Black and Blue (27 page)

His vehemence thrilled her. Who was she kidding? Everything about him thrilled her. “I want to be with
you while we’re working this case,” she admitted. “You and no one else. Not just once or twice, but every day, every night. I want us to be exclusive.”

A pause.

A pause that scared her.

Rejection? This one would hurt more than any other. But she was a fighter and wasn’t going to give up easily. Not this time. “You need space to think. I get it. Meanwhile, ask me anything,” she said. “I’ll tell you straight up. I’ll even kick things off. Do I think this relationship is going to be easy? No. Do I think it’ll be worth it? Yes.”

No longer hesitating, he said, “What happened to Claire?”

She stiffened. Of course he’d go there. But she’d said she would spill, and so she would. “Three years ago, Michael assigned me a job, told me to pick a couple of agents to help with recon before I made the kill.” The more she spoke, the easier it was to get the words out. “But I didn’t want to pick a couple of agents. I wanted to do it on my own. I was so certain I’d succeed, and then I could hog all the glory.”

He didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened around her.

“Do you remember the Night-light Killer?”

“Yes.”

“It was her. I narrowed down my suspects to two, did more recon on both, and decided it was one over the other. I was right—and I was wrong. I made my kill, and while I was busy patting myself on the back for a job well done, the other woman was doing recon on me.
The two were partners. I’d taken her best friend, so she waited for the perfect moment to strike and take mine.”

Blue kissed her temple. “You don’t have to tell me the rest.”

Yeah, but the rest of the details poured out of her anyway, unstoppable. “I came home and found Claire in pieces. Blood everywhere. And on the television screen was playing a loop of the murder. In it, Claire screamed. She screamed so much and even begged for me to save her. Until the woman ripped out her throat. Then she quieted, and I wanted so badly for the screams to start back up because it would mean she was alive. My sweet, gentle girl alive.”

“Oh, baby. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Her chin trembled and tears trickled down her cheeks. “After that, I told Michael I was done with the agency, and I meant it.”

“So you’re not back on payroll once John is found?”

“No. I’m going back to the hospital.”

“Do you like it there?”

“Yes.”

“But not love?”

“I . . . don’t know anymore.”

“I think you love being an agent. You’re so good at it.”

“Thank you.” But . . . “I’m not going to risk leading a criminal to an innocent ever again.”

“You’re wiser now. You know how to avoid—”

“No.”

He sighed. “Okay, baby. Okay. Let’s backtrack a little, then. You said you want to be with me as long as we’re working on the case. What happens after?”

“Afterward you go back to your house and your life.”

“And that means we can’t see each other anymore?”

Her brows drew together in genuine confusion. “Doesn’t it?”

“No,” he said. “Not to me.” Never had he sounded more determined.

“I know this isn’t the deal with Tiffany, but one day the seduction of a target is going to be the only option open to you. And I’m not dropping the hammer of judgment on you or anything like that. I just know the kind of cases you’re given, and I’m stating what I can and cannot accept from a boyfriend.”

At first he gave no reaction. Then his grip tightened on her, almost bruising her, and she wondered what thoughts tumbled through his head.

“So . . . I called Michael,” he said, changing the subject, “and told him to put a watch on Tyson Star if at all possible.”

Disappointment hit her. She’d wanted assurances from him, she realized. “Good thinking. It’s odd that the guy wants me. I mean, he wouldn’t even meet with me when I toured Star Light. Talk about setting myself up for the perfect snatch-and-kill.”

“Didn’t want your disappearance linked with his business, I guess.”

“All right, I’ll give you that, but
why
does he want me?”

“I can think of two reasons. Either to please his father and help the guy nail Michael, using you as bait, or he’s taken over the empire, since Daddy is hiding in the country, and as Michael’s daughter you’re now a liability.”

