by Lucy Monroe
Mostly.
Elle lived by the motto that paybacks were a bitch and she’d proven time and again growing up that little sister, or not, she held her own just fine with her three older brothers.
Reflecting on that less-than-palatable truth, Myk looked up to find Lana rapidly approaching him from the other end of the corridor.
His dick took immediate notice. A whole lot more disturbing, however, was the way his lips curved into an involuntary smile at the sight of her.
The hard-won control he had over his every emotion was about to go to hell in a handbasket, too, but not because the sight of the gorgeous double-doctoral recipient elicited a renewal of his fury. She evoked a few strong feelings all right, but none of them had anything to do with being angry.
Every one of them could be linked to the salacious desire he felt toward her. A desire that had kicked him in the gut when he’d walked into her lab yesterday morning and had been wreaking havoc with his body and thoughts ever since. He’d needed focus the night before to review files he hadn’t had a chance to look at before arriving in California, to get a feel for the major players, to do any of the myriad of things related to the case. But his thoughts had been scattered. Memories of their kisses frequently intruded to shatter any semblance of linear thinking on his part.
He could remember every single nuance of her taste and the feel of her body against his. He’d found it a lot more challenging to remember particulars about her assistant or the lab for his notes. That had never happened to him before. He’d never wanted a woman so much she clouded his other impressions.
After struggling to organize thoughts that should have been easy to catalog, he’d accepted that the million-dollar question was: would his focus be more compromised by leaving his desires for the sexy scientist unfulfilled, or indulging in their mutual lust?
Which course of action would make doing his job and protecting his younger sister the hardest?
He still did not have an answer.
Or maybe he did. The urge to press Lana against the nondescript gray wall and kiss her until they were both stupid with it grew stronger with each step nearer she took. He needed to drown his desire in her body so he could get back to his job with an unclouded brain.
With that realization, he looked more closely at the sexily intelligent scientist. Lana did not look like she’d spent the night contemplating sexy games with him. In fact, she looked more likely to take after him with a fire hose—after setting his shirttail on fire—if he wore a shirt that had a tail.
She stopped mere inches from him, her entire body radiating affront. “You can wipe that predatory look right off your face, Agent Chernichenko. There will be no more kisses.”
“Really?” He so did not agree.
She glared. “Really.”
“May I ask why?” Was she afraid to give in to the fantasies she’d voiced in her lab when she’d been looking at him like a year’s worth of chocolate desserts and talking out loud?
“As if you don’t already know.” She crossed her arms and gave him a look that would have shriveled his balls if they weren’t so full from sexual need. “Mr. Smith asked me to rationally consider your request. And I was willing to do that. I really was, but I will not be dictated to in regard to the time I leave for or from work.”
“What are you talking about?” He hadn’t put Lana on a schedule and wouldn’t dream of doing so. It would make her comings and goings too predictable. Even a rookie agent would know better than to do that.
He was no rookie.
“You and your Gestapo-like security-guard watchdogs.” She poked his chest for emphasis. “That’s what.”
Chapter 7
Myk grabbed Lana’s finger and held it against his chest.
Caressing the back of her hand with his pinky, he said, “I asked Elle to order a security detail to follow you home and escort you to work. Nonintrusive surveillance of that nature hardly justifies you likening them to the Gestapo.”
“Nonintrusive?” Lana asked bitingly as she yanked her hand from his. “You call showing up in my lab and demanding I stop what I am doing, important work for my projects that does not suit well to a timetable I might add, so he could escort me home nonintrusive?”
Myk opened his mouth to answer, but she didn’t give him the chance.
“And strong-arming his way past the security guard in my building in order to show up at my door when I was still dripping wet from the shower, only to sit in my living room, waiting impatiently while I finished getting ready, is not what I call nonintrusive. Do you see my hair?”
“Um…yes?” When a woman was in this mood, a man had to be very careful of his answers and even so, he was still statistically biased toward failure.
The picture she was painting was one he had every intention of taking turpentine to. Those idiot security guards would be lucky to still have their jobs when he was done with them.
“My hair is still wet. Would you like to venture a guess as to why?”
“Because you didn’t dry it?”
“Because the security guard you instructed to follow me to work today had to relieve the night guard and had me feeling so guilty for my tardiness that I left the house without drying my hair, eating my breakfast, or reading my paper. I didn’t even have my morning coffee!”
That explained the cranky she had going on. “I apologize. Apparently Elle was not specific enough with her instructions.”
“Really? Because from where I’m standing, those guards had very specific instructions that resulted in nothing short of my harassment. I told you I’m not going back to living like a prisoner and I won’t!”
If Myk himself wasn’t so close to the edge because of his sister’s brush with death earlier, he might have paid better attention to the signs of irrationality marking Lana’s reaction. But he was still riding a fury bronc that was busting his ass. He chose to ignore any underlying issues to go straight for the jugular of the problem.
