by Laurie Roma
Julian grunted then looked around the room with a baffled expression. “What is it about you that always seems to end up with our clothing ripped to shreds?”
Tara sat up with a grin. “This time it was all you, Ace.”
“It’s a good thing I have a private elevator that goes straight to my apartment from here.”
He had a point. It was one thing for her team to know she was sleeping with Julian. It was another thing for both of them to parade naked in front of them. She was so not into that type of public performance art.
Tara picked up Julian’s tattered dress shirt and pulled it on as she absently looked around the room. “You know your office reminds me of…It sort of looks like…” She trailed off, then gasped. “It is! Oh my god, your office is the cockpit of the Enterprise.”
“It’s not a cockpit, it’s called the bridge,” Julian automatically corrected her as he picked up his pants.
“Ha! I was right! It is! Oh, this is too good to be true,” she cried gleefully.
Shit. He was caught now. Julian shifted uncomfortably as he refastened his pants. “How would you know—”
She waved his question away with a hand in the air. “I saw an episode once or twice while searching for something to watch. Photographic memory, remember? This is too funny. Julian King, closet nerd. Deep down, beneath that sophisticated veneer, is a Star Trek-loving geek. Who would have thought! Oh come on, you just got done fucking me into submission for not talking to you like some needy chick…so here I am, talking.”
“Yes, but this is about embarrassing me, not talking about you,” Julian argued.
Tara shrugged. “It’s more fun this way. I bet this is why you host Comic-Con here every year, isn’t it? It’s so you can feed your super-secret geek fetish without anyone knowing.”
“We host it because it makes us a lot of money.”
“That’s just a bonus. You really do it because you’re a fan. Admit it. Go on, tell me I’m wrong.”
Julian was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “I’m afraid if you ever tell anyone about this, I am going to have to kill you.”
Yeah, right. “What, with your light saber?”
“That’s the wrong movie.”
Tara sent him a sly grin. “I know, I just wanted you to say it.”
He couldn’t help but sigh again. “Get up, we’re leaving.”
A laugh burst out of her, light and sweet. “Is that your equivalent to ‘behave or I’ll turn this car around’?”
Tara’s laughter made her eyes sparkle. Julian thought he could take a little embarrassment if it put that look on her face. But still, this conversation couldn’t end fast enough to please him. “Don’t you have some secret spy work to do?”
“We’ve got time…and if we take too long, they’ll just come in and get me.”
“They can’t get past my shield,” Julian said.
“Oh man, you did not just say shield. Why not call it your force field?”
Julian stalked over to a hidden panel and opened his private elevator. The doors slid open. “Get in,” he growled.
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Chapter Fourteen
Tara and Julian entered the conference room in her suite after they had both changed their clothes. The other members of the team were already there. Mikayla and Lucian sat at the conference table while Adrian stood in front of a large monitor that showed Agent Finnegan Kelly’s face up on the wall screen.
Tara walked in and tossed Julian’s phone over to Adrian. “Link that up. We need to break the code to find the message board IP address.”
“On it.”
She walked over to the small refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. She turned to Julian with an eyebrow raised in question. He lifted his hand and she tossed it to him and got one for herself.
“You’re late, T-rex,” Finn said, flashing his easy grin.
“And you’re still ugly, Irish,” Tara replied as she sat down. Finn laughed. He was a good-looking man, like most of the IAD agents were, and his natural charm made him even more attractive to most women. Luckily, Tara never found herself to be one of his hundreds of admirers.
“Don’t get him started,” Mikayla muttered under her breath. Finn had a wicked sense of humor, and once you got him going, there was no turning him off.
“I’m conferencing in Bishop in a few. He gave specific instructions to contact him instead of bothering Mac,” Adrian told them and he typed something into the video screen remote. “And Rock and Slade should be back any minute.”
“Now why the hell is the Phoenix contacting you?” Lucian broke in.
“Let’s wait for the others to join before we jump to that. How’s the snow?” she asked Finn.
“Still falling. When you getting your sexy ass back to Chi-town?”
Julian shifted in his chair, drawing Finn’s eyes to him. “You must be Julian King, millionaire extraordinaire and hotel mogul. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he added as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Tara shot the agents in the room a what the fuck stare. It hit its target with Adrian as she watched his broad shoulders slump under the weight of guilt. “I simply said you were with him, not that you were with him. Besides, he saw the freaking media report.”
Oh yeah, that.
Tara transferred her glare to Julian. “I’m still gonna kick your ass for that,” she muttered. “You can’t do that shit without clearing it with me first.”
“I did clear it.”
“What?”
“I cleared it with Lucian and Adrian, this morning,” Julian said.
Tara straightened in her seat and looked at Adrian and Lucian while Mikayla muffled a laugh.
“Oh, you don’t yet know the wrath,” Tara promised in a deadly voice.
“I told them it was a bad idea,” Mikayla said softly in a singsong voice. “But did anybody listen to me? No, of course not.”
