It was almost five o'clock, and it had been a long day. Maggie crossed to her computer and shut it down, then turned off her lights and made her way up to the living quarters.
She found Scarlett sitting on the sofa, her legs propped up on the coffee table and a wet rag on her forehead.
"You ok?" she asked. Scarlett looked up at her, a green tinge to her face.
"Just peachy."
"Did you catch a stomach bug?"
"Something like that," Scarlett mumbled. She reached up and grabbed Maggie's hand, pulling her down next to her on the couch. Her lips turned up in a smile, and Maggie covered Scarlett’s hand with her own.
"What's going on?" Maggie asked.
"I'm pregnant."
"What?" she shrieked. "How far along?"
"About eight weeks. The nausea has kicked in big time. I'm hoping it won't last very long. Isabel hasn't been sick at all."
Scarlett deserved every ounce of happiness this life had to offer her. She'd been through so much, losing her parents, raising her sister, and foregoing her own dreams in order to make her sister's a reality. She was the best of the best, and Maggie couldn't be happier for her.
So why was her heart constricting inside her chest? Why did she feel a little like someone had punched her in the gut at Scarlett's announcement?
Maggie wanted that same happiness, but that had all gone out the window five years ago. She'd lived with the consequences of her actions and had been fine with them until recently. Working so close to Sully made her want things. Things she wasn't sure she could ever have.
Ella walked into the room and sat on Scarlett's other side. "What's with the rag on your head?"
Scarlett gave Maggie the eye as if to say, Please don't rat me out. Maggie wouldn't dream of it. It was Scarlett's news to tell, and it made her feel special that she'd shared it with her before anyone else.
"Just feeling a little puny," she answered. "Must have been the taco meat last night."
Cate and Isabel entered the room from the elevator, flopping down on the couch opposite them. Izz's pregnant belly was just a small bump, but her hands dropped to rub it absent-mindedly. Maggie's heart clenched.
The girls chatted about their husbands, their plans, and their desire to get back to their homes. Maggie felt a little like an outsider. She and Scarlett were close, but the rest of them were virtual strangers. Sweet, kind, friendly strangers. But strangers nonetheless.
Maggie excused herself and went to her room. These women were all connected. Although not related by blood, they were family. Close family. She wasn't. Why did it bother her so badly?
Her thoughts went to Sully.
She wanted to be family. She wanted to be Sully's. If she were his, she'd be a part of all this, too. And for the first time in five years, hope swelled in Maggie's heart.
Longing to be a part of this group, to be a part of him, filled her soul. If only he weren't so damned stubborn.
He'd almost kissed her today. She'd dared him to do it, and then she'd died a little bit inside when he'd stepped away from her. Maggie knew he’d wanted to. She could see it in his eyes, the way they had traveled to her lips. The way his pupils had darkened, and his breathing had picked up. She’d seen the pulse fluttering in the vein in his neck. He was just as bothered by her presence as she was by his.
A moan escaped her lips just as her door swung open. She'd left it ajar, so it wasn't like she'd been trying to keep everyone out.
Isabel chuckled. "Let me guess—that moan was about my brother."
Maggie's mouth dropped open, and Isabel tilted her head back as she laughed.
"Your face says it all. What's he done this time?"
"Nothing."
"I can guarantee you it's not nothing. You guys would go up in smoke if anyone lit a match within a hundred yards of you, there's so much electricity surrounding you when you're together."
Maggie groaned aloud. She hated that it was so obvious.
"You like him," Isabel tried again.
Maggie shrugged. "What's not to like? He's enormous. Handsome. Kind. And a big pain in the ass."
Isabel cackled, her tiny bump bouncing as she did. "Just take the bull by the horns and kiss him."
She sighed. "I did that. The night of Zach and Ella's wedding. Then the FBI knocked down the door and interrupted, and he hasn't touched me since." She thought about that afternoon. "Well, that's not entirely true. He grabbed me by the arms today when I was being difficult in his eyes…" Maggie rolled her eyes, and Isabel giggled. "But even then, when we were inches apart, our lips practically touching, he wouldn't kiss me." Maggie flopped onto her bed, her hand covering her eyes.
"He's an idiot," Isabel said.
"You can say that again."
Isabel sighed and moved across the room, sitting next to her on the bed.
"My guess is he's trying to keep you safe."
"I don't understand."
"My brother is a protector at heart. Always has been. It stems from some things that happened in our past, and he blames himself for them. Ridiculous, of course. There was nothing he could have done, but that's a story for him to share." Isabel took Maggie’s hand in her own. "He’s afraid that if he allows himself to care for you, The General will use you to get to him. He doesn’t want to put you in danger."
"I'm already in danger," Maggie said. And not only from The General. Sully didn't realize that danger was a part of her life, and had been for years. "I can take care of myself. I have been for a long time."
A knock sounded on the open door, and Sully popped his head around the corner.
"Mind if I come in?" Maggie sat up abruptly, and Isabel jumped off the bed like someone had lit a match under her.
"Sure, come in."
