All I thought about, all that mattered, was getting her to safety.
I want to fucking kill that bastard for defying my threat, but most especially for having the bollocks to sit next to her. His actions clearly said: I can find you anywhere, anytime. I’ll do whatever it takes and threaten whomever I want around you to get your undivided attention.
Once Mina’s no longer threatened by this Regan thing, I will hunt him down. I turn into the garage and close it behind my car, shutting off the engine.
Until then, she’s safest with me.
“Why won’t you talk to your friend?” Mina asks as she follows me into my home.
It’s like she’d been reading my mind the whole way there. I set her bag down and shrug out of my overcoat, then put my hand out to take hers, but she shakes her head, refusing to unbutton it. “Why, Den?”
“He’s not my friend,” I say gruffly. When she just stands her ground, I reach for the button on her jacket.
She puts her hand over mine. “But he used to be.”
It wasn’t a question. When I nod, she lets me unbutton her coat and slip it off her shoulders.
I’m relieved when she drops the subject and walks off toward my kitchen. “I’m starving. What do you have to eat?”
While I make us steak and mushrooms, Mina prepares a salad. We work easily in the kitchen, as if we’ve done it a hundred times before. As stubborn as she can be, this ease she and I seemed to have settled in mystifies me. Instead of sitting at the table, Mina chooses to sit on the barstools at the island and immediately digs into her steak with gusto.
“For a petite woman, you eat well.” I smirk that she’s already eaten half her steak before I’ve taken two bites.
“I can’t help it. This is delicious!” Holding up her fork, she ticks off a list in the air. “Great cook, fabulous singer, exceptional bodyguard. Who knew you were so multitalented?” She spears another piece of meat, then frowns slightly. “I’m starting to feel like an underachiever.”
I let out a low chuckle. “I’ve had decades to perfect said talents.”
Mina tilts her head, her gaze narrowing. “How old are you, Dennet Barasa?”
“A lot more years than you,” I respond before taking another bite of my steak.
She eyes me, scrutinizing my face. “I’d say you’re at least Sebastian’s age.”
“Close enough.”
“Close enough? That’s all I get?”
I dig my fork into my salad. “You do realize it’s rude to ask someone’s age, right?”
“Says who? Old people?” Mina wrinkles her nose. “Also, you know it’s rude to point out how much a woman eats, right?”
“Touché.” I smile, enjoying sparring with her. “Guess I’m old then.”
“Nope, just old-fashioned,” she says, nodding. “But that’s what makes you so appealing.”
She’s not looking at me at the moment, but just hearing her say that tightens my chest. I can’t let whatever is happening between us progress, but damn it’s hard to stop it. She’s a delightful storm, tearing up the roadblocks I’ve carefully constructed around myself. A force of nature in a small package I can’t stop being drawn to.
“So tell me why you ditched me to entertain a roomful of people tonight.” She pulls me from my musings as she takes a bite of her salad.
“I told you, it was a—”
“Yeah, yeah…a negotiation. Must be another old-fashioned term.”
I set my fork down and push my plate back. “The bloke playing the sax used to be a crime scene investigator. I asked Travis to go over to the hotel room that I had slipped some cash to the night clerk to assure discretion for the day. In return, I had to sing a couple songs. I didn’t tell him anything about the room or why I wanted him to go over it. I suspect he won’t find a thing.”
“I’m confused.” She shakes her head, her brow furrowed. “If you don’t think he’ll find anything, why are you sending him?”
“Because of the sheer lack of evidence. Before you got there, I did a quick sweep with a black light on my phone. I didn’t pick up any body fluids. It could be that my phone just didn’t see it, but in a hotel like that, there’s bound to be some. While other body fluids do, blood doesn’t show up under black light. Travis is a professional. He has all the right tools to make any bit of blood reveal itself. If there’s anything there, he’ll find it.”
Mina finishes her salad, then pushes her plate away too. “So basically you want him to prove you’re right? That the room was professionally cleaned?”
I turn toward her, resting my forearm on the counter. “I want to prove you were right. And that someone tried to cover up what actually happened in that room.”
She blinks a couple of times. “Then what?”
“That depends on what my tech friend finds. We might get lucky and there’s proof Regan was there, or even better some clue as to who was there eliminating her presence.”
“But I don’t understand. Why do you think I might be in danger?”
“We don’t know how or why Regan died, but someone went to a lot of trouble to erase her from that room. We can’t rule out that they might have seen you enter or exit and consider you a witness.”
Mina puts a shaky hand over her mouth. “I didn’t even consider that.”
My first instinct is to comfort her and tell her I’ll keep her safe, but instead of taking her hand like I want to, I stand and pick up our plates. “That’s what I’m here for. The more I think like a criminal, the better I can protect you. Are you ready for some tea now?”
Mina blows out a calming breath. “Only if you’re ready to share your best Oxford stories. I need the distraction.”
I smirk that she found a way to pull some stories out of me, but the distraction will keep me from thinking about her in ways I shouldn’t be, so I grudgingly nod my agreement.