“You’ll do what is necessary to keep you and Elle safe, Dr. Ericson, and if that means giving up your precious belly dancing for the time being, then, so be it. You will do nothing that will increase the chances of your being taken and my sister being killed.” He didn’t yell. He didn’t loom over her to intimidate. He spoke in the quiet tone of voice he’d used to tell the drug lord in his last undercover assignment that Myk would shoot if the man did not drop his weapon.
The drug lord had ignored the warning and he had died.
Not that Myk had even the slightest interest in hurting Lana, but he’d slap her luscious ass into protective custody in a heartbeat if that’s what it took to keep her and Elle safe.
Lana stared at him for several tense seconds and then asked, “What changed?”
“Nothing changed. I told you yesterday, we needed to make some alterations in your social schedule for the time being.”
“Not that. Yesterday you said Elle had been targeted, but you weren’t sure if it was for a kidnapping or an assassination. You’re certain it’s death now. So, what changed?”
Myk took a deep breath and stepped back. “Someone tried to run Elle off the road on the coastal highway on her way to work this morning. If she’d gone over, both she and Beau would be seriously injured, or dead.”
“You’re sure it was on purpose? California drivers are really aggressive.”
“Elle is sure.”
“Oh.” Lana’s entire countenance changed. She went from furiously indignant to compassionately worried in the space of a heartbeat. “Are they okay?”
“Yes. I won’t even say she’s shaken up, though Beau is pretty upset. Not about his own safety, but about hers.”
“He loves her.” Lana got a far-off look in her eye. “I thought he’d be like that if he really fell for a woman.”
Something about the way she said it made Myk wonder if, at one time, Lana had wanted that woman to be her. Hell, she still might.
And didn’t that idea just piss him off all o
ver again. “So, you can see why I expect your cooperation in ensuring both your safety.”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“Good.” But damn, that defeated look had to go.
“How long do you intend to box me in with what you consider to be safety measures?” The helplessness in Lana’s voice bothered Myk as well.
“It is not my intention to box you in.”
“Intention is not always the birth of deed.”
“Trust me on this.” He would set the security guards straight, too. “I might even be able to arrange something for your belly-dancing class.”
Nothing about her countenance changed except that she looked away from him. Like she hadn’t heard him, or discounted what he’d said completely. “Where were you headed when I stopped you to let you know how unhappy I am with the current situation?”
Definitely still unhappy. Myk didn’t have to be an expert at body language and voice tonal qualities to get that. Or to take note of the underlying sadness tinged by fear.
He wanted to promise—again—that he was going to protect her, but he didn’t want to hear her denial that he could. He might do something entirely inappropriate in response. Something that would have her comparing him to Cro-Magnon man again.
“To Elle’s office.”
“To discuss the security measures for our safety?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
“There’s no need. I can stop by your lab to give you a report on what measures will affect you.” It was not SOP to bring civilians in on the professional consult. Elle was an exception because of her background. Myk didn’t mind Beau being there because he was counting on the other man helping to convince Elle to go along with Myk’s plan.
He welcomed suggestions from his sister on how best to protect Lana. At this point Elle knew more about Lana’s habits and daily schedule than he did. She also knew more about ETRD and the security already in place there.
Lana’s jaw set stubbornly, which, rather than annoying him, just turned Myk on. “On the contrary. There is every need. This is my life you’re making decisions about. I have a right to hear what those decisions are, before they happen, like my guard detail last night and this morning.”
“If the guards had done their jobs correctly, you would not have been aware of them.”
“I prefer to be aware, if it’s all the same to you.”
“You’re sexy when you’re snarky, you know that?”
“I’m not aware of being sexy in any mood, so no.”
“You’re serious?”
“Personal sexual appeal has not been high on my list of topics to study, Mykola, and you can stop changing the subject.”
“At least you are calling me by my first name again. Though you are the only one besides my mother and grandmother who use it. Even my dad calls me Myk.”
“I like it.”
“Thank you.” He made no effort to resist the urge to reach out and brush one fingertip down her cheek. “I bet you thought about how appealing you are when you were crushing on Beau.”
“Beau is my coworker and your sister’s fiancé.”
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t find him hot.”
“If I did, I don’t any longer.”
“You sure about that?”
“Is this pertinent to your case?”
“It’s pertinent to me.”
“So you expect me to answer you?”
“Yep.”
She was downright adorable when irritated. “Yes. At one time, I found Beau attractive.”
“I’m surprised you admitted it.”
“I have no filter, remember? I would probably blurt it out at some point. That is if you spend enough time around me to hear what comes out of my mouth when I’m thinking out loud. Which you probably won’t, so I guess I could have kept my embarrassing secret.”
“Nothing embarrassing about a former crush. And yes, I definitely plan to be around enough to learn all your secrets.”
“Oh. I’m not sure if I like that, or not.”
“I am sure I like your honesty.”
“You aren’t going to sidetrack me with compliments. I intend to crash your meeting with Elle whether you want me there, or not.”
