“Because after yesterday, he knows better than to leave me out of the loop.” Finn’s gaze pins me in place. “Valeriya is dead. Charles and Eric are organizing something behind your back. We were shot at a couple days ago. The CIA is on your ass. Somehow, you’re mixed in with the PLA. If you give me a couple minutes, I can probably come up with ten other reasons you need to be fucking careful.”
At the edge of the bed, I run my hand along his face. “I’ll be careful. I promise.” He circles my neck and pulls me into a kiss. His other arm swoops around my waist, and I can guess what he’s going to do. If he gets me in the bed, I’ll never leave.
Stepping back, I give him another quick kiss, moving out of the way before he can deepen it. The weight of his words tries to rest on my shoulders. But when I open the door, I’m so happy and light they can’t settle. “I won’t leave the hotel.” When I close the door, I glimpse his face. He’s frowning into his coffee. Something is still bothering him, but I haven’t had the guts to ask. I have him. He loves me. I’m not rocking the boat. This is what happy feels like—been too long.
Jay meets me in the hall. “Your guest doing okay?” he asks as we walk.
“Same old.” I give him a sideways glance. “I hear you’re tattling on me now.”
“You didn’t see him yesterday when he found out you’d been taken, and I knew dick all. He was a man possessed. I honestly thought he would kill me before we got the CIA lead.”
“That made him feel better?” I raise my eyebrows.
“The chances of the CIA killing you weren’t high. Imprisoning you, maybe.” He rubs his temple. “He spent a hundred grand trying to track you yesterday.”
“He told me.”
“You two sharing secrets?” He opens the door to the main lobby.
“Something like that.”
“When we’re done talking to Charles and Eric, we’ll need to regroup.”
I spot them across the lobby. “Finn overheard some things in the room.”
“I wondered.” Jay tips his head at my dad and Eric in acknowledgement while he scans the lobby. “I got more info late last night, too.”
“Anything I need to know right now?”
He doesn’t have time to answer because Eric comes striding over, annoyance vibrating off him.
“There’s a thirty-minute wait for a table here.” He glances at his watch. “Your father and I fly out in a few hours. We don’t have time for a lineup.” When he looks up, his eyes narrow. “You look tired.”
I shrug. “Hours of interrogation will do that.” The hours of orgasms didn’t help with the tiredness. Intergalactic travel is so fucking amazing I’d never complain. A wisp of a smile rises at the memory.
Eric’s eyes are slits, and he opens his mouth to speak when Jay says, “Place across the street seems decent.”
“Done,” I say. “We’ll slip over there, have a quick chat over a coffee, and come back here.”
Jay raises his eyebrows as he gets his phone out of his pocket. I cover his hands as he types something.
He scowls at me. “You weren’t there. My head and my shoulders enjoy being attached to each other. Nobody likes a headless Jay.”
Eric’s gaze shifts between the two of us, and I drop it. Stopping him isn’t worth alerting Eric or my father to who’s upstairs and why my body is so deliciously sore.
My father strides toward us, agitated. He and Eric are far too similar sometimes. Why did I ever believe Eric could make me happy? “Did you decide, Carys? You were the holdout for staying in the hotel.”
My sweet smile strains my facial muscles. “We’ll go across the street. Not nearly as busy.”
“Probably shitty food,” my father grumbles.
“Remind me again why you and Eric are here?” I lead the way toward the hotel exit. Jay picks up his pace to leave ahead of me. I may not have seen Finn raging yesterday, but the evidence is written across Jay like a billboard.
“You’re my daughter. You were missing. Where else would I be?”
Several places spring to mind without me trying hard, and none of them is a second-rate hotel in Ireland. There are few times I can remember my father putting his wants, his needs, after mine.
“And you?” I glance at Eric.
He scoffs and shakes his head. “We were engaged once. Those feelings don’t just turn off.”
“Well, I suppose that was the problem with our engagement. You couldn’t turn off those feelings for anyone.”
