind him.
Frowning, Quinn slid his key card into his suite’s door. “What did you tell her?” He moved inside, Travis right behind him.
“That you were having drinks with Margot. Figured it was better than—”
His gut tightened. “Shit.” He bit back the more savage curse that sprang to mind. He’d been unsure how to act around Athena in front of Travis. He hadn’t wanted to embarrass her if she wasn’t ready to let people know they were together. He sure as hell wanted the whole fucking world to know but it was pretty much her first week on the job so he’d wanted to move with caution. She probably thought the worst of him now.
“What is it?” Travis asked, his voice tense as Quinn headed straight for Athena’s room.
“Nothing, I’ll tell you in a sec.” He knocked once sharply on her door. When he didn’t get an answer he glanced over his shoulder at Travis. “Move back.” Because he didn’t want anyone to see Athena naked or in any state of undress, not even his happily married friend.
Travis looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Dude, you can’t barge into her room. She’s probably in the shower or something.”
“We’re…together.”
Travis blinked in true surprise. Quinn figured under other circumstances Travis would have picked up on it, but he’d been asleep on the flight over and they’d been so damn busy today. “Oh…oh, hell, she’s gonna be pissed at you. Sorry man, I wouldn’t have said…” He trailed off at Quinn’s glare, stepped back as Quinn turned back to the door.
“Athena, it’s Quinn. We need to talk.” He knocked again and when there was still no response, he opened the door. Something akin to fear jumped in his throat as he immediately took in the room. Untouched, the bed was still made from the daily cleaning. The bathroom door was ajar but the lights were off. Even so, he did a complete sweep of the room. She wasn’t there and her purse and phone weren’t anywhere visible.
He pulled out his cell as he headed toward his room. When she didn’t answer his call, he texted her. No response. And she wasn’t in his room either, not that he’d thought that was a real possibility. Travis gave him a concerned look but Quinn ignored him as he called Iris.
Iris answered her phone on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“Athena isn’t in her room. Can you do a security check of the place?” He knew it would be easy for Iris to do a facial search and pinpoint her in less than a minute.
“On it. Where’d she go?”
“No idea.” He held the phone away from his mouth as he listened to Iris give so
meone orders, and spoke to Travis. “She mention anything about leaving, even casually?”
“No. I told her not to leave the hotel without one of us though.” He ran a hand over his Mohawk, the worry in his dark eyes clear as they headed out of the suite, made their way to the elevators.
“Got her,” Iris said, the relief in her voice clear. “She’s in the Cloud 9 bar area with… She’s at the bar.”
Instantaneous relief surged through him as they entered the plush elevator, but… “Who the hell is she with?”
“Ah, business acquaintance of Wyatt’s. Pseudo-friend I guess. I’ll text him now, tell him not to let Athena leave his sight. Your girl’s not going anywhere.”
“Who’s his friend?” Quinn demanded, something in Iris’s tone making him even tenser. She was holding back information.
She let out a sigh. “Name’s Rhys Martin Maxwell IV. Same monetary league as Wyatt and uh, he’s into BDSM. Owns a few clubs in London.” She snickered before ending the call.
“Fuck!” Quinn wanted to smash his phone against the elevator wall but shoved it into his pocket.
“What is it?” Travis was in battle mode now. “Is she here?”
“Yeah. She’s fine.” That was all Quinn could squeeze out. Luckily Travis didn’t push him, but wisely remained silent.
Quinn was aware of his surroundings at all times, but his focus was on getting to Athena. As he reached the entrance to Cloud 9 it hit him square in the chest that he was…irrationally jealous. Or maybe not exactly that, but he was what, worried that Athena was going to be swept off her feet by some fucking billionaire in the next minute? He couldn’t ever remember feeling this edgy and worried. It was unsettling.
After Travis spoke to the hostess—thankfully because Quinn didn’t trust himself not to snarl at the woman—they made their way to one of the bars. It was three people deep but he didn’t spot Athena anywhere.
“There she is. Oh, she’s with Raegan,” Travis said. “She must have taken a cab from the airport. Can’t believe she didn’t call,” he muttered.
Quinn followed the direction his friend was looking and spotted Raegan, some dick and Athena. Okay, the guy probably wasn’t a dick, but Quinn was fucking revved right now. Yeah, he knew he was being beyond irrational but his brain didn’t want to listen to logic at the moment. For all his woman knew, he’d been out having drinks with someone else, right after he’d told Athena he couldn’t make dinner. And Quinn hadn’t given her a reason for his absence, he’d just said he couldn’t make it. He knew what she was thinking right now—that he was an untrustworthy ass.
“Will you make sure Raegan gets to her room safely? Make sure she knows to meet at six tomorrow?” Quinn murmured to Travis as they made their way through a cluster of high-top tables to the roped off section of modular chairs and soft lighting. He asked because he didn’t plan to stay long with Athena and he wanted to make sure Raegan was taken care of. He was pretty sure the woman was even more innocent than Athena.
“Of course. You need to wipe that rabid look off your face though.”
Fuck, Travis was right. He needed to get his shit under control. He’d never been like this. Never. The Corps had trained him well. But this wasn’t some mission or another job.
This was Athena, and she mattered to him more than any other woman ever had.
Raegan spotted them first and smiled brightly as she stood. “Hey, guys!” Her eyes were bright, excited. He knew she hadn’t been much of anywhere in the world, much less Vegas.
