Rough Edges

by Shannon K. Butcher

  “Then why did you send that man?”

  “We just wanted to scare her a little, rattle her so she’ll start making mistakes.”

  “Mistakes that could get her killed.”

  “I’m not going to debate this with you. Plant the device, Lila. Unless you don’t care what happens to your baby boy.”

  “No,” Lila rushed to say, tears roughening her tone. “I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt him.”

  “I’ll have someone drop it off at your home tonight. It’s small. You shouldn’t have any trouble hiding it.”

  “There’s a team that sweeps for bugs every couple of days. They’re going to find it.”

  “Do you know the sweep schedule?”

  “No.”

  “Then I suggest you find it. If you get caught there will be nothing I can do to help you.”

  “This is the last job, Randolph. Once I do this, I want my son back.”

  He laughed. “If you really think you can make demands, then you just do that and see how well it ends up. For both you and your boy.”

  She was crying now, not even bothering to hide the tears in her voice. “If I get caught, what will happen to him?”

  “There’s no telling what Stynger might do. I suggest you don’t get caught.”

  “Will you keep him safe from her?”

  The thought of Randolph being any kid’s caretaker was laughable. But rather than push Lila further, he played along. “I’ll do what I can. You need to do the same. Between us, I’m sure we can have your boy home soon.”

  She sniffed. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. Just do your job.” He hung up.

  With any luck at all, this would all be over in a few more days. Stynger would be safely ensconced in her new home, out of reach. Keeping Lila calm would no longer be necessary. And Bella would learn that tossing aside a man with his skills was the biggest mistake of her life.

  Randolph dialed another contact. He gave the man careful instructions, outlining every step of the prisoner transport he wanted to happen. If Bella wanted to find Gage, then that was the bait Randolph would dangle.

  Chapter Nine

  It was nearly midnight when Victor finally pulled into his driveway after a long day of interrogation and bad coffee.

  Bella was waiting for him. He recognized her shiny red truck instantly, and some of the grinding fatigue of the day faded away under a sudden burst of excitement.

  He’d missed her, and until now, he hadn’t realized just how much. Perhaps it was ridiculous of him to do so, but he couldn’t deny that’s how he felt. They’d been together for so many days in a row, he’d gotten used to her company. Spending the day at the police station, undergoing a nonstop string of questions while Payton and a team of lawyers pulled strings to earn Victor’s freedom, had done nothing to change that.

  A heavy pile of tension slid from his shoulders as he opened his garage door and pulled inside. One long, curvy leg exited Bella’s truck, followed by the rest of her. The sinuous glide of her body as she walked into his garage filled his rearview mirror and his attention.

  What was it about this woman that got under his skin? He’d had plenty of beautiful women in his life. Family money made sure of that. There was always another pretty face hoping to help him spend his wealth. None of them had ever captured his attention so completely. None of them made him ache with the need to be near her.

  Whatever his odd feelings, he wished like hell they’d just go away. Wanting a woman whom he worked with—whom he worked for—was both inconvenient and uncomfortable.

  When it wasn’t completely thrilling.

  By the time he turned off his engine and got out of his car, Bella was standing beside him. “Rough day?” she asked.

  He nodded to her bandaged hands and the bulges of more bandages under her soft, clingy pants. “No worse than yours.”

  “Payton told me they let you go.”

  “I’m sure I’ll have a few more people to convince, but the lawyer is confident that this will all go away.”

  “The company will cover the legal expenses, of course.”

  There were a few small bruises on her cheek from where she’d been hit. Victor wanted to kiss them away so badly he had to plant his feet to keep from taking a step toward her to do just that.

  “That’s not necessary,” he said.

  She looked down at her shoes. “It is. The least the company can do is cover your expenses. You saved my life.” Her chin lifted and her striking gray eyes met his gaze. “Thank you, Victor. I really didn’t want to die today.”

  He saw his fingers settle lightly on her cheek. Only then did he realize he’d let himself touch her.

  The feel of her warm, smooth skin under his hand streaked through his nervous system, setting it on fire. Part of him that had been tense all day began unclenching, while the rest of him was waking up and preparing to wage whatever battle he had to face to make her his.

  Her eyes fluttered for a second before she refocused on him. She wet her lips. He didn’t know if she was nervous or sensed his intense desire to kiss her. Either way, his animal brain saw the action as a green light.

  His feet shifted closer to hers. He could feel her body heat now, sense how well she would fit his frame if he ever got lucky enough to have her pressed against him. He wouldn’t have to strain his neck to kiss her. She was just the right height for him to really take his time with her mouth and coax her body to soften for him.

  Victor struggled to pick up the conversational thread she’d laid down. “Anyone would have done the same thing.”

  Her long fingers settled on his chest, causing a roar of victory to course through him. She’d touched him. She wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t see him as more than her employee, would she?

  “You’re wrong,” she said, though her gentle tone eased the sting of her words. “I’d like to think that most of the men I’ve hired wouldn’t hesitate, but there were several of them nearby. You were the one who got there first. You were the one who risked his freedom by pulling the trigger. I won’t forget that.”

