Counterfeit Relations (Alaskan Security: Team Rogue Book 2)

by Jemma Westbrook

  And she was still frowning in the passenger’s seat of the Rover.

  “I can’t believe they wouldn’t tell you over the phone.” Brock thought the satellite phone Harlow sent with Eva would solve all their problems. Keep them from having to leave the one place where he could feel relaxed right now.

  No luck.

  She’d managed to get Mona on the phone, but her partner had been unwilling to give her anything beyond saying something happened.

  And it appeared to be pissing Eva off significantly.

  “They’re just being dramatic.” She slunk lower in her seat, kicking her socked feet up onto the dash. “I swear to God if they drag me all the way back there and this is stupid I’m going to lose it.”

  “Careful, Tatum. I’ll think you like being around me.”

  Her eyes stayed out the windshield. For a minute Brock thought she didn’t hear him.

  “I do like being around you.” The words were quiet. Like it almost caused her pain to admit it to him and she made herself do it anyway.

  He reached across the center console to lace her fingers with his. “I like being around you too.” He pulled her hand to his mouth, pressing her knuckles to his lips. “You know you’re the only woman I’ve made breakfast for twice?”

  Eva let out a little grumpy-sounding grunt. “I didn’t get to eat it the second time either.”

  Once Shawn got a little coffee in his system he was ready to go.

  Or just ready to have someone else to run interference with Dutch and Harlow.

  Brock glanced her way. “I packed it all up and put it in the fridge. It can be breakfast round three.”

  She nodded, her eyes still on the snowy landscape outside of the Rover.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged.

  He wanted her to tell him everything, but Eva wasn’t like most of the women he’d known. Sometimes that was a great thing. Sometimes it meant he had to be patient. Careful.

  Because as scared as he was when Eva came strutting into his life, fruit punch in hand, Gram-Gram suitcase rolling behind her, he had at least a little warm up before all the pieces of his life came crashing down.

  She didn’t.

  Eva blew out a long, loud breath. “Ugh.” She waved her hands around a little before pressing the heels of her palms against her forehead. “I need to tell you something.”

  “Okay.”

  She was still facing forward, eyes out the front of the SUV, head barely nodding as one leg bounced.

  Another quick exhale and she turned to face him.

  “My mom cheated on my dad all the time and he became an alcoholic and then died from a heart attack.” The words tumbled out of her mouth in quick succession. Not a single pause between them.

  Brock nodded. “I figured it was something like that.”

  Eva blinked at him. Lips pursing. “Oh.” She scratched at the top of her head. “Okay then.”

  “Are you disappointed I was paying attention?”

  “No.” It came fast. “That would be ridiculous.”

  He lifted one shoulder. “Not if you’re the kind of person who likes to keep their personal life private.”

  Eva moved her lips from side to side. “Is that why your cabin is so far away?”

  Brock smiled. “Obviously Shawn didn’t get the message.”

  She laughed, filling the car with the rich, slightly raspy sound. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

  “Just don’t have Harlow hack into his email to do it.” Brock glanced into the rear view mirror where Shawn was following behind them in another of Alaskan Security’s Land Rovers. “Apparently even mercenaries have limits.”

  “Shawn is a,” her voice lowered as she looked side to side, “one of those?”

  “Technically—”

  Eva lifted a finger. “I know. Technically you’re not mercenaries because you aren’t hired specifically to kill people.”

  “That’s right.” It was the loophole they all clung to.

  They weren’t hired hit men.

  And they didn’t kill anyone who didn’t deserve it.

  Ever.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to go back to the cabin tonight?”

  “That depends on your friends.” He didn’t want to admit chances were good they would be spending the night in one of the rooms at Alaskan Security. Not to her and definitely not to himself.

  Having Eva in a place that had always been only for him was nothing like Brock expected. If anyone ever came to the cabin it felt invasive. Like Shawn’s visit today.

  Unwanted.

