Sweet Seduction Stripped (20 page)

"IT?" Pierce asked, probably already knowing who every single person in Jaxon's business was.

"Yes. They're good. Very good. If Ric and I didn't exist, they'd probably be the best in the country. But we do. And I've been in C&C Enterprise's system. I know it. I can recall every nook and cranny. Every bug and twitch it has. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. But with Ric at my side I'm sure I could get back in."

"What are you suggesting?" Pierce asked, but Nick was already smiling. He knew, the cop just needed me to say it.

As for Ric. I had no idea what he was thinking, I was too busy keeping the men in front of me in my line of sight. Never turn your back on the greatest threats in the room. Ric was acting strangely, but he was still my Ric.

"We give him a taste of his own medicine," I said with a shrug.

"Import drugs and sell them to innocents on the street?" Pierce demanded, and at least I now knew Jaxon's criminal acts at the top of the cop's list.

"No," I said dismissively. "Send the seven-point-two million US dollars I transferred into ASI's bank account earlier tonight to one of his. Remind him we can play dirty as well."

Silence.

"Seven-point-two million?" Nick asked, aghast.

Ric leaned forward and picked the tablet computer up and started swiping the screen and tapping in code.

"He made you do this?" Pierce guessed.

"Threatened to bomb Sweet Seduction, then went ahead and did it anyway." The cop nodded, Nick scowled. "I used the opportunity, as I transferred the money, to place an encryption key in C&C's system's back door. So I could go back and copy that file."

"The file's probably a fake," Nick reminded me.

"Yeah, I get that now," I said a little too harshly. Nick smiled, flashing white teeth back at me, but it wasn't nearly as threatening as I think he'd intended. He'd softened somewhere along the way. But I didn't know why and I didn't have time to figure it out.

"Doesn't matter anyway," I said, bringing myself back on track. "I had to use the key to get into the system when it shut down."

"Shut down?" Pierce asked.

"Well, locked down. When Ric came to get me. The UPS flicked a switch, backing up data to a remote location, thinking the system was under attack, and Jaxon had already hit the button to make the bomb count down. So, I used the encryption key to access the disaster recovery centre and worm my way inside, deactivating the bomb and disabling any other remote codes he had, so he couldn't re-trigger it."

Pierce smiled. Nick whistled quietly under his breath.

"But that means I'd have to create another key or find a way to tunnel back in to the system," I admitted. "It can be done," I assured them both, when their faces fell. "But I'd need Ric to help. We could send the money back and start putting pressure on him electronically, that way he might make a mistake and you can get the evidence you need to pin him down."

"Officially, I can't be involved in this," Pierce advised. "It would mean my job." He turned to Nick. "It could mean your career. ASI. The directive I received was from up on high, even the Chief Inspector of CIB is ropeable over this. He has no idea why we're being called off."

Nick shifted his dangerously angry eyes to mine and then got distracted by whatever Ric was doing.

"What is it?" he asked. I turned my head and saw Ric smiling. Really smiling. Like all his Christmases had come at once.

His eyes came up to mine, once again a vivid green; so hypnotic, so beautiful, so compelling.

"Well done, Dancer," he said, actually reaching out and cupping my good cheek.

For a moment I was lost in the sensation of his touch. A touch he'd been metering out very carefully. It was a spontaneous movement right now, I knew it. But to have thought him pulling away from me for some unknown reason and then have the thrill of an unexpected and not so controlled touch, was too much. I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his palm savouring the unforeseen sensation.

He cleared his throat and the touch was gone.

Dammit.

My eyes blinked open and he'd shuttered the green again, doused it in shadows.

"Well?" Nick demanded.

"Amber may have lost her key, but she left a trail."

"I did not," I argued.

"Sweetheart," Ric said, amusement in his tone. "You have a signature."

"I do?" I'd never considered my code to be predictable. It was not something a hacker could afford. I felt about an inch tall.

"Dancer," Ric whispered, moving as if to touch me and then thinking better of it. "I created code with you. You shared a part of yourself when you did it. Not many people would have had the chance to see you at work like that, but I did. And when I did, I traced your pattern. I committed it to memory. I wrote a programme that could follow your movements on-line."

"
You did what?
" I asked, ominously. The other men in the room all but forgotten. Here was the greatest threat. Right at my side.

He looked sheepish.

"I couldn't help it," he admitted, voice tentative now. "You write the sexiest fucking code I've ever seen."

Someone huffed out a laugh, someone else shifted in their seat, I think they were shaking with mirth.

"You follow my movements on-line?" I asked, just to confirm. He nodded. "You broke another of our rules," I pointed out, but strangely I wasn't actually angry. I was flattered. Which made me think I was seriously fucked in the head about this guy.

