The Talented Mr. Rivers (5 page)

For a second no one said anything. The sounds of the street came back into focus. People walked on the other side. A taxi idled as passengers got out a few doors down.

Hunter almost hated to ask, but he had to. “What video?”

“The one we have set up in that safe house of ours. The one you're using without official permission.” Fisher suddenly seemed a lot less brooding. “See, we like to make sure people aren't breaking into our safe houses when we're not there.”

Seth didn't even try to hide his smile now. “Or having sex in them. Unless it's one of us, of course. That would be fine. For the record, seeing you naked and climbing all over a known terrorist was not fine.”

Hunter wasn't a prude, but Jesus. A guy should be able to get some privacy.

“You watched.” He didn't ask it as a question because he knew. Seth's and Fisher's expressions said they knew exactly what had happened earlier against that wall.

This time Seth smacked Hunter's shoulder. “It was impressive how fast you got your pants off, but we did turn off the monitor after that.”

It took all of the control Hunter had not to reach for his gun. But he did take a threatening step forward. “I'm going to kill you.”

“Whoa.” Fisher held up a hand and stepped between them. “Bad idea, since Seth is now your contact. There's a Pentasus task force that consists of the three of us and Zach. Trust me, Hunter, you need Seth.”

The news pushed Hunter too far. His temper exploded. He could feel the heat storm through his body and his hands reflexively ball into fists. “Absolutely not.”

Seth flattened his palm over his heart and winced. “That actually hurts a little.”

“Bottom line.” Fisher talked right over the sarcasm. “Will knows what Zach looks like. What I look like. He hasn't seen Seth and there's no indication we have a breach regarding Seth's cover or real name. So, he's your only option for bringing Will in. And, for the record, we will bring him in.”

Wrong.
Hunter had already worked this out and his plan did not include anyone from the CIA. He'd made this mess and endangered his job. He didn't need anyone else coming in and making things even worse. “My plan is to get Will to cooperate…Damn, Fisher, why are you shaking your head now?”

“Your plan is out. Someone tried to kill Will—”

“How do you know that?” But Hunter knew. That meant they'd been following them since at least the club.

Seth held up his phone. The display showed a still image of the bodies littering the club floor. “We tracked you from the carnage. Also cleaned up your mess, so you're welcome.”

“No one asked you to.”

Seth winced again. “So that there's no surprise. We do have ears in the safe house, too.”

“You might want to keep that in mind before you break out the condoms for round two.”

Hunter was ten seconds away from banging their heads against the wall. “Shut it all off.”

Fisher kept right on talking. “Also, we think it's possible Peter is alive and trying to solidify power and get the business functioning again. We're still tracking that option.”

“Or, we have an outside player trying to make an example out of Will, show that the Rivers family is gone and there's a new leader,” Seth said. “Either way, Will is our ticket to getting more information, which is the only reason he's not being interrogated right now.”

All the pieces clicked together in Hunter's head. Fisher and his team had let him do the hard work of finding Will and now they swooped in, wanting to put Will right in the line of fire. “You mean he's a target.”

“I mean he's the one we use to draw out the person thinking of taking over Pentasus—Peter or whoever that is.”

Hunter listened to Fisher's theory and knew it made sense. On a protocol and strategic level, sure. But Hunter still refused to believe it was the right option. “You're going to get him killed.”

Fisher didn't look impressed with the response. “You should have thought about that before you started screwing him.”

“That's pretty funny coming from you.” Hunter couldn't believe Fisher had said the words since he'd nearly destroyed the initial Pentasus investigation when he put Zach's life ahead of the mission. And they all knew it. Hell, Hunter had given Fisher and Zach grief over that.

Seth cleared his throat and dragged the attention back to him. “Which is part of the reason why I will be running this. I don't care who you sleep with, target or not. Just don't do something stupid like fall in love.”

“Never going to happen.” Hunter heard the fierceness in his own voice.

Fisher shrugged. “I said that once.”

“You were weak.” It was a knee-jerk response but Hunter thought it fit. Screw whatever happily-ever-after thing Zach and Fisher thought they had going on. They worked in dangerous jobs. They dealt in death every day. Nothing about getting involved at any level other than for sexual release was a good idea for people like them.

“Enough shit talking.” Seth flipped into serious leader mode in a matter of seconds. “Your job is to keep Will here and happy long enough to draw out the players in this Pentasus game. Do it however you need to, but don't forget the cameras are running.”

