The knock sounded again.
“What?!” She tossed her laptop aside, onto the bed and was just standing up when her door swung open and there was Moreau, half-hidden by the door jamb and grinning goofily at her.
She felt a little of her anger and mood trickle away. “What?” she asked for the third time, but this time there was no annoyed heat in it.
“Oh, nothing,” he responded, and then proceeded to flip around and moonwalk backwards past her door. He disappeared completely and then reappeared two stepping and doing the tootsie roll, that same face-splitting grin on his face.
Geo couldn’t help but laugh, her bad mood dissolving away completely. “Davy, you dork! You got your splint taken off!”
He presented his newly freed leg to her as if he were a game show hostess showing off a brand new car. “Doctor approved. I’m free to walk and do PT. I can’t run yet.”
“Apparently you’ve been cleared for cheesy dance moves as well.”
“Yes. That was actually the first thing I asked about,” he deadpanned.
She laughed again and strode over to him, taking him by the collar and tugging him into her room, away from prying eyes. She pressed a hard, joyous kiss onto his mouth. “I haven’t seen you look this happy since…”
She trailed off. She couldn’t think of another time she’d seen him this happy. And she’d known him quite a long time.
“You can’t name one because I haven’t been this happy in decades,” he informed her crisply. “I have two working legs, very minimal pain, and the girl of my dreams just kissed me stupid.”
She shook her head at him. “You are such a smooth talker.”
“I’m not trying to smooth talk you. I’m just trying to tell the truth.”
“And have you come to a decision? About us?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound too caught up in all this.
Moreau opened his mouth but right then, Sequence knocked on Geo’s open door. “What do you two have against closing doors?” he asked, a smirk on his face.
“Did you need something?” Geo asked faux-sweetly.
“Wilkes is on a video call in Rook’s office. He wants to talk with you, Davy. “
Moreau frowned and checked his watch. “He knows that it is 11:00 here.”
“Must be important then,” Sequence said, raising his eyebrows.
Moreau nodded and turned back to Geo. “Hold that thought,” he told her. And walked out of her room toward Rook’s office.
She watched him go. He had the slightest hitch in his step. He wasn’t fully healed yet, no matter how much they both wanted him to be.
When he turned the corner of the hallway, she had the sudden urge to chase after him. To ask to be a part of that meeting with Wilkes. She realized, with a strange lurch in her gut, that the reasons she wanted to go with him had nothing to do with being his bodyguard. She had no doubt that whatever information Wilkes had, Rook was just going to relay it to the team tomorrow.
No. She wanted to go with Moreau because she wanted to be by his side while he received whatever the news was. She wanted to—Jesus—hold his hand while he got it. She wanted him to know that she was there for him. No matter what.
“You look like you just got punched in the gut,” Sequence informed her. She’d only been dimly aware that he was still standing there in the hallway.
“I kind of feel that way,” she mumbled.
“Yeah. Love’ll do that to you.”
She scoffed. “I don’t love him.”
Sequence didn’t say a word. He just raised his eyebrows at her, shoved his hands in his pockets, and whistled as he headed down the hallway toward his own room.
“I don’t!” Geo insisted in a whisper-yell, so as not to wake up Atlas or Cedric in their rooms.
Sequence just tossed a thumbs up over his shoulder. Geo didn’t have to see his face to sense the sarcastic tone with which that thumbs up was delivered.
She stomped back into her room and closed her door. She didn’t! She didn’t love him. He was fuck-hot and she wanted to jump his bones.
Then why do you wish that you were at that meeting? a little voice whispered in her head.
Geo frowned at herself.
“Because I care about him,” she whispered, aloud, to no one. Because apparently she was a crazy person now. Moreau Davy had turned her into a crazy person.
She turned on her heel and then crawled into bed. She laid there for approximately ten seconds before she got back out of bed and opened her door a few inches so that Davy would know he could come talk to her when he got back from the meeting.
***
“Thanks for meeting with me so late, Moreau,” Wilkes said from the other side of the country. The connection was slightly grainy, but his voice was clear. Wilkes looked exhausted, his face lined and his red beard a week past a shave. His button down was loose at the collar.
“Of course,” Moreau said, his stomach flipping anxiously.
Rook sat beside Moreau and he leaned forward onto his knees. “You’ve got news for us?”
“Yes. I’m gonna cut right to the chase. Moreau, we have DNA evidence linking a suspect to your cut brakes. The suspect also matches up with the IP address of the email that was sent to Rook, and it matches DNA that was found on a series of letters sent to you over the last five years.”
“Letters?” Moreau’s stomach twisted.
“Yes. They never made it into your hands, thankfully, because they’re not exactly pleasant reading.”
“Someone on my team received them?”
Wilkes cleared his throat, looking even more tired. And a little uncomfortable. “Yes. Look, Moreau, this might not be easy to hear, but your assistant is connected to the suspect.”
“Luca?” Moreau asked in disbelief. Quiet, nervous Luca? Who read romance novels during his lunch break and always made sure Moreau’s fridge was fully stocked with enough food to feed a small nation?
“Yes. The suspect is actually Luca’s older brother. A few days ago, Luca came down to the police station and confessed.”
