Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Roman rushed into the hotel suite and made a beeline for Wyatt, not wasting time.
“Here’s Mauricio’s laptop. It was in a locker at his place of employment,” he quickly announced.
“And a USB, which was found on his person.” He handed off the items to a surprised-looking Wyatt.
“But Mauricio’s not responsible for the contents.
I’ll explain everything in a minute.” Roman’s gaze cut to Harper at the desk, sunlight nearly obscuring her as it shone brightly through the window and surrounded her with a golden aura. “I need a second with Harper first.”
Wyatt peered at Roman with a puzzled expression. “Yeah, okay.”
Roman watched Harper remove her earbuds and stand, but he didn’t wait to see if she was following as he strode to her bedroom. Thankfully, she was right on his heels. He shut the door behind them and braced his palm against it for support, then turned his body to put eyes on her.
He needed to get a handle on himself. Slow his breathing to keep his heart from exploding out of his chest so he could prepare Harper for the news that someone had followed her weeks before Ezra reached out to the CIA to request a meeting.
Fucking weeks.
Stalking her. Hiding in the shadows.
Spying on her when she was in Manhattan and D.C.
Hell, someone could still be following her.
“What is it?” She folded her arms over a solid gray tee. No fun T-shirt to remind her of her dad. Her hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head, a few strands falling free that he wanted to tuck behind her ear. “You’re scaring me.” She took a few hesitant steps closer since he’d yet to budge.
“I used Mauricio’s laptop to check the contents of the USB in the limo on the way back.” He barely recognized his own voice. It felt like he’d swallowed a handful of gravel. “And I—”
“How’d you get those?” Her soft brown eyes tightened on him.
“I’ll get to that.” In a second, at least.
He removed his hand from the door and buried his fingertips into his palm. The idea that someone had watched Harper and could have stolen her from him was unbearable.
“You thought you were pregnant?” he asked, his voice softer this time. He had so many questions, and that was the first to slip free.
“How’d you . . .” She blinked rapidly and lifted a hand to cover her mouth.
This wasn’t the time to talk about the fact she’d sounded disappointed to learn she wasn’t pregnant on the video of her he just watched. Or to bring up the other things he heard her say to her sister. But that didn’t stop him from thinking about it.
“The fucker recorded you with your little sister. You and Jenny were in a coffee shop in New York when you told her.”
He tore a hand through his hair and pulled at the strands. He was spinning out of control, and there weren’t enough random facts in the world to calm him down.
Discovering his uncle guessed how Roman really felt about Harper . . . Well, that was a nightmare in itself, one he’d worked years to prevent. And then to learn Harper had been in danger for weeks, and Roman had been clueless about it, was more than he could handle.
Harper slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and began stroking the sides of her crossed arms as though she were searching for comfort. “I didn’t mention your name to my sister.”
That was what she thought he was worried about?
He replayed the private conversation she’d had with Jenny in his head, unsure what to make of it. Or how much of what he’d heard he should share.
“Someone was really watching us?” She looked up at him now, her eyes sharp with understanding. “How long was I being followed?”
Thankfully, whoever followed her had no photos or videos from inside her apartment. And Harper was good about keeping her windows closed when she showered or changed.
“Since we returned from Monaco after New Year’s Eve, from what I can tell. They had photos of you outside Liam and Emily’s house when you visited them in January, too.”
“Oh God, are their kids safe?” She stood abruptly, her concerns off herself. “Jenny?”
“I think this is just about you, but I called Liam on the way here. He’ll assign someone from Scott and Scott to protect Emily and the kids until he gets back from Israel.”
His gut told him her family was safe, too, but he wouldn’t risk anyone’s lives based on only his instincts. His instincts had been wrong before.
“I don’t understand. Nothing makes sense.” She palmed her face, dragging her hand down the column of her throat. “Why draw me out to Barcelona? If someone wanted me dead, they could have already done it.”
Roman turned away from her at that horrific thought, one he knew was damn true. He’d made sacrifices for two and a half years to protect Harper from his uncle, and now she was in danger anyway.
