Seducing the Accomplice (8 page)

“I’ve already told you too much.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“Are you going to stop asking questions now?”

She didn’t miss how he made light of something serious. “Funny, no one’s ever told me I ask too many questions.”

“Maybe you haven’t had a reason to ask them until now.”

But she did with him. “I’ve never been with anyone who worked for a company that doesn’t exist but allows him to go after terrorists.”

He didn’t smile at her sarcasm.

She plopped back against the couch. “Maybe that’s my problem. I try to please my dad by choosing friends I think he’d like.”

He leaned back the same as her. “What would you want to do with your life if your father wasn’t wealthy?”

That made her stop and think. “I don’t know.” She thought some more. “I suppose get a job like everyone else. Maybe open an art supply store. I like to paint, but I’ll never be good enough to have my work in a gallery.” Even saying it made her feel like she was shooting in the dark. “My parents never asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. It was just assumed that I’d follow in my dad’s footsteps.”

“He wants you to run his company?”

“Some day, after he retires. It’s the same thing you hear all the time. I feel like I’m playing a part in a rerun. The business tycoon expects his child to take over his empire but the child has other aspirations.” Whatever those were. “Now my father’s company will go to someone outside the family, which disappoints him immensely. It’s caused a huge rift between us. Not that we were ever close. I was always running away from his lecturing. And I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me for not going to college.”

“Sounds like you’re trying too hard.”

What did he mean? “I don’t think I can try hard enough to please my father, not unless I do what he wants and agree to work at his company and work my way up to running it.”

He put his arm along the back of the couch. “You don’t pursue your art because your father doesn’t approve.”

His strong arm behind her distracted her and she had to remember what he’d said.

She did pursue her talent for art. She’d sold some prints at a county fair. Was he diminishing that like her father had? Her defenses reared up. “Just because my work isn’t in a fancy gallery somewhere doesn’t mean it isn’t serious enough.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I never expect to impress my father with anything I paint and he never is.”

“Did you hear yousrself when you said you weren’t good enough to have your work in a gallery?” he asked.

He wasn’t making fun of her work at all. He was encouraging her. Oh, she didn’t want to feel this way with him. He made it worse by brushing back a few strands of hair that had fallen alongside her face. No one had ever supported her like this.

“Stop deliberately selecting people you think will fit the mold of what a friend should be. That’s what I mean about trying too hard. If you meet someone, let it happen. They’ll either be your friend or not.”

Her skin was tingling even after he lowered his hand. “Yeah, and then they find out my father is rich and suddenly I’m no longer a person, I’m a bank account.”

“Not everyone would be that way.”

“Well, I have yet to meet them, then.”

“You met me.”

His blue eyes watched her and she melted into them. “Don’t you care about money?”

“Of course I do.”

But he didn’t want hers. This was probably where her father would caution her to be careful.

“People have told me that before,” she said, feeling her father coaching her. “That they thought I was special and it had nothing to do with my money.” Or more appropriately, her father’s money. She got up from the couch and walked to the window, opening the blinds to stare out at the darkness, dots of lights sparkling along the coastline.

She heard him approach behind her and lean so that his mouth was beside her ear. “I prefer to make my own way in life.”

Turning, she backed away from him. “You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t like to find a woman who had money.” Any normal person would want to land on a lot of money.

“I wouldn’t care if she had money or not.”

Why not? “Are you loaded or something? Do you make a lot of money?”

“I make a decent living.”

Working for a secret company killing terrorists? “But not a lot?”

“What’s a lot to you?”

She shrugged. She’d never really thought about it. “I don’t know. A million or two a year would be enough.” Did she sound as blasé as she thought she did?

“I think the cost of a new home is a lot. The cost of a college education is a lot. Starting your own business costs a lot. It’s all about perception. For me, it isn’t important that a woman I’m interested in has a lot of money, whether I’m
loaded
, as you put it, or not.”

