The man ignored her.
“Igor.”
“It’s Ivan.”
“Like I said, Igor, get lost. I can do this on my own.”
They’d done this song and dance before. In fact, today was the fourteenth day, and the man kept coming back for more.
He was a glutton for punishment, or he really loved his job. One way or the other, she was going to win in the end.
She was a Fed.
She didn’t need this. It was a waste of taxpayers’ money—especially since Callen didn’t have to deal with it.
It didn’t feel fair, and she didn’t roll like that. What was good for her was good for them.
“Your husband told me to drive you in. I answer to him, not you, Director Blackhawk. If you have an issue, take it up with him.”
Blah.
Blah.
Blah.
She gave up.
For now…
“Are you following me if I go out on a case too?” she asked, heading to the door he was holding open.
“God, I hope not. What did I do to deserve that torture?”
She snorted and gave him a fist bump. “Har har, Igor. You do have a funny bone.”
“You don’t say?”
Maybe she could tolerate him after all.
With that, she got in, buckled up, and waited for her babysitter to get her to work.
Life had changed drastically, and more or less, she was okay with that. As they drove down the long driveway, she stared in the mirror.
This new beginning was going to work out just fine.
She could feel it in her gut.
Now, if she could get the men in her life to take a chill pill, they might all grow old and get to enjoy it.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Quantico Gym
Callen took it easy on the man.
It was day one, and he didn’t want to discourage him from learning how to protect himself. He knew how important that was when it came to being a man.
While Chris Leonard wanted him to show him the ropes, he didn’t think the man wanted to be sore for a week. After all, fighting took a toll on the body.
They began with boxing, and Chris was fairly good at that. He had some experience with protecting himself.
Callen was impressed.
When he asked him about it, Chris admitted it was all Elizabeth’s handiwork years ago. Chris told him about his newbie days and how Elizabeth made him go to the gym to teach him the basics.
Well, that was helpful.
Still, thirty minutes into the session, and Chris was favoring his bum leg. Standing on it was one thing, but bouncing around the ring and dodging punches was another thing all together.
“Are you taking it easy on me?” Chris asked, spitting out his mouth guard.
“Yes,” Callen answered.
“Hit me with your best shot.”
“Chris…”
“I mean it.”
“I’m not going to hit you with all I’ve got, Chris. It’s not going to happen.”
“Chicken.” Chris proceeded to make clucking sounds.
Callen laughed. “That’s not going to piss me off. Have you seen my bedmates? They’re hardcore. If anything, you look silly clucking. You’re a grown man. Have some dignity.”
Oh, he could make him.
Chris grinned. “I’ve made out with Elizabeth. I had my tongue in her mouth.”
He popped the mouth guard back in just as Callen began growling.
Then, it happened.
The punches came. They were fast, furious, and to his torso. Chris fought them off, trying to keep up. When the last one took him to his back, he started laughing.
“You’re insane,” Callen stated, staring down at him.
Chris spit out his mouth guard. “Yeah, but I survived what you threw at me. I told you I won’t break, Callen. All I want is to be treated like none of this happened. I want to forget.”
The man had a point.
Helping Chris to his feet, he patted him on the back. “For the record, don’t try that with Ethan or let Elizabeth hear you saying that. It’ll get you killed. I’m the calm one.”
Chris was still out of breath. “Gotcha. So, how did I do?” he asked, as they headed toward the locker room.
“Well…”
“Be honest.”
“You have a long road ahead of you, Chris. Maybe this is a horrible idea.”
“What will it take to get you to teach me?” he asked. “Tickets to a football game? My kidney? What?”
Callen was above bribes, but he saw his opportunity. “I’ll teach you but it’s going to cost you.”
“Name your price.”
“You spend time with Doctor Gaines.”
Chris stared at him. “No.”
“Then no deal. I’ll see you later,” he said, grabbing his things as he headed toward the shower.
It was one hell of a bluff. Callen would still help him, but someone had to get him to therapy.
At this point, anyone would do.
“Callen! Wait!”
He turned.
“Why is that so damn important that you three won’t let up?” he asked, feeling frustrated. “Why does it matter if I see the doctor?”
Callen didn’t have to think about.
He wasn’t completely doing this for Chris Leonard. Mostly, he was doing it for his woman. Elizabeth wanted him to heal.
He wanted her happy.
It was a circle, and it all ended at the same place—him getting help.
“Because you matter, Chris. We love you, and we know what it’s like. You’re trying to hold this back on your own, and you don’t have to do that. Stop being stubborn and do it. Learn from our mistakes. We didn’t go right to therapy, and when we did, we fought it. If you want to heal, go.”
He didn’t reply.
“Well? Do we have a deal?”
Chris knew he didn’t have a choice. “Yeah, you have a deal.”
“If you break your promise, Chris, I’m sending the big guns after you,” Callen warned.
