by Mandy Harbin
So he’d scoped out her house, watched her talk to her neighbor and her neighbor’s kid. The boys seemed to have hit it off because they stayed over at the Willis’ house all afternoon, and then the Willis boy stayed the night with Scott.
Brody strapped on his leathers before getting on his Harley and revving the engine, thinking that he was happy Xan’s boy had found a new friend. He wished he knew how hard it was making friends at that age, but seeing as how he didn’t remember his youth, he could only guess. But it seemed pretty hard at that age. Hell, it was tough making friends as an adult.
He knew he had a tough time trusting the guys at work and eventually befriending them. Roc, Blade and Bear were already there when he came on. He hit it off with Bear and Blade right away. Bear was Colonel’s unspoken second-in-command, so he was like another boss. But Blade became his brother from another mother. They were tight. Sure Blade liked to get under his skin and pull stupid-ass pranks, but his carefree personality seemed to counter Brody’s don’t-fuck-with-me attitude.
Roc, on the other hand… Brody shook his head as he backed his bike out of his driveway and headed down the main drag to the shop. Roc was a mean son of a bitch. No ifs, ands or buts about it. It took Brody years to get comfortable enough around him without always being on alert, ready to kick his ass. Roc was vocal about everything. If he didn’t like something, he’d make sure everybody knew. Brody had never seen him snap at an innocent person before, but Lord help the perps they’d taken in. Some of them got a beating beyond necessary at the hands of Roc. He was a hard-ass and made no apologies about it.
Gage and Hunter came along after Brody. Hunter had been from around here and moved back after something went down in another city. He didn’t talk about it much, and Brody never pushed for answers. Gage also had a haunted look about him, but he was still the newbie, and Brody didn’t trust him fully. It took time to earn his trust. Granted, Gage hadn’t done anything to make Brody question him—he lived by the book, doing whatever he was told and never complaining, but it was to the point it seemed almost too practiced—he just hadn’t earned his keep yet. Both of those guys had secrets they didn’t share, and Brody respected their privacy. He had his own secrets.
What little Colonel had found out about Brody’s life made him appreciate the need to keep his past in the past. He didn’t want to go shouting from the rooftops that he’d been a hired killer.
Brody parked his bike and strode into the shop. He stripped off his leathers as soon as he could. In cooler months, he’d leave them on longer. In the middle of summer, he hated wearing them. He was already sweating, and the air conditioning was shoddy in this building. He entered their meeting room, seeing that everyone else had already made it in.
“It’s about damn time you got here,” Colonel growled.
Brody grunted as he took his seat. He was here with two minutes to spare. It wasn’t as if he needed brownie points for showing up early. Colonel narrowed his eyes, glaring at him briefly before turning to the rest of the guys.
“Let’s get started so we can open the shop. We have a new assignment, which I’ve tapped Brutus for. He’s to get close to Xan Bradley and know every move she makes.”
“You never said to get close to her,” Brody growled. “You said to stay on her. I can tell you everything she did this weekend without once having talked to her.”
“That might work for now, Brutus, but eventually you’ll have to get friendly with her. The FBI wants her watched, so you know the score. I’m not pissing off our client because you’re too pigheaded. She’s a private person, so the only way you’d be able to do your job is to get close. I’m not saying you have to marry the bitch, just be her friend.”
Brody felt his hair standing on his neck at Colonel calling Xan a bitch. He knew nothing was meant by it, that Colonel generally respected women. But now Xan wasn’t a woman to Colonel. She was a mark. Brody tamped down the urge to forcibly remind his boss just how womanly the little minx was.
That’d get him nowhere in the argument he was trying to present. He didn’t need to be around her any more than he absolutely had to. He’d spent his days following her, his nights dreaming about her. Her vanilla and womanly scent enveloped him to the point of madness. He couldn’t get that scent out of his system. Everything he smelled, tasted, was her. He’d made his dick raw masturbating so much this weekend, envisioning her in every sexual position imaginable, and he still wasn’t sated. No, there was no way he’d be getting close to that woman. His sanity and his cock couldn’t take it.
