Lethal Game
Page 1
Lethal Game
Red Stone Security Series
Katie Reus
He broke her heart.
Graysen’s betrayal nearly destroyed Isa a year ago. Now that she’s working for Red Stone Security, she’s managed to piece her life back together after a rough year and a broken heart. Then he appears back in her life and makes it clear he’s not going anywhere until she gives them a second chance. A chance she refuses to take.
Now he’s back to claim what’s his.
Graysen’s never gotten over Isa and he knows he never will. It’s his fault she walked away, but he can’t seem to let her go. He quit his job with the CIA and called in every favor he had to get hired by Red Stone Security just to be near her again. But Isa doesn’t care that he’s desperate to make things right between them—she wants nothing to do with him. He doesn’t blame her, but he’s not willing to give her up. When they’re cornered by lethal terrorists, everything changes. Graysen and Isa will have to find a way to work together if they want to survive. Only then will he be able to convince her to claim the chance at happiness the past stole from them.
Lethal Game
Red Stone Security Series
Copyright © 2017 Katie Reus
Cover Art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Editor: Julia Ganis, JuliaEdits.com
Digital Formatting by Author E.M.S.
* * *
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
ISBN: 9781942447962
Table of Contents
About LETHAL GAME
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Thank You for Reading
Dear Readers
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Complete Booklist
Dedication
For Kari Walker. Thank you for being on this wild ride with me since the very first book of the series.
Chapter 1
Isa looked at her phone screen, pretending to check her email as she waited for her partner to make the drop-off. He was five minutes late.
Which wasn’t out of the realm of normalcy for him.
But today was the final day of their job and they were already cutting it close. She had to smuggle the necessary information out and they’d be done. Finally. She liked the temp jobs she took, especially since she got to steal all sorts of interesting stuff, but she was ready to get out of this place. Two weeks was longer than normal for a job.
“Marci,” a familiar male voice called out, using her fake name, forcing her to look up. She’d already gone through the body scanner and if her freaking partner would hurry up, she could get the flash drive and be gone. She only had eight more minutes until she had to be out of the building and meet her boss.
She pasted on a pleasant smile even though she knew Brent was going to ask her out. Again. Guy needed to learn to take no for an answer. “Hey, you leaving already?”
He nodded, his smile a little too big. “Yeah, about to grab some drinks for happy hour at Instant Replay. What about you?”
The sports bar was a few blocks away so she wouldn’t have to worry about running into him, thankfully. “I’m meeting with friends.” She kept her answer as neutral as possible. As far as looks went, the man was attractive. About six feet, dark hair, dark eyes, in good shape, maybe seven or eight years older than her. He was successful too, the VP of one of the marketing departments of the agricultural company. But he was pushy and she didn’t like that. Who was she kidding? She didn’t want to date anyone right now. Not after the way her heart had been broken a year ago.
“If you want to meet up with me when you’re done, I’ll be out for a couple hours…” As he continued talking she spotted Antoine, her partner, in her peripheral vision.
He was a new member of the security team at the agricultural company so he didn’t have to go through the scanners. Technically he was supposed to, but the security here was lax and the guys who were watching everyone didn’t follow all the rules.
It was definitely a problem the company needed to fix. Lucky for her they hadn’t yet. But they would after today, she was certain. The owner had hired Red Stone Security—where she really worked—to literally steal from them.
Antoine rolled his eyes at Brent’s back. Yeah, he didn’t like the guy either. Whenever they worked jobs together he was always protective. Actually he was protective of women in general, something she adored about him.
Since Isa and Antoine weren’t supposed to know each other she didn’t acknowledge him, just moved to the side ever so slightly, giving Antoine his opening. They’d worked together enough that she knew exactly what he would do to get Brent off her back.
In a seemingly clumsy trip, Antoine shoulder-bumped Brent, dropping his coffee onto the floor. The dark liquid spilled on Brent’s shoes, creating a pool. “Sorry, man.” Antoine’s expression was full of remorse as he turned toward Brent.
At the same moment he slid his hand behind his back, handing off the flash drive to Isa with practiced efficiency. He continued with his apology, practically shoving himself in Brent’s face and offering to help clean up—giving Isa her escape.
“Gotta run, Brent,” she said, her heels clicking across the tile of the lobby floor as she made a beeline for one of the glass doors. Time was ticking down. She and Antoine only got their bonus if she made it to the meeting by or before the deadline.
