by Cynthia Eden
“I’m supposed to keep her alive,” Rick said. “My job is to keep her safe, not to learn the woman’s secrets.”
Yes, yes, that was Rick’s job. She nodded. So Cole could just shove it. Agent Brisk could shove it. They could all—
“Unfortunately, it looks like your job might be to do both.”
She wasn’t even breathing as she waited for Rick’s reply to Cole’s not-so-charming statement. Rick needed to tell the other man to screw off. Needed to say that hell to the no, he wasn’t going to try and use her for info.
But Rick didn’t speak next. Cole did. Cole…who was increasingly getting on her bad side. And to think, she’d liked his tats at first.
“Come on, man,” Cole urged in a wheedling way. “I saw the way she looked at you. She wants you. Use that. You can find out every secret she has.”
“I’m not the type to seduce secrets out of women.”
Kat inched closer. Her back flattened against the nearby wall. If she slid around that wall, they’d see her. So she stayed exactly where she was.
Rick still wasn’t voicing the screaming denial that she wanted to hear. Would it kill the man to offer up a denial? Was that so much to ask?
“Okay, sure, buddy, you wouldn’t be my number one Casanova choice, but I feel like you can rise to the occasion. Have some confidence, bro.”
Her eyes narrowed. Come on, Rick, say—
“I’m not going to fuck her to get information.”
Good to know. She moved a little bit more. Just a wee bit closer. Still not going around the wall though, just getting to its edge.
“Twenty million dollars has vanished.” Cole sounded all big and dramatic. He should settle down. “According to the Feds, she took it. They think Kat is going to cut and run before she ever steps foot inside a courthouse. If she vanishes, their cases go down the drain.”
She wasn’t even breathing.
“Are you listening to me?” Cole demanded. “Twenty million dollars. The mob. This is all way above my pay grade.”
It was above everyone’s pay grade. The Feds were saying she had the money, huh? Interesting.
“You have less than a week with her. You’ll be the one next to her twenty-four, seven. She might even spill secrets to you without you realizing it.”
Rick hadn’t spoken in a little while. He’d gone all dead silent on her. Did that mean he was actually considering Cole’s words? Thinking about trying to seduce her for secrets? He probably thought her seduction wouldn’t be hard. After all, she’d pretty much thrown herself at him earlier. Okay, there had been no pretty much to it. She had thrown herself at him. She’d paraded around in her underwear, and he’d still walked away. Hello, pride crusher. She also already had started spilling her secrets to him. She’d told him about her lovers. Why, why had she done that?
She’d kept those secrets for so long.
Rick was far more dangerous than she’d realized. He was—
“Hello, princess.”
He was right in front of her.
Chapter Seven
“Eavesdropping again?” He cocked his head to the right and lifted one dark brow.
“Again?” She blinked. “You say that as if it’s a habit I follow.”
“Um, it is. You told me yourself, remember. You liked to listen when your father wasn’t aware.”
She was so screwed.
Cole rushed up behind him. “How the hell did you know she was there?”
Because she’d freaking told Rick her secrets. Kat would not be making that mistake again.
“I didn’t hear her.” Cole looked impressed. “Not so much as a rustle of sound.” His gaze lit with admiration as he gaped at her. “What else can you do?”
“You have no idea.”
Rick caught her hand and pulled her closer. “Don’t worry about what she can do,” he muttered to Cole.
Then they were heading toward the long bar counter. Rick motioned to one of the stools. “Sit.”
She didn’t. Did she look like a dog?
Rick caught himself. Or he caught the glare that she gave him. He cleared his throat. “Would you, um, please sit so we can talk?”
“Better.” She hopped up onto the nearest bar stool and swung her bare foot.
His gaze locked on her foot.
She wiggled her toes at him. She hadn’t paused to put on shoes. Sure, shoes had been waiting for her when they’d arrived. Shoes. Clothes. Everything. More Wilde magic. But she’d been in a hurry to get downstairs. And bare feet were quieter.
