TheFugitivesSexyBrother (8 page)

“Trust issues, remember?”

He smiled, appreciating that she had turned the joke back on
him. “Type your quarry’s phone number in this field.”

When she did, Javier needed only a few clicks to present her
with the subject’s location starred on a map interface. “Any reason he’d be on
Waterman Street?”

“That’s the mother’s address.”

“Then he ran home to Mommy.”

“Wow.” Emily took the mouse from Javier and ran the pointer
back and forth across the screen, not clicking, just looking. “Um, how did you
do that?”

“Trade secret.”

“Come on, I want at least a hint. Whatever my untrained
brain can comprehend.”

Javier blinked. Fernando had never seemed to care how Javier
did what he did. He barely seemed to appreciate the difficulty and skill
required. Many times, Javier had wondered if Fernando realized how few people
could deliver hacking skills on the level he routinely provided. More often
than not, it seemed Fernando thought he was just keeping Javier busy, throwing
him a job that could have been filled by anyone. He was surprised how much the
thought stung.

He shrugged, but the open, curious expression on Emily’s
face didn’t change. “Seriously, this is way beyond anything my skiptracer can
do.”

Javier reclaimed the mouse, a little sheepish now. “There
are only a couple companies that do geolocation for mobile phones, even though
there are a bunch of models of phones and providers. I went for the weakest
link, intercepting communications from the geolocation companies—like most
businesses, a determined person can hack them given time. I built this
application for my brother. It was just a demonstration, really. I think this
is the first time it’s been used. But as long as your man keeps his phone
on—and like we said, people are often stupid about that kind of thing—I can
find him.”

“You just did that? Intercepted communications from the
geolocation companies? You make it sound like no big deal.”

Was he blushing? “Yeah, I had nothing better to do.”

Emily raised a tawny eyebrow. “I don’t think that expression
means what you think it does.” Her eyes regarded him with new respect.

Javier’s face heated. Fernando loved him, sure, and made it
clear that he intended to take care of his little brother. But when was the
last time he’d seen naked approval on someone’s face? His ex Terri had loved
him but she had certainly never
approved
of him. He’d been a project for
her, not someone she admired. Wasn’t that the problem with his life in general?
People cared for him but they saw him as someone who needed to be cared for.
Not someone who provided anything—not even when he built groundbreaking
technology on their behalf.

“You doing okay?” Emily’s voice was quiet. Javier turned
away suddenly, concerned about what she had read on his face.

“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Just thinking about how I could
improve the interface on this thing.”

“Right. Well, this is totally awesome. Our morning drive is
going to be a lot shorter.”

Javier needed to regain his mental footing. Instinctively he
reached for Emily, seeking a return to the seductive game that he’d been
playing so well. “Any chance our morning drive could also be
later
?” He
slid his hand down her side, stopping just above the elastic waistband of her
shorts.

Did she shiver? “I wish.”

“Really?”

Emily turned and held Javier’s gaze, glancing from the
computer screen to his face and back. “I think I do,” she whispered.

He wanted to jump up and pump his fists in the air and grin
like a fool. He wanted to grab her and carry her to the bedroom or that
god-awful sofa, or even just fall on the floor right there. Before he could
follow either impulse, she grabbed her jacket and then his hand. She pulled him
out of the apartment and into her car.

Neva Michone drummed her fingers on her desk. She ought to
be working on the day’s data entry for Guy. If she had to screw off, she ought
to be searching for more leads for Emily.

She swallowed guiltily. Emily would pay her the usual rate
as promised, but Neva knew in her heart she didn’t deserve it. She hadn’t
worked as hard as usual searching for Bonavita—and it wasn’t just his oddly
scrubbed public record, no matter how much of a good excuse that would be. She
sighed. Emily had been right to ask whether Matthew presented a conflict. He
did, even though she didn’t want him to. Even though he didn’t deserve to after
the way he’d treated her the last time they’d been out.

