Ruined With You

by J. Kenner

  Cass rolls her eyes, but Eliza lifts her phone. “Em! I’m calling an Uber now. Come on!”

  I turn, and see that she’s signaling to a stunning redhead standing with Liam in the doorway of Ryan Hunter’s office. Mr. Hunter is there, too—dark hair, blue eyes, and looking at least as good in a suit as Liam does. When he wears one. Right now he’s in jeans, which I appreciate since my attire consists of sweats and a tee.

  There’s another guy with them, too, and since he’s holding an open laptop, I’m guessing he’s Mario, the tech genius who is trying to get clear facial images of my tormentors.

  Liam catches my eye and holds up a finger, indicating he’ll be right over, but Emma comes right away. “Sorry, sorry,” she says, then, “Oh, hey. You must be Xena.”

  “That’s me,” I say, before Eliza and Cass tell me that it was nice to meet me. Emma tells them she’ll be along, and I notice the way Cass reaches for her hand, her fingers lightly skimming Emma’s before Cass and Eliza head out.

  “Nice to meet you,” Emma says, as I wonder if she and Cass are an item. “Sorry about all the shit you’re dealing with.”

  “Thanks. Are you one of the agents here?”

  “No, I don’t work here,” she says, and I’m starting to feel like I’m in a sitcom.

  She must notice my expression, because she laughs. “I’m a PI. But I have an offer on the table, and since the SSA frequently works in teams of two, Ryan wanted to talk to me and Liam together.

  “I thought Denny worked with Liam.”

  “Not usually. I think they’re just really good friends. Denny and Quince team up a lot, but I guess she’ll be with Mason now. At least until the baby benches her for a while. And there’s Winston and Leah,” she continues, making my head spin. “Between you and me, they need more women here. I know they’re actively looking. And I also know they’re incredibly selective. I’m flattered, but I also love my job and calling my own shots, and—and all of this is probably very boring to you. Short answer. I don’t work here. Yet. Maybe never. I’m still debating.”

  “Well, good luck deciding.”

  “Thanks. And it really is great to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under such horrible circumstances, but you are in exceptionally good hands.”

  “Yeah,” I say, glancing across the room to find Liam. “I am.”

  “The cameras at her doors are pieces of shit,” Mario says. “You should tell her to replace them, stat,” he adds, pointing at me.

  “On it,” I say, while Liam shoots me a what can you do look.

  “Fortunately,” Mario continues, “I have mad skills. A few more passes with my extremely proprietary, no where else to be found, one hundred percent a Sanchez specialty, facial re-generation software, and I should have an image that’s clean enough to get us some solid results once we feed it into the facial recognition databases.”

  “How long until we get a hit from that?” I ask.

  Mario shrugs. “That depends on how charitable the system is feeling that day and how lucky you are.”

  “With my luck, we’ll get results sometime around the next millennium.”

  “With your luck,” Liam says firmly, squeezing my hand under the table, “we’ll get them tomorrow.”

  I raise a brow, because clearly he’s delusional.

  “I’m with Liam,” Quince says. “After everything you’ve been through, you’re not only still standing, but you’ve got a great job with an incredibly generous woman.” Because Liam told me I had to, everyone in this room now knows all the details about my truly fucked up life. I know it’s necessary, but it doesn’t sit well with me.

  “Not to mention me watching your back,” Liam says, adding a teasing smile.

  I shoot him a sideways smirk. “A job I can’t go back to and a woman I put in the line of fire.”

  “Yes,” Liam repeats. “But me—and this whole team—watching your back.”

  “Liam—”

  “No,” he says, without a hint of humor in his voice. “I mean it. You’ve survived a hell of a life, Xena. And you have good people helping you now. Ella. Us. Maybe your luck was shit for a while, but it’s changing. Help change it more by helping us.”

