And that when she was forced to turn it and herself into the authorities tomorrow, she’d have to explain everything she knew about his involvement as well.
He waited long seconds for a response she just couldn’t give. Finally, he rubbed both hands over his face. “This is all I need right now.”
All
he
needed?
Get in line, buddy.
He turned and looked around the room. “I’m soaked.”
“There are extra clothes in here.” Happy for the excuse to get away from him, she moved to the small closet and pulled out a fresh towel. “Not fancy, but dry.”
“Whose property is this?”
She froze. It was the one question she’d hoped he wouldn’t ask. She could tone down the violence of what had happened in that tomb. She could keep her emotions out of it when she told him the story. She could even fudge on the whys of what she’d done. What she couldn’t do was lie to him. Not about this. Because it had been an issue between them even before those last few days.
“Whose property, Kat?”
“Marty’s.”
“Oh, man. This is just fucking fantastic.”
He stalked toward her, jerked the towel from her hands and shoved the bathroom door open. “Why am I surprised?” he muttered. “Considering everything else, I shouldn’t be.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Pete, it’s not what you—”
“You know what?” He stepped into the small bathroom. “I don’t even want to know. Who the hell you screw isn’t my problem anymore. When the storm breaks, I’m gone.”
Her back went up. She wanted him gone, right? Then why was her chest suddenly stiff?
“That pickup in the back of the garage work?” he asked.
Startled, her mind flashed to the beat-up blue Ford F-250 she’d parked the limo next to. “Yes, I think so.”
“Good. Then I’ll take that and be out of your hair.”
“They’ll come looking for you.”
“Oh yeah?” When he glanced down at her, his eyes were hard and cold and the same steely gray she’d seen tonight in the alley when he’d had Busir pinned to the side of that building. This was the man she didn’t know, a side he’d kept carefully hidden from her. She’d never been afraid of him, but right now, she was. He looked like he could commit murder and enjoy it. “I can’t wait.”
“Pete—”
She never got to finish her statement. The door closed in her face. He didn’t slam it, didn’t even snap it shut like she’d expected. He simply clicked it closed and forced her out.
Then turned the lock so she couldn’t get near him again.
Present day
Barcelona, Spain
His phone had a habit of ringing just as he was about to crash for the day.
Martin Slade groaned at the shrill notes and flopped onto his back. If it was important, whoever had the bad sense to bother him would leave a message. A man deserved two hours of shut-eye without interruption.
His phone ran through the high-pitched notes twice more before it stopped. On a deep sigh, he rolled to his side, bunched the pillow over his head and closed his eyes. Two seconds later, the sharp sound woke him again.
“Goddammit.” He threw the pillow aside and reaching for his cell on the nightstand. “Somebody better be dead.”
“Somebody already is.”
The agitation rushed out of him in a wave and was replaced by that familiar thump, thump, thump in his chest.
“Kat.”
“Hey, Marty,” she said softly. “Sorry to bother you.”
Katherine Meyer.
He pushed up in the pillows, rubbed a hand down his face. The beard he hadn’t shaved in three days itched, so he scratched his jaw in a crazy attempt to think of anything besides Kat’s angelic face and the fact she was the last person he expected to hear from and the only one he ever wanted to talk to. “No, you’re not bothering me. I was just trying to catch some Z’s, although it’s so damn light here, I wasn’t getting many even before you called.”
“Oh? Where are you?”
Shit.
Open mouth, insert foot. He faltered. “Um…”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I understand.”
He knew she did, and it relaxed him. He leaned back against the scuffed headboard in his hotel, tucked his right hand against his opposite side and thanked God for the sweet distraction she created. Didn’t matter the reason she was calling, just that she had.
He tried to think of a way to keep her talking. Her voice had the softest lilt when she said his name. “Sunny here today,” he mumbled. “Way too bright in this dingy room.”
“I’m sure it’s better than snow. I’d trade sunny for just about anything right now.” He heard the brief smile in her voice and smiled himself.
“Snowed in, huh? How many inches?” Right now he’d love to be snowed in anywhere with her.
“Close to a foot already. And not letting up much.”
“Where are you?” he asked. “There’s an echo.”
“Oh, ah, I’m in a garage. Sorta.”