“This is the last time I'm telling you to turn them off.” Hunter refused to drop that point.

“I watch until the sex starts, then I'll keep to the outside cameras.” Seth shot Hunter a crooked smile. “That's as much as I can promise because when your attention is off the job, then I'm your only protection against getting attacked from behind. Deal with it.”

Fisher nodded. “We'll be working on figuring out the rest, trying to find Peter, all while pointing a big arrow right to you. We just need someone to take the bait.”

On one level it made sense. That didn't mean Hunter liked it. “This plan is too risky.”

“So is letting the Rivers clan back out there, kidnapping and holding auctions. I should know since they threatened to auction me,” Fisher said.

Hunter got that, but…“I could just move Will. Give you time to work through your contacts and find Peter.”

Fisher wasn't having it. “It's better to stay where we have some control and the surveillance already set up.”

“Except for when you start the good stuff,” Seth added.

“Fuck you.”

Seth laughed. “That's your department. I'm not the one getting all the action.”

“Is that a problem?” Fisher asked Hunter.

Hunter didn't even understand the question. “You're asking me if having sex is a problem?”

“Forget that.” Fisher shook his head. “We're telling you to keep your head in the game.
He
can't be more important than this assignment.”

“I'm technically not on an assignment.” Hunter wasn't sure how many times he had to say that before someone listened.

Fisher glanced at Seth before turning back to Hunter. “See, that's the kind of comment that causes concern.”

“Fine.” Hunter pushed them both aside and stepped out onto the main street. “You two figure out who Gatt is. Sounds like he was connected to Stacia somehow and might still be lurking around.”

Seth looked at Fisher. “Now he thinks he's giving orders.”

Hunter didn't see any other reason to team up. “We're done here.”

“Just remember we're watching,” Seth said.

Hunter took off walking, but did make sure to give them the finger as he left.

Will wasn't really the type to sit when someone told him to. He'd figured out early that in his family the way to stay alive was to keep moving. Not show fear or express any emotions—ever. He was starting to wonder if he needed to deal with Hunter the same way.

He'd been gone for more than twenty minutes. Long enough for Will to shower, rummage around through the few drawers in the place, then change his clothes. Longer than Will had expected. When the man panicked and ran, he
really
ran.

Will's patience had grown thin. He'd kept hidden just fine without a bodyguard, official or otherwise. And having one that screwed with his head was not a good idea.

Now that he knew Hunter was alive, he could go. Technically, there was no reason to tie themselves together in any way, especially if someone really did want to kill him. Will couldn't tolerate the idea of a stray bullet meant for him hitting Hunter by accident.

He'd always figured his life expectancy was short. No amount of trying to break free from his family could change that. But that didn't mean he had to increase the risk to Hunter, too.

They'd had sex once, but something else had been growing between them for months. All that time spent together. The watching. Like it or not, Hunter mattered to him. And that meant walking away might be the best way to save Hunter and his own sanity.

He slipped the belt out of his abandoned dress pants on the floor and put it on. Next came his wallet, which he tucked in his back pocket. That and the contents of the duffel bag accounted for most of his possessions. He had some money but most he couldn't get to, not without trouble, since he was thought to be dead. Not without tipping off anyone who might want to find him.

He stopped and took one last look at the studio. Glanced at the stone wall and let the memories flash through his mind. Just as he reached for the door handle he heard a beep and the lock disengaged.

When the door opened, Hunter was standing there with keys in one hand and a bag of food in the other. His gaze traveled to the duffel bag in Will's hand and then back to his face.

“You better not think you're leaving, because that's not happening.” Without waiting for an answer, Hunter kicked the door shut behind him and walked into the kitchen area, dumping the food bag on the counter.

It all seemed so normal, so domestic, when Will felt anything but. He needed to do something because a life of treading water and waiting for the end to come was not working anymore.

He had no intention of running Pentasus, a business and name he'd only learned the complete details on right before the explosion. He didn't want a piece of the other Rivers family businesses either. It was all tainted to him. It all led to trouble, the same trouble Stacia and Peter had sent him out of the country to avoid.

They might not be—or have been—perfect, or even good people, but he owed them something for taking the risk to free him from becoming like them. He had no intention of squandering that gift now that he was so close to being out of all the muck for good.

