by Nana Malone
Ricca laughed. “Well, it literally happened like an hour ago.”
Micha frowned. “And what, you called me after everyone else?” That stung.
“Don’t be daft. I had to give my fiancé the thank you, I love you, sex of his life, then I called you. You were my first call. I texted Jai that we need to have a Skype three-way tomorrow so she can schedule us in on her honeymoon.”
Micha felt better then. She was family. “I can’t believe this. Describe the ring, don’t leave anything out.”
“I’d rather show you, and I do need to make all the calls tonight. Mom will be pissed if I don’t call her. My dad too. How about breakfast at the Westhorpe tomorrow? Besides, you need to eat something and get some rest, considering everything that happened. I’ll fill you in on full details tomorrow.”
“Fine, but I expect acting out. I mean full pantomime.”
“You got it, and My?”
“Yeah, Ree?”
“There’s no way I would have called anyone first. You and Jaya are my family. You have to know that.”
Shit. Tears pricked her eyes. She would not cry. She would not cry. She would not cry. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”
“Now see, was that so hard to say? Why the fuck can’t you say that to Caleb?”
Micha flushed. “I’m working up to it. We have a few things to talk about tomorrow.”
Ricca squealed. “What? Young lady, you’ve been withholding. I can’t believe you.”
Micha laughed. “Eight o’clock. Don’t be late.” Hanging up with her friend, she grinned. Both her friends had found the men of their dreams. Was it possible that she had found hers too? Could happily ever after actually exist?
Ryan poked his head in. “Miss Bennett, Mr. Atkins is here. Is everything all right? I heard the commotion.”
“Yeah, Ryan, everything is fine. Fantastic actually. You know what? Why don’t you head home as soon as the final print copy comes in from the art department? I don’t have to look at it tonight. I’ll look at it first thing, so leave it on my desk and get out of here.”
Ryan beamed at her. “Great. Thanks! I had plans tonight.”
“Oh, someone special?”
He grinned an impish grin, and Micha couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m happy to hear that. Apparently love is in the air.” She saw Caleb’s shadow before he appeared in her doorway. Looking good enough to eat, he’d shed his usual suit for dark jeans and a tan pull over. Micha couldn’t help her smile.
Ryan excused himself, leaving her with Caleb. She grinned at her man.
“Something making you extra happy right now?” he asked.
“Besides seeing you? Ricca called. Beckett proposed.”
He grinned. “Ah, he finally pulled the trigger, huh?”
She slapped him on the arm. “Wait, you knew?”
“Of course I knew. He’s been pestering me and Alec for months over the perfect ring, the perfect proposal, and nervous about the possibility of her saying no.”
“Ha, as if that would ever happen.”
“Tell me about it.” He pulled her in for a quick kiss. “You ready to go?”
“Yep. I got a lot of work done, so I’m all yours tonight.”
His eyes darkened. “You should know better than to hand a starving man filet mignon. He’s only going to devour it.”
Clicking her remote, she turned the clear windows to frosty. “I’m yours to devour.”
***
Micha would never get over how quickly Caleb could light her on fire. With nothing more than a glance, her body softened for him, readied for him.
“Come here, Micha.”
She knew better than to fight him by now. That would only send him into super bossy mode. She followed his directions and stepped between his body and her desk. “Yes, handsome, you beckoned?”
His lopsided smile was quick and fleeting. “You actually followed a request the moment I gave it? I’m shocked.”
“As much as I enjoy bossy Caleb, I figured I’d behave today.” She looped her arms around his neck. “I’m here. What exactly did you have in mind?”
“A little something for you.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
He skimmed his hands up the sides of her thighs and lifted her skirt. Slowly, he hooked his fingers into her thong and tugged it down. Micha couldn’t breathe. The look of pure concentration in his gaze told her she was in for a hell of a ride. He slid her thong all the way down, and she wobbled a little as she stepped out of them.
He backed her up against her desk. “Sit down please.”
She did as he instructed and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sitting. Now what?”
“Now widen your thighs.”
With liquid heat pooling in her core, Micha squirmed but did as she was told.
Caleb’s voice was soft but commanding. “Wider, baby.”
When she widened her thighs, Caleb stepped between them and kissed her, drugging her into acquiescence.
Micha moaned.
“Shh, it’s my present. You’ll have to be patient.”
When he kneeled between her thighs, she braced her palms against her glass desk, displacing several items and not giving a damn what fell on the floor. His first lick of her wet channel had her so close to the edge she clamped her thighs together around his head. “Jesus, Caleb.”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“Only as much as you’re trying to kill me.”
He lapped at her juices with long, flat strokes of his tongue. When he circled her clit with the tip, she bit her lip. She had to be careful, or she’d scream the place down and everyone would come calling to see what the hell was the matter.
Micha lifted her hips in an effort to get closer to him. To force him to make her come. He slid two fingers into her wet heat and worked them in time with his tongue. With his lips, he hovered just over her clit and blew on the sensitive bud before wrapping his lips around it and suckling. While his fingers drove her wild, penetrating her flesh, his thumb grazed the rosebud of her ass.