Blue always seemed to home in on motive, something Evie always struggled with. She was great with gadgets but horrible with other people’s reasoning. “Well, I’m sending Tyson a personal invite to the victory party. He’d better come.”

“I have a feeling he will, since there’s no way his sister will stay away—which is why I want
you
to stay away. You shouldn’t make it easy for Tyson to get to you.”

“Uh, that would be a big fat no. Besides, the party is at his hotel, and if you’re right and he doesn’t want to involve his business, he won’t make a play for me while I’m there. It’s the safest place I could be.”

“Had a feeling you’d say that,” he grumbled. “We need to get some sleep—after we have sex. Papa wants some loving. But I’ll make it fast, because we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“So kind of you.” Feeling suddenly shy, she said, “Afterward are we going to have our snugs?”

“Try to get away. I dare you.”

*  *  *

“Intruder. Intruder.”

Blue jolted upright, instantly alert. Evie did the same, the covers falling to her waist. Sunlight slanted through the curtains, highlighting her beauty. Her tank was bunched under her breasts, revealing the flat plane of her stomach. She was blinking rapidly, trying to focus.

He’d been having the most erotic dream, his hands all over her body, his mouth soon following, when all of a sudden—

“Intruder. Intruder.”

That.

“Someone’s trying to break in,” she gasped. She jumped to her feet and raced out of the room before he could stop her.

Cursing, he grabbed the pyre-gun he’d shoved under his pillow. He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs that did nothing to hide the stiff morning wood he would have liked to introduce to Evie.

“Intruder” was going to pay. Severely.

He stalked into the hallway. The sunlight was brighter there, streaming through uncovered windows, filling the confined space. No sign of Evie.

Gonna spank that girl so hard.
She’d left him behind like a damsel in distress.

Then she raced out of her bedroom, still in her tank and shorts. Her expression was all
Why are you just standing there?

“They’re in the kitchen,” she whispered.

“ ‘They’?”

“There’s two of them.”

“How do you know?”

“I checked the data stream from my room.”

Blue moved to the stairs, descended quietly. Evie stayed at his side. He wanted to lock her in a room, keeping her out of danger, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. She was a good agent—very good.

Last night, she
had
rescued him.

And afterward, in the dark of his room, she’d nearly broken his heart with her sorrow over Claire. Every day he fell a little deeper under her spell.

When they reached the bottom step, he motioned for her to branch to the right, go around back, and come in the kitchen through the yard entrance.

She nodded and took off.

He slunk around a corner, gaze scanning, ears listening. A woman’s voice registered.

“—please turn that thing off. It’s upsetting the baby.”

Baby?

“I’m trying, sweetheart, I swear I am, but I’ve never encountered a system quite like this one.”

A male voice.

One he recognized. Solo. Solo was here.

Running now, Blue burst into the kitchen. Solo had his back to him as he messed with the security box beside the yard entrance. The male immediately straightened, pulling a small blonde behind him with one hand and aiming a gun at Blue with the other. As soon as Blue’s identity registered, he lowered the gun.

“You’re alive,” Blue said. He’d known Solo was alive—of course he had—and had even known the male was in the area, but that was the equivalent of a starving man stumbling upon a banquet—with raw, uncooked food. He’d needed to see his friend with his own eyes.

“I’m alive,” Solo agreed.

“Dude.” Blue strode forward, grinning from ear to ear.

The back door splintered open and Evie flew into the kitchen, pyre-gun raised and ready. Solo reacted just as he had before, protecting the blonde and lifting a weapon.

“Solo?” Evie demanded, arms falling to her side. “Bloody hell, man. Do you know how close you came to losing your head?”

“As close as you came to losing yours?” The male did
not
lower his weapon.

Having none of that, Blue used his power to force the gun out of Solo’s kung fu grip, letting it hover just out of reach.

Solo frowned at him. “I wouldn’t have shot her. I just wanted to make a point.”

“No one’s losing their head today,” Blue snapped, swiping the gun and slamming it on the counter. “Especially Evie.”

