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BOOK: The Talented Mr. Rivers
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Chapter 2

The new bodyguard, Ed something, slapped his hand against the door when Hunter tried to close it on him.

“It's fine.” Will couldn't remember the guy's full name because he didn't plan on keeping him around. Definitely not now that Hunter was back. And from the heated look in Hunter's bright blue eyes, Will knew his former bodyguard intended to stick around. The only question was if the rules had changed.

The new guy, Ed, the one who barely spoke but followed every command, had worked for Peter. He'd been loyal to him. That meant nothing to Will. In this family, just because someone worked with one Rivers sibling didn't mean he would be loyal to another. His brother and sister had fought each other for power for so long, divided the house into warring camps, that Will no longer trusted anyone.

Will had never viewed his home as anything other than a battleground he needed to escape from. He'd lost his mom and his favorite uncle, leaving him with the rest of them. The ones who schemed and plotted and would do anything to anyone if it meant holding the power.

Stacia had made it clear she planned to take over the family business at their father's death, which at the time was imminent. Peter, as the self-appointed heir, did not agree. That's what Will had walked into when his father demanded his return to London and the family fold. His father's strange illness and a lingering sense of guilt had lured Will. Two months later the bloodbath started.

That was all family history he needed to unpack and deal with at some point, but right now he needed to be alone with Hunter. Blond-haired, blue-eyed Hunter. Stoic, possessing a warrior's body. Tall and muscular. Always watching with a quiet intensity that radiated strength. Everything about him from the brooding to the heated glances appealed to Will.

Hunter wasn't classically attractive. He'd be out of place in a wine bar or the symphony, places and things Will hated anyway, despite his father's attempts to pound appreciation of them into him. No, Hunter had a look that said he'd be dirty in bed. Demanding and damn good. He was solid and always seemed unimpressed with the Rivers family, which Will appreciated.

He was desperate to get a firsthand test of his bed theory, but he had one problem. Hunter was a liar. Will would bet on it. Hunter had a past that was almost too perfect on paper.

“You can leave.” Will didn't spare Ed a glance as he gave the order.

“Sir?” Ed cleared his throat. “You should keep someone with you. A bodyguard.”

Hunter swore under his breath. “I'm his damn bodyguard.”

“Were.” Will ushered Ed out the door and closed it behind him.

He let his gaze wander over Hunter. He hadn't changed much in the weeks they'd been apart except for a new sense of fury that seemed to simmer under the surface. The flatness of his eyes was also new but tension still pounded off him and filled the small room.

Will had always known it would be like this. That if Hunter survived the explosion he'd come running. Track him down. Be relentless in finding him. And then what? With the media saying his entire family had perished and the memorial services filled with lofty praise, Will didn't know what came next for either of them. He'd stayed underground for three weeks, but that couldn't last.

“I see you've grown accustomed to ordering people around.” Hunter leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. “That used to bother you.”

Will would not let Hunter take control of this conversation. Being older and bigger would not win this one. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I was thinking the same thing about you.” Hunter's voice turned oddly light, almost amused. “I see you're alive. That's new information.”

“Even though your friends blew up my house and killed my sister.”

Hunter shook his head. “Those weren't my friends.”

“I wonder if my brother would say the same thing.” Will didn't even know if Peter had survived the fire. The walls had caved in, and just when Will was convinced he'd die engulfed in fire, Peter literally shoved him out of the way and told him to run. Shouted instructions and promised they'd meet up at a prearranged place. Peter had never arrived.

“Where is he?” Hunter asked.

Will had been trying to answer that question ever since he raced into the escape tunnel on his family's property. Just as he'd been trained to do since he could walk. “Not your problem.”

“You are my problem.” Hunter dropped his arms to his sides.

“I'm your boss.”

Hunter's blank expression didn't change. “I work for your family, not you. Well, technically, I guess for Peter. Stacia is dead.”

The harsh words ripped through Will. He'd known about his sister. The guards who'd been shadowing him since the fire had told him the truth and it had plunged him into a darkness he'd had trouble spinning back out of. Thanks to living a good distance away and a family dynamic that pitted Rivers against Rivers, they hadn't been close for years. But she'd saved him once. She and Peter had, and despite everything that had happened since, Will had never forgotten that.