"Well, yeah," Ric replied. "And get this," he added, crossing his arms over his chest in a clear sign of defiance. "I'm going to break a hell of a lot more before we're through."

"You are?" I asked, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, baby," he said, receiving another snort from one of the men we were valiantly trying to ignore. "Every God damn rule in the book. You wanna know why?"

Oh, this was too good.

"Why?" I purposely snapped.
Come on, Ric. Say it. Break down that wall you've suddenly put up. Do it.

"Because you're mine, Amber Lane. Because you've been mine since the first time I met you on-line. And, baby, God help you. Because I am not the man you think I am. I am not the good guy."

"You think I don't know you?" I asked softly.

"I
know
you don't know me, but it's too late now."

"You think I don't know you," I repeated, this time a statement of fact.

"That's right. But there's no going back now. I can't let you."

Good to know.

"Eric," I said, making him suck in a breath of air. I didn't often call him by his given name, he was my Ric. And I think he liked that.

But I owned all of him. RiC3.1415. My Ric. Eric Shaw. The man tortured and in a depth of agony over what he was doing in that image I saw.

I owned it all. And he owned me.

"That's good to know, baby," I said back. "Because guess what?" I didn't wait for an answer. "I'm not letting you go either." He leaned back in his chair and frowned. "And I
do
know you. More of you than you realise. More than you probably want me to know. But you know what else? It doesn't matter. It doesn't change a thing. You are mine. And I am yours. Have been since we first met on-line," I said, semi repeating his words. "Now get off whatever fucked in the head mission you're on and accept what I'm offering."

"What?" he whispered. There was only silence from Pierce and Nick.

"And we'll discuss your following my 'trails' on-line when we're alone," I added. "Because, baby," I said sweetly. "That one's gonna hurt. You'll have to man up."

I may have been nine years younger than Eric, but I couldn't help feeling he'd been the one acting like a child. Pulling away because he was scared. I could see it now. He was scared I'd run once I found out. He just didn't realise that I already knew, and had run towards him despite it.

"I will?" he said, sounding dumbfounded.

"Yeah, Ric," I replied, receiving a twitch of his lips at the edges. "But you're going to like it."

He smiled... and I had my Ric back.

Then Nick said on a bark of laughter, "I fucking like her, Shaw. She's got girl-balls."

Pierce snorted and added his two cents worth, "You are so screwed, my man. She's got your number, all right."

Ric made a grunting sound. It could have been in agreement, it could have been just pure shock.

Then he said, running a hand through his dark hair, "You know me."

My face softened, I reached over into his personal space - and too bad if he wasn't ready - cupping his cheeks with both hands.

I held his gaze. Let him see the truth in my eyes.

Then said, quietly, gently, "I know you."

"Fuck me," he finally murmured.

And I saw the realisation on his paled face, in the sheen of moisture coating those beautiful eyes. He knew I knew. And I could tell he didn't know how to handle that. So I leaned further forward and laid my lips against his, offering the only reassurance I could give him.

He made a sound. It was pained. And then he pulled me off my chair and onto his lap, and thank you God, kissed me back.

I would have been embarrassed if I'd had the energy left. The two men in the room did look away at least, pretended to be interested in specks of dust on the floor and walls. But still, Ric had tried to tickle my tonsils, and I'd opened wider inviting him in.

By the time he pulled back and just stared at me, really stared at me, almost into me, through me, adrenaline had done its dash and my body was sagging. Despite his intense gaze roaming over my face, cataloguing my features, determining I was who he thought I was, Ric didn't miss my exhaustion.

He shifted his focus to Nick and Pierce, tightened his arm around my waist and reached for the tablet computer on the table, all at the same time. The picking up of the tablet must have been signal for both men opposite us to look in our direction again. They didn't seem surprised to find me still sitting in Ric's lap.

"What's the plan then?" Nick asked, and I got the impression this man was always focused on the task at hand. Ready to move the attention back to a target, one that did not include kissing your woman senseless in the middle of an interview.

"Amber needs food and sleep, in that order," Ric advised them.

Nick nodded, Pierce just remained silent. An observer; wary and alert.

"What about the money?" Nick queried.

"It can be addressed tomorrow, along with what we're going to do about Harding. For now, the bug at his office shows him still there. Whoever is in control tonight can keep an eye on that, and if he moves come get me. For now, I need to look after Amber."

"I'm OK," I protested, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Sweetheart," Ric murmured, his eyes back on my face. "I need to look after you."

I need you
.

Neither man argued that fact, which I found vaguely amusing. As though they accepted Ric's desire to take care of me as par for the course.

"Koki's on control tonight," Nick advised. "Eva and I will bed down in our office. Gen and Dom have safe room number three. Katie and Jason are in two. You're in one. The rest of the guys are making do with the gym and lounge, leaving the staffroom available for whoever needs food."