“What in the hell is going on between you two?” Cole demanded as he closed in. He got really close. A little too close as he frowned ever so suspiciously at her.
Cole was on her list now. The list of folks who pissed her off. “Well, I can tell you this much…” Her smile was cold. “Rick isn’t going to be seducing secrets out of me, though thanks so much for offering us both that most awesome of times.”
Cole opened his mouth, but couldn’t seem to find the right words.
Or any words.
Her furious stare swung to Rick. “And way to offer up a denial there, Casanova.”
He blinked.
“Just couldn’t bring yourself to say, ‘No, I’m not going to seduce that poor, fragile woman. She’s been through enough. She needs a friend. She needs care. She doesn’t need more betrayal in her life. I’m going to protect her and keep her safe and make sure that no one or nothing ever hurts her again.’”
Silence.
The uncomfortable kind. Maybe she’d gone overboard there. Whatever.
Kat waited.
Rick scraped a hand over his jaw and the beard that she would no longer think of as delectable. Finally, he rumbled, “I don’t think of you as being particularly fragile.”
That was his response?
“I think you might be kind of scary,” Cole added. He sounded a little bemused. “You know, in a sexy, crazy way.”
Her gaze flickered to him. “You’re an asshole. And I don’t like your tats any longer.”
“What?”
She ignored him. Her stare swung back to Rick.
“Cole likes crazy women.” Rick never looked away from her. “Crazy is his number one turn-on, so he meant that as a compliment.”
She hadn’t taken it that way.
“And I am here to keep you safe.” He stepped closer. His dark eyes seemed to burn with intensity. “No one and nothing will harm you on my watch. But no, I don’t think you’re fragile. I think you’re cunning, I think you’re smart, and I think you might be one of the toughest people I’ve ever met.”
Cole shifted a bit uncomfortably. “You should add sneaky to that list. Because I had no idea she was there listening.”
Rick had known, though. Because he was starting to know her. Big problem.
“Time to go, Cole,” Rick said as he inclined his head to his partner.
“But we still need to go over—”
“The shooter got away at the farmhouse. The Wilde agents outside of this place are in position. They’ll watch us. They’ll guard us, and we’ll be clear for the next few days.”
So wait, they were going to stay in that bar for the foreseeable future? No switching to another safe house?
“What about the twenty million?” Cole rasped.
Rick crossed his arms over that massive chest of his. “Kat, do you have the twenty million?”
Was he serious? “No. I don’t have it stuffed in my bra.”
His eyes narrowed.
She smiled. “I didn’t take the money.” Total honesty. Boom.
Rick glanced over at Cole. “There. She didn’t take the money. Tell the Feds I managed to pry that secret out of her.”
Cole took a step back. “You’re just going to believe her?”
She shook her index finger at him, all disappointed-teacher-like. “Cole, you are insulting. What do you think…that I just lie for kicks?”
He knew better than to answer, she could see that
truth on his face.
“You need to get going,” Rick said. “Call me to check in tomorrow. If you get a hit on the shooter, I want to know.”
Cole blew out a long breath and rolled back his shoulders. “You gonna be okay in here…with her?”
“Do I look uber dangerous?” Kat asked. “I promise not to hurt Rick. Does that help?”
Cole didn’t crack a smile. “There are all kinds of hurt in this world.”
That was certainly true. The other thing that was true? “I have no intention of hurting Rick. Unlike my father, I don’t enjoy other people’s pain.”
Cole’s gaze turned hard. Flat. “But you do enjoy lying, don’t you? You think this is all some big game? We know you didn’t call your ex-nanny. Don’t try that bullshit. You connected with someone on that BS brownie run, but it wasn’t her. If you’re trying to touch base with some partner so that you can disappear, I don’t want my friend getting caught in the crossfire.”