  But having Eva there was anything but. Seeing her curled under the blankets in his bed, gently touching the pictures of his nieces and nephews, the sound of her voice singing off-key in the shower.

  The cabin would never feel the same without her.

  After one, damn day.

  Her head dropped back to the head-rest of her seat. “They are probably just being dramatic and overreacting.”

  “Says the woman who ate porch brownies and wears around a stalker shirt.” He reached for her again, this time resting his hand on her knee. “You do recognize they were not overreacting on that, right?”

  She pointed one finger right at his face. “If you go into this on their side I will cut you off, Broccoli.” Her head slowly moved from side to side. “No more sexing me up.”

  “Don’t make me prove you’re a liar, Tatum.” He pulled the Rover up to the gate at Alaskan Security’s headquarters and lowered the window to punch in his code. “I will do it specifically to prove I can.”

  “Nope. You can’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I have way more willpower than you think. I have all of it. All of the willpower.”

  Brock parked in front of the largest building, leaving the engine idling as he unbuckled and leaned in close, barely letting his lips touch her ear. “You’re wrong.”

  A soft almost whimper slipped from her lips. Of all the sounds he pulled from her last night that was his favorite.

  A barely-there cry of complete want and surrender.

  She shoved at him, palms pressed against his chest. “You’re an ass.”

  He pulled her close, one hand cradling the back of her head. “I love when you call me that.”

  She was still laughing when his mouth covered hers.

  A second later the passenger door whipped open, sending a rush of freezing air into the Rover. “Come on. You can do whatever this is later.”

  “Has it been that long, Shawn? You don’t even know what it is anymore?”

  Shawn leaned to glare at him around Eva. “Ms. Tatum has people waiting on her.”

  “Eva?” A woman with short, white-blonde hair came rushing out of the front doors of the building. She made it three steps. “Fucking fuck!” Shoving her hands into her armpits she spun on one heel and ran back into the building.

  “Christ.” Eva shoved one foot out the door. “You couldn’t even give her a damn coat, Shawn?”

  Shawn shoved one hand toward where the blonde was standing behind one of the glass doors. “I wasn’t here, Eva. How in the hell am I supposed to get her outerwear when I’m busy dragging your ass back from the love shack?”

  Eva snorted, throwing her head back as she laughed. “The love shack.”

  She pushed Shawn out of her way before heading toward the building, singing Love Shack and doing some sort of dancy walk.

  Shawn slammed the door to the SUV closed. “Shit.”

  Brock didn’t look away from Eva as she wiggled her way up the sidewalk. Couldn’t. “What?”

  “Now I’ve gotta deal with that one too.” He grabbed a handful of snow and chucked it at Brock. “And she might be worse than the other two.”

  Brock grinned as he dodged the snowball. “She definitely is.”

  CHAPTER 16

  “THIS PLACE IS huge.” Mona’s head moved from side to side as she and Chandler followed behind Eva.

  “It’s ridiculous
.” Chandler’s unwavering frown dug in deeper as they passed the break area. “Is that a full kitchen?”

  Eva ignored him.

  “I think it’s kind of nice.” Mona slowed at the open doorway, staring into the space.

  “Nice for what? This is where they work. Not where they live.”

  “I think some of them live here.” Eva didn’t normally acknowledge Chandler’s occasional pissiness, but this time it felt personal.

  Chandler snorted. “I’m sure their parents are proud.”

  Eva stopped, spinning to face her business partners. “What the fuck is your problem, Chandler?”

  Mona waved his way. “He doesn’t feel good. Got sick on the way here.”

  She’d been giving their third an awful lot of excuses lately. At first it was fine. Chandler was great at what he did. Made it simple for her and Mona to do what they enjoyed without worrying about the actual business end of things. No payroll to deal with. No taxes to worry about. Chandler handled all of that so she and Mona could focus on finding fresh talent to help juggle the constant stream of new clients clamoring to gain a standing spot on their list.