  If he didn’t ease back, he was going to kiss her. And as much as he wanted his mouth covering hers, he didn’t want her to think that he was demanding payback in the form of sex. She was too important to him for him to screw up things between them with such a stupid, rookie move.

  It felt like ripping off his own fingers one at a time, but he managed to take his hands from her skin and shove them in his pocket, right next to his growing erection.

  “Does that mean I get a raise?” he teased.

  “Not even close, honey.” She grinned and pushed against his shoulder. The slight wince tightening the skin around her eyes reminded him that she was injured. Whatever things he might want to do with her, however willing she might momentarily be because of his actions today, there was no way in hell he was going to fuck an injured woman and risk hurting her more.

  His libido screamed as he shoved it back in its cage and forced himself to pretend he didn’t want her.

  “I’m starving,” he said. “Want to come in for a really late lunch?”

  “It’s almost midnight.”

  “Both me and my empty stomach are well aware. Join me?”

  She hesitated so long he was almost sure she was going to turn him down. “Okay, but just for a minute. Franklin is house-sitting for me. They spent so many hours going through my place with a fine-tooth comb, they didn’t want to leave the house unattended.”

  “I like this plan. It’ll keep you safe.” He led the way inside, looking at his empty house with fresh eyes. Everything was new and in good repair, but he hadn’t lived here long enough to make it feel like home. There were no pictures on the walls. The furniture was of high quality, but in bland neutral colors. His kitchen was stocked with only the bare necessities. As they e
ntered it, he heard his footsteps echo against the empty walls.

  “I guess you didn’t want to eat police station food?” she asked.

  “They didn’t offer a meal. I think they were trying to make me crack.” He opened the fridge, hoping there was something fast and easy to fill his growling stomach.

  Bella laughed, and the sound stroked along his spine, making his toes curl like he was some kind of lovesick schoolboy. “Guess they didn’t know how tough you were.”

  He knew he was tough, but it made him proud that she thought so, too. Not that she would have hired anyone who wasn’t tough. “They figured it out relatively fast. Once General Norwood started calling in favors, people started paying attention.”

  “Did you get any uncomfortable questions?”

  “You mean about what we do at the Edge?”

  She nodded, and her glossy hair slipped over her shoulder to caress her breast. Victor’s mouth began to water in a way that had nothing to do with food.

  He cleared his throat and peered into the refrigerator, seeing nothing half as appealing as the woman standing ten feet away. “I’m trained in how to deal with interrogations. They didn’t learn any secrets from me.”

  “That’s good.” Her voice was closer now. He hadn’t heard her approach, but she was right behind him, staring over his shoulder. “Bachelor fridge. Looks like mine, only yours has less fuzzy stuff in it.”

  He grabbed a block of cheese and a couple of apples. “Can’t get your housekeeper to clean out the fridge?”

  “Nope. She says it’s a biohazard.”

  “She’s probably right.” He sliced the cheese into cubes and arranged it on a plate.

  Bella moved around his kitchen, opening cabinets and snooping without apology. “Was it horrible?”

  “The interrogation? Nah. I can take it.”

  “No,” she said. “Killing a man.”

  The knife stilled in the middle of cutting an apple. He hadn’t expected the question, nor was he sure why she was asking. “He’s not the first man I’ve killed, Bella.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t make it easy, does it?”

  “I didn’t enjoy it, but there was no choice. He was going to shoot you. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “He had no choice, either.” Her voice wavered for a second before she continued. “Stynger made him attack me. He was as much a victim in this as I was.”

  “Are you saying you wished I hadn’t killed him?”

  Her long fingers curled around the handle of his silverware drawer. Her back was to him, but he could see some kind of tension vibrating along her spine. Anger? Fear? Stress? He couldn’t tell, but whatever it was, he wanted to soothe it away until she was calm and relaxed.

  “No,” she said. “He had to die before he hurt someone else. The men Stynger controls are like rabid animals, even after the implants are removed. Razor’s friend Jake had his removed and he’s still being held for his own safety as well as hers. If that ever happened to me, I’d rather eat a bullet than be held in Payton’s secret prison for the rest of my life.” She turned to face him. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “I haven’t thought about it.”

  “We’ve spent weeks hunting down a woman who can crawl inside your brain and make even a strong man like you do whatever she wants. How can you not have thought about it?”

  “I think about how to find her, how to stop her. I think about what her next move might be and how I can prevent it from happening.” He also spent a fair amount of time thinking about Bella and how she might sound, taste and feel if he ever got her in his bed. Not that he was going to admit that.

  “If you’d seen the videos of Jake since his imprisonment, you’d have the same nightmares I do. I had to stop watching them.”

  “I have seen them. All of them. Norwood required it of me before I took this job.”

  “How can you not have thought about what you’d do if it happened to you, then?”

  “Because it doesn’t matter. If Stynger gets her hands on me, what I want will no longer matter. She’ll make sure of that. Our only option is to keep it from happening.”

