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***
“Do you think she’s beautiful?” Ethan asked casually as his new aide stepped into his office. He’d had to hire Hammond a few months ago to help with his business. The search for Olivia had become too consuming and he needed a fellow computer “enthusiast” to assist him. Hammond was known in the underground network as being one of the quickest hacks. He could break into any government system almost as quickly as Ethan himself could. He was cool, flawless, and ruthless in his execution of orders. He didn’t seem to care about anyone or anything. Ethan knew better than to trust him – he couldn’t trust anyone, not even Olivia. He immediately forgot about Hammond as he thought about his soulmate. She was finally back! He felt a trill of excitement that was quickly replaced by anger. Her betrayal went deep. Was she attracted to his new aide? He clenched his fists in fury at the thought. She’d gotten out of control these last months. She’d grown brash and aggressive. He rubbed the tender spot on this throat where she’d struck him and smiled with amusement. His little butterfly stirred such a range of emotions within him. He hated her, he lusted her. She had the power to crush his heart – not that he would tell her. She was magnificent and defiant. He relished the opportunity to break her again.
Hammond didn’t answer so Ethan continued his casual questioning. “Do you think she would be interested in someone like you? You spent a long time tending her injuries. Did she plead for your help? I don’t suppose you feel pity for her. She’s very seductive. The way she bats her eyes, and her lips turn down in a little pout. She’s hard to resist. Will you be enticed, Hammond? Will you betray my trust?”
“I hadn’t noticed her appearance one way or another,” Hammond said with a disinterested shrug. He ignored all the other taunting questions. “I saw the memo you left on Senator Thatcher. It seems he’s taking your involvement more seriously. Will we ‘handle’ his financials or has he agreed to your terms?”
Ethan’s sharp gaze remained on Hammond. He noticed he quickly sidestepped the questions about Olivia. Hammond was very careful. “No, no, we’ll leave the senator alone for now. He assured me his position on Chinese relations has changed and he’ll make sure our exports are properly ignored. I can get anyone to agree to my terms with the proper motivation.”
Hammond nodded but his expression gave nothing away of his thoughts. “As you wish.”
Ethan sat back in his plush chair as he eyed Hammond thoughtfully. Hammond returned the gaze evenly. He wasn’t easily daunted and Ethan wanted to see how far he could push him. He loved testing people, learning their weaknesses so he could exploit them later. “Did you enjoy touching her skin?”
“Sir?”
“Did your fingers caress her cheek as you ministered to her injured face? I wouldn’t have blamed you, especially as you had your back to the camera and had blocked the monitoring. Yes, I was watching your interaction with her. She can be prickly and unmanageable at times – especially since she’s come back, but I can’t blame her entirely. She was forced to fend for herself like an animal. She’s too helpless and needy to be left alone for so long.”
He paused, gauging Hammond’s reaction but Hammond’s expression was impassive. Ethan grinned to himself as he continued, “What type of women do you prefer, Hammond? Strong? Independent? Do you want a woman who will fight you for dominance in the relationship so you can prove your power over her? Or do you like them to be docile like
Olivia? She’s very desirable, especially when she’s weak and fragile. I can’t resist her. Such pale beauty. Her body is supple, isn’t it? Such long legs, perfect breasts. She could drive any man wild with lust.” He waited, hoping Hammond would take the bait and let down his guard. Ethan felt his nerves coil with anticipation of finally witnessing Hammond’s flaw. Go ahead, step into the trap so I can destroy you.
Hammond shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not really interested and I didn’t take notice of her body as I tended her injuries. I prefer not to let women interfere with my life, expect on a temporary basis and rarely at that. I find them to be an annoying distraction.”
“A distraction, huh? Are you saying I allow Olivia to interfere? That she has distracted me from handling more important business matters?” Ethan’s voice rose with sudden anger and he could feel the blood pounding in his head. How dare this new aide insinuate he was being managed by a woman! He may be brilliant with a computer but he was no match for Ethan’s genius. Hammond was nothing and he would grind him underfoot if he made one wrong move. “You think I’ve chained myself to a temptress who has seduced me away from my true purpose? Perhaps I’ll crumble in her hands and she’ll have total power over me?”
“I implied no such thing,” Hammond answered evenly. Even when Ethan yelled he didn’t flinch as most people did. Until Hammond arrived, only Dirken could stand in the face of his anger and not cower.
