by Lucy Monroe
Elle nodded and made the call. Silence reigned for the two and a half minutes it took the older man to arrive. During that time Ramirez managed a very convincing air of boredom, while the two guards both sweated it out—literally.
When Elle told the security chief in precise tones exactly what had been said in her office, he rubbed his forehead. After turning to face his shift lead, he said, “No one said our officers had to wait past the end of their shift to see Dr. Ericson home. One of the swing-shift team could have been assigned the training opportunity once it was ascertained that Dr. Ericson was not finished in her lab.”
“Once the officer was assigned his duty, it had to be completed,” Ramirez argued.
“The duty was not a particular officer’s, but rather that of our department, Ramirez.”
“It was a training exercise!”
“And that is pertinent because?”
“Because you’re acting like Dr. Ericson was really in danger.”
“And if she was?”
“Was she?” Ramirez demanded to know.
“That’s not the point. The point is that your officers did a piss-poor job.”
“I deserve to know if one of my people is being put in danger in the line of duty,” Ramirez said obdurately.
“It shouldn’t make a difference as to how well they do their jobs.”
“Were they in danger?” Ramirez prodded.
“I told you that the assignment was a test for security measures Mr. Smith asked Ms. Gray to consider implementing and I don’t appreciate your implications otherwise,” the head of security replied. “The last thing this company needs is more rumors for the already busy mill.”
Ramirez gave a derogatory huff. “Frank Ingram would be better off raising salaries for the employees that put their lives on the line for this company rather than putting more resources into pampering Mr. Smith’s precious scientists.”
“That’s not a decision for you to make,” Mykola said.
“Nor is your comment appreciated,” the security chief said, ice in his voice.
“Who the heck are you to be making such a comment to me?” Ramirez demanded of Mykola while ignoring her permanent boss altogether.
“As of tomorrow, I’m going to be your boss.”
“Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.” The head of security’s tone had not warmed up a single degree. “Ms. Ramirez has been warned about her unacceptable attitude toward the scientific elite employed by ETRD.”
“If they are so elite, why can’t they see to their own security? Because they need grunts like us, that’s why. A bunch of pansy asses, the lot of them.”
“Ms. Ramirez, you are fired.”
The team lead gasped and stared at her former boss. “You can’t do that. Tia Maria will have your head.”
“Your aunt is my wife’s cousin, not my employer. I gave you a job, but you disregarded your duties and disrespected me and your position. You won’t be getting a reference.” The man inclined his head toward Elle. “If that is all, Ms. Gray, I’m going to walk this former employee off the property.”
With a slightly bemused expression, Elle nodded. “Dismissed. You two may go as well.”
The two guards gave visible signs of relief.
Elle smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “Don’t think you got off easy. You’ll be in the first team sent for training at the Black Eagle training center in the Oregon Coastal Range. I’m a pussycat compared to Nitro and Josie Black Eagle in training mode. Myk will tell you and your team all about it tomorrow.”
“Training?” Perkins asked.
Nelson looked like he’d swallowed a raw fish whole. “In Oregon?”
“Yes. It will be mandatory for all security personnel from this point forward.”
“Pinkerton never expected offsite training,” the older of the guards grumbled.
“Perhaps you would like to apply for a job with them?” Elle asked Nelson sweetly.
“No thank you, ma’am.” The two guards rushed to get out of the office.
“Sounds good.” Mykola turned his attention from Elle to Lana. “After that little fiasco, I think it would be best for me to see to your security personally.”
“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” Elle quipped.
“Because you would make the same call in my place?”
“Maybe not the exact same call. I prefer my partners to have more parts.” Elle’s grin was positively evil as she stood up to leave the room. “I’m going to finalize things with Frank and Beau, then I’ll be back to pack up my office.”
Mykola nodded as if some secret message had passed between the siblings. Lana couldn’t begin to figure it out. She was too busy trying to decipher Elle’s words. Partners? As in sex partners? It wasn’t likely Mykola was interested in Lana for any other kind of partnership. Was she going to end up paying his sister five hundred dollars, too?
Mykola moved to sit in the chair beside Lana that Frank had vacated. Leaning on the arm of her chair had the benefit of being close to her, but he couldn’t see her face from that angle. “Who do you owe five hundred dollars to and why would you think you had to pay my sister the same amount?”
He really enjoyed Lana’s tendency to talk to herself out loud.
She looked like she wanted to sink through the floor. “I won’t have to pay Elle. I didn’t make a bet with her.”
“You made a bet with someone else?” This just got more and more interesting.”
“Yes,” she grumbled.
“Who?”
“Is that any of your business?”
“No, but you’re going to answer anyway, aren’t you, doc? You can’t help yourself.” Man, she was fun to tease.
“You mean you think I’ll mention it inadvertently.”
He shrugged. They both knew the possibility was there. “You may as well be wholly advertent.”
