Renegade

by Lora Leigh

"Are we going to be questioning Maddix Nelson anytime soon?" Mikayla asked as Nik sat at the kitchen table the next morning on the laptop.

  "Not today."

  The answer surprised her. Normally he didn't answer her when it came to certain questions. Maddix Nelson was one of those questions.

  "What are we doing today then?" she asked as she poured more coffee, and waited for Nik's reply.

  "Today we're going back to Gina Foreman's." Mikayla turned as he twisted around in his chair. "Jarvis said Eddie was trying to sell plans and sabotage the project. I didn't have that information when I sent some friends to go through the Foreman home office. I want to check it myself again."

  She blinked back at him. "You had friends go through the office?"

  "I do have friends." His brow arched with an edge of amusement.

  "Well, of course you do." She cleared her throat, still staring back at him in surprise. "You didn't tell me you were having friends check out the office, though."

  "My bad. I'll make sure I don't make that mistake again." He turned back to the laptop and began scrolling through a file he'd pulled up.

  "Your bad?" she asked slowly.

  "My mistake." He shrugged.

  "Who are your friends?" she asked, intensely curious. He glanced over his shoulder. "I could tell you, but then they might have to kill one of us. I'm more valuable to them."

  "But I'm nicer," she informed him archly. "Give me an hour and they would like me much better than they like you."

  There was a brief chuckle. "I have no doubt of that." Her eyes narrowed on him. "You're being too secretive again."

  "I can't tell you who my friends are," he said as she pulled out the chair and sat down across from him. "What I can tell you is that if Eddie was up to something dirty, then the evidence is out there. We'll find it."

  At least he was saying "we" and not "I."

  "Good." Sipping her coffee, she sat back in the chair and watched him silently for several moments before saying, "When are we going to Gina's?" He checked his watch. "A few more minutes. I want to time it just right."

  "And what would you consider 'just right'?"

  His lips quirked. "Just right is just before she leaves. I don't want her looking over my shoulder, and I'm hoping she'll trust you enough to let us stay in the house after she leaves."

  Mikayla stared back at him worriedly. "I wouldn't bet on that happening." He smiled back at her. "We'll see."

  We'll see.

  177

  Three hours later, Mikayla stood with Nik on Gina Foreman's doorstep. The door swung open to reveal a harried, drowsy Gina Foreman. Dark blond hair was mussed, chocolate brown eyes were sleepy, and it was apparent she had just come from bed.

  So much for catching her before she went in to work.

  "Mikayla?" Confusion filled Gina's voice. "Mr. Steele?"

  "I'm sorry, Gina." Mikayla smiled. "We wanted to ask you a few more questions before you went to work."

  Gina shook her head. "I called in this morning. I needed a personal day." She stood back. "But come in. I'll answer what I can."

  Mikayla could feel the tension emanating from Nik as he moved in beside her.

  "Would you like some coffee or something?" Gina tugged a ragged, threadbare brown robe tighter around her and pushed her hair back from her face as she rubbed her foot against her ankle.

  "Nothing, Gina," Mikayla replied. "If you could just help us out a little."

  "Sure." Moving to the small seating area, Gina sat down in a recliner and stared back at them inquisitively. "How can I help you?"

  Nik and Mikayla sat on the couch across from her.

  Now what did Nik have planned? Mikayla wondered. Gina wasn't exactly falling in line with the plan he had.

  "Mrs. Foreman, did Eddie say anything about needing more money than normal?

  Did he do or say anything that could have indicated he would have an influx of cash coming?"

  Gina frowned. "Like I told you before, Mr. Steele, Eddie always needed money. And if he had extra money coming, then he wouldn't have mentioned it to me." There was a glimmer of bitter cynicism in her dark gaze.

  "Did Eddie play the lottery or gamble in any other way?" Nik questioned her. Gina shrugged, her gaze becoming clearly upset now. "Look, Eddie stopped talking to me a long time ago, about money or anything else. I wasn't exactly his best friend."

  It was spoken matter-of-factly, without anger, but with an underlying sense of disillusionment that was more powerful than anger could have been.