Pierce let out an amused huff. "It's about time you expanded operations, put in some accommodation for all your extended family and friends."

"Yeah, well," Nick said, standing up from his chair and scratching at his stubbled jaw. "I
did
put a pull-out sofa in my office, the rest of these pricks can fend for themselves."

"What do mean
you
did?" Pierce teased. "I bet Eva organised that."

"I'm not gonna lie, the woman insisted the desk was getting too hard."

"You're an animal," Pierce advised.

"And proud of it."

Nick stopped at the door. "If we make it through the night without any further development, we'll aim for a seven o'clock start in control. Debrief, then plan. If you think of a plan, be sure to let me know in the morning, because right now I'm shit outta ideas. Harding's an anomaly. We need to know what we're dealing with and I gotta say, I'm not too happy about Pierce's orders."

"Neither am I," the detective agreed.

"Something's not right," Nick mumbled heading out the door.

Pierce stood in front of us, blocking our exit, but I don't think that had been his intention. He looked unsure, undecided. Then sucked in a breath and said, "I would never have made you go back there. I don't know what we're dealing with, but I have a feeling it's not good. And I would never make a civilian go somewhere I considered not good."

Ric just stared at him, but I nodded my head, accepting what I thought was an apology. Or perhaps just an explanation. I was sure Pierce had seen my reaction and understood what I'd interpreted his interview questions to mean. He was putting me right, in as nice a way as he could.

"You know me, Eric," he said, voice low. "You know what I stand for."

Slowly, Ric's shoulders relaxed and the menace in his stiff frame dissipated.

"I know you," Ric finally said.

"Good," the cop replied with a nod of his head, then he looked at his watch and sighed. "Fuck. Whangaparaoa is a long way from here. I might as well head into the station and get some shut-eye there, in order to be back in time for Nick's debrief."

"You're gonna defy your orders?" Ric asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna defy my orders. Who the hell do you think I am?"

Silence, then, "You're a good cop, Pierce."

"Too bloody right," the cop shot back and then walked out the door.

Ric glanced down at me, his face softening.

"Is he a good cop?" I asked.

Ric shrugged. "Can be a prick sometimes, but his heart's in the right place. If he's defying his orders he's got good reason. Harding's not who we think, but that doesn't mean he's not still a threat."

"Oh, he's still a threat," I murmured. Ric frowned.

"You're really that scared of him? You know I won't let anything happen to you, right?"

I forced a smile, cupped his cheek, and then got up on tip-toes to kiss him softly.

"I know," I said against his lips.

What I didn't say was that Jaxon being so unpredictable, having such a wealth of experience in manipulating me, knowing how to get to me, had me thinking this was no where near the end. Yes, we could fling those funds back at him. Yes, we could bug his office and listen in on what he said and did. Yes, we could try to access the C&C system again and find some legitimate evidence to incriminate him.

But Jaxon was expecting all of that. He'd be counting on it. And just what did he have planned for when it came to pass? He knew I'd hack that file. He'd set it up so I did. The result was the upending of my world. Insight into his. He wanted to test me, but he also wanted to trap me.

And now I just didn't know what his next move would be, but I was acutely aware he already knew what ours was going to be.

He held the upper hand, and I wasn't much of a gambler. I hoped Ric would come up with something unexpected by the morning, because thinking up an answer right now was beyond my abilities.

We walked towards the staffroom, where all the people had been earlier tonight. It was a changed room now. The plate loads of food, that had been spread out all over the bench, had been packed away, the dishes done, and the only person - or people - in there was Gen holding the baby, and heating up a bottle of milk.

"Hey," she said cheerfully when she spotted us. "You guys missed dinner, so I put some aside in the fridge."

"You're a gem, sweetheart," Eric said and offered her a brief kiss on the cheek. "Hey, big fella," he cooed at the baby. "Been good for your mum?"

"Hardly," she said, shifting the child and then just handing him over to Eric with an amused been-here-done-this smile. Ric, who was obviously used to receiving the squirming bundle, accepted the offering with complete focus. He tucked the baby along his arm, cradling it close and then buried his face in the child's neck.

It was surprisingly natural, and made my heart beat out of rhythm for the beautiful picture they made. He clearly knew Gen well, and was made to be cuddling babies.

"You're never bad, are you, Oliver?" Eric whispered, eyes soaking up the baby's face. "When you get tired of your old man and mum's giving you a hard time, you just come and spend some time with Uncle Eric, OK?" The baby gurgled excitedly in reply.

"You're good at that," I said softly to his side. His face came up and he blinked a couple of times, giving me the impression he'd forgotten I was even there.

