by AJ Nuest
Which was stupid, really. From the second he’d warned her their conversation needed to stay private, she’d known he hadn’t shown up to tell her a bedtime story filled with sunshine and lollipops.
But this?
Something life-altering was coming, and she already had enough trouble, she didn’t need to borrow any more.
She squeezed his fingers. “What is it?”
His chest expanded as he pulled a deep breath. “Eden contacted me late last night. Level Theta.”
Shit. Charlie tried to jerk her hands from his, but he held on, keeping them linked, then ran his thumbs over her knuckles as if he worried he’d gripped her too tight.
The strength leaked from her body, and she closed her eyes as his meaning shuffled home.
They’d lost someone. After all this time, they’d lost one of their own.
“Who?” Panic notched her throat in a chokehold, and she blinked, swallowing as the tightness increased. “How?”
“Malcolm was murdered two weeks ago. And so was Viv.”
What? Charlie yanked a second time, but it didn’t work. X-ray clutched her hands, the same bleak worry fixed in his gaze. As if any second she might crack into a billion tiny pieces and he wouldn’t know how to piece her back together again.
No. She couldn’t stand it. With his smarts and resources, he could’ve figured out a way to get her a message. For God’s sake, Eden knew where she lived. But he’d come anyway. So they could be together when he told her. So they could support each other just like they had during those difficult moments in the past.
Grief bled through her chest like spilled milk, and she lowered her chin, eyes squeezed tight as warm tears flooded her lashes. Yes, she’d cared for Malcolm, and even though it had been difficult, over the years, she’d grown to accept the reasons why he’d asked her to leave with complete understanding. And yes, there was also a time when she’d cared deeply for Viv. But this was about so much more than losing two people who’d once been a part of her life. This was memories and hurt and heartache all rolled into one. And the beautiful, heartbreaking realization that, beneath everything else, despite the years and distance, Xander had shown up on her doorstep because he wanted to be with her when she found out.
Even after a decade apart, he still thought of them as a team.
He curled his index finger under her chin and lifted, cupped her cheek in his palm and cleared her tears with a gentle sweep of his thumb. “I got ya, Chuck. I’m right here.”
Of course, he did. He always had. She grasped his shoulder, moved her hand to the back of his neck and combed her nails through his thick, short hair.
And she had him, too. The same as before. No matter what, the two of them watching out for each other was the one constant she’d always been able to rely on.
God, she was stupid. Another tear fell, and he caught it with his thumb. She’d missed him more than she’d ever let herself believe.
His breath warmed her cheek and a soggy laugh blurted past her lips. Peppermint. How was it that his breath always, always smelled like peppermint?
She easily leaned in as he guided her close, resting his forehead against hers. What a mess. What a horrible, tragic mess. She breathed in his cool, crisp scent and slowly exhaled.
Murdered. Malcolm and Viv had been murdered.
Wait… She wrenched back from him and searched Xander’s face, praying she wouldn’t see the confirmation of her worst fears.
Eden. She was one of the three.
Charlie sprang forward and grabbed his forearms. Son of a bitch, so was he! “X-ray, what happened? Are you in trouble? Is Eden? Just tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll do it.”
“No, whatever it was didn’t have anything to do with me.” He ran his fingertips across her brow, sweeping her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m not sure of the details yet, but when I talked to Eden, she said it had been taken care of. We didn’t need to worry.” A deep crease formed between his brows, and she shored up a little extra distance as her focus dropped to his mouth. Any closer to that candy cane temptation, and she was liable to do something stupid. “I also got the sneaking suspicion she’s romantically involved with someone. Like, seriously involved.”
Ha, ha, funny guy. A chuckle scuffed the back of Charlie’s throat but, based on the way he snapped his gaze to hers, he wasn’t kidding. “Oh, come on. Really?”