“I just know you have some doozies.” Hopping off the stool, she comes around the island while pushing up her sweater’s sleeves. “I’ll help with the dishes so we can get to you spilling your college days’ escapades sooner.”
“You do realize you’ll have to reciprocate,” I say, while filling the sink with hot soapy water.
“Who me?” Mina exhales a low laugh and takes the dry towel I hand her. “I told you that I’m pretty boring.”
“Not possible.” I pin her with a knowing gaze as I lower the dishes into the sink. “You have to share at least one story.”
“Well, there was that brief time in college when I delivered drugs.”
Not a lot surprises me, but that certainly does. I glance her way, but hold my silence as I lower dishes into the sink.
“It’s not exactly what you think,” she hedges, looking regretful that she mentioned it. “But it wasn’t my proudest moment either. Around that time is when Talia kind of fell into my life, which was the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Case in point, there’s nothing boring about you. I must hear about this dodgy history.”
“Are you expecting a quid pro quo?” Her grip tightens on the towel, sudden apprehension evident.
“If you want to dig around in my uni archives…” I smile a ruthless challenge, anticipating the fierce negotiation ahead. “You’ll have to share more details.”
After Mina settles in for the night in my bed, I set my gun on the coffee table downstairs, then lie back on the sofa in the dark, tucking my pillow behind my head. Tonight after dinner, once I shared a few stories that made Mina laugh at college boy stunts, the longer we talked, the more animated she became. She completely opened up with her own stories and filled the whole room with sunshine.
At one point, she even acted out an entire scavenger hunt from her business fraternity days that involved picking up a box of chicken, but one student took the hunt literally and brought back a box of live chicks. The moment she finished her last story, she laughed at the memory, then crashed on the couch, her eyelids drooping in sheer exhaustion.
T
hat’s when I knew the long, emotionally charged day had finally caught up to her. I insisted that she go upstairs, but after several back and forth debates as to who would take the couch, she finally caved to my forceful “no” and walked her sexy arse up the stairs, where she promptly passed out.
Lying here by myself, the living room suddenly feels empty, like it’s missing a personality. Now that Mina’s wide smile, perky nose, rosy cheeks and golden locks are no longer lighting it up, that’s when it hits me…my home lacks an essence.
A heart and soul.
That’s not surprising, I suppose. I lost mine a long time ago.
Experiencing unfettered Mina tonight was like watching a pixie flutter around my home, leaving energized fairy dust in her wake. Even now, I’m sure Mina’s only taking up a tiny portion of my king-size bed, but she’s infusing that bit with her presence. Her perfect little body and tight bum are warming my sheets, while that gorgeous tumble of long blond hair is leaving her sweet smell behind on my pillows. My body tightens as my imagination kicks in and I have to adjust myself, twice.
I grunt my frustration, knowing I need to get her out of my head. So I think back to earlier this evening and conjure my anger at Hugh. Once I’m infuriated all over again, I pick up my phone and unblock his number to send him a text.
You crossed the line the instant you involved those around me. You’d better leave the country while you still can. Once I find you, you’ll pay for today’s stunt.
After I send Hugh a text, I immediately re-block the number. I didn’t send the message expecting a response. I would have to trust him to listen to anything he had to say.
My phone says it’s almost one. I thought for sure I would’ve heard back from Travis by now. The band was only supposed to play until nine. My hope is his report will give us a potential lead to take to Sebastian.
Just before I set my phone down, a text from Travis comes through.
This room has been professionally cleaned. The place was operating-room spotless. But, I’m the best and I didn’t give up. It became like a puzzle. I knew that no one was that good. I searched every nook and cranny and found some blood splatter. It was in the piping crease at the top of the cloth headboard. I’ll have to run a test against DNA to prove the person’s identity…that is if this is about a concern of foul play, which is usually why professional cleaners are brought in. I can tell you this; it was female blood. This doesn’t prove much, but it can prove the person’s presence. If you’re concerned that something went down here, get me a DNA sample so I can do a comparison.
Rubbing my jaw, I send him a text back.
Thank you for your help, Travis. I was concerned that something had happened. I’ll send a follow up DNA for comparison tomorrow.
Once the text is sent, I close my eyes. The moment I let my head rest briefly on the couch, Mina lets out a scream.
The fear in her voice clamps a vise around my chest. Bolting upright, I grab my gun and vault up the stairs three at a time.
Chapter Nine
Den
I enter the room on full alert. My gun at the ready, I survey the dark room for an intruder, but all I see is Mina tossing around under the covers. Tears seep out of her closed eyes as she moans, her voice a raspy whisper, “I don’t want to die.”
I set my gun on the table and sit beside her. The instant I touch her shoulder, her eyes fly open and she lets out a gasp that sounds more relieved than fearful.
“You screamed in your sleep.” Releasing her, I continue to hold her gaze in the bit of light from the street lamppost. “Do you remember what you were dreaming?”
She exhales an unsteady breath as she sits up and shudders, clearly trying to shake off whatever images tortured her sleep.
“I dreamed about Regan in the hotel room.”
