Sex, Lies and Surveillance

by Stephanie Julian

  He listened to her breathe, deep and uneven, for several seconds before he opened his mouth.

  “Um, Janey? You okay?”

  She stiffened at his voice but nodded, her ever-present braid flipping back and forth, barely brushing the center of her back. “Yes. I’m fine.”

  Ooh-kay. “Can I give you a hand picking those up?”

  “I’m not sure I’m done.” And to prove her point, she spun and picked up a couple more notepads from her desk and flung them across the room. After a few seconds, she turned to face him, chin held high, eyes blazing like the blue of a child’s crayon.

  Oh Christ, she was beautiful when she was angry. Mal’s gut tightened into a hot ball and he dropped his gaze to the floor, swallowing hard.

  “Done now?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.” Her voice was cool. “That was childish. Normally, I don’t let him get to me.”

  “Bennett seems like a slime.”

  Her lips twisted with disgust. “Yeah, Bennett’s a jerk. I was talking about Nic.”

  His brows rose as he sought her gaze. “Nic? What’d Nic—”

  “Damn it, he knows I hate it when he treats me like a child.” She started to pace, hands on her hips, her mouth pursed in a scowl. “I can handle Bennett. I don’t need my big brother—” she flung an arm in the general vicinity of the door, “—to save me.”

  Well, shit. That was exactly what he’d been about to do. Mal couldn’t decide whether to be happy she wasn’t angry at him or pissed that she hadn’t considered that he would come to her rescue.

  So he took the easy way out. “Janey, I don’t think Nic treats you like a child.” He reached for her elbow as she paced by him. The move was a reflex to get her to stop, but the feel of her skin against his wiped everything else out of his mind.

  What would she do if he grabbed her and pulled her against his body? If he buried his nose in her neck so he could inhale the fragrance on her skin?

  Janey stopped, looked at his hand on her arm, then up into his eyes, head tilted to the side. Trying to get a read on him.

  He released her elbow and shrugged, trying to maintain his geek persona. “You shouldn’t have to put up with that crap from Bennett. I wanted to toss him too.”

  It took a few seconds but finally her lips curved upward.

  “You’re not my brother.”

  And the bottom fell out of his stomach.

  Oh, baby. The temperature in the room shot up about a hundred degrees. He definitely was not her brother. Blood began to pump through his veins, straight to his groin.

  Son, stand down. Or you’re gonna melt into a puddle at her feet and beg her to do you.

  At the moment, that was exactly what he wanted. With her gaze stroking like a physical caress against his skin, he wanted to press her body against the length of his, crush his lips to hers and—

  “What did I tell you about that guy?” With a deadly silent stalk, Nic raged back into the room and the spell was broken. Mal stepped back as Nic closed in. “He’s a snake. You are not supposed to be alone with him.”

  Janey’s gaze darkened to the color of a stormy sea as she turned toward her brother. “I’m not a child, Dominic.” Her words sounded sharp as jagged ice. “Where do you get off thinking I need a keeper?”

  Nic’s hand slashed through the air to cut her off. “You’re being unreasonable. I don’t want you to have to deal with that guy—”

  Janey slapped her hands together and Nic stopped midsentence, pulling back as if she’d slapped him. “If you don’t leave my office right now, I’m not going to transcribe any more of your notes.”

  Surprisingly, Nic said nothing, just stared at Janey. Though Mal couldn’t see Nic’s face, he could see Janey, her expression stony with determination.

  Brother and sister stared at each other for what had to be a full minute.

  Then Nic shrugged. And took his life in his hands. “Fine, we’ll talk about this later since you’re obviously in a mood, brat.”

  Janey’s mouth dropped open as Nic turned and headed out the door, winking at Mal on his way out.

  Mal was surprised when the desk chair didn’t fly out of the room, aimed at Nic’s head.

  Silence filled the room with an almost palpable presence. Mal knew enough about women to keep his mouth shut right now.

  She looked mad enough to explode. Her cheeks red, her eyes narrowed, her mouth… Damn, that mouth.

