Dangerous Games (Aegis Group, #3) (28 page)

Her.

He wanted her.

But maybe not in the same way she wanted him.

“I want to make it work,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

“Me, too,” she said without hesitation.

As happy as he was to hear that, he also had to face the truth.

“Andrea...I would be a fucktard if I didn’t—”

“Did you just say fucktard?”

“Yeah?”

“Just checking.” She grinned.

He wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t shake the sick feeling in his stomach. “I have to also point out that sometimes, in situations like these, when your life is in danger, it’s not uncommon to have feelings for someone that aren’t real.”

She tilted her head to the side, considering his words.

“I can see that...but I don’t think that’s right. For me at least...we have these...quiet? I don’t think that’s the word. There are moments like now, like randomly, I just feel...close to you. And maybe that’s what scares me. My mom left my dad and me when I was, like, eleven, I think. A counselor said it gave me attachment issues. Maybe I should take Crystal up on talking to a therapist.”

“I think you’re perfect the way you are.” He leaned in and kissed her, needing to touch her before he woke up and this was all a dream.

“How would this work?” she asked against his lips. The tension in her voice was clear.

“Well, there are weeks at a time when I could work remotely. What about you?”

“If it’s not a big project week, then yeah. Sometimes though, I just need the quiet of my office to work.”

“I get that. But we could feasibly go back and forth. At least once a month maybe, every six weeks if it’s crunch time.”

“And then what? What happens when it’s not enough?”

Her question echoed his thoughts exactly. He didn’t have an answer for her.

“Let’s not create problems, okay? You might hate me in a week.”

She bit her lower lip and her eyelids drooped.

“Get some rest. We can figure everything else out. I swear.” He kissed her lips briefly and rolled away.

The sheets rustled behind him. He strode across the room and released the straps holding his prosthetic on. The bag with his other arms sat on the floor. He placed his on top of the bag and rolled the sock off his arm, rubbing at the skin.

“Can I ask an invasive question?” Andrea’s voice was music. Happiness. Love.

Yeah, he needed to convince her to go to sleep soon.

“Shoot.” He flipped the lights off and returned to the bed, sliding in next to her.

“Why didn’t you take your arm off earlier?”

“Earlier as in when?”

“While we were taking our clothes off.” He didn’t need the light on to know she was blushing. He could hear it in her voice.

“Hm. I didn’t think about it?”

“Is that a rude thing to ask? I don’t want to screw up and ask the wrong thing.”

“It’s not rude to me. I guess...I’m not going to pause to take my arm off or put it on for sex. I mean, the hook was pretty good at taking your pants off.” He reached for her, pulling her across the bed to him. The shirt was a thin enough barrier it might as well not be there. “Does that answer your question?”

“If it’s on, it’s on. If it’s off, it’s off. Got it. I just...I forget it’s even a thing until you go to take it off. And then I’m like...oh, yeah. Huh. He’s still awesome.” She drew circles on his arm.

“I think you’re awesome, too.”

“Thanks.” She chuckled and scooted closer until their legs were intertwined and he couldn’t get closer without being in her.

It was a pretty damn great way to fall asleep.

A
ndrea snipped tags off the new jeans and stepped into them. There were serious perks that came with having a loaded friend. At some point, while they slept through most of the day, one of Crystal’s family employees had been dispatched to get her something to wear. Probably because Crystal’s parents were appalled by anyone in sweatpants. Judging by the near perfect fit, Andrea could only assume that someone in the Great House had her sizes on file. Not surprising, since she’d done a fair amount of laundry here, and it seemed like any time she voiced a preference someone remembered it.

“Andrea,” Crystal bellowed from somewhere below, “food’s here!”

Andrea slid her feet into fuzzy slippers and checked her phone. Zain had woken up first, showered and was gone before she’d managed to get both eyes open.

No messages.

What was he up to?

Where’d he gone?

And why did it hurt so much to not have him near her?

She packed up her emotional mess and headed downstairs, collecting a trail of kitties behind her.

Crystal poured coffee into mugs and Zain sat at the bar with his laptop and a plate of steaming food. He glanced up mid-bite and winked at Andrea. Warm-fuzzies attacked her knees and she stumbled down the last two stairs.