He was still sorting out the best plan for the future but changing his identity and getting somewhere well outside of London or Paris, or anywhere someone related to Pentasus might expect him to be, struck him as the right idea. Somewhere remote. No phone, limited access. He had skills. He might not be qualified for an office job but he had a head for numbers.

He'd also figured out while he was away from home that he had some skill with construction. In college some friends built homes for charity during the summers. In avoiding time at home while Peter and Stacia fought out their differences, he hadn't had many options for the months without school. During those times Will had followed his friends. Learned by watching. Not that he could design a house from scratch, but he'd gotten the basics down, particularly the physical labor part.

His father would have hated that, which made the career choice all the more tempting. Hell, he'd build flower boxes if it meant not living in this choking cloud of suspicion and doubt.

“What's your plan here?”

Will didn't drop the duffel, but he knew he wasn't going anywhere now. Not unless he planned to punch his way through Hunter, and that was never going to happen. “I don't want to sit around and wait for the next person to take a shot at me.”

Hunter unloaded the food. A container of something and what looked like a wrapped sandwich. “I don't care if you sit or stand, but right now we're going to eat.”

He retrieved silverware and napkins. The crinkle of paper and thud of the drawer played as background noise.

“This isn't going to work.” Will knew from experience that staying cooped up like this wouldn't do anything to clear his thinking. Every time his family had tried to lock him down “for his own protection” before he escaped to the United States for college, his fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. He'd been hurt more than once trying to escape a locked space or jump from a high window.

In a way, he'd been on the run all his life. His mistake had been in coming home for what his father insisted would be his last request. Will had let blood rule. Gave in to the last stray feelings of loyalty to a father who deserved none.

Now he was paying the price. Being hunted was part of it. So was being trapped in a room with a man who could turn his attraction on and off between heartbeats.

Hunter grabbed the food container and sandwich and took them with him to the small couch. He pointed at the chair opposite him with his fork, then started eating. “Sit.”

“The alpha dog act is getting a little old.” Never mind that being ordered around by Hunter made Will hot.

Hunter sat there eating while studying Will. “Is this about the sex?”

It was as if Hunter had read his mind. “It's nice to know talking about it doesn't scare you. I guess it's just doing it that makes you bolt.”

Another forkful of lettuce disappeared. “I didn't get all touchy-feely and now you're whining.”

Will was done with this conversation. He needed a break, so right now he was done with Hunter, too. “Or maybe the sex wasn't that good.”

Hunter put the food container down and leaned back on the cushions. Didn't get angry. Looked more on the verge of smiling. “You really think you can sell that?”

“You can't be good at everything. Maybe stick to beating people up.” Will dropped the duffel and shoved it away from the door with the side of his sneaker. Getting out would need to wait until tomorrow, or at least until Hunter fell asleep.

“Is this your fucked-up way of asking for a second round?”

“You're a dick.” Will moved across the room and stopped near the window. He leaned against the curtains and the trim underneath. Didn't bother to give Hunter eye contact.

“Probably true, but you still should eat.”

“Not interested.”

Hunter stood up and went to the sink, taking the container with him. “We need to let the heat die down.”

The comment sounded just ominous enough to pull Will's attention from the lights on the street below and back to Hunter. “What are we talking about?”

“The danger you're in.”

The topic guaranteed to shut down any sex talk and take them racing back to the you-work-for-me/no-I-don't discussion. “No one tried to kill me in Paris before you showed up.”

“Because you didn't go outside.” The fork clanked against the inside of the sink. “I'm impressed, by the way. You don't strike me as a hang-around-the-house guy.”

Will was starting to miss the time alone. “You know that almost everything you say makes you sound like a bigger asshole, right?”

“Are you unclear about the meaning of the words ‘I'm impressed'?” Hunter planted his palms on the edge of the counter. His amused expression didn't change. “I thought I was clear.”

He was. Crystal. “I'll get my plan together, then disappear.”

“You're saying you'll leave everything—the money, all of it—behind?” Hunter snorted as he shook his head. “Not likely.”

Sex or no, Hunter still didn't get it and Will had run out of the patience to explain it again. “Because the money has done such great things for my family.”

Yeah, it was time to go. Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow. Very early. He needed a new plan since the one where he located Hunter and got answers that way hadn't worked. That meant relaxing for a short time, then taking off, preferably without Hunter following behind and bitching.

With one last look at the curtains and the window he couldn't see out of, Will headed for the bed. He sat down on the edge and kicked off his shoes. The rest stayed on because a quick exit depended on it.