The video screen split and Brett “Bishop” Michaels’s face popped up. Like most of the IAD agents, Brett was a large, dangerous-looking man who seemed capable of handling any situation with ease. His dark, brown eyes softened as he smiled in greeting. “What up, guys… Hey, Finn, still snowing back there?”
Finn huffed out a breath. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. They’re in Vegas and you’re in Texas laughing it up while I’m stuck here in the fucking tundra.”
“Why are you in Texas, Brett?” Mikayla asked. Bishop was one of her best friends and the curiosity in her voice had him answering when he normally wouldn’t tell them a thing.
“We just closed up the Sandoval case. I came down to help wrangle. You know how good I am at that. So, Lynx, you gonna be my date for the wedding?”
Mikayla laughed. “What, your plus-one of the month get tired of your fuck and run?”
The man on the screen grimaced. “Something like that.”
“Sure,” Mikayla shrugged. “I was planning on going solo, but you can hold my hair while I puke after.”
“Great,” Brett drawled out, making everyone laugh.
“At least Bella is going to get her white wedding,” Finn added. “I was worried if it didn’t keep snowing, Mac was going to order us to find some snow for her.”
Tara laughed. “He would, too.”
“I know,” Finn agreed. “And I’d be the asshole he volunteered to get it for her. Anyways, you guys flying back tomorrow or what?”
“We’ll be there,” Lucian promised.
Brett turned to focus on something offscreen, then turned back. “Shit, sorry, guys. Give me five and I’ll call back in.”
“No worries,” Adrian said before Brett’s side of the screen went blank.
Julian turned to Tara with a questioning glance.
Fuck. So, she might have forgotten to mention they were leaving for a few days. She was new to this whole relationship thing. “I have to fly back to Chicago for my friends’ wedding. I told you about Bella, right?”
Julian nodded slowly
. “Yes, you mentioned her, but not that you were going to be leaving for Christmas.”
Tara felt her own shoulders slump as she heard that hint of hurt in his voice.
Damn it, damn it.
How the hell could she be fucking this up already?
“I forgot. My boss, Mac, and Bella are getting married on Christmas Day. I’m one of her…”
“Bridesmaids,” Mikayla said. “Come on, you can say it. Bridesmaids. With the matching dress and all.”
Tara turned to frown at her then took in that every single one of the agents was actively listening to her conversation with Julian. Unapologetically, Lucian shrugged. Fascinated, he propped his chin on his fist and continued watching.
Rolling her eyes, Tara focused her attention back on Julian. “Yes, I am one of the”—gulp—“bridesmaids, so I have to be there tomorrow for the prep work.”
“Jesus, Tara. It’s a wedding, not an op,” Lucian muttered.
“Shut it, Luc.”
“Just trying to help.” Lucian’s grin faded at the death stare she shot him. “Shutting it now.”
A small smile appeared on Julian’s face. “Ah, so you have an aversion to all weddings.”
“Yes, no, I don’t know. I just don’t like all of the flower talk and dress fittings—”
“She did almost stab the seamstress with a pair of scissors,” Mikayla supplied, helpfully.
Right now, Tara wanted to stab all of her friends with a freaking pair of scissors if it would get them to shut up and mind their own business.
“All weddings…Did he say all weddings?” Finn whispered loudly on the screen.
“Shh.” Adrian waved him off as he continued typing on the laptop. “I’m trying to listen while I crack this bitch.”
Frustration had Tara gritting her teeth. “So, you want to come with or do you have to stay here? We planned to be back the day after Christmas. You probably have family stuff or something to do. That’s okay. I know its last minute.”
“What is wrong with her?” Finn asked the room at large, awe in his voice. “It’s like she’s nervous or something. T-rex isn’t supposed to babble. She’s not supposed to act like a normal human. She never has before. What is with that place? Did someone drug her or something?”
She wasn’t nervous and she sure as hell wasn’t babbling.
Was she?
Shit, she was babbling.
Julian’s eyes never left hers as he picked up the house phone on the conference table. He pressed in a number, holding the receiver up to his ear with his other hand. “Silvia? I need you to cancel my meetings for the next three days. No, everything is fine. You can run anything urgent through Devon. Thanks.” He put the phone down. “Should we take my plane or yours?”
Tara gifted him with a small smile that he answered in kind.
“Holy fuck, Batman, so it’s true? Tara really is doing the nasty with the corporate tycoon? How the hell did that happen?” Finn’s gaze tracked over to Julian. “Brother, you must have balls of titanium. I am in awe of your courage and…well, shit.” Finn’s voice trailed off.
Tara followed Finn’s gaze to the doorway where Slade and Rock stood. Slade stared back at them curiously, but Rock…
Shit, shit, shit. This was not going to be good.
Rock slowly set his bag down on the floor then cracked his knuckles as he pinned his sharp green eyes on Julian. “You want to do this in here or out there?” Rock asked casually as he jerked his head toward the living room.
“Out there.”
Tara shot to her feet. “What? No. No one is going to be doing anything.”
Rock’s gaze stayed on Julian. “What are you waiting for, an invitation?”
Without a word Julian stood up and followed Rock out into the living room. Tara started to follow, but Adrian closed the door and stood in front of the doorway, blocking her from exiting.
