Defying Desire (17 page)

On the desk his phone rang. Adam answered it.

“It’s Devlin,” he said handing the phone to Trent.

Trent went to the phone. “What’d you find out?” he asked immediately.

Devlin answered without pause, this was the way they worked. “Interestingly enough there’s a security camera at the front entrance to the apartment complex. But there’s no on-duty guard and no secured entrance, go figure. Anyway, I got a copy of the tapes from the last week. Looked at the one from last night and the previous night first. A blue sedan with a female driver came in and out both times. Now, normally I’d chalk this up to a resident except for the hours she came in and out—in at nine-forty-seven Friday night and out at three-sixteen, and in at two-ten on Saturday and out at three-thirty.”

“Okay,” Trent spoke as he ran the times through his head. He’d gone to Tia’s place at about nine-thirty on Friday, he remembered because they’d been eating pizza at close to eleven after their romp in the bedroom. He’d left around three because she hadn’t wanted him to stay all night. A fact that had bothered him at the time so he was pretty pissed off when he was leaving. Still, if there’d been a car in the parking lot that hadn’t been there when he pulled up Trent was sure he would have noticed it.

“During those hours on Friday she could have easily slashed the tires. And the hour she was there on Saturday coordinates with the exact time you said Adam picked Tia up and took her to the baby shower.”

“And she never returned from the baby shower, but the assailant wouldn’t have known she wasn’t coming back.” He was rubbing his hand over his head. “They would have had to know about the shower specifically. About Jade and the babies.” His stomach twisted with the implications.

“Right,” Devlin agreed. “They knew the duration of the baby shower and was sure to get in and out in that timeframe.”

“So we’re looking at a woman who not only knows Tia, but knows my family.” Either factor was cause to have Trent’s mind numbing with rage.

“Bingo. I’m about to go over the tapes for the entire week. I’ve sent the first two over to Josh to magnify the images and get me a name. I just wanted to let you know where we stood.”

“Good. Thanks, Dev.”

“There’s another reason I called, Trent.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose Trent wondered if things could get any worse. “Go ahead.”

“While I’ve been in here looking at these tapes I got a call from Troupe.”

Yeah, they’d gotten worse. “And?”

“And we ship out on Saturday. Clobol has been spotted in Dubai. They want us to bring him in.”

Trent’s entire body stiffened. The government had been searching for Johansen Clobol, a reported player in one of the largest terrorist organizations in the Middle East. If they had a positive ID on him they would want him brought in ASAP.

Going to the Middle East now was not in Trent’s plans. Then again, he wasn’t altogether sure what his plans were. Only a few minutes ago he’d admitted that what he felt for Tia went way beyond the normal flirt, sex and goodbyes. Wasn’t this the exact situation he’d been afraid of? Leaving a woman he cared deeply for to enter into a life-threatening situation…a situation he might not return from.

“You still there, man?” Dev asked.

Trent let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. “Yeah. I’m here. Did you call the rest of the team?”

“I told Josh when I called him about the tapes. I’m going to call Red and Baywatch when I hang up with you. I’ll send them down tonight to scope things out and set up. Josh and I will go on Tuesday. You can follow up on Saturday.”

Trent frowned. “That’s not how we usually roll.”

“One of us isn’t usually distracted, either,” Devlin answered quickly. “Look, take care of this situation with your woman first or you’ll be worthless to us. It seems pretty cut-and-dry stalker-type actions. When Josh gets us a name we’ll pick the crazy chick up and you can pack up and head out. Deal?”

Already being involved with Tia was impacting his career. Or was it his career impacting being involved with Tia?

“Deal. Call me as soon as you get new info.”

“You know it.”

Hanging up the phone, Trent sat down in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

“What’s going on?” Linc asked.

Trent wanted to answer that question, he wanted to tell his brothers everything but on the coffee table his cell phone vibrated.

Linc picked it up and handed it to Trent. It was a text message from Sam Desdune.