  "Who was his best friend, Gina?" Nik leaned forward, his gaze intent as he watched her. "Who could we talk to who might know if Eddie was having any problems, Gina? Someone besides Jarvis?"

  Gina sat back in her chair and stared back at them with a frown for long moments before sighing wearily.

  "Steve Gainard."

  Oh boy. Mikayla heard the name with a sense of discomfort.

  "Steve was one of the only friends Eddie had who was decent. They'd been friends since high school, though Steve travels a lot, so that may have made it easier for Eddie to remain friends with him."

  "You didn't mention him to us before," Nik pointed out. Gina shook her head. "He wasn't in town. Steve just returned last night. He's an architect. He's been in London on a job for the past several months. He called me early this morning to let me know he was back and give me his condolences." 178

  "Do you have his address, Mrs. Foreman?" Nik asked. Gina frowned back at Mikayla. "Mikayla knows it; they used to date." Mikayla bit her lip before turning to Nik with a bright smile. "Yeah, I know where he lives. She doesn't have to write the address down at all."

  "Tell me," Nik muttered, his voice so low Mikayla was certain only she heard him. "Is there anyone you haven't dated?"

  She smiled and shrugged. "You."

  His eyes narrowed, but thankfully he simply turned back to Gina. "Mrs. Foreman, do you mind if we check out Eddie's office again?"

  "Make yourself at home." She waved back to the office. "Someone else did last night. They broke in while I was at work and stole most of the paperwork. That's why I'm home today. I have to get the locks changed and a security system installed." Mikayla glanced quickly at Nik as he rose to his feet and strode through the short hall to the office. Moving behind him, she reached the doorway just as he entered the office.

  "Your friends?" she asked, careful to keep her voice low. Nik shook his head. "Not my friends."

  As Gina had stated, just about everything was gone. File drawers hung open, shelves had been emptied, and the mess that had been there days before was definitely limited now.

  "Wow. Someone cleaned house," Mikayla murmured.

  "No doubt." Icy disdain filled his voice now as Mikayla continued to stare around the room. "Maybe Steve will know something."

  Bad idea. She should have never mentioned it.

  Nik's gaze turned on her slowly, the ice in his pale blue eyes freezing the air around her.

  "How serious was this relationship you had with Steve Gainard?" How serious?

  There was no question of being honest with Nik, but that honesty had the potential to make Nik's gaze even icier.

  "Well, he may have been more serious about the relationship than I was," she admitted.

  "Meaning?" Nik's voice lowered.

  "Well, he might have asked me to marry him." She winced as she gave the information.

  She didn't expect Nik's reaction. She expected icy anger, expected that distance that he'd placed between them to grow; what she didn't expect was to have him pull her into the room, lift her against him, and cover her lips in a kiss of pure possessive hunger. Shock held her; dark, intent need washed through her like a tidal wave of hunger. There wasn't a chance in hell that she was going to fight this, no matter how brief it would be.

  Her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers tearing at the leather strap that held his hair back until the thick, soft strands fell over her hands. As she lifted herself closer to him, her knee
s gripped his hips, the suddenly sensitive mound between her thighs rubbing against the heavy length of his cock. His fingers dug into her hair, gripping and holding him closer, her lips parting, her tongue 179

  meeting and stroking against his until he suddenly jerked back from her. His gaze blazed down at her.

  That wasn't pale ice; it was pure pale blue flames. White-hot. Possessive.

  "As long as I'm here, you're mine," he growled. "Do you understand that, Mikayla?"

  She shook her head slowly. "I'm not yours, Nik. At the moment, I choose to be with you. Just as I chose not to be with Steve."

  Nik stared down at Mikayla in shock. This wasn't what he expected. This wasn't the reaction she should have given him. She was to agree she belonged to him. She was to accept that, not disagree with him.

  Setting her slowly on her feet, Nik backed away; the urge to pick her up and carry her away back to her bed was nearly overpowering. He wanted to show her, wanted to prove to her, that she belonged to him well before they arrived on Steve Gainard's doorstep. Before he had to face the man who would most likely attempt to pick up the pieces of his relationship with Mikayla once he left.

