“We should go,” she said, a tremor breaking her words.
CHAPTER 5
Brock kept his hand under her elbow as they descended the path toward his rental car, which was parked in the driveway. Dani had insisted twice already that she was fine, but walking past the dead body, even though he’d covered it with a sheet, had turned her complexion powdery white. Her muscles trembled beneath his hold, but she kept her back ramrod straight. He opened the black Ford Focus’s passenger door, waited until she got situated, then placed her bag in the back along with the food he’d asked the manager to stock before Dani arrived.
He got into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and backed out. He’d have to do something about the body—that was definitely out of the scope of the property manager’s duties. He couldn’t call the cops, not yet. Leaving it there seemed sacrilegious, but they didn’t have many options.
“I don’t understand how he found me,” Dani said, several minutes after they’d hit the road. The moon cast its glow over the asphalt, illuminating their way between the streetlamps.
He’d booked them a hotel in the city using Dani’s encrypted phone. He let his fingers slide down the smooth leather steering wheel and watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her knee shifted side to side as she looked out the window, fixated on the lake’s inky waves. His fingers flexed with the need to touch her leg. He tightened his grip on the wheel.
“Followed maybe?” The desire crunching his dick in his pants prevented him from speaking full sentences. He shouldn’t have been aroused while holding her at Leland’s. Jesus, she’d been through hell, and the last thing he needed to do was make things uncomfortable. He’d get through the next few days—even if he had to jerk off every hour to stay sane.
“I don’t see how. I was so careful.” She shook her head. “If he had, why wait so long to come inside? I arrived in the afternoon.” She gestured at the glowing clock on the dash. “It’s after three.”
“Maybe he was waiting to see if you called someone. Remember, they want to take down everyone involved, not just a secondary player.” Headlights shone in his rearview mirror, bringing his attention to a vehicle behind them. Was someone following them? Man, he was exhausted. Between the long day of traveling and then walking in on someone trying to murder Dani, he was done with the day. He stretched his neck. He’d kill another motherfucker if he had to.
“I suppose you’re right.” She turned her face toward him, and he stole a glance at her turned-up nose, pinched lids, and puckered mouth. “Does Interpol normally strangle their suspects?”
“You got me there.”
“Unless he’s involved. I mean, think about it. If Interpol were after a bioterrorist, wouldn’t they have a whole team of people to arrest me? They’d want to secure evidence, right?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
She harrumphed. “This is so bizarre.” She dragged her fingers over the battered skin on her throat, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss every inch of bruising flesh on her body.
He followed the GPS’s turn-by-turn directions and tipped his gaze to the rearview mirror for the hundredth time. The vehicle tailing them turned, and he let his shoulders relax. Fifteen minutes later they rolled up to the hotel and got out. He collected their bags and rested his hand on the small of Dani’s back, directing her to the lobby. She lifted her chin and stepped away, letting his fingers fall.
“Keep your head down,” he said, as they stood in line.
He had to be careful. His body acted on muscle memory and his brain became utterly complacent when she was around. It was as if his body fell into step with hers, sensing every movement, every need, and absorbed her energy and partial smiles like a sponge did water.
But he couldn’t fall into old habits no matter how badly he ached to be close to her. His knuckles brushed hers as they approached the front desk, and it took all his willpower not to fold her delicate fingers into his.
He handed over his credit card, declined the bellboy who offered to take them to their room, and made his way to the elevator. Dani stayed close to his side, her chin dipped and her gaze on the floral-patterned carpet beneath their feet. The elevator dinged on their floor and he followed her to their room, pulled out their key, and swung open the door.
“Wait here a sec.” He backed her into the bathroom then did a quick search of the room.
Her head poked around the corner. “Do you really think someone got here before we did?”
He returned and placed her bag in her hand. “Not taking any chances after what I walked into at Leland’s.”
He rested his elbow on the doorframe above her head. “Mind if I take a shower? I’m still wearing all the germs from the plane.”
Her gaze floated over his chest and landed on his face. A pink tint spread across her cheekbones and her lips rolled in and out, in and out. Damn did he want to taste her wet flesh.
“Go ahead. I showered at Leland’s so I can wait until morning. I’m going to crash.” She peered at the bed, which brought her face that much closer to his side. “One bed?”
“It’s a king.”
“Ha. Not a chance.” A smile played at her lips, but her sharply arched brows read back off. Crap. He hadn’t thought to ask for two beds, and if he was honest with himself, he might have been praying she’d snuggle with him tonight.
An alarm screamed in his head. Snuggling was as much of an option as sex, and the fact that his brain had gone there first out of the two alternatives made him want to kick his own teeth in. “I’ll take the couch.” His throat resisted the words, but he’d do anything to make her comfortable. Even sleep on a hotel couch.
