by Chloe Barlow
“So you lied.”
“I omitted information.”
“It’s the same thing!” she exclaimed, ripping her hand from his leg and crossing her arms over her chest.
“Whatever you think it is, it’s what I had to do. The last place I want you right now is anywhere you can be found. I needed you to believe we were going there and make sure you honestly said it to other people…even that Jason guy,” he added, gritting his teeth a little.
“Are you mad I was talking to Jason?” she inquired, her voice changing into an interrogating tone.
“No.”
“Really?”
Trey paused, responding solemnly, “You can talk to other men all you want. You can try to go anywhere in the world, but even if we aren’t together, you’ll still belong to me. I will always be the one who will do anything to keep you safe.”
“Trey…”
“Shh,” he interjected, pulling her hand from her chest so he could kiss the palm. “You’d better get some sleep. It’ll be a couple hours before we get to the cabin.”
“Cabin?”
“Yep.” Trey increased his speed slightly, eager to leave the danger further behind them. “You like having me all to yourself? Well, you’re going to get a taste of what that’s really like, little one.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The rough crunch of tires slowly rolling over rocks, then abruptly coming to a stop, jarred Claudia back to reality. She instinctively grabbed for her sidearm, only to feel the smooth fabric of her homemade Halloween costume against her palm instead.
Wiping a bit of drool off her face with the back of her other hand, she sat up just in time to see Trey’s glimmering gaze eyeing her in the car’s dim light. He was sitting sideways in the driver’s seat, unabashedly staring at her.
“You missed a spot,” he mused, pointing to an additional remnant of saliva streaked across the elegant black leather of Claudia’s passenger seat.
“Thanks,” she grumbled, rubbing the offending goo away with the sleeve of her shirt. “Are we there yet?” she probed, petulantly.
“Ooh, you’re grumpy when you’re tired,” he teased.
“At least I’m not grumpy almost all the time,” Claudia countered, a blush warming her cheeks, even as a sly smirk snuck across her cheek.
Trey chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her lightly. “We’re almost there. I just wanted to stop and get some gas and supplies. Stephen paid to have the cabin stocked, but I’m not sure when we’ll be able to sneak away to civilization again, so better safe than sorry.”
“That phrase should be one of your tattoos. I bet it’s like your own personal mantra.”
“I’ve been sorry for a lot of things. I’m trying safe on for size with you.”
“I noticed.”
“You coming in with me?”
“I need to check my glucose. I may not think I’m being cranky, but I’ll take your word for it.” He looked confused for a second, which spurred her to explain, “You know the phrase: pride goeth before a fall? Well, bitchy goeth before the low blood sugar. You should probably get me some O.J. and a snack, since we’re being safe and all. A banana would be good. I’ll need to eat a meal when we get in, but those will be work until then.”
“See, is it so hard to humor me? O.J. and a banana, coming right up. Here are the keys, in case you change your mind.”
Trey bounded out of the car, and Claudia couldn’t help but smile to herself at the sight of the lightness in his steps. She could really get used to having Trey all to herself.
After testing her blood sugar and confirming it was a bit too low, Claudia adjusted the insulin setting on her pump and made her way to meet Trey, locking the small fortune on wheels behind her.
She caught sight of him wandering the store’s small aisles, seemingly oblivious to the two drooling salesgirls behind the counter, eagerly waiting for him to acknowledge their presence.
“Hey there, tattoo boy,” Claudia said, scampering up to meet him by the canned soups.
“There you are, little one. Miss me already?”
“Testing out how cranky I can get, are you?”
“You got it. I was actually about ready to wrap it up in here.”
“Good, because you have some adoring fans at the checkout waiting for you.”
Trey turned and threw the girls his most killer smile, as they scrambled to get out their camera phones to take pictures of the mysterious stranger, dressed like a rock idol in their very midst.
“Now, don’t go and smile at them like that,” Claudia joked. “You don’t want them to faint before we get a chance to buy our stuff, do you?”
“They may be our closest neighbors. I might as well be friendly, right?”
“You just like being adored. Come on, let’s spend some more of your money.”
“My register is open,” Claudia heard from Trey’s fan club.
“Oh, calm down, Becky,” the other clerk chastised, eyeing Claudia with a suitably apologetic face.
“Sorry,” Becky responded breathlessly. “I just think he’s so cute.”
“It’s okay. I think he’s cute, too,” Claudia agreed, tossing Trey her own sexiest grin, before grabbing a banana from the bunch his cart and peeling it with a flourish.
“You think I’m cute, huh?” Trey whispered to her, as he passed her to greet Becky and her friend.
“Don’t pretend to be surprised. You know I’m always mooning over you.”
“I like this side of you.”
“I thought you liked all sides of me?”
“That is most definitely true. Time to buy these goodies and get you off the streets.”
“My thought exactly.”
Trey tossed their luggage on the couch and looked around at their new rustic surroundings. His whole body hurt from the long drive, but he was too wound up to relax. Once the adrenaline of their hasty departure had subsided, it left behind a nagging sense of dread, as though he’d forgotten something vital.