“Ethan wouldn’t kick my ass.”
Callen laughed. “Yeah, I know, but Elizabeth would.”
With that, he headed into the shower.
He was going to find his partner, plan their day, and grab some coffee.
Let Chris Leonard stew over this on his own. He was a smart man.
He’d figure it out.
You could only lead the horse to water.
You couldn’t make him drink.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Elizabeth tried to get Ivan to drop her off around the block, since having him escort her into the building was a ding to her street cred. Who would take her seriously with some gorilla in a suit following her around?
It was an insult.
Plus, to make it worse, he was crowding her. She knew he was doing it to piss her off. When someone approached, he acted like they had bombs strapped to their chest.
It was above and beyond protection and right into lunacy. Someone was going to get hurt over this…or divorced.
She prided herself on being able to take care of herself, and she really needed to stop the insanity. There was still some time before her meeting with Gabe, and she hoped Ethan was in his office.
If he was, she was going to skin that sexy hide of his.
Enough was enough.
“I don’t need an escort through the building,” she muttered, once they were in the elevator. Ivan stood behind her, arms crossed, and no smile on his face.
“I know, ma’am.”
“Then why are you doing it?” she asked.
“It makes you insane. It’s a perk. You act like a bitch, and I get to make you snarl. You can’t stop it, and that’s my reward.”
“I hate you.”
She glared at him.
“I bet. Check mate.”
“You don’t know me very well. This is far f
rom over. I’ll see you in hell, Igor.”
He started rattling everything off that he did know. “You’re a lefty and a righty, you have a mean right hook, and you aim for the nose. You’ve booted men in the balls before, and you like to shoot people. I think that’s all I need to know. I’m wearing two cups, just in case.”
She shook her head.
There was no way in hell she was going to laugh. It was absurd, and she wanted to strangle a Native American because of it.
When the door opened, she headed into the foyer that led to her husband’s office. Outside the door sat a familiar face.
“Ginny, is he in there?” she asked.
“Yes, Mrs. B, but he’s on a call with the replacement director of the Vegas office. He asked not to be disturbed.”
Great.
She was plenty disturbed by his assignment of the shifty goon who wouldn’t leave her alone.
It was time to share the joy.
“I asked not to be saddled with ‘Igor the terrible’,” she stated, “but he didn’t give a shit. So, he’s going to have to deal with me, and I’m irate.”
“In this case, ma’am, Ivan, I think, would work better,” he stated, still not grinning. “You know, ‘Ivan the Terrible’?”
Elizabeth stared at him.
The fact that he had a point, and that she had to think about it pissed her off even more. This was how off her game she was because of him. “Zip it, or I’m lighting those cups on fire, and jock itch will be the least of your problems.”
Ginny snorted. She loved her job.
He opened his mouth.
“I said zip it!”
“It’s zipped, ma’am.”
“I meant your fly.”
He looked down.
She started laughing when he double-checked. It gave her a little satisfaction. Plus, while he was busy, she had time to get inside the office.
Elizabeth stormed the fortress, much to Ginny’s dismay.
As she opened the door, her sexy husband was sitting behind his desk. His hair was down, his sleeves were rolled up, and he had a pencil tucked behind his ear.
Her heart skipped in her chest.
Here was love in its deepest and purest form. Because she loved him so much, she’d forgive his egregious act of saddling her with some thug in a suit.
The sound of his voice sent shivers across her skin. She was head over heels in love with him, even if he was an overprotective freak.
He stared right at her.
“Yes, Director, I understand that you have your hands full with Greyson Croft. There’s nothing I can do about it. He’s no longer the FBI’s issue. May I suggest that if he’s a thorn in your side, you contact him, have coffee, and come to a working agreement? We all have people who make us work for it. Get used to it.”
She crossed her arms.
Oh, he better not be talking about her. She’d kick that sexy ass across the room.
Ethan watched his wife as the man on the phone continued on with his whining. She was in a skirt and red silk shirt. She looked beautiful. Perched across her nose were her glasses. She wore them all the time now, and he believed it was to make the men in her life insane.
It was working.
He wanted to chew on her lower lip.
“Handle it. That’s your job, not ours. He’s one man. How much hell could he possibly be raising there? Tame Greyson Croft, or you can find yourself another job!”
With that, Ethan hung up.
Immediately, she had his full attention. It wasn’t like Elizabeth to storm into his office unless there was an issue. He already knew what was happening. Ivan had texted him on the way into the office.
“Baby, to what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked standing to greet her.
She moved toward him, and immediately, he opened his arms. As she moved into them, instead of a hug, she sucker punched him in the gut.
He doubled over in pain.
“Jesus! What was that for? Did you wake up on the wrong side of an Indian?”
Oh, he thought he was cute.
He wasn’t.
“One word, Ethan. IVAN.”
He rubbed his stomach before he started to laugh. “Couldn’t you have just punched him instead of me?”
