The Spy in 3B Page 5

  She laughed. “Good. Oh, Marcus Black, a game builder who can kiss. Will wonders never cease? All right, you, off you get. I’ll go see if I can find out what Stannis Prochenko is doing in LA. In the meantime, stay out of trouble. Better yet, call your sexy neighbor. Tell him that you have some pain and he needs to kiss it better.”

  I furrowed my brow. “I don’t have any pain.”

  She laughed. “You just point to the pain right at your clitoris, and I’m sure he’ll make you feel all better.”

  I choked back a laugh. “Addie.”

  “What? I’m telling you, he sounds like he’s up for the task. Well, I’m glad you had fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, okay. Let me know if you find anything.”

  “Will do.”

  I hung up with her, unable to shake the feeling of that kiss, the slide of his lips, the stroke of his tongue. I felt like he’d been holding out, like I had to get to know him all over again. This time with kissing.

  Chapter 4

  Marcus

  I hadn’t slept much. I’d gotten up every hour to double-check the security perimeters and the cameras I had trained on Lyra’s flat. No one had come. Nothing had moved. She’d been locked up tight, but I still wasn’t comfortable. I wanted to get in her flat and make sure she had proper chains and locks on her doors. I wanted to give her a gun, but she probably would frown on that.

  At eight o’clock, I figured it would be safe enough to call Curtis in Hawaii. He answered on the first ring. “You’re up early.”

  “You weren’t asleep either.”

  “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

  I chuckled. “Did you find out anything?”

  “Yeah. From your description, your would-be mugger is Stannis Prochenko. He was Russian military, then he got caught up in Victus. He’s low level though. Not a big player.”

  I frowned. “Why is that name familiar?”

  “Well, you probably know his name in relation to Signat, the terrorist group.”

  “Yes, that rings a bell. But does that mean Signat or Victus is making a play in the States, and what is he doing in California?”

  “Still looking.”

  “I’m clean though, right. No one even knows I’m here?”

  “Yes. I ran your ID several times. There was zero chatter about you. Nothing. He got lucky.”

  I frowned. “There is no such thing as luck. This is bad.”

  “Let’s not get overexcited. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Anything come back on Lyra Wilkinson?” I knew nothing would, but still, I held my breath.

  “No. It’s just like you said. She’s clean. She had a drunk and disorderly at the funeral home after her parents died, but that’s understandable.”

  “Prochenko might come for her.”

  “Did she see his face?”

  Yes. “No. She was focused on getting her purse back.” It was a little lie. One that if I was at headquarters and polygraphed would make me a concern. But I knew how these things worked. I had to protect her at all costs.

  “I have her DMV information. It’s for some place in Koreatown, not her current address.”

  I blinked in surprise. “So she’s safe?”

  He sighed. “As far as we know. But if there’s a risk for you, we need to call it in and scrub you.”

  “It’s not a risk.” I knew what would happen. If I’d been compromised, I would be moved. Sent to some other city. New name, new cover, new lies. It would be as if Marcus Black never existed. And that would leave Lyra a sitting duck. She would have no protection. I tried to reassure him. “No. It’s safe. Just double-checking.”

  Curtis sighed. “You are my most thorough agent. You bend no rules for anyone.”

  “I know. I’ll assess and confirm.”

  “Let me know if we need housekeeping.”

  “We won’t need housekeeping,” I said, unable to keep the exasperation out of my voice.

  “Mm-hmm. I like to be prepared.”

  “So do I.” I hoped to Christ he’d believe me.

  I jumped out of bed and into the shower. Within twenty minutes of my call with Curtis ending, I knocked on Lyra’s door.

  It was nine o’clock, and I hoped if she was going into work on the weekend that maybe she hadn’t left yet.

  She answered in her robe and was brushing her teeth. Her eyes went wide when she saw me, and she mumbled, “Hi,” around her toothbrush. Then she indicated that she’d be right back and went to the bathroom. When she came back, her face was free of toothpaste suds.