Sully shoved his hands in his pockets and looked between Isabel and Maggie. "I, um—I'd like to talk to you." He directed the words to Maggie and then turned a pointed gaze at Isabel.
Isabel just smiled sweetly.
"Privately," he growled.
"There's that winning personality." She winked at Maggie and then walked out the door. Just as she reached it, she turned around and made kissy faces behind Sully's back. Maggie nearly lost it and tried holding back the laughter that bubbled up inside her. It came out as a snort.
Sully lifted a brow and then started to pace.
"I wanted to apologize," Sully started. The laughter died in Maggie's throat.
"For what?"
"For today. For grabbing you and almost—well, you know. And I just wanted you to know that you don't have to worry. I promise to keep things professional from here on out. You work for me, and I wouldn't want you to feel—"
"Feel what?" she interrupted. "Harassed? Flattered? Turned on?"
Sully's face reddened, and Maggie decided she'd had enough. She was through playing these games and pretending that they both didn't feel it. The chemistry they had. The feelings that were swirling around them. She was tired of dancing around it.
With determination, she took two steps in his direction and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his. Her legs dangled in mid-air since she was so much smaller than him.
His lips were hard and unmoving under hers.
Kiss me back, Sully. Damn you, kiss me back, her mind commanded as her lips moved over his with reckless abandon.
As if following her mental directions, Sully growled under his breath and lifted her under her arms, kicking the door closed with his foot and pressing her back against it. He kissed her with such passion and heat, Maggie thought she would melt into the wood.
The kiss was hard. There was nothing gentle or tender about it. It was all heat and tongues and teeth. And she loved it.
Everyone treated her with kid gloves. As if she were fragile and would break. She knew it was because of her size. Her small frame that barely reached five feet, and her Tinker Bell-like features, gave people the illusion that she was helpless and breakable.
She wasn't. She'd been tried and tested, and had come out stronger and tougher. And the way Sully was kissing her was as if she were his equal. Not some fragile doll that needed to be put on a shelf and admired from afar, but a partner willing to go toe to toe with him.
A moan left her throat as his tongue stroked against hers, one of his hands leaving her waist to fist itself in her hair.
The sound broke the haze, and Sully nearly dropped her on her ass. He caught her before she hit the ground, but took a step back, shoving his hands into his hair.
"What the hell?" she asked.
"You make me crazy!" he nearly shouted.
"You make me crazy!" she yelled back and punctuated the statement with a punch to his upper arm. He didn't even flinch, but damn if her knuckles didn't hurt. The man was like a rock.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rough. Did I hurt you?"
"Don't you dare!" she hissed, and punched him again.
"I'm just saying. I don't want to hurt you, and I wasn't exactly gentle."
Maggie pulled her foot back and kicked him in the shin.
"Ow! Dammit! What the hell was that for?" Sully asked, clutching his shin in pain.
"Don't be an ass. I’m not a fragile kitten. I don't need your apologies, nor do I need to be handled with care. I'm a big girl, and I've been fighting my own battles for years now. I don’t need rescuing." When she finished, she was breathing hard as if she'd just run a couple of miles—or had had a hot make-out session against her bedroom door. That could have done it, too.
"I'm—"
Maggie put her hand over his mouth, standing on her tiptoes in order to reach.
"Don't you dare say you're sorry again. I'm not going to break, Sully." She reached up on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. "You're not putting me in danger. Trust me, I've been through worse." She kissed him again.
"So stop being a wuss and ignoring me!" Maggie yelled, pushing at his chest and marching out her bedroom door.
When she entered the common space, all the women's eyes turned to her, their faces stretched with huge grins. Maggie could feel the blush rising to her cheeks.
She knew Sully was standing behind her, seeing exactly the same thing she was.
"You tell him!" Isabel said, then collapsed against the back of the couch in a bout of giggles. Maggie couldn't help the smile that started on her lips.
It grew even bigger when Sully stomped off to the elevator, muttering something about crazy women.
* * * *
That woman was the most infuriating person he'd ever met. For someone so small, she sure was a firecracker. He guessed it was true what they said about dynamite coming in small packages.
Clichéd? Yes. But still true.
And what did she mean, she'd been through worse? What could be worse than having your house firebombed and a crazy general trying to kill everyone around you? Being locked inside a compound and not free to go where you wanted to go?
What did he know about Maggie Thomas?
Virtually nothing.
She was a pink-haired, blue-eyed vixen who haunted his dreams and made his head spin any time she was near. Other than that, nada. Zilch.
He crashed into Zach's computer room and stood behind the golden-haired, former California boy. "Did you do a background check on Maggie when we hired her?"
"Well, hello to you, too. I'm fine, Sully. How are you?"
"Shut the hell up, Harper. Answer the damn question."
"Geez, what’s gotten under your skin?"
A pink-haired fairy. That's what.
Sully gave him the glare that told Zach he wasn't messing around. Zach sighed and sat back in his seat.
"Actually, I did the background check when Damon's thugs tried to kidnap her last spring."
"What did it say?"
"Very little." Zach clicked a few buttons and pulled something up on one of his computer screens.