She stared at him.
“On second thought…”
That was an HR issue.
“I don’t want a tail. It’s irritating. You’re killing my credibility. No one sees me as Director Elizabeth Blackhawk. They see me as your wife, and that’s making my job ten times harder. I’m an investigator—not your pretty arm candy.”
He got it.
He really did.
Only there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was now Deputy Director, and his family got protection duty.
“Lyzee.”
“I rarely say this, but I’m going to throw this out there. He goes, or our sex life suffers.”
He stared at her.
Did she just…?
“You wouldn’t do that. I know you.”
“Do you, Ethan? Do you really? I get aggravated first thing in the morning by this goon. He’s a pain in my ass, and already, half this building is calling foul because I get preferential treatment. They pick me up at the damn door! It’s a secure parking lot. Who the hell is going to grab me other than you or Callen?”
She had a point.
“I shoot first and ask questions later, and as of late, I’ve wanted to shoot him in the ass. If you want paperwork, keep him following me. If you want to be jerking off all alone in the spare bedroom, have him pick me up in the morning. See if I’m yanking your chain on this one.”
He got it.
She wasn’t happy.
Elizabeth swallowed a lot when balancing their life, he could cut her a break.
Ethan headed toward the door. “Ivan, anymore, she can drive herself into the office. I want you to follow, but be inconspicuous. Can we do that?”
“And not have to face the raging female Blackhawk beast? Hell, yeah, I can.”
She pointed at him. “I swear I’ll…”
Ethan closed the door. “Don’t end up in HR.”
She stared at him.
“Now, can I have a kiss, or do you want to hit me again?” he asked, grinning wickedly.
She moved toward him, and once in his arms, she rubbed against him. “I missed you this morning, Ethan. I don’t like waking alone.”
“Where was Callen?” he asked, running his lips across her ear.
“No clue. Why doesn’t he have protection detail?” she asked, moving her mouth over his slowly.
“He doesn’t need it.”
He got punched again.
“Jesus, baby, come on! I need my spleen!”
“So you put some ape on me because I’m a woman, but your brother, who’s been abducted, shot, and nearly killed, gets no one? What the hell, Ethan?”
He rubbed his abs.
A part of him wished he’d stayed in bed that morning, and then they could have avoided the whole conversation when his security detail brought them in.
“Had you not been alone, you would have gone in with Callen. They obviously saw him heading in, and you were not to be left alone.”
He took a step back—just in case slugger took another shot. Elizabeth wasn’t pulling her punches, and that said it all.
“I’m going to my meeting. I’m pissed, Ethan.”
“What meeting do you have?” he asked, glancing at his watch. “I thought you were cleared all morning, only one with your staff.”
She stared at him.
“Don’t make me find your itinerary.”
She still said nothing.
“Lyzee, come on!”
“Irritating when you want something but you can’t have it, isn’t it?”
He laughed. “Point made. I’ll handle the security detail for the time being. Okay?”
At least he was trying to work with her.
“Gabe needs to see me. I got
the text this morning. I think I’m going out in the field.”
“Why wasn’t I alerted?”
She laughed. “Uh, because you’re not my boss, he is. I don’t answer to you, Ethan. You know he put me under him to avoid people talking.”
Yeah, it didn’t work.
They still talked.
He didn’t like that at all.
Ethan buzzed Ginny. “Reschedule my morning meeting. I have to accompany my wife to see Gabriel.”
Oh, hell no!
He was not joining her. It was like bringing your daddy on your first date.
That was bound to be a shitfest.
“Don’t do it, Ginny. His ‘WIFE’ doesn’t need a babysitter. He’s the Deputy Director. He has better things to do than follow me around. In fact, there are terrorists to catch.”
“That’s homeland and CIA.”
She glared at him.
“You know what I mean.”
“Director?” Ginny asked.
“I said…”
She hung up the call.
“Elizabeth.”
She pointed at him. “No. You will not do this. I didn’t come back here to be a prisoner to your job title. I came back here to do what I do best. You’re impeding my ability to do it. I’m so mad at you, Ethan. This has to stop.”
“Or?” he asked, rolling his neck. “Will you threaten to withhold sex again?”
She didn’t even argue.
Elizabeth simply walked away, slamming his door behind her. Ginny jumped.
The agents waiting jumped.
They all saw Elizabeth storm away.
When the door opened, Ethan stood there, and he didn’t look happy.
“Who’s next?” he said, glancing at his watch.
They all pointed at each other. No one wanted to go in there now. That would be suicide.
“Fine. Let’s go. I have a meeting to get to.”
With that, he went back to work.
Whether his wife liked it or not.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Gabe Rothschild’s
Office
When she finally arrived at her meeting, she was stirred up. The second Gabe saw her, he didn’t even have to say a word. He poured her a cup of coffee and gave her a second to calm the hell down.
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 5