Micha went shock still with her heart hammering in her chest. “Caleb?”
He lifted his head to meet her gaze. His moss green eyes were so dark they were almost black. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.”
He suckled her clit again and continued to stroke the rosette of her ass as he sank two fingers into her.
When the tingling started in her toes, Micha had no choice but to wrap her legs around him and let go. Complete surrender.
As her orgasm shook her, her mind spoke the words she couldn’t give voice to. I love you.
***
When Micha could finally breathe and walk again, she let Caleb help her into her coat. “How’s Annie?”
“She’s fine for now.”
Micha listened quietly as Caleb filled her in on the rest of his day.
“You mean to tell me that crazy bitch tried to have me killed today?”
Caleb winced. “Yeah, unfortunately, I think so. Given today, I’ve been trying to backtrack to see if her actions match what’s been happening with you.”
Micha frowned. “Maybe, but I’m not sure it fits. She had no reason to fuck with me. We didn’t get together until after the stalking incidents.”
Caleb linked their hands together. “Honey, if she is trying to hurt me through you and threw out a red herring or two, it’s not hard. Any idiot can see how I felt about you. It’s not like I hide it very well.”
“I didn’t know.”
He kissed the end of her nose as he led her out of the building. “Yeah, well, you didn’t want to know. I’ve been in love with you for two years. Anybody who knows me as well as Sabine does can figure it out. Especially if she’s been watching my movements. She knew exactly what to say to you that night to get you to run.”
Micha let some of the tension roll out of her shoulders. So just like that she could have her life back if they caught Sabine?
“So what’s the plan to catch her?”
“I’m working something out right now. I could do a classic prisoner exchange.”
“You can’t hand over Annie.” Shock and incredulity stunned her motionless.
He tugged on her hand. “Relax, I’m not going to hand over Annie. But I want Sabine to think that. We still have some of the bugs from my office, so we can set a trap for her. I only want to use Annie as bait.”
“No.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen to that girl.”
“That’s not what I meant. I know you wouldn’t. What I’m saying is I think you should use me as bait. It’ll be safe for Annie, and we can completely control the situation.”
“Are you out of your damn mind? No, Micha.”
She freed her hand from him. “Look. It’s my life she’s taken away from me for the last several weeks. I want it back. I want to take it back. I don’t want to allow her to make me scared. Besides, you’ll be there every step of the way.”
“Why the hell would you volunteer for something like this?”
“Because I want my life back.”
Chapter 30
Micha tried not to fidget as she sat at Cafe Nine Ten. She was in a window seat, so she was clearly visible to the street and anybody who cared to look. Caleb’s men were also all over the place. There were three in the restaurant with her. Two others on the patio, three on the street. And of course Caleb in the car parked directly in front of the restaurant.
Micha strained and stared out the window, but she noticed nothing out of place. It was a typical La Jolla day. Shoppers, stay at home moms, and the too-rich-to-work crowd milled the street with tourists and popped in and out for lunch. Caleb had arranged with the restaurant to seat all bystanders in the back patio so that the upper restaurant was mostly clear. He didn’t want any collateral damage.
Last night when she’d volunteered for this little date as bait, she hadn’t known what to expect. But mostly she’d wanted to have this whole thing over with. To finally be done. If Sabine was behind all this, then she was diabolical and just this side of crazy. Or maybe not really. If she’d been trying to scare Micha and Caleb into cooperating, then it had, in fact, worked, hadn’t it?
When they’d returned to her place the night before, Tom and crew brought one of the active bugs over, and she and Caleb had set their plans. Both speaking into it as naturally as they could, when in reality, they’d been perched on the edge of their seats around her coffee table going over plans to make up their botched lunch date.
The plan was she’d wait at the restaurant as bait, but when Caleb didn’t show for lunch, she’d call a phone with another active bug, berate him, and he’d tell her he was working to keep the informant safe. He’d give up his position with the informant, and Sabine would think that she was unprotected. Caleb had another team at his supposed location with the informant, waiting to grab Sabine if she opted to leave Micha be and go for Annie.
An hour into it, Micha had started to sweat. She’d been holding herself stiff and rigid since she’d arrived. Finally a waiter had come over to her table and slipped a note under her hand. She glanced down at it.
Relax.
She rolled her eyes, but tried to release some of the tension from her shoulders. It didn’t do much good. She still didn’t know how to be natural. Give her a camera crew or a room full of people any day. That she could do and not bat an eyelash. Even though she’d volunteered for this, she was terrified, and anxious, and worried.
They had wanted to stay off the radios as much as possible, but eventually she heard Caleb’s smooth, velvety voice. “Did you get my note, Angel?”
She nodded slowly too afraid to speak.
“Then why aren’t you relaxed?”
She shrugged. His responding chuckle did warm her up enough from the inside so that she could relax her shoulders. But she still didn’t feel any more at ease.
“Make the call, sweetheart.”
Micha cleared her throat, then placed the call to Caleb’s cell. They both played their parts well and ran through the script.
“You’re late.”
“I had to move Annie. We’re at the hotel going out the back tunnels.”