“Come in, Trey, do you copy?” Claudia asked, though he could barely hear her over the thoughts rambling through his brain.
“What?”
“I said: this place is beautiful.”
“Stephen told me it has a great view, too, though it’s too dark to enjoy now.”
“You’ve really only just bought it?”
“About forty-eight hours ago. Though I’ve seen pictures and specs, so Stephen and I could prepare it for optimal security. Stephen replicated my war room as much as possible in such a short time. I brought backup hard drives. You won’t be able to use your work cell phone. I have a burner phone and another laptop for you, too, all with different credentials.”
“Sounds like my kind of vacation. How long will we be here?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Trey, I can handle it if people really are coming after us. It’s what I’ve trained for.”
“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, little one. And maybe you practiced being threatened, but no amount of training will prepare me for seeing you at risk. So, you’re just going to have to accept my approach.”
Trey paused for a moment. Sliding a hand along her face, he leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, which he hoped would fry her brain enough to erase any of her remaining questions — at least for a little while.
“Humor me again, little one?”
“Okay,” she whispered, nodding ever so slightly. “What is there to do around here, besides getting back to our work?”
“Not much in terms of entertainment. It pretty much only came with a bunch of old movies and cassettes.”
“What?”
“Oh fuck, please tell me you know what a cassette is.”
“I have heard tales of such ancient artifacts… Oh come on, I’m just teasing. Maybe I never made a mix tape with a boom box, but I do know what they are. By the way, old man, are we planning meals? Should I put you down for dinner at five?”
“Very fu
nny. Maybe you’ll expand your horizons…learn what this old guy has to offer.”
“I can’t wait,” she answered, slipping her arms around his waist and pressing her body fully against his.
Trey brushed the hair back from her face, long since disheveled from falling asleep in the car. He’d enjoyed watching her resting. With her face so peaceful and calm, he had the ability to take in every edge and contour of her high cheekbones, upturned lips, and the inviting freshness of her soft, olive skin.
“What are you looking at, Adler?” she wondered timidly. “You’re making me nervous.”
“You,” he stated simply. “You’re very beautiful. I should probably have mentioned it before.”
“You’re saying it now. That helps.”
Running his fingertips over her forehead, down the side of her cheek, he felt the breath catch in her throat. Her eyes turned dewy, bringing back the vulnerable young woman who made him all kinds of stupid. Swallowing hard, Trey changed the subject.
“Stephen’s people rigged this place up with cameras inside and out. No one will come within a mile of us without me knowing about it.”
“You sure are a sweet talker… Stephen must be a great friend.”
“He is. But he also has an ulterior motive. He and I have been working on a project for a long time and resolving it is…vital.”
“Operation Lexis?”
Trey backed away from her and began to busy himself with unloading documents and medical supplies from his duffle.
“Did you find your way into that file?”
“No, but you aren’t as hard to read as you believe. I still think I can help you with it, whatever it is.”
“You already are.”
“I am?”
“You want me to be more open with you, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, those Sydney killings you connected to whomever compromised David and turned him into a thief and a killer? Stephen and I have been tracking the team behind it for a long time now. Someone named Lexis runs them, and they are incredibly dangerous. If they are involved, like we now suspect, it’s a safe guess they killed David.”
“And you think they know I made the link between the Sydney killings and David?”
“Stephen and I both do. If we’re right, then I’m not sure any cabin, or bunker, or remotely located island in the South Pacific is going to make sure you’re secure.”
“That’s the real reason you needed to pretend we were going to headquarters?”
“Yes. Are you still pissed at me about that?”
Claudia turned her back to him and fingered the handle of her suitcase slowly. He couldn’t read her mind, instead staring at her silently trying to process so much new information.
“I’m not mad at you, Trey,” she finally explained, pivoting to face him. “It hurts when I feel like you don’t trust me. The way you keep trying to rein me in — as though you think I’m going to do something crazy — it’s frustrating.”
“You’re willing to do anything to prove yourself to the world, risking your own life in the process. I know how seductive it is to you to test your limits. I want to help you do that, even if it’s on my own terms.”
“So you really are the boss, then?”
“Boss is so negative sounding,” Trey responded, approaching her and placing a hand on her hip. He wasn’t above using some dirty tactics to get her back on his side. “I prefer older and wiser mentor, whom you like to dream about teaching you all kinds of new things.”
Claudia turned her face, trying to hide a smile from him, but he held her chin and forced her to look at him.
“I wish you’d told me this sooner, Trey. I could’ve helped you…been even more careful. Instead, it seems like your favorite word with me is ‘no.’”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. That’s not my point. I’m not trying to be a whiny-ass baby. I’m just tired…tired of working my ass off and not going anywhere. It’s like my tires are spinning out and no matter how hard I press the gas, I can’t fucking go anywhere. There’s only so much a person can hear ‘no’ before they stop asking for anything anymore.”