“I can take the couch.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be silly. I remember how you flop around in bed. You’ll end up on the floor.” He shooed her out of the bathroom and shut the door. He stripped, turned the water a lot colder than he liked, and stepped under the spray. He rested his forearm on the wall and let the water run off his shoulders and down the scorching flames of lust on his skin. He brought his hand to his cock and pictured Dani’s legs locked around his hips, his cock pumping into her wet slit. After ten embarrassing strokes of his hand, he groaned as his release sprayed out.
Not enough to stamp out his desire. Not even close.
* * *
In the bathroom, still damp from her shower, Dani stepped into her pants. The material clung to her thighs. Sleeping in the same room as Brock had proved torturous, even for her sleep-deprived brain. She’d lain there for hours listening to his rumbling breath and inhaling his warm, masculine scent in the tight quarters. Finally, she’d passed out and had woken to a buffet of room service.
Bonus points for Brock.
She tugged on her shirt and combed her hair away from her face. Her go bag hadn’t been stocked with makeup, so she’d have to rock the dark circles under her eyes until she had time to shop—although shopping wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Brock had seen her at her worst moments: covered in tears, dirt, bruises, and blood. He wouldn’t be deterred by a lack of makeup. She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. What was the matter with her? She and Brock were romantically dead. Sure, she was still attracted to him. She was female. But there was nothing between them but a shitload of history, resentment . . . and sizzling hot looks from those hazel eyes that had haunted her dreams and fantasies since they split up and even more persistently since the kidnapping.
She brushed her teeth, swept her wet hair into a ponytail, and strode out of the bathroom. Brock sat on the bed, her phone in his hand. The bottom of her stomach dropped out.
“What is it?” She didn’t care that he’d checked her phone. It wasn’t as if she had anything personal on the encrypted one.
“A message.” He turned the screen to face her and she accepted the device.
She frowned as she read the text from Sven. “He wants to meet at 9:00 a.m.” She glanced at the clock at the corner of the screen. “That’s in twe
nty minutes. We should go.” She typed a response to Sven, promising to be there.
Brock stood, and his tall frame towered over her. She tilted her head back to take in his face. His brows cut a sharp line, his mouth was tucked in at the corner, and his eyes appeared slate gray in the early morning sunlight streaming through the windows. He crossed his arms across his chest and she drew her chin up further. His body language screamed that he was preparing for a disagreement.
“I want you to stay here.” The words came out slow and hard.
She propped her hand on her hip and slid the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. “Uh, no. Sorry, that’s not an option.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s expecting me. If anyone finds out I brought you in on this, they’ll kill me.”
“Someone’s already trying to kill you.”
“Let’s not increase the odds, all right?”
He sighed, uncrossed his arms, and moved directly into her personal space. He brushed his thumb over her jaw then coasted it down the column of her neck. Her body hummed and a small gasp slipped past her lips. The skin crinkled around his eyes and his copper-flecked orbs moved over her face. Hard. Determined. And . . . scared?
“I just want you to be safe. Please, Dani. Stay here. Let me go instead.” The small plea tugged at her heart. Heat stirred in her belly. His voice had an aching quality, and his words were careful and placating.
As if he still cares.
She swallowed and pushed that thought from her mind. Of course he cared. He wasn’t a monster. He’d offer the same thing to a complete stranger, and their history together naturally made him softer toward her. No doubt he felt a modicum of guilt.
She caught his fingers and moved them away from her collarbone to rest at his side. She reached for her sweater at the end of the bed and threaded her arms through the sleeves. “I have to go, Brock. If all goes well, I can just hand over the flash drive and we can be on our way.”
He snorted. “I hope you’re right.”
* * *
Gray clouds dotted the sky but the sun dominated it. A lone sailboat rocked in the lake. In the passenger seat, Dani turned her attention to Brock’s large form, which ate up more than his share of the vehicle. His arm rested on the console between their seats, his legs stretched in front of him, and his left hand hung loosely around the top of the steering wheel. She dragged her gaze down the length of him and back up. God, he was sexy. His brown hair was wavier than usual today, probably from lack of hair product, like hers. He squinted at the road, his jaw set, listening to the GPS’s directions. He wasn’t happy about her accompanying him.
Tough shit. This was her gig, not his responsibility. She couldn’t shy away even if she wanted to.
He flicked the turn signal and hung a right. “What are you staring at?” A smile played at his mouth and she snapped her gaze to the road.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Her mind worked at warp speed. No way in hell she was going to tell him she was thinking about how hot he was. “I just find it funny, that’s all.”
He shot her a look. “What’s funny?”
“That you’re a thief. I mean, don’t take that the wrong way—we both are. But looking at you, no one would suspect you steal from criminals.”
“Who said I still do that?”
She inhaled a breath and stared. He got out?
“We’re here.” He pulled to a stop along the river. At this time of day, no tourists crowded the weathered cobblestone street. Plus it was the off-season, so the city was much quieter than it would have been in the summer months.
A white Honda idled ahead of them. Sven’s finger-length blond hair caught her eye. “It’s him. I’ll be right back.” She unbuckled her seatbelt, but Brock’s hand circled her wrist.