Gen started laughing. "Sometimes he won't give him back," she said. "I have to get one of the
guys to distract him and then stealthily extricate my kid from his greedy arms. He forgets the world still revolves all around them, just him and Ollie and no one else. It's cute."

"We are not cute," Ric said, sounding offended. "Are we Ollie? We're men!"

"Well, this little man needs some food and some sleep so that mummy can rest," Gen announced. "Hand him over, Shaw, or I'll sic Dominic on you."

"Always with the threats of the lawyer," Ric joked, helping Gen get settled with the baby in one arm and the now heated bottle of milk in the other. "You do realise I could kick his arse."

Gen snorted. "Please," she said, stepping toward the door. "You and who's army?"

"That's what I'd like to know," a deep voice said from out in the hall, and then suddenly there he was. The one in the suit I'd met earlier, when Ric had been kissing me senseless against the wall. "Wondered where you'd got to," he murmured, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder, while reaching out to brush a tender finger down the boy's cheek. "If I'd realised Shaw had cornered you again, I would have come to your rescue sooner. We all know how besotted he is with our son."

"Hey!" Eric exclaimed. "I am not besotted. Just taking my role as honorary uncle seriously. Someone's gotta teach the kid a thing or two about computers. It's the way of the future, you don't want young Master Anscombe behind the times, do you?"

"Keep telling yourself that, Eric," Gen's husband, Dominic I think it was, said. "We all know you'd give anything to have a little bundle of delicious chubby cheeks and arms all to yourself."

Dominic paled, and flicked a glance towards me. "Did that sound as bad as I think it did?" he asked.

I shook my head, smiling. "No, you're good."

"Right," he said, making a sound that could have been a laugh, but was closer to a cough. "Bed, wife," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" she answered, offering a salute with her hand holding the bottle. "Night, guys."

"Night," I replied.

"Night, Gen. Dom," Ric murmured, his eyes no longer on the retreating forms of his friends, but on me. "Did you want a cuddle?"

I blinked. What?

"With Ollie," he explained. "He's a good cuddler."

Oh. "I've not been around too many babies before. I'd worry I'd drop him."

Ric studied me for a minute, I wasn't sure what was going on behind those guarded green eyes.

"What?" I finally asked.

He shook his head and offered a sheepish smile.

"Nothing," he replied, walking toward the fridge in the corner of the room.

"Oh, no. Whenever someone says nothing, they mean 'something, but I don't want to tell.' Spill."

"And I should just obey your every command, should I?" he said with a bemused smile.

"Yes. I'm the boss," I quipped.

Two plastic covered plates piled high with what looked like crispy salad, decadent dressing and cold cuts of meat, with crusty bread rolls on the side, were placed on the bench's surface. My stomach grumbled quietly, but I don't think Ric heard.

"Oh, no, Dancer," he growled, good naturedly. "You may own me. All of me. But I will always be the boss."

There was no way I'd let him get away with that. I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring the plate of now delicious smelling food he held out, and said, "This isn't D&D or some other role playing game, Ric. In real life the women get to be the boss, too."

Ric beamed at me. "OK," he acquiesced. Too easily. "When we climb into bed you can be the boss, how's that?" I almost took a step backwards. Ric and I sleeping in the same bed. Oh, Lord. "So, sweetheart. What will be your first order of business? Commanding me to strip?"

"You wish," I whispered, but I hadn't intended to. I'd suddenly lost my voice.

Ric smirked. "Tell you what, Dancer, we'll share the bossing. Sound good?"

I nodded.

"Now, baby." His voice had softened. "You gotta eat." He placed the plate down on the table, then came back and took hold of my good hand, leading me to a chair. I hadn't realised I'd clammed up, unmoving, just staring at him as my mind tried to catch up with the image of sleeping beside Ric for the first time.

It seemed so silly. I'd known him for three years, been intimate with him, was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect him. And I hadn't even slept in the same bed as him once.

He sat down next to me with his own plate and picked up his knife and fork. But he didn't load them up, he just watched me for a long while.

Finally he asked, "Is this going too fast for you, Amber? Do you need me to back off?"

"Do
you
want to back off?" I asked, turning to look at him, suddenly thinking this was his way to put that wall back up between us again. An easy out.

He took a breath in, then said, voice low and careful, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared."

Me too, but I thought perhaps his reasons would be different from mine. Whereas I was just scared of trusting my heart, he was probably scared of his secrets being revealed.

"I won't tell anyone," I promised.

His eyebrows drew together slightly. Then he looked away, knuckles whitening around the utensils in his hands.

"Just what exactly do you know?" he asked the far wall.

I rested my hands in my lap and stared down at my untouched plate of food. My appetite miraculously gone.