  I sag a little, because he’s right. “I know. I’m sorry.” I look at all of them around the table in turn. Ryan—who told me not to call him Mr. Hunter, Quince, Mario, Trevor, Leah, and, of course, Liam. I know there are a few other new recruits who are on what Ryan calls probationary duties, but this is the team that’s helping me—plus Winston. With Liam taking point, of course.

  “Thank you,” I say. “It really does feel like my luck is changing.”

  “The short term goal,” Liam says to the group, “is to keep Xena safe and catch our two stalkers. Use them to lead us to whoever is pulling their strings. And the longer-term goal is to take down the entire organization, assuming it still exists. Obviously, we’re going to need support from law enforcement to make that happen, but they should be happy to let us take point early on. Ryan’s going to talk with Colonel Seagrave at the SOC to see about getting us additional intelligence support, and he’s already put a call in to Agent McKee. McKee’s with the FBI,” he adds to me, “and the SOC is a deep-cover, government intelligence organization. We’ve worked with both those agencies before.”

  “Wait, wait.” My head is literally spinning. “You’re talking an investigation that could take years.”

  “Possibly,” Ryan says. “But if we take them down, it’s worth it.”

  “I can’t—” I cut myself off, feeling stupid. I was about to say I can’t put my life on hold for years, but my life has already been on hold. Hell, I never got the chance to start my life. And I never will unless I can get this albatross off my back.

  I could run, of course. I could leave Liam’s house in the middle of the night and just bolt. Leave the country, manufacture a new identity. A week ago, that’s probably what I would have done. But being with Liam—talking with him, touching him—has made me crave a real life all the more. He’s opened a door for me, and I think—no, I know—that I want to walk through it.

  I draw a deep breath and nod. “This is all really overwhelming,” I say. “But okay. I just—” I look at Liam, feeling suddenly desperate.

  “It’s okay,” he says. “What?”

  “Well, I can’t just hang out here forever. And I can’t go back to Ella, can I? I mean, that would put her in danger, right? But I have to eat and live somewhere and all that good stuff. And, well, what am I going to do for a job?”

  “I think we can work that out,” Ryan says. “We’re ridiculously low on administrative help at the moment.”

  “Really?” I look between him and Liam. “I can work here while you guys are doing whatever it is you’re doing?”

  “According to Ella, you’re hardworking, detail-oriented, and efficient. I think we could use that.”

  I frown, considering his words. “You already thought about this, didn’t you?”

  “I asked Ryan to call Ella when we were in his office,” Liam says.

  “Oh.” I’m ridiculously pleased that he was so thoughtful. “Thank you.”

  We share a smile, until I break our connection and look down at my hands.

  “First thing,” Ryan says, “is to get as much information from you as we can. Locations. Names. I know it’s been years, but any details that you can remember.”

  Across the table, Mario’s phone makes a ka-ching noise, like a slot machine paying off. He jumps to his feet, mumbles, “Mainframe,” and scurries away.

  “Cross your fingers that’s something on the facial recognition software,” Trevor says dryly. “And not a new profile hit on this week’s coolest dating site.”

  Leah nudges him and mutters, “Stop.” Mario, I’m assuming, doesn’t date much.

  Leah’s about my height, with a mass of tight curls. I think her hair is naturally brown, but golden highlights frame her face. She has a strong jaw balanced by oval-shaped black glasses. Sh
e’s not pretty so much as cute. And from the few minutes I’ve spent talking to her, I can tell she’s super sharp.

  According to Liam, she and Trevor and Denny all did security-related work under Ryan at Stark International before Stark Security was formed. And before that, Trevor and Leah worked with him at his own security company, one that Damien Stark bought out years and years ago.

  There’s an easiness between Trevor and Leah, so it’s not hard to believe they’ve been in the trenches together. And the way they joke around with each other, I thought at first they were dating.

  “Trev’s gay, so that’s a no,” Liam told me after we’d arrived at the office but before he went into the meeting. “But his husband walked out a couple of years ago, and they’ve been rooming together since. So they’re definitely close.”

