Necessary Risk

by Sidney Bristol

  She chuckled as they pulled at clothes and kicked the sheet out of the way until they were both naked.

  Piers stretched out on top of her and kissed her with that same lazy heat.

  What she wouldn’t give to have this for a while longer.

  A familiar crinkling sound reached her.

  Where the hell did he stash a condom? And had he really thought ahead to plan?

  She couldn’t be angry about that. Not in the least.

  He shifted off her and rolled the condom on.

  She hooked her leg over his hip and he guided his erection to her entrance then thrust. They both groaned as he slid inside of her.

  Ivy loved this. Him. Everything about it.

  He thrust gently and wrapped his arm around her waist while staring deep into her eyes. So deep she wanted to look away least he see the truth. It was one thing for him to admit he wanted her, but what would he say if he knew that she was falling in love with him?

  Piers rested his brow against hers.

  She kissed him, desperate to keep the words in.

  He rolled them so she was on bottom and grasped both her hands, linking their fingers.

  He moved over her, all while wrecking her on the inside.

  She loved him, and this fact would break her heart in the near future.

  Ivy held onto him, meeting his easy pace, not wanting this to end. Who knew how much longer they had together? If she’d get the chance to be with him again?

  Piers kissed her deeply until she had to turn her head to gasp for air.

  “Stop thinking,” he muttered

  She chuckled out of guilt and nipped his lower lip.

  When she came, she chanted his name, but nothing more. But her heart knew the truth.

  She loved him, and it was okay. Not everyone got a happily ever after.

  At least they had here and now.

  Piers gave her a few minutes of privacy while he went downstairs to round up breakfast. Ivy took a quick shower in the bathroom since it was empty before returning to the room to dress. She noticed her neck was red from where his stubble had scraped at her. She pressed the skin, recalling all too well the feel of his kiss.

  She shivered.

  Yes, losing Piers would suck, but at least they’d had this.

  A knock at the door heralded the man of her thoughts. He bore a tray of food and juice. Whoever Marie was that left food for them, she was a goddess in Ivy’s book.

  They ate sitting on the floor, their meal between them.

  “We should talk about what happens next,” he said. “About the job. Not us, I mean.”

  “I know.” Her heart ached admitting that truth.

  Piers took a deep breath. “Until I know more, we can’t trust any government contracts. If Orion’s guy comes through and gets us passports, I think we should head to Europe.”

  Ivy blinked at him. “You think we should stay together?”

  He gave her a level, assessing stare. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if they want us dead, I don’t like your odds on your own.”

  “I’m not a spy, Piers. You aren’t going to hurt my feelings.”

  “Good.” His shoulders relaxed.

  “I just can’t believe that Logan and the others would be okay with this. I’m not ready to give up my life because you think everyone is out to get us.”

  “Ivy.”

  She held up a hand. “What are you going to do? Take care of me? Not do your other work because I need a babysitter? Not happening. I don’t know what happens next. And maybe you are right. But I’m not ready to just leave everything.” Granted, she didn’t have a lot to leave. Just friends that she cared about like family.

  Piers set his fork down and she knew he was struggling with his words. He wanted to tell her what to do. Order her. But he wasn’t.

  “Okay,” he said after a while.

  “Okay?”

  “We need more proof.”

  “How are we going to get that?”

  “No idea. But first, passports.”

  “And then?”

  “Then...” He studied her over the food. “Then we lie low. Let things settle.”

  “And do what?”

  “I was thinking we could find somewhere quiet. Somewhere two Americans renting a place for a few weeks wouldn’t stir up notice.”

  “A few weeks?” She gulped her juice to hide her nerves.

  “Two at the least,” he said.

  He wanted to spend a few weeks with her?

  In her current state, at the end of seven days she’d be completely head over heels for him. More than that? Yeah, it was going to hurt when he left.

  “I could always set you up somewhere and stay close if you didn’t want me around.” His expression never changed.

  If she’d just met him, that fact wouldn’t have struck her as strange. Piers was a master of the stony expression. And yet, she knew better. She’d seen a range of emotion on his face and knew the differences.

  He was hiding behind a mask.

  Because he’d miss her? Because he wanted to spend those few weeks with her?

  Ivy set her glass down, never looking away from him.

  “Can we just come out and be honest?” She eased back against the sofa and draped an arm over her knee.

  “I thought we were being honest,” he said slowly.

  “You were being honest earlier when you said you missed me.”

  There.

  The corners of his mouth twitched the tiniest bit.

  He didn’t respond to her statement and she didn’t expect him to.

  “I like you, Piers. I think we’ve covered the fact that we’re attracted to each other. So can we just say what we want already? If we’re going to spend this much time together, I think we owe it to ourselves to do that.”

  “What do you mean?” His voice was off.

  She wasn’t going to kid herself. He might like her, enjoy sex with her, but chances were he didn’t share her feelings. He wasn’t falling in love with her, and that was okay. She’d keep that one secret.

  “I mean, if we’re going into hiding together can we at least not pretend we want separate beds?”