He grinned. Oh, yeah. He liked the idea of a completely open Lana. Of course, his mind had drifted from verbal honesty to accessible naked bodies, but he could hardly be faulted for the journey. She was the stuff his fantasies were made of. Sweet. Quirky. And oh, so sexy.
She expelled a huffy breath. “It was Dr. Billings.”
“What did you and Casey bet on?” Myk wanted to laugh, but he didn’t.
Lana sealed her lips like a small child refusing to speak.
He reached out and played his fingertip along the tight seam before letting his hand drop. “I’ll just ask Casey. He’ll tell me. I think I scare him.”
“He bet me five hundred dollars that you and I would have sex.” She looked away, her pretty pale skin going dusky. “Before Elle’s wedding.”
He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. Myk burst out laughing.
Lana jumped from her chair. “I’m going back to my lab. If you want to send someone to follow me home, fine.”
Myk leapt up and crossed the room to block the door before Lana had taken two steps. “The only one following you home will be me. As for the other, I wasn’t laughing at you, sweetheart.”
“I thought it was doc.”
“Sweetheart suits you, too.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does. Only a woman with a sweet heart could have moved my sister’s heart enough to get her to back down on the case today.”
“She wasn’t looking at the situation rationally.”
“And you helped her see that without anyone losing a limb. I’m in awe.”
“You’re trying to make me feel better about laughing at me.”
“I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at Casey’s perspicacity.” He gently turned Lana to face him.
Her body was stiff, but she didn’t fight the movement. “His astute perception is hardly amusing.”
“Sure it is, when you consider how clueless he probably is about his own dating life.” That boy had geek down to a T.
“He’s working on it.”
“I’ll offer a few tips.”
He tilted Lana’s head up so he could see her face. “He deserves it.”
“For guessing I wanted you so badly?” She didn’t look as accepting of that fact as she had been the day before.
“For seeing that I wanted you even more.”
Kissable lips formed a perfect circle while her pupils dilated. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh.”
“What about my belly dancing?” She tried moving sideways and away from him.
He blocked her exit with his other arm. “That’s the third time you’ve tried that today.”
“Tried what?” Her expression said she knew exactly what he was talking about and wasn’t too happy he’d figured it out.
“Changing the subject rather than answering a question.”
She leaned back against the door, creating the only distance she could between them. “Technically, you didn’t ask me a question just now.”
Still, she didn’t ask him to move away. Interesting.
“And technically, you didn’t answer the one I asked earlier, but you will. Or I’ll figure it out.”
“You can’t read my mind.”
“Maybe I can. Maybe you realized just then that with Elle out of the way, the cartel would be free to focus on your enzymes and you.”
The shocked recognition that lit her hazel depths told him all he needed to know. “I…”
He hated the fear he’d seen earlier and he refused to let her continue laboring under its weight. “But something you didn’t consider is that I gave them a new target and that target isn’t you.”
Lana’s eyes went cloudy with confusion and then cleared. “It’s you! You took Elle’s place as the one standing between the Vega Cartel and my enzymes.”
“Yep. So, see, doc, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“But I don’t want you hurt, either!”
“I’ve just got one thing to say to those bastards. Bring it on.”
“You and your sister are both insane! You’re no more impervious to death than she is.” In her agitation, Lana gesticulated with her hands.
There wasn’t any room between them for that kind of behavior, so her hands ended up brushing against his torso.
He let himself fully appreciate the pleasure in that before replying. “Who says?”
“You aren’t a superhero.”
“I don’t need to be.” He moved forward so their bodies pressed against each other. Neither spoke for several seconds, but Lana’s breathing grew labored.
And damn if he didn’t like that proof of her desire. Every harsh breath brought her breasts into fuller contact with his chest. He couldn’t wait to feel that particular phenomenon sans clothing—for both of them.
He leaned down until he was whispering in her ear. “I just need to be smarter than the cartel. I’ve already proven once that I’ve got the savvy.”
She shivered in reaction to his breath in her ear even as a horrified sound escaped her. “If you don’t watch out, your arrogance is going to get you killed.”
“I’d rather watch you.” He nuzzled into her neck, reveling in her scent.
She didn’t wear perfume, but he could smell traces of the body wash she used. It smelled like peaches. Mixed with her personal fragrance, it was an intensely alluring combination.
“Belly dance?” she asked in a choked voice.
He couldn’t keep the feral grin from his lips. Oh, yeah. But for his eyes only. He nuzzled her some more, dropping soft kisses against the sensitive skin just below her ear.
She shivered again, another desperate little sound escaping her. This one definitely of need.
He rubbed their cheeks together before lifting his head so he could look her in the eye when he spoke. As much as he wanted her, this was serious stuff. “I would prefer you gave up teaching right now, but if you’re adamant, we’ll work something out.”
“Mr. Smith asked me to consider your request. Last night. When we talked on the phone. I told him…” Her eyes closed and her fingers kneaded his chest like a cat seeking the best spot to settle. He wouldn’t mind her settling on him. “I told him, I would. I have.”
