Saved by a Dangerous Man (11 page)

But maybe he’d been hoping that it was otherwise. From the first, I’d presented myself as a woman who didn’t get attached. Everything between us was sex and affection. But love? Not that. And he’d told me that he still mourned his wife.
 

I bit my lip and cursed myself.

Corbin caught my chin and lifted it. “Audrey, I wouldn’t be worried about what you said if you could have repeated it. That you can’t… it makes me think that it’s true.”

“That is insane logic.” I jerked away from him.
 

“I’m not asking you to do anything except repeat what you said earlier.”

I couldn’t think straight. “How do I convince you that I’m fine? That I’m not turning into some psycho clingy girl who plans out the names of our kids and orders monogrammed sheets.”

Corbin winced. I was so deep in the hole that I couldn’t see daylight anymore.
Shut up, Audrey.
I was making things so much worse. And there was only one way out. “I said that I was falling in love with you. Ok. That’s what I said. But I didn’t mean it. How pathetic do you think I am?”

Corbin’s mouth was open, and he worked his jaw a little from side to side. He looked away, probably embarrassed for me. “Guess that’s settled, then,” he said.

“I hope so.”

Someone knocked at the door. I was too naked for company. I recovered my shirt and bra and hurried into the bedroom to collect the rest of my clothes and get dressed.

When I came out, Corbin was standing at the dining room table, and he wasn’t alone. A pretty woman with glossy, chin-length dark hair stood with him, their heads bowed over a tablet computer. I guessed she was in her late twenties. She had the type of trim, naturally athletic body that I usually only saw on fitness-but-really-fashion magazines near supermarket checkouts. She looked up at me. I could tell she was surprised, though she hid it quickly.

Corbin looked over. “Jennifer, this is Audrey.”

Jennifer covered the floor between us with a few quick strides. She shook my hand. Professional. Confident. “Nice to meet you, Audrey. I’ll be taking Corbin’s place for the next few days.”

Taking his place?
I assumed she was talking about something other than sex. “Hi.” I shot a questioning look at Corbin.
 

“I have to leave tomorrow,” he said. “Jennifer will keep you updated. She’ll get you what you need, and when you want to go out, she’ll accompany you.”

“Wait, what?”

Jennifer smiled warmly. “Mostly you’ll be alone. Unless you want me here.”

Though still uncomfortable, I nodded. “Thanks.”

She smiled again. “You did good work in Florida, you know. Very impressive.”

“Audrey grew up in the family business. Bounty hunter,” Corbin said. “She’s got a rare skill set.”

My cheeks warmed at his casual compliment.
 

“Now explain to me what I’m looking at.” He held out the tablet. “Who signed off on this?”

Jennifer glanced at me, and I could tell she wanted to say something that I wasn’t supposed to hear.
 

“I’ll just be…” It didn’t matter where I went. I walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
 

I perched on the edge of the bed. I wasn’t used to being told to sit quietly in hiding while the adults took care of the dirty work. I had hauled in men who were 220 pounds of angry, tattooed muscle. People so high on drugs that they were dangerous to me as well as themselves. Sometimes I’d had Rob’s help, or one of Dad’s part-timers, but I’d often been on my own. I wasn’t afraid to dig around in mailboxes and trash cans looking for clues, and I didn’t avoid the bad parts of town. I’d gone after Corbin Lagos by myself, in a snowstorm. Without a gun. Without backup.

Corbin thought I’d been reckless. He was right. But it proved that I wasn’t a wimp.

I stretched and smiled. I wanted what he had: a job where I got to go up against the heavy hitters, a chance to take them down.

“Even if taking them down involves murder?
” a quiet voice in my head wanted to know.

Corbin had said I’d never have to do something like that, but I wasn’t naive. If I got into a me-or-the-bad-guy situation, my self-preservation instincts would kick in.

Self-preservation. Was that what had turned me into a babbling, love-denying coward? Seemed I was a wimp after all.