But what happened inside the family wasn't exactly common knowledge. He wasn't sure how much Hunter had picked up from being a bodyguard and standing around watching, but surely he'd known who'd been paying him before the explosion.


Worked
. You seem to be having trouble with past tense these days.” Will pushed away from the door and walked around the room. It didn't take long to reach the opposite side. The couches sat against the wall, leaving only a serving cart the bartender's assistant had delivered and a small table. Still, he needed to move. The energy pinging around inside him had his heart revving.

Hunter watched. “Where have you been?”

Will stopped directly in front of Hunter. Just a few feet away and ready to do battle. This close, Will could smell Hunter. He remembered the soap. Clean, like the outdoors. “Reestablishing a home base in France. You?”

Hunter's gaze dipped. Brief, but it happened. Right down Will's chest, then back up again. “Looking for you.”

Heat rolled off Hunter and slammed into Will. He took a step back before the need to touch could kick his ass. When that didn't work, he took another. “I feel as if this conversation is going in circles.”

“Right.” Hunter nodded toward the closest couch. “Sit.”

“You think you give the orders now?” Will hated how much he liked the idea. How much he'd thought about Hunter after the explosion. Though Will didn't trust him, the desperation to find him had hit Will harder than the need to find his brother, to grieve for his sister, which was pretty twisted and sick.

“You're taking stupid risks.” Hunter straightened from the wall and stalked toward Will. Didn't stop until he stood over Will's shoulder. “A fucking club? Anyone could walk in here.”

Will turned to face him head-on. “It's supposed to be private, but I do see now how others sneak their way in.” Hunter was
right there
. Unblinking as he loomed without even moving. “How did you get an invite, exactly?”

“You know I broke in.” Hunter shifted, closing the distance between them. “And since when am I an ‘other'?”

Will felt the nearness right to his gut. His breathing kicked up. “That's the problem. I don't know what you are.”

Hunter leaned in. Put his mouth right near Will's ear. “The only chance you have of surviving.”

The breath skimmed across Will's skin, but he refused to back up. Didn't want to. “I've done fine.”

“Because you've been living underground, not going out. Not being seen in public.”

All true. He didn't have his siblings' survival instincts. That ability to devour and destroy anything in their path. He also didn't have money hidden in unknown locations, like his brother. Didn't have a team of people supporting him, ready to move in with weapons and resources.

While he'd been at school, they'd prepared for the day they might be exposed and hunted. He didn't have that luxury because no one had bothered to tell him he needed to be ready for the CIA to come knocking.

“But you tracked me down.” A fact that had alarm bells ringing in Will's head.

Hunter hesitated. His gaze went traveling again. Lingered over Will's stomach…then lower. “That's my job.”

This guy could seduce with just a look. From the start, Will had wanted to investigate what Hunter hid under that controlled demeanor. Make him lose it while he screamed Will's name.

“I don't remember signing a paycheck.” Which made Will wonder who still was.

“So, you think
you
are the boss now.” Hunter pushed in closer again. Shifted until his chest brushed against the side of Will's arm. “You've taken over Daddy's business.”

Will refused to move. Would not let Hunter know that the touch, even if minimal and a mistake, shot through him. Made him want to slam Hunter's back against the wall and give in to the images that drove him. The vivid ones about what they could do for each other in bed.

Instead, Will stepped away and forced his lungs to work again. Dragged in air without gulping it in, which amounted to a miracle. “For a supposed employee, you aren't very obedient.”

“Never that.” The corner of Hunter's mouth lifted in a satisfied grin. “And I'm more than an employee to you.”

Jesus, it can't be that obvious
. “Don't be so sure.”

“Don't act like you don't remember.” Hunter's smile didn't falter as his gaze moved all over Will. “The times I'd move in close, standing tight up against you while you practiced on the shooting range. How you would maneuver, lean back. Touch me.”

Will felt the heat lick over him, could remember the outline of the bulge pressing into him all those weeks ago. “Yet you never made the next move.”

“Oh, I see you definitely remember.” Hunter's voice dipped lower. “And what about that last week, right before the explosion? The night you started undressing. Stripped and only stopped when the silent alarm tripped.”

Will could call up the memory of every second without trying. That was the day Stacia had decided they had a traitor in the house. Everything had changed after that. “You never came back to my room and I've been doing fine without you.”