He cared about Rick. Good to know. “I don’t want anyone in the crossfire. And in case you forgot, I was the one who saved Rick at the farmhouse. I was the one who shoved him out of the way so that he wouldn’t get shot. Frankly, I think I should get a thank you for that. But one hasn’t been forthcoming.”
“That was an accident,” Cole fired back. “You were pissed. I saw you through my binoculars.”
“Someone likes to watch,” she murmured.
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “You shoved at Rick out of anger. You—” He stopped. His eyes widened, and he looked at her with brand new suspicion. “Unless you knew the shooter was there.”
“What?”
“Unless you shoved Rick because you knew the shooter was there. Unless you planned it all.” She could practically see the wheels turning in his head. “You wanted Rick to be grateful to you. You wanted him to think you were good. The poor, misunderstood mob princess. You wanted—”
“I want you to stop talking,” she snapped at him. “You don’t know anything about me.”
Cole surged forward.
Rick slammed a hand on his chest and shoved him right back. “I think I told you already…” His head turned so that he stared straight into Cole’s eyes. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“But—but what if she—”
“Whether she’s a killer, a con, or an innocent caught up in a nightmare, my job is the same. Our job is the same. She’s got me until I walk her into the courthouse. She’s got us both until then. We keep her alive, and we handle any BS that she throws our way.”
Wow. His opinion of her was so overwhelmingly stellar. Not.
Cole turned away. Headed for the door. Was it her imagination or did he walk with a slight limp? Her gaze darted down his legs. Yes, that was a limp, barely noticeable.
Her stare lifted just as he glanced back at her. “You hurt my friend, and I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Duly noted.” She waved her fingers in a shoo gesture. Did he notice that her fingers trembled? She hoped not.
He left. Silence reigned. She swiveled a little on the barstool. Whether she’s a killer, a con, or an innocent caught up in a nightmare, my job is the same. Rick’s words pounded at her head. He really didn’t care what she was.
Who she was.
“Ignore Cole.” Rick moved behind the bar. Grabbed for something under the counter and came back up with—was that vodka? Looked like it. “He’s…he doesn’t get close to a lot of people, and when he does, Cole tends to go all in.”
“He’s your own personal pit bull. Got it.”
Rick shook his head. “You want a drink?”
“Uh, yes, please.” Though a big part of her wondered…was he just trying to get her drunk so that he could go after her secrets? Ha. Nice try. Little did he know that she’d drink him under the table any day of the week.
Rick splashed some vodka in a glass and pushed it across the bar top.
Her fingers curled around the glass. “What about you?”
“Vodka is my kryptonite.” He saluted her with the bottle. “Since I’m working on keeping the bad guys off you…and my own hands off you, too…seems like a good idea to stay sober.”
She lifted the shot glass and downed the vodka in one gulp. She barely felt the burn before she slammed the glass back on the counter.
He studied her. “You’re good at lying.”
“Thank you for noticing.” She batted her lashes at him. Kept up the act. “Some people never recognize your skills.”
He poured more vodka into the glass.
She grabbed the shot glass. Drained it. Slapped it on the bar top. I could do this all night.
“Did you know the shooter was there?”
Ohmygoodness. She pushed up, leaned across the bar, and put her hand on his cheek. “You are so adorable.”
He stiffened.
“Do you think you can get me drunk and then grill me?”
“I think I can ask you questions and you’ll answer me in a nice, civilized manner.”
“Being civilized is boring. The FBI suits were civilized. They were boring me to tears.” Her fingers slid over the edge of his beard. “Then I saw you. You looked infinitely more interesting.”
He growled.
“That is so hot. You have this whole rough, untamed thing going on. It’s a real turn-on.” Another stroke/pat of her fingers.
His hand flew up and his fingers clamped around her wrist. “Stop trying to play me.”
Anger beat inside of her. “Why? Weren’t you thinking about playing me? Because I sure didn’t hear a big denial when your good buddy Cole was telling you to seduce me and get me to whisper all my secrets to you during pillow talk.”
