by Cynthia Eden
“You didn’t take the intel.”
She shook her head. Swiped at the tear. “Absolutely not.”
“The money in your account isn’t there because you sold out those agents and turned over the material you downloaded.”
“No. I wouldn’t do that.”
His hand lifted. His fingertips gently brushed over her cheek. “Are you a good liar, Vivian?”
What kind of question was that? “You don’t believe me?” She jumped to her feet. “I’m telling you the truth!”
He rose, too, slowly.
“I don’t like lying, Chase. I had too much of that growing up.” First from her father. Then her mother. Then—
No, she shut off the thought. Locked it away.
“I told you that I would take the case, and I will,” Chase assured her. “But if we’re going to find the person who is setting you up, I’m going to have to ask uncomfortable questions. I’m going to have to dig into your life. I’ll have to dig into the lives of your co-workers.”
“That’s a problem.” A big one. “The CIA doesn’t like it when folks dig into the lives of their agents.” Her heart slammed into her chest. “I told my boss that he had to notify all of the compromised agents. That he had to move them. But I don’t know if he did. And since my access to the system is shut down, I can’t even be sure that more agents haven’t been compromised since the breach began.”
“We’ll figure this out.”
He seemed so certain. So calm. Like he handled scenes of international drama and intrigue every single day.
She didn’t. She was about to lose her mind.
“Do you think the break-ins at your place are related to what’s happening at your work?”
“I’m afraid they are.” Her voice seemed so quiet. “I wanted them to be random, but I’m scared they’re not.”
“If they’re related, that means whoever took the data is coming after you. The person wants to harm you.” A muscle flexed along his jaw. “It won’t happen. You’ve just hired yourself the best damn bodyguard out there.”
Her breath rushed out. “Thank you.” She wanted to hug him. Hold tight and never let go. “Um, if we go back to my place, I can tell you more. We can talk and eat and I can—”
“Your place won’t work,” he cut in quickly.
It wouldn’t? Why not?
“Let’s go out to dinner,” he suddenly told her.
Go out?
“Look, you need to take some time and calm down. I can feel the tension rolling off you.”
Because she was freaking the hell out.
“Let’s get out of this building. We’ll talk about the case in a quiet corner of a restaurant where no one can hear us.”
But…no one could hear them where they were, right? And it wasn’t as if anyone could hear them in her place.
Then she stiffened. Chase had more experience in this area than she did. Maybe he thought that her place had been bugged? Didn’t that happen in spy movies? All the time.
But this wasn’t a movie. This was her life.
“We’ll go out. You’ll answer every question that I have. And we’ll come up with a game plan.” He paused. “You haven’t eaten, have you?”
Actually, no. She hadn’t. Not all day. Her stomach growled on cue. “I was so nervous that I couldn’t eat lunch.”
A brisk nod. “Then we’re eating and you’re telling me everything.”
Well, perhaps going out wasn’t the worst plan. “I should go change first. Get out of the heels.” Slip into some sneakers.
“Sure. Want to meet up in ten minutes?”
“Yes.” She smiled at him. A real smile. For the first time all day, Vivian felt as if she could breathe. “Thank you.” She stretched up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I owe you more than I’ll ever be able to repay.”
His head turned. He caught her chin between his fingers. Kissed her. Not some light, easy kiss. Hard. Deep. Possessive. “You don’t owe me a damn thing,” he rumbled against her mouth. He started to let her go.
So she grabbed tightly to him. Vivian kissed him just as hard, just as deeply, and with just as much of a possessive edge. For the first time, she’d found someone who would help her. Someone she could count on. For too many years, she’d felt as if it was her against the world.
This time, it was different. She’d gone to Chase.
And he was on her side.
He spun her around, and her back pressed to the wall. “When I kiss you,” his voice was so rough and sexy, “I forget everything else. How do you make me feel this way?” His hands rose to press against the wall behind her. “I think you’re dangerous to me.”
She stared into his eyes. “I like the way you make me feel.”
“Vivian…”
“I want you, and I’m not holding back with you. I hold back with everyone else. You were right. I like control and order. I do everything on my own, but this time, I came to you.”
His head lowered toward hers once more. His kiss was almost savage in its need. No, they were that way. Savage and hungry. So much for control. So much for order.
Maybe she’d had enough of that. Maybe it was time for his chaos.
Her nails raked over the white t-shirt that Chase wore. Her relationships in the past hadn’t been about this wild passion. They’d been careful. She’d chosen safe lovers. Men who were responsible. Stable. And she’d wanted them, but…
Not like this. Vivian didn’t think she’d ever wanted anyone like this.
Perhaps she should have been afraid of that forceful, consuming need. She wasn’t. She wasn’t afraid of Chase. He was there to help her.
His lips slid down her throat. Licked and sucked. Heated desire spiked in her blood. She wondered what it would be like to let go. To strip off her clothes right then and there and just feel with him—
“Your case.” His voice was guttural. “We need to talk about your case. I have to clear you first.”
She blinked. Tried to catch some desperate breaths.
