Revealing

by Calle J. Brookes

  There was a small tattoo over her left shoulder, a geometric design he’d never seen before, done in blue and red. Faded, like it was older. He should have known she’d have at least one tattoo—it was Paige, after all. She had nineteen earrings total—he’d counted before when she didn’t realize he was studying her—and he hadn’t missed the tiny scar on the side of her nose where she’d once had it pierced.

  Was she marked someplace else? Have piercings he didn’t know about? He’d never found body modification attractive before. But a big part of him wanted to strip the woman naked in that moment and find out what else she’d done to that body of hers. He closed his eyes to keep from watching her in the mirror. He wasn’t a damned voyeur. He wasn’t. And watching her when she didn’t realize he could see her was disgusting. He wasn’t that kind of man.

  She turned, and he saw the front of her reflected perfectly. God, she was beautiful. How could anyone not notice? She wasn’t well-endowed by any means, but she had enough for a man to touch, to hold. And she was so thin he could see the outline of her ribs just beneath the skin. But her arms were well-muscled and she had just enough flare of her hips to signify that she was a full-grown woman. There was a small flash of metal just above her navel. Mick wanted to touch her right there. Right now. Damn.

  Her eyes met his in the mirror. “Mick! I thought you were Luc. He was supposed to be stopping by.”

  Yeah. There was nothing brotherly about him. “Well, I’m not. Put your clothes on.” Before he did something completely stupid. “Fast.”

  “Why? Did something else happen?” She slipped into a simple black cotton tee that had a white kitten with devil horns on its head emblazoned over the breasts he now knew were under there.

  “You might say that. I just saw more of you than I probably should have.”

  “Sorry I offended you. Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing me anywhere close to naked again.”

  Mick heard the slight hurt in her voice and he glared at her when she stepped out of the bathroom. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Nothing about your body offended me. I just don’t want to see it.”

  “Learn to knock a bit better, then. I thought I was alone. And I’m sure I have far less than you’ve undoubtedly seen before. Not like I have anything to shock.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Disparage your body. It’s beautiful; you know that.” He bet it was even more beautiful without the pink and black.

  “Sure it is. Have you looked at Carrie, or Cody, or even your sister? They’re beautiful.”

  His sister excluded, of course, but he had noticed the other women. He was a man, and men noticed. It wasn’t something consciously done, but he’d noticed. “So are you.”

  Her eyes widened and her lips parted. “Have you hit your head recently? I thought I was the plague where you were concerned.”

  “Don’t be stupid. Just because I don’t choose to blast it from the rooftops, doesn’t mean I’m not a healthy male capable of seeing what a woman really is. You’re not ugly. Far from it.” He took a quick moment to study her more fully. Her eyes were clearer than they’d been the night before. She wasn’t quite as pale—which for her was saying something, as she was very fair normally—and she looked a hell of a lot less fragile than she had. “Now can we get to work? How are you feeling, anyway?”

  “I’m better. OTC pain pills today. No real concussion, either. Doctors cleared me twenty minutes ago. I was going to head upstairs. Check on Carrie and Melody before heading in to PAVAD.”

  “I’ll go up with you. While you’re with your sister, I’ll check on Detective Beck. That will save some time.”

  “What’s the latest?”

  “Jules had her third shifters work on a few of the victims. We have some more results. And Ritchison from Forensics left me a message. We have some there, too.”

  She grabbed the bag from the foot of the bed and slung it over her shoulder. She still wore the aircast on her left arm, where she’d landed on it. It was the same arm she’d had in a cast after she, Mal, and Jules had been attacked last Thanksgiving. While he’d been inside getting drunk and missing Mara.

  Mick took the bag from her hand. “I’ve got that.”

  “It’s not heavy.”

  “I’ve got it. Let’s go.”

  “Back to being your same old self, I see.” She looked at with a resigned, but almost wounded, expression. “I was hoping the human being part of you would last.”

  He tried. He really did, but he was already on edge. It was either let off the steam in his head somehow or say things he would truly regret.

  So he chose the steam. He dropped her bag on the bed, then wrapped his hand around her hips and turned her toward him. He glared down at her for a moment. Until she squirmed beneath his grip.

  “Mick? What are you doing?” She licked her bottom lip after she spoke. He could feel the muscles of her outer thighs beneath his palms. He used his grip on her to pull her closer.

  Until her thin body was pressed flush against his. “I’m showing you just exactly how human I am.”

  “Uh…” She had a look of total shock on her face within an instant of him rocking his hips toward her. Showing the woman just exactly how he felt about seeing her naked.

  “I’m human. And you need to stop forgetting that.”

  Mick kissed her. He released all the pent up emotions he’d felt for the woman since the moment they’d met almost four years earlier. He buried his left hand in that soft dark hair and used it to hold her still.

  She was just the right height for a man like him, and he took advantage of it. He pulled her hips tighter against his, then spread his hand over her back. He could feel the bra beneath her t-shirt and he traced along it with one finger while he tasted her.

