by Katie Reus
“Maybe.” She wasn’t sure yet. Samara had mentioned the Jensen job but that was long over. And Jensen had been killed in jail, the sick freak. So…she wasn’t sure what her friend had been talking about. She was going to find out though. Especially since the Jensen job was the entire reason she and Dylan had been thrown together—even if he had no clue about that.
“Go easy on her. She misses your ass,” Samara slurred as he stretched her out on the bed.
Oh, hell, Samara needed to shut up with that. “Do we need to keep her awake?” Evie asked, ignoring her friend’s comment and hoping he would too.
Dylan glanced at his watch. “Finn should be here soon enough.”
Sighing, Evie pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. She still had on her workout gear: tight black pants, a tank top and her silly rainbow-colored sneakers she loved—because Dylan had bought them for her.
Dylan strode to the floor-to-ceiling windows, glancing out at the pool and ocean beyond. It was hard not to sneak a peek at him. His dark hair was cropped close to his head and he had more than a little five o’clock shadow that, of course, made him look even sexier. He was looking away so she couldn’t see his dark green eyes, but that didn’t matter. She had his face, his expressions memorized. He stood a little over six feet and was well-built, having honed that body with disciplined running and swimming. Damn, the man loved to swim. And she used to love watching him slice through the water.
When he turned toward her, she glanced away, embarrassed at having been caught staring.
“I’ve got questions,” he murmured.
“I know.” She didn’t look at him again. Couldn’t. She didn’t want to see anger or hatred on his face. Despite what he might think, she wasn’t a robot. She had a heart and it beat for him.
She heard his phone buzz, then a moment later he said, “Finn is here.”
Evie counted down in her head how long it took Finn to arrive, knowing that as soon as the doctor did, she’d be forced to be alone with Dylan. Forty-six seconds later, the doctor strode into the room like he owned it.
“What’ve you got for me?” Finn barely nodded at Dylan or Evie, simply moved to the side of the bed, motioning for Evie to get out of his way.
Without a word, she did, coming to stand by Dylan. When she inhaled that wild, masculine scent that reminded her of the ocean, it was like being sucker punched. She swallowed hard, shoved all the memories she shared with him back in that little box she kept in the darkest, tiniest part of her mind. The part she refused to acknowledge.
“I took the bullet out and gave her codeine like you said. Saved the bullet if you need it.” Dylan’s voice was steady as he talked to the doctor. “As far as I know she doesn’t have any other injuries.”
“I don’t.” Samara’s eyes opened, narrowing on the doctor in suspicion.
“Good. You two get out, then. Let me work on my patient.”
“Will he call the cops?” Samara asked Dylan.
“I’m not calling the cops.” Finn sounded more insulted than anything, which soothed Evie’s frayed edges. “Now go.”
She wanted to stay, but simply nodded and stepped outside with Dylan. “You trust him?” she asked as he shut the door behind them.
“More than I trust you.”
She blinked once, but kept her expression neutral. “That’s fair.” And she deserved the dig. “Thank you for this.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk to me like we’re fucking strangers. Like you didn’t just bring a shot woman to my doorstep after not talking to me for six months. Like we haven’t fucked in damn near every room in this house.”
“What do you want me to say, then? I am grateful for this.” She’d had no one else to turn to. Her family was in absolute turmoil right now, and then Samara had shown up shot on her doorstep. And no matter what had happened, she still trusted Dylan to have her back.
Dylan’s jaw tightened, his green eyes sparking fire as he seemed to rein in his anger. “I want you to tell me why the hell you walked out on me after I proposed.”
Chapter 2
One year ago
Evie thought she had mentally prepared herself for tonight, but as her mother introduced her to Dylan Blackwood—officially—electricity sparked between them, as sharp and sizzling as if she’d been shocked. And she was one hundred percent certain that she was not the only one who experienced the strange little jolt as they shook hands.
Blackwood’s dark green eyes—which had looked so cold in the surveillance photos her team had recently taken—showed a clear, male interest in her.
Which was sort of the point of this evening. With no other choice, she’d broken all her rules and used her family connections to get an introduction to someone. For her upcoming op she would be going in as herself, using her real name and background. Something else she had never done on a job. But this one called for it, and the location was in her family’s backyard. So here she was, in Miami, getting an introduction to her parents’ family friend.
She had to finagle a date out of the very sexy Dylan Blackwood—and then another date. She needed access to a certain party, and while she could have gotten an invitation on her own, Blackwood actually knew the person she wanted to be introduced to. It wouldn’t arouse suspicion if he introduced her to someone and then she later reached out to the guy. Sometimes the simplest route was the best one.
Even so, she had not expected this strange connection.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again.” His voice was butter smooth, wrapping around her like a silky caress and sending heat to places that had no business getting all warmed up.
Her lady parts needed to keep themselves under control, thank you very much. “Again?”
His full lips quirked upward. “The last time I saw you, I think you were maybe fourteen or fifteen. It was a god-awful party at my parents’ estate and you accidentally knocked over one of their sculptures.”
