“Becker’s motives?” Jett repeated.
“He’s never talked to me specifically about any of his illegal activities,” I informed my brother. “But I think he’s delusional. His motivation for everything is money, but I think he also wants power. In funding the terrorist group, I think he’s under the impression it will give him control of the resources in the region if they can take possession of the area. Nothing else makes sense, and I’ve watched him pretty closely. Money and power are the most important things in life to him.”
“He certainly doesn’t value the women in his life,” Marcus grumbled.
“No, he doesn’t,” I concurred. “They’re just something he wants control over. Something he can use to vent his crazy anger on. I’m not a person to him. I’m a possession.”
“Fuck! I hate using you to get information,” Marcus exploded. “It’s insanity to think you might not get hurt.”
“I might. But it’s worth the risk to me. I’ve done plenty of risky investigative work, Marcus.”
“I know. I’ve seen you in action. And it scares the hell out of me.”
“Me, too,” Jett added.
“I’m a grown woman,” I argued. “I have been for a long time. I’ve been out there alone chasing stories for years now.”
“I don’t think either one of us doubts your courage, Dani,” my brother answered. “Hell, I’m pretty sure that you were so confident that none of us even quite understood how vulnerable you really were. If we had, I think we would have put personal security on you.”
“I would have gotten rid of them,” I retorted. “One of the reasons I went blonde and tried to change my appearance was to disassociate myself with the billionaire Lawsons. Very few people even knew I was related to one of the world’s richest families, and I wanted it to stay that way.”
Just like Marcus, I didn’t let anybody into my personal life. I wanted everyone to focus on the problems I was investigating and the story I had to tell, not my identity. My bylines on written articles were published as Dee Lawson, and I used the same name with my on-air reports.
I’d asked my network to use the name “D. Lawson” in the very beginning of my career, and they’d ended up printing it as “Dee Lawson.” The moniker had stuck with me for the rest of my years as a reporter, making it less likely that anyone would recognize my unusual first name and immediately associate me with the wealthy Lawson family.
“So nobody ever really knew who you were?” Marcus questioned.
I shook my head. “Nobody really knew me. I was just some pushy American reporter to most people. My crew didn’t even know.”
The only individuals who were privy to that information were the human resources department of my network, and my bosses. Otherwise, I was just Dee. And that freedom had become important to me while I was climbing the ranks within the network.
“I knew you, Danica,” Marcus answered in a hoarse voice.
“I know. I was always afraid you’d give me away, but you never did.”
We’d pretty much ignored each other, or we fought when we were out of earshot of other people. In many ways, I’d tried to push him as far away from me as he could get.
“You could have told me. I never would have outed you,” Marcus answered in a curt tone.
“You never did anyway. We barely spoke to each other.”
My brother stood up and tossed back the last of his soda before he said, “I’m out of here. I want to go dig up as much dirt on Becker as possible.”
I got to my feet, too. “I should get going.”
Jett had left the room when Marcus asked in a low voice, “Why do you have to leave? Do you have a date?”
I knew he was concerned about me meeting up with Becker again. “I’m not going out with Greg without telling you.”
“Somebody else?” he asked as he followed me to the door.
“So what if I do?” I asked him irritably. “What does it matter who I see if I’m not going out with Greg?”
He put his hand on the door as I went to open it and then pinned me into a small space by placing his other hand on the wall. “It matters,” he answered simply.
I looked up at him, my body trembling with need as our gazes met in some kind of heated battle that I didn’t quite understand.
“Does it?” I asked in a husky whisper.
“Yeah. It does. Don’t see anybody else, Danica.”
“Are you afraid Greg will find out?”
“Screw Becker. I don’t give a damn what he thinks. I don’t want to see you with another man.”
I wasn’t sure what he wanted from me, but his eyes were blazing with fire as he held my gaze.
His masculine scent assaulted my senses, and my pulse started to race. I finally answered him with a breathless tone that had nothing to do with fear. “I have to go…do laundry.”
Okay, that was probably a lame excuse for leaving like my ass was on fire, but I was confused, and I knew I couldn’t take much more of Marcus’s presence without wanting to get him naked.
As my words sunk in for him, he started to smirk. “In that case, I have some dirty shirts that need to be done.”
I shot him a fake, sunny smile. “Then I guess you’re going to be busy tonight, too,” I answered in a smart-ass tone. “Good night, Marcus.”
I pulled on the door, and he finally removed his powerful hold on my exit. He leaned down before I could open the door, his warm breath wafting over my ear, causing me to pause with a shiver. “As soon as you leave, I’m going to take a shower so I can get myself off while I think about every dirty thing I’d like to do to you. I can’t look at you without getting hard. I never could,” he shared in a smooth-as-good-whiskey voice that made me crazy.
“Thanks for sharing,” I answered nervously, knowing I was going to be thinking about the exact image he’d just brought to my mind, and it was going to last all night long.
Marcus…
Naked.
Wet.
Hard.
Stroking himself while he thought about doing dirty things to me.
Straining as his body finally found release.
Heat rushed between my thighs. “I hate you for doing that,” I informed him.
“No, you don’t,” he countered. “You’re turned on and we both know it.”
“Dream on,” I said haughtily as I pulled on the doorknob and rushed out the open door, unable to keep trading barbs with him when all I wanted to do was strip off his clothes and climb his body like it was a tree.
As I hurried to the elevator, I heard a sound that was completely foreign to me.
It took a moment for the noise to connect to its source for me.
It was Marcus Colter’s wicked laugh.
Dani
I was busy for the rest of the week.