  Absolutely gorgeous.

  After a few seconds, she focused her gaze on him and he thought he might have to duck and cover. Then he watched her throttle back all that anger until no trace of it showed. She was damn good at it.

  When she finally spoke, her tone was even. “Sorry about the fireworks. I love my brother, but he’s a control-freak, pain-in-the-ass moron.”

  He shrugged, wanting her to keep talking. “Family’s like that. Can’t live with them. Can’t shoot them. Every now and then you can get away with maiming them a little, though.”

  She laughed, almost as if the sound was startled out of her, and his libido—and everything attached—jumped up to say, “Yes, yes, yes!”

  He smashed the hunger back down, but not before something of it must have shown in his expression, because she caught back her laughter with a hitch and stared at him. Hard.

  “Thanks for almost coming to my rescue, Mal.” Her tone was playful but full of husky undertones. As if she was coming on to him.

  He swallowed. “You’re welcome.”

  Son, you better get your ass back to your office before you fuck up and spill something you don’t want her to know.

  She moved closer, walked right up to him and looked into his eyes. He froze, unable to move. Waiting. Trying to remember how to breathe.

  Because every time he breathed in, his brain cut out. The light scent she wore wasn’t anything as simple as roses or lemon. No, it was some wicked combination of spice and floral. Something that made mouth water to taste her and his hands itch to wrap around her waist and bring flush against his body.

  And when she leaned close and pressed her lips against his cheek, he very nearly did exactly what he wanted.

  Her lips brushed against his skin for two seconds at the most. But for those two seconds, he fought the fiercest battle of his life. Trying not to show how much she affected him. How much he wanted her.

  She drew back slowly, an odd hitch in her breathing. As if she’d been just as affected by his nearness as he was by hers. Her gaze didn’t meet his right away. Instead, it focused on his neck. On the pulse that throbbed with desire for her.

  Finally, she took one step back, then another. Until she stood a few feet away and he could breathe again.

  And he’d be damned if he didn’t want her to move back into his arms and really kiss him this time.

  Instead, he said, “Um, I should probably get back to work.” He stepped back, deliberately letting himself bump into the doorway as he backed away. “I’ll, ah, see you later, Janey.”

  Then he turned tail and practically ran back to his office, closing the door behind him. Let her think he was a dork. If he’d stayed any longer, he would’ve blown his cover by throwing her on the desk and following her down.

  Heartburn returning with a vengeance, he rubbed at the fiery ache in his chest and reached for the antacid tablets that had taken up permanent residence in his desk drawer. He chewed two while he chewed out his own ass.

  “You gotta get your head back in the game, asshole.”

  You got that right, son.

  “Shut up, Dad.”

  Christ, he rolled his eyes. He was definitely losing it.

  Which meant he could be pulled off this case. He couldn’t afford that.

  He’d promised himself and Dev that he’d find the people responsible for his young partner’s death. He owed Dev that, at the very least. Hell, he owed Dev so damn much…

  Even if it was the DeMarcos.

  No one could be as clean as they appeared to be. That worrie
d him. There had to be something, some skeleton in the closet they’d hidden away.

  But if they weren’t, if they really had gone over to the dark side, what could possibly have turned loyal government agents into criminals? What was he missing?

  Damn it. The more he was around Janey, the more stupid he seemed.

  His phone rang.

  “Mal, could you come upstairs for a few minutes?” Grace said. “I need to talk to you about a case.”

  Pull it together, son. Or you’re going to be out of the frying pan and—

  “Sure, I’ll be right there.”

  Chapter Three

  Janey pivoted into a roundhouse kick and nearly tipped the bag. A back fist, reverse punch, flip kick combination made it shudder.

  “Hey. What’s gotten into you tonight? What did that jar-head brother of yours do today?”

  Janey aimed a flying front kick squarely in the bag’s center. Best friends were great. They usually knew exactly what you’re thinking and they always wanted to help beat the crap out of whoever ticked you off.

