Hard As Ice (Fortis Series 1)

by Raven Scott

  “I still don’t see where Chris Morton fits into all this,” Tony stated when they were back at Worthington at the end of the day. “Blige confirmed Flannigan planted the bug and gave them access to the warehouse the night of the robbery. Then Blige and his two partners stole the stones and delivered them to a locker in Gleason Courier’s depot. Just like the delivery driver told us. But what about Morton? And Flannigan’s girlfriend, Coombs? No one in Blige’s crew even mentioned their names.”

  The same thing was bothering Evan.

  “Let’s regroup in the morning before we pack up,” he suggested. “With the stolen assets acquired and everyone involved either in police custody or dead, the mission has been successfully completed. We’ve neutralized the threat to Nia.”

  “What about Walsh, Ice?” Michael asked. “We still don’t know who he is.”

  “No, we don’t. His operation is much bigger than the Worthington robbery. So he’s the FBI’s problem now. We’ll give them everything we know for a head start.”

  Nia was out of time. She had known it was inevitable but it still took her by surprise.

  She was lying next to Evan, early in the morning. Her head was on his chest and he was trailing his fingers over her arm. The sun was starting to rise. Time was almost up.

  It was Friday, and Fortis had officially completed their mission. Chris Morton confirmed dead, the thieves were in police custody, and the investigation into the jewelry heist was almost over. With the Worthington security team now trained on the new system, Evan and his agents were scheduled to leave Boston today.

  “Nia,” Evan whispered.

  She knew they had to talk. There was so much to say, yet Nia had managed to avoid any meaningful conversations for the last few days. They discussed the case, her work, his dad’s collection, what they’d do for dinner each evening.

  Then, despite promising herself that she wouldn’t let it happen again, that it was pointless, she walked into his arms again last night, for one more time. It had been slow and leisurely, meant to last for as long as possible.

  “Nia, we need to talk,” he continued.

  “I know,” she acknowledged.

  “Tell me what you want?” Evan asked.

  How did Nia explain that she wanted this, here, now, with him in warm comfort in the aftermath of incredible sexual chemistry? If this was all there was, she’d be good, content. But she didn’t want the rest of it. She didn’t want the need and dependency, to lose herself in someone else, her happiness controlled by them. The risk of betrayal and pain. To be so in love with a man that he could destroy her.

  But Nia knew that she couldn’t have one without the other, and the cost was just too high.

  “I really like you, Evan,” she started, and his body stiffened immediately. “But I don’t see us working out long-term.”

  The words seemed to hover in the air above the bed. They sounded so emotionless and final. His fingers stopped moving and he didn’t respond. Seconds ticked by as she waited for him to say something, anything. Nia closed her eyes, wanting to cry. Her heart felt constricted.

  “I don’t understand,” he finally said. “Explain it to me, Nia.”

  “There’s nothing to explain,” she replied, feeling cornered.

  “You mean you don’t want to.”

  He pulled his arm out from under her and sat up, swinging his legs off the end of the mattress. She immediately felt cold, alone.

  “So, what was all this then?” he demanded, sweeping his hand around in circles to indicate the bed and what they had done in it, repeatedly. “Why, Nia?”

  “What difference does it make?”

  “No more games!” snapped Evan. “Stop avoiding the issue. Just tell me why. I at least deserve that much.”

  She couldn’t lie there anymore. Nia scrambled off the opposite side of the bed. She walked across the room, naked, to grab her robe off the hook behind the bathroom door.

  “How exactly would this play out, Evan?” she questioned, sarcastically. “I say ‘yes, let’s be together.’ What does that mean, exactly?”

  “It means just that. We’re together, in a relationship. We make a commitment, make plans for the future,” he shot back, his face wrinkled in confusion. “It’s a fairly common concept, Nia.”

  “Then what? Walk me through how this would go. We date long distance? For how long? Then what?” she insisted, starting to pace in front of him. “We move in together? Where would we live?”

  Evan hung his head, shaking it from side to side.

  “I don’t know. But we’d figure it out. That’s the point. We’d find a solution,” he stated quietly.

  She laughed, clearly not amused.

  “There’s only one solution, Evan. I’m supposed to leave my job, give up my career, become your Stepford robot,” she spat. “I’ll whittle away my time in the Virginia mansion in winter, at Martha’s Vineyard in the summer. Maybe I’ll start a charity, hang out with the elegant Mikayla Stone-Clement for tennis matches at the country club. Become a nice, understated wife.”

  “What are you talking about! I never said any of that!”

  He stood up, gloriously naked and towering with frustration.

  “You don’t have to. I can read the tea leaves pretty well,” she muttered.

  Nia turned away, out of steam. Now, she just wanted the whole thing over and done with.

  “Nia, none of that is true. I want you, just the way you are,” he replied, his tone marginally softer. “Why would I want you to change? Become anything like you described?”

  She didn’t reply, standing firm with her arms crossed and back to him.

  “I don’t know where we’d live and frankly, I don’t care,” added Evan. “We can stay here, I’ll commute to Alexandria by helicopter when needed. I doesn’t friggin’ matter, Nia.”

