by Cynthia Eden
“I…I haven’t said I love you.”
“And I haven’t told you that I love you, either. Antony said that. I haven’t told you anything directly. Maybe because I’m waiting on you to make the big move. You kind of owe me, don’t you think? Since you were going to—”
“Don’t you already know, though? Don’t you know how I feel?”
“How would I? Am I supposed to be a mind reader?”
No, of course not. “I’m sorry.” He was. “It’s simple. It’s just…been you, Alyssa. For me, there’s only…you.”
***
“I need to talk to Antony,” Isaac snapped as Ella and the security guard—some big, muscle-bound jerk with a sneer—tailed him down the hallway back to the Research and Development area on the top floor. “He’ll listen to me. He understands me!”
“That’s not going to happen,” Ella responded.
Isaac whirled to glare at her. “I’m not trying to leave the facility! I’m trying to talk to someone with reason!”
Ella lifted her brows. “Are you yelling at me?”
He was. Because this was bad. “I came to this company because of Antony. He is the one who hired me, not Sebastian. Sebastian has always disliked me and because I made the mistake of taking Alyssa out on one date, now the guy straight-up hates me.”
“You took the boss’s girl out?” The massive guard laughed. “Idiot.”
Isaac felt his cheeks burn. “I don’t know what’s happening here. I heard about the shooting, yes, and this morning when I arrived early, Doug told me there are rumors the company is in trouble. Maybe Sebastian is looking for some kind of fall guy—I don’t know! But Antony can help me. I just need to talk to him for a few minutes. Please, Ella. I am begging you here.”
Her lips pursed.
“Five minutes,” he added quickly. “Just five. Look, I’m not leaving the building! I swear! I’m just going to talk to Antony. You and the guard can stand right outside of his office the entire time.”
“If Antony wants to talk to you, then you can see him,” Ella relented. “For five minutes. But if Antony doesn’t want to see your ass, then you’ll be cooling your heels in your office.”
“It’s not an office,” he mumbled. “More of a cubicle.”
***
“Your fingers aren’t moving,” Alyssa pointed out as she tried to keep her breathing slow and steady.
“No.”
“You’re supposed to be finding out what the bad guy did to your system.”
“I already figured it out. He accessed upcoming projects. Got his greedy fingers in all my tech and schematics. He copied the files, probably put them on a tiny flash drive so that he could get them out undetected, and now he’s planning to sell the info to the highest bidder.”
He’d already found out all of that? But he’d only been typing for a few moments. “You work fast.”
He reached for her hand. “I told you, I work better when you’re near.”
“I think that’s a lie.”
“I don’t lie to you. I lie to other people. I bullshit other people. I tell them what they want to hear, and yes, I am even an extremely selfish prick to the rest of the world. Back at the theater, Isaac had that part right.”
She swallowed. His touch made her whole body feel heated.
“I was trying to stay away at the police station because I hate that I put you in danger.”
“You were going to leave me.”
He shook his head. “Did you see how long that shit worked? I walked into Winston’s office, saw you, and knew I could never stay away.”
“You tried, though.” And that hurt.
“You were in my head every second that I was away from you.” He pressed his lips together, then he told her, “I’m sorry.”
“Couldn’t hear you.” She could hear him perfectly. She just wanted to hear the words again.
“I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. I’m very, very sorry.”
***
Ella rapped on Antony’s door. “Antony?” she called. “I need to talk to you.”
“Come in!”
She opened the door. Found him hunched over his keyboard. “Isaac Swain is demanding to see you.”
Antony looked up at her. Squinted behind the lenses of his glasses. “Who?”
“Isaac Swain,” she repeated and ignored the fact that he looked stupid cute with those glasses. Why did she always go for men in glasses? Keeping her voice brisk, she added, “Sebastian ordered all staff to stay on the premises.”
“Yes.” A nod. “They should. No one should leave.”