  "You'll be leaving," she whispered, standing in front of him, petite and determined, so strong, and yet so fragile. "Don't ask more from me than you're willing to give, Nik."

  She turned and left him standing there. Dressed in butterscotch silk slacks, those sexy-as-hell high heels, and a matching butterscotch sleeveless knit top, she looked as sweet and fragile as the sunrise, but what he repeatedly forgot was the fact that she was just as strong and just as endearing as the sunrise as well.

  And damned if he didn't feel as though he had just been put well and truly in his place.

  Later, later, though, he promised himself, his time would come. Tonight, when he had her beneath him, when she was screaming his name in pleasure, then he would make certain she realized exactly who she belonged to.

  Mikayla remained silent as they made the drive to Steve's home outside Hagerstown. The two-story glass and steel home he had built several years ago rested on the side of Sideling Hill, staring out on the valley below.

  The winding blacktopped road was hell in the winter when ice and snow hit, but Steve, Mikayla knew, was rarely there in the winters.

  He was home often in the summer, though, and the sight of the black Bentley parked in the drive as Nik and Mikayla pulled up to the house assured her Steve was there today.

  She waited until Nik rounded the truck and opened the passenger door before turning and allowing him to help her from the vehicle.

  Her hands gripped his powerful lower arms, and a quick peek into his face assured her that her last comment to him had struck home. Unfortunately, it had only served to increase the distance he placed between them.

  She covered the hurt that caused, hid it deep inside, and fought against it. She didn't want promises from him, she reminded herself, but she was woman enough that it hurt to know that he expected her to give all she was to him while he was holding a part of himself back.

  She considered it highly unfair that he would even consider it. He knew he was leaving her when this was over; she knew it. Did he have to demand everything when she 180

  knew he would lay it at her feet, return it to her, and walk away?

  She had no regrets, she told herself. That didn't mean she didn't have her pride as well as her determination to ensure that she survived this little affair.

  "Tell me about Gainard," Nik demanded as he closed the truck door and touched her arm to keep her from moving ahead of him.

  So why hadn't he asked that before they arrived?

  Frowning, she stared up at him. "He's thirty-nine, a very successful architect with a firm in D.C. He's never been married and he has no children. We dated for about six months."

  "Why didn't you go to bed with him if you dated that long?" Ice dripped from Nik's voice. "A man isn't going to waste six months on a woman he's not sleeping with."

  "You don't think I'm worth getting to know first?" she asked, unable to hide the fact that it hurt. "I guess not. You found it pretty easy to get me there, didn't you?"

  "That wasn't what I meant, Mikayla." His voice deepened, hardened. "I'm asking you why you waited when it was obvious he was interested in more than sex."

  "It's not just about the sex, Nik," she snapped in irritation. "I wasn't ready; that didn't mean he wasn't."

  "So why didn't you marry him?" The questions were going somewhere, she knew they were, she just wasn't certain where.

  "What does this have to do with Eddie Foreman or Maddix Nelson?" Mikayla demanded as she glared back at Nik. "My personal relationship with anyone has nothing to do with why you're here."

  Nik couldn't argue that, but he was damned if he could get it out of his mind. She had dated this man for six months, he had asked her to marry him, yet he hadn't slept with her. She hadn't slept with him, but Steve Gainard had thought he held enough of her heart to ask her to marry him.

  It was eating at Nik, and he knew it shouldn't. He had no right to demand anything from her, just as he had no right to worry about what she did when this was over, or who she did it with.

  But it was burning inside him. Like a steady, pulsing flame it was searing his guts with a possessive fever he couldn't seem to control.

  "You're right," he finally growled. "It has nothing to do with this." Turning, he released her arm and settled his hand at her lower back instead, very much aware of the eyes watching them from behind a curtain at the front of the house. Gina Foreman had most likely called Gainard and warned him Mikayla and Nik were arriving. And no doubt Gina had told the other man Nik was living with Mikayla. It seemed the whole damned city knew she was living with him. The woman had more eyes on her than anyone else he had ever known.

