“There won’t be a next time,” Titus said darkly. “I can’t have my head muddled by a woman.” He looked up to Sol. “Send them both home.”
“Erica found something,” Sol replied. The thought of sending her home caused his heart to squeeze.
Titus looked up at him, the emotion from earlier wiped away.
“Something?” Titus said, his voice all business.
Sol nodded, glad to not have to talk about feelings any longer.
“She just glanced at the latest reports and was able to see there were a number of errors in the accounting. She thinks someone is stealing from us.”
“Did she have any idea what Mark Kincaid was up to?” Major Carter said, pulling out his phone.
Sol shook his head. “She didn’t seem to like him much.”
“And you trust her?” Titus stood and righted the desk.
“I do,” he said. It surprised him how quickly he answered, but he found there was no reason not to. Despite her connections, she seemed to be innocent in all of this. “I’d like to hire her to stay on and help follow the paper trail. She seemed to think she could find out where the root of this is. Marius would like the help I’m sure.”
“And what about the Horatius Group?” Major Carter asked.
“It would be a good way to keep an eye on her. If she’s working with them, we’ll find out. If they are after her, then they will come to us. Either way it’s a win.” Sol looked between the two men.
“I don’t like using a woman as bait.” The major stared hard at him.
Sol shrugged. “She’s in danger either way. This way we can help protect her.”
Titus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Fine. Make it happen.” He pulled his hand down and stared meaningfully at Sol. “The other woman goes home, but I’ll leave Erica up to you.”
Sol nodded and left to secure the women.
Chapter Six
Erica paced the one room of the cabin as Kate sat calmly on the bed. Both had rode silently back to the cabin with the major, who had given them strict instructions to stay put.
She tilted her head back and finished off the rum from the mini-fridge and tossed the bottle into the trash. Feeling much calmer than before, she turned to Kate.
“What the hell was that all about?” Erica sat hard on the bed next to her.
Kate shrugged. “He was pissing me off.”
Erica blinked at the casual way her friend was reacting. “I think it was more like you were pissing him off.”
Kate giggled. “I did, didn’t I?”
The rum settled into her stomach, and the warmth spread through her. She had never really been much of a drinker.
“Kate,” Erica said, “he could have really hurt you.”
Kate shook her head. “He wasn’t going to hurt me.”
“What?” Erica started at her friend. Maybe she was in some sort of shock.
“Judging by the front of his pants, he had other things in mind.”
Erica gasped. “That’s so…” She struggled for the right word.
“Animalistic,” her friend sighed.
Not exactly the word she was going for. “I was going to say barbaric.”
Kate turned and stared at her crossly. “Oh, please. Tell me there isn’t something totally hot in a man wanting you that badly. I’m sure Mr. Tall, Blond and Viking isn’t that far off from bending you over and having his way with you.”
Erica blushed at the mention of Sol. Not that she would complain if he did, but it didn’t seem very likely. Sol seemed to hold himself in check. His reserved nature almost drew her more. A heat grew in her as she thought about what it would be like with him.
They sat quietly watching the television for some time. The same loop of a camera phone shot of Sol looped on the screen. The video showed his massive form, tight and protective, as he jumped off the balcony with her in his arms. She stared in awe at the look on his face as he searched the crowd for the next danger. Everything about his stance gave off a protective vibe, and she couldn’t help but be thrilled by his actions.
They were startled by a knock at the door. Erica stood and made her way to the door. The fuzzy haze of the rum was in full effect now. When she opened the door, her eyes were immediately drawn to Sol. He had a gash across his face and a bruise on his cheek. She wondered what had happened after they left. The man to his left cleared his throat. Her eyes went to him.
He was tall like the other hybrids. His short, brown hair was different from the others she had met. Most of the hybrids they had seen kept their hair on the longer side. More so, he had a wide welcoming smile that drew her to him immediately.
“This is Apollo,” Sol said, and she turned back to him. “He will drive you both home.”
“Oh,” Erica said. She hadn’t meant it to be so breathless sounding, but the thought of leaving so soon didn’t seem as good as it had a moment ago. “We’ll get our things.”
“Wait.” Sol grasped her arm gently, and excitement zipped through her.
She watched as his nostrils flared a few times, and she was reminded of before the fire. It seemed impossible that he could tell what he did to her, but she wasn’t so sure of that.
The warmth of his hand radiated through her arm as he continued to hold onto it.
“We’d like you to return and help us,” he said. His thumb skimmed the skin at her wrist, and she felt her pulse jump. He dropped her arm and continued. “We’ll pay you, of course. And set you up with accommodations.”
Erica thought for a moment. “How long?”
This could prove to be a good move. She was looking for work, and this was work. It would also look pretty good on a resume.
Sol shrugged. “Maybe a few weeks. Marius has been working the books for some time, so it’s just until we figure out who’s behind the skimming.”
She turned back to Kate, who seemed more than a little disappointed she had not been asked to stay. Kate nodded at her.
