Chapter 17
Did she have any idea how beautiful she was? How tempting? Maks really didn’t think so, and that was a good thing. Because if Eden wanted to seduce him, she could’ve had him on his knees in seconds.
He’d known she was standing there, listening to him play. It had been years since anyone had heard him. He’d thought he would be finished before she came down from her bath, but once he’d begun playing, he hadn’t been able to stop. The look on her face proved that she had enjoyed it immensely.
Maks hadn’t known what to say because there hadn’t been any words.
All he’d wanted to do was go to her and pull her into his arms. Her wet hair hung around her face that was still flushed from the heat of the water.
She wore comfortable clothes and seemed at ease.
Either she didn’t know the full threat of the Saints, or she was at ease with him.
Eden wasn’t a fool. She was learning for herself just who the Saints were. That meant she felt secure with him. And that only made his hunger for her flare higher.
He watched her as she walked to the back table and opened the laptop. He followed her but was careful not to get too close. At one touch, he might lose all control. No one had ever made him feel like this. What was it that undid him?
Her beauty? Maybe.
Her intelligence? Possibly.
Her complete trust in him? Probably.
The way she looked at him as if she found him fascinating? Hell, yes.
Fuck. He was in trouble. Trouble in a bad, bad way.
There was no way he could give in to what he was feeling, for a number of reasons.
The first was that if the Saints ever found out, they would do everything in their considerable power to take Eden and torture her, prolonging her pain.
Second, he wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done if he allowed himself to feel the emotions rising up inside him.
All these years, he’d been able to keep his distance from people, rarely forming any kind of attachments. And those romantic attachments he did have might look serious from the outside looking in, but they meant nothing to him. It was all for show for anyone who might be watching him.
But he was alone now. Alone in a cabin with Eden. No one was here but the two of them. No one was watching. No one would know what he did.
I would.
Maks knew that if he gave in, for even a heartbeat, there would be no pulling himself out of the depths of whatever it was he had begun to feel each time he was near Eden.
He wouldn’t even go into the emotions that consumed him when he merely thought about her.
And damn if that wasn’t most of the day.
He watched as she pulled up different tabs on the laptop. He’d told himself that he thought about her because she was his problem now. He’d drug her into this shitstorm, and he’d promised to keep her safe. But he knew that for the bald-faced lie that was.
He wanted her.
No. Wanted didn’t describe the wanton depths of his desire.
He craved her. Yearned. He hungered.
Her head swiveled around to him as her hazel eyes blinked up at him.
Her lips were moving. Maks registered that bit too late.
He attempted to hear what she was saying, but he couldn’t.
He was too wrapped up in imagining what it would be like to have her against him.
To strip her bare and lay her on his bed as his hands and mouth learned every inch of her body. To hear her moan with need.
And scream in pleasure.
“Maks?”
His lungs seized. He tried to draw in a breath, but nothing worked but his cock, that was now as hard as granite.
Finally, he was able to swallow. Eventually, he made his body relax so his lungs could expand and take in air.
But nothing stopped the fine sheen of sweat that covered him.
All he could pray for now was that she didn’t lower her gaze and see the bulge in his pants.
“Yes?”
Her brows drew together in a frown. “Are you all right?”
“Never better.” Fucking liar.
But it wasn’t as if he could tell her the truth.
The doubt in her eyes told him she didn’t believe a word he said. “As I mentioned, all the dates from before coincided with a death.”
“All of them?”
“Every last one,” she said and turned back to the monitor. She clicked a button, and a page filled with all the dates. Beside them were names.
Maks ran through the list, but none of them looked or sounded familiar. “I don’t know any of these people.”
“You wouldn’t. They’re relative unknowns.”
“So why kill them?”
Eden clicked another tab. “This.”
Maks put one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table as he leaned down.
Without meaning to, he drew in the scent of her hair.
It was his shampoo. Nothing special there.
But somehow, mixed with her natural fragrance, it was an aphrodisiac that made his balls tighten, and blood roar in his ears.
He had to get himself under control. He wasn’t some randy teenager who got hard every time the wind blew. He was a grown man who made sure his needs were satisfied regularly. He shouldn’t have such a reaction to her.
Shouldn’t. But he certainly was.
“Well?” she asked as she glanced at him. “I thought you’d react more.”