For the third time that day, she rolled her chair back from
her computer and retrieved her nail file from her purse. Reflected neon from
the sign outside turned her most recent manicure an odd shade of green. She
positioned her hand over the wastebasket and went to work. Viciously. Despite
not having much nail left to file.

“Neva.” The gravelly voice startled her, making her swipe
the tool painfully across a swath of newly revealed fingertip.

“Guy!” She glanced at her monitor, relieved to see she’d at
least left her computer on a work-related screen. “What’s up?”

She tried to look up at him casually, hoping that for once
the sight of her boss wouldn’t get butterflies started in her stomach. Why
should it? Gray streaked Guy Nolf’s hair. No matter how distinguished it
looked, it meant he was too old for Neva. And the scars that crisscrossed his
forehead and jawline—no matter how many times she’d decided they enhanced the
rugged features underneath, she couldn’t imagine getting her girlfriends to
agree with her. She liked men in leather jackets, but Guy had stopped wearing
his at the same time he’d stopped going out in the field. He’d let himself
soften a little, though with a chest like a tree trunk, no one would dare
suggest he’d gotten weak in the process.

Why should he get to her so much? She’d moved on, she told
herself fiercely. The butterflies, apparently, did not care about any
empowering changes Neva thought she had made. She could sleep with Matthew as
many times as she wanted, but his blond, sculpted perfection would only
continue to make her long for the marks of experience that made Guy seem so
much more masculine. His deep brown eyes had seen it all, but Neva could not
stop wanting them to see
her
, to take on a glow when she entered a room.

Neva blinked. Guy had been talking for a couple of minutes
now and she’d missed most of it. “Anyway, I’ll be back in a couple hours,” he
said.

She swallowed and nodded.

A gentle expression came over his hard face. “Neva…”

“Yes?” Had she answered too quickly? She never seemed to
know how to talk to him.

“Are you all right?” He stepped back, cleared his throat and
shoved his hands into his pockets. He gestured with his chin toward the remains
of the day’s scorched-earth attack on her fingernails. “I thought you liked
your nails longer.”

She stared. Guy barely acknowledged she existed, and now he
noticed the length of her fingernails? “I broke one,” she said quickly. “I’m
trying to even them out. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been doing it at work. They
were just bugging me.”

He nodded as if what she’d said made sense. “Good. That’s
fine. I’m glad you’re fine.”

Neva cocked her head. He seemed to want to prolong the
conversation, but she couldn’t imagine what they had to talk about. She tried
to reassure him that, despite appearances, she’d been keeping up with her work.
“I’ll have the data entry finished in a couple hours.”

He cleared his throat again. She’d never seen him so
nervous. Guy glanced from side to side and sat on the edge of her desk. “Listen,
I don’t want to bring up an awkward subject, but I need to talk with you a
little about Matthew Lodi.”

She stiffened. Emily claimed Guy had been hurt by Neva’s
relationship with Matthew, but that couldn’t be. Neva had already suffered far
too long waiting for Guy to see her as an attractive woman, had denied herself
too many other opportunities while holding out for an invitation that never
came. She would not allow herself to read into this. “Go on.”

“I know the two of you have…gotten close recently.” Guy
seemed unable to meet her eyes as he spoke.

“Only outside of work,” Neva said quickly.

“I’m not trying to intrude. I…don’t want any of the
details.” He smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle in his jeans. “But I have to tell
you, I haven’t been pleased with his work lately. I know a few years ago, I’d
have called him myself to tell him about Bonavita. I don’t blame you for what
you did, Neva. I’m just asking you not to do it again.”

Her throat clenched, all her old instincts to please her
boss welling up in her chest. “I’m so sorry, Guy. I didn’t mean to overstep—”

“You took initiative. I’ve always appreciated that. Maybe I
haven’t talked with you as much as I used to about the business. I don’t think
you had any way of knowing how I’ve been feeling about Matthew.”