She heard Brent call out her name, but ignored him as she pushed open the door. A cool rush of air rolled over her. December in Florida was milder than most places but the change in season was much needed from the sweltering summer they’d had.
The neon sign of the sports bar across the busy four-lane street flashed blue and red, advertising happy hour prices. Once there was an opening in traffic she raced across the street. Jaywalking was the least of her crimes today.
As she reached the other sidewalk she could see Harrison Caldwell through one of the huge windows, sitting at a high top table with Kenneth Fairfax, CEO of the company she’d just stolen from.
Harrison glanced at her and raised his eyebrows. No doubt he’d give her grief later about how close she was cutting it.
She just pursed her lips and hurried through the front door. Ignoring the hostess’s attempt to seat her, she made her way through th
e crowd of loud men and women until she reached the window table.
Fairfax startled in his seat to see her. “Ms. Harper.”
She nodded once and set the flash drive on the table. “You need to reevaluate your security, Mr. Fairfax.”
Frowning, he looked at the small black flash drive. “What is this?”
“Very sensitive information, including new info for a patent on wheat.” She might not understand all of the science behind what she’d stolen, but it had been carefully secured in their system. Which meant it was important.
He still hadn’t touched it. “You’re scanned every day when you leave,” he said, his expression disbelieving.
“I am.” She tilted her chin at the drive. “See what I left the building with, then let’s talk.” She nudged Harrison with her elbow. “Forget your manners?”
He just snorted and moved over so she could sit while Fairfax plugged the flash drive into his tablet.
“Cutting it close,” Harrison murmured.
She just smiled sweetly. She was on time. That was all that mattered.
He frowned again and she knew he wanted to ask her if Brent had been bothering her, but he wouldn’t say anything in front of Fairfax. Harrison could go all protective male sometimes. Something about the men of Red Stone Security—they were all ridiculously alpha.
Harrison always treated her like a kid sister, something she secretly liked since she didn’t have any siblings. Harrison and his wife Mara had pretty much taken her under their wing a year ago when she started working for Red Stone, and she adored both of them. Most people at work were scared of Harrison but she didn’t understand why. Especially since Isa had seen the way he was with his wife and his nephew. The guy was a giant teddy bear where they were concerned.
She lifted a shoulder while Fairfax clacked away on his tablet. After a long moment, Fairfax cleared his throat, his face pale as he removed the flash drive and tucked it into his pocket.
“I watched you on the security feed today,” he said to her, his voice accusing.
“You hired me—us—to show you your company’s security flaws. What did you see when you watched me today?” They didn’t always tell their clients the day they’d be stealing the info, but sometimes they did to prove a point. Fairfax had been watching her like a hawk via a video feed on his laptop; had even had the security team on high alert today. Not for her specifically, just a general alert. But security hadn’t been watching very diligently after people went through their scans. And too bad for him—he hadn’t known about her partner. Something he should have thought of.
“You working like normal. You didn’t even take a proper lunch break. You didn’t take any company property out of the building and even left your cell phone at the main desk when you started work.”
“You’re right. However, I had a partner. Once I was free of the security scans, I just had to wait for him in the lobby to drop off what I’d already downloaded and stolen first thing this morning. I got in early so I could hack into one of the assistants’ computers. I used a manager’s code to access the info. From there it was simply a matter of getting it out of the building. I told my partner where the drive would be so he could pick it up. He avoided security because he is part of your security team.” So there was no electronic trail either, no real proof that any info had left the building. They never would have known they’d been robbed.
Fairfax’s expression went dark and he looked to Harrison for confirmation. “Partner?”
“You contacted me because you wanted to test your security. Don’t act surprised that I didn’t tell you all the measures we’d be taking. A real thief certainly wouldn’t tell you their plans. Her partner is one of my employees and has been working in your security department two weeks longer than Isa. You need stricter security protocols for the actual security department more than anything.” Harrison’s words were to the point.
“I’ve already started a list of measures you’ll need to take to lock things down more tightly. What you have now isn’t bad,” Isa said, softening her voice just a fraction. “You just need to strengthen things, that’s all. You did the right thing by hiring us.”
Fairfax straightened in his chair, nodding more to himself than them. His expression wasn’t as grim as it had been. “Well…I must admit I didn’t think you’d be able to steal anything this important, but I’d rather know now. Thank you both. If you’ll excuse me, I need to make a call.”