It wasn’t her answer that put him on alert, but the worry he suddenly heard in her voice.
And it dawned on him. It had been six months since he’d heard from her. Six very long months. Just before she’d called the last time, he’d been considering a trip to upstate New York himself to make sure she was all right. Which he knew was the last thing on earth he could do.
“Kat, is everything okay?”
“I…”
Her slight hesitation was all he needed to know she was in trouble. “Something did happen. What’s going on?”
“I…I ran into a small problem tonight. In New York City.”
His nerves coiled tight as she ran through the events at the auction house, as she relayed the drive through the Pennsylvania countryside in the midst of a major blizzard. He heard, clearly, just why she’d finally come out of hiding and risked her life. And knew, even before she said it, who she’d dragged along with her.
A string of curses whipped through his head, but he bit them back.
None of this should surprise him, but for some asinine reason it did. It wasn’t like she was going to beg him for a second chance after he’d been the one to break things off with her so long ago in Egypt. Not when she’d fallen for Kauffman shortly thereafter. And especially not when she was legally dead and her old friend Marty Slade was the rogue CIA operative who’d put her there.
Damn. He was screwed no matter how he looked at it.
If he went with his instincts right now, she was better than dead. No way he could protect her, and some small part of him felt he owed her for how he’d used her when they’d been together.
But knowing she was with Kauffman right now? Yeah, it set off a strange protective surge in his chest. And reaffirmed the fact his day was heading straight for the shitter.
“I can’t get to you, Kat. I’m too far away.”
“I know. I…I messed up. I just didn’t know what to do next.”
Okay, think.
She’d just changed everything by coming out in the open. Her cover was blown, and there wasn’t anything he could do about that now, but he’d help her where he could. He owed her that much at least. Reports he’d seen over the past few days confirmed Minyawi was on the move, which—now he realized—meant news of her appearance had already spread back to Egypt.
Could he protect her and finally wrap up that goddamn op? If he did, he was going to take a serious hit. The agency would come down hard on him for what he’d done six years ago. And there was a chance she was going to be in some serious trouble herself. But keeping her alive at this point was more important than what came after.
With his mind running a mile a minute, he kicked off the covers, rose and reached for his secure PDA from the dresser across the room. She’d just blown the whole thing wide open. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do.” He paged through screens until he found what he needed. “I’ve got a colleague where it’s always sunny. Can you get to Philadelphia?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“The truck’s in the garage. Tank should be full. If not, there are a couple red gas cans on one of the shelves, at least enough to get you to a service station. I want you to call this number.” He read off a name and contact. “When you get close to the city. Not before. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get in touch with David and let him know what’s happened. Don’t say his name over the line, just tell him you’re a friend of mine.” He paused, looked out the window toward a bicyclist speeding down the middle of the street and knew his career was headed for the toilet with what he was about to do next. “Kat, you realize you have to come
in, right? We’ll put you in protective custody. There might be consequences.”
“I know.”
“It’s different now,” he said, hearing the quiver in her voice. “You’re in the States, we can finally finish this. We can protect you.”
“Like you did Shannon?”
His stomach seized. “You know that was—”
“I know,” she said quickly. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t blame you, Marty. I know there’s no guarantee and that you did everything you could for her. I just—” She paused, drew in a shaky breath. “It’s not just me.”
Marty clenched his jaw, and not for the first time, considered telling her everything he knew about Kauffman. All the really ugly stuff, too, not just the rumors. But he couldn’t. Because it wouldn’t hurt Kauffman. It’d only cut her.
He hoped like hell the POS knew how lucky he was to have her back in his life.
“We’ll do what we can, Kat. Just get to Philadelphia. As soon as the weather breaks. Don’t wait.”
“I will. Thanks, Marty. I owe you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I…”
Not exactly the response he wanted, but the best he was going to get. “Yeah, well, when this is all done, you can buy me a beer. Or a case. We’ll call it even then.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No sweat. You take care, Kat. And…”
“Yes?”
“Be safe.”
“I will.”
The line went dead. He stood in the middle of his grungy hotel room dressed in nothing but boxers long moments after he closed the connection, cell pressed against his forehead, knot twisting in his stomach.
Be safe, Kat.