Now tears threatened. She remembered very well the way Guy
used to talk to her—for hours after the office closed, several days a week. The
practice had encouraged her wildest fantasies, until he’d ended it as suddenly
as it had started with no explanation. She’d had to work hard to overcome her
hurt and to find something else to do with the time she used to spend with him.
“You’re not obligated to explain how you’re running your business, Guy,” she
said quietly. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

Guy’s eyes snapped to her face, filled with unexpected pain.
“I should have been telling you more. Much more.”

“It’s really no problem.” Neva folded her hands carefully in
her lap, desperate to prevent herself from reaching out to him. “I’ll keep my
personal relationship with Matthew completely out of the job from now on.”

“Of course you will. I know I can trust you, Neva.” The
wistful smile he gave her nearly overcame her resolve completely. Neva bit her
lip, wishing he would hurry off on whatever errand he had planned. He stayed
where he was for another few minutes while she alternated between staring at
him expectantly and fiddling with her computer. She thought he would say more
but he didn’t.

When Guy finally left, Neva slumped back in her chair and
closed her eyes. She pressed her fingers to her temples, annoyed by the way she
trembled. How many times did she have to remind herself the man wasn’t
interested in her? That he never would be?

The jingle of the door yanked her out of the moment. Neva
wiped quickly at the corners of her eyes and pulled herself upright. “May I
help you?”

A clean-shaven, freshly scrubbed and very masculine-smelling
Matthew Lodi sauntered around the corner and into view. Neva didn’t know if it
was the worst possible timing or the best, but she summoned her most
flirtatious smile for her lover. Maybe he’d be willing to spend another evening
distracting her from her disastrous crush on Guy. Soon.

“Hey,” Matthew said. The man didn’t just stand. He posed and
flexed.

Neva raised an eyebrow. Apparently he had no plans to
apologize for getting up and leaving in the middle of sex just a few nights
ago. “Hey,” she answered, her voice ice-cold.

“Neva, can you do me a favor? Emily hasn’t been answering my
calls. Can you help me run into her here?”

Fury rose in Neva’s chest, replacing whatever dim hope she’d
had at the sight of him. She’d brushed off Emily’s warnings about Matthew even
though she’d known better. But even Emily would never have predicted behavior
as bad as this. “You’re seriously going to ask me to help you get in touch with
your ex-girlfriend? When you haven’t even called since you ran naked out of my
house?”

Matthew returned what he no doubt intended to be a charming
smile. Neva did not feel charmed. “Baby, I’m sorry about the other night. There
was this dude in your yard attacking my car, and I wanted to make sure I’d
taken care of him and really run him off. By the time I got him, I didn’t want
to call in case you’d gone to bed.”

This time, Neva reacted with more than her eyebrow. She
shoved her chair back from the desk, folded her arms across her chest and
glared at him. “That ‘dude’ is the only reason I found out any of what
happened. When I went outside to look for you, he was lying in my yard with two
broken ribs. His name is Cliff James. We chatted while I called an ambulance
and talked him out of pressing charges against you.”

“Wow, he was going to press charges?”

“People usually do that in cases of assault.”

“He was—”

“I know. He was attacking your car.” Neva stiffened with a
sudden flash of insight. “That tattoo on your chest. The lotus. I always
thought it was a Buddhist thing or a martial arts thing.”

Matthew shook his head, dismissing her point. “Thanks for
taking my side with him, Neva. I knew I could trust you.”

Neva growled a little in the back of her throat. Hearing
about how trustworthy she was from guys who’d never returned the favor made her
feel like way too much of a chump. “Don’t mention it.”

Matthew must not have picked up on her irritation because he
stepped closer, reaching for her hand. “You’re great,” he said. “You’ve been so
great to me.”

“What do you want, Matthew?” He manipulated so blatantly,
she didn’t know if she could stand to sleep with him again.