Isa turned to Harrison as Fairfax slid out of his chair. Once he was out of range she picked up a beer from the ice bucket and tipped it toward Harrison. “To another success.”
Half-smiling, he lifted his own beer. “He was so smug before you showed up, so sure you couldn’t steal from him.”
She snorted. “You look far too happy that we’ve disappointed him.”
“Heck yeah, I am. We just got a sweet bonus and…I have a new job for you. One I think you’ll find challenging.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep, but no details until tomorrow. I’ve assigned Antoine to an actual security detail for the next month so you’ll be working with a new partner.”
She wanted to grill him but knew better. Harrison could be very tight-lipped when he wanted. Since she knew he’d once been a spook, she figured even torture wouldn’t get the details out of him. “Fine. Unless you need me for anything else, I’m ready to get out of here.”
Shaking his head, he flicked a glance over her shoulder for the briefest of moments. Something strange flashed in his gaze. He looked almost annoyed. She turned around and saw Fairfax on the phone and a bunch of other random people. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
“What’s up?” she asked, turning back to face him, wondering if she should be alarmed about something.
“Nothing. Just tired. Ready to wrap up with him and get out of here.” His espresso-colored eyes didn’t give away anything.
She slid off her chair, small purse in hand. “Then I’ll leave you to it. See you in the morning.”
As she skirted her way through the crowd her breath caught in her throat when she saw a familiar face through the group standing near the bar. When she blinked, however, he was gone.
Heart racing out of control, she inwardly cursed herself. Tall, Dark and Stupidly Handsome had never been there at all. What was the matter with her? He would have no business being in Miami—or anywhere in her vicinity.
She hadn’t thought about him in…a couple days. Which was a record for her. She’d been so busy working it had been easy enough to forget about the lying sack of shit who’d broken her heart a year ago.
Good thing for him that he wasn’t here. Because if he was, she’d have followed through with the violent impulse to punch him in his perfect face.
* * *
“Don’t give me that look,” Graysen snarled as he slid into the seat across from Harrison. He’d been waiting for that CEO to leave.
Harrison had started to respond when the bartender who’d been serving Graysen earlier approached the table. “You leaving the bar?”
“Yeah, joining a friend.” He tried not to snarl at her, since she was just doing her job. “I’ll close out my tab.” He pulled out a few bills and left them on the table. “Keep the change.”
Her eyes widened slightly but she just nodded and pocketed the money—then not so subtly left a piece of paper with her phone number on it in its place. “I get off in an hour.”
He didn’t respond as she left, but crumpled the paper up once he was sure she wasn’t looking and tossed it into the empty ice bucket. He didn’t want anyone but Isa.
“What were you thinking, showing up here?” Harrison’s voice was razor sharp.
“I had to see her.” Graysen knew he’d be meeting with Isa tomorrow, but the urge to get just a glimpse of her again in person was too much. The woman was his obsession. After a year of no contact, no hearing her voice, he was at his breaking point.
Harrison scrubbed a hand over his face, the a
ction out of place on the normally stoic man. “She’s going to be pissed tomorrow.”
“She’ll get over it.” Isa had to. She had to forgive him. He couldn’t live with anything less. He wouldn’t. “And I’m bringing you a huge job.” Graysen had gone to Keith Caldwell instead of Harrison, asking Harrison’s father—also the founder of Red Stone Security—to hire him now that he’d left the Agency. He was more than qualified, but he didn’t just want a job. He wanted to specifically work with Isa. So he’d brought an exclusive government contract Red Stone wouldn’t want to turn down. It was practically tailored for Isa’s expertise. If she was forced to work with Graysen, he could remind her how good they’d been together. And he could work on getting her to forgive him. Which…was the biggest problem.
“Yeah, and you never let me forget it,” Harrison muttered.
Graysen lifted a shoulder. He wasn’t sorry. He’d do anything to get Isa back. Once she’d left him he’d gone into a downward spiral. After trying to get her to forgive him, apologizing too many times to count only to be shut out, he’d drowned himself in vodka for about a month until he’d realized he was being a giant pussy. He wasn’t just going to let her go. So he’d spent the last few months working on getting a huge contract to bring to Red Stone when he left the CIA. It had been a balancing act, getting this contract while still working for the government. But a lot of people owed him favors and he’d cashed in a ton of them. She was that important to him. Hell, she was the most important thing to him.