“I’ll meet you back at my place.”
And on they went till the close of the script. Then there was nothing left to do but wait some more.
After another hour and thirty minutes, Caleb called the mission. Three of his guys flanked her, giving Sabine no clear shot if she was, in fact, watching them. “You guys, I feel like Michelle Obama, which is nice because she’s fierce, but is this necessary?”
Tom’s answer was a firm “Yes” as he scuttled her into Caleb’s waiting car.
Once she was settled, she glanced at Caleb. “I don’t get it, what happened? I thought for sure she’d take the bait.”
“Me too.” He expertly dug out his battery and removed the listening device attached to it. “I think she had us made from the moment we found the first bug. She knew there was no exchange. And she knew she’d been effective in scaring you, so there was no reason to come after you today.”
“I don’t get it. So you’re saying I’m not the target?”
“Shit, I don’t know.” Caleb spoke rapidly into his phone after tossing the listening device out the window and rolling over it with a tire. “Report in.”
Through the speaker, Micha could hear the team near the convention center report that they had no activity. The two-man teams back at their place reported no activity, and the men at both of their respective offices reported nothing.
There was one hit though. The man he’d posted at the front desk at the Westhorpe called to let him know that a woman had come in posing as a US Marshall looking for Annie. She’d shown him the picture and insisted on surveillance images. Caleb cursed.
“There’s no way she could know that Annie is there. There’s no record of her. There’s only a record of me, and Jaya, and Ricca.”
“I know. She’ll hack the security feed, and she still won’t find Annie, but I don’t like her looking so close. She’s already figured out my relationship to Alec, so she’s looking at the hotel. It’s only a matter of time until she finds the house.”
Micha shook her head. “The house is in Adele’s name, and Adele has property all over the city. Annie has to be safe.”
“You don’t know Sabine. Only choice I have is to meet her head-on. I’m calling in reinforcements.”
Chapter 31
“Do you mind if we stop by the office before we head back to the house? I want to grab the notes on my next interview and review Adele’s proposal of having me anchor the show.”
Caleb nodded. “You’re sure you’re feeling up to it tonight? It’s been a long, complicated couple of days. Maybe it’s time for a little break. Adele’s happy with the Jax interview.”
“Yeah, I know, but I can’t turn it off. Sitting in that restaurant for two and a half hours—I sort of feel like I got all dressed up and no one showed up to take me to the prom. I’m too keyed up to go home and sit, and I know you have to make arrangements to get Annie home.”
“Make it quick. I don’t have anyone in your building today, so it’ll be you and me. I don’t want to take any chances and be outmanned, in case Sabine tries some other insane tactic to get our attention. In and out, all right? Actually, why don’t you tell me what you want, and I’ll send someone for it.”
Micha narrowed her eyes. She was in no mood to do this shit again. He had to ease up sometime. “Look. We know its Sabine taking all these shots to get to you through me. She didn’t take a shot at me when I was a sitting duck. I’m going to run in for thirty seconds tops and grab my stuff. You can’t protect me from everything. Besides, I already told Ryan I’d pick up those notes tonight. I need to get them to the rest of the crew by morning.”
He ground his teeth. “I’m coming with you.”
She was about to argue when he clicked his jaw shut
, and she saw him working that muscle under his cheek.
“Fine. But you’ll see that you’re being over-protective. The cops said there’s been no activity for several weeks. I really think this is Sabine’s handy work. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
Caleb shook his head as he pulled up to the front of the building. “Don’t underestimate how dangerous she is. She killed that poor kid’s parents and has killed countless others like them. Her plan was to sell Annie back to Cabrillo for whatever it is she wants from him. She won’t back off just because we know she’s coming. She won’t take it easy on you because you’re a woman. She will kill and annihilate everything in her path to get to her goal. You have to remember that. It’ll save your life. And as good as you are at Krav Maga, she is lethal at fighting styles you’ve never even heard of, so you’ll want to keep your guard up.”
Micha squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up. “Fine. I’m sufficiently freaked. Happy?”
“No. I won’t be happy till I neutralize her.” He slid out of the car easily and jogged around the passenger side to let her out.
The moment she was exposed to the balmy night air, she felt the change in him. He was no longer a slightly over-protective boyfriend. He was as cold as steel and on full alert. He was working now. She entered the building and swiped her ID in the interior door. After hours, security was posted in the garage, but not in the main lobby.
They rode up the elevator in silence for several minutes before Caleb leaned in and said, “Look, I’m not trying to freak you out. I want you taking Sabine seriously.”
Micha let some of the tension roll out of her shoulders. “Yes, I know. And I understand. I wish she was fucking someone else’s life up, that’s all.”
The elevator chimed when they reached their floor and they exited, turning right toward the SDM entrance. A whirring sound started from the opposite end of the hallway. Caleb immediately unholstered his weapon, and Micha drew in a long breath to steady her nerves. She wasn’t the hysterical type. She also wasn’t dumb enough to ask a million questions and give anything way. She knew the drill. In times like this, she listened to him. He was the one carrying the gun.