“Nothing. I’m just making conversation.” He pulled her
against him. She didn’t want to react, but the testosterone oozing out of him
hit her system hard. In less than a second, the wall of muscle that was his
chest had turned Neva into an unthinking mess of hard nipples and hot, wet
need. She moaned involuntarily and he took full advantage, leaning down for a
kiss that further scrambled her brain.

Neva’s body surrendered to him, even while she fought to
retain coherent thought. She liked that Matthew always knew what he wanted to
do with her—even when his motives were suspect. She enjoyed submitting to his
strong, sure hands and firm direction. She could already feel herself melting.

He released her mouth but kept his arms around her waist,
his cock hard and ready against her stomach. “That’s better, isn’t it?” Matthew
said.

“Mmm,” Neva mumbled. She felt so peaceful whenever he took
control.

He sat on her desk and lifted her onto his lap, negligently
sweeping a stack of papers aside. They fluttered to the floor. She cringed
inwardly, imagining herself having to sort and restack them, but that setback
didn’t matter much to the parts of her body that were currently calling the
shots. “I think we should go out tonight,” Matthew whispered in her ear, his
blond stubble scratching deliciously across her cheek. “I’m a member of this
club we can visit. They have private rooms and lots and lots of toys. I’ll take
you there and make you my toy. Tie you up against the wall so you can’t go
anywhere and tickle you until you struggle anyway.”

Neva groaned at the image. In fact she couldn’t imagine
anything he could do that would make her want to get away once he got started
with her. Her body slipped so easily into an amazing zen-like state where she
felt incredibly powerful and invincible, no matter what pain or pleasure or
discomfort might come. If Matthew tied her up against a wall, she wouldn’t
need
to get away. She’d only gotten too-brief tastes of that condition so far, but
Neva thought she could stay that way happily for hours, open to him and ready
for anything. And if sometimes while restrained she fantasized about being
utterly and completely at Guy’s mercy instead of Matthew’s…no one really needed
to know that, did they?

Teeth in her earlobe recalled her attention to the man
holding her in the present moment. “Neva, sweetheart, don’t zonk out on me
again. I’m trying to talk to you.”

Matthew never seemed content to let her ride on the pleasure
he induced. If they’d been closer as lovers, she would have talked to him about
it. As it stood, she tried to enjoy what she could while he allowed it to last.
With an effort, she focused her mind to form words. “I like it. Let’s do it.”

“Great. It’s a date.” He pulled back from her a little way,
took a breath and resumed speaking, his tone too casual. “Since that’s settled,
how is Emily doing with the Bonavita case? Have you heard from her about it?”

Irritation threatened to return and destroy Neva’s
anticipatory sexual buzz. “Can you give it a rest, Matthew? I don’t want to get
in the middle of this thing between you two.”

“I’m just asking. You help her out sometimes, right?
Skiptracing? You doing that this time?”

She shrugged. “Sort of.”

He nudged her. She would have taken the gesture as playful
if she hadn’t known better. “Sort of?”

“Haven’t really had time to work on it.”

“Give me a hint. What’s she got so far?”

“No way in hell. Emily would kill me.”

Matthew’s fingers slipped down the side of Neva’s legs, then
began traveling up her skirt. “Then help me run into her so I can ask her
myself. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Neva narrowed her eyes. “Do you really think I’m that easy?”

“Neva. You’re not easy. You’re a goddess. Look at me. I’m on
my knees.” Matthew slid down her body and did indeed wind up kneeling before
her. For all that she knew he was playing her, she couldn’t help but laugh at
his earnest expression. “Neva, if you let me, I’m going to worship you. Right
now. With my tongue. Until you can’t stand to come anymore. And then tonight
I’ll take you to the club and do it all over again.”

His fingers slipped under the edge of her panties. Neva knew
they would arrive at their destination to find it sopping wet and waiting.
Against her better judgment, she spread her legs a little wider to give him
better access. Matthew caught her adjusting her position and broadened his
smile.