Beside me, Jay snorts and then covers it up with his fist and a cough. When we get to the pub across the street advertising an Irish breakfast, Jay enters first and the three of us stand outside the door for a minute.
“This is the new protocol?” My father puts his hands on his hips. “He sweeps the place before you ever enter? Seems to be an overreaction to a CIA meeting.”
I sigh and purse my lips. Impossible to win. “How about me almost being shot? How about Valeriya being murdered? How about the PLA doing business with my company behind my back? Any of that seem worth extra precautions?”
Eric’s hand settles on my hip, and I step away from him. Jay pops his head out the door and nods to me. We file in and find a booth in the rear.
Jay orders our food from the bar and then slides in beside me. “The PLA.” He stares at my father and Eric. “My intel says one of you is behind at least a few of those deals.”
My father shrugs. “I never had a problem working with people who could pay. The politics is none of my concern.”
My temper simmers below the surface. “The last time you interfered, I told you to say out of the business or to be all in. You’ve completely fucked me. The CIA has a file which makes me appear solely responsible for those deals.”
“You didn’t let me finish.” My father holds up his hand. “I stopped dealing with them when you told me to step away. However irrational and ill-informed your wishes might have been, I respected them.”
I turn to Jay. Was my father being truthful?
“The last deal happened a week ago. And the products they bought came from our warehouse theft.” He picks up his phone and finds the email before handing it to me.
I sigh and scan the information. “He’s right. The product numbers match.”
Eric sips his coffee and remains silent. Finn said Eric had something to do with Valeriya’s death, and Valeriya was coming to meet with the PLA.
“You met Valeriya a few times, didn’t you, Eric?” I cock my head at him as the waitress delivers our food.
He clears his throat and takes another sip of his drink. “Possibly.” He sets cup onto the table before picking up his knife and fork. “Not everyone is memorable.”
He’s a fucking liar. Not that I’m surprised. The smoothness of the lies as they tumble out—that’s what astounds me. Was he always like this?
My father’s phone rings, and he takes it out of his pocket before silencing it. When our gazes connect, he sighs. “Your mother. She’s having a late-in-life crisis. I’m giving her space to deal with it.”
I shovel a mouthful of egg into my mouth to keep my rant from spilling out. My father has never been supportive of emotional outbursts. Any time I wanted his attention, I had to make damn sure I was stoic, controlled, no hint of emotion. Dealing with my brother’s illness and death were a million times worse because of my father’s unspoken rule.
“Why’s she upset?” I ask.
“The past. Always the past. The thing she doesn’t understand is you can’t go back. Once a choice is made, you might as well forget you had a choice. It’s that simple.”
I frown and take another forkful of food, chewing while I think. “Is this something you did or something she did causing the regret?”
“Something she did—but she’s upset because she says I asked her to do it—no, demanded it. Which is ridiculous. I’d never do that. Her memory is faulty.”
Whenever he becomes the blustering old man, he’s covering a lie. A weird tell, but tha
t’s his. He goes too far with his denial.
“So many years she never talked about it—like it didn’t happen,” he says. “I don’t understand what’s gotten into her.”
“Are you going to tell me why she’s upset or just talk in half-truths?”
He glances up at me as though he’s realized what he’s saying. “I can’t tell you. Her shame, not mine.”
I scratch the nape of my neck and decide I’ll never get to the bottom of their issues. My mother and I aren’t close—not anymore. When I broke my engagement to Eric, a switch flipped in her. Every time I went to see her, she asked about him. When would I forgive him? When would I take him back? He was, after all, such a nice man.
“When are you returning to Chicago? Regular work needs to resume,” Eric says as he polishes off the last of his breakfast.
An image of Finn, surrounded by plush white covers pops into my head, and I have to suppress a smile. “Technically I’m still working right now. I came to identify Valeriya, my employee. Prior to that I was in Russia trying to track our stolen goods.”
