Elias nodded.
Zain clapped him on the shoulder then got up, leaving Elias with the lump in his throat and feelings he wasn’t keen on dealing with. Zain was right though, Elias had held himself a little apart from the others. Some things, like going out to a crowded bar, were more about his comfort level. Others? He’d stayed out of because he didn’t see himself as part of any team. But he was. Everyone from the people who kept the office going to the guys in the field, they were all important.
Elias got up and turned toward the door just as it opened again.
Instead of Zain, Jo stood there in her blood splattered clothes.
They froze for half a second before she launched herself at him. He barely caught her around the waist and avoided being drug to the ground.
He clutched her to him and buried his face in her hair.
“Are you okay? Are you in trouble?” she asked.
He gently set her down. “I’m fine, and not really.”
Jo grabbed his head none too gently and pulled him down again for a kiss. He tilted his head, allowing himself to drink in this moment and the comfort it provided.
“Come on, you two love birds.” Someone knocked on the door. “We’ve got things to do.”
“Fuck off,” Jo said over her shoulder.
The door knocker merely laughed.
Elias peered over her shoulder at the red headed man from before.
He grinned back. Rusty. “Hey, need you both in the conference room, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re coming.” Jo took Elias’ hand, threading their fingers together.
He glanced down at their joined hands.
“Is this okay?” she asked, though her tone didn’t imply a question. That was Jo, pushing ahead and doing what she wanted.
“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand.
“Good.”
“What happened? Are you okay? What’s going on?” he asked.
“Best if we answer all of it at once. And yes, I’m okay.” She flashed him a smile, then led him out of the office and into a main area.
There were other people clustered around what he assumed had to be the conference room door. The others filed in with Elias bringing up the rear. It was a tight fit, but there were seats enough for everyone.
Rusty tapped his knuckles on the table and glanced at Zain. “Where are we starting?”
Zain shrugged. “The beginning?”
“Okay.” Rusty nodded and glanced around the room. “It’s nice to see some familiar faces again. So, Owen and I have been running a long operation trying to get more intel on the Eagle Tech company. We had plenty of circumstantial evidence, but no one has been willing to come forward. It seems like one of our undercover units got into a bit of an altercation when following who they believed to be Eagle Tech employees from the airport.”
“Wait.” Jo leaned forward. “You mean the people who shot at us were FBI?”
Rusty held up his hands. “Those agents have been removed from the field.”
Elias shook his head.
“Long story short,” Zain interjected, “the FBI knew Eagle Tech or someone associated with them was blackmailing their clients. What they didn’t know until Jo and her associate filled in the holes was that they are owned and operated by a shell company under the control of a certain Russian oligarch.”
Rusty nodded and picked up the thread. “Correct, and seeing as Jo’s supervisors are off for the holidays, we’ve been given permission to act on this intel given the time sensitive nature of what’s going on.”
“Okay, so what are we doing?” Jo asked.
“That’s what we’re here tonight to figure out.” Rusty glanced around the room. “This is going down in the next twenty-four hours. We need as much back-up as possible.”
Elias squeezed Jo’s hand.
He wasn’t yet recovered from the verbal smack down in the office. This whole time he’d known how damn good Aegis Group people were, but he hadn’t lumped himself in with them. But he was now. They were the kind of people who came through for those who truly needed it. It was Elias’ own shortcomings that hadn’t allowed him to see himself as part of that team. But Jo? Jo didn’t know what it was like to be part of something like this, but she was about to find out.
THURSDAY. EAGLE TECH, Seattle, Washington.
Isaac clenched his jaw harder. It was the only movement he could make that didn’t give him a reminder that he was practically in prison. They’d left him here, handcuffed to the steel table for what felt like days.
He should have slipped away in that moment before the FBI and cops realized he wasn’t technically with Jo. She and Giovanni had manipulated him into this situation, and it was Isaac’s ass on the line.
The cuffs securing his wrists jangled. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.
Once again the chain rattled with his movements.
Damn her.
And damn Giovanni.
How was Isaac going to get out of this?
The door to his temporary cell opened and Jo stepped in, followed by a red haired man Isaac had seen outside of Eagle Tech.
“What do you want?” he snapped before he could think better of it.
“To make you a deal,” Jo said.
Isaac narrowed his gaze.
There was a trick in this, there always was.
She pulled out one of the chairs across from him and sat down. The man remained standing behind her, near the door.
“Where’s your boy toy?” Isaac asked.
“Elias is in the hall.”
“Surprised he’d let you out of his sight.”
She arched a brow at him. “You want to talk about me right now?”
Isaac shrugged.
“Here’s the deal, right now you are on the hook for some hefty charges. But, you and I both know you’re a small fish in this pond—”
“You want me to roll over on Giovanni.” Isaac grimaced. Yeah, he’d known this was coming.
“Will you?” she asked.
He stared off at the wall to his right.