  She gave me a curious look. “Ah, is something wrong?”

  I shook my head. “No, I just came to check on you.”

  She blinked, then blinked again, her dark brown eyes searching for something in my gaze. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m perfectly fine.”

  “I know. I figured you’d say that, but I had to see for myself. You had a hell of a scare. Were you able to sleep at all?”

  Then she did something I’d never seen her do before. She shuddered. I asked her a simple question, and she shuddered, preparing herself to lie. “Yep. Oh, you know, a couple of bad dreams, but I’m fine. Not the worst thing, I guess.”

  “Lyra, is that the truth?”

  The question was met with more owlish blinking and a raised brow. “What answer are you looking for, Marcus?”

  “Just how you are actually feeling.”

  Her brows furrowed, and then she said, “Fine, really. I slept like a baby.”

  That was the truth. And I wondered how often she’d evaded my questions and I hadn’t noticed. But I could tell she wasn’t being malicious. There was just a wall, a screen she’d put up between herself and the world. Some kind of deep-seated stuff made her keep herself closed off.

  “Okay, good. I was just worried about you because he got your purse.”

  She blinked at me in surprise. “Oh, uh, it’s actually okay. I’m going to get a new license today.”

  “Yeah, but he has your address.”

  She winced. “Actually, I never changed it when I moved. I know you’re supposed to after thirty days, and it’s been a year and a half. But I loved my photo and didn’t want a new one.”

  I chuckled low, tamping down my unease. “Of course. Anyway, at the very least, I wanted to check your locks and see if they’re okay.”

  I turned to the door, and was surprised to see that she had nearly as many locks as I did. “I can’t say I’m not happy to see those.”

  “My dad was kind of a freak about safety, always insisting that we should have the right locks on our doors and windows. I guess I kind of adopted that practice when I got a place of my own.”

  “Smart of him to do that. And so are you. Still, I’d like you to know I’m here. I can help.”

  Her smile was warm. “Ah, that’s sweet. But honestly, Marcus, you don’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”

  “I am well aware that you can. I have zero doubts about that. But I’m your neighbor, so you know, I’m just being neighborly.”

  She laughed then. And I wondered why the hell I had never heard that sound before.

  “You already saved my life last night. You didn’t need to check on me this morning.”

  I pulled out the bag I’d gotten from the doughnut place down the street. “If you say so. But surprise! I also brought you breakfast.”

  She stared at the bag. “You went to Dell’s Doughnuts?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Because sometimes you need a sugar hit in the morning to get over not sleeping. But since you slept fine, I guess I will just take the doughnuts and go then.”

  She reached her hands out. “No, hold on just a minute. Who am I to turn down perfectly good doughnuts?”

  I laughed. “I knew you’d be a sucker for sugar. Do you have coffee?”

  She nodded and then indicated the kitchen. I searched the cupboards until I found plates for the doughnuts.

  “So, we’re having breakfas
t together now?” she asked as she joined me at the counter.

  I smiled down at her. “Relax, it’s just breakfast.”

  “Right. Are we going to talk about that kiss?”

  I smirked at her. “Why? Are you going to try and tell me we should just be friends again?”

  Slowly, she shook her head back and forth. “No, but I’m going to tell you that I’m not really dateable. I’ve got bags and bags of issues, and I’m telling you, you don’t want to deal with this.”

  A powdered sugar dusted the corner of her mouth, and I wanted to lick it right off of her lips. But I settled for using my thumb as I reached over and wiped it off. Her tongue chased my thumb away, and I wanted to feel that sweet flick. She looked up at me and said, “You are dangerous.”

  I grinned. “Um, no. I’m perfectly safe. I’m not dangerous at all. I’m your next-door neighbor, remember? I program computer games?”

  “Yeah, but suddenly there’s something very, um… I don’t know how to say it. Before last night, you were different.”

  I laughed. “It’s the same old me.”