“I know, right?” He tipped to the side and her hands fell to her lap as he reached into his back pocket, unfolded a set of airline tickets and slapped them to the coffee table. “I’ve booked two seats on a flight to Chicago early Monday morning. The funeral’s at eleven. I’m hoping you’ll come with me.”
Oh. She stared at the tickets, then angled her chin to get a better read of the top boarding pass. Dang, he’d sprung for first class seats? That was a nice kicker. Zero pressure there.
Sliding a sidelong glance in his direction, she lifted her mug and sank back against the cushions. God, she would totally go if she could. At one time, Viv and Eden had been like sisters. She would probably love the support. And seeing her again, spending time with Eden would be wonderful after so many years apart.
A wry smirk twisted Charlie’s lips. Not to mention, a few days away sounded like the perfect thing given the unwanted attention hanging outside her door.
But…Ellis.
Cradling the mug in her hands, she blew the steam off the top and sipped. Dammit, she couldn’t leave him. At least, not right now. Most definitely, not until she got to the hospital, delivered the money she’d collected so far and made sure he got his medication.
Four doses of LZR-7 in exchange for twenty-eight hundred. She drummed her nails along the side of her cup. If the drug worked its magic on him like it usually did for kids suffering from childhood leukemia, that would be a good start to getting him out of the woods. She chewed the inside of her cheek. And would last him four days.
She nodded toward the coffee table. “When’s the return flight on those tickets, money bags?”
“They’re open-ended.” Xander cocked a brow. “I thought I’d let you decide how long we stay.”
Good save. And what was up with the we? God.
Narrowing her eyes, she considered Ryan’s laptop, safely hidden in the false bottom of her bathroom vanity. If there was a way she could hock it before leaving that would be the ideal scenario. Or if she did decide to go, there was always the option of bringing it along with her.
During her years in Chicago, she’d known every high-end fence in the greater metropolitan area, and ditching that albatross four states away definitely came with a silver lining.
No connection to her. No way to trace where it had gone missing. She could put out some feelers after the funeral and see if any of the old gang would be willing to make a deal.
“Careful, Chuck. Steam’s starting to hiss out of your ears.”
She wrinkled her nose and Xander chuckled.
Problem was, she couldn’t know for sure if leaving was even an option until she spoke with Ellis. If the drug didn’t work and he continued to slip, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Can I think about it?” Sitting forward, she returned her cup to the table. “There’s someone I need to check with first.”
“Oh.” Xander rasped his hand over his chin, index finger splitting off to stroke the stubble above his top lip. “Sure, of course. I never thought of that, but yeah. Definitely, you should check.”
Um, what was he blabbering about?
He snatched his water glass off the table, knee bouncing. A smile creased his cheeks, but it came off more like someone had jammed a fork in his thigh. “This someone have a name?”
What in the world? “His name’s Ellis. Mina’s brother? The young girl you met in the hall?”
“Right, right, and he’s in the hospital.” Xander nodded, heel rapping so hard and fast, she wondered how long the floorboards would last. “She sorta gave me the stink-eye when she saw the two of us together. Makes s
ense.”
Charlie screwed up her face in grimace. Well, bucky for him, because it sure as hell wasn’t making any sense to her. “The reason she gave you the stink-eye is because she’s home alone most days. A few boys who hang at the corner found out and last month they followed her home. Got a little grabby.” Charlie crossed her arms, then her legs. “Mina’s had a hard time trusting men ever since.”
“Sounds to me like someone needs to teach ʼem a lesson.” Xander faced the kitchen, and she followed his line of sight to see what could be so darn fascinating about her counter. “Makes me crazy you live in such a rough neighborhood, Chuck.”
Yes, but that wasn’t the point. And anyway, she’d already made it clear to those ghetto posers who ran her building. They wouldn’t be messing with Mina again. “What makes sense?”
“Huh?” He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye, a raised vein pulsing along the corded muscles in his neck.
“You said the way Mina gave you the stink-eye made sense. What were you talking about?”