Ethan waved him toward the door. “Fine, go away. I have a migraine and don’t want to be disturbed.” He reached for his drawer filled with different mixtures of drugs. He needed a pick-me-up. Too many things were bothering him. He wanted to go to Olivia and lose himself in her body but he knew she would fight him. He didn’t want another battle. He needed to strategize and figure out how to conquer this new temperament of hers. This was Paul Justice’s fault. He stuffed a few colorful pills in his mouth and tipped his head back to swallow. He felt Hammond’s watchful gaze on him. It was unnerving. “Go,” he growled.
“As you wish.” Hammond gave a slight bow then left.
***
“What do you mean I can’t go up there?” Paul demanded. He swiped his hand through his hair in frustration as he glared at Tasha Bennington, the FBI director on Ethan Moore’s case. She was a no-nonsense tough woman who didn’t take crap and didn’t like the word “no.” Ethan would have a hard time messing with her.
Tasha Bennington returned his glare. “I’ve got Rogerson on the inside. If you try to get in you could blow the entire operation. You’ll put him, Olivia Tellerman, and your own fool ass at risk. I won’t have it. The only reason I let you tag along is for moral support. You know Tellerman and hopefully you can give us a little insight on how to reach out to her without exposing Rogerson’s real purpose in being there.”
“You don’t mean Gage Rogerson, do you? The computer hacker?” Paul asked with an irritated growl. “Didn’t you guys bring him in five years ago? I thought he was one of the bad guys. You’ve got a criminal up there working for a psychopath, and you have Olivia caught in the crossfire. You must be insane! What happens when your new guy jumps over to the other side? You think Moore doesn’t know anything about his past? It won’t take him long to strip away the false identity you’ve given Rogerson then everyone will be at risk.”
Tasha gave a huff of irritation. “Just because you worked undercover doesn’t mean you know how this case is going to play out, Justice. You can rest easy about Rogerson, not that I have to defend him to you or to anyone. He’s guilty of more cyber-crimes than we have paper to write out all the charges, but he works for us now. He’s good at what he does and has enough edginess from his old life to make him believable. He’s also given us evidence to put Moore away for a long time.”
“Then why don’t you act on it now? Why prolong this?” Paul demanded irritably. The longer Olivia was stuck up in that fortieth floor flat, the greater the chance Ethan Moore would hurt her. He’d seen her terror when she thought about the monster. Guilt that he couldn’t protect her gnawed at him and made him anxious. He needed to do something, but instead he was forced to sit on his hands and play the waiting game with these paper pushers who wanted everything tied up in a neat little package before they moved in.
“Look, Justice, I’m being generous letting you sit in as a personal favor to your friend, Jefferies. If he wasn’t on my team and didn’t ask extra nice, then you wouldn’t be here. We’re going to get Olivia out of there. And Rogerson is trained to defend her, but he won’t blow his cover just to whisk her away – at least not yet. This is bigger than Olivia Tellerman’s abduction and there’s a lot at stake. Give us a little more time and then we’ll get her out of there.”
Paul knew Tasha was trying to pacify him but he also knew the company line when he heard it. Information first, Olivia’s safety was secondary. That wasn’t good enough as far as he was concerned. “I still say I can get in and out faster than you guys take to decide what you’ll have for lunch,” he grumbled. If that bastard laid a hand on Olivia -
Tasha’s patience finally hit empty and she pointed to the door. “Make yourself useful or make yourself scarce. I don’t have time to babysit you right now, Justice.” The phone on her desk rang and she sent a final glare Paul’s way as she answered it.
He was about to step out of her office when something in her tone made him pause and listen to the one-sided conversation. He had no reason to know the conversation concerned Olivia but something in his gut said it did.
“We knew that might happen. Is she okay? No, extraction isn’t possible at this time because we need more evidence. Don’t do anything rash and put your cover at risk. Just do what you can within reason. We’ll get you both out of there soon – we’re almost at the end of this.” Tasha eyed Paul grimly as she hung up the phone.
“Tell me what the bastard did to her.” He tried to keep his tone calm but the words came out as a low growl. “You said she would be safe with your agent up there. Tell me what happened.”
“Moore roughed her up a little before Rogerson could get in there and persuade him to back off. She has some cuts and bruises but nothing that won’t heal. She’s going to be okay and Rogerson is going to do his best to keep it from happening again.”
“Why haven’t you gotten her out of there yet?” Paul bit out in frustration. It wasn’t easy to contain his anger when he wanted to break Ethan Moore’s neck. Olivia was hurt and no one was doing anything!