  As they stepped onto the marble-capped porch, the front door opened decisively. Standing on the stoop was a somber blond male, his green gaze touching on Nik before he turned to Mikayla.

  "Damn, you get prettier every time I see you," he said with a smile as he reached out, gripped her shoulders, and bent his head to kiss her cheek with lingering affection. No, that wasn't fucking affection, Nik thought as anger tightened every muscle in his body. That was a warning to Nik. A warning that Steve had known Mikayla far longer, and better, and that he would be waiting to strike when Nik was no longer in the 181

  picture.

  "Steve, it's good to see you." There was the slightest edge of discomfort in her voice. "I'd like you to meet Nik Steele," she introduced them. "He's investigating Eddie's murder."

  Nik caught that. There was no "my boyfriend, Nik," "my man, Nik," not even a

  "my friend Nik." There was no possession whatsoever in her voice.

  "Mr. Steele." Gainard's voice chilled, but his hand reached out in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

  The handshake was brief, the two combatants very well aware of the stakes of the game.

  "Come in." Gainard's hand settled on Mikayla's shoulder at the invitation.

  "There's coffee in the kitchen and Rosa has some of those pastries you like so well, Mikayla."

  "I've missed Rosa." Mikayla's voice made Nik's back teeth clench. Familiarity and genuine warmth filled her voice and had him wishing he'd waited to come here. Waited until she wasn't with him.

  "She's missed you as well," the other man informed her as he led them through a wide foyer to the back of the house. "We both have." Strike one, Nik thought as he gave the other man an icy look. Nik was keeping tabs as of now; when the time was right, Gainard would figure out the mistake he was making fast.

  Entering the kitchen, he waved them to a glass-topped table where the promised pastries and coffee waited.

  "Gina said you have questions about Eddie," Gainard sighed as they sat down.

  "She called when he was killed. I was sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral."

  "You knew Foreman well then?" Nik asked as he waved away Gainard's silent offer of coffee.<
br />
  Mikayla, on the other hand, accepted the cup Gainard prepared as well as a small plate topped with a flaky fruit-topped croissant.

  "I'd known him since high school." Gainard nodded. "We were thick as thieves until after college. Eddie went into construction and I joined an apprenticeship in London. When I returned several years later, he wasn't the same, but we were still friends."

  "Did he have many enemies?" Nik wanted this over with and he wanted it over with fast.

  Steve Gainard laughed at the question. "Plenty. Eddie was a helluva prick, Mr. Steele, if he had the chance. He collected enemies like a connoisseur. The damned man never could understand the value of more than a few friends."

  "Yet you claim him as a friend?" Nik pointed out coldly.

  "Let's say, I didn't give him a chance to be a prick," Steve answered as his gaze slid to Mikayla once again.

  The darkening of the green eyes had Nik glancing to Mikayla where she was licking sweet, sticky fruit from the tip of her finger, her gaze on the pastry rather than the men.

  "Mr. Gainard." Nik pulled his attention back. "Do you know any reason why Maddix Nelson or anyone else would want to kill Eddie?"

  182

  "Everyone." The other man laughed. "Just no one with the guts to do it. Even Maddix. He might hire someone to kill you, but he would never dirty his own hands to do it."

  That was pretty much what Nik had believed until the past few days. He caught Gainard glancing at Mikayla again, but thankfully her attention was now on them rather than the pastry.

  "What about money problems?" Nik pressed.

  "Plenty," he was told. "Eddie liked to gamble too much. He kept it quiet, always did, but he had a problem with it, and he wasn't very lucky."

  "Did he ask you for money?"

  Gainard breathed out heavily at the question. "Eddie and I had an understanding from college that he would never ask me for money. He wasted his cash, and I struggled to get through on part-time jobs and scholarships. He knew better than to hit me up. He broke that rule a few months ago when I was in town, though. When I wouldn't give it to him, he threatened to go to a loan shark we knew, Martin Kefler. I tried to talk him out of it, I hoped I had, but he never mentioned it again."