"She was born Maggie Ann Thomas. Lived in the Atlanta area most of her life."
"Wait. Atlanta? That's odd," Sully interjected.
"Why is it odd? She has a Southern accent, and Atlanta is the biggest city in the Southeast."
"True. It's just weird. That's the second time in one day that Atlanta has come up."
"It's a big city. Anyway, she fell off the grid about five years ago and then turned up a couple years later, here in D.C. Worked at Ray's diner until her house was firebombed a couple of months ago. You know the rest."
"Wonder what happened during those two years she disappeared," Sully said quietly.
Zach didn't answer, and Sully wasn't expecting him to. He needed to find out, though. Whatever Maggie had been through, he guessed it had to do with something that had taken place five years ago.
"Ever been married?" Sully asked, holding his breath for the answer. She obviously wasn't now, so it shouldn't bother him either way. But for some reason, he wanted the answer to be no.
"Nope."
Good. That response he left unsaid.
"What's with the twenty questions on Maggie? You interested?" Zach asked, with a smile on his boy-next-door face.
"Just checking on my employees." Sully cleared his throat.
"Whatever. Keep telling yourself that. I've seen how you look at her."
Sully stiffened. Was he that obvious? He was attracted to her, sure. But that was it.
"And how is that?"
"Like you're looking at the one person in all the world who can make you whole." Zach's voice softened. "It's the same way I look at Ella."
Sully decided that it was best not to think too long about Zach's words, and turned to go back to his office. He needed to call his contact at the White House to arrange his call with the president.
As he dialed the number, his heart constricted in his chest. Zach's words unwittingly looped through his mind as if on repeat. But he knew that Maggie wasn't the person to make him whole. No one could do that. He'd never be whole. Not after what had happened to his mom, and what had almost happened to Isabel.
He had to keep Maggie safe. He wasn't going to lose her to The General. Whatever it took, he'd do it. He would protect her.
He could do that. He'd just keep his hands to himself.
Piece of cake.
Chapter 5
Fifteen minutes later, his secure line rang, and Sully picked up.
"Mr. President," Sully answered.
"Sullivan Castle. I've heard a lot about you. Not all of it good."
Sully liked a man who didn't beat around the bush. He couldn’t stop his grin.
"I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding, sir."
"It always is, Castle. Tyler has good things to say about you, though. So let's hear what you have to say. I'm a very busy man, and as much as I'd love to shoot the breeze, I have a diplomat waiting in the next room."
"Yes, sir. It concerns General Charles Kingston."
"My secretary of state. What about him?
"Sir, we have concerning information about his extracurricular activities. Kingston is linked with some serious stuff, but most recently planting the mob right here in our own backyard."
"These are serious accusations, Castle."
"Yes, sir. I understand. Right now, my evidence is circumstantial, but we're working to get concrete proof of his involvement. I need your approval in this investigation. I can't afford to have the FBI coming in and confiscating my equipment and files again because Kingston is trying to clear himself of these allegations. I need your support, sir."
The President sighed loudly, and Sully held his breath as he waited for his response.
"You're sure he's involved?"
"One hundred percent. Tyler can fill you in on the particulars of what has happened up until now. I was able to give him the abbreviated version, and I'll have our tech guy send over what he's found so far."
"What's his motivation for the mob involvement?"
"Total anarchy. The government as we know it would cease to exist. He
would control it all by controlling politicians and law enforcement, as well as the criminals on the streets."
The president paused again as if gathering his thoughts. "Fine. You have my support. But Castle, this better be discreet. If word gets out that I'm investigating one of my cabinet members, I'll never hear the end of it."
"I understand, sir. We'll be as subtle as we can."
"I have a guy in the FBI I trust. He's not the same lackey Kingston sent to your door a couple of months ago. You can trust him. I'll also speak to Chief Livingston on your behalf. This needs to stay quiet. If the general public catches wind of what's going on, chaos will ensue, and you and your team will take the fall. Am I clear?"
"Crystal, sir. We'll take care of it."
"See that you do."
* * * *
I can't hide in my room forever.
Geez, that kiss had been hot. Butterflies flittered low in her belly as she thought about the way Sully had pressed her up against the door, as if he’d been completely out of control.
Considering that he was someone who’d spent his whole life mastering control over himself and others, it made her feel powerful that she'd made him lose it. For just a few minutes, he hadn't been Sullivan Castle, ex-special forces and current leader of the high-profile Castle Investigations team. For a few minutes, he’d been a man who desired a woman, and to hell with anything that stood in his way of having her.
Maggie walked into her bathroom and splashed water on her face. Her cheeks were still flushed from the contact. The girls had wanted to know the play-by-play of what had happened, but she'd tried to downplay it.
She hadn't fooled a single one of them.
Exiting the room, she was grateful that everyone had stepped out of the common area. It had been over an hour since her confrontation with Sully, and she was hoping to get some food.
Padding into the kitchen, she opened the fridge and found leftovers from the night before. There was enough in there for two people, and she wondered when the last time was that Sully had stopped to eat.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 102
