On Her Master's Secret Service (18 page)

The spot beside them was already taken by a non-descript sedan. Adam had been given everything he needed to set up his equipment. “Do we only have the two slots?”

The parking was assigned.

“Yes,” Kristen explained. “When Sean’s car is delivered, one of us is going to have to park in front of the building. There’s a side door that takes you straight to the elevator. There’s one on each side of the building, so in all there are four points of entry, the garage, two side doors, and the main entry where guests have to go.”

It seemed fairly secure, better than he would get if they were at a motel. “The last one in parks outside. How many bedrooms do you have?”

“I have three. Adam is already set up in one. I thought Eve and I would share.”

No fucking way. “Eve stays with me.”

She’d made her bed and she was definitely going to lie in it with him.

“Alex, we don’t need to play games outside the club,” Eve said in a far too patient voice. She’d been the calm one, the easy one to deal with. She hadn’t been snippy with anyone and everyone who asked a question or had a comment. And it was pissing him off. He was a volcano waiting to go off, and she was an ocean of calm.

He put the car in park, slammed out of his side, and hit the button to release the trunk. He stalked around to the passenger side of the back and had Eve’s door open before she could do it herself. He turned his back because if he laid a hand on her at this point, he just might have her over his knee right then and there. Getting the luggage was easier than dealing with Eve.

Even from the parking garage he could smell the salt in the air, hear the sound of the Atlantic hitting the shore. It was a soothing sound that did nothing to ease his anxiety.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Sean walked up beside him and leaned in, grabbing his suitcase and a rolled up piece of luggage that he’d explained contained his knife set. He’d checked it at the airport but had been carrying it around ever since. “Don’t do something stupid. You need to think about this for two seconds.”

“I don’t think I have to do something stupid. You already did that for me.” Sean should have made sure Eve was safe at home. It was what he would have done for Sean.

Sean shook his head. “You’re my friend, but she’s my friend, too, Alex. If I had stopped her, she would have shown up anyway and then everything would have really gone to hell.”

“Yeah, I think that was her plan. She tried to talk me out of this. She couldn’t get her way so she manipulated the situation until I had to make a choice. I could give up looking for Evans or place her in danger. I’m either doing her bidding or I’m the bad guy, but that’s the way the last few years of our relationship have been.”

“I never made you the bad guy, Alex,” Eve said, her voice as steady as when she talked to her patients. He was getting her shrink voice. Awesome. She stood there, her grave eyes staring him down, and he felt like the bad guy. He was the asshole who always let her down.

He didn’t want to have this conversation here with witnesses. Hell, he didn’t want to have this conversation at all. He nabbed his bags and shoved Eve’s on top of his and started to follow the arrows that led to the elevators.

He was such an idiot. She was topping from the bottom and here he was still carrying her fucking bags around because he couldn’t stand the thought of not doing it. Because a long time ago, he’d promised her father that he would treat her like a princess for the rest of her life, and she was still alive so he was still held to that vow and that meant Eve St. James didn’t carry her own bags or open her own doors.

And she sure as fuck wasn’t sleeping alone tonight. There was a limit to his generosity.

“This is fun. All we need is some popcorn because this is a whole lot of drama.” Kristen gave him a wink as she walked through the door he held open. The elevator was immediately to his left. The door between the garage and the elevator was open, but the garage itself had a gate and a remote entry and security on site. Eve walked through next and then Sean.

Alex looked around. He needed to get his head out of his ass and start assessing their situation. This was going to be their home for the next couple of weeks. He needed to figure out the weaknesses.

“I count two CCTV cameras. One right behind you.” Sean held up his middle finger with a smile. “Hello, Adam.” He shrugged. “You know he’s already watching. It probably took him like five seconds on arrival to cut into the feed.”

Eve and Kristen were standing next to the elevator, just out of range. He lowered his voice. He just couldn’t fucking let this go. “Why would you do this to me? Adam, I get. He’s always been closer to Eve, but I didn’t expect it from you.”

