Black List: HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries: A Black’s Bandits Novel

by Lynn Raye Harris

  Relief rolled through him like a shot of alcohol—warm and soothing, with a painful bite on the finish. “That’s fine. It’ll give me time to sell the idea to Maddy. She’ll trust Colt.”

  Ian nodded. “I know you like her. But she’ll be safer with you actively hunting for Calypso. You know it as well as I do.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “And after?”

  “I won’t make contact.” Bitterness tasted like acid on his tongue. “She’s better off if I don’t.”

  Ian looked fierce and sad at the same time. Almost as if he knew the struggle Jace was having with himself. He put a hand on Jace’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry, man. You’ll get over it in time.”

  Jace stepped back, breaking the contact. “I’m sure I will.”

  He left Ian’s office and headed back to the conference room. If his time with Maddy was drawing to a close, he wasn’t wasting a moment of it.

  Jace was silent on the trip back to her house. Maddy shot him glances, but he didn’t look at her. Didn’t speak. She finally rolled her eyes and took the leap.

  “Cat got your tongue?”

  He glanced over at her. Did his jaw harden? His fingers tighten on the wheel? “Just thinking. You did good, Maddy. Gave us something we can really use. You have no idea how important it is.”

  Maddy glowed. “Oh, I don’t know. Considering all the trouble you went to when you tackled me and dragged me back to the States, I’d say it’s pretty important. You had a private plane reserved for her, and a way to get her into the country without a passport. Impressive.”

  “You need to be careful how much of that you talk about.”

  She felt chastened. But she knew he was only looking out for her. “I know. I won’t tell anyone. Who would believe me anyway?”

  “That’s a good way to think about it.”

  The silence descended again. Maddy frowned, wondering what was wrong with him. He’d been her ally back there. Always at her side, encouraging her. She’d thought hard about the maid, and between her and the sketch artist, she thought they’d come up with something that looked like the woman she’d seen. The tattoo wasn’t right, but it was close enough considering she hadn’t seen much.

  Jace had asked her, since she’d only glimpsed the tattoo, how she knew it was close. She’d had to think about that. But the answer was that she knew. She just knew. There were elements about it that reminded her of artwork she’d seen, but she couldn’t remember where she’d seen it.

  He’d accepted that. And now here they were, returning to her house, the silence between them stretching into discomfort. She’d felt at ease with him since their first lunch together. And now she didn’t. It was odd.

  They reached her house and went inside. Colt was sitting on the couch watching television with Kitty curled up beside him. He looked up as they walked into the living room. Maddy’s heart squeezed. She was happy her cat was safe and well, and confused about what came next now that they were here. Would Jace really be staying? Or would he go back to the house across the street and leave her here alone? That’s the conversation they’d been having before he’d taken her to the building with the secret ops center, but had anything changed between then and now?

  Colt and Jace disappeared into the dining room to confer. A few moments later, Colt headed for the front door. “Bye, Maddy. Kitty was a good girl, in case you were wondering.”

  “She usually is.”

  He grinned. “She’s a purr machine.”

  “Do you have a cat?”

  His smile faltered for a second. “Naw, no time. Travel too much.”

  “I understand.” But her heart ached at the emptiness of traveling so much you couldn’t have a pet. She traveled, but at least she had Angie to take care of Kitty when she was gone.

  As soon as he left, Jace locked the door behind him and tapped something into the new keypad beside the door. A sharp beep sounded, and another one emanated from his phone. “Need your phone, Maddy. Have to put the security apps on and show you how to use them.”

  She handed her phone to him after unlocking it. He downloaded an app and logged into it. A few minutes later, he handed it back. “You’ll need to choose a code.”

  She tapped in the last four of her dad’s social security number. Jace took the phone again and did a few more things. By the time he showed her how to activate the alarm, shut it off, view the cameras, and look at neighborhood reports of suspicious people, an hour had gone by and her stomach growled.

  He met her gaze. “Hungry?”

  “What gave that away, Einstein?”