“I guess I never considered you might be…” He waved a hand around to indicate her apartment. “I mean, I got the feeling you lived alone, so…” Collapsing in the chair, he closed his eyes, muttering something she couldn’t quite catch. “Not that I’m surprised you met someone.” He blinked and she nearly hitched her crossed arms higher. Geez, the ice in his stare was like an arctic blast to her nipples. “At all.”
Oh, good grief. The man was coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.
She sat forward and smacked her hand on his knee. “Stop that. You’re shaking the whole building.” Sure, she enjoyed the occasional booty call, but she was nowhere near girlfriend material. He knew that. Besides her obvious weight issue, no guy in their right mind would get involved with a full-time thief like her. And the ones who would made her look like Mother Theresa. “I appreciate the fact you think I could ever maintain a serious relationship, but Ellis is ten. He’s Mina’s younger brother, ya big dork.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” Dropping his head to the back of the chair, Xander stared at the ceiling. A second passed before he zeroed in on her past the bridge of his nose. “Sorry.” One of his shoulders worked a shrug. “Or not.”
Like it mattered? Blond sex gods who rode a lightning bolt down off of Mount Olympus never gave chubby girls like her the time of day. “The point is, I need to check on him before I can decide if I’m clear to go anywhere. I made Mina a promise.” She firmed her grip his knee. “I intend to keep it.”
“Yeah, about that.” An eight-pack of defined muscle flexed against the stretch of his thermal shirt as he jerked up from the chair. Lifting her wrist, he sandwiched her hand between the rough calluses riding his palms. “Is there any way I can convince you to wait until tomorrow morning? I’d like to stick close until we leave town, but I haven’t slept since I got Eden’s text.”
Charlie hesitated. Now that he mentioned it, the bags under his eyes did come off about the same size as that duffle he’d stashed in the corner. A knowing glint sparkled in his eyes, and she raised a brow. Too bad, a missed night’s sleep wasn’t what this was about.
Her focus fell to their hands and slab of awkwardness tipped over in her stomach, slamming so loud she wouldn’t have been surprised had the windows rattled in their frames.
Whatever bed gravity he might be fighting, Xander had seen that black SUV. If history was any indicator, he’d already figured out she was being targeted by someone, for something, and was none too happy about her odds.
And the hand holding?
“Think of it this way.” He flipped her palm up and she stared at the creases lining the center of her hand. “If you head over there and something…unexpected were to happen, where would Ellis be then?”
He was right. Annoying, but right. After that errand-filled game of cat and mouse, she’d be an idiot to ignore someone was closing in, and if she wanted to help Ellis, keeping a low profile had to be her number one priority.
But if she let Xander tag along… A slow sweep of his thumb over her heart line and her skin heated. Tingles trickled into her arm and her toes curled inside her boots.
God, that felt good.
She hauled back and gave herself a hard, mental slap. If she let Xander tag along, chances were good she’d get safely to the hospital and home again without incident.
Whoever was inside that black SUV, they’d seen him, knew he was here to visit her. And considering how they’d peeled out like their asses were on fire, they didn’t like the idea of him hanging around.
“I’ve always thought you have the nicest hands.” Xander dragged a rough fingertip down the center of her wrist, her palm, following the path to the tip of her middle finger. “Did you know that?”
Da-a-amn. She squirmed in her seat, fighting a shiver as her core throbbed.
Great. The sub-zero chill had melted from his gaze, but now her nipples were beading against her bra for a different reason.
He retraced that same slow caress and her lashes fluttered. She bit her bottom lip against a moan.
Dammit, what was he doing? Trying to distract her on purpose?
The thought gonged in her head, and her jaw dropped. Hell, yes, he was. The guy made a living out of getting people to do what he wanted. Was it so hard to believe he was good at his job?
She yanked her arm from his grip and he flinched as she biffed the top of his head. “Knock it off. You convinced me, okay? We can go first thing in the morning.”