“Move, Adrian,” Tara demanded. “Get the hell out of my way.”
“No can do, hon,” Adrian said with a shake of his head.
A loud crash sounded from the other room. Tara’s heart fluttered with panic and she pulled at her hair. Julian was a good fighter but Rock was a killer. What the hell were they thinking?
“Uh-oh, I knew this was going to be bad,” Slade said as he sat down next to Mikayla. “I was really starting to like the poor guy and now Rock is going to kill him. Shame, that.”
“Damn,” Finn said from on the screen. “Now I’m never going to get that free vacation to the Palace hotel in the Bahamas.”
Slade snorted. “Yes, ’cause this is all about you.”
“Well, of course it is, or it should be,” Finn answered.
Adrian crossed his arms over his chest and refused to let Tara past him. “Rock had the right to make a few things clear to your new boyfriend.” Another crash sounded in the living room.
“What right? Get out of my way, Adrian. Stop pissing me off!”
“Now, Tara…” Lucian came up to stand next to her. “Leave them be, Rock won’t kill him…he just wants to pound on him a little. It’s a guy thing, T-rex. We have to make sure he’s strong enough to protect you.”
“Oh man, was that stupid…” Mikayla whispered as she leaned back in her chair.
“Strong enough to protect me?” Tara asked, incredulously.
“What the hell is wrong with them?” came Finn’s horrified whisper from off the screen. “Can’t they see she is ready to blow? Stop the madness before she kills someone.”
“Too late,” Mikayla said.
“We can’t let you—” Adrian began but Tara cut him off.
“Let me?”
“Why are you just repeating everything we say?” Lucian asked.
“Because,” Tara replied, “I can’t believe all the stupid shit that is coming out of your mouths. Now let me explain something to both of you…” Tara’s demeanor had chilled, and that should have given the men warning. She was at her most deadly when she was calm. Although Tara seemed unruffled, she was seething inside. Before anyone could blink, Tara’s fist whipped out and snapped Lucian’s head back.
“Fuck me!” Lucian cried out, his voice muffled by the hands he held over his bleeding nose.
Tara stepped to the side and brought her leg up between Adrian’s legs, wordlessly dropping him to his knees. “Here’s your explanation. I don’t need your fucking permission to do anything,” she hissed. “That includes both of you assholes.”
“You fucking hit me!” Lucian exclaimed.
“Yes, I hit you,” Tara replied, her voice filled with disgust. “Remember that when you are clearing any news reports that include my name.”
Lucian had the sense to wince. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that,” Tara agreed.
“He had to ask our permission to—”
“No,” Tara denied. “He had to ask my permission, not you.”
“Jesus, Tara, you fucking kneed me. I can’t believe you fucking kneed me,” Adrian groaned from his position on the floor.
“Get up and stop whining. I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“You damn well did,” Adrian whimpered. “I think I can feel my balls in my throat. Why didn’t you knee him?” He jerked his head toward Lucian.
“Because I’ve seen your balls before. That gives me the right to shove them down your throat when you act like a prick. Like now. Remember it, buddy, act like a prick and be punished like one.”
Brett’s face popped back up on the split screen. “I’m back.” His smile faded as he surveyed the room. “What did I miss?”
* * * *
The room was somber as Adrian brought the message board up on one of the screens. It had taken some doing, but Adrian had been able to crack the code right before Rock and Slade had arrived. From there the chaos had reigned for several long minutes until everyone had gathered back into the room. Rock and Julian were now sporting black eyes and cut lips, although Tara was pleased that Julian didn’t look as bad as she thought he wo
uld.
Obviously, the training was paying off.
Adrian and Lucian had chosen to sit as far away from her as possible, just in case she was still pissed. Forgetting about them, Tara turned her attention to the message on the screen. Her lips tightened with anger as she read and she could feel Julian stiffen at her side.
Dear Ms. Toshi—I apologize for using your lover as a conduit between us but I felt the need to relay this information without waiting to break through IAD’s firewall again. Although I have no doubt I would be able to do so, and it would please me greatly to pit my skills against your expert again, I felt that this would be a better use of both of our time at the present moment. Earlier today Edward Levy was pulled over during a routine traffic stop right outside of Carson City where he has been hiding. As he was pulled over, he opened fire on the police officers. He and two of his followers were killed in the following chase and are no longer a problem. I trust you will verify on your own. I took the liberty to pull his name from the police system and also submitted a request for the officers to hold any and all information until you contact them at the station. They are currently standing by. As Ricardo Mendez has also been taken out of the equation, I believe that narrows down the field for your team. That is all I have for you now—I will keep this message board accessible for when I need to relay data to your agency, so you can tell your tech his system is safe from me, for the moment. I will e-mail your man again should I have need to pass on any updates. On a personal note—you should remember that even though the camera was “off” the system reengages the record settings in the elevators during emergency protocol. I believe you know which day I speak of. That data is now deleted from the backup mainframe. Consider it an early wedding gift. And I didn’t watch…much. Phoenix.
“You son of a bitch,” Rock raged at Julian.