“You look cute.” Crystal paused to give her a once-over.

“Thanks.” Andrea tugged at the hem of her shirt.

“How do your arms feel?” Zain twisted on his stool.

She crossed the kitchen, arms extended. The bandages had partially come off while she slept, and she’d taken them off for a quick shower. Zain gently took her wrists in his hands and turned her arms this way and that. He had the 3D arm on again. It didn’t appear any worse for wear after the rain and duking it out with Kevin.

The cuts weren’t deep. They’d all scabbed over and the doctors at the ER had told her they likely wouldn’t even leave scars. They’d been far more concerned about the bruising around her neck and the goose egg on the side of her skull.

“Any pain?” Zain asked. The way he stared at her, intent on the answer, made her think he wasn’t just asking about her arms.

“Not anymore.”

“Good. Eat. Bowman should be here soon.”

“Max?” Andrea took the stool next to Zain. “Why?”

“Something to do with Kevin?” Crystal stood across from them, opting to stand and eat.

“Not sure.” Zain shrugged. “He just asked if we were all here and if he could come by.”

“And you just invited someone over to my house. Gee, thanks.” Crystal quirked a brow at Zain.

“You have a problem with that?” Zain asked.

“Nope.” Crystal grinned.

He squeezed Andrea’s knee and kept picking away at his food.

“Anything else going on?” Andrea’s head was pretty fuzzy after only about six hours sleep. She was still tired, no doubt about that, but her need to pee and eat had forced her out of bed.

“I tried calling Miranda but she didn’t answer.” Crystal lifted her shoulders.

“Um. She has something this morning...I forget what. Isn’t her flight tomorrow?”

“Yeah, she and Cliff were supposed to be on the same one.”

“That’s got to be Max.” Zain lifted his phone, a white text bubble taking up half of it. The grimace on his face didn’t look good.

“What’d he say?” Andrea asked.

“It’s not Max. It’s work.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah—”

A knock at the door interrupted whatever information Zain was going to volunteer about his day job. He held up a hand when Crystal stepped around the counter, and pushed off his stool. One hand went to his hip, and it was only then that Andrea realized he was carrying a gun.

It was a very real reminder that they—she and Crystal—weren’t safe yet. Just because Kevin and Patricia were behind bars didn’t mean things were over.

Andrea swallowed and watched Zain peer through the narrow windows on either side of the door.

“It’s Max,” he said, and opened the door.

Max Bowman was about Zain’s size, a little wider in the shoulders, with lighter hair and eyes. Andrea had always thought of characters like Commissioner Gordon when she had to talk to Max. He was nice, but he wore tension like a jacket and the permanent frown lines bothered her. Still, he’d taken both her and Crystal seriously when they went to the cops about the on-line threats and doxxing.

“Afternoon, or should I say morning?” Max shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on a peg near the door.

“Hey, you hungry?” Crystal gestured at the bar. “Have a seat. Coffee?”

“I’ll take a coffee, thanks. I’m about to go pick up food for the guys, so I’m good.” Max took the seat on Andrea’s left. “How you doing, Andrea?”

“I’m good. Thanks for everything.” How exactly did she thank the officer who’d helped the man she loved save her?

“I’m guessing this isn’t a check-up?” Zain slid back onto his stool and placed his hand on her knee, grounding her. She covered his hand and squeezed, grateful for the tether.

“Thanks.” Max sipped the coffee Crystal slid across to him. “I’ll get to it—Kevin and Patricia...their stories don’t match.”

“How so?” Zain asked.

“Well, Kevin keeps saying Cliff hired him. That Cliff said to use his cousin’s house, gave Kevin all sorts of access to the girl’s information but...” Max shook his head. “When I talk to Patricia, her stories are different. It’s the details that aren’t matching. She only knows of Cliff because of you, Crystal. Patricia said Kevin wanted her to keep tabs on you, that he’d pay her for what she could give him. Here’s the thing, she said when she spoke to Kevin last, when she warned him Andrea was in contact with us, that someone else was there. Kevin kept talking to another man, but she didn’t know who it was.”

“Another accomplice?” Zain asked.

“Maybe.” Max shrugged.