Hunter lifted both hands in mock surrender. The move showed off the gun strapped to his side. “Then I'll leave and you can hope the CIA doesn't find you as easily as I did.”

Hunter turned toward the door. Got as far as wrapping his fingers around the handle before stopping. Will beat back the odd sensation moving through him as he watched Hunter prepare to leave. “It took you three weeks, a full twenty-one days, to track me down.”

Hunter froze. “You showed your face in public once and I found you. Immediately. Now I'm right here.”

“I don't trust you.” And that was the problem. Will couldn't unload or discuss strategy. Not until he understood the man standing in front of him, the one looking ready to bolt.

Hunter finally turned around. “You shouldn't trust anyone. You're no longer the kid hiding away in the United States and Switzerland and wherever else you went to get a master's degree and pretend not to know about the family business.”

The power balance flipped and Will vowed to flip it back. “Be careful, Hunter. You're replaceable.”

“Do it.” Hunter gestured toward the door. “Find someone else to protect your pampered ass.”

“Those gentlemen out there do just fine.”

Hunter scoffed. “I guess you're referring to the one I knocked out and the other one I was about to shoot. Right. That pretty ass of yours is safer with me.”

This time Will swapped defense for offense. He moved in. Put his hand against the wall right by Hunter's head. “Are you worried about my ass, Hunter?”

The air changed in the room. For a second, nothing moved. Not either of them. Even the incoherent mumble from the club above them faded out.

“I'm not denying it.” Hunter's voice sounded deeper, rougher.

Now they were getting somewhere. “Before you think about touching anything you'll need to prove you can be trusted again.”

“You act as if I need or care about a job as your bodyguard.”

Oh, he cared. Will could feel it. See it in every line of his body and hear it in the barely perceptible vibration in his voice.

“You waited me out for weeks. I think you care about something.” Will dipped his head, leaning in closer. “More than just my ass, maybe.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

Good question.
“I'll let you know.”

“And until then?”

They needed to move, and that meant taking Hunter home with him. Will knew that equaled trouble, but he went for it anyway. “We should leave before one of the men you knocked out wakes up.”

“Why?”

Will almost laughed. Typical Hunter. “Only you would ask that.”

Chapter 3

Seeing Will now hit Hunter as hard it had the first time. He'd gone into the undercover assignment working for the Rivers Corporation, the legitimate side of the business. That had been his ticket in.

He'd worked security for the textile shipments, watching over tons of materials being moved back and forth overseas. Dealing with shipping piracy concerns and hiring the right people to guard the containers and prevent loss. Then he'd switched to watching over the Riverses' London townhouse, and finally to being part of Stacia's personal protection detail.

No one publicly questioned her need for a constant presence by her side even at informal lunches. She was, after all, extremely wealthy and a bit reclusive. Little did anyone but a few highly placed intelligence officers know that behind the private schools and inside the expensive properties lurked something sinister. A secret family business that Stacia not only took part in but one day hoped to run.

Pentasus was a group whispered about for years in government circles, and until recently believed to be fake, nothing more than an exercise put together by intelligence agencies to test their officers and field agents. Hunter knew better. Thanks to his work, now everyone else did, too.

He'd infiltrated the Rivers family's business. Worked on the legitimate side as a bodyguard until he passed a test, a sick one he still didn't let himself think about. Not that or the other things he'd done to win the family's trust.

Then he learned the truth about Pentasus. It amounted to a trained private militia that rounded up high-value targets for clients or handpicked connected and powerful individuals who could command high prices in dark net auctions. Sometimes they were paid to perform specific jobs. Other times they conducted surveillance on their powerful targets, grabbed them, and then auctioned their lives on the dark net.

The Rivers family employed the muscle but the business decisions and contacts came from them alone. It was all so bloodless and evil that when Hunter heard about the youngest Rivers sibling coming home, the one who had been sent away after his mother died, he'd assumed nothing would change. But he'd been dead wrong.

Will Rivers was home. The guards and household staff of the country estate whispered about him. Commented on how much he'd grown and how he looked a little like his half siblings, but not exactly. Hunter couldn't help but track him down. He had to see for himself. Assess the newest player so he could report back to his superiors at the BND. Working undercover made checking in difficult, but Hunter had been in the game a long time and made it work.