  “You’re being ridiculous,” she threw over her shoulder.

  “I’m being ridiculous? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  There was a pause as they both stubbornly held their ground. Until Evan let out a bark of harsh laughter.

  “This is all just smoke and mirrors, isn’t it, Nia.” He strode forward and took hold of her shoulders, forcing her to face him. “Where’s that honesty you’ve always shown? Why don’t you just admit that you’re scared?”

  She shook off his hands, attempted to walk away, but he blocked her path.

  “Let me pass!”

  “No, not until I hear the truth. You’re afraid.”

  “Yes! I’m afraid!” she yelled back out of sheer frustration. “I’m scared that you’ll lie to me, manipulate me. That you’re pretending to be something you’re not. That I’ll give up everything I have to be with you and be left with nothing when it all falls apart!”

  Evan stepped back as though she had hit him. Nia covered her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. Damn it! She turned away before he could see them spill.

  “Nia. That’s not going to happen,” he whispered.

  She walked away, afraid he’d touch her and then she’d really fall apart.

  “It already has, Evan.”

  “No, no. We talked about this. You know how it happened. It was my job!” She heard his sharp sigh. “We can get past this.”

  “I understand you were doing what you needed to, Evan. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less. And I’d be a fool to give you the opportunity to hurt me again.”

  “I wouldn’t. Damn it, Nia. I love you! Can’t you see that?”

  “Maybe,” she whispered, turning back to him but unable to meet his eyes. “But I also know it can be a fleeting, fickle thing. It’s just not enough.”

  “You can’t be this cynical.”

  “Call it experience, Evan.”

  That seemed to knock the wind out of his sails. He brushed by her, and Nia listened to him moving around the room. She wiped the tears off her face, but they just kept coming.

  “At least tell me that this meant something to you, Nia,” he finally ask
ed, his voice low and rough. “Being with you . . . Tell me you felt even a fraction of what I did.”

  Nia couldn’t say the words. They were stuck in her throat, cutting off her breathing. She was sobbing now, her shoulders shaking from the wave of sadness that engulfed her. The bathroom door closed firmly as Evan left the room.

  By the time he emerged from the bedroom a short time later, she was waiting in the kitchen much more composed. It was only a few minutes before seven o’clock yet the day already felt old and worn. He was fully dressed in his now usual black gear and carrying his duffel bag. Nia forced herself to walk forward, meeting him near the front entrance of her apartment. Neither spoke. There was nothing else to be said.

  She opened the door, eyes downcast, praying the tears didn’t return. He brushed his finger under her chin, lifting her face. Their eyes met briefly, hers shining, his dark and clouded. He lowered his head and kissed her, brushing his lips against hers as though to taste them for the last time.

  Then Evan DaCosta was gone, striding down the hall of the duplex and out of her life.

  In the aftermath of the theft, things went back to normal at Worthington fairly quickly. Eager to get things back on track, Nia tried to create a sense of stability and community within the office, rallying everyone toward the upcoming summer auction. There were a few days of gossip around Chris’s mysterious death, including more rumors of drug use. Emma in particular seemed preoccupied and less cheery than usual. While Edward immediately began the search for a new operations manager, Nia suggested they involve Emma in the interview process to keep her engaged.

  Despite how badly things had ended between them, Evan didn’t quite disappear from her life as she had anticipated.

  The day after his departure, she got a call on her cell phone. Nia was having lunch with Lianne after her tutor session, then almost choked when she saw the number. When she didn’t answer, he left a voice-mail message, just to say hello, make sure she was okay.

  The next week, he called again with a message offering more of the same. She answered the third call, Friday evening. It was one week after she had walked away from his commitment. They only talked briefly, stilted. He teased her about what movie she’d be watching, she criticized his bad taste in superheroes. When they hung up, Nia cried, wishing things could be different. Saturday, she stayed at the community center for several hours writing another song. It was the last day of her volunteer term before the summer programs started.

  The following Tuesday, Emma called Nia from the reception desk. Someone had called into the main number looking for Chris Morton, and was waiting on the bridge.

  “This is Nia James. You’re looking for Chris Morton?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Yeah, he left a few messages for me a couple weeks ago. He was friends with my boyfriend, Matt.”

  Nia took in a sharp breath, trying to think of how to reply.

  “Chris isn’t here. What was it regarding?” she finally asked.

  “Look, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. But just tell Chris I don’t want to have anything to do with what Matt was into,” the woman stated. “I found the coke and I flushed it down the toilet. And if he calls me again, I’ll go to the police.”

  Nia sat back in her chair with surprise, but Matt’s girlfriend hung up the phone abruptly before she could say anything in response. The anxiously spoken words replayed in her head for a few moments until they only created other questions. Could it be that Chris had nothing to do with the robbery? That he was trying to reach Jennifer Coombs for something else completely? Is that why he was killed?

  As awkward as it felt to do, Nia picked up the phone and called Evan.

  Chapter 26

  The dream was always the same. It started out perfect, with Nia in his bed, flushed with arousal. Sometimes she was on her back, wearing that pretty pink bra-and-panties set he really liked. The one Evan liked to peel off slowly, revealing all of her warm honey skin, one inch at a time. Other times, she’d be naked, on her stomach, her perfect, round bottom begging for his touch. She was always smiling, her brown, feline eyes sparkling.