“Natasha and I were talking earlier . . . and I guess this confirms our theory that someone is targeting me,” she said softly. “And if they know about Ezra, it has to connect to a case from when I was with the CIA.” She shivered, and goose bumps popped on her forearms.
Unable to hold back any longer, he reached out and guided her into his arms, and she didn’t reject his offer to hold her.
She looped her arms around his torso and set her face to his chest, and he rested his chin on top of her head and held her. He’d find a way to keep her safe no matter what, even if it meant accepting help from his uncle after he’d refused it.
Harper doesn’t need your protection. I don’t need anything from you, he’d said after denying Luciano’s assertion that Roman was in love with Harper.
And his uncle had responded with a clipped, too damn bad, as Roman had made his way out the door.
“I’m sorry my work dragged you into this danger,” she murmured a few seconds later, and he pulled back to find her eyes.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. We’re a team.
We’ve got your back. You know that.” He may not have gone to his teammates for help dealing with his own problems, but like hell would he not help Harper with hers.
“We’re in this together.” I’m a hypocrite.
He stroked her back until her breathing evened out.
“We need to talk to the others,” she said after he released her.
He supposed she was right, and his other questions for her ought to wait, even if he was burning on the inside, desperate to talk more about her conversation with Jenny.
She started for the door, but he reached for her wrist and stopped her. Proud of himself for not losing his balance this time despite his achy body.
“Harper,” he said in a low, guttural voice, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked, peering back at him with one hand on the doorknob.
“For what you’re about to find out,” he said in a near whisper, his throat squeezing from the raw push of emotions in his chest.
Her hand fell from the knob as if she were going to press for more information, but he tipped his head, a silent request to join the team.
“They’re going to hear that video.” Her voice was tender as she grasped the handle again. “They’re going to know I thought I might be pregnant.” She exhaled a shaky breath. “And I know it was crazy to think I was pregnant since we hadn’t been together for almost four months, but—”
“I deleted the video from the USB.” This was Harper’s life, and the guys wouldn’t want to violate her privacy by hearing her conversations, especially now when someone was out there doing exactly that.
“But we’ll need to pull up the surveillance footage from the cafe to see if we can put eyes on whoever was in there recording you. I noted the date and time.”
“Good call. Thank you.” One more deep breath, then she opened the door and they joined the team already at work in the living room.
The guys stood huddled around two open laptops. The USB was stuck inside A.J.’s laptop as he balanced it on his palm, standing next to Chris, who had Mauricio’s MacBook in his hand.
“I talked to Liam about what’s on the USB, and he said Roman gave him the heads-up already,” A.J. softly said at the sight of them, which meant they’d gone through some of the photos already.
“And I phoned a few guys at Scott and Scott to organize security for your family. Discreetly, of course,” Wyatt added to Harper in a low, pissed-off voice. Angry that someone on his team had been in danger for weeks, and they hadn’t known about it. Yeah, Roman felt the same. Only worse.
“Thank you,” Harper softly said, lightly tipping her head in thanks.
“I’m so sorry.” Finn looked to Harper, then to Roman. He had to know how hard this was for Roman. How hard it had to have been for him to discover someone had been following Harper for weeks.
The dark what-if thoughts speared his mind on the drive back from his uncle’s, and they’d likely haunt him for a long damn time.
When Harper attempted a small smile, revealing a dimple in her right cheek, Roman knew she was doing her best to put on a brave face.
She circled Chris to view the screen before he handed over the laptop.
If anyone could find something of use on that thing, it was her.
She silently went to the desk, her back to the room.
Roman tightened his hands at his sides as he recalled the photos and videos. The fucker had followed her to the cemetery when she’d visited the graves of her mom and dad ten days ago. When Roman got his hands on whoever had stalked her, that’d be a body he’d never regret burying.
“She okay?” Finn mouthed to Roman, and he shook his head no.
She may have been acting fine, but how could she be?
“How’d you get these?” Wyatt hit him with the million-dollar question, and unlike the guys, he did need to sit.
He set his elbows on his jeaned thighs and leaned forward. Guilt piling up. “My uncle.”
Wyatt cocked his head in surprise. “The police recovered them and just handed them over?”