The shooting range. It figured he'd find Will there.

Shots rang out as he approached. The kid could shoot.

Hunter stopped a few feet back, careful not to spook the guy. Studied his broad shoulders and the way his muscles bunched under his T-shirt as he fired. Looked and then looked again. Let his gaze wander down to the guy's ass, which was also pretty damn impressive.

He didn't possess a bulky build. More like one Hunter would expect from a guy who liked to run. At least that's what the BND report said. Will wasn't supposed to have come home, so Hunter hadn't been given much on this brother. The photos he had showed a gawky teen with a certain wariness. Looked like he'd grown out of the gawkiness just fine.

“You always stand behind people with loaded weapons?” The rapid-fire shooting stopped but the bangs still echoed in the distance. “Seems dangerous. Lucky for you, I like a bit of danger.”

Hunter had to smile at that. Sounded like Will had good instincts. A nice deep fuck-me voice…not that he noticed.

He walked up beside Will and squinted to get a better look at the target pinned about fifteen yards away. Hell yeah. The book junkie could shoot. “It's interesting that the first place you go when you come back after being away is to the gun range.”

Will froze. “How long have you been with my family?”

Firm chin, glasses. Hunter took it all in. “Long enough.”

Will lowered the gun. “Then you understand being armed is essential.”

Now that sounded like a Rivers.

Will turned then. Hit Hunter head-on with a big grin. If he hadn't been outside, Hunter would have sworn the lights dimmed. He was pretty sure he heard a crashing sound in his brain—the parts of it that weren't misfiring, anyway.

Will stood slim and confident and…Jesus, he was hot. He possessed the usual Rivers dark hair and good looks, but there was something else. Something compelling and intense that mixed with a face that bordered on pretty. He'd yet to turn twenty-five but he had “it,” that indefinable presence that reeled people in. He certainly reeled Hunter in. Actually had him leaning and waiting to hear more.

What the fuck was that about?

And glasses. The whole sexy nerd package. Who knew that could be hot as hell?

Hunter swallowed as he gave himself an internal shake. “Are you telling me you're just like Peter and Stacia?”

Will unloaded the weapon with perfect skill and checked it again before setting it in the case next to him. “Ah, that's the question, isn't it?”

Seemed he enjoyed games, just as his siblings did. Finally Hunter had found one thing not to like about the guy. “Is there an answer?”

“I like privacy.” Will's focus slipped to Hunter's mouth, then back up again. “I enjoy one-on-one.”

Hunter wasn't even sure what they were talking about, but he knew that look. The subtle dip of a gaze as it slid over him. The way Will's glance shifted to his shoulders, then smoothed over his stomach. Landed on his jeans. Hunter had never gotten hard from a heated look before, never been tempted to screw on one of his jobs. Looked like he'd blown that record.

“Will you be guarding me, Hunter?”

Of course Will knew his name. Still, the question slammed headlong into his control. Shook it, and until right then he'd thought it was unshakable. “Do you want me to?”

Will's gaze took one last tour over Hunter's body. “I think I do want you.”

The rest of the two months had been an extended form of foreplay. They'd never touched. They'd flirted, engaged in innuendo. Spent hours together away from the rest of the family.

Hunter never broke cover and never moved Will ahead of the job. But he'd been tested. They'd exercised in the downstairs gym and Hunter would have to concentrate not to stare.

When Will went out, which was rare but he did like music and to people-watch, Hunter spent half the time reaching for his gun. All coolness gone, he'd move in, only to force his body back when a man came up to flirt with Will. If he'd ever taken one of those groupies home, Hunter might have lost it.

Right before the fire that changed everything and separated them for weeks, the mood had shifted between them. The sexual tension pulsed and pounded. Never left. Something told Hunter all he had to do was make a move and Will would say yes. Only his training and his fears about lowering his resistance stopped him.

He had a job to do. A job he still had to do.

Will's face hadn't changed in three weeks. Neither had the attraction beating between them. The back-and-forth banter and the temptation to stand too close. Even now he hovered right behind Will, could feel him hesitate as the space between their bodies closed.

Three weeks away and one annoying fact had not changed—he wanted Will as much as he wanted to finish this mission.

He couldn't have both.

—

They stepped into the hall to find Ed waiting. He stood against the outside wall, looking down the corridor and almost snapping to attention when he saw Will.