  “Yeah, but not exactly. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you’re different now.”

  That wasn’t good. I didn’t want her being quite so astute.

  “It’s the same me. You’re just seeing me differently now.”

  “Is that so?”

  I nodded sagely. “We’ve been in a dating situation together, and now you’re starting to notice my muscles.”

  She snorted then. Full on snort-giggle.

  The levity I felt when talking to her was a surprise. Why were things so easy now? “I’m sorry, ma’am, did you just snort?”

  She clamped her hand over her mouth quickly. “Oh my God.”

  I laughed. “No, it’s adorable. Really.” It was like after I let her see me, even a little bit of myself, it was easier to be around her.

  She waved a napkin at me. “Stop it. Don’t tease me.”

  “Trust me, when I’m teasing you, you’ll know.”

  Her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared a little. She cleared her throat, having gotten my meaning. “You’d better go. I have to get ready. I’m going in to work for a few hours.”

  “Right. Anyway, I really just wanted to bring you breakfast and make sure that you locked up behind you. Having breakfast with you was a plus I hadn’t planned on, but it was absolutely worth it. And one more thing… Um, do me a favor and get yourself an alarm system or something, okay?”

  She blinked at me, owlishly. “I hadn’t really thought about it before. You’re probably right, though. I should have an alarm system.”

  “I’m going to call the detective I spoke to last night and just check and see if they have any leads or maybe if they found the guy.” Read... My guys in uniforms were going to follow up with her.

  “Thank you, Marcus, but I’m sure they have it handled.”

  I said, “I hear you.” But I knew if Stannis Prochenko was coming after her, the police wouldn’t be able to stop him. At least not until it was far too late.

  Her gaze softened. “You really are a good guy, huh?”

  I shrugged. “Sometimes.”

  Never. You are never the good guy. Good thing she doesn’t know who you really are, or she’d run screaming.

  And there was no way in hell I was telling her. Prochenko was dangerous. If he sniffed around her at all, she’d end up dead. I’d done this. I brought him to her doorstep, so I needed to fix it.

  Or you could stay away. Let them scrub you.

  Which meant walking away from her. My immediate visceral disgust at that idea told me which way I was leaning. No fucking way. I’d just tasted her. For the first time in six years, I could feel something. I wasn’t giving that up now.

  “So, how about I walk you to work?”

  She lifted a brow. “I don’t need you to walk me to work.”

  I crossed my arms and stared down at her. “Pardon me if I’m wrong, but weren’t we mugged last night? And don’t you have to still walk that same way to work? Wouldn’t it be better if you walked with someone?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Why have I never noticed that when you speak sense, you’re kind of annoying?”

  I grinned. “So, what will it be?”

  With an eye roll, she licked the rest of the sugar off her thumb. “Let me finish getting dressed.”

  “Excellent.” I did love getting my way.

  Chapter 5

  Lyra

  Why was he being so protective and authoritative? I didn’t usually like authoritative. It got my hackles up.

  It’s also incredibly sexy.

  Sweet Marcus was easy to backburner. Authoritative Marcus had enough edge to him to make me pulse in places.

  Also, when was the last time someone worried about you?

  He waited dutifully for me to finish getting dressed and to put all my dishes away, all the while just chatting amiably. Poking around my apartment, but not really poking, just looking. As we walked downstairs and out of the building, he held the door, and then he did the oddest thing.

  Well, it was odd to me. But he insisted on walking on the outside of the sidewalk when I tried to do it because I was worried about him. What if Stannis had seen him, gotten a picture, ran it through fucking visual recognition, and knew where to find him?

  Stop it. Stannis knows nothing about him. Stannis is after you. He won’t risk taking out a civilian in broad daylight.

  Victus was a brutal organization, but the reason they were so hard to infiltrate and take down was because they were secretive. Discreet. If they wanted Marcus dead, they’d have killed him in his bed and made it look like an apparent heart attack. Or a hit and run at night… or a mugging gone wrong. The safest place Marcus could be was out in public. There was safety in having many eyes observing. I needed to relax. My team would deal with this.