  Her hands shook so hard he could see it from across the room. She shoved them into her pockets and swallowed hard. “She has Gage. I’ve known him for years. He’s unstoppable. Incorruptible. I honestly thought that his volunteering to go inside the belly of the beast was a good idea.” Her gray eyes brightened, but he couldn’t tell if it was from tears or anger. “Letting him go was a mistake. He hasn’t made contact as ordered because he’s no longer the man I knew.”

  “You don’t know that. You can’t let yourself think like that. He probably just hasn’t had a chance to make contact. You have to give him more time.”

  “As if I have any other choice. We still have no clue where she is. With all the cameras and satellites we have access to, how is that even possible?”

  “She moves her operation around a lot. She uses multiple locations. She hides underground and keeps her reach small enough that we have trouble seeing it.”

  “She’s destroyed dozens of lives. We should have been able to find her by now.”

  Victor wiped his hands and went to Bella. He couldn’t stand seeing her suffer without trying to ease her pain. It wasn’t his place, but he didn’t care. She looked like she needed to be held, so that’s what he was going to do.

  He didn’t give her time to protest his hug. He simply wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

  She flinched and tensed for a second, but then her body melted, giving in to his hug.

  Every sweet curve and sleek hollow of her body fit against him with an almost palpable click of completion. He felt like the parts of him that had been missing all his life were finally back where they belonged. The feeling was so strong, so keen, it nearly scared him. If not for his original goal of offering comfort to a woman who so desperately needed it, he would have backed away and fled.

  Instead, he tightened his hold, squeezing a nearly silent groan of contentment from her chest. She laid her cheek on his shoulder and pulled in a long, deep breath. As she let it out, her hands settled tentatively on his back, returning the hug.

  “What the hell are you doing, Temple?” she asked, her voice far too faint and weak to sound like the authoritative woman he knew.

  “Reminding you that you’re not alone. Seemed like the kind of reminder you needed.”

  “If I’d wanted a hug, I would have ordered you to give me one.” The words were delivered with no bite. If anything, she tightened her hold on him.

  “No one’s watching. You don’t have to be in boss mode.”

  She pushed away so suddenly, he knew it had been the wrong thing to say.

  “Being boss isn’t a mode, sweetheart,” she snapped. “I am boss. Twenty-four, seven. Next time you need to hug something, find a teddy bear.” She dug in her pocket for her keys and headed for the door.

  He put his fingers on her shoulder, but even the light touch was enough to stop her in her tracks. “Bella, don’t go. I didn’t mean to question your authority.”

  She didn’t turn around. Her shoulders straightened and went rigid. “My authority is strong enough to handle a little questioning, but it was clearly a mistake coming here. You’re more than capable of dealing with your legal issues. I shouldn’t have worried. I should have known you’d have a team of lawyers on retainer, not to mention Norwood backing you.”

  “I’m glad you came. It was nice knowing that you care.” He wanted her to turn around. Look him in the eye.

  She didn’t.

  “I care about all of my employees. Don’t think this is some kind of special treatment. Good night, Victor. See you bright and early tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gage had no access to a clock, but he could tell it was getting close t
o the time the lab tech would come in and take his vitals. The big-boned, beady-eyed nerd in a lab coat came in at the same time every day. At first he’d been accompanied by an armed guard who was clearly annoyed by the distraction.

  Gage offered no resistance, showed no sign of aggression. After a couple of weeks, the guard disappeared. The nerd was skittish at first, but Gage was careful with his body language, keeping it open and nonthreatening.

  After a couple more weeks, the nerd seemed more at ease. He even smiled back at Gage once.

  That was the sign he’d been waiting for. The nerd in a lab coat large enough to fit Gage trusted him. It was time to escape and find some way of making contact with Bella.

  Sitting around this place locked in a cell for weeks was doing nothing but driving him crazy. He’d seen nothing of importance. He’d been knocked out before coming here, so he didn’t even have any idea how far away Stynger’s current lab might be from home. For all he knew, he was on another continent entirely.

  The only way to find out was to get out of here and discover where he was.

  Gage was careful not to alter his routine in any way. He’d set it up for exactly this purpose—to make whoever was watching him on that camera feel safe that all was well. Nothing had changed. Nothing to see. He was still the same docile, caged animal he’d been all along. They were completely in control.

  He washed away the sweat from his workout and put on a pair of drawstring pants provided for him. He didn’t know if the string threaded through his waistband was an oversight or a test. Either way, the improvised garrote was coming out tonight. He’d cut off the flow of blood to the nerd’s brain, steal his clothes, and make his escape.

  His skin prickled an instant before he saw the shadow of feet beneath his door.

  It was time.

  The door opened, but instead of the beady-eyed nerd, there was a young woman wheeling the instrument cart into his room.

  She was dressed in jeans and a sweater the color of a forest in spring. The white overcoat she wore identified her as one of the lab techs or doctors. Her long dark hair spilled down over her breasts, falling in a silky wave that made his fingertips twitch against the need to touch.