Chapter Six
“I did a little research last night.”
Honor didn’t miss Jack Madigan’s exasperated sigh at her confession. “Research that’s going to bring more trouble?”
“No.” Technically, no. Vince was already after her.
“Let’s start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know, and be honest. I need to know all of it to be able to help you.” Jack crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. She took a breath as she darted her gaze around the room.
When she and Griff had walked in, she’d expected to be led straight to Jack’s office.
Instead, Griff had taken her to a conference room, got her another cup of coffee then left her there to get comfortable while he “rounded up everyone ”.
Everyone was apparently Mr. Madigan, Griff, Chetan Donavan, and Roman Davis.
It was a little intimidating, especially when they all looked at her so intently.
Plus, she wasn’t sure how comfortable she was talking about the man she’d been duped by and almost slept with, not in front of the guy she was currently having sex with.
As if her life wasn’t complicated enough.
“When Stace left my dad, I was forced out, as well.”
“Why?” Roman asked.
She shrugged. “My dad decided it was a good time for me to have a normal life. Date, get married, have kids. All the things he says are normal.” She didn’t look at Griff, who sat beside her. It was bad enough she felt his body heat washing over her.
“Your dad wanted you safe.” Jack nodded as if it made perfect sense to him. Which, considering he had a daughter, might.
“You can’t raise a person to be one way then expect them to change because you’ve decided they should.”
“Very true,” Roman agreed.
“Thank you, Mr. Davis.”
He chuckled. “Roman. No one calls me Mr. Davis.”
“Roman.”
“Let’s deal with names first. I’m Jack or Midnight, if you prefer.
Chetan, Roman, and you met Griff last night.
” She fought not to blush as Jack made quick work of the introductions.
Oh, she’d met Griff last night all right.
And again this morning. Twice. She bit her tongue to hold back the sigh. Fuck! She would not sigh about it.
“Thank you.” She managed while she ignored the way Griff’s hand found her thigh under the table. His fingers made lazy circles over her jeans, and it took all she had not to purr and shift closer to him. Double fuck. The man was lethal.
She cleared her throat and nonchalantly shifted her legs, crossing them away from Griff and knocking off his hand.
“So Stace left, and my dad decided I needed to, as well. I helped close out a few open files, put some new ones together, and he cut me off.”
“I’ve seen how good you are.” Roman met her eyes.
“You made the virus that killed my desktop?”
“Yes.”
“It was amazing. I’d love to see how you put it together.”
“Honor.” Jack cleared his throat. “Back to what you were telling us. It’s probably not best to remind me you hacked into our secure files while you’re asking for help.”
Roman winked at her, and she bit her lip. Griff’s hand was back on her thigh. She glanced toward him, but it was as if he was unaware he even touched her.
“Right, sorry. I tried to do what my dad wanted. I went into town. I tried to hang out, to meet people, but I’m more of a computer person. I’ve never been great in crowds. I tend to get a little klutzy. Plus, my mouth doesn’t have a filter. It’s always getting me into trouble.”
“I can imagine.” The way Jack looked at her made her realize she’d made plenty of comments since they’d met last night. Hell, what did they expect from a woman raised by her dad and his motley crew?
“I met Vince Towner.”
Griff shifted beside her, and her gaze casually skimmed over him. He smiled and gave her thigh another rub.
“Is Vince the one chasing you?” Jack asked.
“Him and and after I overheard him on the phone, I suspect a few others.”
She didn’t have to admit she’d been close to having sex with him. There was no way she’d admit that. She’d sound foolish enough as it was. “I met him at one of the local bars. We had a few beers, talked a bit. I gave him my number.”
“Did you sleep with him?” It was the first time Chetan opened his mouth, and that was what he asked? She wanted to kick him. Her eyes met his, and she swore he knew exactly what was going on between her and Griff. It was disconcerting to say the least.
“No.” At least, that was the truth. Kissed him. Heavy petting. But he’d never seen her naked. Something had always held her back. Now, she understood what.
“Go on,” Jack urged.
“We were hanging out. He stepped outside to take a call. I’d gone out front to water my plants, and when I finished, I went to see if he was ready to go. He was still on the phone.”
