“Yes, I—” He ends the call and I murmur, “I just want to know about the security guard,” to the empty space, sticking my phone back in my waistband.
That man is not full of charm, but I’m not easily ruffled and he’s smart and hard in ways I can see work for the role he has by Shane’s side. Which is what, exactly? Head of security? More like the ultimate fixer of all things broken? Yes. He’s the fixer, all right. The man who seals the cracks that might appear in Shane’s armor, while Shane himself fights to hold together the pieces of a family too broken to mend. It’s a problem I understand all too well, and unbidden, my eyes shut, and I flash back to my stepfather lying in a puddle of his own blood, my brother standing in the kitchen covered in that same blood, and my brother’s words play in my head: What the fuck are you doing here?
The car jolts and I inhale with my return to the present, but this time it’s not fear that I feel over the blood and death. My brother had been angry. I’ve remembered that often, but never until now do I remember it being at me. I exit the elevator with the sense that there was more to that night than I have wanted to face, but I can’t think about this now.
Shoving aside thoughts of a night that has forever changed my life, I cross the lobby and enter the coffee shop, relieved when a college-age kid is behind the counter instead of the chatty owner, which will allow me more time for Seth before I have to head back upstairs. I place the order for Brandon Senior and Jessica, and make my way to the end of the bar to wait for the order, my mind taunting me with my brother’s words again. What the fuck are you doing here? And this time I dare to ask the question I’ve suppressed all this time. Was my stepfather’s death self-defense, or a planned murder?
The drinks appear and I’m reaching for them when suddenly Shane is standing in front of me, lifting one of them to his lips, that spicy male scent of him suddenly enveloping me, and driving away everything but him.
“Wait,” I say as he lifts the cup and then pulls a face that only he could make strikingly sexy.
“What the hell did I just drink?”
I laugh, amazed at how easily the rest of my worries have faded. “That was your father’s tea.”
He reaches for the other coffee, and takes a sip. “Now what did I just drink?” he asks, setting the cup down.
“Jessica’s coffee.”
He laughs, one of those deep, sexy laughs of his that ignites a fire in me and yet somehow soothes all the jagged pieces of my soul these past few years have created. “Not what I had in mind,” he says, leaning in close to me, his shoulder pressed to mine, his hand settling on my hip. “I was expecting a little taste of you,” he murmurs, his breath a warm fan on my neck. “I have a proposition for you tonight.”
He has officially and easily seduced me, and for just a moment or two or three, all my worries fade from black to a cool rosy hue. “Why not now?” I ask, and even to my own ears, my voice has a raspy, affected quality.
He inches back to look at me, those gray eyes of his aglow with flecks of warm amber. “Now sounds really damn good, sweetheart, but I prefer our private conversations to be without an audience.”
“Is something wrong with the drinks?” the girl behind the counter asks.
Shane strokes a lock of hair behind my ear, seeming to resist the interruption. “Tonight,” he says softly, releasing me to turn to the counter. “The drinks are fine,” he replies, and with the absence of his touch, just that easily, too easily, my mind begins to race with random thoughts. My brother’s call. The security guard. The Geminis. His father’s meeting. Shane turns back to me. “I reordered the drinks and had them made extra hot.” His eyes narrow on me and suddenly, his hands are on my waist, and he’s backing me up, stopping only when I’m against a wall, behind a big corner display. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong,” I say, “but I’ve been waiting to see you in person to tell you that my brother called.”
His fingers flex at my waist. “When?”
“A few hours ago, but—”
“Why didn’t you call me and tell me you needed to see me?” he demands, his voice low but fierce.
“It was uneventful and I knew you had things going on.”
“If you have something big happen, you call me. Screw everything else. This could be about your safety.”
“It’s not. Not this time.”
Seth appears by our side. “Okay. What did I miss?”
Shane releases me, his brows furrowed. “What did I miss? Why are you here?”
“Emily called me and Jessica told me where to find her.”
Shane hones in on me. “I thought you said your brother’s call wasn’t urgent?”
“I didn’t call Seth about my brother.”
“What about your brother?” Seth demands.
Testosterone suffocates me. “You two are making me claustrophobic. From the beginning: My brother called and we spoke for all of about three minutes. I told him I was leaving for New Mexico and he didn’t even ask how I was going to get there. I brought up money, and he all but hung up on me.”
“Nothing else?” Seth asks.
“He said he’s been MIA because he took a job outside the country in Cooper’s place, but made it look like Cooper took it himself.”
“Cooper is your stepfather,” Shane verifies.
“Yes,” I confirm. “And he made it look like Cooper disappeared while doing the job.”
“The good news here,” Seth says, “is this plan of his seems smart and it won’t connect you to any of this.”
“Right,” I say. “Yes. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Seth gives me a probing look. “You don’t sound relieved.”
“The only way I’ll be relieved is to find out they’re looking for me and I can’t be found. Something we can’t test until they actually put me on their radar.”
“This plan of your brother’s bought us time to seal any leaks leading to you,” Shane states, giving me some positive to hang on to. “This is good news.”
Seth doesn’t give me time to revel in Shane’s welcomed reminder, getting right back to business. “Did you turn the phone off and remove the battery like I told you?”
“The minute I hung up,” I confirm, removing the two pieces from my waistband, and he quickly takes them from me.
“And you called me why?” he asks, sticking to his direct way of communication I’m getting used to with this man.
“I remembered something that happened the night I was here alone making copies of Brandon Senior’s files. It’s probably nothing, but a man claiming to be a guard checked on me.”
“What man?” Shane asks.
“He wasn’t wearing a uniform and he gave me a weird vibe. On my way out that night, I checked with the desk downstairs and they didn’t know who I was talking about. Same story today. No one with the building security knows who he is. I assume he’s one of Seth’s men, but I just wanted to confirm.”
“What was his name?” Seth asks.
“Randy.”
“Are you sure that’s his name?” Shane presses.
“Yes,” I confirm. “I repeated it to him. It was Randy. Maybe it was a nickname?”
“What did he look like?” Seth asks.
“Tall with dark hair, early forties, I think, and muscular.”