  His grin made her want to kiss him. So sexy. It was the first time he’d seemed at ease since they’d climbed into the car and returned to her house. She’d started to think something was wrong, but maybe he was just focused on the task at hand.

  “Oh, I don’t know. The monster in your belly maybe?”

  “This monster needs feeding. It’s been a long time since lunch,” she said.

  “Got anything in the fridge?”

  “Do I look like a chef?”

  “How would I know?” He arched an eyebrow. “You seriously don’t have anything?”

  “Sandwich meat. Cheese. I’m not a cook, Jace. Not even a little bit. Mimi tried, but my aptitude is zero.”

  He shook his head. “So how about pizza? I’ll order one.”

  “Sure. Sounds good.” She loved pizza.

  “What do you want?”

  “Cheese is my favorite. Though if you require meat, I like ham.”

  “Nope, cheese is excellent.” He dialed a number. “Hey, Ty. Need a large cheese pizza over here. And a bottle of cabernet. The good stuff, not that cheap shit they sell as house wine. … Yeah, thanks, appreciate it.”

  Maddy gaped at him when he pocketed the phone. “You seriously called your friends across the street and asked them to get pizza?”

  He shrugged. “Of course. Much faster than ordering from a restaurant.”

  “What do you mean, faster?”

  “I mean that restaurants prioritize orders based on their own criteria. A man standing there waiting for his pizza is going to get it faster—especially a man as intimidating at Ty.”

  Maddy shook her head, laughing. “That’s not even logical. Pizza delivery places have metrics to meet.”

  He looked horrified. “Baby, delivery pizza isn’t what we’re getting. Ty will head for Gino’s and get the best pizza in town. You’ll see.”

  She hadn’t heard of this Gino’s. Didn’t mean it wasn’t great though. The metro area was getting bigger all the time, and she didn’t spend a lot of time exploring. Between work and Mimi, she didn’t have much time.

  Forty-five minutes later, they were watching House Hunters International when her phone dinged at the same time Jace’s did. She picked it up to a notification that someone was approaching the front door. She could even see who it was. Her eyes met Jace’s. He grinned as he disabled the alarm system.

  “How much better is that?”

  “It’s better,” she said.

  He got up to unlock the door and open it. Ty came in with a pizza, a bottle of wine, and a grocery bag. “Had to stop for snacks anyway, so here’s some other crap I know you like.”

  Jace peered in the bag. “Mm, potato chips and Tim Tams.”

  Maddy watched the two of them standing together and a pang of envy filled her. They might be coworkers, but there was something about the ops center where she’d been earlier—and the people who worked there—that said they were a family. Not a nuclear family, but a family forged through bonds of work and duty. She liked some of her coworkers, loved her job, but that sense of family was missing. Looking at these two men, she felt there was a bond between them that she didn’t understand.

  A few minutes later, Ty was gone and Jace flipped open the pizza box. “Mm, damn that smells good. You want to eat from the box while finishing that episode about Spain or do you prefer to get fancier with plates and shit?�
��

  She thought about it. She was usually a plate kind of girl but something about the way he assumed she’d be fussy made her say, “Box.”

  He took out the wine. “Need an opener and glasses, baby.”

  Maddy went to the cabinet to retrieve glasses, taking Mimi’s corkscrew from the drawer, and setting them on the counter where Jace had set the wine.

  He opened the bottle, poured two glasses, and carried them back to the living room. “Can you get the pizza?”

  “Sure.” She picked up the box, grabbed a couple of paper plates—that was her compromise, apparently—and napkins, and returned to the living room to join him. Kitty was on the couch, sniffing the air like she was about to get the best treat of her life. “Get down, fluffy butt,” Maddy said, pushing the cat gently to the floor.

  Jace made room on the coffee table and took the box from her. Then he sat on the couch and looked up at her expectantly. Maddy swallowed. She could like this life. Eating pizza with Jace in front of the television. Drinking wine.

  Making love.

  Stop.

  “What?” he asked. “Did you forget something?”

