That was plain to see. “But they’re divorced, and she doesn’t seem to want to go back to him.”
Ian growled a little. It was his default state. “I fucking hate this shit. He’s my best friend, and he’s about to make a horrible mistake. If he starts dating again, everyone’s going to get hurt. See, this shit didn’t happen in the Army. It was neat and clean in the Army. Your buddy had your back and the only thing coming at it was a bullet or an IED or some shit. Women are way more dangerous.”
“How about the Agency?”
Ian stopped, his mouth turning down. “Nothing’s neat and clean in the Agency. You should know that.”
He’d worked for some European intelligence when he’d been SAS. He likely would have been recruited into intelligence if his life hadn’t exploded. Liam sighed. He owed Ian. “I can tell him, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to believe me.”
“I know.” He pressed the button and the lift began again. “I don’t suppose you want to explain why you’re spending your nights with Eve, sometimes not leaving her place until two or three in the morning?”
Liam turned to Ian. “What the fuck? You got a tail on me?” He sighed. “Damn it. Tell Alex he’s got to stop stalking her. That’s some creepy shit.”
“He isn’t stalking her. After she joined the company, Alex and I agreed to certain security protocols where Eve is concerned. She left the FBI under some very rough circumstances, and there are a couple of people out there who would love to see her hurt or dead. She wouldn’t agree to a bodyguard.”
“Ah, so you have the doorman in her building vet everyone who comes and goes.” He remembered the doorman who took the night shift. He was big and burly and had the look of former military about him. Yeah, he could see that. “And Alex saw the report about me and leapt to an improper conclusion. We’re not fucking, Ian.”
He didn’t owe his boss the story. He didn’t owe Alex. So why did his mouth open and the truth pop out?
“Eve’s been putting me under hypnosis.”
The door opened to the fifth floor, but Ian held it there. “You’re trying to remember what happened that night, aren’t you?”
Liam stared straight ahead. “For all the good it’s doing me.”
“Are you ready for this? You’ve stayed away from that case for a very long time.” Ian’s face closed off.
“I need to know for myself. Do you know what it’s like to have your whole life change and you can’t bloody remember why?” It ate at him. He’d been able to shove it down for years, but it was bubbling to the surface like an angry whirlpool threatening to take him down. He had to know.
A long sigh came from Ian’s chest and he nodded. “Just be careful. Sometimes these things don’t turn out the way we want them to. I just hope you remember that the past is the past. Eve’s in the second room to the left.”
Liam started to walk out. “Thanks. And feel free to tell Alex I’m not shagging his ex. As far as I can tell, she’s not shagging anyone. She lives like a well-dressed designer nun.”
“And Liam. You didn’t fuck up. Adam texted me. He’s out shopping with Avery so she can look pretty when she searches for you tomorrow. You mentioned that you were meeting a friend at the Tower. She plans to be there.”
His heart rate surged. Fucking A, yes. She’d taken the bait. “Good.”
He hadn’t scared her away. She still wanted him, and now he was in the power position. She would feel guilty, and he would use that to push her where he wanted her—straight into bed where he could figure out her secrets.
And decide if he was going to protect her or throw her to the wolves.
He walked down the hall and knocked on Eve’s door. He’d been thrown to the wolves once. He’d survived. He wasn’t sure Avery Charles would.
Eve answered the door, allowing him in. It wasn’t long before he was back, back in hell.
Five. He counted five bodies on the floor. Not exactly the floor. Two were draped over the floral print couch. Nasty thing. Like something a kid at university would pick up at a second hand store and drag back to his first flat.
Her. He saw a picture of the dead girl he’d woken up next to on the wall. She was smiling with her proud parents on either side. Her skin wasn’t chalky, and there was no rope around her throat.
Time had slowed down. He knew he should be panicking, but something made him stop. Look.
“What do you see?” Eve’s voice asked.
“Bodies. Blood.” Liam could hear her voice, but he was in the moment. He could smell the stench of the wharf coming from the open window. It confused him. He hadn’t been close to the water. The pub he’d been at had been on the edge of the city. He was supposed to meet with intelligence at noon to debrief. He was supposed to show his contacts the bonds and get the go-ahead to meet with the arms dealer.
“I don’t have the bonds,” he heard himself saying.