“When you’re clear…” His gaze trapped her. “You’re mine.”
They didn’t have to wait. Wanted him so much that she didn’t care about the consequences. She’d come to him less than ten minutes ago, practically begging for help…
And, oh, God, now I’m about to beg him to have sex with me.
That wasn’t her. “How do you make me feel this way? What are you doing to me?”
His expression was so hard and savage.
“I kiss you, and I want you naked.” She wasn’t holding anything back with him. I held back my whole life. He’s different. “I think having sex with you won’t be like the way it’s been with—”
“I should warn you, I’m finding I’m pretty damn jealous when it comes to you.” He leaned forward. Kissed and sucked the skin along her neck once more, right over her racing pulse, and had her heart thundering in her ears. “So how about we don’t talk about what sex was like with other people for you? How about we just think about what it will be like for us?” His head rose. His gaze captured hers. “You taste like my favorite vanilla cream. Before I’m done with you, I’m going to taste every single inch of you.”
Oh…wow.
“Case first.” His chin jerked up. He shoved away from her. Actually, backed up a good foot as if he had to put some distance between them.
She wanted to reach out to him. Because she wanted that so badly, Vivian balled her hands into fists.
“You tell me everything, Viv. I find evidence to clear you, then you’re mine.”
“And…you’re mine.”
His eyes gleamed. “Baby, I think I already fucking am.”
***
“New development,” Chase bit out as he held the phone to his ear. Vivian had gone to her apartment to get changed, and he had used the opportunity to make a fast phone call to his partner.
“You mean the development where our Evil Queen got paid two hundred grand because she’s probably getting ready to d
rop the intel? Because that had to be a down payment and the exchange is probably happening tonight? Dude, you know that we went over the two hundred K transfer this morning when the deposit was first made and we tracked it to that account in the Caymans and—”
“She just hired me.”
“Uh, you are already working the case and the goal is to bring her down.”
“She hired me to prove her innocence.”
Merik laughed.
Chase didn’t.
“It’s a trick!” Merik warned. “She’s figured out who you are. Vivian knows you’re on to her, and she’s trying to throw you off the trail.”
“Or she’s actually innocent, she’s scared out of her mind, and she’s turning to the one person that she thinks might be able to help her.” She’d looked so afraid and when he’d seen the tear sliding down her cheek, he’d wanted to damn well break something.
“The player is getting played,” Merik charged back. “Don’t buy it! She’s trying to distract you while the big deal goes down tonight. What did you she do? Come over? Cry a little? Tell you how desperate she was and that she needed help?”
Actually, yeah. “Don’t be a dick.”
“I can’t help it. It’s second nature to me.” A pause. “At least you didn’t say she tried to seduce you. That would be like every Evil Queen checklist item all wrapped up with a nice, tidy bow.”
“She went to her boss. She told him about what’s been happening with the intel. Vivian is afraid she’s being framed. She even told me about the deposit in her account.”
“You are not buying her story. Tell me you’re not.”
“Everything is too neat. Too easy. Don’t you get that?” Surely Merik had to see that? “The money being sent to her account was overkill.”
“No, it was the final nail in her coffin. The transfer means it’s game time. It means the deal is going down tonight—”
“And I will be staying close to her all night long, so if that happens, I’ll be there, and we’ll catch her in the act.” Chase’s hold tightened on the phone. “But I don’t think that’s the way it will play out. I think Vivian needs me. If she’s being set up, this isn’t going to end with us locking her away in jail. With that scenario, she’ll just keep telling the world that she’s innocent. She’ll keep fighting to prove she’s innocent.”
“Then how do you think it will end?”
Cold settled in his gut. “The real guilty party will have all the evidence leading straight to Vivian, and then the perp will eliminate her. With her dead, the case ends.”
“Fuck.” Finally, Merik seemed less certain.
“Exactly. And I don’t want to be the man standing around with his thumb up his ass while an innocent woman dies. I’m going to hear what she has to tell me tonight. I’m going to stick to her like glue. Either I’ll catch her in the act or I’ll stop the real perp from taking her out. But I need to know that my partner has my back. Can I count on you?”
“You know that you can,” Merik replied. His voice was flat. Hard. “I’ll have your six.”
***
Vivian hopped into her tennis shoes and grabbed her purse. She glanced around, knowing that she needed to snag her phone—
It was ringing.
She scooped it up and frowned at the number on the screen. It was a number she didn’t recognize. Probably a telemarketer. Talk about bad timing. She almost didn’t answer the call.
Almost…
Her finger swiped over the screen as she put the phone to her ear. “Look, I’m sorry but this isn’t a very good time for me—”
“You’ll do exactly what I say or your new boyfriend dies.”
Chapter Eight
Vivian pounded on the apartment door.
It swung open and Chase smiled—
“It was a mistake. I don’t need your help. Everything is fine now.”
His smile froze. “What?”
“A mistake,” she said again, quickly, even as she swore that she felt a thick bead of sweat sliding down her spine. “Everything has been cleared up. I spoke with my boss, and it’s fine. I don’t need you any longer.”
