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I look up at him and realize I left my door open. I very rarely do that. He’s a new guy, so he doesn’t know not to walk in without knocking. He’s been pushing the limits with me for the couple of weeks he’s been here. He found us online, and I’m wondering if he’s a good fit or not.
“Can I help you?” I ask him as he steps further in. He cranes his neck, trying to see if he can see anything on my desk. “My office is off limits usually.” I’m about to ask him to leave when Murtaugh stands from his bed and walks over. He growls low in his throat, and I know to trust my dog. “Young, why don’t you take off for the rest of the week? We don’t have any assignments right now. Post-holiday, there isn’t usually a lot going on. We’ll see you Monday. Have a nice weekend.” I look down at my desk, but I make sure I keep him in my peripheral vision, confident he’s going to show his hand now.
“Oh, no, I don’t have any plans. I was wondering if I could take you out for drinks.” His eyes move up and down my body. Today I’m not dressed in my usual work attire because I have plans with Leif after work. I’m in a pair of jeans, a white slouchy long-sleeved shirt, and a blue blazer that has an antique military look to it with buttons up and down both sides.
“You’d better walk away now.” A deep voice comes from the doorway, and I look up to see Leif standing there.
It’s only Thursday, but after we told Franci and the others we were dating at Christmas, we are together most evenings. We don’t always go to the club anymore on Fridays. Tonight, we are picking up Franci and taking her to the local mall. She wants to do some shopping before the next semester starts. We are also going to share with her that we are talking about taking a trip together to New York. Leif has a tattoo expo he’d like to attend there. I want to share this with the man I love because it’s his passion.
Wait. Back the fucking train up. Did I just think that? Oh my God, I do love him. It’s not just a feeling. It’s an all-consuming need to be with him as much as possible and to be around him. To hear his voice. And right this minute, my man is laying his claim on me publicly, and I’m turned on.
There is still so much I need to share with him, but we’ll get there. I just pray that when I tell him the truth of how damaged I am, he won’t walk away from me. I watch him with Ryan and Jas’s son, and it scares me.
“Oh, who are you?” Young asks Leif, and I bite my tongue. It’s time. I haven’t shared with my team that I’m seeing someone. They’ve all probably figured it out, but it isn’t information they needed to know.
“I’m her boyfriend.” I watch as Leif stands straighter. He’s so sexy. I almost get lost in the fog of lust until I see Young look between me and him again. It’s not a look of a man who’s shocked but calculating as he drops his brows.
“Okay. Didn’t know that.” I wait to see if he’s going to bury himself. “Thought I noticed her flirting with me.” He shrugs and moves to go past Leif.
But my man doesn’t let him go by. He shakes his head. The corner of one side of his mouth tips up ever so slightly in a smirk. “You and I both know she wasn’t. Now get your ass out of here before she fires you. You’ve been warned. Don’t let it happen again.” Leif doesn’t move right away. He stands there, letting Young process the information and the threat. My man is smart enough he doesn’t turn his back on him.
I stand from my desk with a deep sigh, and a piece of paper catches my eye. I pull it out and hold on to it while I take care of Young.
“You know what. Never mind.” I move to the other side of my desk. “I’ll send you your final paycheck. I don’t deal with liars.” I wave him off, and before he can say anything else, one of my guys who I’ve known a long time, overhears and grabs Young by the arm.
“Let’s go, rookie,” he growls as he leads him out of the building.
We wait until they are in the elevator before we relax, and then Leif is walking toward me. I can’t stop the need that courses through my body. I want to feel him whip me and take me like he did last week against the cross. I watch as he smirks, and his eyebrows lift slightly.
“Want something, love?” He takes me in his arms, and I wrap my arms around him and let him kiss me. His tongue slides against mine as his hands grip my ass and pull me up him. He’s not built wide, but his strength is so evident in the way he holds me.
I open my eyes when he pulls back, and I look over his shoulder. I see the paper that I had in my hand. It’s fisted, and that’s when I see it.
“Motherfucker.” I pull away from him and turn back to my desk. I flatten out the paperwork. I look at the dates, and the reality of the situation sets in. There is only one person that can confirm this. I slip my phone out of my pocket and take a picture of the document.
“Everything okay, love?”
I turn and look up at him from my bent over position. I know he can see everything because I’m not hiding it from him anymore.
I slowly shake my head. “No. I just found the proof I need that I was targeted, and my team set up.” I look back down to the travel itinerary showing a ticket purchased by Roger Thant for a man who I know as Fasttrack traveling to Kandahar. My team was attacked not far from there in an insurgent encampment. Deere was killed there. It looks like Roger set everything in motion, and I don’t know why.
“We’ll get this figured out, but we need to get to Franci,” he offers, and I know he’s right. Even though Franci has been home for the holiday break, she went back to campus today for a special project she’s working on.
“Just a sec, let me text this to someone.”
I open the texting app and type in the phone number I’ve had memorized since I was eighteen. I know he’ll see it and figure it out before I can. I’m good at strategizing, but this right here is investigations that need to be checked at the government level. I got this intelligence when I did a deep dive into each of Thant’s men in my search to find them so I could kill them. I haven’t gone after Mule or Fasttrack yet because I decided I needed to find another way besides murder. Crank is always real close to Roger, so I knew I couldn’t go after him yet.
Rogue
Look at this and confirm what I see.
I attach the image and know he won’t respond back to me. I slip my phone in my back pocket and grab my bag so we can head out.
“Let’s take one of my rigs.”
“I got the Escalade with me.” Leif points out to the parking lot, but something in my gut tells me to use one of my SUVs. I’ve learned to listen to that sixth sense. I lean up to him as we ride the elevator down to the garage level.
“It’s not that, just let me do this.”