Evie should probably be embarrassed, but a laugh escaped. “Is it terrible that I forgot I did that until just now?”
“If I remember correctly, you barely seemed to notice doing it then.”
Her cheeks flushed. “At that age I was only interested in books, video games, and my friends. And soccer. I was probably a little shit about what I did.” God, she’d been kind of an ass as a teenager. Even remembering the put-upon attitude she’d had toward her parents—who had given her everything—now made her wince in embarrassment. Her parents had made her and her brothers go to all sorts of soirees that none of them had wanted to attend. But still, she’d been an ass about some things when her parents had given her literally the world. She hadn’t appreciated the privilege she’d had until she’d been older.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked.
“Kind of,” she said. But fourteen-year-old her hadn’t noticed him at all back then. Though she was surprised she didn’t remember him more because the man was seriously fine. “But you seemed sort of ancient to me.”
He laughed, the sound rich and throaty, and hot damn, her lady parts were getting all worked up again. “That’s fair. I must have been…around twenty-two then. Definitely an old man compared to you.”
She found herself smiling at him, and she wasn’t faking it either. “Totally. You were still in the military then, right?”
His expression sobered just a little as he nodded. “Yep. Got out not too long after that.”
“And now you’re taking over the real estate world, huh?”
“Something like that. So your mom tells me you’re back in Miami?”
“For now.” As soon as this job was done, she’d be leaving again, but she sure as hell couldn’t tell him that. The rest of the world thought she worked for a nonprofit organization. And right now she was currently in Miami supposedly schmoozing with various donors for it. Her cover was solid. Hell, even her parents thought that was her real career.
“Well, I’m glad I di
dn’t blow off this cocktail party,” he said.
Oh, there was no mistaking that heated glint in his eyes now. He was a man who knew what he wanted and went after it. And for the first time in her career, she had a feeling she was going to wind up regretting what she was about to do.
* * *
Evie forced herself back to the present as she stared at Dylan, who was expecting an answer. “Can we talk somewhere else? Your office, maybe?” She didn’t want to have this conversation outside Samara’s bedroom.
He nodded once and motioned for her to follow him, though she knew exactly where his office was.
“How’s your brother? Ah, Evan?” he asked, surprising her. “I’ve been following the news the last few weeks.”
The personal question caused her thought process to stutter. “Still in a medically induced coma.” The doctors were hopeful he would pull out of it, but for now she wasn’t letting herself think too deeply on what would happen if he didn’t. Because she could not imagine a world without Evan. Or Ellis, for that matter. God, what the hell had happened to her family?
“Have you heard from Ellis?” Dylan asked as if he’d read her mind.
“I really don’t want to talk about my brothers right now.” Keeping her mind off them was the only way she was keeping it together. Ellis had only been missing a week and she was hoping he reached out to her soon.
He simply nodded as they reached his office. “I’m still waiting on an answer,” he said as they stepped inside.
Yeah, she’d figured that. “I don’t know how to give you one— Who’s this?” she asked when a chocolate-colored Labrador lifted its head off a giant gray and white dog bed. It eased to its four paws and trotted over to her, sniffing her feet thoroughly before sitting in front of her and waiting for…something.
“Cooper.” Dylan’s voice softened just a fraction.
Evie reached out slowly and scratched him behind the ears. “I wish I had a treat for you,” she murmured.
“He takes belly rubs as well as treats.” Dylan’s voice was dry. “He uses mind control and guilty looks to get his way. He’s completely shameless.”
Despite the situation, she let out a startled laugh at his tone. “When did you get him?” she asked as the dog trotted back to his bed and flopped down on it, acting as if walking over to her had been an enormous effort.
“About two weeks after you…” He cleared his throat. “Found him on the side of the road. He’d been hit by a car, had a broken leg. Wasn’t microchipped and couldn’t find an owner so…I kept him. Vet thinks he’s about five years old.” His tone completely softened when he talked about Cooper.
“He’s adorable.” She kept her gaze on Cooper so she wouldn’t have to look at Dylan.
“You going to answer my question?” he asked, drawing her gaze up to him.
“Which one?”
His eyes were shards of green glass as he folded his arms over his chest. “Why’d you walk out on me? On us?”
How the hell could she answer him? She couldn’t tell him the real reason she’d ended things after he’d proposed. Their entire meeting had been a lie. He’d fallen in love with Evie, the woman who worked for a nonprofit, the woman who enjoyed wine tastings and black-tie parties. Not the woman who enjoyed hand-to-hand sparring, hockey games and drinking beer with her crew whenever she had down time. She could play the polished socialite, but it wasn’t her. And he deserved the truth, not what she’d fed him. The only thing that hadn’t been a lie had been the connection—and the sex. Holy hell, that had been raw, real and something she’d never imagined was possible. “I walked away because it would be easier for both of us. You didn’t really love me.” It hurt her to say it, but he deserved to hear it.
He let out a harsh laugh. “Is that right? Please tell me more about my thoughts and feelings.”
She balled her fingers into fists at her side. “You don’t know the real me,” she snapped. Hell, she was giving away more than she should.