She waited. He didn’t say more. Had he missed the first announcement she’d made? “Isaac is demanding to speak with you for five minutes.”
“I’m working so no—”
“Please!” Isaac called from behind her. “It’s about covert intel!”
What in the hell did that mean?
But Antony had stiffened. “Send him in, now.”
She’d never heard quite that tone from Antony before. It put Ella on instant alert. “What’s wrong?”
His eyes—normally so warm and dark—were flat and cold. “I’d like to tell you, but it’s classified.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, spy boy, I’m the head of your security. You need to tell me everything.”
He leapt to his feet. “Why did you call me that?”
She stormed forward and slammed her hands down on his desk. She would not notice how sexy he looked with his tousled hair. “I called you that because you’re acting like some kind of spy wanna-be with your classified talk. I get that the tech intel here is important, but I can’t do my job efficiently if my hands are tied behind my back!”
“Your hands aren’t tied. They’re on my desk.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Sometimes, you drive me crazy.”
“Antony! We have to talk!” Isaac cried.
Right. Isaac. Not exactly employee of the year over there.
She motioned him forward. “Lucas, stay outside the door,” she told her guard. Maybe she’d stay in there with Isaac and Antony and monitor the situation—
Her phone buzzed. She looked down. Read the text.
“Dex and Winston are on the way up. I need to go meet them.” She nodded to Antony. “You good?”
He still had that hard, dangerous look about him. Weird. Because the man normally looked like a handsome nerd to her. This was different…
He was different.
“I’m good,” he assured her.
She brushed by Isaac. Isaac was still gripping his precious box of, well, whatever. Staplers? Coffee cups? “Five minutes,” she reminded him. “And then you’re done.”
Ella hurried outside. She made sure that Lucas kept his position, and then she went straight for the elevator.
These men were getting on her nerves. How was she supposed to protect the company if Sebastian and Antony kept leaving her in the dark?
Chapter Twenty-One
“I’ll give it up.”
Alyssa’s brows drew together. “What are you talking about now?”
“As soon as I see Dex, I’m telling him that I’m out. I’ll walk away from the spy world. It won’t eliminate the threats. I hate that. When I signed on, I didn’t know—couldn’t plan on you. If I could go back in time, I’d stop. If I knew you were in the future for me, I’d do everything right. I wouldn’t ever do anything to put you in danger, I swear it.”
She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “Stop.” Alyssa kissed him again.
His hands rose and curled around her hips.
“I think you did a whole lot right,” she whispered. “I’m not asking you to give up the spy life for me. I’m not asking you to change for me.”
“Baby, I would give up everything if it meant I got you.” He pulled her back for another kiss. A longer, drugging kiss. “I don’t want to be off in another country, I don’t want to be bringing danger to our door. I want to be with you. I want those kids you
mentioned. I will find a way to keep you safe.”
“Wait.” Her eyes searched his. “You skipped a step. A big step.”
“Where? When?”
“You went from kissing me to having kids with me. I think there’s a step in between that whole process.”
“I will make love to you as soon as—”
“The love part.” She nodded. “That’s the part you missed. You should go over it again.”
He swallowed. “I love you.”
Alyssa smiled at him. “Was that so hard?”
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
She kissed him. Stroked his mouth so softly with her own. “Well, you did a stellar job,” Alyssa murmured against his lips.
“Sebastian!” Ella announced through the door. “Your detective friend and that Dex guy are here with a laptop.”
Sebastian’s mouth lingered against Alyssa’s. She enjoyed the kiss, but she pulled back and said, “Send them in!”
Winston came in first. He sighed when he saw them. “Every time I open an office door, you two are making out.”
“Guilty.” Sebastian let her go and made a grab for the laptop. “Let me at it.”
Winston surrendered the laptop.
“Great.” Dex nodded. “You get to work. Winston and I are going over your security cams.”