Realizing she’d probably offended him, Sadie berated herself. “I’m sorry. I have no tact.” She was always doing that, forgetting her boundaries or the boundaries of others. She didn’t want to offend Calan. She wanted him to like her, more than she’d ever wanted anyone to like her. And that spelled disaster. The last thing she needed was to try too hard to make him like her, a man still grieving the loss of two woman he loved.

No wonder everyone ran away from her. Well, maybe it was time for her to do the running.

Chapter 5

F
eeling melancholy, Sadie went to the balcony door off her bedroom and walked outside, leaving the door open. Putting her hands on the rail, she smelled the sea air. It was a clear, warm night. She wished her head was clear.

Calan had opened her eyes to so many things and in such a short time. Having an open mind about his attitude over money probably wasn’t good for her, though. He had a healthy attitude. An attitude she hadn’t seen in anyone she’d met. Not genuinely. He’d also thrown a wrench into her perception of her artwork. She loved to paint. She felt grounded when she painted. It was her secret escape. But now she wondered if her father’s disdain had kept her from pursuing a serious career. She’d set the bar too low for herself as a result. Selling at the county fair wasn’t something to totally overlook, but what if she
could
do better?

Why shouldn’t she explore her painting talent? She’d never know how far she could go unless she tried. Really tried. She hadn’t given her art her full effort. She could do more. And she didn’t need approval from anyone.

If she got nothing more from her father’s abandonment than that liberating realization, she’d be happy. Because her father
had
abandoned her by leaving her in Albania. And now that she thought of it, he’d abandoned her long before this. He’d abandoned her as soon as she showed a tendency toward the arts rather than math and science in grade school. He wanted a businessperson for a child. Sometimes she wondered if he wished she had been born a boy. Her mother had been unable to have more children. It amazed her that he’d stuck by her all these years. In public they never showed signs of affection. Sadie never saw them interact that way at home, either. Maybe a few times, but it was forced and seemed as though they’d both fallen out of a role.

A sound from beyond the far end of the balcony made her stiffen and jump. When she saw a shadow move beyond the railing, she managed to smother a loud yell.

One strong arm hooked her waist and a warm whisper came against her ear.

“Don’t move.”

Calan. He’d come through the door off the dining area, not her bedroom. She relaxed but only enough to stop from kicking him and fighting to escape.

He let her go and went to the far side of the balcony in his underwear, a gun drawn. She frantically looked around, panicked that perhaps whoever was lurking in the night might sneak up on her.

Rubbing her arms, she ignored Calan’s directive not to move and went inside the villa. Standing in the dining room, she peered through the glass door, trying to catch sight of him through the darkness.

“I told you not to move.”

She all but jumped out of her skin. Turning, she saw Calan standing there. He must have come through the balcony door off her room. Catching her breath, she looked through the glass door again. “Is he gone?”

“Are you sure it was a man you saw?” he asked. “Did you get a good look at him?”

“No.” She began to grow aware of him in only his underwear. He’d put his gun away, though. Must have done that before coming back into the dining area.

“It was probably someone just walking by. There’s a trail that goes between this building and the one next to it.”

“I saw it, too.”

He looked at her as if he appreciated her observation of that detail. His gaze touched her mouth and then met her eyes again. He didn’t move and neither did she. She felt the energy shift, a living thing in the silence of the villa, so late at night.

“We should go to bed,” she said before thinking.

He stepped closer.

“I mean, I didn’t mean, I—I…”

He reached his hand behind her head and sank it into her hair.

Oh, God.

“I know what you meant.” With that, he kissed her.

While a frenzy of arousing sensations mounted in her, she wondered if she’d be an idiot to explore this. He’d lost two women he loved to tragedy, and the second one hadn’t been very long ago. He hadn’t had enough time to heal.

Ending the kiss, she pushed his chest.

He released her with prowling eyes. He wanted her, that was clear. No man had ever looked at her like that. It kept her pulse going strong.

Get away from him.

Tripping over her own feet, she started to leave the kitchen. “I’m going to…I’m just gonna…”

She bumped into a kitchen chair and stubbed her toe. “Ouch!”

Limping around the chair, she made it into the living room.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Hardly. Her toe was minor compared to the temptation blazing inside her.