“And?” He whispered the question into her ear and then couldn’t suppress the urge to take a tiny taste, swiping his tongue over the soft flesh of her lobe.
“Oh. That feels good. Again. Do it again.”
No way was he going to turn down that request. He did it again, this time taking the lobe between his teeth and biting very gently.
She made an inarticulate sound.
He needed to get the serious talk out of the way so they could finish this. “What did you decide, sweetheart?”
“Decide?”
“About teaching your class?”
“I’ll stop. For a little while.”
“Good.”
“I thought…” She broke off, breathing heavily. “I thought you’d say that.” Then she turned her face, her lips clearly seeking his.
He was moving so his lips could be found when a knock sounded at the door. “Myk, I’m back,” Elle trilled through the door with enough teasing he knew his little sister guessed she’d be interrupting something.
Suppressing a growl, Myk pulled Lana away from the door and then released her.
Elle didn’t wait for an invitation, but pushed the door open and walked in.
He valiantly controlled his urge to yell and said, “I thought you were going to be busy for a while.”
“Frank is on a call to Mr. Smith and Beau is trying to keep something in his lab from exploding.” Elle looked between him and Lana, but rather than smirking as he expected, she gave him a contrite look. “Sorry.”
“No problem. This isn’t the place.”
“Sometimes, it doesn’t matter.”
Myk covered his ears and glared. “That was not something I needed to hear from my baby sister.” His frown intensified. “And I assumed no room in this building would be safe from security cameras.”
“This one is. So is Frank’s office.”
“What about Beau and Mat?”
“They have the same random surveillance as everyone else. Favoritism would only cause problems down the road.”
Myk agreed. “Mr. Smith knew about my request to Lana to give up her extracurricular teaching for the time being. How do you think he found out?”
“There’s only one way he could have, unless Lana told him.”
Lana shook her head, still looking a little embarrassed, but not ready to hide in a closet. “He called me about it. Last night.”
Elle’s brow furrowed. “Before Frank had even told Mr. Smith of your arrival.” His sister went over to her computer and logged in with her thumbprint. “Frank didn’t inform Mr. Smith about the threat against Lana’s enzymes until today. Just now to be precise. He’s telling Mr. Smith about Beau’s extended leave of absence as well.”
Myk didn’t envy the older man. “That ought to be a fun conversation.”
“With Mr. Smith, I have a feeling they always are.”
Elle clicked her mouse and looked up from the computer. “The audio features of the security system are randomized, but Mr. Smith can access all logs.”
“So, he overheard our conversation yesterday?”
“It’s possible, but not probable.” She clicked her mouse several times and then looked up again. “The audio function was not on in Lana’s lab or growing rooms during the time you were there. Clearly he knew you were assigned to the case and correctly surmised the measures you would insist on taking to protect Lana from the cartel.”
“Which means he learned about it elsewhere.” Myk figured he knew just where, too, or rather who. “Whit, that bastard.”
Elle sighed. “He’s not a bastard, Myk. The Old Man and Mr. Smith have some kind of past.”
“He could have warned me he was going to tell Smith about the case.”
“I’ve given up trying to second-guess The Old Man on his intentions or motivations.”
“It’s a damn good thing
he’s not running the Vega Cartel.”
Elle’s silence acknowledged her agreement.
Chapter 9
Myk found Lana in her lab later that day. She’d made an excuse to leave Elle’s office earlier within a couple of minutes of his sister’s interruption of their third explosive kiss. Lana was currently immersed in her slides. She muttered to herself every few seconds and took notes on her electronic tablet without looking up from her microscope. Just like yesterday.
Unlike yesterday, however, her mutterings were not about her work. They were about him. Or at least he assumed the too sexy for his own good, or hers, arrogant twit was probably himself. Myk sure hoped Lana wasn’t thinking sexy thoughts about anyone else right now.
He might have to kill someone.
“She gets like that sometimes.”
Myk didn’t turn to face Lana’s assistant, but he acknowledged Casey with a wave of his hand while he continued to watch the beautiful scientist at work. “A lot of the time, if the past two days are anything to go by.”
“That’s true.” Casey sighed. “I get like that sometimes, too.”
Myk finally turned to look at the younger man. “And that bothers you?”
“Lana never dates. She doesn’t have a life outside of ETRD.” The redhead’s expression was bleak. “I want one.”
“She belly dances.”
“If she was a lesbian, that might be heartening, but she spends all her off hours with other women.”
“You don’t want to be lonely.”
“I’m already lonely. I try not to be. I’ve got good friends. Well, okay, I’ve got Lana and some of the lab techs here. But I want a special someone. Somebody who cares if I work late in the lab, or if I’m sick, or you know…anything.”
“You said your family was proud of you.”
“My parents. And they’re gone. The people here are like a family, but Frank doesn’t call to see if I’m feeling up to mowing the lawn on Saturdays.”
“Do you have a lawn?”
“No, but I want one. I want to live a normal life.”
Myk found himself feeling compassion for the young genius. “Even if you have a not-so-normal IQ.”