“I accessed them as soon as I arrived. Could do it on my computer.” Sebastian was already working on the laptop. “Guy cut into the system. Whole thing went dark for several minutes. Just the way it did when Antony came in last night.”
Alyssa saw Dex and Winston share a long look before Dex said, “Then we’ll be going to talk to the security guards who should have been watching that feed at the time. Surely they would have noticed a glitch like that.”
Ella straightened. “They absolutely should have noticed and reported to me immediately.” A brisk nod. “Come this way.” Then she paused. Slanted a suspicious glance at Dex. “You sure you’re FBI?”
“Isn’t that what my badge said?”
Alyssa caught the deliberate wording of Dex’s reply. How about that? He wasn’t straight up lying, he was just letting the false ID do the job for him. Because, no, he wasn’t FBI. She hadn’t exactly gotten a ton of specifics, but weren’t spies under the CIA’s giant umbrella?
Ella cleared her throat. “You just…you don’t quite remind me of a Fed. I mean, you told me last night that the FBI was involved because of contracts that you’d worked with Shark Gaming and Design in the past, but—”
“Ella,” Sebastian said her name firmly.
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“Don’t push on this one. Dex has clearance from the government. We’re cooperating with him fully. That’s all.”
She nodded but didn’t look happy.
Winston glanced at Alyssa. “You good?” he asked softly.
She moved toward him.
Sebastian reached out with one hand and pulled her toward him.
Winston frowned.
“He works better when I’m close,” Alyssa explained.
Winston didn’t smile, but he nodded. “Keep an eye on him.”
“You know I will.”
A moment later, the door closed behind him.
She felt Sebastian’s eyes on her. She was frowning because Winston’s demeanor had been different. He’d seemed tense. Alarmed. And the way he’d rushed to talk to the guards…
He thinks the man we’re after is here.
Sebastian was typing on the laptop.
“Is he here?” Alyssa asked softly. “As in…does he work for your company?”
Sebastian’s jaw hardened. “Based on the trail I’m following…fucking, yes. He sent these messages from Shark Gaming and Design.”
She inched closer. “But who sent them?”
His fingers moved faster.
***
“Sebastian is out of control,” Isaac fumed. “He’s locking up employees! And he’s dragging your sister around with him! Your sister!”
Antony stood behind his desk. A tension headache throbbed in his right eye. “Why did you say ‘covert intel’ a moment before?”
Isaac swallowed. “Because that’s what you do, isn’t it?” He glanced over his shoulder at the closed office door. “You didn’t want Ella hearing the truth. And I thought maybe she knew. Guess not, huh?” His gaze swung back to Antony. “So let’s talk.” He hurried forward, still gripping his precious box.
Antony’s right hand slowly moved toward his desk drawer.
Isaac dropped the box on Antony’s desk. Then he drove his hand into the box and came up holding a gun. “Were you looking for this?”
Antony yanked open the drawer. The drawer that should have contained a gun. Only it didn’t.
“Because I found it when I was in your office earlier. It was locked in your drawer, but I’m good with locks. Heck, I’m the one who picked the lock before and took the phone you’d left behind.” Isaac smiled. “I’m good with secrets, too. Found out yours pretty quickly.”
Keep him talking. Antony’s hand slid back to his side. “Which secrets are we talking about?”
“We’re talking about the fact that you’re a spy. Like I said, found out real quick. Well, not super quick, but once I was on your computer, digging around, I was able to put some puzzle pieces together.” He bit his lower lip. “To be honest, it was a hunch at first, but it made sense, you understand? I noted places that you and Sebastian had both traveled to, and I also monitored for reports of any incidents. Tech incidents. The kind of incidents that can embarrass governments.”
“A lot of those incidents aren’t reported.”
“You’d be surprised at what’s on the Dark Web.”
He’s got the gun aimed at my heart. As soon as Isaac had said “covert intel” in that grating voice of his, Antony had known he was looking at the guy who’d been working to steal Shark Gaming and Design secrets. While Antony had been searching on his computer, he’d realized his files had been compromised.
