TheFugitivesSexyBrother (2 page)

But Guy’s expression didn’t soften. “Son,” he said. “Time
was, I’d have given you the Bonavita job without blinking an eye. But your
work’s been erratic lately. I want to try this job on another hunter.”

“You can’t afford to try this job on another hunter!” The
outburst came with a surge of panic-inducing images. The Elise on the back of a
tow truck. Emily on another bounty hunter’s arm.

“Matthew, I can’t afford to give this job to
you
.
Half a million’s too much to stake on the possibility you’ll shape up and
actually bring your quarry in this time.” Guy’s face seemed too knowing.
Matthew’s guts roiled. He’d been careful with every deal he’d cut. Guy couldn’t
know about that.

“You don’t have another hunter who knows how to deal with a
character like Bonavita,” Matthew said desperately.

“I could,” a feminine voice interjected. Matthew whirled,
staring incredulously at tiny, delicate Emily. The girl whose eyes had widened
in awe when he’d shown her the gunshot scar on his right arm. The girl who
ought to be safe in Matthew’s home, helping him sort through all the
headache-inducing paperwork that came along with this job, not risking herself
day after day among a bunch of lowlife criminals. The woman who belonged in his
bed, not competing with him for the highest-paying job Guy had offered in
years.

Matthew let out a disbelieving laugh at the same moment Guy
said, “Done.”

“Done?” Matthew echoed.

“Emily’s got the job,” Guy said.

“She won’t be safe!”

Emily turned her back on him and faced Guy. “Should I get
the details from Neva?”

“Please.” Guy scowled. “She certainly seems to have them
all.”

Matthew leaned forward on the counter, thinking of the bill
for the bright orange paint job he’d just had done on the Lotus. “Guy, you
can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious. Emily is more than competent. She has a
criminal justice degree, martial arts training. She works her ass off. She’s
always trying to improve her skills.” The corners of his mouth turned down
pointedly. “She’s not resting on the laurels of a few successful jobs. I’ve been
trying to get her to take on a real challenge for months now.”

“You won’t turn me away when I bring Bonavita in first.”

“To be honest, Lodi, I don’t think you can.”

The pitying expression on Guy’s face knocked the breath out
of Matthew. He turned on his heel, glaring at the two girls with their heads
together at the front counter. Outside, he got to the Lotus just as the
overgrown sideburns of the repo man appeared from around the corner. Cursing,
Matthew wrenched the car door open and flung himself inside, banging his head
as he compressed his body into the sports car’s low-slung seat.

At least the car didn’t let him down this time—in seconds,
her fine handling and fast acceleration had left the repo man in the dust.
Matthew pulled into a supermarket parking lot and caught his breath, adrenaline
still rushing through his body. Guy didn’t think he could bring in Fernando
Bonavita? The man clearly underestimated the power of Matthew’s contacts.
Searching through his phone’s logs, he found the number of the last member of
Bonavita’s gang that he’d cut a deal with.

“Yeah, Raul?” Matthew didn’t waste time when the man on the
other end picked up. “I’ve got some information Fernando will be interested in,
assuming you guys can make it worth my while. There’s a woman coming after him,
and I know all about her.”

“Hola.”

Javier Bonavita glanced up from his computer screen, then
hurried all the way to his feet when he saw who was standing in his doorway.
Looking at Fernando, his smooth and dangerous older brother, was a little like
looking into a funhouse mirror. The two men had inherited their father’s dark
skin and wide nose and their mother’s warm brown eyes and thick curly hair. But
where their resemblance stopped, a wide gulf opened between them. Fernando’s
every gesture spoke of strength and tightly controlled power. He was a man used
to being obeyed. Javier, on the other hand…

“When was the last time you combed your hair?” Fernando’s
nose twitched a little and Javier cringed at his distaste, desperately wishing
he’d taken a few minutes that morning to clear some of the laundry off his
floor. “Why do Americans behave like children for so long? In Colombia you
would be a married man by now, with a family and responsibilities of your own.”

Javier swallowed, the sting of the words traveling down his
throat and into his stomach, where he would digest them slowly over the next
several hours. He kept his voice as light as he could when he answered. “You’re
as American as I am. Or they’d have sent you back to Colombia along with Mom.”

“Well.” Fernando never willingly discussed their mother. He
stepped into the room, placing his feet so they never touched any of Javier’s
mess. He peered at the tangled code crawling up and down the computer screen.
“Are you working on something for me?”

Javier considered lying to make himself sound better. His
brother would never know the difference.

He could not go through with it. His ingrained habit of
loyalty would not allow even this small betrayal. “It’s a side project,” he
admitted. “I’m checking a browser for security flaws.”

“You know I don’t want you taking on other jobs. I need you
available to me at all times.”

“It’s not a job. I’m doing it for fun.” Javier didn’t know
how to explain it. Fernando appreciated his computer skills, but could never
comprehend the compulsion Javier felt to wrestle with certain kinds of puzzles.
Javier’s mind never left off trying to understand the tangles around him—and he
liked to keep his brain as occupied as possible with problems that actually had
solutions. Javier couldn’t stand to think too much about their father, or their
mother or their little sister, Sabi. Or Terri.