  Fucking Stannis Prochenko. This was the last thing I wanted to be dealing with. But of course, the Blood Stone mission was coming back to haunt me. I hadn’t exactly dealt with Prochenko then, but I’d dealt with Victus. This had to be related. There was no such thing as coincidence.

  Two years ago, we’d broken up a diamond smuggling ring. Victus had been in charge of it. They were using the proceeds to fund criminal activities. We’d gotten several members of Victus. But Prochencko had slipped our net. I had to wonder if he’d seen my face during that operation, and maybe that was why he’d come after me.

  “Why are you so tense?” Marcus’s whiskey-hoarse voice broke through my reverie.

  I glanced up at him in surprise. How did he notice? I was usually able to project calm, amiable chatter. It was part of the cover.

  He continued. “There’s something about the set of your shoulders. You’re tight, and you keep drumming your fingers against your thigh.”

  I frowned and looked down at my hands. “I used to play piano. When I’m nervous, I play Bologne in my head.”

  He blinked in surprise. “The composer? Why are you nervous?”

  He said it with that velvet voice of his. While the British accent had always been sexy, I’d never noticed just how deep his voice was. How sexy, enticing, almost like a constant invitation to lean in and lick something. “Um, I just… I don’t know. Somehow it feels different. You know, when you almost get killed with someone.”

  He chuckled softly. “You mean when you’re dating someone.”

  I laughed. “We are not dating. This is not what dating looks like.”

  He shrugged. “This is what dating looks like for me. Doing something nice, walking the woman I’m dating to work if I have the chance. I don’t have to get started till ten or so.”

  I wanted to tell him I was capable of doing this by myself. But of course he knew that, and that would just be me acting ornery. He was being nice. I could do nice.

  I wasn’t kidding when I’d told him there was something more interesting about him now. I kept thinking about last night when he’d literally s
tepped in front of a gun with his body to protect me. The only people that did that for me were my partners. People I worked with. You trust each other in the field, like family. I’d never had anyone else do that for me.

  You’ve had it. Your parents.

  I swallowed that stinging burn of pain.

  “Well, it’s nice. And I appreciate it.”

  He casually threw an arm around my shoulder, and I glanced down at it, willing the electric lightning bolts in my body to calm their tits. It was just a casual arm across the shoulder. Totally casual. This was not a time for my libido to finally jump to attention.

  Not to worry. We already jumped to attention last night.

  God.

  “You know, I feel like we need a re-do of all of our dates. I feel like we didn’t really get to know each other.”

  I swallowed hard and watched him warily. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for starters, you’re a badass. All your badassery came out to play, and I dug it. I mean, I’d prefer you didn’t chase homicidal muggers, but still, total badass. It was hot.”

  I laughed. “What, because I am reckless and took off chasing after an armed psychopath, you want to date me?”

  He shrugged. “Well, it showed you had spunk. I get the impression you hold yourself tightly together all the time. You hold a façade in place. But underneath is someone lively, maybe sometimes a little reckless. But it’s someone who has spirit to live. It made me see you in a whole new way.”

  My steps faltered. He saw too much. All the things I didn’t want him to see.

  He needed to see the bland, boring, nice girl who watched too much reality TV, which I did, and perhaps drank too many Nationals on my couch with Addie. That was my idea of a wild night out. He was supposed to see that woman, not anything deeper.

  His gaze searched mine. “You’re sad now. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable.”

  My nose stung from the sudden well of emotion. “No, you’re not—” I shook my head. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was getting gushy just because someone saw me a little too clearly? “You’re not making me uncomfortable. It’s just that I remembered the story about how my parents met. Some guy was harassing my mom near where she lived. And my dad happened upon it and shooed him off then walked her to work. They used to talk about how they fell in love on that walk, you know?”