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“Yeah?”
“The Lieutenant is dead. Don’t use that nameagain.”
Silence weighed heavy on the line. Grant thought he’d lost connection before Diver cleared his throat. “Okay boss, but I don’t know what else to call you. Except maybeasshole.”
“Fuck off.” Grant disconnected the call. He wouldn’t hold his breath for the off chance any of her story panned out. He didn’t think she was lying. No, she believed every word of it. He had nothing to say it wasn’t true except the uneasy feeling in his gut, which he’d learned long ago to trust withoutfail.
On auto pilot, he dug through the desk drawers until he found a blank flash drive and popped it into the port. With a few clicks, he downloaded the files and logged out, not bothering to look at the information. He snatched a backpack from the back of the door and stuffed the drive and one of the two laptops in it before he left the room, locking the door behindhim.
He could hear Thalia moving around in her bedroom as he passed by on his way to the kitchen. He understood the unyielding need to go to her, to fix whatever was wrong. And he didn’t like it. For the first time in his life he cared about someone beyond himself, and a part of him knew he was fucked for it. Caring made you weak, a soft target. Ten years living with a drunk and three years in the foster system taught him that. The minute you cared about something it was gone, or worse — used againstyou.
Still, a bigger part of him, a deeper part which seemed nonexistent before Thalia washed up on his beach, reveled in the thought of somehow keeping her in his life. She wasimportant.
And the sex!Christ.He’d literally just had the fuck of his life. She’d taken everything he had to give. Everything he’d meant to hold back but couldn’t. He knew he could be dominant and a bit rough when it came to sex. Apparently more than normal with her. Knowing she had a past that was probably steeped in sexual abuse, he’d thought it best to tone down that side of himself, at least until he knew more. When she’d swallowed his dick, something inside him drove him to a madness he’d never experienced, or ever be able to explain. He would never get enough ofher.
If she was a slave and she truly had no memory of it, he could be stepping into a minefield every time he touched her. He couldn’t ignore it. There was no way in hell now that he’d had her that he would be able to keep his hands off her. They would have to discuss what had set her off, which would probably set her off in an entirely different, furious kind of way. His little mongoose didn’t like to show herweaknesses.
He grinned as he pulled out a saucepan and grabbed the milk, butter, and a couple of limes from the fridge. He actually liked it when she went a little feral on him. Her eyes turned that wild shade if silvery blue, her chest heaving as she reined in her initial savage instincts to tear into him. The only time she was ever more magnificent was when she came apart beneath him. Something he planned to see again very soon, and veryoften.
A new thought splintered his attention. His dick twitched against his thigh when he thought about the fight she was going to put up when he told her she wasn’t going to be making that call to Jauhar. She was crazy if she thought he would allow her to continue with her disastrous plan forrevenge.
No way in hell was he going to let that bottom feeder get within a hundred feet of her. She would have to refocus her need on something else, because it wasn’t going to happen. Oh, he’d kill the mother fucker, slow and painfully, but she would be well out of reach when ithappened.
He stirred a little flour into the melted butter in the pan, mixing in a little rosemary and pepper before adding in the milk and some crumbled parmesan. He loved having contacts in high places with fully stocked kitchens, especially when they owed you afavor.
“Smellsgood.”
His well-honed reflexes had his gun drawn from his waistband and pointed mere inches from Thalia’s face before he’d even blinked. “Sonofabitch, Thalia! Don’t sneak up on me likethat.”
She froze and stared down the barrel of the gun in Grant’s hand, her heart rate hitting the stratosphere. Swallowing was pointless. Her mouth instantly dry, she slowly reached for the glass of water sitting on the island bar in front of her.Jesus.He was like a damn ghost. She hadn’t even seen him move. Between the gun and the sight of his ripped, bare abs, she thought she would choke on her tongue before she took her first sip. After spilling nearly half the water down the front of her dress, she managed to gulp down enough to satisfy a horse before carefully setting the glass back onto the counter. “I wasn’tsneaking.”
She watched as Grant gathered himself and tucked the gun back into the front of his blue jeans. He grabbed up a hand towel and stepped around the bar. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She stood paralyzed as he wiped the front of her dress, unsuccessfully ignoring the wave of heat that pooled between her legs when his hand lingered on herbreasts.
She cleared her throat and snatched the towel from his hands. The last thing she needed was to seem more pathetic than he already thought she was. “It’s okay.” She dabbed at her dress as he walked back over to the stove. “I can see the calming qualities of almost having your head blown off.” She threw the towel onto the counter and slid back onto one of the wooden bar stools, twining her fingers together in her lap to keep them from shaking. “You should think about marketing your approach to spas and yoga instructors.” She caught his critical gaze and lifted her chin. “Besides, I think we’ve already established that I know my way around agun.”
“She’s beautiful and funny. Whatever could she see in me?” She abandoned her quest for quick-witted reply when he plated the food and sat one in front of her, along with two white tablets and another glass of water. “Take those,” he said before he turned back for his ownplate.
“What arethey?”
“Antibiotics.” She was only marginally grateful he took the seat across from her instead of next to her. She knew she was about to be interrogated, but at least she didn’t have to feel his heat so close to her skin while he was doing it. “Two twice a day for a week. And no arguments.” He took the bottle from his pants pocket and set it on the counter next to herplate.
“Thanks.” She popped the pills to the back of her throat and took another swig of water. When she caught his gaze over the rim of her glass she couldn’t ignore his confused expression. “What?
“I didn’t exactly expect you to buy into the whole no argument bit soeasily.”
He sat there, staring at her expectantly. “What? You want me to hack them back up and start over with afuck-you?” He laughed. A big, burly, carefree kind of laugh she’d never heard from him before. Something inside her turned all warm and fuzzy knowing she’d made him let go enough to share that withher.
“No. No need to do that. I just thought I’d have to arm wrestle you into taking them.” He took a drink of water, licking his lips as he set the glass back down. Another lustful shard of arousal spiked in her belly as she watched the moisture bead on his lips. When he glanced back up, his wicked grin told her she’d been busted. “So does this mean you trustme?”
She shook her head and picked up her fork. “Let’s just say there is something about you that makes me want to trust you.” Before she could bring the fork to her mouth he snatched it from her hand with another display of lightning speed. “Hey! I want to eatthat.”
“And I want you to eat it, but I need you to clear something up for me first.” He set the fork down on his plate and picked up his glass again, taking another small sip before he continued. “What happened in there?” He tilted his head towards thebedroom.
She should have known he would stick around to snoop. She sat back in her seat and ran her fingertip along the edge of her plate.What would he think if I dug in with my hands?“I don’t know what youmean.”
She jumped when he set his glass down with a loud bang, water sloshing over the sides. She watched in amazement as he subtly restrained his temper and repositioned himself in his seat. “I’m not asking for the hell of it, Thalia. Did I do something that sent you into that panic attack?” The hard look on his face relaxed with concern as his arms raked down the edge of the counter and fell into his lap. “I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way to keep my hands to myself if that’sit.”
A small hiccup of laughter bubbled up from Thalia’s chest at the dejected look on his face. “No,” she said and shook her head, her shoulders relaxing despite the fact she’d lost the last shred of her pride. “It’s not you.” She found it hard to look at him so she focused on the beads of sweat running down the side of her glass instead. “I’ve had those for as long as I can remember. They’ve been worse lately, but it’s notyou.”