His brow furrowed. “What’s happening?”
“I read a study once that said the average worker makes about one hundred and eighteen mistakes a year. One hundred and eighteen. So, you know, the old expression about everyone making mistakes? It’s obviously true.” She was rambling. Vivian hurriedly backed up a step. Her words were tumbling out. She had to slow them down. “I made a mistake earlier. I don’t need to hire you. The money is gone from my account. I just got a call.” She lifted her phone. Held it too tightly. “The situation is under control.”
“Bullshit.”
Vivian flinched. “I have to go. My boss wants to see me tonight.”
“We were going to dinner.”
She was backing away from Chase as fast as she could. “Yes, but if I want to keep my job, I have to go, right now. It’s a non-negotiable point.” Very, very non-negotiable.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No!” She’d yelled. Crap. She had to get herself under control. “Unnecessary. I’ve got it covered.”
His stare was suspicious. “You’re lying to me.”
Her gaze darted down the hallway. “I am not.”
“You are. You won’t even look at me.”
Her gaze came back to him. “Please,” she whispered.
Chase stalked closer to her. “Baby, what is it?”
“I have to go. You have to stay here.”
He shook his head. “I thought you wanted my help.”
“Yes, but I want you alive more.”
“What?”
Her hand flew to cover her mouth. That shouldn’t have come out!
“Vivian…”
She dropped her hand. “Stay away from me. You need to stay away.” She whirled and raced toward the stairwell—
“No.” His fingers curled around her wrist. He’d moved crazy fast. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
She had to leave without him.
“You think I can’t tell that you’re scared? I can. It’s like you’re broadcasting it in big, neon letters. What happened? You were gone for ten minutes. Less than that. More like eight. You wanted me with you, but now you’re pushing me away.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Let go of my wrist.”
His fingers uncurled.
“Good-bye, Chase.” She took three fast steps away from him.
“Huh.”
She stopped. God, no, she knew what it meant when he said—
“You’re trying to protect me? That’s what this big scene is about?”
She crept forward. She needed to get to that stairwell.
“Did someone make a threat against me, Viv? Because, I assure you, I can handle myself.”
She stopped creeping and switched to hurrying.
“I’m coming after you.”
She was almost at the stairs.
“You’re not leaving me behind, Vivian.”
She looked back at him. “Watch me.” Then she shoved open the stairwell door.
***
“I’ll do you one better, sweetheart,” Chase muttered. “I’ll come after you.” Chase whipped up his phone. Had Merik on the line in an instant. “She’s spooked, and she’s trying to ditch me. Heading after her now. There must be a meeting or she’s been threatened or some shit went down.” His hand slammed into the stairwell door. Only the door didn’t open. He shoved against it again and realized what Vivian had done. “Sonofabitch.” Despite everything, he almost smiled.
“What’s happening?” Merik demanded.
“She jammed the door from the other side. Clever.” He had to give her that. Chase whirled. “I’m taking the elevator down. It will slow me, so make sure that you have eyes on her.”
“I’m not at the building yet! I’m close, but I need more time!”
Fury—and what could have been fear—twisted through Chas
e. “She’d better not leave before I get down there. We need to track her.” I need to protect her. He shoved his thumb against the elevator button. Come on. Come on.
“How much of a head start does she have?”
“She’s probably almost to the ground floor, and my ass is stuck up here.” Shit. What was taking the elevator so long?
Ding.
Hell, yes.
“I’m going after her. Get here. Now.” He jumped onto the elevator. Pressed the button for the ground floor. He’d seen fear in her eyes. When he’d opened the door, her expression had been unguarded. She’d been afraid. Her lower lip had even trembled before she’d caught herself.
He didn’t like it when Vivian was afraid. Not one damn bit.
Ding.
This wasn’t the ground floor. The doors opened. Jacob Webb blinked at him. “It’s not gonna be bad luck if I get on with you, is it? You’re not about to shut this thing down again?”
Chase jabbed the button to close the damn doors and get moving.
“Hey!” Jacob jumped onto the elevator.
“In a hurry here,” Chase snapped. “Don’t have time for BS.”
“Well, someone is grumpy.”
“And someone can fuck off.” The elevator descended and they finally reached the ground floor. The doors opened. Chase flew out—
“See if I come rushing to help you when you get a busted pipe!” Jacob yelled after him.
Chase ran for the building’s main door. He shot outside. Looked to the left. The right and—there. He spied Vivian driving down the street toward him.
He stepped into the street. Waved his hands. “Hell, no, Vivian. Hell, no!” Yeah, he was in her fucking path.
She slammed on the brakes. Gaped at him.
He slapped his hands down on her hood. “Get out of the car.”
Vivian shook her head.
“Yes.”
Cars honked at him. Chase ignored them. There was no way she was leaving him. He didn’t move because he knew that if he moved, she’d slam down on the gas pedal and blast away. “We’re talking. We’re coming up with a game plan.”