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She was mesmerised by him. No one ever said the things Joe said to her. It didn’t make sense, that someone so wonderful would want her. Yet, there he was, whispering earnestly. His eyes heated and she looked away, blushing.
“I don’t know if I can.” She’d been hurt before, decimated. She didn’t know if she could be vulnerable like that again, if she could trust someone with herself that way again.
“Can you think about it?” His words were a caress that filled her with longing. “Please?”
The words were more precious than rubies to her. The answer wasn’t one she planned to give. “Yes,” she breathed.
His slow, and oh so sexy smile, made her heart race. It was the smile of a man who never gave up on a challenge. It was the smile of a man who knew he would win. It was a smile that should have made her run. Instead, it made her lips feel dry and her fingers tingle to touch.
That’s when Julia knew she was already in out of her depth. To go any further would be to drown. And yet, in that moment, she wasn’t sure that drowning in Joe wouldn’t be a wonderful way to go.
Chapter Thirty
The call came at eight that evening.
Dimitri was at the office building, helping Ryan to fit a new security system, while a cleaning crew sorted out the mess. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, saw it was Elle and his heart stopped dead.
“Go,” he said when he answered.
“She’s in Morocco.”
The world around Dimitri became magnified. He was painfully aware of the sound of his own breathing, of the rough surface of the wall under his hand, of the fly that buzzed around his face.
“You have an address?” His voice was sandpaper.
“Yep. We have an address. Along with the name of the guy who bought her.” There was a pause. “Callum has a contact locally. We have him seeking confirmation that she’s still in the house.”
And hasn’t been sold on. He heard the words Elle didn’t say and his hand tightened on his phone.
Ryan stepped back into the room, took one look at Dimitri and his face closed up. He put the gear he was carrying on the table beside him, folded his arms and waited for instruction.
“How long until we head over there?” Dimitri kept his eyes on Ryan.
“Couple of hours. Callum wants you back here to go over strategy.”
“I’m on my way.” He flicked the phone off and stared at it.
For long minutes Ryan said nothing, then he took a step towards Dimitri. “What do you need?”
The question was simple, but in it Dimitri knew Ryan was offering his complete support for whatever Dimitri decided to do.
“We need to head back to the hotel.” He didn’t need to explain further. It was clear what this was about.
Ryan nodded once. “Let me tell the gramps.” He jogged off to inform the old men that they were in charge.
Dimitri was sitting behind the driver’s wheel of the SUV when Ryan climbed in. His usual easy-going façade was gone—in its place was a trained soldier ready for duty. In that moment, Dimitri could clearly see why Lake Benson had hired the guy.
“We need more guys. I feel like an amateur leaving my grandad to watch the office.” There was disgust in Ryan’s voice.
“There’s a cop there too.” Tessa had stationed one of her constables in the building in case of a return visit from Durand.
“Not the point.”
No, it wasn’t. “Lake and Callum are on it.” The office wasn’t even supposed to be up and running yet. The mission to find Katrina and eliminate the threat of Rudi Abramovich was a private one. An in-house undertaking that had nothing to do with business and everything to do with family.
“I hope they speed up. We’re seriously undermanned. If this is what it’s like when we aren’t even open for business, what will it be like a month from now?” Ryan angled himself to look at Dimitri. “You’ll be here a month from now, right? You’re staying on after we find Katrina, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” If there was one thing Dimitri was certain of, it was that he’d found a professional home with Benson Security—and a personal one with Megan. Although, he suspected telling Megan he’d decided they were long-term would be a whole lot harder than telling Callum.