  He expected her to pull back at any moment.

  But she didn’t.

  After that first startled moment, she shocked the hell out of him when she started kissing him back.

  Mick almost pulled back. But he didn’t. Instead, he deepened the kiss and tightened his arms around her.

  Before he pulled back for breath he’d somehow backed her up against the wall and had his hands tight around the cheeks of her ass.

  He looked at her, knowing his shock had to be too damned visible for his own piece of mind.

  What in the hell was he thinking? “Come on. Let’s go.”

  ***

  Paige avoided looking at him until they reached the elevator. He was dressed in one of his customary dark suits, and on any other man it would have looked staid and ultra-boring. But for the first time she noticed how well the dark material outlined his shoulders and chest. How the brown made his eyes seem all the bluer, and made the slightest hint of gold in his hair more visible.

  She studied him for a minute, cataloging each of his features—and ignoring the glower he was shooting everywhere.

  It surprised her when she realized the truth—he was probably more perfectly made than either of his siblings—which was saying a lot, as Mal and Al were two of the most beautiful people she’d ever seen. Why hadn’t she noticed before? Because of his attitude all the time?

  Because of some sort of emotional barrier she’d erected between them after they’d first met?

  She remembered that day. She and Al had been partners for a few weeks, while still working for Agent Whiler in the old Undercover Operations division before PAVAD had been created. She and Al were all that were left from the old team.

  She’d driven Al home to get a specific dress for an operation they were working. Paige was dressed as a working girl, and Al had dragged her inside.

  Both of Al’s brothers were there. Paige had already met Mal and liked him—had had a bit of a crush on him—and had expected the third Brockman to be just as nice.

  Instead, he’d been a rude asshole that had astounded her. He’d been almost cold to her, until Al had introduced her as her partner and explained th
ey were going out of town on a case for a few days.

  It had struck her as odd because of how warm and friendly his siblings were. And it had never gotten better between them in the three years since.

  They’d argued over so many things—even the party decorations at his parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary. And she was just as guilty as he was at starting the arguments.

  He’d look at her wrong and every spark of annoyance she had would flare. Until it just became a conditioned response to fight him whenever he was near.

  Maybe she was just as much to blame for their strained relationship as he was?

  That gave her a lot to think about.

  There were other people in the elevator when the doors opened, and Paige entered before Mick. She turned sideways to let him have enough space. He overshadowed the other people, even the men. What was that like for him? She knew what it was like to be a taller than average person. She’d stood eye-to-eye with most of the men in her life, and was considerably taller than a lot of her female friends. Georgia, Jules, and Ana especially made her feel like a giant. Did he ever feel that way? She knew he got comments—she’d snarked at him herself about taking up so much of her space.

  He’d certainly been in her space a few minutes ago. And she hadn’t minded one bit.

  She kept her eyes on him while the elevator stopped at the next floor up and more people entered. The crowd around them gave him his space, but it wasn’t true for the rest of the occupants. She was jostled and bumped half a dozen times. But they looked at Mick with obvious nerves and stayed away from him. Why?

  He wasn’t necessarily glaring—anymore—but his expression wasn’t welcoming. And he looked cold and professional with his severely knotted tie and military short haircut.

  Hair that was a lot softer than it looked. She’d curled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck when he’d kissed her, hadn’t she?

  His expression darkened and Paige wondered what she’d done. Then she realized—the crowd was at her back. He shifted, and wrapped a hand around her waist. He pulled her forward until she was close to his chest—and the men behind her had more room to move around.

  She met his eyes.

  “It’s too crowded in here.” That was all he said until the elevator made it to Carrie’s floor. “Where are your security detail?”

  “J.T. and Josh were here earlier. Until they got a message that you had called off the detail.”

  He stopped walking ten feet from Carrie’s door. He grabbed her free arm and pulled her in front of him. “What? I never canceled your detail.”

  “Josh’s text was from your number, Mick. I thought…”

  “Someone used my number. And I had my phone with me at all times.”

  “Someone could spoof your number.”

  “We’ll get Hernandez on that immediately. Are you carrying?”

  “No. Hospital wouldn’t let me keep my weapon in my room. Al took it back to your house when she left this morning.”

  He reached down and pulled up his left pant leg. “Take this; it’s my back-up. And you don’t get out of my sight.”

  She took the small weapon. “I didn’t know I.A. carried.”

  “I’ve carried every second since someone I thought was a friend put four holes in my chest and nearly killed my brother.”

  That sobered her. She’d snuck out of her own hospital room a day after she’d been brought in and they’d pumped the drugs she’d been subdued with out of her system. Paige had stopped by his room on her way to Jules’.

  He’d been sleeping, hooked up to more wires and monitors than she wanted to think about. If Jules hadn’t managed to stop the bleeding that horrible day, Mick would have died.

  Jules had written the shooter’s initials in Mick’s blood so that Mal would know who’d taken her. She’d wondered how the events of that attack had affected him.