“Okay,” she said to Sol. “I’ll do it.”
For the first time since meeting him, Sol smiled, and her knees went a little weak.
“Great,” he said. “Apollo will take you to get what you need and bring you back with him. We look forward to working with you.”
She watched as he walked back to the jeep and drove away.
Apollo cleared his throat. “I’ll just wait in the car until you’re ready.”
* * *
They drove quietly for the first part. Kate chose to ride in the back and fell asleep after some time.
Erica glanced at Apollo, who had been very nice this whole time, including loading the trunk for Kate and making sure they were comfortable inside. He hummed from time to time to the radio, and Erica found herself becoming more comfortable with him as time went on.
They chatted quietly about movies and music until they reached her apartment. She glanced in the back at the still sleeping Kate.
“Go ahead and take her home. I’ll pack while you’re gone, and you can pick me back up later,” she said.
Apollo looked between her two-story building and the mirror. Uncertainly laced his brow.
“I’m really not supposed to leave you,” he said.
“I’ll be fine.” She waved a hand at the entrance to the building as she climbed out of the car. “It’s got a security lock on the main entrance, so you’d have to have a key to even get inside the building.”
Apollo glanced back to the building again and nodded. “Okay.”
The car idled outside until she was safely in the building. She waved once the door was closed behind her and watched as it rolled away from the curb.
In the elevator, she thought about the position with the hybrids. Although it wasn’t permanent, it was a good job. Her thoughts drifted to Sol. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, being able to see him again wasn’t on the bottom of her list. She’d have to be blind not to appreciate his wild good looks.
Erica reached her apartment an
d went in, locking the door behind her. She glanced around, but nothing seemed out of place. It was all as it had been before she left. Had it really just been yesterday? That seemed like so long ago, but it had been this time yesterday that she had crammed into Mark’s car.
Pushing thoughts of Mark out of her head, she went to the closet to pull out a decent-sized suitcase. Her overnight bag was still at the lodge with God knew what packed inside. Kate was known to push her on clothing choice. Most of the time it wasn’t a bad thing, but there were times she went a bit too far.
Erica pulled the hard-shelled case into the bedroom and tossed it on the bed. She set to work dropping in all the items she would need, starting with the bathroom. Most of her things were already in the other bag, but she dropped in extra products just in case. When she came back out of the bathroom, Mark was standing at her bedroom door.
Erica stopped and stared at him in shock.
“How did you get in here?” she said. Her voice wavered as she spoke.
“Are you going back with them?” He gestured to the bag on the bed.
She tried to ignore the fear creeping through her. Mark was an asshole, but he wasn’t dangerous. Still, she stayed at the door of the bathroom.
“Get out,” she said to him.
He ignored her and moved into the room. “If you go back with them, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
Her heart kicked up into her throat, as she watched him rifle through the open drawer to her undergarments.
“I don’t know what you…” she started to say but stopped when he slammed the door shut.
“All you had to do was come work with me.” His face contorted in rage, and she stepped back in fear. “But you just had to be all self-righteous.”
She glanced around for something to defend herself with. The best thing she could find to hit him with was her cosmetics bag. It wasn’t very heavy, but it might throw him off a moment, letting her escape.
His face softened as he took a few steps toward her.
“It was supposed to be you,” he said quietly. “We were supposed to be together.”
“What are you talking about?” she whispered. “I didn’t even know you before Kate.”
Mark rolled his eyes. “She was just a stepping stone to you. Once Andersons laid you off, you were supposed to come work with me. You still could.” He raked a hand through his wild hair.
For the first time, she noticed how disheveled he was. Heavy stubble dotted his face, and it looked like he hadn’t slept. His soot-covered clothes from the night before were wrinkled and torn in parts. She wondered if the man in the woods last night had been him.
“How did you know Andersons would let me go?” Her hands gripped the bag tightly.
“They made it happen,” he said simply.
A chill swept through her.
“Who are ‘they’?” she asked.
He froze. His eyes fixed on her face. She knew. Only one group would be willing to go these lengths to get at her and the hybrids. The Horatius Group.
A loud bang came from the front door. He turned to look toward the noise. Taking her chance, she swung the bag with everything she had and slammed it into him, making him sway to the side. She charged through and shoved the off-balance man toward the bed. Knowing she didn’t have much time, she raced for the front door. She could only hope it was Apollo on the other side.
She had just rounded the couch when Sol crashed through the door. Not stopping, she threw herself into his arms. She couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked her body even if she had wanted.
Sol cursed as he tried to control his anger. He turned and glared when Apollo rushed up. They would be having a discussion about this later.
“Bedroom.” He nodded to the door.
He watched as the man raced into the bedroom. When he came back in, the grim line on Apollo’s face told Sol it wasn’t going to be good news.
“He went down the fire escape and jumped into a car,” he said.
