Pros & Cons

by Sydney Logan

  “Wasn’t it Coop who encouraged you to take the assignment?”

  I say nothing. He takes my silence as confirmation.

  “I needed the best, and everyone knows you and Jenna are the best. I knew I’d never be able to convince you. Both of you have always been far too suspicious of my motives. But I considered the possibility that Coop could sway you. I offered an obscene amount of money for an effortless job.”

  “A job that got my sister killed,” Jason says with a growl.

  “Sadly, yes.” Stavros sighs. “Coop trusted me. And they were both in love and eager to move on. This last job would provide the financial security they felt they needed.”

  “So you used them to get to me.”

  “I don’t look at it quite that way. I like to think of it as my wedding gift to the two of them. I promised a handsome advanced payment if Coop could convince the two of you to help me. He saw no harm in the assignment, and he was impatient to marry his fiancée, so he agreed.”

  “So you got Coop to trust you. Big deal. That doesn’t explain the explosion.”

  “And as I’ve said, I know nothing about the explosion.”

  My head spins. There’s no way Coop would have kept something like this from me. Granted, neither Jenna nor I had been eager to work for Stavros, but we hadn’t really fought the idea, either. We’d both been too distracted by whatever the hell was happening between the two of us to really give the job much thought, and we’d let our love for Coop and Abby overshadow our rational thinking. Because of that, both of them are dead.

  “I find it interesting that Marcello and Maria came out of this unscathed,” Gabe says. “What a different conversation we’d be having if it had been their bodies found in the rubble.”

  “They are both sorry for your loss, as well,” Stavros replies. “You know, Ethan, now that you and Jenna are without partners, perhaps this is a good time for you to consider my proposition.”

  “What proposition?”

  “You know I’ve always been eager to offer you a home here in Athens. Why not move here? Expand your horizons. Work for me.”

  “I would flip burgers before working for you.”

  Gabe chuckles quietly.

  “What a shame. Perhaps Jenna would be more amenable to the idea.”

  I jump out of my chair and reach right across the desk, wrapping my hand around his throat.

  “If you come within a hundred miles of her I will blow your brains out.”

  The echoes of clicking revolvers can be heard throughout the room, but Stavros doesn’t seem concerned.

  “These are my two most trusted guards because of their combat experience. Surely we don’t wish for more bloodshed.”

  I loosen my hold around his neck. If anything happened to Gabe or Jason because of my temper, I’d never forgive myself.

  “You will stay away from her. Is that clear?”

  Stavros smiles.

  I have an Achilles heel, and he knows he just found it.

  “You love her.”

  “Stay away from her.”

  “Of course, of course,” he says, nodding. “But I would need something from you in return.”

  “What do you want?”

  His evil smile stretches across his face.

  “I want you, Ethan.”

  “Would you like more juice, Miss York? Perhaps pancakes instead of the omelet?”

  Caitlin is very good at her job. She’s unfailingly polite and—if the aroma of breakfast is any indication—an excellent cook. I wouldn’t know, of course, since I’m too pissed to eat.

  “No, thank you.”

  My watchdog—a towering and muscular specimen of a beast named Sebastian—is on his third plate of pancakes. Caitlin smiles at him as he devours his food, and from the look on his face, Sebastian’s attracted to more than just her culinary skills. They both seem like nice people, so I’m trying very hard not to take my bad mood out on them. That doesn’t keep me from asking him questions, though.

  “Did Ethan say when he’d be back?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Do you know where he went?”

  “No, Miss York.”

  Liar.

  “Did Jason and Gabe go with him?”

  Sebastian stops chewing and searches my face. I can see the internal battle in his dark eyes. He’s not sure if he’s allowed to answer that particular question. Unfortunately, Caitlin senses his need for an escape and reminds him to check with Miss Donovan about the changes to the cameras.

  “Actually, I’ll check on Miss Donovan. Thanks for breakfast.”

  Sebastian stares at his plate longingly before rising from his chair. I roll my eyes when he follows me up the stairs.

  “I don’t need a shadow, Sebastian.”

  “Just following orders, ma’am.”

  “Exactly what were your orders?”

  “To keep you safe.”

  “And you think I’m in danger by walking upstairs?”

  “I had additional orders.”

  “Which were?”

  “Not to let you out of my sight.”

  “Unbelievable,” I mutter as I head to Cara’s room. I find her sitting at a desk, surrounded by eight small television screens. Each screen is focused on a particular area of the villa.

  “Where’s your boyfriend?” I snap.

  “Probably with yours. I’m guessing you’re pretty pissed.”

  “Pretty pissed doesn’t quite cover it.”

  “I bet I can guess where they are,” Cara says distractedly. She toys with one of the camera controls until she’s apparently satisfied. “What’s with the bodyguard?”

  I look back to find Sebastian standing beside the door.

  “I think he’s my new warden. His girlfriend in the kitchen is sweet, though. She keeps bribing me with pancakes.”

  Sebastian turns red and tries to hide his grin.

  “Something’s obviously changed. They left you behind for a reason.”