“Confessed to what, exactly?” Rook asked in a sharp tone. Moreau was glad that he didn’t have to be the one clarifying. He felt sick.
“He had suspicions about his brother’s involvement in the murder attempt. He’d been the one intercepting the letters and was almost positive they were from his brother. He confessed to having been a superfan of yours, Moreau, before he got the job with you. He and his brother used to have themselves a creepy little fan club. It was apparently a dream come true when he got the job with you, but he’d had to do a shit ton of lying in order to get it. Pretty much nothing you know about him is the truth. His real name is Luke Rogers. Some of his resume is real, but not all of it. Anything he’s told you about his personal life is most likely a lie as well.”
“Jesus.” Moreau scrubbed at his forehead. Now he truly felt sick. There was a roiling in his gut, a pounding in his head. “The number of times he’s been inside my house…”
“I know. But if it’s any consolation, we don’t think that Luke had violent intentions toward you. He… seems in love with you to be honest. He was beside himself when he came in with the information on his brother.”
“You don’t think they planned this thing together?” Rook asked.
“No. It sounds like they had a rift when Luke got the job with you. There was bad blood and jealousy and that’s when the brother’s obsession with you got dark. He had this irrational feeling that you’d chosen Luke over him.”
Something clicked into place. “You showed me a picture of him, didn’t you? When you came here? I recognized him… because he looked like Luca—Luke—only I didn’t put the pieces together at the time.”
“Yes. I hadn’t put the pieces together either, yet. That was just a shot that your West Coast security had taken of a guy they had started noticing around. He wasn’t following you, per se. But he was often around the set doing odd jobs with no real manager. Turns out no one knew who he was.”
“These brothers sure are good at creating positions for themselves, huh?” Rook grumbled.
“Apparently,” Wilkes returned drily. “The brother’s name is Ryan.” There was a beat of silence. “We haven’t apprehended him yet.”
“He’s gone to ground?” Rook asked. “You think Luke tipped him off?”
“No. My gut is telling me that Luke truly wants his brother behind bars. The letters scared him. Ryan is obviously mentally ill in some way. Luke doesn’t seem to be harboring any sort of brotherly solidarity with him. We’ve been attempting to find Ryan, but no one has seen him since right before your accident, Moreau. He disappeared right after that.”
“So, there’s no reason for him to know he’s been linked to the crime?” Moreau asked slowly, trying to piece everything together.
“Correct. There were some anonymous emails to various media outlets that had tips about your car accident. We were able to trace those to an address in Reseda. We’re pretty sure he was squatting there for a bit, but he seems to be gone now.”
“How would he know about the bunker?” Moreau asked.
“Did Luke know the name of your East Coast security team?” Wilkes asked.
Moreau dropped his face into his palm. “Yes. Luke knew everything. He was my goddamn personal assistant!”
Moreau stood up and strode away, his temper getting the best of him. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to yell. I just—Is there no one I can trust?”
“You can trust me, Moreau,” Rook said in a low voice.
“And me.” Wilkes’s voice was tinny and far away.
Moreau nodded and sat back down but something inside of him was locking up, closing shop. This had happened too many times to him. Money couldn’t buy trust or loyalty. He was living proof of that.
Rook and Wilkes finished their conversation but Moreau barely listened. He waved goodbye to Wilkes and immediately stood when the screen went dark.
“Moreau—” Rook started.
“Goodnight.” He didn’t care if he was being rude. He needed solitude. The only way he was ever safe was when he was alone.
His leg hurt, but he was still grateful to be off of crutches. When he got to his door, he turned and looked across the hall at Geo’s door.
It was part of the way open. He knew that that was her way of inviting him in if he wanted.
And he did want that. He desperately wanted that. He wanted to go inside and lay his head on her chest. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to hear her opinion on it. He wanted her to tell him to get a hold of himself. He wanted her to make him feel the way she always made him feel.
But she’d made it very clear that that was not the direction this relationship was going. He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head at himself. Earlier that night, he’d been ready to tell her that he thought she was right. That he’d been too stubborn with her. That he was willing to give her what she wanted. Casual sex for now. Let the chips fall where they may.
But now, he could see, painfully clearly, that he’d been right all along. He couldn’t afford casual acquaintances in his life. Not when what he desperately needed was love and support. He didn’t want a fuck buddy. He wanted a goddamn girlfriend. A partner. Someone to live his life beside.
He walked into his own room and closed the door.
***
Geo could not believe her freaking ears. She and the rest of the team had just been briefed on everything that Wilkes had told Moreau last night. She felt sick. And furious. What she wouldn’t give to knock some heads together. This Ryan asshole for sure. But mostly Moreau’s West Coast security team. How the hell could they have continued to let Luca—Luke—be Moreau’s assistant?
Maybe she was also a little angry at herself as well. Because she’d never liked Luca but she’d also never brought those feelings to Rook. Maybe if she had, they would have looked a little further into this kid. Maybe they would have even found some of the letters that his brother had been sending. Maybe the entire car accident could have been avoided.
She left the meeting feeling as if there were two hundred pounds of guilt and regret on her shoulders.