Giovanni had given Isaac every positive opportunity in life possible. He’d gone from poverty to living a comfortable life. But the thing about this lifestyle? They all knew it could end in an instant. Giovanni wouldn’t hesitate to hang Isaac out if it suited his own means. That was, after all, how Isaac had wound up in this situation.
They’d all known there was a fed in their midst. They just hadn’t been fast enough to get her before she got him.
These weren’t the old days where no one snitched. That had ended before Isaac was born. Now, all he could do was look out for his own skin.
“Yeah. Okay. Whatever. What do you need me to do?”
He could very well be signing his life away. If Giovanni caught Isaac in this, he’d die. No questions about it. His loyalty wasn’t worth his life, not when it was a one-way street.
Giovanni had messed up, and Isaac wasn’t going to prison for the man.
Besides, maybe there was still a way to turn this around in his favor. If he went along with whatever mad plan Jo had in mind, maybe he could get off free and clear. And if he couldn’t, well, maybe he could escape another way.
8.
Thursday. Hotel, Seattle, Washington.
Marjorie sat cross-legged on Elias’ bed, staring at the closed bathroom door. No one had bothered taking the nifty digital lock breaking device from her. She hadn’t thought twice about using it on his hotel room, but trespassing on his shower felt wrong. Even after the intimacy they’d shared.
They’d barely gotten a chance to speak all afternoon and evening other than those few moments at the office. There was too much to do and no time to do it. And yet she knew she needed to see and talk and be with Elias. It was as much a need as eating or breathing.
Her head was still spinning from so much activity. This whole job had felt mired in the mud, barely inching forward for so damn long. Now they were sprinting, and she didn’t know if s
he could keep up. Not without Elias.
She hadn’t seen him in ages, and in a day he’d become crucial.
Which was why she needed to talk him into staying in Seattle.
Yes, he’d had her back and if it wasn’t for him, she might very well be dead. But she also knew this had to take a toll on him. Elias was the kind of guy who’d think of himself last. Which meant she had to look out for him now.
The shower finally turned off. She clasped her hands in her lap, legs crossed, and watched the door.
The minutes kept ticking by.
At long last the bathroom door opened and steam billowed out. Elias took one step onto the carpet and stopped. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his skin was still damp. Hair stuck up in the back and was plastered to his brow in the front.
He just kept staring at her...
Should she not be in here?
“Um, hi,” she said.
Had she read last night wrong? And today’s kiss?
He blew out a breath. “I thought you were a dream for a second.”
Jo laughed, more from nerves than anything else.
He trudged toward her, eyes closed.
“Did you fall asleep in there or something?” she asked.
“Almost.” He went to his knees at the side of the bed and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and laying his head on her lap.
She stared down at the top of his head and marveled at this moment. Her younger self would have died right about now. She gently placed her hand on his head, combing her fingers through his wet hair. Paler lines crisscrossed his scalp where he’d had staples that one time he’d gone head first out of the back of a Jeep, losing his helmet along the way.
Jo licked her lips. “Elias?”
“Hm?”
“I need you to not come with me.”
“What?” He lifted his head and frowned at her. “Why? What happened?”
“Listen to me? Please?”
He kept frowning, but didn’t utter a word.
“You have done more for me than anyone else in a long time. Probably ever. I’m so appreciative and thankful. You can’t possibly know how much all of this has meant to me. But, I also know I’ve asked more of you than I should have. I care about you too much to have you with me for this next part. Please, stay here?”
Elias sat back on his heels. There were furrows across his brow now.
“You think I have PTSD or something?”
“I don’t know, but I saw how you were after what happened at the condo, and I don’t want to ask you to have to do that again.”
He dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment, his hands still on her knees. She covered his hands with hers.
“I don’t think less of you. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m respecting that you’ve gone a different path than me.” Shit. She was going about this all wrong.
Elias turned his hands over, clasping his hands with hers, and tipped his face up. “I’ve learned a bit about myself the last few days, too. You know, after the accident I knew I wasn’t entirely right. I’ve lived the last few years thinking things about myself. Zain called me out for not being a team player, and he was right. I’ve spent so long thinking there’s something wrong with me, I think I created a problem that wasn’t there. Yeah, after the accident I had...issues. I’m never going back into front-line work because I can’t handle the physical toll on my body, but I don’t think I’m as fucked up as I thought I was.”
“I saw your face yesterday...”
“Yesterday was the first time I’ve shot someone at close range since before the accident. I think my reaction proves I’m human more than anything else. If I had shot that guy without it bothering me, then I’d think we have an issue.”
Jo waded through his words again. She only knew what had been shared with her following the accident about his injuries. Did she trust him to tell her the truth?
The open honesty shining back at her was hard to refute.
He hadn’t hesitated or choked once. There was no reason not to trust him or believe he wouldn’t tomorrow.
“I want what’s best for you,” she said.