The bastard who compromised everything is right in front of me.
Yes, he’d realized he was staring at his enemy, but Antony had needed to get Ella out of the office because she couldn’t find out that he was a spy. Her text about Dex and Winston had arrived just in time.
Antony knew Ella thought that he was just a tech nerd. If he tried pulling some Jason Bourne shit in front of her, things would not go well.
And I didn’t want her anywhere near this jackass.
Because, yes, dammit, Ella was his head of security. She was smart, tough, savvy, but…
I don’t want her hurt. When it came to Ella, he tended to not always think rationally. A problem he had. He was dealing with it. Sort of.
“Did you hear what I said?” Spittle flew from Isaac’s mouth.
Antony’s fingers skated over the keyboard. “Yes, I did. Dark Web. Scary stuff.” He kept his eyes on Isaac as he slowly typed. “You know, I’ve even heard you can hire killers on the Dark Web. Guns for hire, just like in the Wild West.”
Isaac paled. “They don’t know who I am. I never told them!”
Way to confess. “Yes, but Sebastian is about to get their laptop, and you know once he has it, he’ll be able to trace the communication back to you so—”
“If you hit send on the message you just typed, I will put a bullet in your heart.”
“Calm down,” Antony said.
Too late. The man was obviously way past calm.
Isaac pulled the trigger.
***
Bam.
Sebastian’s head jerked to the side when he heard the distinct sound of a gunshot firing.
“That’s…my brother’s office.” Alyssa’s voice shook. “That came from right next door. Antony’s office!”
She lunged for the door.
He caught her around the waist. “Faster way. One that won’t be expected.” Not expected by whoever just fired that shot. He pulled out his wea
pon from the back of his jeans. Went to the passageway that connected his office to Antony’s. “Stay quiet,” he told her. “He won’t see us coming.”
Alyssa nodded. He opened the secret passageway. Barely breathed as he made his way to Antony’s office. The outer door silently slid open, and Sebastian saw—
Antony, lying in a pool of blood.
And crouched over him…with his gun still drawn…Isaac.
Sebastian aimed his own weapon. “Step the hell away from him.”
Isaac whirled. “What? How the hell did you get in?”
“Secret passage, asshole. Every good billionaire-prick, Batman wanna-be has one.” He heard a gasp behind him and knew that Alyssa had seen her brother.
Isaac’s gun shook as he aimed it at Sebastian. “Wasn’t supposed to go down like this.”
“You mean you weren’t supposed to be the one who pulled the trigger? Because you sent other people to do your dirty work? That what you mean?”
Isaac flushed. “I just wanted the tech. Do you know how much money it’s worth?”
“I’ve got an idea. Considering I fucking made it.”
“You’re such a bastard—”
Was the guy for real? “I’m a bastard? You just shot one of my best friends! Drop the weapon right now, or I will shoot you.”
“No, you won’t.” Isaac’s gaze darted to Alyssa. “You won’t do it in front of her. You want her to see you as the hero. The hero doesn’t shoot. He doesn’t kill. He—”
“He does when his friend—her brother—is lying in a pool of his own blood.”
Antony let out a groan. “Just…shoot…him…already!”
“He can’t.” Isaac’s chin notched up. “Because he wants to know what I did with his precious tech. He won’t shoot me. Not until he can figure out what I did with—”
Alyssa grabbed the box on the desk. She shoved her hand inside. Rooted around a bit and came back up holding…
A small flash drive. “Found it.” She cut a glance at Sebastian. “Or at least, I’d bet that this is the drive he used on your computer, seeing as how it was tucked in his special box.”
Isaac snarled and lunged for her. When he lunged, Isaac pointed his gun at her.
No fucking way.
Sebastian fired. The bullet blasted into Isaac’s shoulder, and the weapon fell from Isaac’s fingers as he screamed in pain.