“See if you can follow them,” Sol said. “I’ll meet you back at the lodge later.”
Apollo nodded and raced out of the apartment.
Erica slowly stopped shaking and sobbing. He rubbed her back and cursed how helpless she seemed at this moment and that he hadn’t been there to protect her.
From the car downstairs, he had listened as she made her way into the apartment. A second set of footsteps set his skin on edge, and he knew that this had been a bad idea, but then Apollo was supposed to wait outside the door for her. The point was to give their enemy a chance to make their move without putting her in any true danger. It was a slim chance something would happen, but he should have trusted his first instinct.
They knew there was a risk someone might contact her, but he never would have guessed Mark. Nor would he had guessed that Mark was working with the Horatius Group. Of course, it all made sense now, and he wondered who else in the government might be working with them, even people who didn’t pretend to be mere financial analysts. As a contractor with the government, Mark would have all the access needed to be the eyes and ears of the Horatius Group.
“How did you get in here?” Erica leaned back to ask him.
Sol gave a sheepish smile. “I owe your landlord one door.”
She sniffed a few times and laughed. “What are you even doing here?”
He could see the confusion in her eyes and the hurt as realization hit.
“Did you know this would happen?” she whispered. The pain in her voice lanced through him.
“We didn’t know for certain,” he said. She jerked away from him. “Erica, I’m sorry. It’s just so hard to know, and Apollo was supposed to stay.”
She closed her eyes. The lower lids were puffy from crying, and red paths traced her face. She threw an arm over her eyes and drew in a shaky breath.
“It was Mark. It was all to get to me,” she said.
“I know,” he said.
She pulled off her arm to look at him. “You know? Do you have the place bugged or something?”
Sol shook his head. “We have very good hearing.”
She groaned and threw her arm back over her eyes. “Great,” she mumbled. “Well that doesn’t really explain how you knew who he was.”
Sol ran a hand through his hair, and she watched his face tighten in irritation.
“Mark has done work for the government for some time,” he said. “Much like you know him to shut down businesses, he’s been the guy to step into government projects and help gather information to defund projects, like some of the help the government’s been giving us.”
Erica frowned at this. She knew Mark did some work for the government, but this meant he knew about the hybrids.
“We needed to offer enough evidence as to why we deserved funding.” He placed a hand on the couch and seemed drained. “In the end, we had enough proof, but certain senators weren’t happy with this decision. Well, a certain senator at least. We knew he was on the war path from the decision made by the committee but didn’t realize he would go this far. If we had…” He shook his head. “Well this never would have happened.”
Erica groaned as she thought over everything. This was all one giant clusterfuck.
“Are you…” Sol paused, not quite certain if he wanted to ask the next question. He sighed. “Are you going back with me?”
He watched as she looked around the room and then back to him.
“Yes,” she said softly. “I need to finish packing, but…” She stopped and twisted her fingers in her lap. “Will you go in the room with me?”
Sol nodded and got up to follow her into the room. It wasn’t quite what he expected. Everything about her seemed so wound up. Seeing the light and breezy room, it felt more like a tropical get away than the bedroom of an accountant: light aqua blues and white with hints of lemon yellows. In the middle of the room lay a large dark wood four-poster bed. The panels of flowing white fabric seemed to beg for a sea breeze.
“Have a
seat on the bed while I pack,” she said. She gestured to the side of the bed near the suitcase.
He watched as she folded and placed various pieces of clothing in. When she finished with her closet, she opened up a drawer and tossed several pieces of frilly garments onto the floor.
“He touched them,” she said quietly.
Anger surged through him at the thought of the creep touching her things. A rumble came from low in his chest the more he thought about it.
When she turned around, her hands were filled with more frilly things, and a blush tinted her cheeks. The rumble turned into something else as he watched her fill the suitcase. He looked from the garments to her and wondered what she was wearing beneath her very proper skirt and blouse.
Still blushing, she closed the lid and went for the handle.
As they walked into the living room, she stopped to stare at the gaping hole where the door should have been.
“What should I do?” She looked up to him as he walked past.
“I’ll have some men out here to fix both doors. It will be fine.”
Sol waited in the hall, listening intently for the slightest sound. He was relieved when she finally followed him down to the car. Secured and on their way, he was glad to have her safe with him once again.
Chapter Seven
Erica watched the outside once again turn from city to bare winter landscape. Snow was starting to build in some areas on the ground, and patches of ice littered the landscape. Soon there would be nearly too much snow for easy travel.
She didn’t mind. There was nothing she liked more than helping an underdog, and the hybrids were like the ultimate underdog. It would be an interesting career move, but it wouldn’t be the first time she worked a high-profile position. Her internship with then Assistant Attorney General Anthony Hest had taught her all she needed to know about public profiles.
She glanced over and studied Sol’s profile as he drove. Everything about him gave off a feeling of strength, even the line of his jaw.
“What?” He turned to look at her.
Luna Lodge: Sol Page 5