Chapter Three #3
It had been the photograph of her blood spilled across that bed that had committed him.
The idea of her fighting off an assassin while she’d been shot had won him over in a heartbeat.
There was nothing more impressive to him than a tough woman who knew how to handle herself in a moment of supreme danger.
Especially when she came in such unexpectedly elegant packaging.
Incredibly sexy packaging. Much too gorgeous to risk losing on a ‘next time’ possibility where she might not make it out with her life.
Liam groaned when he realized how unprofessional and sexist that sounded, even if it was only in his own brain.
He threw down his digital pen and watched it roll across the top of his desk.
The neglected schedule he was supposed to be working on flashed on his tablet in irritable reminder of his slacking.
He ran both hands over his head, raking his fingers through his short-cropped hair.
The trouble was, he couldn’t get their first meeting out of his head.
That wicked dress she’d worn, so casually showing off a perfect body, her obvious wit, and the strange exotic beauty of her features.
The feel of her hands on his thighs. Warm palms he’d felt burning through the material of his blacks even though the cloth wasn’t exactly thin.
Then that teasing stroke of her fingers …
Liam cursed aloud as his entire body tightened with the memory, mimicking his initial reactions perfectly. He brushed his hand across his fly, adjusting himself away from his sudden discomfort.
“Clients are off limits,” he reminded himself aloud, as if it would change the aroused state of his body, not to mention the memories of her that were haunting his mind like teasing wraiths.
He turned back toward his office window, leaning forward to watch Inez and Kellen spar in a little hand-to-hand on the lawn.
The pair often had philosophical arguments about different maneuvers in their differing forms of martial arts and it invariably ended up in a sparring match to prove the winning point.
He ought to reprimand them for goofing off when they had other duties to perform, but he had a hard time doing that when they were goofing off over training techniques.
Liam believed that Inez and Kellen were his best team for a reason, and that reason could very well be the way they constantly challenged themselves and each other.
Inez was determined to prove that a single mother with a child could flourish in this career choice without neglecting her kid, and Kellen was determined to prove he was more than just a pretty face.
Inez had been denied SWAT, and though they’d never say it right to her face, it was obvious that being a single mother had been the reason.
She’d quit the force because of it. Kellen had made it all the way through FEDOPS training and three years of active missions before resigning for what he simply called ‘personal reasons.’ Then he’d been surprised to find that the civilian world had a hard time taking him seriously on account of his looks and laid back personality.
Employers mistook all that natural charm and easygoing attitude for weakness.
It made the pair of them a couple of very serious overachievers, forging the perfect team, and also the perfect friendship.
Liam had never had a doubt about either one of them.
His eyes then sought out Colin. Colin was doing equipment checks before final load, testing lights, cameras, sensors, and the like.
He was the only doubt Liam had ever had in all of his hires, and he would probably continue to doubt himself until the day he died …
or the day his baby brother did. Considering the considerable danger on this pending assignment, Liam thought he was probably more sensitive to his doubts than he might normally be.
It wasn’t that he questioned his brother’s skills in the least. Colin was a fine soldier, and an excellent subordinate.
He’d been born to take and follow orders with a sense of duty and precision that would make any commander proud and fully trusting of him.
It was more a matter of Liam feeling the weight of the responsibility he had taken on every time he gave Colin an order or duty that could cost him his life.
However, he’d made a measure of peace with himself about it, especially after a night not too long ago when he and Colin had kicked back with a couple of beers and had a heart to heart about it.
Colin had reminded him that there was more danger under someone else’s command than there would ever be under Liam’s experienced hand.
Since Colin was determined to be in the business, it was actually safer for him to be under Liam’s watch.
Liam’s phone buzzed, tugging him out of his contemplations.
“Nash,” he greeted.
“Devon friggin’ Candler! You sonofabitch, I didn’t think you had it in you!”
“What’s up, Micah?” he asked, smiling at his partner’s usual enthusiasm. He had known that Micah was going to orgasm when he heard about NHK landing the Candler job. Micah loved to make money, and Devon would be paying out a great deal of it over the next few months.
“When this gig came up, I thought for sure you were going to blow it. I thought, ‘Sure! Ripest plum to ever plop in our laps and I’m stuck in Milan, leaving the man with the personality of the Antichrist to seal the deal!’ But Glory just told me you handed in signed contracts good for six months of 24/7 coverage, with an option to pick up.
Now, we both know it wasn’t your winning charm, because you don’t have any when it comes to handling business, so how’d you get the contract? ”
“Oh, we have an expertise no one else can claim,” Liam told him, taking no offense whatsoever to Micah’s colorful description of the facts.
“And that is?”
“Something I won’t discuss long distance, Micah,” he said directly.
“Ah. No problem, I’ll catch up when I get back.”
“When is that, by the way?” he asked, grinning into the phone and knowing what the gist of Micah’s answer was going to be already.
“Is Roni still mad at me?”
“Let me put it this way,” Liam said with a laugh, “when you come home and you can’t find your car in long-term parking at the airport, don’t call the cops.”
“Oh, hell! She didn’t!”
“Would I lie?”
“Crap!” Micah added a growl of frustration. “I’m going to kill her.”
“Then it’s a fight to the finish. Are you going to tell me what you did to piss off our usually mild-mannered partner?” Liam fished hopefully.
“Are you going to tell me where my Jag is?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
Micah hung up with a loud click.
Liam hung up his end with a low chuckle. The phone buzzed before he could take his hand away and he rolled his eyes, already knowing who it was.
“Yeah, Roni?” he greeted.
“Was that the no-good twerp you call your partner?” she demanded.
“You call him your partner too,” he reminded her gently.
“Ha! He’ll be lucky if I call him anything with more than four letters in it ever again!”
“Veronica Klein, are you ever going to tell me what this is about? I don’t exactly feel comfortable with dissention in the ranks.
” Actually, he knew his partners well enough to know it would blow over, but it wouldn’t blow over until Roni got the problem off her chest. Since he was going to be deeply involved in the Candler assignment soon, her venting resources would be limited.
Micah could end up banished to Milan until Leo or Kadian came off assignment.
“I was thinking of inventing a chemical that will melt his current paint job, imbedding itself into the steel of the body so it would then perpetually do the same to every subsequent paint job he attempts to get afterward. Clever, huh?”
“Extremely clever. However, it’s not appropriate to do it with company funds or equipment, babe.”
“Well! Since when are you the numbers geek around here?” she demanded huffily. “The geek is off hiding from me, so who cares who does what with company funds? It would serve him right if we go bankrupt while he’s hiding like the chicken-shit wiener that he is!”
“Now, Roni …”
“Don’t you ‘now Roni’ me like I’m some hysterical twit PMSing and in need of a pat on the head and some Ben and Jerry’s to get her through the crisis! It’s just like you men to stick together!”
She hung up with an angry growl into the phone.
Liam sighed. The world was in a sorry state, he thought, the day it depended on him to be the diplomatic voice of reason.