“Especially
Evie
?” Solo stared at him as though he’d just sprouted horns and a tail.

The little blonde jammed her hands on her hips. “If you’re going to fight, let’s make it interesting. Take off your clothes while I get the oil.”

Evie slapped her gun beside Solo’s. “Next time, come to the front door and knock, you bloody—
argh!
” Glaring, she pointed at Blue. “If he broke anything, it’s going on your bill. And I’m charging double!”

Knowing Evie better now, Blue saw her through a new pair of eyes. She wasn’t angry with Solo about possible damage to her home. She was scared about what could have happened—harm to her, to Blue, even the harm she could have done to Solo and his woman—and she was trying to purge the excess emotion the only way she knew how. Through her fiery temper.

He wanted to pull her into his arms so badly, he shook. And he would have done it, uncaring about
their audience, if he thought she would let him. Right now she might just claw out his eyes and use the insides to spread on her toast.

“I’ll pay the charges, whatever they are,” he said, and Solo gaped at him.

“Good, because you owe me a new back door! A good one, too. Nothing mass-produced.” She stomped to the security panel Solo had been screwing with and punched in a code, then rerouted some of the wires. The alarm finally shut off. “That just cost you an extra thousand.”

“Why so much?” Solo asked. “That system is glitched to the max.”

“Glitched? Did you say glitched?” Bombs exploded in Evie’s eyes. She grabbed her weapon and was about to aim at Solo’s chest—and probably go trigger-happy.

Mr. Judah had just crossed her line.

“It wouldn’t shut off,” Solo gritted.

“For a reason, you idiot,” she snapped.

Blue took the gun from her. “Don’t crap on her security system,” he told his friend. “It’s the best you’ll ever come across.” To Evie he said gently, “Did you hear me, princess? The best. And you know I don’t lie.”

Gradually she calmed down. “You’re right. The best. I can’t blame a layman for not recognizing genius when he sees it.”

Can’t smile.
Solo was far from a layman.

Blue gave the baffled Solo a hug and a slap on the back. His friend gave him a slap as well and almost drilled him into the ground. Guy didn’t know his own strength.

Without the taint of kill-or-be-killed aggression, Blue looked the warrior over. Same shaggy black hair he liked to cut with a blade, same electric-blue eyes—except they were no longer glazed with constant inner pain. They were almost . . . soft. Definitely happy.

“Where have you been, my friend? Why haven’t you come to see me before now?” Blue gave the blonde with plum-colored eyes a thorough once-over. “And who’s the babe?”

Grinning, Solo tugged the curvy little female close to his side. “Blue, I’d like you to meet Vika, my wife. Vika, this is Blue, my partner.”

Vika waved at him. “So fantastic to meet you at last. I’ve heard such wonderful things.” She was Solo’s opposite in every way. Tiny, petite, soft, and pretty. And her disposition seemed to be sweeter than sugar.

“The dark-haired tyrant is Evie,” Blue said, motioning to her. “She’s my—” What? He pondered the best word to use. “—friend.” No matter what, that was still true. Although, he wanted more. More of what they’d had last night. Sex and sharing. Cuddling. Waking up with her in the morning. And he could have it. She’d offered.

But she’d offered something with a definite expiration date.

He should be okay with that.

He wasn’t.

“Now that the introductions are over, why don’t you go put on some clothes, Blue,” Solo said, and Vika giggled. “Then we’ll talk.”

“I’d be fine with you staying as is,” the girl said.

He looked down at himself. Thinking about Evie had gotten him hard again. Wasn’t that just freaking great.

He met Evie’s gaze and realized she was now trying not to laugh.

Worth the humiliation.

“I don’t know why you think this is funny, candy cane. You’re in the same half-naked boat.”

She gave him a double-birded salute before walking away, calling over her shoulder, “At least my flotation device isn’t sticking out for everyone to see.”