At the hall, she looked back. He saw her hesitation and fire renewed in his eyes. Temptation circled stronger. She couldn’t fight it and the sight of that bare chest didn’t help. He started toward her. She took one step backward, her body clamoring for something sinful.

He reached her. When she felt his heat, she parted her lips for more air and tipped her head back a little. He put his fingers through her hair again, holding her head as he had before and kissing her as he had before. She melted into the play of their mouths. Sensation assuaged a burning need. She didn’t want to end it.

Breaking away, she stepped back again. He radiated sexual hunger. The sight of him swept her further from reason.

They stood frozen for a few seconds, powerful energy electrifying a physical connection. That same chemistry she felt when she’d met him exploded now.

She moved at the same time he did. She landed against him, throwing her arms over his shoulders while his arms went around her and his mouth crushed hers for a deep, needy melding.

She whimpered and he groaned. When he began to walk, she wrapped her legs around him until he reached the bed in her room. He dropped her on the mattress and followed her down, kissing her more and tugging her T-shirt up over her head. He tossing it to the floor.

She slid his underwear over his hips and he finished removing them. When she opened her legs, he kneeled between them. The tip of him pressed against her and in the next instant he slid deliciously inside her. He didn’t spend any time touching her anywhere else. He didn’t kiss her. He just began thrusting. Deep and hard, reaching a sweet spot with each one that made her dizzy with passion. She pressed her hands against the wall, which made his thrusts more forceful. The friction and the full, hammering penetration drew up a cry from her. Her orgasm made her writhe with pleasure. She wasn’t even aware of his, but as she floated back to coherency, she felt his weight on top of her and he was spent and catching his breath along with her.

Sadie stared up at the ceiling, stunned by the power of their joining. But she was afraid of what it meant to him. He’d lost two women he loved, the second not very long ago. How could this mean more than what it appeared—just a plain ole hankering for sex. She wasn’t even sure she expected it to mean more than that. The only thing she was sure of was that she didn’t want to feel more for him than he felt for her. That was a guaranteed path to a broken heart.

So what was this, then? She’d never had a just-sex relation ship before and she didn’t want to start one now.

Feeling cheap and sleazy, she pushed against him. “Get off.”

Calan lifted his head and looked at her, confused. “What’s the matter?”

She shook her head, rolling it on the pillow.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.” A stifled sob escaped. “This doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“What?”

“It was sex.”

Silence answered her.

It was enough. Sadness and self-disgust consumed her. She sniffled, fighting a fresh and much more earnest wave of tears.

“Sadie.”

She didn’t want to look at him.

He cupped her face and made her. Her vision blurred with tears, but she saw raw sincerity in his gorgeous eyes.

“I can’t promise you anything right now, but this was more than sex to me,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

So this wasn’t a one-time thing. That didn’t reassure her. It still didn’t mean enough to him. It couldn’t. They’d have a fling for a while and then it’d be over when it came to the point when he couldn’t give her what she needed. She’d made the wrong decision again, a mistake, a bad choice. Like she always did. She was always misjudging people, giving everything when they weren’t in a place to give as much in return. She had believed in others and they had turned their backs on her. There would come a day when he’d do the same.

When was she going to learn?

“Sadie.”

She opened her eyes, only just then realizing she’d closed them. Her heart broke looking at his handsome face.

“This wasn’t a mistake.” He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “It means more than that.”

There was no point in discussing it. His losses were too great. Talking about them and how they measured up to this would be futile. This didn’t measure up to that. But she kissed him to make him believe she was fine. He hesitated but then relaxed.

When he rolled off her, she curled next to him, moving her head to see his face without alerting him. Seeing him staring at the ceiling, she knew he’d only been trying to make her feel better. He wasn’t sure where this would lead. He could make no promises. He’d said as much, hadn’t he? This might not be a mistake for him, but it was for her. She shouldn’t have allowed this to get as far as it had. He might be able to walk away from something casual, but she didn’t do casual. Not with him. Not with the way she felt for him.