Will wasn't a fan of this amount of attention.

“Everything okay, sir?” Ed's gaze moved from Will to Hunter and back again.

Hunter snorted. “You make him call you ‘sir'?”

This wasn't the time for that debate, so Will ignored the comment and focused on Ed. “We're leaving.”

Ed nodded. “I can get—”

“I'm taking him with me. You can take the night off.” Will knew how that sounded and didn't give a shit. His sexuality wasn't exactly a secret. His father had ignored it, downplayed it. Blamed his mother. Neither sibling had seemed to care, even though Peter did seem a little
too
interested at times. It was as if his way of being supportive sometimes bordered on fetishizing.

Rather than stay and engage in more debate, Will started walking. His feet thudded against the floor as he moved. Having Hunter hovering behind him made Will pick up the pace.

They wound their way through the throngs of people. He didn't talk or discuss what would come next because there's no way Hunter would have been able to hear him over the hum of conversation and steady beat of the music.

After a few minutes Hunter put a hand on his shoulder and assumed the lead. “We're taking a back entrance.”

Interesting phrasing
. Will didn't bother making a joke or pulling rank. “Fine.”

Turning down a side hall, they slipped away from tables and past the bathrooms. The clink of pans and sharp voices floated out of the kitchen area as the door opened and closed next to them. They'd taken a few more steps when a man emerged from what Will assumed was an office and stopped in front of them.

This was a guy who generally blended in. Brown hair, brown eyes. Average in many ways except for his eyes. Talk about dead. Not cool or detached. No, it seemed as if nothing much was going on inside him.

The man looked at Hunter, then to Will. “You can do better than him.”

Hunter swore under his breath. “Move out of the way.”

“Maybe I want to talk to your friend.”

Hunter continued to stare. “You have two seconds.”

Will was surprised Hunter gave him that long. He looked out of patience and ready to hit someone…again.

The guy's eyebrow lifted. “Or?”

“I'm thinking you need a lesson in manners,” Hunter said.

The guy laughed. “Are you going to be the one to teach me?”

Hunter glanced at Will. “I'm starting to wonder if the people at this club have anger management issues.”

“Probably some.” Will had to admit it had been a stranger than average night so far. “You should fit in here fine, then.”

Hunter made a face. “You think I'm angry?”

“Hey!”

At the yell, they both looked at the man in the middle of the hall. His face had flushed with anger and the corners of his mouth were pulled taut as if he was under a significant strain.

Hunter looked the guy up and down. “Are you still here?”

The man made a show of peeking around Hunter's large frame to Will. “Let me show you what you could have.”

“Come on.” Hunter made a face. “Really?”

Will had had enough. “I have to agree. Does that line actually work for you?”

Hunter's arm shot out. In a flash he had the guy pinned to the wall. Hunter's fingers wrapped around his neck and a knife appeared out of nowhere. “Say something now.”

The guy shoved at Hunter. He tried to punch and talk but ended up sputtering.

Will had had enough of this, too. He exhaled, letting Hunter know they needed to wrap this up, then looked at the unwanted stranger. “It's best to concede.”

The guy made a choking sound and Hunter finally let go. He stepped around the man, who was bent over, coughing and swearing and generally making a scene. Then Hunter started walking again, as if the fight hadn't happened.

Hunter glared at Will as they moved in silence toward the back door. “You weren't much help.”

As if Hunter needed any of that. Will thought he'd proved his worth in the last few seconds alone. “You seemed to be handling yourself just fine.”

They ignored the shocked stares as they walked through the employee lounge area and past a set of lockers. Past the private restroom to the door next to it.

Hunter punched in a code on the small security pad and the lock clicked. Before it opened, he turned back. “Still like to sit things out and let other people do the work, I see.”

“Maybe I wanted to see you fight over me.” Will wasn't into that sort of thing, or emotional battles in general. At least he didn't think so. But he wanted Hunter off his game and wondering.

“You want to see me hot and sweaty? Fine.” Hunter's voice dipped lower again. “But I'm not your lapdog.”

Will liked the first part of that sentence. Liked it too damn much. “I'm not sure what you are yet.”

“Figure it out soon or I'm gone.”

BOOK: The Talented Mr. Rivers
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