  “No. It’s just… About the only person who ever comes over to eat pizza and drink wine with me is Angie. And I can’t remember the last time we did that because she’s busy and I’m busy, and, well… I guess I don’t really know why I haven’t made it a priority.”

  “Life is pretty chaotic as it is. It’s a good idea to spend time with friends whenever you can. You never know when things will change.”

  Her heart hitched. “Speaking from experience?”

  “Yes.” He motioned at the seat beside him. “You sitting down or what?”

  She plopped down—but not too close—and he flipped open the box. She handed him a paper plate and he took a gooey slice of pizza and handed it back. It was intimate and she found herself blushing as she turned away and took a bite. “Mm, delicious.”

  “Yep.” Jace took a bite of his own slice. Her heart tripped as he managed to brush his leg against hers. He seemed not to notice as he turned and shot her a look. “You want to watch something else while we eat or stick with the house hunting?”

  “I’d like to see what they pick. After that, I’m open.”

  He hit the button to unpause the show and kicked back with his pizza. Maddy couldn’t help but be aware of him beside her. Everything about being this close to Jace was intense and her heart was hammering a quick beat that made her dizzy.

  After the second slice, she set her plate down. “Jace, what is this?”

  He shot her a look. “What do you mean?”

  “Eating pizza. Drinking wine. Watching television together. What’s it about?”

  He set his plate down too. “What do you want it to be about?”

  That hadn’t been the answer she’d expected. “I want it to be about you and me and getting to know each other. But it’s not. It’s about you and those guys across the street, about Ian, about Calypso. About so many things that have nothing to do with dating a person. I want it to be real, but it’s not real. And I can’t quite forget that.”

  He reached for her hand, squeezed it gently. His gaze held hers. “It’s real for me. Every moment I spend with you is real. Yes, I’m a mean-ass junkyard dog who’ll tear someone’s throat out if they come for you, but I want to be here. Ian has a hundred guys who could do this job. I’m the one who wanted it.” His gaze dropped to their hands as her heart throbbed at his words. “I’m no good for you, Maddy. So I’m not pushing for anything more than this. But right now, right here, I want to eat pizza with you and watch people with micro-budgets ask for sea views and palatial entertaining spaces.”

  She laughed at his characterization of the show, but her heart kind of broke at hearing him say he was no good for her. “I make up my own mind about what I want. Nobody gets to decide for me.”

  He nodded. “I suspected as much.”

  A motion alert blared from their phones in unison. “That thing’s going to be the death of me,” Maddy grumbled as she reached for her phone. But Jace was faster, peering at the screen to see what the commotion was about.

  He started to rise, his hand sliding along his waistband in a maneuver she recognized as reaching for his weapon. “There’s a woman coming toward the house.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The woman was wearing heels with black trousers and a jacket. She didn’t appear to be trying to hide as she approached the door. Jace gripped his gun in one hand while he turned the phone to Maddy with the other.

  “Recognize this woman?”

  Maddy shot past him toward the entry. “Oh my God, yes! That’s Angie—don’t you dare shoot her.”

  The doorbell rang. Jace disarmed the alarm because he could tell Maddy wasn’t even thinking about it as she barreled over and yanked the door open. Angie stood on the porch, staring at the doorbell with the camera attached.

  “Whoa, Mads, you’ve gone high-tech.”

  “Angie, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

  He heard Maddy suck in a breath but he couldn’t tell why. “A grabby client. I just wanted to talk.”

  “Of course, honey. Come in, let me get you something to drink.” She stepped back to let Angie in and Angie crashed to a halt in mid-step as her gaze landed on him.

  “Oh.”

  “Ang, this is Jace.”

  Jace held out his hand to the woman. She was pretty, with red hair and creamy skin, but her eyes were bloodshot. As if she’d been crying. Still, she floated into the room with a smile on her face and put her hand in his. “Hey. Wow.”

  She turned to Maddy, still holding his hand. He didn’t know what she did but Maddy bit her lip and tried not to laugh. “Sorry,” Angie said, turning back to him. “It’s just that I’m not used to gentlemen callers over here.”