Jack leaned forward. “What did you hear?”
“He told whoever he was talking to, ‘I’ve found his weakness. When I’m done playing with her, she’s going to die nice and painfully.
Let him see what it’s like when you’re not around to protect the ones who mean the most.’ I wasn’t sure who he was talking to at the time, but I knew who the she was.
” Honor glanced up. “I have no intention of dying slow and painful.”
“I assume he was the research you did.” Roman shrugged, which she interpreted as I’d do the same thing .
“Yes. I didn’t when I first met him, and I’m kicking my ass for it now. Dad is constantly telling me I can’t put together files on everyone I meet. Funny, since I learned how to do them from him.”
“Not everyone can be defined by a file of information,” Jack said softly. “There are depths you can’t breach by compiling facts.”
“At least, it’s a start,” she countered. Had she dug a little into Vince, he never would have gotten close enough to access her records.
“I let him into my house. Invited him in.” There was no way she’d try to hide her disgust over that information.
“I’m pretty sure he hacked into my system.
” It still burned he’d been able to. “Opened a few older files. I didn’t understand why.
Those files were closed cases. But I used them to do a little digging last night, and I hit the jackpot.
“Vince Towner is actually Vincenzo Antonio Giordano. Towner was his mother’s maiden name.
I found her in the files he’d accessed. Twenty-five years ago, she was shot and killed while her husband was gone, working with my dad.
Vince would have been a young boy back then.
They never found out who killed his mother.
It appeared to be a random act of violence.
One of those wrong place, wrong time kind of things.
Plus, my dad checked. Thoroughly. I read the file.
Apparently, Vince’s dad never recovered.
He left my dad, took his son, and disappeared. ”
“Sounds like he blamed your dad for her death.” Roman shook his head, looking sad. “Bad stuff happens. It sucks. But even the most prepared people can’t always stop it.”
She nodded. “I heard the hate in his voice, and, trust me, there was a lot of it. Directed toward my dad and me by association.”
“Is this why you don’t want your dad involved?” Trust Chetan to cut to the heart of it.
“I can’t shake the feeling I was meant to overhear the conversation. It was perfect timing. I think he wanted me to hear and call my dad for help. I think Vince expected it.”
“But he wouldn’t expect you to run.” Jack gave her a contemplative look.
“No, he wouldn’t. I’m predictable it seems. It galls me to think of someone putting together a file on me.
” She caught their grins and heaved a sigh.
“I know. Funny coming from me. He would know I lived in that cabin for years. That I don’t veer far from it, and my dad keeps in constant contact with me.
I think Vince expected me to tell my dad about him right away.
When I didn’t, he pushed my hand. Or at least, he thought he did. ”
“How long did you know him before the call?” Chetan again. She seriously wanted to kick him under the table as she felt Griff’s tension. She shook it off. She had no control over how Griff felt or what he thought, and she’d drive herself crazy if she tried to read into his nonverbal cues.
“A month.”
Griff relaxed, and she knew what he was thinking. She’d known Vince for a month and hadn’t slept with him. She’d known Griff less than a day and had sex with him three times. That would go to his head.
“Did you bring the information with you?” Roman stood and pushed in his chair.
“What?” She forced her mind back to the conversation and off the man far too close to her side.
“Your research?” Roman asked.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the little flash drive she’d slipped in before leaving Griff’s. “It’s all on here.”
Roman took it from her. His hand dropped to her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll take a look.”
She should be offended he planned to dig in to doublecheck her work, but she’d do the same thing in his shoes. It was hard to fault him for it. So, she nodded and sat still while he left the room.
“I’d like you to lie low for a while.” Jack stood and looked at her. “Chetan checked the hotel room this morning. No one’s been there. He made sure the room was paid for the rest of the week. If Mr. Giordano comes after you, hopefully, he’ll follow the trail there.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Whatever you did last night.” Jack shrugged. She knew Griff was grinning, even without looking his way. She would not fucking blush. No way Jack knew what they’d done. No fucking way.
“Yeah,” Chetan added. “Let Griff entertain you. I’m sure he can come up with some stuff to keep you from being bored.”