  “What about Leah? Is she gay, too?”

  “I don’t think so. Denny mentioned a guy she used to date. Honestly, I don’t know. She plays her life pretty close to the vest, and I’m not much for prying.”

  Now, Ryan pulls the conversation back by focusing on me. “Names?” he repeats. “Details?”

  “Right. I don’t know many. The customers always used code names.”

  “That’s okay. We’re not interested in the clients as much as the players. The big guns and the cogs. Anyone at all.”

  “I didn’t overhear a lot. But the man who—who shot my father. I made it a point to learn his name. It’s Noyce. Edward Noyce.”

  “Excellent,” Quince says, then taps something into his phone. “If Mario’s at the mainframe, he can start a search. Anyone else?” he asks me.

  “I was high all the time. A lot of what’s in my head is fuzzy. Surreal. But there was one time I remember, or I think I do. The memory may not even be real.”

  “Tell us what’s in your head,” Liam says, putting his hand on mine. “And we’ll sort it out from there.”

  “Right. Sure. Okay.” I draw a deep breath, not wanting to fall back into those memories, but knowing that I have to. “There was this one time when everyone in the building was freaking out. Like the world was going to end if everything wasn’t perfect. The guy was coming from somewhere in Europe, and he was the big money man. I don’t know why I know that, but I think I’m right. Everyone was talking like he was the absolute shit, you know?”

  “And you heard his name?” Trevor asks.

  “I think so. It was odd. Foreign. So I might be misremembering. But I think they called him Corbu.”

  Liam’s eyes widen, and Quince lets out a low whistle.

  “What?” I ask, looking around the table.

  “You didn’t misremember,” Liam says. “And you may have just made this whole case ten times easier.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Corbu.

  Liam caught Quince’s eye, and saw the other man frown. Quince and Eliza had been reunited recently when the SSA had worked with an EU task force in an effort to bring down the infamous kingpin of an international sex trafficking organization. Specifically, the SSA had been tasked with obtaining information about Corbu’s operations from a local scumbag, Scott Lassiter. A man that Eliza had also been pursuing, for decidedly different reasons.

  “I don’t understand,” Xena said when Ryan excused himself to go to his office. “What did I say?”

  “The magic word,” Quince told her. “Corbu’s in custody. And that means we have a solid shot at getting some answers.”

  “Seriously?” This time the question was a whisper, and her hand grasped Liam’s, squeezing tight. He squeezed back, relishing the easy familiarity between them.

  “Seriously,” Liam assured her, then gave her the quick and dirty rundown of the operation.

  “So, he’s not just sitting in prison somewhere? He’s been giving this task force information about all the various cells?”

  “The SSA hasn’t played a part since his capture,” Liam told her. “But my understanding is that he’s cooperating. And his various captains around the globe are singing with more force than The Three Tenors.”

  He had to smile. Sometimes, the system really did work. And this just might be one of those times. And maybe, just maybe, Xena really was about to get lucky.

  A door slammed on the far side of the open area, and Mario hurried in, waving a printout. “Am I a genius or what? Why yes, Mario, you are the man. Truly.”

  By the coffee station, Leah snorted. “I don’t know about the man, but you’re definitely something.”

  Mario held his arms out at his sides. “Come on, Leah. You know you want it.”

  “And yet my feet remain firmly planted.”

  “Children,” Quince chided.

  Xena leaned toward Liam. “Are they…?”

  “I have no idea.” He’d given up on trying to decipher Leah and Mario. Half the time he thought they were flirting. The rest of the time he didn’t think about it at all. Bottom line, they’d either end up in bed or at battle stations. So long as they kept doing stellar work, he figured either result was okay.

  “Why are you the man?” Xena called out, to which Mario responded with a quick bow. “Because it’s in my blood, thank you. Props to the lady who’s paying attention.”

  Liam eyed the techie and cleared his throat.

