“Who was that man? Are you okay?” Carter asked.
She didn’t want to spend her evening listening to Carter complain, because that was mostly what he did. “I’m perfect and that was Owen Shaw. He was perfect, too.”
“Who is Owen Shaw?” Carter glanced behind them, probably looking at the man again.
“I think he’s new in the building.” They’d had more important things to talk about than which apartment he lived in. Maybe he was one of the new guys.
“There was a delivery for you,” he said. “I put it on your bar.”
They’d exchanged keys when they’d gotten to know each other. Sometimes she locked herself out and he could be helpful. He also accepted packages for her when she wasn’t around. “What was it?”
“Well, it wasn’t from that guy, I’ll tell you,” he retorted. “I think it’s from Cathy.”
Ah, the surprise she’d mentioned. She opened her door. “’Night, Carter. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She let the door close behind her and turned. A brilliant arrangement of flowers was sitting on her bar.
Cathy had remembered. Today was the anniversary of her hiring at Huisman. Two years to the day.
Those gorgeous blooms reminded her that she’d made a new start. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and smiled.
Maybe that promise she’d made to her mother wasn’t so far away after all.
Chapter Five
Owen grabbed his bag and followed Robert off the lift. He was in an oddly good mood. He was about to get his arse kicked, and it had been worth it.
She had been worth it, and the truth was he couldn’t wait to see her again. Allowing her to walk away from him had been an indulgence. His instinct was to tangle his fingers in hers and tell her to take him back to her place so they could do things right and proper this time.
Not that it hadn’t felt right. Nothing in his life had felt as right as getting Rebecca Walsh up against a wall and shoving his way inside her.
She’d been hot and tight around him. He could still feel her nails digging into the flesh of his shoulders and back. He wanted to see the marks she’d left there.
He hadn’t marked her. She might like a bite of pain. He would definitely like to look at her shoulder or the nape of her neck and see a mark, one he’d put there. He loved the fact that her nails had scratched down his back, damn near drawing blood.
He would explore it with her the next time they got together.
Because there was definitely going to be a next time.
“Are you all right?” Jax was walking behind them, but he’d noticed River was back at the door to the apartment she shared with her husband and their big mutt.
She winked her husband’s way and they disappeared inside.
“I’m fine, mate.” He wasn’t supposed to know Jax either, but Jax seemed to have forgotten that fact. “I think I’ll take the stairs next time though. I’m Owen.”
Jax stared down at his hand. “She’s gone, man. We’re safe.”
Owen lowered his voice. “You can’t know that.”
He started down the hall toward the flat he was supposed to share with his lover. They needed to put some distance between them and Becca. Once he’d rounded the corner, she wouldn’t be able to see them.
The door to his flat was open and Ezra Fain stood there. Well, well, the gang was all here. “Yes, we can. While the elevator was down, we were able to wire this whole floor. All we had to do was monitor the stairs. We managed to get into her apartment. We didn’t stay long, but we’ve got it bugged now. Dante thinks he can get into her office tomorrow night. But getting into her lab is going to be more difficult. Tucker, what’s she doing right now?”
“She’s smiling at herself in the mirror.” Tucker looked up as they walked into the flat. He sat at the kitchen table, a laptop in front of him. “She went inside, put her stuff down, and now she’s kind of staring at herself.”
Sasha sat beside him, a glass of what looked like water, but was more than likely vodka, in his hand. “She looks incredibly pleased with herself. What did you do, Owen?”
Luckily, Robert ignored Sasha altogether. “Give us an update on everything that happened with her. I’ll be honest, we weren’t entirely sure she was the person with you in the elevator until that kid Colin came in. We thought you might be alone. Jax was about to go into the shaft and rescue you.”
“I’m good at fixing things,” Jax admitted.
“But then Colin, who looks a lot like the human version of a chihuahua, came in,” Ezra explained. “Apparently Dr. Walsh is vocal in the residents’ association meetings. Colin is scared of her, but then I think he might be scared of a stiff breeze. Are you okay?”
“I’ve been in a lift for four hours,” he said because he had something to take care of. He couldn’t have simply pulled the thing off and tossed it aside. He’d been trying to be a gentleman around Becca. “I’m hitting the loo before we have this debrief.”
Because the debrief could turn into his firing. Could they fire him? They didn’t actually pay him, so they probably couldn’t fire him. Of course they could kick his arse out on the street.
And he could show up at Becca’s. He might be able to worm his way in. She was lonely. He was lonely. They could not be lonely together.
Shouldn’t he be more worried about how they would take things? Apparently righteously good sex put him in a mellow mood.
“Need to clean up, do you, Romeo?” Sasha asked with a deep chuckle.
He turned and headed to the bathroom because he hadn’t exactly gotten rid of the condom and it was starting to feel nasty.
He handled his business and washed his hands, looking at himself in the mirror. Was this what Becca was doing? Staring at herself because what had happened in that lift seemed to have changed her somehow? He felt it. Something had shifted in his life, but in this moment all he could think about was his past and how far he’d had to come to get to the second he’d held a hand out and opened the lift doors for the woman. The horrible rash he’d had from the drugs he’d been given had faded over the long months. He was back to being strong again. It had taken him almost two years, but he could hold his own in a fight. He’d had to relearn how to walk practically, and that hadn’t come from his memory loss.
Becca would call it a side effect. Dr. McDonald’s drug would almost surely have a black box warning. Side effects may include complete and utter loss of self, rashes that decimate the skin, and overnight atrophy. That meant his muscles stopped working. At least he thought that’s what the doctors had meant.
He had a handsome face, but it was different from the one he’d had before. There wasn’t a lot of light in his eyes. He didn’t smile the way the bugger in the photos did—like he hadn’t a care in the world. Except he had. He should have cared about the fact that he was a disloyal bastard who should have trusted his team.
Did any of them actually trust him?
Should Becca Walsh trust him?
He picked up his bag and strode back into the room where his whole team seemed to be arguing. Apparently the movers had done their job and the decent-sized apartment was filled with boxes and furniture.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Robert was saying. “Being alone with her probably allowed Owen to lay the groundwork for our cover. Unless they didn’t get along, and then we’re fucked.”
“I would be surprised if that’s the case. River and I like her a lot,” Jax replied. “She’s easy to get along with. You’ll see. We’re having her over for dinner. It’s good that she’ll already be comfortable with Owen.”
“I bet she’s incredibly comfortable with Owen.” Sasha was staring at the laptop screen.
“I don’t know.” Ezra paced in front of the fireplace. “There’s a reason Tag put him in a backup role.”