  His gaze dropped to her mouth for a moment. “So what are you saying?”

  She shrugged. “Let’s find this quiet corner of the world and just...see what happens.”

  “Ivy—”

  “Don’t Ivy me.” She gave him a flat glare. “I’m not asking for anything except honesty and maybe a few liberties.”

  “Liberties?”

  She smiled. “I promise you’d enjoy them.”

  He let his gaze wander over her shoulder to the window, his lips curving into a frown as he thought. “I’m not boyfriend material.”

  “I’m not asking you to be my boyfriend.” She tilted her head. “Just...if I want to kiss you, I’m going to. Do you honestly expect me to believe that we’re going to spend a few weeks holed up somewhere and we aren’t going to have sex again? I’m tired of pretending like it didn’t happen. I like you and I like sex with you. So what?”

  “What happened to me being the most irritating man on the planet?”

  “Oh, you’re still that.” She chuckled. “I just...like you between the irritating bits.”

  The ghost of a smile disappeared from his face.

  She blinked and it felt as though she had a shard of glass in her eye. “Fuck.”

  “What is it?” Piers voice was tense.

  “An eyelash.” She tipped her head up and fished yet another of the dam things out.

  Piers stared at her hand, his brow furrowed. “You’re losing your eyelashes?”

  “The ones they glued on me.” She tossed the offending lashes onto a soiled napkin.

  “Glued on lashes?” Piers shook his head. “What else did they make you do?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  “Nope. Not really.” He grinned.

  She chuckled and took a drink.
>
  His gaze was warm and his voice so velvety soft. “You deserve better, you know?”

  “How often do we get what we deserve?” She shrugged, doing her best not to let him and this moment get to her. “I’m not looking for anything except honesty.”

  For a long moment he just looked at her. She swallowed and fought the urge to reach for her fork or her glass. She wasn’t exactly laying her heart out there, but it felt pretty darn close.

  He braced his forearm on the sofa then leaned toward her. He tugged at the end of her braid dangling over her shoulder until she, too, leaned forward. His hand slid to the back of her head and brought her in for a gentle kiss. She tasted orange juice on his lips and felt her heart shiver.

  This might be torture, but she wanted it.

  16.

  Thursday. Ibiza Town, Ibiza.

  Killam stared straight at the camera. He’d taken probably fifty or so pictures for passports. He knew the routine by now.

  It took effort to not scratch his jaw. He’d never been one for facial hair, but for the sake of even a slight disguise he’d sport it for another day or two. Maybe long enough for it to stop bothering him.

  The light flashed and the spindly man behind the camera waved him off.

  Killam blinked a few times as he moved to join Orion and Ivy.

  She stared at the camera as though it might come alive and bite her.

  “You’ll be fine.” Orion patted Ivy’s shoulder.

  Killam studied the man’s hand. While he didn’t exactly like this guy touching Ivy, Killam didn’t have the same violent urge to do him harm as he had with Jabby. Then again, Jabby’s relationship to Ivy was different and things between Killam and her had been vague.

  Not that they’d cleared anything up.

  She didn’t shy away from kissing him and when he’d held her hand in the van on their way here, she’d squeezed him tight.

  “Next,” the spindly man said.

  Ivy blew out a breath and moved in front of the camera. She wore her hair pulled back and some make-up that made her cheekbones look sharper, more pronounced.

  “Do I smile?” She shifted a bit, lining up her toes just so on the tape line.

  “No.”

  “Okay.”

  She took a breath, squared her shoulders and stared into the camera. It was a fierce look, one Killam wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.

  “I always wondered what she was like in person,” Orion said.

  Killam turned his head toward the other man, but didn’t look away from her. “Hm?”

  “Jenn. The little she’s said about Ivy made her sound like... I don’t know. A badass.”

  “I doubt she told you the half of it.” Killam couldn’t agree more. Sure, Ivy had been nervous and in over her head, but she’d never backed down. She was brave where others would crumble.

  Badass was a good label for Ivy.

  “I’ve got a friend with a boat. He’ll take you to Valencia. It’s about a five or six-hour ride. After that you’ll be on your own.” Orion crossed his arms over his chest. “Will you be okay?”

  The question surprised Killam, given their cool reception.

  “Yes.” He didn’t see the need to give Orion more information. The man knew too much as it was, and in this situation knowledge was dangerous.

  “Good. I’d hate for Jenn to blame me for the death of her friend.”

  Killam doubted that was Orion’s only reasoning. He cared about people. The island. His guests. He was one of the good ones.

  Unlike Killam.

  “Done,” the spindly man said after a few snaps.

  Ivy blew out a breath and moved to join them. “How long?”

  Orion glanced at the man hustling off toward a desk. “If I had to guess? Half an hour.”

  “How soon can your friend take us to Valencia?” Killam asked.

  “As soon as we arrive.”

  He nodded.

  If they got out of here by four and were on the boat by five, they’d be in Valencia no earlier than ten. There was a very narrow chance they could get on a flight tonight headed somewhere.