“Or...it could be the person trying to make Cliff take the fall.” Andrea swallowed. If that was true...then she’d been in the same house with them. Whoever had betrayed her had been one floor above her.

“Dude. Guys.” Crystal stared at her phone. “I just got a text from one of the guys at the office. Miranda’s in today. She’s working.”

“What? No, she had a thing.” Andrea reached for Crystal’s phone and read the text.

Miranda’s here. U coming in?

It was from one of the other graphics guys.

That wasn’t right. Andrea had changed her flight to be on Miranda’s when things got hairy. Safety in numbers and all that jazz. So why was Miranda back early?

Max grimaced. “I don’t like how things are going. I’m going to have to bring Cliff in for questioning. My boss is pushing for an arrest already. I need something else to go on or else my hands are tied. Evidence is evidence.”

“No, you can’t arrest Cliff,” Andrea blurted.

“Sorry, I know you don’t think he’s involved, but there’s too many coincidences.” Max spread his hands.

“Can you just...I mean if you have to, can you do it quietly? We’ve already created so much negative press for the company.” Despite everything Kevin said, Andrea couldn’t believe Cliff was behind any of it. He wasn’t her favorite person, she didn’t particularly care for him, but he had supported their concept for D7.

“Well, hold on.” Zain leaned forward. “If you do arrest Cliff, make it a big, public thing, that might give whoever is really behind all of this a false sense of security. If the cops are looking at Cliff, he—or she—might make a move.”

“Has anyone spoken to Cliff?” Crystal crossed her arms over her chest. “It seems to me, especially if he’s innocent, that he’s going to want to help however he can. Don’t get me wrong, Cliff creeps me the fuck out sometimes, but I don’t see him doing this stuff. I mean, he barely knows our names.”

“I’ll put in a call to Cliff. See if he’ll play ball.” Max checked his phone again. “I’ve got to hit the road. Thanks for the coffee. Let me know if you hear anything, and I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Thanks for keeping us informed.” Zain stood, shook Max’s hand and saw him to the door.

Andrea stared at the marble counter top, not ready to process so much information. The nightmare wasn’t over yet. Her kidnapping was just the beginning. How far was this going to go?

“I’m calling Miranda,” Andrea announced.

“I’ve tried her several times. She’s not answering,” Crystal said.

Andrea pulled out her phone and scrolled to her boss’ cell phone. She needed to try it for herself.

The line rang. And rang.

“Andrea.” Miranda sounded...surprised.

“Hey, I, uh...thought I should check in.”

“I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

“You...told me to check in with you.”

“Yeah I just...I don’t know...I thought you’d be busy.”

Andrea glanced from Zain to Crystal, both watching her. Her kidnapping wasn’t public. The last she’d talked to Miranda, she’d been cleaning up her apartment. So what did Miranda think she was doing?

“I just chatted with Detective Bowman. You remember Crystal and I talking about him?”

“Yeah? What did he say?” Miranda’s voice wasn’t right. It was too high. Too strained.

“Nothing much, still no leads or whatever. Hey, I heard you were in the office. I thought you had something going on today at the con, though.” Andrea jammed the phone between her shoulder and ear.

“It fell through, and I thought—what with all the good press we got— that I would get in the office and work on a few things.”

“Oh. Well...I just want to, I don’t know. Warn you, I guess.”

“Warn me? About what?”

“I think the cops want to talk to Cliff about everything that’s happened.”

“Cliff? Why Cliff?”

“Just some questions. Would you pass that along? Maybe warn him he might get a call or something?”

“I can, but are you sure they need to talk to him?”

“That’s just what M—Detective Bowman said.” Something about Miranda’s tone was off. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

“All right. I can do that. When are you coming in?”

Andrea glanced at Crystal then Zain.

“I don’t know yet. With...everything, it’s a lot to sort out.”

“Totally understand. Take as much time as you need. Maybe work from...well, I’d say work from home but that’s the problem. Foot in mouth. I’m so sorry, Andrea.”

“Don’t worry about it. Hey, I gotta go. I’ll check in later.”

Andrea ended the call and stared at the screen.

“Well? What’d she say?” Crystal asked.

“She sounded...weird. Like, voice too high, too perky, too...weird.” Andrea slid her phone across the counter.

“Did she know about last night?” Zain asked.