She had to find Davy.
When she got to his room, he was speaking in an authoritative tone on his phone, but he hung up before she could make out his words. His eyes flickered with emotion when he saw her standing there in the doorway.
“Moreau,” she whispered.
“I assume you’ve been briefed?”
She nodded.
He stood across the room, tucking his phone in his pocket. He wore jeans today and she realized that she had seen him in nothing but shorts since his accident. But his splint was gone and he was looking very much like his old self. His jeans fit like a glove and so did the high-end V-neck shirt he wore. He’d obviously also taken care to re-trim his hair. His edges were sharp and artful. The light caught the expensive watch on his wrist.
He looked like a completely different person.
“Are you all right?” she asked slowly, carefully. She felt like she was talking to someone she’d barely met before. She had to shake that feeling though. This was Moreau.
“I’m fine. Is Rook still in his office?”
“Yeah.”
He brushed past her and she couldn’t do anything but follow him. He didn’t need to be shadowed, but there was something in his purposeful walk that was setting off alarm bells in her gut.
“Moreau. Wait.”
He kept walking.
“Davy! Dammit, stop walking.”
He turned on his heel. “We’ll talk after, Geo.”
And then he was through the door to Rook’s office. Geo didn’t take kindly to being dismissed by anyone. And certainly not by someone who was pissing her off as badly as Davy was pissing her off right now. She barged right through after him and he deftly ignored her, standing in front of Rook’s desk, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’d like to hire the team to accompany me to Los Angeles.”
Both Rook and Geo just blinked at him.
“You want to leave the bunker?” Geo asked him like he was insane.
“You want to return to LA?” Rook asked in a much more polite tone.
“I am going back to LA. And as I’ve fired my West Coast security team, I’d like for the Rook Securities team to accompany me, at least for a few events I have scheduled, while I figure out a more permanent solution.”
Rook blinked. “Events?”
“Yes.” Moreau nodded. “My agent and manager should have just gotten in touch with you. I have several events I need to attend over the next two months. Most notably, a red carpet event for the opening of my last movie.”
Rook kept his eyes on Moreau for a long minute before he eventually turned his attention to his computer and clicked into an email.
Geo couldn’t hold her tongue a second longer. “Davy, are you nuts? There’s a murderer on the loose. Why the hell would you want to attend a highly publicized event? You’ll be a sitting duck.”
“I’ll be a sitting duck with a highly trained security team that I pay to keep me safe. And I’m attending this event because it’s my life, Geo. I can either spend it hiding or I can spend it living. And it seems that no matter what I do, there will always be people who want to take advantage of me. So, I might as well carry on with business as usual.”
She took a step back from him, blood boiling in her veins. He better not be talking about her.
Rook watched that little exchange with his eyebrows raised. “Davy, I can’t agree to this until I address it with my team. Going to California with you would be a huge change for us. None of them have signed on for this.”
“I understand,” he said curtly. “Please let me know when you’ve made your decision.”
Then he was turning on his heel and striding out of the room.
Geo was sorely tempted to follow him, but she knew herself well enough to know that if she went now, she’d say some things she wouldn’t be able to take ba
ck.
“What the hell was that?” she asked, plunking into the chair across from Rook’s desk.
“I’m… not sure. He’s hurt. I think he trusted his assistant.” He studied Geo. “But maybe this is about much more than that.”
She shrugged angrily. “Who doesn’t have trust issues, Rook? The entire world has trust issues. That doesn’t mean we all go off the deep end and make stupid, dangerous decisions.”
“You think he has trust issues?”
Geo raised her eyebrows at her boss but didn’t answer.
“Funny,” Rook said, leaning back in his chair. “I think of Davy as a really trusting person.”
She scoffed. “Could have fooled me.”
Rook continued to watch her with that unnerving smile. “Geo, did you ever stop to wonder why Davy requested to come here in order to recover?”
She shrugged, feeling a bit like a moody teenager but not able to get her mood in check.
“Because he wanted to recover at home, Geo, Just like everyone does when they’re sick or injured.”
“Home? The bunker is not his home.”
“Of course it is.”
She narrowed her eyes at Rook, feeling like he was leading her into a trap. “Why do you say that?”
He gave a rather exasperated, smirky look, as if he’d just freshly ran out of patience for playing some game that he’d been previously playing solely for her benefit. “Because home is where the heart is, Geo.”
She scoffed again. “Rook, come back to us. I never took you as one for pukey-sweet trite-isms.”
“Georgia,” he scowled, leaning forward across the desk and using her full last name so that she would absolutely pay attention. “Listen to my words. Just like every other red-blooded man on Earth, for Moreau home is where the heart is.”
She furrowed her brow. “What could he possibly love about the bunker so much that—?”
“Are you being deliberately obtuse? It’s not what he loves about the bunker. It’s who he loves at the bunker.”
She immediately blanched. Adrenaline and shock creepy-crawled through her veins. “What are you saying?”
Rook sighed and laughed, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. “I’m saying that I know Moreau pretty well, Geo. And the man doesn’t have many people in his life who look out for his best interest. He’s had to figure out how to get by on his own. That’s a hard habit to break.”
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