Chapter 3
Chapter Three
EMMA
The pale-blue silk was a good choice, by the way.
I should have been annoyed. The man had rifled through my underwear drawer and was bragging about it.
Except, I loved it. This was the Kodiak I remembered. The one who’d never missed a chance to flirt and made me laugh at the most inappropriate times. I’d missed him more than I’d ever admit.
“I remember you mentioning that shade of blue was your favorite color.”
His eyes snapped to mine like mine had to his. For a split second, his desire was evident. This wasn’t playful banter. He wanted me. It was the same want I’d seen the night we danced at Brenna’s wedding.
Neither of us moved. Then his phone buzzed, ruining the moment. He fished it from his pocket and checked the screen.
“Atticus,” he said. “Checking on our timing.”
“Right, um…” I smoothed my hair and tried to focus on what I was supposed to do today.
“We should leave in twenty minutes if we’re going to make it to your office before the end of the day,” he said.
He was right. I had a job. This wasn’t a game. Someone had put a bomb in my fucking kitchen.
I retreated to the guest suite to get ready, but all the while, the heat from his look stayed with me. I’d opened a door, and we both knew it. Whether that was smart or spectacularly stupid remained to be seen.
The drive from Chesapeake Bay to DC took close to ninety minutes in the afternoon traffic. Kodiak kept his gaze forward, and I struggled not to stare at him from the passenger seat.
I failed. Miserably.
He was big, with broad shoulders, thick arms, and a build that meant he could carry someone out of a building without breaking a sweat.
Stubble shadowed the hard angles of his face, and his dark hair was wavy, like he’d towel-dried it and called it good.
His eyes were brown and so focused on whatever was in front of him that you either felt like the only person alive or completely invisible.
Right now, I was invisible. His hands gripped the steering wheel, and his forearms flexed beneath the rolled sleeves of his button-down every time he moved.
Nothing about him was polished, and all of it was hot as fuck.
Get it together, Emma.
Kodiak wasn’t my boyfriend. He worked for K19. His job was to keep me alive, not be the subject of my fantasies.
Whatever had happened in the kitchen this morning—whatever door I’d opened when I’d flirted with him—I needed to slam it shut.
I reminded myself that someone wanted me scared. Maybe dead. Until I figured out who, I couldn’t afford distractions.
“Thank you,” I said. “For getting my things.”
“Part of the job.”
That was it. No warmth. Nothing.
An hour ago, he’d been flirting with me. Now, the road ahead held his full attention, like I wasn’t in the car.
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
Security at the building’s entrance had always felt routine. Badge in, nod to the guards, head for the elevators. Today, every step I took made me feel like a target.
Kodiak stayed close as we crossed the lobby—not touching me, but near enough that I could feel his heat. Guards, the receptionist, and two analysts stopped mid-conversation, registering us. I faced forward and walked faster.
By the time we reached the third floor, I could already imagine the instant messages flying between cubicles. Did you see Emma Sinclair? Who’s the guy with her?
“Emma?” Janet from compliance said as she stopped mid stride. Her attention bounced between me and Kodiak. “I heard there’s a new team coming in. Everything okay?”
“DOJ follow-up on Morrison. Same case, new phase.”
She gave Kodiak a thorough once-over. “Right. Of course.”
I didn’t need to guess what she’d be telling everyone when she scurried off.
Luke was waiting with Darla Keene, my executive assistant and chief of staff, when we arrived at my office.
Darla had known my mother since before I was born.
When I came to Treasury, she’d bid on the job as my chief of staff before the posting was even official.
She ran my office the way air traffic controllers run a tower.
Every meeting, every call, every document that crossed my desk went through her first.
“Good, you’re here.” She crossed the hall, a tablet already angled toward me.
“The DOJ Morrison memo arrived this morning. I’ve been fielding calls from Legal and Compliance since eight.
They need to know the scope, timeline, and who’s getting access to what.
” She nodded toward Luke. “Mr. Austen arrived roughly twenty minutes ago. I had security process a visitor badge and brought him up.”
“Thank you, Darla.”
Her gaze shifted to Kodiak. “Mr. Emeric. Good to see you again.”
“Ms. Keene,” Kodiak said.
“Where do you want me to set up?” Luke asked.
I glanced across the hall. The office door was open, and it looked empty.
“Where’s Brad?” I asked. Brad Sullivan was one of my two special assistants.