He hoped like hell she would be. But he had a feeling things were about to get a helluva lot worse before they got better.
He pulled the phone away from his face and dialed again.
Six-and-a-half years earlier
Cairo
“If you let me have the first shower I’ll do your laundry for a week.”
Kat chuckled at Shannon’s comment as they hauled their gear out of the tomb on Friday evening. They were both covered in an inch of dust, hot and sweaty from working belowground, but giddy with excitement. Dr. Latham had finally given Kat the break she’d wanted. He’d assigned her and Shannon to the most recently discovered burial chamber. After three and a half months on site, she was finally getting a taste of what working the dig was really like. She’d never been more excited. Or as tired.
“As tempting as that is,” she said with a grin as they headed up the last set of steps toward the fading light, “I’m going to have to pass. You still owe me for convincing me to go out with Pete, remember?”
Shannon huffed behind her. “I still think you must have done something to make him run. He was way into you. Did you pick your teeth or talk about your ex too much or drone on and on about Nefertiti? Because you have a habit of doing that, you know.”
Kat sent her roommate a look in the dim light. “I have a habit of picking my teeth?”
Shannon rolled her eyes and pushed past her. “Droning on and on about Egyptian history. It gets old.”
“I do not.”
“Yes. You do. If I’d known you were going to embarrass yourself I would have given you pointers.”
“I can’t wait to hear these,” Kat muttered, following behind. Shannon was a man magnet, and she knew it. Shoulder-length, curly blonde hair, green eyes that drove guys nuts and a confident ability to flirt with just about any guy without feeling self-conscious. She knew how to work men, and she did it well, but she was also one of the sweetest people Kat had ever met.
“I’m an Egyptologist,” Kat said in defense of herself. “Of course I’d want to talk about Egyptian history. And he’s an art dealer. Trust me, he was interested.”
“In you or what you were boring him with?”
Kat opened her mouth, then closed it when she realized she didn’t know the answer. Had she bored him? She knew she hadn’t picked her teeth, and she definitely hadn’t talked about Marty, so maybe Shannon was right. Maybe Pete had realized by the time dinner was finished that he just wasn’t interested anymore.
The thought depressed her way more than she liked. She’d spent more time than was healthy over the last two weeks thinking about the way he’d pursued her, what she’d thought was an amazing dinner and the fact he’d cut and run as fast as possible after.
“Okay,” Shannon said as they neared the last step. “I’ll admit my lack of coaching might have played a role in your dismal date. Since he’s gone and there’s no chance for a second go—there is no chance, right?”
“None at all.”
Dammit.
“Okay, for that I’ll make a concession and let you hang out with me tonight. How about that?”
Kat couldn’t help it. She laughed at Shannon’s pathetic offer. “Ruin your date with Sawil in addition to first dibs on the shower? I accept.”
“It’s not a date. It’s just a movie. You know he’s not my type. And the bath thing wasn’t part of the deal, you sadist.”
“You’re still not getting the shower first, Shannon. You had it first last time.”
Shannon stopped just outside the tomb, and her voice took on a very confident quality. “You sure about that? How about a little wager?”
“I’m very sure,” Kat said, stepping out behind her roommate, catching the faraway look in Shannon’s eye. “What the heck are you looking at?”
“Oh, nothing,” Shannon said with a wry smile. “Just another tourist.”
Kat followed Shannon’s gaze across the desert and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the increase in light, then froze when she saw the shiny silver Land Rover parked fifty yards ahead with a man leaning back against the hood, looking their way.
It took several seconds before she realized who it was, and then her heart jumped in her chest.
“A bit of advice,” Shannon said close to her ear. “This time don’t bore him to death.” With a nudge, she pushed Kat forward, then headed toward the modular that served as the site’s command station, where Latham and Sawil were talking in the late afternoon sun.
Kat’s nerves rolled around like dice in her stomach, but she forced her feet forward. She was blindingly aware that Pete was freshly showered, dressed in clean slacks and a white button-down rolled up to his elbows and she looked like death warmed over, covered in layers of grime from the bowels of the earth.
Not exactly the impression she’d wanted to hit him with if she ever saw him again.
What the heck was he doing here?