“And that’s being with you. Watching your back is where I belong.”
She sighed. “You sure know how to sweet talk a girl.”
Jo would be lying if she didn’t admit that having him there would put her mind at ease. There was just something about Elias that made her feel complete. They were perfectly fine on their own, but together they were stronger. She could trust him to reel her in when she went too far and to watch her back.
She wanted to ask him about the future, but she couldn’t bring herself to get out of this moment with him.
Elias lifted her right hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I’m not much of a sweet talker.”
It was the way he held her gaze, allowing her to see the smoldering heat that did her in.
This man could be dangerous to her heart, if he didn’t care about her. But he did. She knew in her soul that Elias would protect her with his very body if it came to that. She’d never meant that much to anyone before. Not even her own mother.
Jo felt such an overwhelming tide of emotions surge over her.
She couldn’t remain sitting.
She unfolded her legs. Elias sat back on his heels. She stepped over him to pace the room.
“Sorry, was that the wrong thing to say?” he asked after a moment.
“You didn’t say anything wrong, I’m just thinking.”
“Want to talk it out?” He pushed up and sat on the edge of the bed.
She stopped at the foot of the bed and looked at him.
The scars on his left side were faded compared to when she’d last seen them. He’d never be rid of them, but he didn’t seem as bothered by those injuries now. They’d all been worried about him in the beginning, but she hadn’t known what to do or how to reach out.
Jo was so emotionally stunted. She didn’t know how to connect with a man who so obviously cared about her or how to return that affection. She was the broken one here, not him.
She circled the bed to stand in front of him. He automatically lifted his hand, twining his fingers with hers. She gave him a squeeze, holding on tight.
“I don’t know what to do about this. You and me. Whatever this is. I want to do what’s best for you and selfishly I want the exact opposite.”
“What’s best for me right now is being where you are. All I’m going to do otherwise is sit up worrying about you.”
She closed her eyes to shut out his intense stare. How was she supposed to respond to that?
Elias wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her closer to stand between his legs. He pushed her shirt up, kissing her stomach and up to her ribs.
Immediately her body responded. Her skin heated and gooseflesh rose up. Arousal ran hot in her veins.
She let go of his hand and pulled her T-shirt up and over her head.
Elias wrapped his arms around her and stood. She sucked down air and held tight to his shoulders as he walked the few feet to the dresser.
It was impossible to see him as anything except desirable when he demonstrated his strength. The scars, to her, simply added to his character. He’d survived and gone on to thrive.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a hot kiss. His fingers curled in her hair and she groaned as he tugged. Just a little, not hard. He tipped her head back and kissed down her neck, past her collar bone. His fingers traced her sports bra.
Jo had never fully figured out bras. It was her failing as a woman. The sizing baffled her, and there were too many options. Sports bras were easy.
But panties?
She had a thing for pretty panties.
Elias ran his fingers over hear breast and she shivered. “Does this thing have a combination lock?”
Jo snorted and laughed. “It’s a bra.”
“Yeah, but it looks like a second skin.”
> She reached down and pealed the bra up. He had a point. It was a snug fit. She got it halfway off before Elias lent her a hand. It was much easier getting the darn thing off with a little help. She was grateful when the bra went sailing onto the floor.
Elias braced his hands on the dresser. One side of his mouth hitched up in a mischievous smile she hadn’t seen from him in years. It melted her heart completely and left her vulnerable to all the emotions flitting about inside of her.
“Much better,” he said.
“Hmm.”
She slid her barefoot up his calf to where the towel hung near his knee. A pinch and a tug was all it took for the terrycloth to join her bra on the floor.
“Oopse,” she said.
His cock bobbed toward her, already semi-erect.
She knew she’d come in here for a reason that now escaped her mind. How could she think about anything else than her need for him?
Elias grinned and leaned forward, pressing a hot, open-mouthed kiss to her lips that silenced any and all thought. He cupped her ass and pulled her forward until her hips cradled him. She reached for his cock, stroking him from root to tip.
Someday she wanted to spend hours doing this. They didn’t have that luxury right now.
Elias pulled back and tugged on her jeans, popping the button free. She lifted her bottom, and he dragged her pants down far enough to display her lacey black boy shorts.
“You ever wear those matching set things?” He traced the scalloped lace at the top of her thigh.
“No.” She could feel her face flaming hot. “Nothing ever fits, so I just get the panties.”
“Oh, okay.”
He pressed his fingers against her pussy with nothing but a thin layer of lace and satin between them. She gasped, and he kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth.
Maybe it was time to rethink her stance on bras?
If Elias thought matching sets were sexy, she could break down and figure out something.
He slid one finger past the lace, teasing her folds. That was when coherent thought ceased. She whimpered and shifted her hips.
Elias broke the kiss and grabbed her panties. He pulled both those and her jeans down her legs, leaving her in nothing at all.
Mind of Danger (Body of Danger, #3) Page 10