He’d been with me for three years—the kind of staffer who had the data ready before I asked for it and never needed to be told twice.
He and Astrid Benson handled everything, from briefing prep to congressional follow-ups, and their offices were the two closest to mine.
“I moved him to the fourth floor after the email arrived. They need two offices and the use of the main conference room for the investigative team,” she said.
“I relocated Astrid to the empty office near compliance, so she’s down the hall.
Oh, and the acting secretary asked to be alerted as soon as you arrived. ”
“I’ll go see her now.”
Darla mouthed her thanks.
“Oh, and pick whichever office you’d prefer,” I said to Luke.
“I’ll take that one,” Kodiak said, motioning to the one beside mine rather than across the hall. Luke’s only reaction was to head in that direction.
When I looked over my shoulder, Kodiak was already on his way to the bank of elevators.
“My boss’ office is on the fourth floor,” I said when he pressed the call button.
He nodded once but didn’t speak.
Naomi Hale’s office door was open when we arrived, but I knocked anyway.
She was at her desk, her reading glasses on and pen in hand. “Emma. Sit.”
Kodiak positioned himself in the hallway.
“I read the DOJ directive.” She removed her glasses and set them on the desk. “Why is DOJ reopening this inside my building?”
“Forty million from Morrison is still unaccounted for, and DOJ believes the financial infrastructure that moved it may have had a Treasury connection. I was the liaison on the original investigation, so they want the continuation team near my office.”
“Who’s the man standing guard outside my door?”
“K19 Security. He’s one of the investigators on the team. We worked the original case together.”
Naomi and I weren’t close. She let me do my job, and I gave her results. It worked.
“Is there anything I need to escalate?” she asked.
“Not yet. I’ll keep you informed if anything changes.”
“Do that.” She put her glasses on, which was her version of a dismissal. “And, Emma—watch yourself.”
“I will.”
Kodiak and I returned to my office. He escorted me inside, then closed and locked the door. I pressed my thumb to the safe, and it clicked open. I reached for the backup drive and put it in my bag. Then I unlocked the bottom desk drawer and retrieved the files I’d been compiling.
I put them in an envelope and added it to my bag.
“All set?” he asked.
I glanced up at the clock and saw it was already five. I scanned my office one last time. Two weeks ago, it was the safest place I knew. Now, I was smuggling my own evidence out of it. “Um, sure,” I finally said when I realized he was waiting for a response.
We were halfway down the corridor when Astrid came around the corner with a coffee mug and a stack of folders.
“Emma. I saw the email this morning. What’s going on?”
“Everything’s fine. I’ll loop you in if there’s anything you need to know.” It wasn’t an answer to her question. If she asked again, I’d continue to deflect.
Her focus landed on Kodiak. “Are you the one taking over my office?”
He scanned the corridor behind her.
“Friendly,” she said under her breath. “I sent the report you requested for the FinCen briefing.”
“Thanks. I’ll take a look at it and let you know if I have questions. What about the enforcement numbers the House subcommittee requested?”
“I should have those in the next few days.”
“Good and thanks.”
“Darla hasn’t sent the updated calendar for tomorrow—should I plan on the usual schedule?”
“Let’s go,” Kodiak said before I had the chance to respond.
Astrid’s expression darkened.
I glared at him, then turned to her. “Yes. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Kodiak’s hand found the small of my back, and he steered me to the elevator.
“That was rude,” I said after we were inside.
He pressed the button but didn’t act like he heard me say anything.
“Kodiak?”
“Your schedule is on a need-to-know basis.”
“Should we check in with Luke before—”
“No.”
I glared at him again, but since he wasn’t looking at me, it was a wasted effort.
When we were in the SUV, I reached for my phone.
“I’d like to see Brenna,” I said. “And we should debrief with Atticus. Should we arrange to meet them somewhere?”
“No.”
I faced him. “Would you please look at me?”
He sighed but turned his head in my direction.
“This isn’t going to work.”
He put the SUV in gear.
“Can you wait, please?”
Kodiak sighed a second time, didn’t take the vehicle out of gear, but didn’t leave the parking place, either. “What?” he barked more than asked.
“You don’t have to be such an asshole.”
While that got my intended result and I had his full attention, the expression on his face was one I’d never seen before.
“I don’t know what happened between the time we left California and now, but I can tell you I won’t tolerate you treating me the way you are.”
“And what way is that?”
“Like you hate me.”