  “I understand.” She’d had a hard time trusting men outside of PAVAD since then, too. “Mick, what’s going on? Someone had to know you were working with me on this case. Someone had to have access to your phone number, would have to know that Josh would be the one here with me. Only the people in PAVAD would know that. And only those close to the two of us.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, and Paige fought the urge to squirm. “Mick?”

  “We’ll go see your sister. Check in with her husband, then you and I are going someplace private where we can talk.”

  “You know something, don’t you?”

  “You can say that. Your sister, first. Then we talk. And Paige? Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll make damned sure of that.”

  In that second she believed he meant every word of that promise.

  Chapter 29

  He hadn’t wanted to do it. But he didn’t need the animal coming to find him, and figuring out that the young woman the animal had originally targeted had somehow been kept safe by him.

  It was just something to keep the animal occupied while he managed to get Ariella someplace safe. If that meant misdirecting Mick Brockman and the animal, sending them in two opposing directions, how could he not do it?

  He had to do the right thing, didn’t he?

  He would take her over state lines, knowing exactly what it would mean if she chose to press charges. It was now a federal kidnapping case.

  But that was a consequence he would have to face.

  He had her clean clothes, a warmer blanket, and some better food.

  She was reading when he entered the basement. “I wish you’d let me out of here.”

  “I plan on it. We need to get to St. Louis. I’m going to take you in. Keep you safe in the only place I know of. No one can get to you there. And I’ll talk to the director—the head of the division personally.”

  “You’re going to give yourself up? Why?”

  “Because today I lost all respect for myself. I won’t help my son by putting good people in harm’s way. You. Your sister. One of the very people on my team. I won’t do it. As soon as you eat, we’re going for a drive.”

  Chapter 30

  Mick followed his sister-in-law back down to the bodies. He’d left Paige at her desk, with his sister and Josh Compton standing guard. He had Hernandez looking into who had cancelled Paige’s security detail. Why had someone done that?

  He’d not been in his office five minutes before Jules had texted him to get down to the morgue.

  “What do you know about her?” Jules asked. “Any connection to Paige?”

  “I know nothing. Should there be?”

  “Yes.” She carefully sat the body of the oldest victim into a seated position. “See this tattoo?”

  “Yes.” He studied it. Red. Blue. Faded. “I’ve seen it before, haven’t I?”

  “Yes. We both have. They all have it. And so does Paige.” Jules looked at him. “But she didn’t recognize this woman, did she?”

  “I don’t think she did.” Mick pulled the photocopy of the photo out of his pocket. He studied the faces, comparing them to the one on the table. “Here. This one. She could only identify her as Elizabeth, or Liza earlier. She wasn’t entirely certain. Said the girl hadn’t been with them very long. Maybe a week.”

  “Poor kid. Something has to get better for Paige soon, Mick. I’m not sure she can handle much more heaped on her head.”

  Mick privately agreed. Paige had faced quite a bit in the last few days. How much more could she withstand? “I know.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “Upstairs. Seth and Al are staying with her until I can take her home.”

  “To hers? Or ours?”

  Mick felt his cheeks heat. No one on this earth knew him better than his sister-in-law. Jules had made a point in the days following his injuries—and her own—to come in and pester him until he got out of his bad mood. They’d talked quite a bit about just about everything. Except Mara. And oddly enough, except Paige. “Ours. Too many kids at the Reynolds place. I’ve already talked to Mal. I thi
nk you and he and Ruthie will be staying at Mom and Dad’s for a few days. I know it’s a bad time, but…”

  “I understand. Our home is easier to defend than Paige’s. And she’ll be more comfortable there, than at a safe house. I’m sure you’ll take good care of her.”

  “Jules…”

  “Don’t make the same mistakes I almost did, Mick. I know you care about her. I’ve known it for a very long time. There is just something about the way you look when you talk about her. Or when you look at her when you think no one is watching.”

  “I didn’t realize I was that easy to profile.” He wouldn’t deny it. Not with his sister-in-law. Jules just had a way of knowing him.

  “You’re the exact opposite. I don’t even think your brother knows how you truly think about things. Though his arrogance certainly tries. You hide that part of yourself, the part that’s been hurt, so well. It takes someone who has been there to see it.” She leveled a look at him as she pulled the paper coveralls over her maternity top. “Paige has been, too. And it seems to keep piling up on her. I worry for her most of all. What happened at Christmas shook her. Shook all of us, but for Paige it shook the comfort she’d finally been able to develop. To make her realize how fragile her world really is. That’s not something to be taken even the least bit lightly. And now this…Don’t worry. I won’t say anything about the way you look at her. That’s your secret to reveal, not mine.”

  Mick said nothing. Jules had put it into words exactly how he was feeling. Fearing.

  “Tell me what you’ve got from this woman?”

  “This one died from anaphylaxis to the drug, though exsanguination was a close second. He didn’t cut her as deeply, probably didn’t need to. She’s more delicately built than some of the other victims. And I think he may have been losing some of his rage. I’d say she probably wasn’t one of his first victims.”