  “Gentleman callers, Ang? Really?” Maddy laughed this time.

  “Nice to meet you, Angie.”

  “It’s Angelica really. Angelica Turner. But my friends call me Angie. Pleased to meet you.” She let go of his hand and turned to Maddy again. “I should go. You’re busy.”

  Maddy put a hand on Angie’s elbow and stopped her from escaping. “No way, girlie. Sit down. Have some pizza and I’ll pour you some wine. Tell me what happened.”

  Jace hooked a thumb toward the kitchen. “You know what, I’ll just head in there and give you two some privacy.”

  “Oh, no, please,” Angie said, holding out her hand to stop him. “I’m interrupting and I don’t want to do that.”

  “You aren’t interrupting,” Maddy insisted. “Don’t make me have Jace bar the door. He can, you know. Just look at the size of him.”

  Maddy lifted her brows, clearly hoping he’d play along. He kind of liked this unspoken conversation between them. She was asking him if he had her back. He did. Her back, her front—whatever she’d give him.

  “I could rustle up some handcuffs if they’d help,” he drawled out. Maddy’s eyes widened. Then she coughed and he wanted to laugh.

  Angie’s gaze darted between them, clearly trying to understand what was going on here. Funny that Maddy had just been asking him that very question. What was going on was that he was having fun with her. He’d been trying not to think about how he was going to have to tell her he was leaving her in Colt’s hands tomorrow, and trying to convince himself that it was a good thing he’d decided to pull back.

  “No,” Maddy blurted. “I think that’s unnecessary.”

  “I’ll just go get a glass for her.”

  Maddy smiled her thanks and Jace went into the kitchen. When he returned to pour a drink for Angie, Maddy had her sitting in a chair, a slice of pizza on a plate in her hands. Angie’s fingers trembled as she picked it up and took a bite, and Jace’s gut clenched. Somebody had scared her. He’d like to find out who, then go have a talk with them.

  “When you’re ready, honey, tell me what happened,” Maddy said.

  “I’m sorry to bar
ge in. I should have called first,” she said in a rush after she’d swallowed the bite of pizza.

  “It’s okay. I’m your bestie, remember?”

  Angie looked like she might cry. “Yeah,” she said softly, her smile wavering at the corners.

  Jace seriously felt like he was intruding. But there was nowhere to go. His phone buzzed then, saving him. He took the call in the kitchen. “Yo.”

  “Who’s the redhead?” Colt asked.

  He would have seen her on the camera feed. “Maddy’s best friend. Angelica Turner.”

  The sounds of Colt typing reached his ears. “Running it now.”

  Jace sighed. Of course they’d run a background check on anyone who showed up at Maddy’s house, but he didn’t think they were going to find anything sinister.

  “Whoa,” Colt said.

  “What?” He was suddenly on alert, ready to charge back in there and throw himself in front of Maddy if need be.

  “She’s fucking hot. Smart too. Junior accountant at Barton, Barnes, and Blake. She’s only been there a year. Gets the shit hours right now. And the shit clients, it looks like.”

  An idea started to take hold. “Any idea who she met with tonight?”

  “No, but I can find out. Why?”

  “She came to talk to Maddy because she said a client was grabby with her. She’s been crying, too.”

  Colt literally growled. “Motherfucker.”

  Jace didn’t have any use for men who used their superior strength against women. Neither did Colt, it seemed. “Yeah, figure it out for me. Maybe we need to pay him a call.”

  “On it. I’ll let you know.”

  “I’ll see what I can get out of Maddy. Angie will probably tell her a name. Then you can run a background on the client.”

  Maddy was furious, but she was trying hard not to let it show. Angie ate a slice of pizza and drank an entire glass of wine. She’d stopped trembling and started talking. Angie was trying so hard to succeed at this new career, and she was doing a good job. But as a junior accountant, she sometimes got the people who weren’t as successful or, heck, as decent as other clients.