Her knees danced a silly shimmy-shake as she shoved to her feet. Good Lord, she pitied any woman the man set his sights on. She’d nearly come unglued and the only part of her he’d toyed with was her hand. “Now, did you get a room or do you need someplace to crash?”
He grinned up at her—with both sides of his face, the ass—laced his fingers behind his head and propped his feet on the coffee table. “I’m not going anywhere, Chuck. Whenever you need me, I’ll be right here.”
Chapter 6
Charlie’s bedroom door swung open, and Xander glanced over the screen of his open laptop as a flash of white crossed the hallway for the bathroom. The knob clicked into the latch, a few seconds later, the toilet flushed and water splashed in the sink.
Good, she was up. Time to log on to her mainframe for some research and development.
He saved his search results—lame as it was—backed out of the open browsers and shut down his device. The chair legs scraped along the floor as he shoved away from the table and slipped his computer into the case.
Pain in the ass that it’d been, at least the 404 Error Loop he’d gotten stuck in had given him a fairly decent idea of what he didn’t know. A quick trip across her apartment to stash his laptop beside his duffle, and he ransacked his bag for a clean shirt.
If someone had asked him last night, he would’ve stated with a pretty high level of confidence the plates on that black SUV were government issue. But nothing had popped on the Federal system. Likewise, after a thorough comb-through of the records over at the NY DMV.
Which meant whoever had registered the vehicle, they’d buried the plate number deep enough it’d been deliberately hidden to protect their identity. He straightened and shook out the wrinkles from a heather-gray Henley. In his experience, that type of subversion took more than one or two influential connections. The kind of power that was generally reserved for either the extremely wealthy, or a covert branch of intelligence that specialized in remaining anonymous.
While finding the party responsible was going to take a little more digging than he was used to, this was Charlie. And when it came to her, he was up for any challenge, big or small.
In fact, once he saw her safely out of New York, maybe he’d even fire off an email to his contact at the Justice Department and call in a solid ya owe me. God knew, after bagging Loretta Swinehart, he was due.
Movement snagged his eye from the hallway, and Xander turned.
Simple as that, his world stopped spinning, and any semblance of logica
l thought disappeared quicker than if he’d held down backspace on his keyboard.
Well…shit. The past two hours, he’d done anything and everything he could think of to bottleneck the constant guessing game that had been streaming through his head. The pre-dawn hike to the corner bakery hadn’t helped. Standing in the shower and pretending not to fantasize about what Charlie might be wearing in bed had wasted more energy than if he’d decided to take up Conga dancing. Over and over while he’d made breakfast, his curiosity had simmered near the surface, until the dam had finally burst and all sorts of torturous visuals had hit him with the same intensity as being waterboarded.
But Christ Almighty. Nothing could’ve prepared him for this.
The fuzzy white robe she’d cinched around her waist was dotted with big, bright daisies, every color in the known spectrum. Hair piled in a messy heap on top of her head, she’d left a few strands loose to brush her shoulders, and the way they caught the muted light from the window made him want to cram his fingers through that heavy silk and pin her against the nearest flat surface. Grind against her and then tug open that belt so he could explore every inch of softness underneath with his tongue.
Wrapped in that downy fabric, she was familiar. Comforting and safe. And stoked his blood so hot the fires of hell were downgraded to the sizzle and pop of a kid’s 4th of July sparkler.
He made the slow trek back up to her lips, plump and juicy from sleep. Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to peel his eyes off of her. Not with her standing there as if he were some average Joe who’d just come home to find her waiting for him, tousled and warm after climbing out of bed.
“That’s right, I forgot.” She knuckled one of her eyes and his focus fell to the slouchy pink socks bunched around her ankles, the adorable way she twisted one foot to the side. “You’re a morning person, aren’t you?”
A yawn cracked her jaw, and he shook his head as she repeatedly blinked those heavy-lidded eyes that had always commanded his full attention. Made everything else in the room shrink and blur out of focus.