  “I know. I knew it last night.”

  “Was that before or after he made you scream his name?”

  My face flushes. Of course the whole house heard us.

  “After,” I mutter. “I don’t remember screaming.”

  She laughs. I look back at Sebastian, who’s looking everywhere except at me.

  How mortifying.

  I clear my throat and nod at the screens. “So you seem pretty skilled at all this.”

  She shrugs. “This is what I do.”

  “Which is what, exactly?”

  “I’m a network surveillance engineer. Telecommunications, mostly.”

  “Impressive.”

  “It pays the bills.”

  We sit in silence and watch the cameras flicker from one viewpoint to another. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that Cara’s job is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

  “Surveillance is . . . boring.”

  She laughs. “It can be. But if it’s boring, then that means all is well. It means the equipment is working as it should and everything—and everyone—is safe. In this line of work, boring is good.”

  “Miss Donovan,” Sebastian says, “Mr. Summers asked me to remind you about the changes he mentioned this morning.”

  “Already taken care of.” Cara shoots a glance at me. “Like I said, something’s changed. We added six new cameras before dawn.”

  Cara’s phone vibrates on the desk. She glances at the screen.

  “They’re on their way back. Jason wants to know how pissed you are.”

  “Tell him extremely. Type it in all caps, too.”

  She smirks. “Done.”

  My shadow and I head downstairs. It’s a little unnerving having Sebastian watch my every move, and the more I think about it, the madder I get. By the time the guys walk into the living room, I’m pacing the floor and ready to rage. Gabe and Jason take one look at my face and scatter like rats on a sinking ship while Ethan stands like a statue at the door.

&nb
sp; “Don’t be pissed.”

  “Don’t be pissed?” I repeat angrily. “Words cannot express how pissed I am. How dare you leave me behind like that! I am not some helpless female who needs her big, strong boyfriend or some macho bodyguard to watch her every move. I have dealt with assholes like Stavros my entire life, and I’ve managed just fine. I have one father. I do not need another one, and I certainly don’t need—”

  “We need to pack, Jenna.”

  This stops my tirade.

  “Why?”

  “Because we need to get out of Greece.”

  My eyes narrow. “What did you do?”

  “I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “Is Stavros still breathing?”

  “For now.”

  “Then why are we leaving?”

  “Because I need to get you out of here.”

  “No way. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to make all the decisions here. We’re partners, Ethan!”

  He sighs and steps closer, wrapping his arms around me. “I don’t want to fight with you. Fighting with you is usually sexy as hell, but not this time. Not here.”

  I try to pull away, but he’s stronger, and I finally stop resisting when he presses his forehead to mine.

  “Don’t be mad at me, baby.”

  “I am so mad at you. We’re supposed to be a team.”

  “I know, and I promise I’ll explain everything if you will do me this one favor and please pack your bags and get on the plane.”

  “That’s two favors.”

  Suddenly, shouts can be heard from upstairs. I assume Cara’s been told we’re skipping town. I can’t blame her for being mad after installing all those new cameras.

  “You boys have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I know.”

  With an aggravated sigh, I head upstairs with my bodyguard hot on my heels.

  We’re thirty thousand feet in the air when I finally get my answers. None of them make me happy.

  “So you’re afraid of guns? That’s why I was left behind?”

  “I’m afraid of guns when they’re pointed at you, yes.”

  “Oh, but it’s okay if you get shot?”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “And I can’t?”

  Ethan sighs loudly. “Do you want to hear what he had to say or not?”

  “Am I allowed? Can my innocent ears handle it?”

  “There’s nothing innocent about you,” he says, chuckling. I’m sure he’s grinning, too. I don’t know, because I’m stubbornly staring out the window.

  “Seriously, Jenna, you need to hear this.”

  “Fine.”

  When Ethan tells me what Stavros revealed about Coop’s involvement with the heist, I become even more enraged.

  “Stavros is a liar. Coop never would have sold us out.”

  “It’s his word against a dead man’s. We both know how much Coop and Abby wanted out. Maybe they didn’t see the harm in accepting a little bribe to make sure we participated. On paper, it was a simple operation with a huge payout.”

  “I still don’t buy it.”

  “I don’t know if I do, either. But Stavros knew you and I didn’t trust him, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he used Coop and Abby to get to us. With them gone, he thinks we should come work for him.”

  I snort. “Over my dead body.”

  “That’s what I told him. He wanted to offer the same deal to you, and that’s why I had to get you out of Greece.”

  “Why? Were you actually afraid I’d say yes?”

  “No, I was afraid he wouldn’t give you a choice. I couldn’t take the chance he’d find you alone and unprotected.”

  I glance over at Sebastian who’s playing a game on his phone.

  “No chance of that,” I mutter.

  “And that’s how it’s going to stay.”

  “But I can lose him when we get home, right?” I ask hopefully, but Ethan’s already shaking his head.

  “Don’t be difficult about this, Jenna.”

  I’m still suspicious. “Why do I feel like there’s more to this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, Ethan, and I’ve done it all without a security detail.”

  “That was before.”