“So what’s the deal with that little doll, anyway?” Blade asked.
Colonel straightened, his all-business mask forming on his weathered face. “Xan Bradley, AKA Alexandria Collins, is the ex-wife of Marco Collins, second-in-command in the Collins crime family.” At the blank stares everyone gave him, he continued. “Also known as the Colleoni family before migrating here from Italy.”
Fuck. Everyone had heard about that international mafia. They were a ruthless bunch who had their hands in everything from drugs and money laundering to human trafficking and arms deals.
“The feds’ve had a jones for taking down that family for years and had at least one agent working deep undercover within the organization, if not more, when evidence gathered had disappeared, which just so happened to be around the time Marco had tried to kill his wife. He was brought up on attempted murder charges. They knew it was probably their only shot to stick it to him, so they went at him with everything they’d had, showing the attempt on her life was premeditated, and she’s been under federal protection ever since. And now Marco Collins has a parole hearing next week. He gets out, he’ll kill her. He doesn’t get out, he’ll still want her dead.”
Colonel sighed, rubbing his head. “We’ll all do our part in keeping an eye on her, but she avoids men like we’re all the devil’s sons. When she’s around a group of men, she clams up and is even harder to penetrate, so it’d make our job easier if only one of us gets close to her, which is where Brutus comes in. We watch her until we get orders otherwise. I’m sure the feds will swoop in and take her if the shit hits the fan. Right now, we’re just eyes.”
Brody’s head was swimming. He didn’t want anything happening to her. The thought of some sicko trying to kill her had his blood boiling, fists clenching. This was worse than he’d imagined. He knew he had to avoid actually getting close to Xan, but he didn’t want anything happening to her. If the feds had them watching her, then Marco’s men could be on to her, and she was in deep shit if that were the case. If he stayed close enough to watch over her but far enough like he’d done this weekend, then he could jump in if she needed help.
He recounted her activities over the weekend, which didn’t amount to much, and Colonel dismissed everyone. Before his boss left the room, Brody grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.
“Listen, boss. I’ll shadow her, stay on her tail, but I can’t get to know her. It’s best if I stay hidden in the background.” He didn’t want to tell him that he recognized her from his past. He knew the circumstances behind his accident were shady. Evidence showed it was more likely he’d been beaten with a baseball bat and left for dead, rather than some car accident. Besides the fact there was no car, the markings on his body showed a violent attack. Until he could place why he knew her, he needed to keep that little tidbit to himself.
”I don’t want you to stay hidden, but I don’t expect you to do this all by yourself either. I know you can’t watch her 24/7, so when you’re not with her, one of us will always be tailing her. Maybe even when you are with her too. But this is your gig, man. You’re point on this assignment so don’t fuck it up. I don’t know what your problem is but you’d better get your shit together.”
“Colonel—”
“Fuck, Brutus. You never complained about orders before, and I’m getting damn tired of hearing you do it now. You don’t have a fucking choice.”
Colonel stalked out of the room and Brody growled unde
r his breath. Oh, he had a choice, all right.
He’d just follow her like he’d been doing, and let the chips fall where they may.
Because no matter how attracted he was to her, he’d be damned if he inserted himself into her life when she had enough problems already.
* * * * *
Xan didn’t have any trouble finding Dr. Peters’ clinic this morning after seeing Scott off to school. She hadn’t even needed Roxie’s directions. With a town this size everything was a stone’s throw away, according to Roxie, and she’d been right.
What Roxie failed to prepare her for was the extent of the nosy people around here. Oh, small towns had their appeal, but everyone seemed to know about everybody else. And being the new girl, every patient she’d encountered wanted to know her story. She figured she should’ve guessed this would’ve happened. After all, Roxie didn’t seem to mind gossiping about the locals.