  Evan would touch her. Anywhere. Everywhere. She was firm, soft, toned, slick, and wet. It felt so real. She would gasp, lick her lips, bite the bottom one. His balls would tighten painfully, deliciously. He was breathless with the need to bury himself inside her, feel her wrapped around him with silken tightness.

  He pulled her close, widening her legs so she was ready. Her eyes clung to his, penetrating his soul while her kitten-like moans begged him to take her. One sure stroke and he was there, encased deep. Home.

  No!

  The word sent a chill down his spine. Evan looked into her eyes, and they were clouded with pain, hurt, distrust. Suddenly, they were standing apart, still naked but distant. Her red lipstick was smudged, staining the side of her face as tears ran down her cheeks.

  No!

  The moan was his.

  Evan gasped, suddenly awake. It was a few seconds before he realized he was at home in Virginia, in his bed alone. His throbbing erection was only one of the things still lingering from the dream. The details sometimes changed a little, but it always ended the same.

  He took a moment to catch his breath, try to keep the best parts in his memory, erase the other things. Not that it mattered. He would experience it all again in a couple of days, just as he had repeatedly since he had left Boston. Since he’d left her.

  No. Since she had left him.

  Evan sighed, looked at the clock. Just after six o’clock. He rolled out of bed, ignoring the inconvenient morning wood. It seemed like his constant companion these days, reminding him of what he wanted but couldn’t have.

  He dressed in loose shorts and headed out for his daily run along the river, setting a pace guaranteed to prevent too much analytical thinking beyond a strong breathing pattern. It sounded like his team was starting with a new client today. He needed to get his shit together.

  Two hours later, he walked in the Fortis headquarters about six miles south of downtown Alexandria on a four-acre private compound. Lucas was already there, in the main building sitting at his desk engrossed in something on his computer. Evan wondered if his friend and partner sometimes slept there.

  “Hey,” Lucas called when he saw Evan walking across the open space in front of the offices held by the three partners. “Did you get my note?”

  Evan stopped at the threshold of the spacious room enclosed in glass.

  “Yeah, a senator thinks he has a leak in his office?”

  Lucas nodded.

  “We’re meeting him at ten o’clock this morning. I’m hoping you can be lead on it. I’m taking on that security contract with Magnus Motorsports in Toronto, and Sam’s got some work to do with Clement Media.”

  “Clement? We still do work for them?”

  It was the newspaper and magazine empire built by Mikayla’s father, George Clement.

  “Only for George. He’s not running the company anymore, not day-to-day anyway. But we conduct annual personnel audits for him, with full reviews for all the publishing houses. After that situation a few years ago, he wants to make sure there is no sign of media corruption anywhere in the company.”

  “Got it,” Evan stated, nodding. “I can take the new assignment.”

  “Great. I’ve sent you and Sam the preliminary details. Let’s meet at nine-thirty to go over it, before Senator Wolfe arrives,” suggested Lucas. “By the way, do you have any plans for tonight?”

  “Not really, why?”

  “Cierra wants to invite you out for dinner with us,” his friend said, but his mischievous grin said it was more than that.

  “Why would she do that?” probed Evan.

  Lucas shrugged, pretending to continue working at the computer.

  “I may have mentioned that you were brokenhearted.” Evan rolled his eyes. “She has a friend who has a cure for that.”

  “Well, tell Cierra thanks but no thanks. I don’t need a cure.�
�

  “Yeah, you do. We’re all sick and tired of your long face and sad eyes. It’s pathetic, my friend. Quite frankly, it is so nauseating that it ruins my appetite.”

  “That’s a real problem, Luc. You can’t afford to lose any weight,” Evan shot back.

  “What?” Lucas demanded, standing up and looking himself up and down. “What’re you talking about? Just ’cause I’m not the size of the Hulk like you and the Scotsman doesn’t mean I’m skinny!”

  It was a running joke between them all.

  “Not skinny, just slender. Slim?” Evan added at the look of horror on his friend’s face. Serves the bastard good for trying to set me up!

  “It’s lean!” insisted Lucas.

  Evan just laughed, walking away. His office was at the other end of the open space, an add-on to the original office floor plan once he joined Fortis six months ago.

  Despite the ribbing, Evan knew his friends were a little worried about him. His moping was very sad, ruining his own appetite. In fact, he was already down eight pounds. He wished the answer was a night out or to date other women. If it was just another ordinary relationship breakup, that would be an easy solution. Just get back on the horse, and all that. What Evan was feeling wasn’t anything resembling ordinary. His life had been altered forever and there was no quick fix for that.

  It was now a few days since he had last spoken with Nia. It had been a quick chat, the first time she had answered any of his calls. Now, Evan was struggling to resist phoning her again. Even just to say hello. But the day was a busy one. He quickly got wrapped up in the charge of a new mission, and managed to put her out of his mind for a few hours.

  He was working a surveillance plan for the senator’s office when his cell phone rang. It was Nia, and his first thought was that something was wrong.