Executive Protection

by Jennifer Morey

  Connor should have told her to leave the moment she mentioned knowing Aiden. He should have forbidden the slim ray of hope that his brother was alive from shining on his thoughts. But the thinness of his brother’s face, the bruises, the worn and tattered clothes spooked Connor. Could Aiden be incapacitated and unable to send a message to Connor for help?

  Thinking of his brother in desperate straits took hold of his core and shook him. If the picture was real, and if it was recent, it wouldn’t help him locate his brother. Unless Kate had more, Connor would have to mount his own operation to search for his brother. It would take time and resources.

  Growing up, it had been he and Aiden against the world. To know the only person he’d ever trusted could be hurt, in need and alive changed everything. Kate might be lying, but was he willing to stake his brother’s life on it?

  “Did you check if the picture was edited?” he asked.

  “The picture is legit. I obtained it, with great difficulty I might add, from work. A contact of mine in Tumara believes I work for the State Department and that I have a streak of goodwill in my blood. He sent the picture to me in case it developed into an international incident. You know, American held against his will by the Armed Revolutionaries,” Kate said.

  When someone lied to him, Connor usually knew it. He sensed it. Nothing about Kate screamed liar. What was her angle? “What do you want?” Connor asked, cutting to the chase.

  “What do I want?” she repeated, her eyes wide and confused. “I want you to help Aiden.”

  Was Connor ready to believe that this woman was telling the truth and his brother was alive? That he was already thinking about how to find Aiden told him that he’d bought Kate’s story. “Tell me what you know and I’ll take care of the rest.” He’d fill in or locate the missing information. If Aiden was alive, Connor would find him.

  Kate blinked at him, her bright blue eyes giving away nothing. “If I tell you everything, you’ll take off and I’ll never hear from you or Aiden again. You’re taking me with you and I’ll tell you what you need to know as you need to know it.”

  Gutsy. She’d shown up on his property, asked for his help and then set the terms of their arrangement. “Tell me everything and we’ll go from there.” She was right in deducing his intention. Once she spilled the information he needed, he’d ditch her. He preferred his work how he preferred his personal life: solitary.

  “Nice try. We work together on this.”

  “If you work for the agency, why not find him yourself?” It was as much a challenge as it was a test.

  “I’m a computer analyst, not a field operative. I’ve completed the mandatory cross-training, but I am not foolish enough to attempt this alone.”

  Sphere recruited two types of people: highly skilled assassins with unique talents, like him and his brother, and überintelligent supergeeks who excelled in their areas of technical expertise. Connor couldn’t envision Kate rapidly typing at a computer. Most attractive people used their looks to their advantage and she couldn’t do that behind a computer. Sphere liked attractive operatives to work the field. A good-looking woman could pull information easily from a smitten man.

  Kate set her hands on her hips, bringing his attention momentarily to the dip in her slender waist and the roundness of her hips. “I know the odds are stacked against me. If you won’t help me, you’ve taken away my best option. But I can’t let this go. I won’t let this go.”

  Connor glanced at her smartphone again. “This might be a setup. You might be too late. You could lose your life trying to save his when he’s already dead. They could be using you to find and tie off loose ends.” As he spoke the words, his doubts whispered less loudly. What if Aiden is alive?

  “I don’t believe he’s dead. I won’t give up,” Kate said, her voice quiet and determined.

  Connor would never forgive himself if Kate was right and he did nothing about it. She’d trapped him, as perhaps she’d planned. He had to take action. “Aiden is my brother. I’ll search for him until he is either home safe or I know this is a lie.”

  Relief rushed across her face. “Thank you, Connor. You won’t regret this.” She reached for his hand and he jerked away. He wasn’t agreeing to an alliance with Kate. He’d search alone. Having another person along would bungle the operation.

  He stepped back from the door and gestured for her to come inside. “Stand here,” he said, pointing to a location next to the entryway.

  Watching her in his peripheral vision, he pulled his travel pack out of the closet. “I work faster and better alone,” Connor said.

  Kate’s eyes narrowed. “You can work faster with information. Information I have. I speak Portuguese—the most common language spoken in Tumara—plus Italian, Spanish and Arabic. I know the area and the culture. I know the political climate.”

  She was bound and determined to search for Aiden. He’d accept it. For now. He opened his bag to check his supplies. “I speak a number of languages myself. I have boundaries. I have lots of them. Respect them or I’ll leave you wherever we are without notice and I won’t look back.” He glanced at her in the mirror.

  Kate’s eyes widened. “That’s fair.” She seemed unsure. “Spell them out.”

  He waited a beat and she stared at him. She was serious. She wanted him to give her a list of rules, the dos and don’ts of spending time with him. Most people who met him quickly understood he didn’t like idle prattle, he didn’t like people being close to him and he preferred to be alone. The most comfortable path was to give him as much leeway as possible. He could be harsh and direct and didn’t hesitate to be blunt. What was it about Kate that made him censor and soften his words? “You want boundaries? Don’t talk except when you have relevant information. I’m jumpy and don’t like surprises. Give me space.” He composed a mental list of supplies he’d need for the trip.