“And before that you were in Switzerland harboring a fugitive.” Eric’s gaze is stony when it meets mine.
The urge to tell him I’ve been harboring Finn all over the place is almost irresistible. “My personal life is mine.”
“When it interferes with business—”
“My father,” I gesture toward my dad, “can give me a hard time about mixing my personal life and my job. He’s my father. He used to run and own everything. I’ll take that. From you? Not one more word. If you can’t remember your place in my life and in this company, you’ll find yourself on your ass hunting for a job.”
Eric raises his hands. “All right. All right. Settle down, Carys.”
My father glances at his watch. “We need to catch our plane.” He rises from his seat and tosses his napkin beside his plate. “You’ll take care of the bill, Carys?”
“Of course,” I say. “We’ll be heading back to Switzerland later today. You can call me at the house if there is anything urgent. I’ll be trying to sort out a few things while I’m there.”
Such as what Finn will do for a job or how I’m going to get his money. He hates being too dependent on me.
My father gives a curt nod, but Eric’s face is stormy as he stands. “You won’t keep him there forever.”
I tilt my head at him. “He’s safe there. Whether he stays there forever is up to him and me.”
His gaze searches mine for a moment. “He’s a murdering fugitive. There’s no forever with a guy like him.”
“Not your concern who I spend forever with, Eric.”
His eyes narrow and then his face clears, and he smirks. His fingertips trace the side of my face, and I stare him down, cool, defiant. He kisses my cheek. My father waits impatiently at the door. He tips his head toward the outside. With one last lingering look, Eric follows my father out.
“What was that about?” Jay drains the last of his coffee.
I sit back in my chair. “I don’t know. Did he always treat me like that?”
“He did.”
“Huh.” Silence fills the space between us for a beat. “Finn knows we’re here?”
“He does.”
“So I’m in trouble.”
Jay’s lips twist in amusement. “You’re probably in for a tongue lashing.”
A burst of laughter is out before I can catch it. I dig money out of my purse and drop it onto the table. My smile is sly. “I do enjoy the way his tongue lashes.”
“I heard.” He grins. “My room is right next to yours, and those walls aren’t as thick as you’d think. Then my wife heard the two of you through the phone, and I got an actual tongue lashing on how I don’t do enough for her anymore.” He chuckles. “Might have to get pro-tips from Finn. Calm my wife the fuck down.”
I shake my head and hold my hand over my eyes as I laugh. My cheeks are hot, but I am also impossibly, absurdly happy.
“It looks good on you.” Jay opens the door and steps into the street ahead of me.
“What does?”
“Happiness.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Finn
We’ve been in Switzerland for a week with no problems. Things have been so good between me and Carys, but there’s this weird heaviness in my chest. I’ve always been content. I’d never have labeled myself as happy, but I had the business, my brother, a shit-ton of income, and enough women to keep me from longing for the one I’ve got now.
She travels around the office getting things organized to talk to Sean about my money. She’s sure we can secure it without having to go to Boston and without the FBI catching on. I am less convinced. Broke is better than Carys being in jail. I couldn’t care less about what happens to Sean or anyone else from my old organization. That life is so far away.
Even though I’m worried, I can’t very well live off her wealth. For the rest of our time together, I’d be a kept man, or I’d slide into something illegal just to have control. I hate her solution, but I don’t have an avenue around it. Cash equals independence.
At the darkest corner of my mind, like a fucking ticking clock, is Eric’s determination to get Carys. Whatever he’s attempting behind her back, he’s confident his plan will draw her closer to him and not farther away. Late at night when she sleeps, I wrack my brain trying to determine what he’s got, what he’s doing to make her want him.
“You won’t be able to stay in Switzerland long-term with your head office in Chicago,” I say as she settles behind her desk.
“I know.” She doesn’t meet my gaze. “I’ve been thinking of a solution. We’ll have to figure out a way to make it work. I can fly here on weekends or work from here if there’s nothing urgent there. Delegate more. Have virtual meetings.”