Been trying to call you. Left two voice messages last night. Larice Summerfield is missing.

Trent re-read the message then cursed, throwing the phone across the room.

Chapter 14

A
dam and Camille had a great home gym. It had been two days since Tia had moved into their home. That meant two days of spending the day at the office with Camille and the nights having dinner with first Jade and Noelle and then with Camille and Adam.

Normally this would have made Tia feel crowded and anxious, instead she’d felt more rested and serene than she had in months. It may have been due to the king-sized four-poster bed in the guest room that Camille had put her in. Still, keeping with her less-is-more theme, Tia had decided she was definitely indulging in a bed like that when she found her new place.

That had been one of the thoughts on her mind in the past two days: where she would move to? She’d called Camille’s therapist, Jeanne Brokeman, yesterday and had her first appointment this afternoon. In her estimate it hadn’t gone too
badly. Jeanne was a small woman with a very low-key demeanor. She spoke in an almost hushed tone that Tia swore therapists and psychiatrists perfected. Her office had a comfortable feel with warm colors like champagne and beige and cranberry throughout its décor. And talking to her hadn’t been as difficult as Tia had thought.

The session had ended and Tia had checked her cell phone the moment she’d left the office.

Trent still hadn’t called.

It was silly, she knew. She should just call him. But, truth be told, the other Donovans had been keeping her so busy the last two days that she hadn’t really had an opportunity. And if she wanted to be even more honest with herself, she would admit that she was afraid to talk to him.

No matter how much she craved his touch, his overbearing remarks or even that contemplative look he gave her when he thought she wasn’t watching, she was still scared. She’d warned herself before becoming involved with him and so thought she’d been well prepared, just as she’d thought she was dealing with her grief issues in the right way.

Trent was too much for her. There was no way she could have resisted him or the threat he was to her heart. Yes, the physical had crossed over to emotional the night he’d held her in his arms without making love to her. He’d been caring and sympathetic, all the while holding his ground. He knew about the accident because he’d had her investigated. Tia still didn’t know what to make of that. Did he investigate every woman he slept with or did this somehow make her special?

Still, he’d known and he hadn’t said anything to her about it. Maybe he was respecting her privacy, but then if that were the case he wouldn’t have snooped into her background in the first place. At any rate, the secret was now
out and everybody, including her mother, was glad of it. It wasn’t as if she were a murderer and Tia admitted it felt better to not walk around holding something in all the time.

Except now she was holding something entirely different inside. Another thought that had plagued her for the past two days.

She wanted Trent Donovan. No, she really wanted him and not just in her bed. Now how stupid was that? She’d gone this long in her life and had made one major reconciliation with herself at the same time dooming her heart to endless pain and suffering.

Trent wasn’t the settle-down type of man. She’d known that before sleeping with him and while he didn’t remind of her of that fact, she knew it just the same. She’d thought she could stick with just having sex with him. Now she wasn’t quite sure. He had proven to be more caring and tender with her than anyone she had ever known.

In Adam and Camille’s home gym, she used her favorite method to clear her mind. Sitting on the bench she did sets of fifteen with the ten-pound free weights. She was on her fourth set of ten when she felt a warmth at her back.

Before she could turn around to surmise what it was his lips were on her neck, his hands sliding down her arms to her wrists where he continued the motion of her lifting the weights.

Speak of the devil.

He’d waited as long as humanly possible, giving her the time and space Linc said she probably needed. A lot had happened in her life since Saturday and while it was Trent’s way to make a bold presence he adhered to his big brother’s advice and left her alone.

But he’d ached for her. The last two nights alone in his
bed had been torture. There had never been another woman to spend the night in his bed until Tia and now it didn’t seem right without her. The fact that he’d been coming to terms with his own feelings for her while following up on her stalker and the case he’d left behind in Connecticut only made seeing her more difficult. Trent made a concerted effort to keep his mind on business—that was the only way he could hope to keep Tia safe.

