If she wanted a few hours of mindless sex—and she still wasn’t sure that was a great idea—she’d have to push. To test the limits of his control. “You seem to think your work will be done at some point.”
“Of course. You’ll be safe and able to move on at some point, hopefully soon.”
“And I won’t be a job to you.” Her fingers slipped over the edges of the blanket before balling her hands in the cloth. “Not then.”
He shook his head. “Don’t tempt me.”
She felt the pull. Something in the air wrapped around her and tugged her closer. She wanted it, wanted him . . . wanted to forget.
The reality of that last one broke the spell. She stepped back. “I better get dressed.”
“Good call.” But the grumble in his voice said he thought otherwise.
That made two of them.
FOUR
Andy MacIntosh sat at his brother Gabe’s desk, double-checking work emails and generally keeping Tosh running as promised while Gabe was away. Not that those were easy shoes to fill. Gabe might only be six years older, but he’d been an adult and responsible, stepping into family roles since Andy hit puberty.
That bone-deep dependability and solid work ethic only increased when Gabe opened Tosh four years ago. Instead of the usual floundering small company routine, Gabe’s contacts and reputation launched them into a stream of steady work. Most days, too much work.
They had three on-the-ground assignments rolling at the same time right now, all high priority and all involving life-or-death scenarios. Safe houses with complex security measures and big gun protection. Usually Andy headed up a team, but Gabe’s sudden willingness to hit the field one-on-one with Natalie grounded Andy this time. He got stuck behind with the paperwork, file preparing and directing the rest of the group as they guided operations from a distance. Andy knew the men depended on him for intel and surveillance, but that didn’t make the big desk job any more interesting.
With few employees left in the office and those all focused on specific tasks, things had been quiet. They didn’t get many guests. Few people knew the two-story nondescript warehouse in southwest Washington, D.C., housed an upscale, high-tech multimillion-dollar security company. No flash on the outside. No expensive cars in the parking lot.
The only hint something more than packing and unpacking of crates happened inside the beige building came from the state-of-the-art security system. The same one that flashed a visitor’s face a few minutes ago. Even now Andy waited in the chair for the unwanted showdown to start.
He heard a beep, and the screen of one of the many monitors outlining the desk snapped to life. One of his mapping experts—a guy with years of technical experience and a brain that left them all breathless—played escort in the hall. Andy hit the buzzer before anyone could knock. He had enough of a headache without adding to it, and this scene would likely do just that.
The door opened, and Andy waved away his employee while Rick stepped inside. Rather than wait for the boring hellos to begin, Andy jumped right in. “Since you’re here, I assume you know Gabe is out of town.”
“Good to see you, too. Interesting you still choose to have your security act as a lockdown to keep you trapped inside.” Rick walked straight in and took the chair on the other side of the desk. “I warned Gabe about that flaw when he set up this place.”
They had contingency plans to escape if that became an issue, but Andy doubted Rick came in and agreed to hand over his weapons at the front desk just so they could talk about the building’s blueprints. “Speaking of Gabe . . .”
“Fine, yes. I’m here about him.”
The day officially turned to shit. They had been at it for a year, Rick and Gabe, locked in a family disagreement ever since Rick dropped his emotional bombshell. Andy dreaded taking a wrong step.
“I’m not getting in the middle of the game of mutually assured destruction you two are playing,” Andy said, even though he had long ago sided with Gabe.
Rick waved off the concern. “That’s not what this is about.”
Andy didn’t want to know what accusations Gabe and Rick were currently lobbing back and forth. But as soon as he thought it, he realized that wasn’t quite true. The unrelenting tension outside the office grew more, not less annoying and Andy wished it would end. “Have you talked to him?”
“Last time I tried he threatened to