  Killam still wasn’t sure where they should go. He knew he wanted to keep Ivy away from everything for a while, so all major cities were out. Somewhere quiet, remote, yet comfortable.

  He was looking forward to this break. It was dangerous to do so, but he couldn’t help it.

  Two weeks with Ivy and no holding back?

  She didn’t mind one bit when he’d kissed her in their room. Not when she was in the middle of doing something and not when he caught her looking at him.

  This was going to wreck him.

  A physical assault he could handle, but this?

  He was unprepared for the force that was Ivy, and she had no idea what she was doing to him.

  His phone vibrated. Pulling it out, he glanced at the notification then read it again.

  Shipping manifest confirmed?

  It felt as though the rug were yanked out from under him.

  What the hell?

  He didn’t have anything slated to move. Until the business with Jabby was done, he couldn’t make plans.

  Killam took a step away from Orion and Ivy, who’d struck up a conversation. Killam tapped the email and skimmed it once before rereading it for the details to sink in.

  His cars, all of the ones he’d taken to Saudi Arabia to show off to Jabby, they were bound for the states, using his shipping account.

  He clicked the attached document. It was a scan of the paperwork from the airport detailing everything. And at the bottom was a signature. His signature. At least it looked like his.

  What was going on? Why would Jabby send the cars back to the states? Why use Killam’s company, his signature, the same people he worked with on a regular basis?

  Something was up.

  Jabby wasn’t all that smart, but he could be vicious. It would be more like him to keep the cars out of spite and claim they were a gift. That Killam wouldn’t think twice about. But this?

  “What’s wrong?” Ivy asked, breaking into his thoughts.

  Killam glanced up at her and could practically feel that two weeks of paradise with her slipping between his fingers. He should never have allowed himself to mentally buy into that plan, because he wanted that time with her. Badly. And now it wouldn’t happen.

  “Something’s come up.” He glanced at Orion, then back to her. “Plans might need to change.”

  Jabby had a staff. People working for him. And his two friends were up to something. Killam couldn’t trust Zora’s Task Force. But he did have his own people. Without thinking too hard, he forwarded the email along with a note to one of his fellow freelancers.

  “Okay,” she said without hesitation.

  Could the cousins be involved?

  They still didn’t know what those two were planning.

  Orion glanced from Ivy to Killam and back. “I’ll give you two a moment.”

  Ivy closed the distance between them.

  He showed her his phone. “Someone’s using my company and my shipping contact to transport all five cars from Jabir’s home to DC.”

  “But Jabir bought at least one, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah.” And the check had cleared.

  “This doesn’t feel right.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” And he didn’t like where his thoughts were going.

  “Could this be related to the thing?” she asked slowly. Her eyes widened. “What if this is how they’re planning on getting the... Whatever the air delivery system is into the country?”

  “Shit.” He scrubbed at his face. That made sense. And it was vicious enough for Jabby. “They’re pinning this on us.”

  “What?”

  “Jabir’s going to be pissed at us. Me especially. He would want to get even. What better way than to frame me for whatever the cousins are going to do?”

  “No. No, you don’t really think...?”

  “I don’t know anything
.” He shook his head.

  “Okay, let’s think before we say we have to go back.” How was it Ivy sounded so rational? “Would the Task Force or anyone else get an alert for the shipment?”

  “No. I pay a lot of money to be able to move things around discretely. Not all of my cars are genuine.”

  “Wait, some of those were fakes?”

  “Yeah. Very good fakes.”

  She blinked at him. “I didn’t realize you could counterfeit a car.”

  Killam chuckled. “Baby, if only you knew.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t miss a beat. “So no one will know the cars are in the country. Will they trace back to you? Can they be?”

  “One can. I bought it outright at an auction. The others have clean records, not connected to me.” It would be enough to nail him to the wall if someone really wanted him out of the way.

  “That stinks. Okay, so what are the chances you could, I don’t know, create a bill of sale? Be seen across an ocean? Something?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I could do that.” It would still be a weak defense given the evidence the feds would have on him.

  Ivy looked at him, her too sharp eyes seeing more than he wanted her to. “But you don’t want to do that.”

  “No,” he admitted. “They’re my cars. Whatever’s going on, they’re trying to drag me into it.”

  “Devil’s advocate here, if you go after them, are you playing into their hands?”

  Killam chuckled. “That’s the thing. They don’t know who I really am.”

  “No. No, they don’t.” She nodded. “So you’re going to DC.”

  “You don’t have to come with me. It would be safer for you to go somewhere.” He glanced at Orion. “Maybe he can—”

  “Shut up.” Ivy crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving you to deal with this on your own. You’re in this because of me. For now, we’re a team. We do this together. So get over it.”

  Killam swallowed. He was torn. Half of him knew the best thing for her was to stay here, away from it all. The other half wanted her with him. So he could keep her safe, and so she could watch his back.

  He blew out a breath.

  The pieces fell together in his head far too easily.

  “Okay. Fine. We head to Valencia, then to Cuba. I can get us to Florida from there, and then to DC.”

  “Let’s do this,” she said without hesitation.