Sean frowned. “I did not betray you, and Kristen is right. You sound like a drama queen. Eve is not some girl off the street. She’s Eve St. James, and she’s smart and more capable of doing this particular job than anyone else. I brought her here for the same reason I came here myself. To watch your back because you are not capable of being reasonable about this. So calm yourself down before you do something truly stupid. Every single one of us walked away from something to be here to back you up, and we did it because we’re a family. Every one of us except that girl you’re placing so much trust in. She’s hiding something.”

He didn’t like looking at himself through the filter of Sean’s eyes. “I wouldn’t have brought Grace into this. Never.”

Sean’s eyes rolled. “Grace isn’t a trained agent so no, of course, you wouldn’t have brought my wife here. It’s a completely different scenario. I’m going to give you a piece of advice and you can take it or leave it. This is your last shot with her. If you bungle it, I think she’s going to leave permanently, and there is no way you recover from that. You can think that the last few years have been bad, but nothing is going to be worse than not being able to watch over her. She’s here because she loves you whether she can say it or not. So make sure she can say it. She placed herself in your hands, in your complete control.”

Alex huffed at the very idea. He knew exactly how this would go. He had been playing this game for five years with her. “Eve thinks she can play the role at the club and then do what she likes outside of it. It’s the way she’s worked ever since the divorce.”

“This isn’t Sanctum, man.” Sean reached out and gave his arm a brotherly smack. “This is an op. What’s the first thing Ian taught all of us?”

“Live the op so the op can’t die.” Don’t break cover. Live and breathe the cover. It was the only way to survive. Eve’s cover was to be Master A’s sub.

His submissive.

“Are you two going to stand around holding the door open forever or do you want to come see my party pad?” Kristen asked. Eve simply stood by the elevator, a wary look on her face.

He kind of liked that look. She was always so sure of him, so sure she could handle him. It was good to know he had her off-kilter for once. “We’re coming.”

He crowded her, forcing her to the back of the elevator.

“Do you have to stand so close?” Eve asked, her eyes turning up.

It was time to start laying out some ground rules. “You’re my sub. There’s no such thing as personal space for you. Not when it comes to me. You act like this out in the field and you’re going to give us away.”

“We’re not in the field. We’re in the elevator.” She didn’t sound quite so calm now. She spoke in a breathy, slightly shaky voice, the one that let him know she was off her game. She stared at a place just below his chin, as though she couldn’t quite look him in the eyes.

He forced her chin up, bringing those chocolate brown eyes to meet his own. Thank god she hadn’t covered up her eye color. “We’re always in the field, pet. I’m going to call you pet most of the time because I just can’t bring myself to call you Mandy. It doesn’t fit. Pet is so much better. It’s more descriptive of just what role you’re going to play.”

Her jaw firmed and those perfectly waxed eyebrows climbed up in a stubborn expression. “If you’re trying to scare me off, it won’t work.”

“I can’t scare you off, pet. You took that choice away from both of us. If I do that then I have to leave the whole operation behind, and I’m not going to run home with my tail between my legs. Sean seems to think you’re competent. Tomorrow you can prove it. You’re back on training sessions.”

Her eyes flared. “I don’t need training sessions, Alex. I’ve been your sub for a long damn time. I think I can handle myself at the club.”

He let a little smirk cross his mouth as he pressed her further against the wood panels of the elevator cab. “Not that kind of training. Self-defense. Exercise. If you want to be in the field with me, you’ll be trained by me.”

“This place comes equipped with a full workout room. It’s really nice,” Kristen added helpfully as the elevator dinged and opened, the doors revealing some sort of private entry hall.

Eve frowned up at him. “I don’t know that training sessions are necessary.”

“Well, then it’s good you’re not in charge, isn’t it? I’m in charge of this operation and you’re going to follow my command or we can have a very quick breakup and I can find another sub.” He felt marginally better having taken control. Or maybe it was the Asian waterfall that greeted him. The small entry hall was decorated in dark reds, the focal piece a lovely stone water fountain that ran from the ceiling to the floor and gave the whole space a serene feeling.

And let Alex know that Kristen had serious cash.

Maybe Sean had a point. He needed to stop thinking about Eve for two seconds and get his head in the op.