“What are you doing?” Hunter asked.

“Going to bed.” Will dropped back onto the mattress and balanced an arm across his forehead, covering his eyes. “I'll make decisions tomorrow.”

“I'm pretty sure we've already made them. You want to leave and I'm saying no. Not yet.”

Will didn't bother responding to that. The fight had gone out of him. More like he needed to save up his energy. Hiding out for the last three weeks had meant never relaxing and always watching. Every second. That's what his life would be from now on. One big step into a fake life, always looking over his shoulder for his family's enemies, most of whom he didn't even know and couldn't identify. Luckily he didn't trust easily.

Good news was he operated best when he was away from anything having to do with his family. Now he just needed to find a country where the family's tentacles didn't reach. Where no one would know who he was, so he could disappear into the fog, even if that meant never seeing Hunter again.

Just thinking that made his chest ache. He fought the urge to rub the spot. Tried not to think about Hunter's hands or the deep cadence of his voice.

As his mind started to clear, the mattress next to him dipped. He lowered his arm and looked over to see Hunter sitting there.

The chances of this ending well were slim. Will wanted to make that clear from the start. “Can we share the bed without you getting freaked out on me?”

Hunter glared at Will over his shoulder. “What does that mean?”

He cannot be this much of a dumbass
. Will let his arm drop back against the pillow. “I've never had anyone run from sex that fast.”

Hunter shrugged as he leaned back against the pillows and crossed his ankles one over the other. “I worked up an appetite.”

“Right.” Will had had enough. He reached over to turn off the light on his side of the bed. That left every other light in the place on, but he didn't care.

For a few seconds that worked. Hunter didn't move. Didn't talk. If he was breathing, he was being pretty damn quiet about it. Which was all just fine with Will. He'd asked for space and got it.

The minutes passed and the silence dragged on. After some shuffling sounds the bed moved again. Even with his eyes closed, Will could tell the lights around the room clicked off one by one. He heard the footsteps. Sensed Hunter's presence.

This time when the mattress shifted Will felt breathing. Right next to him. Could feel Hunter's gaze. Despite the sensation of having someone loom right by his shoulder, Will pretended not to notice. He lay there, every muscle still.

“Honestly, I didn't expect it to be that good.” Hunter's whisper bounced across the small room.

Will tried not to react but he looked up into Hunter's blue eyes, which stood out in the dim lights from the street. “What?”

“The sex.”

It took a second for the words to hit Will full force. At first they streamed through his mind, but then they settled in. Not that they made much sense. “You left because you liked it? What the hell do you do when it sucks?”

“I'm serious.” Hunter's voice dropped even lower than usual. He didn't lean in or move closer. He stayed there with his head balanced on his hand and his attention focused on Will. “We both know this is a mistake. We need to stay focused and be smart.”

For once they agreed on something, or Will was going to pretend they did. “For me that means leaving town.”

“I'm not sure about that part….” Hunter's voice trailed off as his hand slipped up Will's side to rest on his stomach.

“You're having some trouble with mixed messages, but maybe that's all you can send.”

“I'm sure about your safety. The rest…who the hell knows?”

Will had to rewind the conversation in his mind to catch up again. “Because?”

“The safety part?” Hunter didn't stop to let Will answer. “Getting caught with our pants off strikes me as stupid. You can say I'm not on the payroll or officially your bodyguard, but I plan to stay here until I'm sure you're safe.”

Will followed that jump in topics, which was nothing short of a miracle since the heat of Hunter's hand seeped through the shirt to warm Will's bare skin. Then Hunter's thumb swept back and forth, causing the white buttons of Will's shirt to flick open and expose the T-shirt underneath.

In the span of a few seconds the air in the room changed. Forget cold indifference. Forget just figuring out a way to survive the night. Electricity shot through Will, touching off a zip of tension that had his insides pulling tight and wanting more.

“What if you slept with a gun by the bed?” Will wanted to follow up the question with a touch. Run his fingers over Hunter's neck, then down. Wanted to, but waited.

Hunter inhaled and the breath sounded shaky. “I've got a gun and a knife on me. What's your point?”

Hunter acted like he missed the offer being put on the table, but Will didn't buy that, not after hearing the hitch in Hunter's voice. Still, he tried again. Wanted to be really clear. “With weapons nearby you could take your pants off.”

“I did buy more condoms.”