“Is that right?”
“That is right. Tonight should make that pretty damn obvious.”
His gaze narrowed slightly. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you don’t work for a nonprofit?”
She turned away from him, stalked to the huge window overlooking the Olympic-sized pool. In the reflection, she could see him behind her leaning against his desk, his body bowstring tight. She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck as she felt a headache creeping in. “No, I don’t.”
“So what do you do for a living? I’m assuming it has to do with not being able to call the cops tonight?”
“Sort of, yes. I don’t work with Samara anymore. But I used to. We used to be partners of sorts.”
“Are you going to tell me what tonight is all about, then?”
Sighing, she turned back around to face him and was struck by the iciness in his eyes. Sure, she deserved it, but that didn’t mean she liked it. More than anything she wished things could be different. But she couldn’t regret what she’d done because she’d saved a lot of lives. A lot of innocent children and women had been saved from a life of slavery because of the Jensen op. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on with her right now. But I will find out.”
He stared at her for a long moment before motioning to one of the seats by his desk. “Why don’t you sit? You look exhausted.”
She was, it was true. All the stress and pressure from everything going on with her family was pushing in on her, making it hard to think straight. Now she had to face Dylan again, had to face her past.
Before she could take a step toward the chair, Finn opened the office door. He nodded politely at her then looked at Dylan even as Cooper got up and nudged Finn’s hand, urging him to pet his head. “My patient is fine. Now why the hell aren’t we calling the cops?” he asked, even as he absently petted the Lab.
“Is she awake?” Evie asked, not waiting for Dylan to answer him.
Finn looked back at her now. “Yes, she’s—”
“Is she okay enough to move to another location?” She wanted to get Samara out of here for a couple reasons. One of them was purely selfish—she needed distance from Dylan—but she really wanted to draw any potential danger away from him. He hadn’t signed on for anything and Evie wasn’t sure what was going on yet.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Dylan snapped.
She pinned him with a dark look. “If we stay here, you could be in danger. I literally don’t know what this was about. I don’t think we were followed, but even so, I’m not taking the chance that you get caught in the crossfire of whatever this is.”
“Don’t act like you care what happens to me,” he snapped out, fire and anger in his words.
“I do care!” And that was pure, raw truth. She cared far too much what happened to this man. He had never just been a mark, an asset. Maybe at first, for a hot second, she had thought he would be the perfect asset. But then she’d gotten to know him. He’d gotten into her head, under her skin, and into her bed. And she never slept with assets. Sleeping with him hadn’t been part of the job either.
No…Dylan had been different. She’d never expected him. Never expected to want him. He’d completely blown up her entire world. Then she’d had to walk away. And she’d missed him ever since. It was like her mind had been in a state of disarray since Dylan and she couldn’t get back on track. Couldn’t compartmentalize. It was part of the reason she’d left the Agency. She hadn’t been able to do her job anymore. Not the way she’d been able to before.
Something in his expression shifted but she couldn’t read what had changed. “Whatever the problem is, she’ll be safe here. Leo’s got the house and property on lockdown. It was already secure, but since you two showed up he’s gone into overkill. And you know he’s the best.”
She could give him that. Leo Webster was definitely good at his job. Former military, former FBI, the man knew his stuff. So that kinda killed her argument for leaving, damn it. She looked at Finn. “C
an I see her?” Mainly because she needed to find out what the hell was going on, and she could admit she needed to get away from Dylan and what he made her feel.
“She’s okay to talk. For now. But she needs rest.”
That was all Evie needed to hear.
As she made her way through the house, her phone buzzed in her pocket. When she saw her mom’s name on the screen, she winced. She should’ve been back at the hospital hours ago. “Mom, I’m sorry I didn’t make it back. Something important came up. I swear I would have been back otherwise.”
“It’s okay.” Her mom sounded exhausted. “Nothing’s changed. Your father and I are going to go home and grab a couple hours of sleep. I just called to tell you not to bother coming back tonight.”
Even though there wasn’t an ounce of censure in her mom’s words, she still felt a punch of guilt straight through her heart. “Oh, Mom, I’m coming back.”
“Honey, I’m serious. Just get a little sleep. I know this is hard on everyone. Isla is staying. I can’t convince her to leave.”
Her brother’s fiancée. “Have the doctors said anything positive?”
“Well, his vitals are stable and nothing has gotten worse so they’re taking that as a good sign.”
“Okay. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.”
As she disconnected, she eased open the door to Samara’s room and found her friend fast asleep. Damn it. Evie wanted to wake her up but wasn’t sure if she should. Her friend had arrived with no electronics, and for that matter, Evie hadn’t even seen a vehicle near her brother’s house. Damn it, she should have asked her more questions when she’d had the chance.
Sighing, she stepped back out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her—and nearly ran into Leo as she headed back down the hallway.
“Ms. Bishop.” Ice dripped from those two words. A tall, handsome man in his early fifties, he had sharp, brown eyes as dark as his skin. He’d been with the bureau for years before putting in his resignation—to finally settle down with his wife—and Dylan had scooped him up.