From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(18)

What the hell was she supposed to do with that? Two years she’d been working for the man and he never gave her a second glance. Now Hottie McAction Star walked in and Kai was all over her.

She should have been offended. She should have thrown him her happy middle finger and driven home.

Instead, she nodded Jared’s way. “I’ll head on back to work now. You have a nice afternoon, Mr. Johns.”

As Kai led her back in the building, she could have sworn she felt eyes on her. It was so odd, but someone was watching her. She glanced back and Jared was moving toward the limo.

Her imagination must be coming back online.

She shivered and followed Kai inside.





CHAPTER THREE





Kai sat in the conference room and wondered where the hell he’d gone wrong. It was probably because he’d come back to the States. That was it. He’d made his mistake years before when he’d left the Army. He should have set up a practice in a more exotic locale. Somewhere no one could find him. Bora Bora, maybe. The wilds of Siberia would have been a perfect venue. Not a lot of veterans who needed therapy there but maybe he could counsel the bears or some shit.

And then his brother would get a f*cking movie role that required him to star as a therapist to the bears and he would show up at Kai’s cave and force his way in. Jared would show up and loom over his admin like some creepy f*cking stalker guy and Kori would smile up at him like she was a teen at a boy band concert.

He would be damn lucky if she didn’t quit on him since he’d behaved like an idiot.

She’d simply looked up at him as he tried to physically drag her away from Jared and suddenly her hand had been in his, gentling him and making him feel like so much less of a schmuck. She’d tangled their fingers together and walked back in the office with him, and when she’d tried to talk to him he’d run and slammed the door to his office and told her he’d see her tonight at Sanctum.

He was such an idiot.

“You look like a man who could use a drink,” a feminine voice said as the chair next to him pivoted. Eve McKay set a cup in front of him as she slid into the chair beside him. The beautiful blonde smiled. “I got you a green tea while I was getting mine downstairs.”

“Too bad it’s not a bourbon.” But that would be irresponsible, and everyone knew Kai Ferguson was the responsible one, the one who always was the voice of reason.

Eve’s eyes widened slightly. “You never drink before going to Sanctum. Actually, you don’t drink much at all. I think the most I’ve ever seen you drink is a beer.”

Because he was the sober and serious one. He was also the one who didn’t make Kori smile the way she had at Jared. She’d been frowning when he’d closed the door between them. “I was joking. It’s been a long day and it’s not over yet. Thank you so much for the tea. I can use it.”

“I’m very interested in this case. Alex sent me the file earlier this afternoon. Now I understand why he’s been so secretive about it,” Eve said. It was no surprise to Kai that she’d been brought in. Eve McKay had been an FBI profiler for years before joining the private sector. Kai was interested in her take on the case and the potential killer. She had more experience in criminal psychology and profiling than he did.

“Why did he wait so long to bring you in? He’s known about this case for a few weeks.”

Eve sat back. “I think Alex is trying to do it all himself right now. He’s been trying to take things off Ian’s plate so Ian can focus on his family. I also think he was doing it out of respect for you. It’s why we’re bringing so few people into this. Alex wants to give you the chance to decide if you want to make the relationship public or not. I have to think there’s a reason you never talk about your brother.”

He could come up with a million. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who could out them as related. “My relationship with Jared is complicated, but I doubt I’ll get out of this operation without it coming out in the open. I might keep my mouth shut, but Jared won’t. He’s got some kind of agenda.”

There was always drama with Jared. Whether it was his career or the collection of women who were always willing to fight over him, or himbos at the gym arguing over who had the best biceps, drama followed his brother wherever he went.

“What if his agenda is to have a closer relationship with you?” Eve asked, her voice soft.

He didn’t even want to head into that territory. “How many other people know about Jared at this point?”

“Nice deflection,” Eve murmured before continuing on. “Pretty much everyone at the club should know about our guest by now. Big Tag sent out an e-mail earlier today asking that everyone treat Jared like a regular club member and that the first person to drool, scream, or ask for an autograph will be shot. I’m hoping that was sarcasm. I can’t tell these days. The film crew is going to shoot in Sanctum during times that the club is closed, but they’re looking for extras. That particular e-mail went out about an hour ago. It didn’t talk about Jared’s relationship with you. I don’t even think Charlotte knows about it yet.”

So that explained how Kori hadn’t known about the film crew. He was still mulling it over. She’d been shocked to see Jared standing there. Horrified actually was a better word.