  Janey threw a quick grin at the woman lounging on a bench by the wall of the Broad Street gym. A true Philadelphia blueblood, Andrea Reed-Howell—known as Annie only to the DeMarcos—looked like she’d just stepped off the set of a workout tape. Her blond hair curled in its perfect ponytail high on her head and her matching dark blue shorts and sports bra barely showed the sweat, even though she’d been lifting weights for the past hour.

  Janey knew she must look like a banshee in comparison, dark hair falling out of her ponytail and mismatched black sports bra and gray shorts sticking to her sweaty skin.

  She shook her head. “Nope, it’s not Nic. And jarheads are Marines. Nic was a Ranger. I’m just keyed up.”

  That kiss… It’d been enough to make her body heat until she could barely breathe.

  Annie nodded solemnly. “Ah. It’s that guy again.”

  Janey didn’t miss a beat in her workout. “What guy?”

  Annie’s laugh told her she wasn’t getting away with anything. “You know perfectly well what guy. Have you asked him out yet?”

  Janey put more force than necessary into her next roundhouse kick and the bag, its bottom filled with sand, tipped and crashed to the floor. A few of the other people in the area turned and gave her a round of applause that she acknowledged with a little wave as two male trainers came over to pick up the bag.

  After a second, though, she grimaced as the tingle in her foot radiated pain upward. Limping to the bench, she shoved Annie’s long legs off the seat and flopped onto it.

  “Ow, ow, ow. Jeez, that hurt. And you know I can’t ask him out, so just stop. You’re as bad as my mother.”

  “Your mother usually has good taste,” Annie drawled, a grin playing around her full lips.

  “My mother wants grandchildren,” Janey shot back. “She figures I’m the only one of her children who might actually provide them. And I will. Just not on her schedule.”

  “Kids don’t just grow on trees.” Annie tsked. “You do know you actually have to have sex to get pregnant, right? Just making doe eyes at the guy won’t do it.”

  Janey rolled her eyes at Annie’s often repeated argument. “I’m not an idiot.”

  “No, you’re just determined to hide away in your office, waiting for the right guy to show up. Well, if you ask me, he did. I mean, how much more obvious does the universe have to get? It practically handed Mal to you on a plate. I say go for it.”

  Universe and parent approved. Well, gee, aren’t I lucky.

  “You know I can’t. He works for us. I can’t just take him to bed. What happens when he dumps me? Or I dump him?” she quickly added when Annie’s eyebrows lifted. “I mean, we still have to work in the same office. That would totally suck.”

  Still, it wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. More than a few times. Okay, it’d crossed her mind more than a few times in the past few minutes.

  And she’d given it serious consideration after he’d come to her rescue today. She’d seen something in his expression, something that didn’t fit with the geeky image he tried so hard to project. But then Nic had barged in—

  “Hey, Janey. You zoned out for a sec.”

  Janey grimaced and shook her head. “Sorry, just thinking. Nic was doing his asshole impression today and Bennett was in—”

  “Ooh, that guy’s such a slime.” Annie shuddered theatrically. “Even his movies are slimy. I don’t know how they make so much money. But…I have the perfect antidote. Come out with Brad and me Tuesday night. He has a friend coming in to do some business and I’d hoped you’d be willing to hang out with us. I really want you meet Brad. We’ve been going out for a while now and if I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were avoiding him.”

  Actually, Janey was avoiding good old Brad. She was sick of meeting the guys who constantly broke Annie’s heart. And she certainly didn’t want to double date.

  Maybe she should just ask Mal out…

  Janey leaned her head on Annie’s shoulder. “Let me see, okay? I’ll have to check the calendar.” Liar. “Dad’s still not up to speed and Mom’s trying to do too much. God knows what Jimmy’s working on in the basement and Nic just never stops.”

  Annie froze at the mention of Nic. Annie thought she’d hidden her feelings so well, that no one knew how she felt about Nic. But Janey knew Annie had been lusting after her idiot brother for years.

  If she could get past the fact that he was her brother, she guessed she could see why. Tall, dark and handsome did it for some women. And Nic did have his decent qualities. Some.