“You’re an aggressive little thing for a scientist.”
Lana just glared at him. And damned if that didn’t turn him on, too. Was there anything this woman could do that would douse rather than fan his libido?
Smart enough to know when he was beat, he said, “Fine. Come with me.”
Beau was in Elle’s office when Lana followed Mykola inside. Frank was there as well, but while Beau and Elle had clearly been having a heated discussion, Frank was focused on his PDA. Nothing unusual there. The head of ETRD could get as lost in his e-mail and balance sheets as any of his scientists did their projects.
Mykola gave him a significant look that his sister did not miss despite her clear preoccupation with her fiancé. “It was Frank or Mr. Smith via conference speakerphone. I chose Frank.”
“I don’t blame you.”
Frank made a sound of dissent.
Mykola shrugged. “No offense, but I’m not in the habit of conferring with civilians in regard to my job.”
“I understand,” Frank said, “but the situation at ETRD is a unique one.”
“Because of Mr. Smith.” Mykola always said ETRD’s benefactor’s name with that particular sneer in his voice.
Lana wanted to know why.
“We’ll talk later,” Mykola said to her, confirming that she had once again spoken her thoughts aloud.
Elle was back to looking as amused as she had the day before in Lana’s lab, but she focused her attention on her brother. “Because of what Mr. Smith knows and chooses to share with his company president.”
“Fine. Frank can stay.”
“Thank you ever so much,” Frank intoned dryly.
“I’ve got a plan,” Mykola announced as he seated Lana in one of the chairs facing Elle’s desk with all the panache of a courtier.
Lana would have smiled at the gallantry, but was too suspicious about what that plan might entail and found herself frowning instead. Elle’s expression mirrored Lana’s. Knowing she wasn’t alone in her distrust of Mykola’s potential plans made Lana feel just a little better.
Beau, on the other hand, emanated relief and eagerness to hear what Mykola had to say. His PDA now forgotten and held loosely in his hand, Frank appeared interested as well. No doubt, had Mr. Smith been present via conference call, he would have been waiting with bated breath, too.
“Let’s hear it,” Elle demanded when Mykola dragged the silence out.
Myk radiated pure satisfaction. “The Vega Cartel wants you out of the way.”
“That’s a given.”
“So, we give them what they want.” He perched himself on the chair arm of Lana’s seat with an attitude that all was right with his world.
Only the tension in his limbs so close to her gave away the fact that he wasn’t quite as relaxed about this conversation as he pretended to be.
“I am not faking my own death less than a week before my wedding.” Oh, wow. Elle had that deadly quiet voice down pat, just like her brother.
“Credit me with some creativity here, sis.”
“You flunked art. And music appreciation.”
“In grade school. That doesn’t count. And I didn’t flunk. I got Cs. Just because I didn’t like finger painting and learning how to read music doesn’t mean I can’t be creative.”
“So, reveal this creative plan of yours.” Elle could do sarcasm really well when she wanted; it fairly dripped from each word.
Lana almost pitied Mykola. Almost. He’d still set the guard dogs on her.
“We agree that we do not want to endanger the case?”
“Duh.” Oh, direct sarcasm. Very nicely done, Elle.
Lana let a small smile tug at her lips.
“Your death would do that, wouldn’
t it?”
“Yes, but I have no intention of dying.”
“Your ability to drive better than most NASCAR racers isn’t going to save you from a bullet.”
“The Vega Cartel is not going to risk alerting ETRD to their interest in one of its scientists. Their assassin is going to continue to look for ways to kill me and make it look like an accident.”
“You could at least sound a little concerned about that fact,” Beau snarled.
Elle whipped her head around and stared at him in shock. “Of course I’m concerned. You could have been killed this morning. If you’d been riding with anyone else, you would have been.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
“It is for me.”
“Good,” Mykola said, effectively cutting off an escalation of the argument. “Elle, wouldn’t you agree that the hit on you is putting your fiancé at risk?”
“I’ll watch out for him. I’m here this time.” Elle’s expression look set in concrete.
Mykola looked saddened. “Yes, you are. And you are a formidable opponent, but I think we all agree that minimizing the danger is the best course of action.”
Elle looked at Beau and their gazes held for several seconds before she turned her attention back to her brother. “How do you propose to do that?”
“We get you out of ETRD and then out of the country.”
Elle opened her mouth to argue, but Beau squeezed her shoulder. “Let your brother explain before you start ripping his idea to shreds.”
Ellen closed her mouth and nodded.
Mykola said, “Thank you. What I propose is this: you were planning to end your consult for ETRD’s security this week, so we make it official. You leave and ETRD ‘hires’ me as their new head of security.”
“What about our current head of security?” Frank asked.
“He’ll be in Oregon at the Black Eagle paramilitary training facility for the next eight weeks,” Elle said grudgingly, as if supporting her brother’s plan in any way went against the grain. “You can name Myk the head of security in the interim. I had someone else in mind, but this is a better setup for his investigation.”