Larice Summerfield was the daughter of Roland Summerfield, the man indicted for attempted murder and a host of other crimes back east.

Trent had gone to help his friend Sam protect the Bennetts, an influential family, and find the person threatening them. Larice had been stalking one of the men in the Bennett family and Trent had been the one to arrest her. Now she was missing.

And Tia was being stalked.

The connection was just farfetched enough to be possible and Sam had arrived in Vegas yesterday to add his input and help into finding the stalker. Devlin had flown out to Dubai earlier this morning. Josh was already there. Now it was up to Trent and Sam to get to the bottom of this. And then he’d be leaving.

Trent didn’t want to think of that right now. However, it was just that fact that had him leaving Sam at his condo and riding over here at almost ten at night to see Tia. If he was going to be leaving her in a week, not knowing when or if he would return, he needed to be with her as much as possible.

A couple of weeks ago he’d told her that three days was just too long for them to be apart, now he was thinking that two might be pushing it, as well.

Adam knew what had kept him away just as he knew that Trent would eventually show up at his door. He hadn’t said anything when Trent arrived but “She’s in the gym.”

The brothers had been spending a lot of time together these past two days trying to get a grip on what might be happening with Tia and how it could affect them all. Adam was initially worried about Camille and the backlash CK Davis Designs might have but with the Larice Summerfield connection in the back of all their minds, that seemed less than likely. If Larice were behind the break-in and tire slashing then the blame rested solely on Trent’s shoulders.

Guilt, lust, and anxiousness were not a good mixture for a man like Trent. So when he’d walked into the home gym and seen her lifting the free weights, her mind focused, her gaze straight ahead as she breathed with each repetition, he’d become more than aroused.

Like a vice around his heart her presence engulfed him. Tugged and squeezed him until Trent had to struggle to breathe. It was so beyond the way her taut body looked in those tight exercise shorts and even tighter sports bra. Even more than the enticing way her skin shone with the light sheen of sweat she’d worked up. And three times as alluring as the sweep of her hair over the line of her back.

The physical had shifted to emotional as easily as a carefree summer breeze over the trees. He’d avoided this type of connection all his life and now it was here, settled quite comfortably in the pit of his stomach. And just as Trent did with all things in his life, he’d thought about the effect these feelings would have on him, his family and this woman. And determined that no plan of action could have ever prepared him for this. He loved Tia St. Claire regardless of his dangerous job or her troubled past, or even the reputation he’d worked to keep intact.

He wanted to tell her, to see the look on her face when he actually said the words but her back was to him and the need to touch her overwhelmed him. He’d taken slow, mea
sured steps that caused his body to ache even more as he approached her. Straddling the bench he scooted until her body fit perfectly against his, then his lips and his hands did what they’d been craving to for the last two days.

“I’m beginning to think you have a problem with my workout regimen,” she said in a shaky voice.

Beneath his hands she trembled, her neck angling to fit against his shoulder as he continued to slide his tongue along the smooth column.

“I have no problems with you at all,” he mumbled, then sank his teeth lightly into her skin only to soothe the spot with his tongue once more.

“Really?” she asked and leaned forward to put her weights on the floor. Turning slightly she grasped his chin in her hand. “Well, I have one major problem with you, Trent Donovan.”

His body instantly tensed. While the look in her hazel eyes said simply “Take me now,” her other features were stern as if she were prepared to scold him.

“I’m a great problem solver,” he said, determined that if he wasn’t making love to her he’d keep the mood as light as possible.

“Then maybe you can tell me why three days is too long for us to be apart but two seems to be okay.”

Yes, he definitely loved this spunky, dangerously beautiful woman.

“Two days are also too long.”

She stood then, looking down on him. “Don’t let it happen again,” she told him, moving his legs so that they were together and she could straddle him.

“Never,” he said loving the smooth way in which she positioned him the way she wanted him. His hands quickly went to the delicious curve of her bottom while her arms went around his neck.