She stopped a few feet from him, ran a hand over her dusty hair and swallowed her courage. Since she couldn’t see his eyes through those spendy Rēvos, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and that only unnerved her more. “If you’re here for another tour, I’m afraid you’re too late.”
He slid off the glasses and tucked them into his breast pocket. “Is this a new fashion statement for the tour guide?”
She looked down at her filthy jeans and T-shirt. And wished she’d been doing anything else today, even though she’d loved the work. Embarrassed, she glanced up and got the full effect of those stormy eyes. They were sparkling with amusement as they gazed down at her.
Warmth spread all the way to her belly. “Um. No. I’m not doing the tours anymore.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t smile, and she longed to see that dimple flash at her like it had so many times during their one shared dinner. “Lucky for me I took the tour when I did.”
Shannon walked up to them then and, like the pushy friend she was, stuck her hand out. “I’m Shannon Driscoll. Kat’s roommate. We haven’t met.”
Pete straightened from the car long enough to return her handshake. “Peter Kauffman.”
“Guy with a tour fetish. I heard all about you.”
“You did, huh?” Pete’s eyes resettled on Kat. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t look away. “Are you done for the afternoon?”
Kat managed a nod.
“She’s off tomorrow, too,” Shannon interjected. “Just in case you’re wondering.”
“Shannon,” Kat warned.
“What?” her roommate said quickly. “It’s true.” She looked at Pete. “She hasn’t taken many days off in the last month so she’s due. In fact, I could cover for her Sunday if she needed an extra day. Did she tell you she’d
been dating this other guy for a while and that they broke up not too long ago?”
“Jesus, Shannon,” Kat muttered. There was mortification, then there was Shannon.
“No,” Pete said with an obvious smile in his voice. “She didn’t tell me.”
Kat’s cheeks heated as she felt Pete’s eyes on her and Shannon kept rambling. “It wasn’t like, serious or anything. And they’re still friends. He comes around now and then. Personally, I think he still has the hots for her. Come to think of it, didn’t Marty mention something about stopping by tonight, Kat?”
Kat groaned and closed her eyes. She knew exactly what Shannon was doing, but it wasn’t going to work. If Pete was really interested, she’d have heard from him before now.
“Too bad she has other plans tonight.”
Kat’s eyes snapped open. Next to her, Shannon grinned.
“Good boy,” Shannon mumbled.
“I’m afraid your ex is going to be disappointed you’re not around.”
“He is?” Kat asked in a whisper as her heart began to pound.
Electricity crackled between them, and Kat waited for Pete to reach out and touch her, but he didn’t. He just stood there studying her with those sexy eyes.
“So,” Shannon said in the silence, “I’m thinking first dibs on the shower are mine after all, huh?”
“Um—”
Pete finally tore his gaze away from Kat and looked toward Shannon. “I’ve got the shower thing covered.” He slipped on his glasses. “She’ll be home tomorrow. If she decides she wants to take Sunday off, she’ll let you know.”
“Wait a minute,” Kat said, enjoying the way he’d swept in here and surprised her, but not entirely sure she liked
his making decisions for her. Before she could further protest, he was pushing her around the shiny vehicle and opening the car door for her. “I’m a mess, Pete. I need to go—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He nudged her inside. “You look great. And where we’re headed, what you’re wearing won’t matter.”
Her stomach tightened. Just what did that mean?
He shut her door, moved around the Land Rover and glanced toward Shannon. “She’ll call you tomorrow.”
“She’d better.”
Kat’s heart was hammering as Pete slid into the vehicle beside her, smelling sexier than she remembered. She looked out the windshield at her roommate, who held up her hand to her ear like a phone and mouthed,
you can thank me later.
Kat only frowned at her friend.
Pete put the car in gear. “Ready?
She slowly turned his way and took in his broad shoulders and strong arms, the line of his jaw and all that blond tousled hair. He was a man who did what he wanted and took charge of everything around him as if he owned it all. Apprehension sent her nerves jangling. “What if I said no?”
His smile was pure victory as they tore out of the site, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. “Then I’d say, good girl.”
“Not on your life.”
Kat stared straight ahead as Pete killed the ignition and popped open the driver side door. A wave of heat blasted into the interior while a man dressed in the traditional white Muslim
salwar kameez
walked in front of their car and disappeared inside the entrance to the Mena House, located in the Giza district of Cairo.
