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“Rafe, glad I caught you at home,” Emilie said with a sunny smile in her barely discernable French accent. She leaned against the doorjamb with a stack of files in one arm and a case of beer in the other. “I figured we could talk. You know, unofficially. I could use your help. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
Rafe frowned. “Emilie? What are you doing here?” No one ever came to his place. He wasn’t the kind of guy who invited company over for dinner parties. Hell, most of the guys from Blake Security, outside of Matthias and Noah, had never been here. Though, you should probably change that.
He’d learned that from his time in ORUS. Never bring anyone to a place you considered yours. If he wanted to talk to anyone from work, they did it in the office or they met somewhere. And there hadn’t been any women worth bringing back since he’d performed his little resurrection. He took whoever he met back to their place or to a hotel.
But Diana was the exception.
He’d never thought of that as a lonely existence until now. Rafe did a quick sweep of the hallway and the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that allowed a view to the street.
Everything looked normal, but the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. Why was she here? And if this was official, why hadn’t Alan called him in to talk?
She held up the six-pack. “I brought beer. Isn’t that what you Americans bring over to someone’s house? Beer? I personally prefer a nice bottle of wine, but I’ll just assume that you have some.” She winked. “Call it wishful thinking. I can’t stand beer. But, nevertheless, I thought I would bring some over and we could go over these files. I have so many questions about the Vandergraffs.”
Rafe didn’t budge from the door. He didn’t know how Emilie had known about his place, but he didn’t like her showing up here unannounced. “Again, what are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “I had a friend dig deep through a pile of shell companies. I figured you’d buy under an alias. Very clever, but then you’ve always been clever.”
He growled.
There was a flicker of awareness in her green eyes. “Would you relax? I just feel like there’s something missing from the whole scenario. That’s how I am. Like a dog with a bone. I just can’t let it go when something doesn’t feel right. So I just wanted to go over everything with you again in case you missed anything.”
He scowled. If there was ever a bad decision to regret, it was Emilie. It was ever having anything to do with her. One night in Germany, after one too many, there’d been drunken almost-sex. But he’d gotten a call about a mission so he’d left… and never called. A year later, still pissed, she’d lied to an asset of his. That asset had died on her watch.
“Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean someone’s not out to get me.”
She leaned against the doorjamb, tilting her head so that her auburn hair cascaded over one shoulder. “Come on, you going to let me in or what?” There was a shuffling behind Rafe, and before he could turn, Emilie poked her head around, peeking into the living room.
Diana said, “Sorry to interrupt, but the hot water is off for some reason, Rafe.”
He frowned, then remembered the notice posted in the elevator about the pipe updates. “The water heater button is under the sink in the vanity. It’s a backup system.”
“Okay, thanks. Sorry again,” she murmured before scooting off.
“Oh gosh, I have interrupted something. It wasn’t something important, was it?”
For a long moment, Rafe considered how to answer that. Yes, she was damn well interrupting. And yes, he also had a distinct feeling that she knew that. What was she playing at? What did she really want from him? “This isn’t the best time, Emilie.”
But Emilie wasn’t having any of that. She pushed past him and stepped into the living room as if she owned the place. At the very least as if she’d been there before, showing the
confidence of a woman who was not used to being turned down, not used to people telling her no.
“I like your place, Rafe. Fancy.”
He ground his teeth. “Thank you. Why don’t you come right on in,” he muttered under his breath.
Emilie grinned. “I guess I will.” She set the files on the coffee table. Rafe shut the door behind her and followed her into the living room. He wasn’t ready to make introductions, but it turned out he didn’t need to worry about that. Diana was already down the hall. He prayed she was in his room.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, Emilie, this isn’t a good time. I was in the middle of—”
She beamed a smile at him. “You know what, I did have a little look at your file. I know you’re not married. According to the bureau, you haven’t had a long-term girlfriend in a while. So I guess Little Miss Blondie is new. We’re colleagues. No reason you can’t be hospitable. I know you have a new life now. Or should I say old, new life. Everything old is new again. But you have loose ends that need tying up.”
Rafe crossed his arms. “Emilie, my relationships are none of your business. While I do appreciate your stopping by, I also have other things I need to do. Remember, I’m a civilian now. And quite frankly, none of this is my problem anymore.”
It was the first time he’d seen Emilie’s smile falter.
“I guess I’m intruding. But I really do have some questions about the Vandergraffs. The file said the daughter was supposed to be with her friends that night. But when we followed up, that friend said she wasn’t there. So where did the girl go? What luck she wasn’t in the house when the hit went down.”
Rafe gritted his teeth. “If she had been, I would have reported it.”