Of course when Xan had asked her about Brody, Roxie wasn’t much help. All she knew was that he’d moved here about ten years ago and, with the exception of taking an occasional woman to bed, and never the same one twice, he kept to himself. Xan figured he hadn’t grown up around here—he had a country accent, but it was mixed with something else and definitely lacked that twang she’d heard in the locals. But she didn’t really care for the one-night-stand tidbit she’d learned.
She guessed since he was single it was his right to get a piece of ass wherever he could, but it still irked her for some reason she couldn’t identify. She didn’t like the fact she was attracted to him. He was too big for her comfort level, and now it seemed he was too impersonal to allow himself to get involved in a relationship. Big with commitment issues. Yeah, she didn’t need a man like that. Hell, she didn’t need a man at all. She’d been doing just fine without one for the last twelve years.
But even as she tried to be logical, her body was rejecting the idea. Her brain was even betraying her with thoughts like if he had commitment issues then he wouldn’t hover around if she were to fuck him. I could get laid, and he wouldn’t call the next day. That idea held both appeal and irritation for her. It was a moot point anyway. She wasn’t going to act on her attraction.
She sighed as she gathered the charts from the busy morning and prepped the ones for this afternoon. Being in a small town, she wouldn’t have thought Dr. Peters would be as busy as he was, but since he was the only doctor within twenty miles, he had a little racket going on. She chuckled as she finished prepping the charts, but before she could file the ones from this morning, her phone buzzed.
“Hello?” she answered right away, not wanting to get in trouble for taking a personal call on the clock. It was her first day and all.
“Xan, hi, it’s me, Agent Jack Parsons.”
“Oh hi, Agent Parsons.”
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jack?” He laughed affectionately. “Did you get settled?”
“Sure did. Thanks. I’m at work now, so I can’t talk long.”
“Then I’ll get right to it. I just wanted to let you know you’re being watched. I can’t tell you any of the specifics, but you’ve already encountered our backup. You still need to watch your back, but we had to take preventative measures.” He sighed and Xan’s stomach dropped. Jack Parson sighing was never a good thing. “Marco’s up for parole next week.”
“What?” Oh God, this wasn’t happening.
“Listen, Xan, I don’t want you worrying about this. We knew this was coming. I just wanted to let you know we’re already taking precautions for the worst-case scenario.”
“And that being my ex-husband gets out of prison, hunts me down and kills me in my sleep?” she asked sarcastically.
“Xan, we are not going to let that happen. You have to stay vigilant, be wary of your surroundings, but don’t put your life on hold.”
She took a deep breath. She knew he was right, but it was really hard to think logically right now. Her palms started sweating and her head was pounding. “Okay. Keep me posted,” she croaked.
“Xan,” he murmured. “You’ll be fine. I’ll call you next week to let you know how it goes. In the meantime, call me if you need anything. We’ve got you covered. Trust us, kiddo. We know what we’re doing.”
Trust them? She didn’t have a choice. She quickly ended the call and shoved the files on the shelf before walking into the hall to call the next patient, trying not to freak out, and not doing a very good job. Ten years went by way too fast for her liking. She wanted to cry, to scream, and she didn’t know how to get her emotions under control long enough to get by the rest of the afternoon.
But walking into the lobby jolted her thoughts.
Her lungs locked, seeing Brody sitting in the waiting room with a bloody towel wrapped around his hand. She should be grateful for the needed distraction, but instead she felt a sense of panic. She looked at the chart and numbly called out Ms. Roger’s name, never taking her eyes off him. He was hurt, and she wanted to run right to him and see if he was okay.
She quickly got Ms. Rogers in room 4, taking her vitals and noting the reason for her visit, before rushing back out into the lobby.
“What happened?” she asked before she even reached him.
He stood slowly, towering over her, but she was too concerned with his well-being to feel uncomfortable with his size. “Sliced my hand working on your car.”
“Oh shit. How bad?” She gingerly took his hand and unwrapped the towel. “Does Dr. Peters know you’re here?”