“I don’t get off on saying no to you, Claudia. I wish I could give you everything you want in life, but it only works if I’m able to keep you safe. That’s not negotiable. If it means I have to be a bastard most of the time, then so be it.”
“I get that, even if it doesn’t always seem like I do. But if you try to control everything that happens, you risk causing us to lose even more.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he assured her, easing his mouth toward hers and feeling relieved when she didn’t back away.
“So stubborn,” she whispered against his lips, before he closed the space between them. Her mouth was soft, but her tongue quickly emerged to lick the seam of his lips. A growl rumbled in his throat, urging him to taste her more deeply. Holding her tightly around the waist, he allowed his lips to part from hers before lightly kissing her again.
Pressing his forehead against hers, Trey took a moment to catch his breath. This wasn’t the way he wanted their first time together to be — full of fear and unresolved issues, and too exhausted to truly appreciate it.
“You have your own bedroom. Maybe you should use it.”
“Excuse me?” she demanded, leaning back with a scowl.
“I still intend to do right by you, which means I can’t have you all cute and sleepy next to me.”
Trey placed his hands on her hair, letting the feel of the smooth strands ground him, even as he tried to soothe her obvious irritation.
“I guess if you paid so much money to get a place with two bedrooms, I might as well spread out a little. But it’s my choice to sleep there…for now. Got it?”
“Crystal clear. Don’t worry about the cost, though, please. Buying this cabin with cash was no trouble. If I can’t use all this money for someone who matters to me, then what’s the use in having it?”
“I matter to you? Come on, Trey,” she added, with a nervous laugh, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
He moved to grip her more tightly, using his thumbs to force her to look into his eyes.
“If you don’t know how precious you are to me by now, then you’re not half the genius I took you for.”
“You better be careful, or I’ll think you’re going soft, Trey Adler.”
He smirked slightly, sliding his right hand along her bottom just enough to make her gasp.
“You affect me in many ways, little one, but making me soft…is not one of them.”
Before she could say another word, Trey covered her lips with his, moving his tongue into her mouth to let her warmth bring him the comfort, which only seemed to come when he touched her.
Backing away, he grinned at the hazy look in her eyes.
“I guess I’ll have plenty to dream about,” Claudia mused, moving to pull down her shirt, which had gone askew, revealing not only her pump, but the location where the needle went deeply into the skin of her abdomen.
“Does it hurt?” Trey asked.
“What, when I open my angel wings?” Claudia joked. Her tone was coy, but her eyes clouded when she saw he was looking at the entry point.
“Clever, little one. Come on.”
“What? You taught me to be such a smart-ass,” she answered, her lips turning up and making her even sexier than she’d appeared the moment before.
“This ploy will never work with me, little one. It comes to me naturally. In fact, I happen to be a master of many things.”
“So humble.”
“Aw hell, if you want me to be humble then we really are totally at a loss. Now be serious. I want to know about your pump. Does it hurt, the way the needle goes in?”
“It hurts like hell. Sometimes it comes out without me wanting it to and it’s torture. But what’s worse is the pain of my sugar being too high or too low. The physical effects, of course, they are brutal and can kill me. I
accepted all that pain a long time ago, but…”
“What?” Trey felt somehow urgent to know what she would say.
“My asshole body may do things to cause me pain, but I can handle it. It’s the effect my condition has on the people who care about me that bothers me. It sucks. I could’ve died when I was little and…I don’t know, I lay in my hospital bed and I was somehow okay with the possibility of diabetes killing me. But the fear my stupid blood sugar puts in so many people’s day-to-day life — I fucking hate that. It’s the part I’ve never been able to live with… Pardon my language.”
“I do know those words.”
Claudia ripped the elastic out of her hair, allowing her thick, shiny tresses to flow over her shoulders.
“It does weird things to you, to your brain, when you realize your own dependence on shots, or a pump, can break so many people. It makes you want to be something really special. Even if your own body may never let it happen.” Claudia’s voice was deceptively calm, but her eyes were blazing.
“I can handle it. Maybe it makes us feel better to worry about you? Makes us feel like we have some level of control over what might happen to you.”
“You can’t shield me from everything, all the time, Trey.”
“Just watch me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A delicate and hypnotic dance of morning sunlight sparkled against the rippling lake outside Claudia’s bedroom window. The world appeared to be at peace, yet she felt anything but tranquil. In fact, she was pretty irritated.
Placing one palm on the cool glass in front of her, she twisted her body to stare at the evidence of another lonely night behind her. Only one side of her bed held rumpled sheets. The other remained smooth and untouched – a crisp reminder of the way she’d lived her life.
Claudia was pretty sure she may not have a career at the other end of this case, what with disappearing after a witness’s death, and all, but the only thing on her mind was how sick she was of sharing a bed with nothing but her own feverish mind.
On top of that, Claudia was through with listening to the broken record that was Trey’s misplaced and warped sense of chivalry.