“Come on.” Pete climbed out and handed his keys to a
valet who rushed over, then walked around the car and opened Kat’s door.
Kat immediately grabbed the handle and jerked the door closed, then clicked the locks so neither Pete nor the confused valet could get in.
Pete regarded her with raised brows. “Open the door, Kat.” When she didn’t, he knocked on the glass until she lowered the window an inch. “What’s wrong?”
“This is a five-star hotel.”
“I know.”
“I can’t go in there.
“Why not?
“Because I’m a mess!”
He chuckled and leaned closer to the window. “It’s the desert. People expect you to be dusty.”
“Not at the Mena House!”
His eyes and voice softened. “Come out of the car, Kat. I guarantee no one’s going to care what you look like.”
She cared. More now than she had when she’d foolishly climbed into this vehicle.
“There’s a better shower in my suite than I bet your roommate’s getting back at your flat.”
Oh, right. Like that was going to work on her.
Kat chewed on her lip in indecision. It wasn’t simply that she was covered in dirt and grime from the tomb. It was also the fact he’d brought her to a hotel. A very expensive, ritzy and romantic hotel located at the base of the Pyramids. The move was clearly calculated and blatantly sexual, and she knew exactly where this would lead if she got out of the car. Straight to his suite, into his bed, without a second look back.
Though she burned inside and wanted to go with him, that part of herself that had been molded at St. Thomas’s Orphanage was wary. For two weeks she’d been telling herself the fact he’d disappeared was really a good thing in retrospect. The attraction she felt for him was like
nothing she’d experienced before. It was the kind that burned hot and consumed everything in its path. She’d heard people talk of falling in love at first sight, but she’d never expected it to happen to her. One dinner, though. That was all it took. He’d breezed into her life and set her world spinning, and cowardly as it was, she was almost afraid to see where it would go.
She looked through the window and felt her stomach tighten as a slow smile spread across his lips. And in that moment she knew she was lost.
She released the locks and slowly climbed out of the vehicle. When she was standing in front of him, looking up at all that bronzed beauty, she swallowed. “I don’t have anything else to wear.”
His smile widened until that dimple winked at her and turned her insides to lava. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered.”
They headed into the hotel. He didn’t hold her hand like she expected, but she felt his commanding presence next to her as they crossed the ornate lobby toward the bank of elevators on the far side. “People are looking at me,” she mumbled as they moved.
“That’s because you’re fidgeting.”
She slanted a sideways look. “And that’s a line from
Pretty Woman.
”
“Never saw it. Though I can’t imagine any woman being prettier than you.”
Her cheeks heated as they approached the elevators. He still hadn’t touched her, and she was all atingle with nerves. As the door opened and they stepped inside the small car, once again she was reminded how dirty she was and how fresh and clean he smelled.
They rode in silence, her nerves bouncing all over. Then the doors opened, and Pete held out his hand to let her exit first. “All the way at the end.”
The hallway was lush and dramatic, with plush carpeting
and gilded sconces on the walls, but it paled in comparison to what came next.
Kat found herself instantly swept up in a world of luxury as soon as she stepped into the suite. Gold and burgundy carpets, hand-carved wooden furnishings, heavy fabrics and enormous windows that looked out over a view of the Pyramids, so close it felt like you could reach out and touch them.
“Oh, my.”
“Like it?” he asked from behind her.
She eased farther into the room and felt herself immersed in opulence, like Cleopatra for the day. “It’s amazing.”
His footsteps sounded behind, and then he was in front of her, heading toward heavily carved double doors at the far end of the large living room. “Bathroom’s through here.”
The bedroom suite was more magnificent than the living area, with an enormous canopy bed and a pile of golden pillows. Kat’s stomach tightened with anticipation as she looked at the bed and imagined lying on it with Pete, but he barely spared it a glance.
He pushed the door across the room open. Behind him she had the impression of miles of marble and gold. “Any kind of toiletry you need should be in there.” He pointed to a set of closet doors on the opposite side of the room. “And there are a few things over there you can wear.” His eyes ran over her. “I had to guess on size. We’ll see if I was right.”