I pull the oversized t-shirt that had slipped off her shoulder back into place. I blink back surprise at how that small bit of her sleep-warmed skin makes me ache for more. “It’s normal that you dreamed about it. That would be traumatic for anyone to walk in on.”
Mina slowly nods and swallows. “But this time as soon as I stepped into the room, Regan was very much alive. She was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. When her gaze connected with mine, she let out a crazed laugh right before she plunged the letter opener into her chest. I screamed and ran over to try to stop her, but she yanked the weapon out and plunged it in again and again. Blood spewed everywhere, its warm madness coating my body and clothes. Then she fell back onto the covers in the same position I found her, her body so still.” Her voice quivers. “It’s like time rewound and put me there just before it happened so I could see inside her head.”
“It was just a dream, Mina. It’s your mind attempting to fill in the blanks.”
Staring straight ahead, she shivers and runs her hands up and down her bare arms underneath the shirt’s short sleeves. “There was so much darkness in that room, Den. She wanted me to know.”
“What did she want you to know?” I ask, realizing she needs to reason this out so the dream will release its tight grip on her.
She shifts her gaze to me. “That she didn’t have a choice.”
I want to tell her that she’s right, that something happened. But right now she needs her sleep so that tomorrow she can switch her thought process to the fact Regan was most likely murdered. Mina has experienced a horrible trauma. Losing a friend, especially in such a gruesome way, can really mess with your head.
“You’ve had an emotional shock to your system. Lay back down and try to sleep. You need it to recharge.”
She grabs my arm when I start to stand, her hand shaking. “Will you please stay?” When I hesitate, her fingers tighten. “Just until I fall back to sleep.”
I fold my hand around her tight grip on my arm, then lift my chin toward the chair near the window. “I’ll be right there. Now try to put the dream out of your mind.”
Mina nods and once she releases her hold, I move my gun to the small table beside the chair and settle in to wait for her even breathing.
Several minutes pass in the darkness, and just as I close my eyes to briefly rub my fingers over them, I feel the air shift near me. Eyes flying open, I instinctively encircle Mina with my arms as she crawls into my lap. I frown down at her in the darkness, but before I can ask what she’s doing, she rests her head on my shoulder and whispers, “Can I just stay here for a little bit? I can’t fall asleep.”
I tense, unsure how to respond in this situation, until I realize her whole body is quaking. She’s still truly shaken.
She’s so slight, I barely feel her weight, but I definitely feel the curve of her sweet bum resting on my thigh. Forcing myself to focus on my job and her needs, I curve my arm around her shoulders and cup my fingers around her forehead, tilting her head back so I can look at her. All I want to do is press my mouth to hers, to find out if her lips are as soft as they look, but I stay focused. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I release her and she shakes her head, the scent of vanilla, lavender, and her own arousing smell surrounding me in torturous harmony. “No, please just tell me something to distract me. Tell me about Hugh.”
As she flattens her hand on my chest, and lays her head back on my shoulder, snuggling closer against my t-shirt, I exhale harshly. Where the fuck do I put my hands? After a couple tense seconds, I settle on resting one on her shoulder, then folding my elbow around her legs to tuck her closer. Needing a distraction to keep from thinking about the fact her sleep shirt has ridden up, exposing shapely thighs, while her breasts press intimately against my ribcage, I mentally recite every single case number I can recall. Getting hard right now would be the height of unprofessional. But bloody hell, I’m not a dead man and she smells so good. Talking about Hugh should kill any bit of lingering desire.
“Hugh and I were colleagues at the MI6. We’d known each other for years, been to weekend parties, work celebratory events together. When he lost his wife in a car accident, h
e wasn’t the same after that. That loss took away part of his humanity.”
Mina grips my shirt and I look down at her. “I’m so sorry.”
“What made it even harder was that his wife was pregnant with their first child.”
Even though she had stopped shaking, tears suddenly fill her gaze. “My God…how horrible for him. Not many people could come back from that kind of devastation.”
I lift my gaze and stare into the darkened room. “Agreed.”
“What happened between you two? Why do you see him as a threat?”
“Hugh drank to dull the pain of his loss. It’s bad enough that he did it after hours because alcohol abuse can destroy lives, but when he was still drunk on the day we had to shut down a terror threat in our city, it was hard to continue holding onto my empathy. When he’s not in top form, he threatens the lives of other agents around him. I was frustrated, but out of respect to Hugh, I didn’t say anything to upper management.”
“That’s not good that his issues threatened the lives of his co-workers, including yours. Did you try to talk to him about it?”
“Several times. He just shrugged it off. One evening I had to work late on another case. Hugh had taken the day off, but when I saw him leaning against his car on my street, his body swaying, I knew the bloke shouldn’t drive himself home. All I wanted to do was get to my flat. I was only fifty yards away. I was so close, but there was Hugh, blocking my path and so pissed he could barely stand.
“I called a cab and waited with him for it, since he kept asking for his keys and saying he was fine to drive himself. I was in the process of dragging his full-of-drink arse over to the cab, when my building exploded.”
“Oh no,” she says, sympathy in her gaze.
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