Quinn smiled briefly at Raegan because hell, he just couldn’t be rude to the woman, ever. Ignoring the man in the no doubt custom-made suit, he pinned his gaze on Athena.
Those Mediterranean blue eyes he could drown in watched him with a complete neutrality that sliced him to the bone. There wasn’t an ounce of the sensual woman who’d come against his mouth and fingers multiple times in the early morning hours. Right now that almost seemed like a lifetime ago. He should have made things clearer this morning, should have spelled out exactly how he felt about her. What he wanted and hoped she wanted too.
“I need to talk to you about a security issue now. It’s important.” He kept his tone professional.
Her expression immediately morphed into concern. She stood, glancing at Raegan and Travis, then back to Quinn. “Is it the tradeshow? Should we all—”
He shook his head. “It’s not the show, but we need privacy. Travis will make sure Raegan gets to her room.”
“Oh, ah, okay.” Athena smiled warmly at the man Quinn knew was named Rhys, then made apologies to him and Raegan before telling Raegan she’d see her in the morning but to call if she needed anything.
Quinn barely resisted the urge to bare his teeth at Rhys before possessively placing his hand on the small of Athena’s back and steering her out of the restaurant. It would have been impossible to miss the way she stiffened against his touch. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it pissed him off.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t have included Raegan and Travis in this?” Athena asked as they reached a set of elevators. Her voice was tight, her expression pinched.
Quinn just shook his head, not trusting his voice. He wanted to tell her right then that he hadn’t been out with another woman but they were surrounded by a dozen people and no one else was hearing this conversation. Because as soon as he said what he needed to, he was staking his claim on Athena.
Chapter 10
Athena could feel Quinn buzzing with energy. She was beyond annoyed with him, but if there was a security issue she wanted to know about it. Now she felt just a twinge of guilt at ignoring his call and text.
She would have worried about Raegan, but Travis would be with her. Still, she couldn’t imagine what kind of security situation warranted Quinn dragging her upstairs. Especially when he’d been off having drinks with another woman.
“So what’s the deal?” she asked as they stepped onto their floor. They had to wait until everyone else got off on their floors before the elevator took them to this exclusive one. She had to admit it was nice to be staying in an executive area. It was so quiet compared to the rest of the hotel and casino.
Quinn placed his hand on the small of her back again, as if he had every right to touch her. As if he hadn’t been out with someone else. And yeah, she knew that it might have been work related, but then why not just tell her? His behavior had been too weird and now she figured she knew exactly why. She was just glad she hadn’t slept with him.
She stiffened at the touch and the man just slid his hand farther around her waist, pulling her close. When she looked up at him, he had an odd look in his eyes. Challenging almost. “Well?” she asked, since he still hadn’t answered her.
“Why did you meet Raegan downstairs?”
She blinked, surprised by his question. “Why wouldn’t I meet her? She got here early and is so excited to be in Vegas. She’s like a freaking kid on Christmas.” Despite Athena’s annoyance with Quinn, she couldn’t help but smile thinking about Raegan.
Even Quinn’s expression softened. “Yeah, she is. Who was the man you were talking to?”
“Who was the woman you were off having drinks with?” Athena smoothly slid out of his hold as they reached the suite door. She turned her back to him, opened the door. “And why don’t you tell me what this emergency is so I can get back downstairs?” She heard him let out what sounded like a growl. An actual growl. It shouldn’t have heated her up from the inside out, but it did.
“I wasn’t having drinks with Margot.”
Athena nearly snorted. “So Travis is a liar?” Her voice dripped with just a bit of saccharine sweet sarcasm. As the door shut behind them, she turned to find Quinn with a dark expression on his face. She resisted the urge to take a step back.
Growling in that annoyingly sexy way, he raked a hand over his dark, cropped hair. “No, yes, I mean, no, he’s not a liar but he didn’t tell you the truth.”
Not stepping any farther into their suite, she f
aced him, hands on her hips. “And why is that?”
“He didn’t know you and I were—are—together.”
Were they together? Her temper flared, a bright blaze inside her. “Because if he had, he wouldn’t have told me you were having drinks with another woman?”
“Yes…damn it, Athena. I didn’t tell Travis we were together, because I wasn’t sure what you wanted. I should have brought it up to you last night or this morning, but hell, I didn’t want to screw things up between us. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a relationship and I know this job is important to you. It’s not like I’m your boss or there’s a conflict, but I wasn’t sure what you wanted people to know.”
Some of the steam that had been building inside her faded, but… “Okay. I appreciate that. And I don’t want to keep us—if there is an us—a secret.”
At that, his eyes seemed to darken even more. “If?”
There was something in that one word that sent a thrill down her spine and had her nipples pebbling against her bra cups. She didn’t respond because she couldn’t find her voice.
He advanced on her with two strides until she found herself pressed up against the wall of the entryway. The light was dim, casting shadows over the hard, handsome lines of his face. He didn’t touch her though, but laid his hands on either side of his head as he looked down at her. His breathing was slightly erratic and there was no mistaking the gleam of lust in his gaze. It was tempered with something else she couldn’t quite define though.
Her heart rate kicked up about a thousand notches so that all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears. “Where were you earlier?” Athena hated that her question came out as a whisper.