“Yeah, Colonel called him as I got into his car. Couldn’t take my bike like this.”
She winced when she saw the cut. “You need stiches. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
She rushed into Dr. Peters’ office as he was finishing up recording his notes on his last patient for the transcriptionist. “Ms. Rogers is in room 4 and Bro—er, Brutus from Sheppard’s Garage is here.”
“Ah, put him in room 3. I’ll check him out first.”
Xan walked back to the lobby to gather Brody and escort him to the exam room. He followed closely behind, his body heat radiating off him in waves that crashed over her back. She tried to ignore the electrical sparks tingling up her spine, but she wasn’t doing a very good job. She felt weak in the knees, hoping she didn’t fall on her face right here in front of him. How long was this hall, anyway? It didn’t seem this long this morning.
“Here we are. Take a seat and the doctor—”
“Is right here,” Dr. Peters said as he stepped around her and into the room. “Let’s have a look.”
Dr. Peters unwrapped the blood-soaked cloth and grabbed some cotton swabs to wipe away the excess. “You need some stitches.” He looked at her. “Do you feel comfortable taking care of him, Xan?”
“Yes sir.”
He smiled and nodded in approval. “She’ll stitch you right up, Brutus. I’ll leave you a prescription for some pain meds. Keep an eye on it. If it swells or smells, give me a call.”
“You got it.”
God, that voice. So deep and sexy, just like the rest of him. Get your shit together, she chastised herself. Good grief, the man was bleeding and in pain, and all she could think about was how sexy he was now that she knew it was just a cut. She quickly grabbed the rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs. She didn’t look at the doctor as he left the room or at Brody as she started to work. She had to stay focused. If she thought about the male musk seeping out of his pores, she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from licking his skin. Yeah, that’d be professional. She needed psychological help. She just had to keep her mind on her job and get him out of this office.
And she was doing a good job of staying in the zone until she heard him wince. Her head jerked up and she saw a hint of a blush tinge his cheeks. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a grown man blush, and she had to admit, it was a little adorable on him.
“I haven’t even started,” she said playfully.
He grunted and looked away and she felt bad for he
r remark. This was her job. She needed to remain aloof.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you. I have to get it nice and clean before I begin. The shot will numb it up before I start, though.”
He nodded, looking at her through his lashes, and her heart raced. Why did she have to be attracted to him? She gave him his shot, set about administering the stitches. Standing this close, she could feel his breath hitting the crook of her neck. She shuddered and saw her hands shaking. She did not need to botch this up. Besides the fact she needed this job, she didn’t want to screw up his hand. She renewed her focus and got busy, blocking out the feel of his skin beneath her fingers, the way his knee bushed her outer thigh.
He cleared his throat. “How, er, do you like livin’ here so far?”
She glanced up at him and smiled. “No complaints. How long do you think it’ll take you to finish my car?”
He laughed and she smiled brighter. She got the feeling not too many people heard that out of him. “Not sure, but I’ll let you know as soon as we have an estimate.”
She finished her work on his hand and bandaged it before taking off her rubber gloves and discarding them. “Sounds good. And you’re good to go. Pick up your prescription at the front and call the doctor if you see any signs of infection like he said.”
She tried to step back so he wouldn’t brush up against her when he stood, but she stumbled in her attempt. She would’ve been embarrassed if given the opportunity, but he reacted too quickly. He grabbed her with his good arm and yanked her up against him to keep her from falling. With him still sitting, they were at eye level.
Her breath picked up as she watched his pupils bleed into his irises, turning his blue eyes black. He’d had the same reaction the first time she saw him, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Her experience with men was lacking, to say the least, but if she were a betting woman, she’d think that the attraction was mutual.
Just that thought made her lose all sense of self-preservation and self-control. She stepped close, and his hand flexed on her arm. She didn’t know what to do, her inexperience confusing her, but she knew this level of contact wasn’t enough. She had to do something, touch him, or—
