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We were lying on our backs, watching the clouds through the glass roof when Lucius turned to me. “Why did you come to Guyana of all places? It’s not exactly the number one tourist destination.”
Turning on my side to face him, I traced the patterns on the picnic blanket. “My brother went missing. And the last place he was seen alive was the same place you took me from.”
“And you think we had something to do with it.”
Meeting his gaze, I nodded. “I do. But getting kidnapped put a hold on my search for him.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for anything unusual. But despite what you might think, kidnapping isn’t what we usually do.”
His offer meant everything to me. Even if nothing would come from it, having someone else look for my brother was a huge relieve.
I’d realized one thing while here with him: He seemed to like me, but more in a little sister kind of way. He was affectionate, but not overly so. He also seemed protective and to care about me. But not once had he made a move to kiss me, no matter how much I longed to find out what his lips felt like on mine. Or what he tasted like.
And while he might be my savior, first he was my captor. And I would do well to remember that.
Chapter14
Lucius
I didn’t wantto leave. Spending time with Everleigh had been heaven. I knew I was pushing my self-control, but the need to cheer her up, to make her feel normal again, had been too strong to deny.
And the reward was worth whatever shitstorm I’d have to deal with once we got back. Every smile was precious. The beautiful sound of her laughter forever lodged in my heart. I ached to do more than hold her hand. I wanted to strip her clothes off and taste every inch of her. I wanted to sink inside her and forget how I’d met her in the first place.
But touching her was wrong. She was my prisoner. And I didn’t want her to feel like she had to do anything she didn’t want to. When I couldn’t delay it any longer, I walked her back to her office.
She turned to me when we made it back, a small smile still playing on her lips. “Thank you so much for today. It was exactly what I needed.”
I nodded at her, my throat embarrassingly tight, and she closed the door. I leaned my forehead against the wood, fighting the urge to open the door. She already looked lost again, something I’d tried so hard to erase.
“You said one hour. That was three.”
Santino’s angry voice snapped me out of my pity party. I wasn’t one to dwell on things that couldn’t be. And I had a part to play. One I’d neglected over the last few days.
And not just in the compound. My CIA contact was furious that I hadn’t shown up. But Everleigh came first.
But now I had to get my head back in the game, especially since I was so close to getting to Sam’s killer. He had been assassinated when one of our missions had gone wrong. We’d gone on a routine extraction of a diplomat. Our intel turned out to be wrong and instead of coming up against a handful of angry villagers, we’d been faced with an army.
And a sniper that took Sam out as we were about to get on the chopper that would carry us to safety.
“Last I checked, I don’t have to ask you for permission to take time off.”
“Not me who’s the issue but Maurizio. He’s been looking for you. He’s furious you took the girl away from her computer.”
We fell in step next to each other. “I’ll think of something.”
Santino stopped me in front of Maurizio’s closed office door. “I hope she’s worth it.”
I didn’t need to think about my answer. “She is.”
Shaking his head, he left me to deal with the boss myself. Not even he would voluntarily walk into an office that held a furious Maurizio.
I knocked and was told to enter. What I found was worse than I thought. Maurizio wasn’t only angry, but he also had company.
He spread out his arms, nearly dropping the woman sitting on his lap. “Since you decided to take a trip, we started the party without you.”
Bill, his biggest contractor—as he liked to call his gun and drug runners—was sitting on the couch off to the side, a woman dressed in only a thong giving him a lap dance. Two of his men were there as well, watching the show with hungry eyes.
Maurizio pointed to a chair off to the side. “Sit down.”