His hold tightened. “That what you want? My denial. Fine. You’ve got it. I won’t seduce you to learn your secrets.”
His touch scorched her.
“If we’re ever in bed together,” he continued in that deep, rumbly voice that made her toes curl, “it won’t be because I’m trying to get intel. It’s gonna be because you’ve driven me straight past the point of control. All I’ll want is you. To be in you as deep as I can go.”
Maybe the drinks were making her a little lightheaded. Or maybe he was.
“How about I get the same promise from you?” He was still holding her wrist.
Same promise? “Sure. I won’t seduce you to learn your secrets.”
Did his lips twitch? “How about you don’t seduce me because you’re trying to use me?”
She tugged. He let her go. Cocking her head, Kat reminded him, “We covered this already. I was trying to seduce you because I wanted you. Nothing more.”
“Women like you don’t want men like me.”
“I have zero idea what that statement means but I’m sure it’s insulting.”
“It means…you’re fucking gorgeous.”
She smiled at him. “See. You can be charming. In a grim, growling way.”
“I look like someone’s worst nightmare.”
More like my best dream. “Darling, who have you been hanging out with?”
“I tend to say the wrong shit to women.”
Okay, now she could nod. “I have noticed that. But it’s kind of cute in its way.”
“Cute?” Rick choked on the word.
She fought a smile.
“I told you before, I’m too rough. Too hard.”
She flattened both of her hands on the bar top. “And I think I told you that I like both of those things. It’s like you are making a turn on list for me.”
His lips parted. She wanted his mouth on hers. She leaned forward. He did, too. He—
“Who were you going to meet, Kat?”
He had just killed her mood. “Way to not score, Rick. I think we can add this moment to your ‘I tend to say the wrong shit to women’ list. And this time, it’s really not cute.”
“You left the farmhouse and you were going to meet someone. Two seconds later, a bullet fires. Maybe Cole was right.
Maybe you were going to meet the shooter. Maybe you knew he was there all along.”
She searched his gaze. “Ah. There it is.” A few things clicked into place for her. “That’s why you’re being all…” She mimicked his deep voice, and said, “We can’t have sex. No, no.”
“Kat…”
“It’s because you had the same suspicion. Even before Cole came in, spouting his ideas, you had already gotten it into your head that I was guilty.” So disappointing. She leaned back on the stool.
“Who were you going to meet?”
“Um, I was going to meet up with your fancy little sports car. We had a hot date planned. I was going to hotwire her, and then I was going to get the heck out of there.”
“You were running?”
Bingo. “It’s what I do.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Fine. Hard truth time. “Because I don’t want to die. Because I didn’t trust those FBI agents for a moment, and I knew I was a dead woman with them. Because I didn’t know you—I still don’t know you—and trust isn’t real big and easy for me. So running and protecting myself seemed like the best option.”
They stared at each other.
“You still planning to run?” Rick finally asked her.
She didn’t answer. Absolutely.
“Hell, I’ll take that as a yes.” He reached under the bar again. Was he bringing out more alcohol? She could use more.
“Take it any way you want,” she told him, angry and just so very soul tired. “But it’s my life. The Feds think they’ve taken my life away, and I have to do something to stay—”
She caught the glint of metal as his hand lifted. “No.”
“Yes.”
“You are not cuffing me again.”
“If you’re running, I am, and you just told me that you might be planning to run. It’s a chance I can’t take.” He looked at the cuffs, then at her. “Sorry, princess.”
“You know, you keep saying sorry when you make jackass moves.” Her heart thundered in her chest. “And here I thought you weren’t going to lie to me.”
“Kat...”
“I warned you before…one day, I will make sure that you really are sorry.” Did he understand that she was making him a promise?
“Fair enough.” His voice was rough and rasping. “But at least when that day comes, you’ll still be alive. Because, see, that’s all that can matter to me. It’s not about whether you like me—”