Calan woke to his cell phone ringing. Half sitting up, he glanced over and saw Sadie beside him and the rush of memory staggered him for a second. Arousal collided with uneasiness. When his phone rang again, he picked it up and answered, pushing covers aside and getting off the bed.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

“What is it, nine there?” Odie goaded.

“About that.”

“You sound like you just got up.”

He had a feeling he was about to suffer one of Odie’s infamous episodes of probing into personal matters that were better left alone. “What have you got for me?” When he’d called to ask her to find them this villa, he’d also asked her to look again into Murati’s background, as well as that of Arber Andoni, the owner of the airport who may have had ties to Dharr.

“Late night, huh?”

“Just tell me what you have.”

She laughed lightly. “I shouldn’t do this…having been on that end of things, but…I can’t resist…you slept with her, didn’t you?”

He sighed and looked at Sadie, whose eyes had opened and, though drowsy, weren’t happy. When her gaze dropped to his nakedness, apprehension gripped him. He should have never allowed this to happen. A brief affair was fine by him, but the woman he shared that with had to be looking for the same thing. Sadie wasn’t, and that made him feel as if he’d crossed a line he couldn’t revoke. He didn’t understand how it could have been so easy to fall into bed with her. Why hadn’t he thought about the morning after? About how Sadie would feel. Maybe he thought—or hoped—she knew what she was getting into. Maybe she had, but like him, it hadn’t mattered. But it did now.

“What is it with you guys?” Odie brought him back. “It seems like you find a damsel on every mission. Is it part of the job description?”

He turned his back to Sadie. “When you’re finished entertaining yourself, will you let me know what you found out?”

“You’re no fun, are you? All right, I’ll go easy on you. I found nothing new, that’s what I found.”

Calan put on his underwear, holding the phone between his head and his shoulder. They’d bribed Murati to arrange for them to fly into Andoni International Airport. They’d paid a lot of money to avoid identifying the company that employed them and their reason for coming to Albania.

“Arber Andoni and Armend Murati both still check out, beyond what we already know about them. Whoever they’re working with is real good at staying under the radar.”

Either that or they hadn’t recognized the connection yet. Andoni allowed illicit transport through his airport for a price but he wasn’t dealing himself, and Murati took bribes. But either one of them, or both, was working with someone who’d intended to do business with Dharr.

“Murati could have told Andoni about you,” Odie said. “And if Andoni knew Dharr…”

“Yeah. I’ll find out as soon as I talk to Murati.”

“You going to take your baggage with you?”

Baggage. There was a word. He heard Sadie move on the bed behind him. He looked back at her. She sat up on the mattress, holding the sheet up over her chest. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

“You could send her home. We could have someone meet her.”

“I took the equivalent of three million dollars, Odie.”

“Yeah, you did. She didn’t.”

“You know how these things work.”

“Yes, and I also know why you don’t want her out of your sight. We could protect her on this end, and you know it.”

“I’ll get back to you when I know more.” He wasn’t going to get into that discussion with her. Before she could say more, he disconnected and turned around.

“Get dressed,” he told Sadie, irritated. Whether Odie was right or wrong, he wasn’t going to risk another woman’s life.

Her brow furrowed. “Good morning to you, too.”

Last night when she’d started crying, he’d been as honest as he could have been. The only thing left unsaid was that he’d loved twice in his life and didn’t think he had it in him to love a third time, nor did he believe he’d get that lucky again. Not with the memory of Kate still so fresh in his heart and soul…

Leaving the room, he went to shower in the other bathroom.

Odie’s subtle reminder that everyone at TES knew why he’d joined the team pulled his mood down. It made him think of Kate. He missed her witty intelligence. Her big smile and the sound of her laugh. She was always positive. And yet, she had a hard side, the CIA side of her. When push came to shove, she was a formidable opponent. But when it came to matters of the heart, he’d never met anyone capable of so much warmth and selfless love.

She hadn’t deserved to die the way she had. Finding her had nearly killed him. He’d left after a fight they’d had over details surrounding Dharr and had come home to find her with her throat slit. He should have never left her. He should have believed her, too. And not argued. One thing Kate had been really good at was deciphering the information she gathered.