Rather than replay that humiliating conversation, I studied the room for the first time. Two dressers, a walk-in closet, king-size bed, dark blue sheets, dark curtains on the windows, neutral but high-quality carpet, matching set of eight black-and-white photos of forests on the walls. It was nice. Much more modern than Corbin’s luxury assassin’s lair, but with a lot more soul than the place he’d considered buying near me.

Who, I wondered, owned this building? The government? And how did all that work, anyway? How much was technically subcontracted? How did Corbin get paid? What did he write on his tax return?

I flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Even though I’d been on my back exactly in this place, I hadn’t even registered that there was a ceiling. Corbin had a way of making me blind. That was a good thing, right? It meant that I really liked him.

But it also meant, well, that I was blind when he was around. That I missed things.
 

It was a new feeling. I was used to guys who were intimidated by what I did for a living. They thought it made me cool, and it definitely kept them respectful.

And then Corbin came along and turned all that upside down.

Someone tapped lightly at the door, and then it opened. “I’m taking off,” Jennifer said. “I’ll be back to check on you in the afternoon. My number’s on the whiteboard if you need to get in touch before then.”

I sat up. I hadn’t seen a whiteboard, hadn’t seen much of anything. “See you tomorrow.”

Jennifer left without closing the door. A minute later, I thought I heard the front door open and close, but I couldn’t be sure. This had to be the quietest building known to humankind.

Corbin entered. “Pizza’s here.”

“I want to take the job,” I said. “I want to work with you.”
 

Instead of smiling and inundating me with all the reasons I’d never regret accepting his offer, Corbin sat on the bed next to me. He took my hand in his. “Audrey, I need to tell you something.”

Oh, shit.

“I have to retract my offer.”

My hands went clammy, and I wished Corbin would stop looking at me. I wasn’t accustomed to rejection on any level, and in less than an hour he had put the brakes on the relationship
and
reconsidered hiring me.

“Why?”

“Things are unstable right now.”

My heart started to beat again. “So after the leaks get sorted—”

“No.” Corbin leaned closer. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Everything has changed.” He kissed me, but I pushed him away.

“Changed? How? What’s so different?”
 

“For one thing, I haven’t disposed of anyone since I met you. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

It wasn’t the kind of statement that lent itself to a quick response, though a dozen quips rose to mind. About it being Christmas already. About him liking fucking me more than killing people. Anything to hide the wave of emotion that had washed over me. I swallowed. “You’re retiring?”

“I want to. I’ve got to see my current project through, and then I’ll make my wishes known.”

I wanted to ask him why. To know if it was a coincidence or if he was doing it for me. But then his mouth brushed mine.

There was hunger in his kiss, and tenderness, too. Longing. Lots of that. Was this what it felt like to be kissed by someone who had feelings for me? I didn’t know. But I liked it, and I wanted more. I kissed him back, sorry that I’d lied to him about my feelings, sorry that I couldn’t change it even now. Because despite my bravery in the face of bodily harm, I was a coward when it came to my heart.
 

I spent the next morning watching tepid talk shows. At 11:00, my phone rang. It was the office, and I sent it to voicemail.

Technically I still had two more days off. Holidays were always a good time to grab fugitives, and Stroop Finders had ruined more than a few family dinners. So Dad tended to give us time off here and there, though not usually in a big clump like this, with the whole office shut down. It wouldn’t be out of character for him to call us in, promising that we could take the extra time at a later date.

A moment later, my brother called. His call, I answered.

“Evaluations,” he said. “Please tell me you’re back in town.”

I hesitated. It would be unfair to make Rob face Dad alone.
 

“You are,” he said. “Noon. He’s doing it over lunch.”

“He must have some bad news.” I straightened, smiling. “Maybe we’re getting fired!”

“Doubt it,” Rob said. “My guess is that he wants us to sign away our lives for another seven years of servitude. Am I right… are you back?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re coming?”

“Guess so.” I hung up, dressed, and grabbed both my phones. Maybe I was supposed to stay put, but me going to a family work function wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Nor would it cause problems for Corbin and his mysterious organization.

But when I reached the elevator, I had a problem. It wouldn’t budge without a code that I didn’t have.

So I took the stairs. At the bottom, I ran into Jennifer, carrying two large hot drinks.