Eve followed after him, those hooker heels she was wearing clicking along the marbled floors. The skirt she was wearing hugged her ass and made his mouth water. He’d had that woman a thousand different ways and he still couldn’t wait to do it again, couldn’t stop counting every second between now and when he could be inside her again.

The minute Kristen opened the door, Eve strode right by him, not bothering to look back. She brushed by Adam, who was waiting for them, and Alex heard her asking Kristen which room was theirs. At least she wasn’t going to fight him on that. Kristen followed her, leaving the men to themselves.

“Dude, she is pissed. Tell me the op isn’t off,” Adam said, turning to watch Eve as she talked to Kristen in what seemed to be the dining room.

“I believe she’s pissed because the op is still on,” Alex replied. “Either that or she’s not looking forward to our daily workouts. So let’s get on with it. What do you have for me, Adam?”

Adam’s hands went up in sheer defeat. “Let’s clear some things up before we move on. I would like to have it on the record that I am merely here as the tech guy. No workouts required. I’m a married man. I can totally let myself go now. Speaking of letting myself go, Sean, my man, you’re here. What’s for dinner?”

Sean snorted a little. “I don’t know. I’ll have to check out what Miss Mysterious has in her fridge. I’m going to go unpack and call my wife. Let me know if you need me, but I think this really is Adam’s expertise.”

Adam’s eyebrows raised in question. “Is he asking about the work-up on Jesse Murdoch that I already have done? Because I know everything, of course.”

Adam could be a pain in the ass, but he was damn good at his job. “Give me the story on him.”

Adam walked up to the table in the living area and slapped a folder on it. The table looked like the rest of the condo. It was a rich, dark wood and had Asian influences, though with all the computer equipment and wires covering it, Alex could only think that it was from an Early Nerd Period.

The folder Adam opened contained a picture of Jesse Murdoch and what looked to be a hefty dossier. “Jesse Murdoch. Age twenty-seven and some change. Born in the wilds of Wyoming. Mom was a waitress. Dad was a cop. Shot in the line of duty three months before Jesse was born. Apparently, mom couldn’t handle it. She dropped him off at granddad’s place one day and never looked back. Now she managed to get her shit together later, but she married some wealthy guy and never even sent the kid a birthday card from what I could tell. He has three half siblings, but I don’t think he’s met them. Tough breaks. Anyway, he helped out on his granddad’s ranch until it went belly up. Granddad dies, and where does a kid who has absolutely nothing end up?”

Alex knew that story well. “Prison or the military.”

Adam touched a finger to his nose. “He was in the Army. Lucky, lucky us. I spoke to some of my contacts there while you were driving in from the club. The word was he was being recruited for special ops when he was taken prisoner. He spent a couple of months as a guest of one of the jihadist armies. Most of his unit died in the ambush. Nasty
IED
. Took out the Humvee they were in. He was taken in with three other soldiers from his unit. He was the only one to survive.”

Alex whistled as he looked through the pages of documents Adam had already assembled. “Shit. Was this the incident where they beheaded three of our soldiers?”

It had been a big story a couple of years back. The government had tried to keep it off the mainstream media, but no one could stop the Internet. The group had beheaded good, honest soldiers to further their political interests.

“They executed everyone but Murdoch, including a female sergeant. When the extraction team found him, he was still alive. He was immediately relieved of duty. The official word was for
PTSD
.”

But Alex knew there was more to that story. “They were worried he’d turned. They couldn’t trust him with
intel
. I saw it on the news, but he almost immediately went into hiding and the story died down. Poor bastard.”

Adam frowned. “Unless he actually turned and gave up his teammates.”

There had been times when Alex’s name and reputation were all he had. He couldn’t imagine a whole country questioning him. What had Jesse Murdoch really been through? And how had it twisted him?

He was definitely someone Alex wanted to keep his eye on. “So what’s he doing here? How long has he been in Florida?”

“About three months, from what I can tell,” Adam replied. “He’s been doing odd jobs up and down the coast, keeping a low profile. He did some security work in Virginia for a while, but he drifted down this way and, as far as I can tell, he was hired on at the club ten weeks ago. Other than the fact that he works for a criminal prick, he doesn’t have any kind of a record. Not so much as a parking ticket.”