  She was looking around his cabin, seemingly eager to snoop around. He didn’t keep sensitive information here, so there was nothing to find. Even so, she hadn’t moved from the spot in the room where he could watch her most closely. She wasn’t seeing any more of his place. He didn’t give tours. “Aiden mentioned you could be grumpy. But I’ll do my best to respect your boundaries so long as you understand that I’m a woman who likes to talk sometimes, I don’t mean to surprise you, but given the nature of this situation, we’ll be surprised at times, and if we’re traveling together, you won’t be alone.”

  Connor suppressed a smile. She gave as good as she got. He liked that. It had taken courage for her to come to him. He liked that, too. But he didn’t trust her. Trust was hard-won and easily lost. She hadn’t given him the whole truth about why she was here and he didn’t care for that in the least. He would find out what she was hiding, and if she double-crossed him, she would regret it.

  * * *

  Kate had seen Connor West only once before in person when he’d attended his brother’s memorial service seven months before. Connor looked remarkably different today. His dark beard was scraggly and unkempt, his hair in disarray and his clothes in need of mending, stain treating, heavy-duty washing and ironing. Or maybe they were too far gone and should be scrapped for cleaning rags. She should be disgusted by his appearance, but stress and guilt were making her feel strange things. Kate was still attracted to Connor. Maybe it was his confidence or the stories Aiden had told her about him, but the crush she’d had on him took hold of her and morphed into something more potent. She felt a little dizzy and wanted to get closer to him.

  Kate shouldn’t have feelings for a man she’d seen only twice, including today, and hadn’t spoken to the first time. Connor had slipped into the somber room and had blended with the other mourners. His dark suit had fit him well, the jacket sitting across his broad shoulders and the tailored pants showing off his athletic build. His short hair was neat and trim, giving him an almost schoolboy appear
ance. A slight arch in his nose indicated it had been broken in the past, marring what would otherwise be considered model good looks. Kate had fought the attraction that sprang up. She’d learned her lesson about getting involved with special-operations men. That he was Aiden’s brother made her attraction even more unfortunate.

  Kate wouldn’t have seen him at all, except she’d been waiting for him at the service. She’d owed him an explanation, something to help give him closure. To her dismay, she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to speak to him. Connor had stridden directly to the front of the room where a portrait of Aiden in a golden frame sat on an easel among the floral arrangements. He’d looked at the picture and bowed his head, bringing his hand across his face.

  She’d averted her eyes, feeling she was intruding on a deeply private moment. When she’d finally looked back, Connor was gone. She’d searched the crowd for him but she’d had no luck locating him. Kate wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come. Perhaps he’d felt a sense of obligation to make an appearance.

  Outside his home, even when he’d had his hand poised near his gun, Kate wasn’t afraid of him. She knew too much from Aiden about his older brother. Connor might be abrasive on the outside, but he was a good man who wouldn’t hurt anyone without a compelling reason. Male special-operations agents were a different breed of man. They could be chillingly cold and insensitively direct. Kate had learned not to let their words and tone intimidate her when she worked with them.

  Kate reached into her handbag and withdrew two plane tickets. “I’ll tell you more when we arrive. You ready?”

  “Are we traveling as ourselves or have you made other arrangements?” Connor asked.

  Other arrangements, of course. Members of Sphere never traveled under their real names for business or pleasure. It was easier to cover tracks when using pseudonyms and fake documents. “We’ll be traveling undercover.”

  Connor shook his head. “If you’re using an identity Sphere provided you, they’ll know exactly where you are and what you’re doing.”

  Kate knew how the system worked. The tickets she had purchased and the identifications she carried had been generated using her personal resources. “Give me a little credit. No one knows I came here to talk to you and no one knows what I’m planning.”

  Connor folded his arms. It was an improvement on his waiting-to-pounce stance. “Don’t underestimate Sphere. They know everything. It’s their business to keep everyone on their payroll under their control.”

  Kate shivered. She didn’t like to think about the privacy she’d given up when she went to work for Sphere. Her financials, her personal life and her business life were open and available to Sphere for review at their discretion. But she had been careful about approaching Connor and creating their covers. She hadn’t made her plans at work or on any Sphere network or device. “They don’t know about this.”

  Connor shot her a look of disbelief. “I’ll provide our travel documents.”

  Kate suppressed an eye roll. That was another trait of special-ops men. They always thought they were right. “If you think it’s safer, then fine.” He was willing to come to Tumara. She was willing to make compromises to get what she wanted.

  She had to make amends for what she had done and for the mistake she had made. Her guilt was severe and she was willing to risk her life to see Aiden safe.

  Copyright © 2014 by C.J. Miller

  ISBN-13: 9781460331804

  EXECUTIVE PROTECTION

  Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Jennifer Morey for her contribution to The Adair Legacy miniseries.

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