He scanned the river and the street then wet his lips. “I’m coming with you.”
“Don’t be silly—”
“It’s not negotiable.” He flung his seatbelt off and stepped out of the car.
She wrestled back a curse and climbed out. Her plan to tell Sven that Brock was her Uber driver had just gone to shit. Brock waited at the hood of the car and then fell into step with her as she approached the Honda. Sven’s head was tilted back on the headrest; aviator shades covered his eyes. Something dark covered the left shoulder of his light gray sweater. She frowned and moved closer. Glass crunched beneath her shoes.
Brock snapped his hand out and caught her elbow. “Get back,” he said. She pushed past him and advanced on the blown-out driver’s side window. Blood covered the side of Sven’s head, and the contents of his skull decorated the passenger’s seat.
Dani’s stomach heaved as the warm scent of raw flesh swarmed into her eyes and nose. Sven’s mouth hung open slackly and his eyes, now visible through the sunglasses, stared off toward the sky. Black ink poked out from above his shirt collar on his neck—a new tattoo? But before she could get a closer look, Brock lifted her off her feet and away from Sven’s dead body.
“Oh my god, oh my god . . .” She gagged again. The wall of muscle at her back bunched and flexed with every step. A deep tremble rattled her shoulders, chattering her teeth. She closed her eyes and focused on guiding one breath after another into her lungs. Brock lowered her feet to the ground and she turned to face him. He kept his grip on her hips and the breadth of his body blocked her sight line.
“Get in. We’re going.” He moved her toward their vehicle.
She stood firm and pushed against his unrelenting abs. “No. We have to see if there’s something to lead us to who hired him.”
The muscles around Brock’s chin clenched. “Sit.” He nodded at the passenger’s seat. “I’ll go.”
Part of her wanted to argue and insist she could search Sven’s pockets herself, but she had to admit she’d rather Brock take the lead on that one. Holding the door for support, she lowered herself into the seat on shaky legs. Brock shut the door and jogged to Sven’s car. She watched as he rummaged through the driver’s side window and then moved to the passenger’s side.
He returned to the car and got in holding a cell phone. “I used his thumb to unlock his phone,” he said. He tapped the screen a few times and then placed his thumb on it repeatedly. “There. I just changed the fingerprint to mine.” He passed the device to her. “That’s all there was. His wallet is gone, so I think they searched his pockets and maybe took his encrypted phone. I found this one under the seat. It must have fallen.”
Dani stared at the screen. Time to get some answers.
CHAPTER 6
Brock fought to keep his hammering nerves in check as he steered through the streets of Geneva. He’d woken up before dawn to find Dani sprawled out in the bed, her lips pouty and her lashes kissing her cheeks, tormenting him. His desire to kiss her awake had resulted in him getting only three hours of sleep. Add being in a foreign country and finding another dead body to the mix and he wanted to throw in the fucking towel and it wasn’t even 10:00 a.m.
He needed to comfort Dani, to tell her he’d make all of this go away, but he didn’t have the ability to speak. Right now, all that mattered was getting them somewhere safe. He eased his foot off the gas. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get in an accident.
Dani broke the silence. “He messaged me only a half hour ago. That means they got there just before we did, killed him, and left. How did they know where he was?”
“He must have been followed. The important thing is they didn’t know he was meeting you. They probably hadn’t looked through his other phone until after they left the scene. If they had, they would have waited for you. You communicated with him through an encrypted phone, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Good. Did you notice anything different about Sven?” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I know it must be difficult to think about it. But I got a good look at a tattoo on his neck and I was wondering if you knew what
the symbol meant.”
She frowned, and he wished he could smooth the puckered skin between her eyes with his finger. He curled his hand into a fist.
“I noticed the tattoo.” She shook her head as if to release the image. “I didn’t get a good look at it, and I don’t remember seeing it on him before or him mentioning getting one.”
People got new tattoos all the time, but the curled tips of the pentagon with animal horns in the center had sent chills down his spine. “It’s probably nothing. Try not to think about it.”
She nodded. Her teeth punctured her bottom lip. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t want to go back to the hotel until we know it’s safe. It’s probably best if we stay in a public place for a while.”
“I agree. There’s a coffee shop downtown that has a lot of foot traffic. We can park in the parkade a few blocks away and walk. That way if someone spots us, they won’t know what vehicle we’re driving.”
He switched off the GPS and followed Dani’s instructions to the parkade. They got out, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close to his side. This time, she didn’t resist. He led her down the street and into the coffee shop. After ordering, they found a table away from the windows. He pulled out her chair and she sat with her back toward the entrance. He sat across from her and placed her coffee, which had a decorative leaf carved into the foam, in front of her.
“We need a plan.” She plunged the wooden stir stick into the liquid.
He folded his hands around his paper cup of black coffee. “We need to look at the flash drive. There’s no other option.”
She made a face. “What if I don’t want to know what’s on it?”
“It’s a little late for that.”
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