Her gaze jerked toward him. He couldn’t know she and Griff had indulged in sex, but the look on his face said he might. That he might know exactly what she and Griff had been doing.
There was no holding back her blush now. The heat of it rose up her neck to her cheeks. When did she start blushing? Griff squeezed her thigh, letting his fingers slip inward to rub. Since him and only with him.
Her face heated as they exited the room.
Chetan was the last to leave. He smiled, stood, and after a shared look with Griff she wouldn’t try to interpret, he left them alone.
She finally turned to look at Griff. His smile was exactly as she’d imagined.
He leaned in and nipped her bottom lip right there in the conference room where anyone could walk in and see them.
“I can think of a number of things we could do to keep you busy and entertained.”
She sighed. She’d enjoy every fucking one of them, she was sure. “I guess I’m not supposed to see Stace yet?” She hadn’t missed the fact Shep and Stace hadn’t been involved in the meeting.
“They left last night to check on her sister. Chloe’s been having some bad nightmares since she was rescued. She doesn’t leave the house much anymore. It worries Stace.”
“It has to be hard on Stace. She loves her sister.”
That didn’t sound like Chloe at all. She’d always been happy and outgoing. Always smiling and chatting a mile a minute whenever Honor had seen or spoken to her. Honor hadn’t seen Chloe often, but still, it had left an impression. She hoped Chloe found a way to deal with things and move forward.
“So, are you ready to head home?” Griff pushed back his chair and stood, holding out his hand to her. Her heart caught at his careless use of the word home . It was his home, but the way he’d said it made her think about something else entirely. Something that couldn’t be.
“I’m not having sex with you again, right now.”
Someone cleared their throat by the door, and she flushed. Looking up, she cringed to find Jack standing there.
“We’ll talk again later. I’ll see what we can find out between now and then. And I was going to tell you to stay off the computer. I’m guessing Griff will take care of that.” With those words, he turned to leave, firmly shutting the door behind him.
Honor groaned, closing her eyes as she dropped her head into her hands. Griff laughed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She was damned if it didn’t feel almost perfect.
* * * * *
Jack sat behind the desk in his office and dialed the number on the paper in front of him.
“Midnight. I was expecting to hear from you earlier.”
“Called as soon as I could,” he told Honor’s dad, Zach Davison. “She’s still in my office building as we speak.”
“So, what’s going on?”
“About twenty-five years ago a member of your team lost his wife while he was gone. Giordano. Ring a bell?”
There was silence for a few beats then a weary sigh. “She was gunned down. Wrong time, wrong place. He swore it was a hit because of his job. I checked. Doublechecked. Triple-checked. It wasn’t.”
“They had a son.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Seems like the son has a hard-on for you. Blames you for his mom’s death. And thought Honor was the perfect way to get revenge.”
“That’s why she didn’t tell me why she called.”
“She’s trying to protect you.”
“My little girl loves me.” There was pride in Zach’s voice.
“Yeah, she does. Not sure why. You’ve always been a bastard as far as I’m concerned.”
A chuckle flowed over the phone. “Takes one to know one.”
Jack smiled. “She asked me not to call you.”
“Sometimes, lies are inevitable.”
It still made Jack feel bad. Honor made him think of his daughter, Moira. Which was why he’d called Zach.
“I’ll keep her here, busy, while you take care of it.” He wouldn’t tell Zach about what he’d overheard at the conference room door. Or the fact the sparks between Honor and Griff had made the meeting damn uncomfortable earlier.
“I’ll call when it’s safe.”
“She won’t go back to the cabin.”
“It’s compromised,” Zach echoed Jack’s thoughts. “I’ll find her a new one.”
Jack didn’t say anything. If the sparks he’d seen ignited, he wasn’t sure Honor would leave anytime soon. Threat or not.
“Call my cell.”
“Take care of her.”
The line went dead, and Jack looked at the picture on his desk.
Moira had just given him the portrait of her and his granddaughter.
They were stunning. She’d had it done for Gil, but she’d given her dad a copy, too.
Looking at her, he knew he’d done the right thing by contacting Zach immediately. It was what dads did.
He stood and pocketed his cellphone. He’d pick up his wife for lunch and see if he could talk her into a compromising position or two.