But he didn’t want to appear weak in front of Fernando.
Javier tried to close off his face so not even a whisper of his thoughts could
reach his brother.

Fernando stared at Javier. “Doesn’t look like much fun,” he
said. “I bought you that Mustang. Why don’t you take it out for a drive?”

“I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Fernando shook his head. “Is that a joke?”

“Not really.”

“What’s the matter with you? You used to have a sense of
humor.”

Javier shook his head, touching the diamond stud in his
right ear. Fernando’s eyes immediately narrowed. He drew himself to his full
height, stepping away from the computer. “You need to forget that woman. She
wanted you to be someone you’re not.”

“Whatever you say, Fernando.”

“Have you been doing any of the things I asked? Why can’t
you keep your apartment in better condition? You know either or both of us
might need to leave town at a moment’s notice. You can’t afford this mess.”

Javier shrank back before his brother’s anger, then blinked,
seeing Fernando clearly for the first time since he’d walked into the room.
Fernando’s jaw clenched, muscles standing out along his neck. He wore all his
gold rings and the bulges in his pockets could have been getaway cash. He moved
tautly, his hands kept in positions too precise to be natural. Fernando was
scared out of his wits.

Love and loyalty took the upper hand within Javier, easily
beating out his own hurt and anger. He reached out to his brother. “Tell me.”

For a second Javier thought Fernando would crack the veneer
that always separated them. Maybe Fernando would admit he didn’t have all the
answers after all, that his efforts at control never gave him quite what he
wanted—that his life and Javier’s weren’t really so different. The corner of
one eye gleamed with what could have been a tear.

Javier barely breathed for fear of ruining the moment, but
then Fernando rubbed the corner of his eye briskly and his face shuttered. He
smiled the empty, charming smile he wore whenever they went out together to
clubs and bars. Javier had always wondered why women never seemed to see the
impenetrable walls just behind that expression. Disappointment surged into his
chest as Fernando clapped him on the shoulder, the thud of his hand reinforcing
the distance between them.

“Stress with work, that’s all. Sorry I’m in here nitpicking
you.”

“Right. No worries.” Javier shifted uneasily.
Where are
you going?
he wanted to ask, but the words died on his lips. Yet another
subject Fernando wouldn’t discuss with his naïve kid brother.

“Listen.” Fernando’s eyes watched a point above Javier’s
shoulder. “There’s a woman who might come looking for me.”

“What happened to Carolina?”

“Carolina?” Fernando’s face paled.

“Yeah. I didn’t know you broke things off with her.”

Fernando recovered and shrugged. “We were never that
serious.”

Javier wasn’t fooled. Carolina’s name had gotten a bigger
reaction than he’d seen from his brother in months. He filed away that piece of
information for later and dropped the discussion before he upset Fernando. “So
this woman who might look for you. What do you want me to tell her?”

Fernando cleared his throat. “Actually, if you can avoid
talking to her, that would be best. It would be ideal if she thinks you’re me.”

“Excuse me? What kind of jealous lover is this? Won’t she
know the difference?”

“Don’t let her get too close, Javier. I need a head start. I
need your help,” Fernando winced as the words passed his lips. “Can you give me
that much?” The request smacked of truth and desperation. Javier didn’t dare to
press for more.

He sat down at his computer. The questions he couldn’t ask
pressed in on him painfully. He cast a longing glance at his neglected browser
code. “Yeah, sure,” Javier said.

“Great. I want you to stay at my place and work whatever
computer magic you can to make it seem like it’s me in there.”

Fernando’s tone remained casual, but the impact of his words
stretched that charade to the limit. Javier waited for a moment, but his
brother didn’t reveal anything else. Finally he nodded. “I’m going to need a
couple hours to pack.” He didn’t say days. He read urgency in every line of
Fernando’s body.

“Good,” Fernando said, and bolted from the room.

Javier stared after him. A little prodding might get him a
lot of information. A quick look at Fernando’s recent call log, or even a
simple search on newspaper articles. But he decided he didn’t want to know. His
brother would never put him in real danger. Fernando wanted Javier to believe
he was facing a jilted lover, so that was what he would face, no matter what he
suspected.

* * * * *

Emily set her sandwich down in her lap and squinted. The sun
washed over the river before her, glittering there, but it did little to warm
her. Soon it would be too cold to have lunch here. She leaned back on the
concrete stairs leading down to Waterplace and glanced at the dark-haired woman
beside her, sighing. Neva didn’t have a lunch with her—when Emily asked, she’d said
she was on a diet. She only did that when she thought she had a chance with a
guy. Emily might have bigger problems than the always-unpredictable New England
weather and her perpetually empty bank account.

Neva had been pretty much her only friend since she’d moved
up from Newport, but they obviously needed to clear the air about a few things.
“So,” Emily said, careful not to watch Neva’s perfectly made-up face. “You and
Matthew?”

Neva didn’t answer for so long that Emily wondered if she’d
heard. Finally, she muttered, “Kind of. Why?”

“Kind of?” Emily kept her tone casual. She wasn’t jealous.
Really. She had to ask for professional reasons. Neva had always been an
important source of information for her. She needed to know whether she could
count on her friend to help with the Bonavita job.

