HARD LINE

by Justice, A. D.

  “Let me talk to them. Even though this area is more tolerant of women than others in this region, there are still plenty of prejudices. I don’t think a wrecker driver would appreciate you asking him to search the car for your lost cell phone. In fact, that may ensure you never get it back. We won’t be here long enough to have another one shipped. I guess you’ll just have to stay close to me at all times. You can even move to my suite—it has three bedrooms.”

  “Yes, I guess I could do that. Or, here’s a novel idea, you could just use the phone in your room to call me when I’m in my room.”

  He smiles, his dark eyes sparkling with dangerous flirtation. Dangerous to me, that is. “I like my idea much better. You can protect my body with yours much easier if we’re in the same suite.”

  “If you don’t open your door to strangers or go wandering around the hotel alone, we won’t have to worry about that, will we?”

  “You never know, Tawnee. Anything is possible. We certainly didn’t think we’d be chased and nearly nabbed this week, did we?”

  “Actually, I always consider that it is a very real possibility. That’s exactly why I was watching our surroundings so closely. Now, did you come down here just to try to convince me to move into your suite with you?”

  “No, that wasn’t why I came down here at all. I just now had that brilliant idea. The reason I’ve been trying to call you is to take you to the restaurant in the lobby for a nice lunch, then we can spend the rest of the day on the beach together. This morning was perfect. I haven’t felt that relaxed in a long time, even though you saw ghosts everywhere. Since Tabitha rescheduled my meeting for later next week, we’re free to do whatever we want to until then. What do you say?”

  “Well, you are my boss, Raf, and it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re protected at all times. If you’re on the beach, I’ll be on the beach with you, along with several members of the team to keep an eye on the perimeter. But grabbing lunch then spending the rest of the afternoon in and around that crisp blue water sounds like heaven on earth. Give me a minute to change clothes and alert the guys then we can head down to the restaurant.”

  “I’ll call Tony so he can alert the rest of the team to meet us downstairs. You just put your bathing suit on under that dress so we can start doing as little as possible as soon as possible.”

  * * *

  “I’m not eating again today. My God, I’m so stuffed now I can barely move. You are a terrible influence on me.” I plop down on the lounger in our cabana, ready to take another nap after the feast we just enjoyed.

  “Au contraire, my love. I’m not a bad enough influence on you—yet. I’m working on it, though.”

  “Just lie down in the hot Dubai sun and shrivel up like a prune in silence, please.”

  He chuckles beside me. “Are you going to relax this time so we can enjoy it?”

  “Yes, if you’ll behave and not try to swim up and down the coast alone.”

  “Done. I’m staying right here beside you. I’m not quite up for the Iron Man today.”

  “How does your neck feel now?” I glance over at Raf as he stretches out beside me in the beach cabana, his bronzed skin already darkening in the sun.

  “A little sore. Maybe you should massage it for me and make it feel better.” A smile plays on his lips, though he tries to hide it.

  “Or maybe I should make you an appointment with the spa and let the professionals handle that for you.”

  “I’m positive I would feel much better if you rubbed it instead of someone I don’t know.”

  My thoughts immediately stray directly where they shouldn’t—ever—especially not about my boss. Nevertheless, I don’t believe for one second that we’re still talking about rubbing his neck at the moment.

  “I’ll call the doctor again and have him give you a hand sooner than expected. If you’re still in pain, he should make sure nothing else is going on—even if that means a trip to the hospital.”

  “Nothing else is going on, that’s the whole problem.” Now he does smile, and his white teeth glimmer against his tanned skin. “I’m trying to fix that little oversight, if you’d just let me.”

  “Excuse me, sir. I’m so sorry to disturb you.” The hotel concierge appears next to the cabana, waiting for Rafael to acknowledge him before continuing.

  Raf opens his eyes and sits up when he sees the man is wearing a hotel uniform and name tag. “No trouble at all, Ahmed. What can I do for you?”

  “There are four gentlemen at the beach entry gate who claim they urgently need to speak with you. They claim to be acquaintances of Miss Milano.” His eyes momentarily skim over to mine.

  “What are their names, Ahmed? Do you know?” Four men are here to see me? That’s not ominous at all.

  “Yes, ma’am. Their names are Silas Steele, Nick Tucker, Blake Mills, and Roman Scott.” Ahmed reads the list from a piece of paper in his hand, then waits for instructions from us.

  Since they aren’t guests of this hotel, they’re not allowed on the grounds without specific reservations for the restaurants or spa.mBut I’m beyond shocked and concerned. What the hell are those guys doing here?

  “Rafael, I know them. I used to work with all of them in Miami. If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate your giving permission for them to join us. Something must be terribly wrong for them to be here, asking to see you.”

  “By all means. As long as you know them, they are welcome to join us. Ahmed, please show them to our cabana when they arrive. Thank you.” When Ahmed walks away, Raf turns his attention to me. “What do you think all this is about?”

  “I have no idea why they would be here. Miami is a long way from here, and there’s an eight-hour time difference on top of that. Combined with what happened a couple of days ago, their arrival in Dubai is more than a mere coincidence.”