She looked at me, stunned. “Where are you going?”

When I told her, she shrugged. “Sounds harmless. But I’ll have to come with you, you know.”

I really didn’t appreciate having a minder. On the other hand… “I do need a ride.”

“And I happen to have a truck.”

Of course she did, and I bet it was huge and black. She handed me one of the cups. “Hope you like hot chocolate. I didn’t know if you’d prefer whole milk or skim, so I went for 2%.”

“Whipped cream?”

“It’s not hot chocolate without it.”

That deserved my undying loyalty. “Thank you.”

She pushed a code into a keypad, but I wasn’t able to see it. “You couldn’t have gotten out anyway,” she said. “This place is nicknamed Fort Knox.”

“What if there’s a fire?”

She smiled. “It would self-contain.”

“Unofficially, you agree that’s creepy, right?”

She smiled again, shrugged, sipped her hot cocoa.

Even though I arrived at the hostess station exactly on time, I could see my father already seated near the back of the restaurant. To my surprise, Rob came in just behind me.
 

“Ready for this?” he murmured as we walked to the table.

“No, but since when would that make a difference?”

Our father glanced at his watch. There was already a half-empty beer in front of him, and while his bread plate was empty, a dusting of crumbs tattled loud and clear.

“I love employee evaluation time,” I said, taking a seat.

Dad gave me a look that meant this was
serious
and I should conduct myself in a
professional
manner.
 

I folded my hands and sat up straight.
 

“You want something to drink?” Dad asked as the waitress approached.

Stunned, Rob and I exchanged a glance. “Sure,” Rob said. “A lager.”

I opened the wine menu. Letting myself be bribed with alcohol was a bad idea, but a little numbing could only make whatever was coming more bearable. “Glass of the house red,” I said. It was cheap and should be effective.

Dad patted his short curly hair, and I realized that the gray would soon overtake the dark. “All good things must come to an end,” he said. He sighed, tapped his index finger on his butter knife’s handle, making the tip wobble and clink against his plate. “The time has come for me to move on. In short, I’m retiring.”
 

I didn’t need to look at Rob to know that his expression surely mirrored my own: disbelief and shock. Certain that I wouldn’t be able to hide my growing excitement if I said anything, I took a sip of water.

“Congratulations, Dad,” Rob said. “You’ve worked hard, and you deserve to enjoy life before it’s too late.”

“Too late? I’m not about to kick the bucket,” he said, laughing. But I felt a resistance there. He didn’t want to be doing this. My guess was that Martha’s threats had finally broken him down. He could have his job, or he could have a life with someone who adored him, but not both.

“Congratulations,” I said. “When?”

“As soon as the papers are signed.” He avoided our eyes and stared at the middle of the table.

“Ok,” I said. “Let’s sign them.” I punched Rob’s leg under the table. He probably wasn’t as thrilled as I was. He had been quite accepting of the arrangement to show up, do his work and draw a paycheck. Me, I had ideas. And plans. Huge plans.

Rob tried to punch me back, but I shifted away, and he missed.
 

Dad looked at his watch. “There’s one thing that might sound like bad news, but I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think it’s for the best.” He took a swig of beer, his movements big, then he leaned back, puffing out his chest, his head coming up, a hardness settling over his face. “Definitely for the best.”

My heart sank. I recognized this. It was his go-to behavior when he was nervous. The more nervous he felt, the more bravado he took on until he was so cloaked in it that no one would suspect there was a scared man hiding inside.

“What’s that?” Rob asked. Me, I would have kept quiet, forced Dad to do all the work himself.

“I’d always planned to stay on until you kids were about thirty. Old enough that others would know not to mess with you.” Big gulp of beer this time, then he leaned on the table, practically taking over half of it with his upper body. “But it’s not fair to Martha, and to be honest, I don’t have the energy I used to.”

“Maybe if you stopped eating all the time and exercised every once in a while, you’d feel better,” I pointed out.

He turned the hard look on me. “You’re right,” he said loudly. “Martha and I are going on a diet, and I’ll be working hard to get into shape. It will be a lot easier if I’m not perpetually stressed about the business.”