  Okay, her brothers may be overprotective but they were the best older brothers a girl could ever have.

  “Probably out chasing women every night.”

  Janey slid Annie a glance. “I can’t remember the last time Nic had a date.”

  “Probably because no one will go out with him.” Annie relaxed slightly. “But you don’t have that excuse. Come on, come out with us.”

  Janey rose, but not before slugging Annie in the arm. “Just let me look at the calendar and I’ll let you know.” Annie opened her mouth to badger her some more but Janey held up her hand. “One more word about it and I’ll set you up on a blind date with Nic, Annie. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”

  ***

  Proof.

  Surrounded by darkness broken only by the light of his monitor, Mal stared at the file fragment he’d retrieved after great struggle and a whole lot of four-letter words.

  The jumble of characters on his screen was only partially readable but one word stood out—Carabini.

  Finally, he had proof.

  Sitting back in his chair, he laced his fingers behind his head and sighed, the sound ungodly loud in the deserted offices.

  It was nearly ten o’clock on Thursday night. Grace and Frank had gone home shortly after he’d talked with them this afternoon. Nic had left around five to track a lead in New Jersey in the kidnapping. He’d said he probably wouldn’t be back until late morning.

  Janey had left shortly after Mal around six o’clock. He knew because he’d watched her leave from his rented car parked up the street. Then he’d hit the jackpot and Jimmy had deserted his basement lab a half hour after Janey.

  For the first time since he’d started the job, there was no one in the DeMarco building. Sure, any one of them could return at any time. But that only added to the adrenaline rush of sneaking back into the office to do some unmonitored digging.

  And now that he’d actually found something…

  He should call Gallagher, bring him up to date. But it was too risky to call from here. There could be listening devices throughout the building that he didn’t know about. He’d checked his office right after he’d started and didn’t find anything. Still, that didn’t mean there weren’t any. Not that he thought the DeMarcos were spying on him, but…

  He’d have to leave the building, take a walk down the street. There weren’t
a lot of pedestrians on Market at this time of night but it might look suspicious if someone recognized him going out of the building to make a call.

  He still didn’t have enough information to make a strong case for continuing this investigation. Not yet. He needed more time to sort through this file and see if it turned up anything else.

  Sounds like you’re doing a lot of tap dancing, son. Wanna explain that one?

  Hell, no, he didn’t want to explain. He knew any explanation would sound a hell of a lot like an excuse.

  Gallagher hadn’t given him much to go on when he’d assigned this case, just the mention of a link between the DeMarcos and Carabini. Even his handler had sounded skeptical that they’d be involved in anything illegal.

  But now…

  He rubbed his eyes, gritty from staring at the monitor in the dark, but he still had work to do. He needed to wipe all traces of his little jaunt from Janey’s network. The woman was too damn good at what she did to miss his digging if he didn’t make sure he’d erased it completely.

  Working fast, he saved the recovered file onto a flash drive to examine later at his apartment and stuffed it in one of the many pockets on his pants. At least Merri had gotten one thing right—these cargo pants with Velcro pockets were great for hiding things—

  He jumped out of his chair as the front door opened and closed. Glancing at his watch, Cal bit back a curse.

  He’d fucking blanked on nearly forty-five minutes. Combined with his lapse in judgment yesterday and today when he’d let Janey touch him, he figured his number had been called, punched and put out to pasture.

  As footsteps sounded down the hall, he knew he’d just have to—

  “Turn around slowly, hands on your head.”

  Behind his desk, Mal froze. In the darkness of the room, he wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure Janey held a gun aimed at his head.

  He did as she asked, not having to work at conjuring up a suitably anxious expression. “Janey? It’s me. Mal. Don’t shoot, okay.”

  There was dead silence, and then, “Oh, jeez. I don’t believe this.”

  With a faint click, the room’s overhead light flashed on. Blinking quickly to adjust his eyesight, he turned to see her standing in the shadows of the hallway, shaking her head, arms lowered to her side.