“I’ve gone home with him a couple times.”

“But you want it to be more.”

Neva’s head whipped toward Emily, her dark curls snapping
back from her face. “I’m not a child, Emily.”

“I wasn’t saying that. I’m just trying to find out what’s
going on.”

“You told me you were done with him.”

“I am. More than done. Believe me.” Emily gritted her teeth.
Matthew Lodi looked like a walking fantasy, but as a boyfriend he pretty much
defined “nightmare”. Sure, when she’d seen him at Guy’s, her body had responded
to his size, his well-developed muscles and that damn leather jacket of his.
Matthew couldn’t have been more of a cliché—shaggy blond hair, driving gloves,
dark sunglasses and every other bad-boy accessory. She shook her head to clear
her mind of his sculpted chest and the tiny lotus flower tattooed over his
heart.

Neva snorted. “You don’t look done.”

“Is it that obvious?” Emily shook her head. “He stole from
me, Neva. He followed
my
leads, picked up
my
quarries and turned
them in to Guy. He thought I’d be happy that he bought me dinner with money he
made off
my
work. He has no respect for me as either a bounty hunter or
a person. He told me he wanted me to give up my martial arts classes so I could
focus on learning to cook better. No need to worry about protecting myself when
I have him. It doesn’t matter what I think of his body. I
have
to be
done with him. It’s a matter of self-respect.”

“Wow, thanks.” Neva’s bitter expression reminded Emily of
the context of their conversation. Emily’s face fell. She bit her lip and
searched for an apology, but Neva shook her head before Emily could come up
with any appropriate words. “I get it, Emily. You’re pursuing a career, not
looking for marriage. But I have to say that it sounds pretty nice to have a
guy who wants to protect me.”

“Matthew didn’t really want to protect me. He wanted to
undermine me.”

“That’s you, Emily. I’m not strong like you.”

“Yes, you are, Neva!”

Neva raised one plucked eyebrow and tilted her head to the
side. The delicate lines of her nose and cheekbones made her seem like
something breakable. “I just look things up for Guy.”

“Do you really think that, Neva? I know better and so does
Guy. You’re a good skiptracer. You’ve given me invaluable leads on tons of
jobs. You know where to look for things and what to do with what you find.
Remember that guy a couple months ago? You went to the DMV and figured out he
owned a motorcycle we didn’t know about? I’d never have found him if I hadn’t
put the word out to watch for that motorcycle.”

“Don’t flatter me. A real skiptracer knows hacking. I can
use a computer, but only for basic things.”

Emily frowned. How many times had she let herself get
demoralized because of her ideas of what a “real” bounty hunter ought to do and
know? “What you do works, Neva. And I wouldn’t trade it. I don’t like hearing
you put yourself down.”

Her friend sighed, flipping one long earring off her
shoulder. “Matthew said I shouldn’t let my job stress me out so much. He said
Guy asks too much of me, and I stay at the office too late.”

“Was he trying to get you to join him for happy hour at the
time?”

Neva pursed her lips but didn’t reply.

“Listen,” Emily said, “I don’t begrudge you him. He’s a
great-looking guy. He’s good in bed, if you’re into what he’s into. I’m not
going to try to talk you out of going after him. But I have to ask if you’re
sure about what you’re doing. Guy wasn’t happy that you called Matthew about
the Bonavita job. I think it shook his trust a little.”

“His
trust
? You say it like Guy even knows my name.”

“Of course he knows your name. You’re great at what you do.
I’ve been trying to tell you that. But it’s not just that…” Emily hesitated,
not sure whether she ought to finish her sentence.

“What?” Neva examined her fingernails. Too casual. Emily bit
her lip, then decided to take the plunge.

“The reason you called Matthew was pretty clear. I think Guy
was a little hurt.”

Neva’s eyes snapped up. “Emily, do you have to bring that
old crush up? Guy’s had his chance. I fawned over him for three years and he
never made a move. I’m not going to let myself waste away. I’m looking forward,
not back.”

The tremble in Neva’s hands betrayed her brave words, but
Emily didn’t have the heart to call her on it. Her own body clearly hadn’t
gotten the memo about Matthew. “Suit yourself. But I didn’t bring this up to
get into all that. Really, I wanted to ask if our usual deal is in place for
this job. Since Matthew seems to want to steal it from me.”

“Emily! How could you think I’d sell you out for him? You
know I’m always good for what we agreed—my administrative help in exchange for
ten percent of whatever you end up taking home.”

“That’s the deal.” Emily tried not to let her voice go grim.
She believed in doing right by Neva, but that ten percent always hurt. By the
time Emily paid Neva, passed out a reasonable number of bribes and put gas in
her tank, she usually didn’t have much left to take home. Her dire financial
situation made her press Neva harder than she otherwise would have. “Do you
want to make the same deal for Bonavita? I’d love your help, but I don’t want
you to feel caught in the middle.”

Neva shook her head firmly. “I wouldn’t let you down, Emily.
You’ve never taken a job like this before. If I’d thought you’d want it, I’d
have called you.”