  “That doesn’t mean he gets to be a dick.” Eva crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to check yourself. I’m tired of your bullshit, Chandler.”

  His head bobbed back. “My bullshit?” He pointed back toward the lobby where she left Brock with Shawn and Dutch. “You’ve been holed up in a cabin with some guy, while Mona and I are left trying to hold down the fort by ourselves.”

  “Uhh.” Eva stepped closer to Chandler. “First of all, you’re the one who made me come here. Second, I made damn sure my team could hold up without me, so there should be nothing for you to do.”

  Mona handled the corporate side of what they did. New employee checks. Existing employee reviews. Embezzlement.

  Eva and her team dealt with their domestic cases. Cheating spouses. Theft between family members. Will manipulation. Anything bad one family or friend could do to another, she and the people that worked under her would dig into.

  Find the truth hidden in court records, bank statements, and now frequently Facebook pages.

  “Your team quit.”

  Surely she didn’t hear that right. “What?”

  It had taken her five years to build the team she had. Weeding through the ones who would never have the inherent skill required to know when something didn’t add up.

  When someone was lying.

  She eyed Chandler. “They wouldn’t do that.”

  “They would if their own personal security was compromised and their fearless leader wasn’t there to convince them otherwise.” He pushed past her into the meeting room Shawn set aside for them to use.

  Eva stood in the hall, breathing deep.

  Dealing with her partners had always involved a careful balance of brutal honesty and careful language. Chandler didn’t listen to anything that wasn’t at least half a yell, and Mona was more sensitive than most people realized.

  Her best friend might be able to hold her own with an agitated client, but when it was over Mona couldn’t leave it behind like Eva could.

  She carried that shit around. Wallowed in it.

  Upsetting Mona was the last thing Eva wanted to do, but someone needed to hand Chandler his ass, and right now she was the only one available.

  “We don’t have all day, Eva.”

  She might even slice it up before she served it to him.

  Eva turned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had somewhere else to be.”

  “I need to be in my fucking bed.” Chandler blew his nose, tossing the used tissue into the corner trash can before dropping into the chair right beside Mona. “And we need to figure out what the fuck we’re going to do about this mess you started.”

  “I started?” Eva stepped into the room and leaned on the table between her and her best friend and the guy who’d been following them around since college. “How in the hell is this my fault?”

  Chandler smirked at her as he dropped his briefcase on the table and flipped it open. “Your little stalker friend wasn’t happy when you left him.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  Chandler pulled out a piece of paper and slapped it on the table, sliding it her way with the tips of his fingers. “He sent us a love note.”

  A single line of typed text sat in the center of the page.

  Bring her back or I will release the personal data of each employee. You have 24 hours.

  “You said only my team’s data was compromised.” Eva lifted her eyes from the paper to Chandler. “He said each employee.”

  Chandler slammed his hand down on the paper, dragging it back before shoving it into his briefcase. “Luckily I went into work early and found this taped to the door. I called our tech support and they were able to lock us down before the entire system could be breached.”

  “But it was breached.” Mona’s eyes were soft. “He got to all the domestic team’s files.”

  “So they just quit?” It didn’t make any sense.

  “Of course they quit. We allowed their personal information to be accessed. We’ll be lucky if they don’t sue our asses off.” Chandler dropped back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. “I told you that guy was going to be a problem.”

  “You told me I should move away.” Eva shook her head. “I’m not letting some dick steal everything I’ve worked for.”

  Chandler held one hand toward her. “He already did.” His eyes bounced from her to Mona. “Your whole team is gone. Rebuilding it will take years. Years we don’t have. By the time we are ready again all our clients will have moved on.”

  “What are you saying?” Eva turned her attention to Mona. Her friend shifted in the chair.

  “Mona and I are prepared to buy you out.”

  That made her take a step back. “You want to cut me out of the company?”

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course you have a choice.” Eva kept her gaze on Mona. “How in the hell wouldn’t you have a choice?”