  “Before what?”

  “Before you became the most important thing in my life.”

  Ethan takes advantage of my speechlessness to cup my cheek and kiss me sweetly.

  “I’ve never cared about anyone this much. You’ll have to forgive me if I come on a little strong.”

  “A little strong? This level of security puts the Queen of England’s to shame.”

  Ethan smiles. “Please don’t give Sebastian a hard time. He’s very good at his job.”

  “I’m not sure I can make that promise. Especially if he follows me to the bathroom.”

  “I’ll make you a deal,” he says, lifting my hand toward his lips. I tremble when his mouth brushes across my knuckles. “If you promise to play nice, I promise I’ll be the only person who follows you into the bathroom.”

  Despite my annoyance, a thrill of excitement shoots through me. I glance around. Sebastian’s concentrating on his game and Jason and Cara are huddled around a laptop. The rest of our entourage seem to be napping.

  “Don’t flirt with me. I’m still not happy with you.”

  He grins and nods toward the back of the plane. I’m mad at him, but I head to the bathroom anyway. When we land, he and I are going to have a very long discussion about his overbearing security measures. But I’m willing to set my aggravation aside for now, because I love him, and a tiny part of me wonders if he might love me, too.

  It’s not that long of a walk to the tiny bathroom, but before I can even reach for the door, Ethan’s there, pressing against my back and breathing heavily against my ear as he slams the door behind us.

  “Will I always want you like this?” he whispers roughly, reaching around and tearing at the buttons of my blouse.

  I spin around in his arms and reach for the hem of his T-shirt, lifting it over his head.

  He doesn’t wait for my answer before crashing his mouth to mine.

  I’m able to breathe a little easier once we’re back in Tennessee. I don’t like having so many people in my house, but when it comes to Jenna’s safety, I refuse to take any chances.

  Jenna’s asleep upstairs, but I’m too wired to get any rest. I keep replaying my conversation with Stavros over and over in my mind, trying to figure out if I’d totally shown my hand where Jenna’s concerned.

  “I want you, Ethan.”

  “Well, you can’t have me.”

  “That’s a shame. As you can imagine, it’s very important I have the very best on my team.”

  “You have Marcello and Maria.”

  Stavros chuckles. “The twins are young and ambitious, but they aren’t skilled. Given time, they may become two excellent criminal minds, but they will never be the best—not while you and Jenna are still in the game. Not to mention, the fact that they are twins isn’t the ideal situation. It makes them very in tune with each other, to the point of distraction. Their first priority is, and will always be, each other. Their first priority should be the mission.”

  “Then I have something in common with Marcello and Maria. I also believe the first priority should always be my partner.”

  “And yet, in New York, you left him behind.”

  My entire body begins to shake.

  “There was nothing I could do.”

  Stavros nods. “That must have been difficult for you.”

  I try desperately to keep my poker face.

  “Coop knew the risks,” I reply coldly, trying to disguise the shame in my voice. I can’t let Stavros see how much his words affected me.

  “Wouldn’t it be fair to say Jenna knows the risks, as well? Perhaps we should give her the chance to consider my offer before you decide for he
r.”

  “No.”

  “No? I wasn’t aware you speak for her.”

  “Well, I do. Neither of us will ever work for you.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  “Go to hell.”

  The sound of his laughter still resonates in my head.

  I join the guys in the kitchen. Jason is checking something on the internet while Gabe eats some leftover pizza.

  “I screwed up.”

  Jason looks up from his laptop. “With Stavros? Yeah. The fact that you were so quick to defend her shows him how important she is to you.”

  Gabe nods in agreement. “If he gets the chance, he’ll use her to get to you.”

  “He won’t get the chance. We have twenty-four hour surveillance around the house—a house he doesn’t even know exists.”

  “So that’s your plan?” Gabe asks. “Just keep her prisoner for the rest of her life?”

  “Until I can kill him, yes.”

  The two men give each other pointed looks.

  “What?”

  Jason clears his throat. “Ethan, the security surrounding Stavros is far more sophisticated than we anticipated.”

  “We aren’t sure we can even get to him,” Gabe says. “Cara was able to hack into his system for exactly five seconds before she was kicked out. We can’t risk people’s lives by sending them into his house without some kind of surveillance.”

  “Then I’ll go by myself.”

  Gabe smirks. “I’m pretty sure Jenna would have something to say about that.”

  “So we don’t tell her.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t go along with that.”

  Jason shakes his head. “Neither can I.”

  “I’m not asking for permission here.”

  They both sigh.

  “Look, Ethan, I get it,” Jason says sympathetically. “I want the asshole dead, too. But sending anyone into that house unprotected isn’t something I can be part of. I’ve already picked out two coffins this year.”

  “And if I might remind you,” Gabe adds, “there’s a beautiful woman asleep upstairs who wouldn’t survive it if something happened to you. We’re sitting here, making decisions that directly affect her, and you’re choosing to keep her in the dark.”

  “I told her enough. She doesn’t need to know how monumentally I screwed up with Stavros. She’ll just worry.”