Her face was scant millimeters from his. All he had to do was lean slightly to the side and he could press his face to hers. For fuck’s sake. Enough already.
Inwardly giving himself a hard shake, he focused on the screen and saw that each of them was somehow linked to a government or military. Now that was of interest. “Any way to tell what these people were working on when they were killed?”
“If I was a hacker, I probably could. I assume that what most of these people were doing would be considered classified. Even some of the low-level people still had access to classified documents.”
“Do you think there’s a chance they saw something about the Saints?”
She shrugged her slim shoulders. “I’d be guessing right now. I did some searches randomly through the group, and all of them were model citizens. I think the worst I found was a DUI.”
As he continued looking at each individual and their job description and employer, the more he realized that the only one who could get him what he needed was Callie. The problem was that each time she got into a system, she opened herself—and everyone at the ranch—to another attack.
“You’re thinking of sending this to the hacker you know. Callie?” Eden asked.
Maks nodded as he straightened. “She can get the information.”
“But you’re worried about them.”
He blew out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest. “I am. I’m still not sure how we won against the Saints last time, but I know the organization well enough to know that they’re not going to take that lying down. They’ll retaliate. And it’s going to be big.”
Eden tucked a leg beneath her in the chair and shifted to look at him. “Wouldn’t they have already done that?”
“They’re waiting for the Loughmans to let their guard down.
” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “The Saints came close to killing each of the brothers individually. If they weren’t as good as they are, or have strong women with them, they’d probably be dead.
Look at the list before you. I’ve been sent after enough people to know that if anyone angers the Saints, they’re removed. And quickly.”
“But who makes the decision? Is it run by just one person?”
Maks dropped his arms to his sides. “From what little I’ve been able to discern, it’s a small group of people. Think of them like elders of a village. They’re the ones who make the decisions.”
“I don’t suppose these Elders happen to all live in the same place?”
“If only. Actually, I don’t know who any of them are, so I can’t tell you where they live. I believe I was getting close to learning of one in Russia, but I can’t be certain of that.”
Eden’s hair swung out as she turned her head to the monitor. She stared at it for a long moment. “Someone has to notify them about anyone against the Saints.”
“Undoubtedly. And others take that information and decide if it’s a credible threat or not.”
“Exactly.”
He frowned as she turned to face him with a grin. “What’s that look for?”
“An idea. Maybe,” she said with some hesitation. “If we had enough time, we could seed different threads of information in different places and see which one works. We could then decipher who gave the information over and who might be an Elder.”
“A sound idea. One I thought about a few times. Unfortunately, that takes manpower and time. Neither of which I’ve had.”
Her lips twisted. “And we don’t have it now.”
“A list of sixty-seven dates directly connected to deaths isn’t something I’ve had before.”
“I can find more information. I didn’t dig deep on any one person because I wanted to see how much I could find on all of them.”
“You did great. More than I could’ve hoped.”
“But I’m not finished,” she told him. “This is just from a few pages in the file. I’m not finished with it, nor have I dug into the pen drives.”
This was going to take more time than he’d imagined. Maks hadn’t realized just how much information he’d gathered in the years he’d been gathering it. Maybe he should’ve been looking at it during that time. Most likely, he would’ve found a few things, but nothing like Eden was uncovering.
“Let me do some more digging on these people,” she asked. “I want to find out more. Besides, I can tell you’re leery about asking Callie to do anything.”
He mentally calculated how long they could remain at the house.
They had another handful of days. And Eden was right.
He didn’t want to ask the Loughmans. They’d do it, especially Callie, but they needed to focus on things coming at them, not have their attention divided.
When the attack did come at them, they needed to be prepared.
Maks gave a nod. “All right.”
“We can stay here, right?”
“For the time being. We’ve got a few days before I think we’ll need to move.”
“I’ll work fast,” she promised and turned back to the computer.
He touched her arm. “Why not rest tonight? You can start fresh in the morning.”
“I’d like to work now. I need to do something, and this is me contributing. I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Maks dropped his hand. Eden went back to work as if he didn’t exist. Not that he blamed her.
He did the same thing when he was working.
Maks walked quietly from the room. With a few clicks, she had music playing from the computer.
With one last look at her, he walked out to check the perimeter of the house.