  “Faces,” Mario said, dropping the printouts on the desk. “And yes, they’re both plugged into the database. So burn some sage, say a prayer, wear your lucky underwear. And maybe we’ll get a hit soon.”

  “I always wear my lucky underwear,” Quince said dryly. He glanced at the sheets, then slid them across the table to Xena. “Familiar?”

  Liam leaned closer, looking at the images with Xena, impressed with the rendering that Mario was able to coax out of the pixels. Other than from the night at the cabin, he didn’t recognize them, though there was no reason he should. But he watched Xena’s face, hoping for a sign.

  He got none.

  “Sorry. If I knew them before, I don’t now.”

  “It’s okay,” Liam assured her. “You got away years ago, and these guys are foot soldiers. Soldiers change. But they’ll lead us back to whoever is pulling their strings, and I have a feeling you’ll know who that is.”

  She hugged herself. “I want to, because I know it’ll help. But at the same time, I wish none of it was left in my head.”

  He put his hand on her back, stroking lightly, wishing that he could do more. But he could, of course. He could do his job. He could find the man who’d sent the goons, and he could take the fucker down. And, dammit, he would.

  A moment later, Ryan’s office door burst open, and he crossed the room in long strides, his expression unreadable.

  “Bad news?” Liam asked.

  “Good, actually. Or potentially good. I just got off the phone with Enrique Castille.” He turned to Xena. “He’s the head of the European Union task force that brought down Corbu.”

  “And?” Quince pressed.

  “They’ve been busy. Corbu’s been singing. Apparently his son was kidnapped by a competitor, and he wants the task force’s help getting him back. And taking down his enemy.”

  Leah leaned forward, her chin resting on her hand. “Which benefits us how?”

  “Because every captain has been rounded up. Including Alberto Miro, the asshole who operated the New York cell. His entire organization got caught in the net.”

  Xena looked between Ryan and Liam, her head moving side to side as if she wasn’t quite following. Liam couldn’t fault her for that; he wasn’t sure where Ryan was going with this either.

  “But if the whole organization was caught, who’s after me?”

  A hard smile crossed Ryan’s face. “I said they were all caught in the net. One wiggled free.”

  “Noyce,” Xena breathed, reaching over to take Liam’s hand.

  “Bingo. He had a shark of an attorney and an alibi for every offense they tried to throw at him, not to mention a history with Miro that his attorney played up.”

  “He killed my f
ather, and he’s walking free?”

  Ryan sat on the edge of the conference table beside her. “Apparently his story is that he came to one party without realizing that the girls weren’t there consensually. When he learned, he was disgusted and left.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  “I know. The task force knows. What they need is proof, and Miro didn’t have it to give.”

  “But there is proof,” Liam said, his hand tightening around Xena’s. “Xena witnessed him killing her father.”

  She swallowed audibly. “That’s why he wants to kill me.”

  “And it’s why we’re going to nail his ass,” Liam said, hating the fact that she was in the crosshairs, but so damned relieved that they now knew why. More importantly they knew who.

  They had a target now, and Liam wouldn’t rest until the fucker was in custody or dead.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I think it’s time for you to take a little trip,” Ryan says to me. “On paper, anyway.”

  I look at Liam, alarmed. “What? What does that even mean?”

  “It means it’s time for Leah to be on point,” Liam says. “Unless Ryan has something else in mind.”

  “Nope, you read me perfectly.”

  “Ditch and switch?” Leah grins as she winks at me. “I’m game.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We want to distract anyone who might have traced you back to LA,” Leah says.

  “But we were careful,” I insist. “There’s no way they could have followed us from the cabin.”

  Ryan slides back into his chair at the head of the table. “Not disagreeing, but even without Liam in the picture, it makes sense you’d come here. You live here, right?”

  “Yeah. I rent the garage apartment at Ella’s place.”

  “So if you left the concert because of the attack, the odds are you’d go home. That’s what they’d likely assume, anyway, and we’re going to let that play out.”