I press my fingers into my forehead. “A lot of fucking work.”
A slow smile spreads across her face. “You’re over there glowering. Are you happy?”
Her amber eyes are shining with so much love it’s impossible to break eye contact.
“Yeah. I am.” With a deep breath, I run a hand down my cheek. “Makes me paranoid something will knock me a peg or two.”
She comes around the desk to sit on my knee. “Well, there’s still a lot going on. But there haven’t been any more packages since we returned. No more thefts. At least some product from the original warehouse went to the PLA. We haven’t been shot at, and no one has died in the last week.”
I laugh. “You’re making my point for me. Things are going too fucking well.” My loose hold around her waist isn’t enough, and I tug her closer. “We still don’t have a clue what your father and Eric will drop in your lap in a few weeks.”
She grimaces. “Whatever it is, we’ll be fine. It can’t be anything too serious or Jay would have caught wind of it. He hasn’t seen his family in so long. I’m feeling like the worst employer ever.”
My mouth quirks up. “He’s still alive. So you’re not the worst employer.”
She slaps my shoulder, and I haul her against me so her face finds the crook of my neck. “What time is Sean calling?” I murmur in her ear.
“Any minute. He needed a secure line that couldn’t be traced.”
“So I have a minute or two.”
She laughs. “That’s not going to satisfy me.” When she gets off my lap, I give her ass a little swat.
“Would have satisfied me. Temporarily.” She holds my gaze as she goes to her seat. Our minds are in sync. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? Pulling up your skirt, bending over the desk, me coming up behind you, my hand—”
The shrill ringing of the phone on her desk makes Carys jump.
I grin.
“Hold that.” She picks up the receiver, breathless.
Bank numbers and routing codes go back and forth between them, with her clicking through various websites. She asked an IT guy at her company to set up the backdoor shit she’s doing with Sean right now. Makes me
fucking nervous. So unnerving to care this much for someone else and to be unsure everything will work out, that she’ll be safe, unharmed by the fallout I brought to her door.
When she gets off the phone, her gaze meets mine.
“It’s done. Modest amounts in dozens of bank accounts, but you’ve got money again. We can go to the bank later today and decide which account you want to use as your primary.”
“I’m surprised Sean was fine with handing over that much equity.” I search her face. “He give you any resistance?”
“The legal side of the exchange. He’s not keen to go to jail for aiding you.” She winks at me. “I told him a broke Finn was an angry Finn with nothing to lose.”
I smirk and glance away. That’s not true anymore, but I can understand how her argument would be persuasive.
She kneels between my legs, and my chest aches at the sight of her. Shouldn’t giving into these emotions have stabilized me or at least not made them worse? My desperation, to keep her safe, to keep this closeness forever, has peaked. Anyone who hurts her will suffer my wrath.
I smooth a piece of her hair behind her ear. “When does Ekaterina arrive?”
“Two hours.” She undoes my jeans and gazes at me under her lashes. “I wonder how we can pass the time?”
I slide my hand up her leg and under her skirt to caress her ass. She’s not wearing any panties. God, I love her. “You want to see the stars?”
Her smile is wicked as she frees me from my jeans. “I love mapping the constellations.”
Cupping her ass with both hands, I lift her onto her desk. “Well, who am I to deny you?”
Her laugh gets swallowed up when my lips descend on hers.
~ * ~
There are still rooms in the chalet I didn’t realize existed. We’re in the boardroom above the garage. I thought the door into here was a closet. Architecture is not my forte. Lena is showing Ekaterina through when she arrives. While we wait, I make a mental note to revisit this space. The wooden table stretches across most of the room with rolling chairs at regular intervals. Table. Chairs. Projector wall. I want every nook, crevice, surface in this house to remind her of me, of us, of how good being with me is. No matter what Eric’s got planned, she won’t be able to consider anyone or anything other than me. She’s mine, and I have no problem playing dirty to keep her.
Resurrection Page 16