  “How would they have found us? It’s not as if this hotel would give out customer information.”

  “They have the skills and means to get that information without calling the hotel. How they found us doesn’t concern me as much as why they want to find us. Something big must be happening. We may need to cut this trip short and get you out of here on zero notice.”

  “I’m sorry, love, but that’s not happening. If I don’t see this through now, it’ll never happen. The sellers weren’t offended with the first change of plans because they’re well aware most of the people here drive like a bat out of hell. But if I bail on them and leave the country, they’ll never speak to me again.”

  “It really isn’t my place to say this, but because I genuinely care about your safety, I feel like I should. Raf, you have more than enough money. Is closing this real estate deal really worth risking your life over?”

  He pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it. “Thank you for worrying about me. I know you take your work very seriously, but I also know I’m more than only a job to you. But there’s something you should know by now, Tawnee. There’s no such thing as having enough money. Besides, I also trust that you’ll keep me safe.”

  “You are an impossible man.”

  “Impossible to resist? Impossible to forget? Impossible not to love? There are so many possibilities to finish that thought. Which did you mean?”

  “Rafael, I’ve worked for you for nearly three years now. If there’s one thing you know about me, it’s that I say exactly what I mean.”

  He laughs and nods. “This, I do know. Absolutely.” He pauses for a moment, looking at me with a thoughtful expression, and part of me wishes I could read his mind. Then he lifts his knuckles and skims them over my cheek. “You’re so beautiful. Your black hair shimmers in the sun. Your deep hazel eyes both captivate me and see straight through me. For the longest time now, I’ve been dying to kiss your luscious lips just to know how you taste. And, for the record, the more you blush like that, the more I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking. That fact that you have no idea how fucking sexy you are makes you even more special.”

>   Ahmed clears his throat from behind us, saving me from trying to come up with a reply. Rafael casually turns to greet his guests while I slide off the end of the lounger to say hello to my friends. Then I stop dead in my tracks when I see Roman’s face, even though I knew he was on his way in. The red creeping up his neck to his face isn’t because of the sun. His hands are curled into tight fists at his sides. His eyes narrow, crinkling at the edges as they draw tighter and tighter. His teeth are clenched so hard, I can see the muscles jumping in his jaw.

  After three years apart—because of his bullshit—he has the nerve to show up here and glare at me like that?

  I don’t fucking think so.

  When I see Silas, Nick, and Blake, I ignore Roman and rush to hug the other men. I haven’t seen them in three long years either, and I’m genuinely happy they’re here.

  “Silas, what are you doing here? It’s hardly a coincidence that we’re in the Middle East at the exact same time.”

  “It’s not a coincidence at all, Tawnee.” Silas looks over at Roman, who still hasn’t spoken to me, before cutting his eyes back to me. The other men exchange curious glances—confusion, shock, relief, lots of questions—but no one says anything. “Roman received a coded message from you on our secure system. It said you needed immediate extraction from the country because of an assassination attempt.”

  “What? Are you joking? I haven’t used that system in three years. That message wasn’t from me.”

  All eyes shift to Roman as we wait for him to further explain this mystery message.

  “What? Why are you looking at me? I showed you the message—I sure as hell didn’t send it to myself.”

  “Oh shit.” I close my eyes and mentally berate myself for my stupidity. “We had an incident a couple of days ago that resulted in a wreck. There was also an altercation and a lot of commotion. My phone has been missing since then, but I just assumed I dropped it in the car while I was fighting off those men. What if one of them took it and cracked the code?”

  “Cracked Brad’s code? Come on.” Roman automatically dismisses my theory. Seems nothing has changed in the last three years.

  “Roman, think it through. That’s the simplest explanation, no matter how improbable you think it is. We already know someone hacked into Dubai’s traffic cameras and deleted all the footage of the wreck. Why couldn’t that same someone hack Brad’s system?” Silas turns his attention back to me. “Can we finish this conversation somewhere a little more private and a little less exposed to potential sniper fire?”

  “Thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter 5

  Roman

  Tawnee pulls on a summer dress over her bathing suit then heaves a massive bag onto her shoulder. Not that she’s incapable of handling it on her own, but my mom raised me better than to stand by and not offer my help. The rest of the team is busy gathering their personal items and making introductions, so I take the opportunity to get a few minutes alone with Tawnee. When she walks between Silas and me on the way toward the hotel entrance, I grab the straps and slide it off her arm.

  “Why do you have such a huge purse, Tawnee?” I chuckle as I turn and walk beside her.

  “That’s not my purse, Roman. It’s Rafael’s very expensive designer bag.” She shakes her head at me, but I see how she looks down at the ground, trying to hide her smile.

  “Rafael carries a purse?” I know exactly what she meant, but I couldn’t miss the chance to get a little jab in.

  Her laugh bursts free before she can stop it. She turns to look at me and pushes her sunglasses up on top of her head. Fuck, I’ve missed those dark hazel eyes—warm golden-brown mixed with olive-green that sparkle and shine with her personality. “No, he doesn’t carry a purse. You know better than that. Don’t play dumb with me. You forget that I know you too well for you to get away with it.”