  “Why would you want to stay?” Chandler held his hands out. “Why come back to Ohio when you have a place like this that I’m sure would be willing to hire you.” He leaned forward. “You can’t tell me with your skill set they haven’t already made you an offer.” His head barely tipped back. “Especially considering you’re fucking one of them.”

  “Here.” Harlow stepped in at her side, holding out a brick. “Throw this at him.”

  Eva looked from the offered item to Harlow’s face. “Why do you have a brick?”

  She shrugged. “Why don’t you have a brick?” Her gaze shifted to Chandler, turning icy. “Seems like you’re the one who needs one.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Chandler’s voice was a little pitchy as he pushed up from the table.

  Harlow smiled, slow and sort of scarily. “I’m your worst fucking nightmare, douche canoe.” She bounced the brick a little in her hand. “I can destroy your life before you blink.”

  Chandler sputtered, a few almost-words tumbling from his snarling lips as he grabbed his suitcase. “This is bullshit.” He pointed across the table, wagging his accusatory finger in front of Harlow’s face. “Don’t think for a second you can threaten me and get away with it.”

  Harlow looked unimpressed as she sucked through the straw stabbed into the cup she held in her other hand, the slurping sound making it clear her drink was mostly gone. “I don’t need some dill hole in a suit to tell me what to think.” She tapped the edge of the cup against her temple. “My tiny little female brain can come up with plenty of ideas all on its own.”

  Chandler straightened, one hand adjusting the button on the jacket of his expensive suit. His right eye was twitching and he looked a second away from completely losing his shit. His hard gaze snapped to Eva. “You should really consider staying here.” His eyes drifted to Harlow. “You would fit in perfectly.” He didn’t look back as he marched from the room. “Come on, Mo
na. We have a mess to clean up.”

  Mona’s blue eyes moved from Eva and Harlow to the door.

  Harlow leaned back, peeking out into the hall before taking a step deeper into the room. “Go. You can always come back and talk to us later.” She winked, the whole left side of her face squinching up with the move.

  Eva laughed a little. “Smooth.”

  Harlow glanced her way over one shoulder. “What? I wanted to be sure she was picking up what I was putting down.”

  “I was.” Mona stood, shoving her narrow shoulders back.

  Eva didn’t like the slightly green tone of her friend’s normally flawless complexion. “You look ready to barf.”

  “Yup.” Mona blew out a breath, her cheeks puffing, lips pursing. “Imma do it anyway.”

  Harlow nodded, her lips curling into a smile. “Yes. Get it.” She leaned close to Eva. “She’s one of us. I knew she was.”

  Mona pressed two fingers to her lips as she burped. “Don’t get your hopes up. I might barf on his shoes and go hide in my room.”

  Harlow lifted both hands and both shoulders, her smile widening. “That’s good too.” She bent at the waist, using her brick-filled hand to emulate vomiting. “Make sure you get it all up in there.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” Mona smoothed down the front of her sweater and ankle-cut pants. “I had shrimp for lunch, so that’s good.” One quick breath in through her nose and out her mouth and Mona was marching out of the room and down the hall after Chandler.

  Harlow stepped out into the hall and Eva followed. They watched Mona go, arms swinging, spine straight, chin up.

  “She’s not usually like that.”

  “Probably ran out of fucks.” Harlow sucked on the end of her straw again. “It happens.” She shook her cup, the ice rattling around. “I need a refill. Wanna come with?”

  “You guys have any alcohol in that kitchen?”

  “No. The guys aren’t big drinkers.” Harlow led her to the large break room and went straight to the kitchen. “Something about clear heads and shit.” She opened the fridge, pulling out a jug of orange juice and setting it on the counter before opening a cabinet and grabbing a cup similar to the one she had. She grinned up at Eva as she started pouring. “That’s why I keep the coconut rum in my office.” She filled one cup then moved to the next. “It’s like a tropical vacation for my mouth.”