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She could feel him behind her as he asked, “Do you ever talk to him?”
Chaya lowered her head and shook it. “No. I don’t contact him personally. ”
She couldn’t. She’d tried several times, had actually gone so far as to purchase the phone cards and send him her number. She knew he had his own cell phone now. One he was very proud of.
She turned back to him. “Do you talk to him often?”
He nodded, the movement sharp. “His family was killed just before your rescue. I’ve been trying to make arrangements to get him over here. I haven’t had much success yet. ”
Yes, she knew that, just as Cranston did. It was one of the promises versus threats he had made to force her into this operation. Cranston would make certain Faisal would be given his entrance into America, if this operation completed to his satisfaction.
She felt a chill race over her head at the thought, then down her spine. Then it sort of went over her body as she forced herself to move away from Natches. Once Natches knew who DHS had targeted, he was liable to kill her and Cranston.
“What do you want from me, Natches? You know I can’t give you this mission or Timothy’s suspects; so what’s left?” She stared around the large living room with its heavily cushioned furniture and male accoutrements.
There were pictures of Natches and his cousins Dawg and Rowdy. A few that were taken while he was in the Marines with buddies. There was a picture of Natches with Faisal.
A table had been set up at the side of the room with a jigsaw puzzle. Hell, she didn’t know people still did those.
There were some oil lamps on a table and a heavy lamp on the end table next to the couch. The kitchen and living room were separated by a bar. There was no dining room, but the kitchen was large enough for the heavy oak table that was set to the side of the room.
She assumed the doorway off the living room went to a bedroom, but she wasn’t checking that one out.
And as she stared around, she realized Natches hadn’t answered her.
She turned back to him, watching nervously as he strode past her and moved into the kitchen, his expression stark, furious. This was it and she knew it. Natches wasn’t going to let her avoid the past any longer.
“I’d have followed any other agent,” he finally growled, pulling out a beer from the fridge and unscrewing the top with a quick jerk of his hand.
Broad, long fingered. Those hands could make a woman think of heaven even as hell moved in around them. And she knew they could make a woman fly, steal her senses and her thoughts with their touch.
Would he ever want to touch her with those hands after Timothy’s operation finished here in Somerset?
“I didn’t think I’d see you back here,” he said, staring back at her with a hint of sensuality, a hint of anger.
“Cranston has a way of convincing agents to do his dirty work for him. ” She shrugged with a mocking smile. “Come on, Natches, you know how it works. The follow-up was important. He wants that money and he wants to make certain no one else is involved here. That’s all. ”
“Are you investigating my family?” Short and to the point. And here was where things were about to get sticky. Because she couldn’t lie to Natches. He had saved her, not just once but twice, and then he had held her and let her fly while she found her sanity once again.
“As far as Cranston is concerned, everyone is suspect,” she reminded him dryly. “You’re all on my list to question. ”
“Why did he send you?” He lifted the bottle to his lips and drank, his gaze never leaving hers, the dark green depths dragging her in and leaving her breathless.
She was an agent, fully trained to ignore sexual need or even fear during a mission. But she couldn’t ignore Natches. He made her weak, made her need, and he made her fear herself.
“Because it amused him?” She lifted her shoulders as though she didn’t know and didn’t care. “He was pissed over my attempted resignation and decided to play with me. Cranston’s good for games like that. ”
“Cranston’s good at games, period. ” Natches finished his beer, then tossed the bottle in the trash as Chaya watched him closely now.
He ran a hand over his face before staring back at her.
“Do you have any idea how much I missed you?” he said, his voice soft. “How much I ached for you last year?”
Chaya backed up a step, her movement jerky as she tried to look everywhere but at Natches. She didn’t want to talk about last year; she didn’t want to talk about five years ago. She wanted this over with. She wanted to run and hide, to bury her head in the sand and pretend this mission and this man could be ignored.
“That wouldn’t have been very wise then, and it wouldn’t be now,” she answered, her throat tightening as she watched him, as she watched his expression flicker with primitive lust.
He wasn’t going to just let her go this time, and she knew it. He was going to force her to face everything she didn’t want to face, and she didn’t know if she could do it.