  “No kidding. I can’t get away with anything around you. You’re worse than Silas.” I glance over at her and smile, trying to keep our banter light. My first thought took me back to when she left me, and how stupid I was ever to let her go.

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

  “You should—that’s exactly how I meant it. Seems your team falls in line with your lead, following your orders to a T.”

  She doesn’t respond right away, which naturally catches my attention. After a loud sigh, she meets my questioning gaze with a shrug. “You know how some of these macho former commandos are. To them, taking orders from a woman is the equivalent of… carrying a purse.”

  “So, you’ve caught shit for having the elite skills and the intense grit needed to be the head of security for one of the wealthiest men in the world? Sounds like they’re more threatened by you than anything else.”

  “It’s not everyone—just one or two who have been more challenging than the others. Let’s just say I’ve had to prove that I mean what I say more than once, but they always see it my way sooner or later.”

  My first instinct is to come to her rescue by taking names and kicking asses of anyone who has disrespected her. But I push those feelings aside because it won’t help our situation, and it won’t earn me any points with her. If anything, my outburst would make her lose the hard-won respect she’s earned so far. However, I am absolutely willing to put those assholes under a microscope and find out every one of their deep, dark secrets.

  Jealousy makes men do stupid things, but when their masculinity is threatened, they can be deadly. That may be just the catalyst one of these guys needs to stage an attempt on their employer, making it appear as if Tawnee was caught in between. Since Tawnee wasn’t the one who called me to her rescue, this could be a case of premeditated friendly fire. Maybe we should use this time to kill two birds with one stone—flush out any potential traitors and cement her place of authority.

  “Which ones have given you the most grief?” I keep my tone nonchalant and conversational to avoid spooking her.

  “Until recently, Tony seemed to be the ringleader. He was Raf’s driver long before I came along and thought he could spot a seasoned tail with one glance. We’ve had a couple of instances occur where that wasn’t the case at all, and we narrowly escaped. He resented my input on more defensive driving maneuvers. The last time he disobeyed a direct order, he and I had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting, and I ended up telling him it was my way or the highway. He’s still with us, so he chose my way, and I haven’t had to give him an order twice since then.”

  Note to self: Kick Tony’s ass.

  “And what about Raf?” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice when I say his name. Raf. He makes me want to ralph.

  Her head jerks in my direction, and I know without a doubt she picked up on the subtle change in my voice. “What about him?”

  “What does he say about his security team disobeying your orders?”

  She narrows her eyes at me but ultimately decides to leave it alone. For now, anyway. “Rafael offered to fire Tony and let me choose a suitable driver as his replacement. He fully supports me and my abilities to handle his safety—no matter what it takes.”

  “That must’ve chapped Tony’s ass to hear that.”

  “I think it made him realize how seriously Rafael took my role in his organization and made Tony appreciate my input more.” The words are there, but her tone lacks conviction. She may have believed that at one time, but now she’s not so sure. “Wait a minute, do you think one of my own staff is behind this? Like they’re staging a coup against me or something?”

  “I’m not prepared to accuse anyone on your team of attempted kidnapping, but I also can’t vouch for them. Until I’ve vetted them, I have to view everyone as a suspect.”

  “And who asked you to vet anyone? You know I appreciate you how you dropped everything at a moment’s notice and came running because you thought I was in trouble. But as you can see, I’m not in trouble. I’m fine, and I’m not asking for your help or your interference with my job.” She stops walking and conf
ronts me face-to-face.

  I’d expect nothing less of her.

  “I’m not trying to take over your job, Tawnee. I have a job. The four of us are here for you—no one and nothing else. We didn’t just come running at a moment’s notice. We hopped on the next flight out of Miami and flew halfway around the world. For you. After someone has already chased you and erased the traffic camera footage, do you really think they’ll just slink back into the shadows and disappear? Someone hacked into Brad’s system and sent an encrypted message to me—and only me—and made it appear to come from you. Only someone who knows you would know to contact me through that app.”

  A shocked expression passes over her features for half a second before she hides behind her mask again. Her chest rises as she takes a deep breath then she puts her hands on her hips. “You’re right. None of this is a coincidence, and I’m clearly not thinking straight. I’m sorry for overreacting—I know you’re just trying to help. Thank you, Roman. Your showing up here means more to me than you know.”

  We begin walking again, though the rest of the clan has nearly caught up with us now. “How have you been? You know, before this week went to hell in a handbasket.”

  “Fine.” She glances in my direction but doesn’t make eye contact with me. “I’ve been very busy, obviously. Rafael travels constantly, and his security team is always with him. We rotate days off, but we’re almost always in a different country. We’re scheduled to be here for a month before we get to head home and stay there until the end of September. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that long of a break in his schedule.”

  “You two seem close.” Yeah, I had to go there. It’s eating me alive. Since the moment I saw her lounging in the ocean-side cabana with him in her barely there bikini, oiled skin, and carefree smile. He doesn’t deserve that smile from her.