“Gossip can kill a career. I should know,” Nina said before winking Robert’s way. “But she does fancy you. Quite a bit. Make sure you take care of her. She’s my friend. I know how to take a man’s balls off seventeen different ways, and they all hurt.”
Tucker leaned over as she walked away. “I heard she used to be Interpol. Damon hired her after she got fired for sleeping with the wrong dude, like a dude who was spying on her. She does not like the idea of fucking for information.”
“Ah, that’s why she was so upset when she found out Owen slept with the lovely Dr. Walsh,” Robert mused.
“She’s lovely now?” He knew it was perverse, but he didn’t like Robert talking about Becca like that. Robert should see her as smart and even attractive maybe, but only in a theoretical sense. “Just yesterday she was nothing but the target.”
That slightly feline smile Robert got from time to time when he relaxed enough to be mischievous took over his face. “Well, she’s way hotter than she is in her professional pictures. And she was incredibly hot last night. She kind of glowed. I thought it was because the elevator was hot or something, but now I know the truth.”
Tucker set his mug down. “So when are you seeing her again? The dude I work for is practically in love with her. Carter. He’s kind of an asshole. He’s a prick to the female interns, but you would think Dr. Walsh walks on water when he talks about her. I can’t wait to watch him implode when Owen walks in with her.”
Before Owen could ask about Carter—because he thought that was the man she’d walked out with moments before—Robert was speaking. “The impending implosion will have to wait. It looks like Dr. Walsh has excellent instincts. She’s like the mouse that got the cheese and was smart enough to get out of the trap.”
“She liked my cheese. Why wouldn’t she want more cheese?” It didn’t make sense. She’d been happy with him the night before. He’d been able to feel it. Robert was right; she had glowed.
“She might be one of those mice who knows going back for a second bite of cheese is never the same as the first,” Robert offered with a sigh. “She also might view you as a gorgeous muscular himbo, and she got what she wanted from you and now she’s going to go find someone with like five degrees to settle down with.”
It was what he’d feared. She was smart, genius-level smart, with a prestigious job, and he was a bodyguard who hadn’t exactly showed off his intellectualism with her. He’d talked about taking bullets and being a solider.
Neither of which he actually remembered.
It hit him hard, the scent of sweat and the rat-a-tat sound of gunfire all around him. For the merest second he could feel heat on his face and he’d known, oh, he’d known he wasn’t going to make it.
“Owen?” All amusement had fled Robert’s expression now. “Are you all right?”
He hadn’t talked to any of them about the strange flashes he’d started getting. But then he didn’t talk to them about much anyway. It wasn’t that they weren’t his mates, but he wasn’t sure how much right he had to be among them. They’d all been victims through no fault of their own. But he…
“I’m fine.” He shook it off. There was no need to worry anyone. He was fairly certain they all got a flash from time to time.
God, he wished he could get a flash of his mum, of his sister. He wanted even the merest hint of what it had meant to love them so he could make sense of the wrong he’d done in their name.
“You didn’t look fine,” Tucker said. “Are you feeling all right? Is it physical or is it the pure horror of actually having a woman blow you off? That’s not the same as blowing you. It’s kind of…”
Yeah, he got it. “The opposite. Did McDonald combine your bloody brains when she was playing about in them?”
“You have to admit, not many women turn you down,” Robert mused. “It’s got to be tough on the old ego. I’m perfectly fine with it. I’ve been turned down lots of times.”
“Only because you tended to go after unavailable women,” Tucker pointed out. “I, on the other hand, go in for the kill. Not really a kill. By that I meant the sure thing.”
“You mean hookers,” Owen shot back.
Tucker didn’t bother to look ashamed. He merely grinned. “They never turn me down.”
Rebecca Walsh wasn’t a hooker, and she’d totally turned him down. It rankled. No. It didn’t rankle. He was at least going to be honest with himself, even if he lied to everyone else.
It hurt.
“She’s going to Jax’s on Saturday?” He wasn’t about to give up, and it wasn’t entirely about the op. Apparently she was bonding pretty well with Jax and River. It would be easy for them to keep her occupied while he and Robert searched her place. But that wasn’t how he wanted this to go.
Because he wanted her.
“That’s what he said,” Robert replied. “She’s told River she would be there. That’s where we were all supposed to meet and show off what a great couple we were, how crazy our manly love was. Now I guess I’m going as your sidekick. Mostly I’m going to see if she blows you off again.”
“I wish I got to go,” Tucker said, a frown on his face. “River makes good lasagna. Did I mention Ezra doesn’t have any food in our place? Do you think I could find a hooker who can also cook? I would pay extra.”
“Get yourself a freaking frozen dinner like the rest of the single male world. You are a coddled baby,” a deep voice said and Ezra Fain was suddenly there, like he’d peeled away from the shadows. No one Owen had ever met moved as quietly as Ezra. “And I thought I told you to stay away from here.”
Yeah, he was starting to worry that having the lads around constantly would tip off Becca that something was going on. All they needed was Jax to feel the man vibe going on down here and heed its call to have them all in one place. He discounted Dante and Sasha since they didn’t believe in rising before noon.
“Nina told us the doc always heads out before seven. I was safe enough,” Tucker explained. “And Carter texted me asking if I can take a few extra shifts. He slid in that he was going in to work with Dr. Walsh this morning. He’s got a thing for Owen’s girl.”
“For Owen’s brief fling?” Robert was an arsehole who seemed to be enjoying this far too much.
Ezra frowned as he sat down next to Owen. “Brief? Because I thought that was our play now. Did Owen magically find our data? Did you go see her after I left last night?”
“Nope,” Robert answered. “The woman in question got her lick of the lollipop and now is moving on to other lollipops. She’s a kid in a candy store.”
But she hadn’t even touched his bloody lollipop, and he wanted her to. “She’s playing with me, that’s all. I’ll go see her tonight.”
Ezra shook his head. “No. You play this slow. If you go after her too soon, she might run the other way. Nod and smile at her the next time you see her and walk on. Saturday night you can make your play.”
He could be patient. Sort of. “I’ll have her again Saturday night. You’ll see. If I don’t get my hands on her again, I’ll pay up on whatever bets you have going, and don’t tell me you don’t, you bastards.”
They all tried to look innocent.
It was his turn to frown. “You, too, Ezra?”
The boss shrugged. “Hey, the days are long and Dante has cash stashed. I’m not getting paid by the government anymore. Speaking of the CIA, I came here to tell you that Levi Green’s gone missing.”
Shite. Exactly what he needed, that bugger running about town. “He’s here then.”
Ezra’s curt nod let Owen know that he agreed. “We had a couple of McKay-Taggart agents watching him. They couldn’t follow him past security at Dulles. According to passport services, he flew to Heathrow, but we all know he can manipulate those.”
Tucker looked serious all of the sudden. “Then it’s starting.”
They’d always known Green had a game plan. They were his pawns. But pawns could be quick. Pawns could maneuver in ways none of the stronger pieces could.
If only they could see the whole board in front of them.