Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(23)

“All right, then, Adam, you know what to do,” Charlie said, trying to hold her head up. Unlike her husband, she wasn’t willing to have it out in front of his employees and friends.

“God, I wish I had a video camera. Someone make sure security doesn’t erase these tapes,” Adam said.

“Adam!” He could be so damn obnoxious. She had to keep him in line.

He straightened up immediately. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll check into it.”

A hard hand slapped at her ass, making her skin tingle. “He’s not going to check into anything except getting new locks for our f*cking doors.”

“Mommy and Daddy are fighting, Jake. What should I do?” Adam asked.

From what she could see, they were all following her and Ian out of the conference room, snacks in hand.

Jake was watching the scene with an amused expression. “I think we figure out who’s scarier.”

“I’m writing this into a book,” Serena said, taking notes on a small pad of paper.

“Is the meeting over?” Grace asked. “Should I clean up?”

Charlie knew exactly what was going to happen. “He’s going to say he doesn’t want a donut, but he totally does. Save him three. He’ll eat them before lunch and then pretend he didn’t. Oh, and he likes his coffee really black, like almost espresso like.”

Grace stopped. “Seriously? I’ve been making it medium.”

“He likes really dark roast.”

Another swat hit her ass. “I hate everything.”

He was so annoying. “You can toss me out on my ass. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

He walked out the glass doors, allowing them to slam shut behind them. “Not if I kill you you won’t.”

Like that was a real threat. “Sure, Superman, slay me hard, buddy.”

He talked such a good game. He talked like he was the biggest badass to ever walk the face of the earth and, in some ways, he was. He could eviscerate a man who did evil and never think twice about it. He was perfectly capable of taking someone’s head off.

But only if they deserved it.

She’d figured him out long ago. He would take apart the bad guys—and no one else. He would have a hard time taking out a woman, even if she did deserve it. He had his code, and he stuck to it rigidly.

Ian Taggart would undoubtedly tell her it made him vomit, but he was a hero. A real live walking and talking American hero.

He was her hero. And damn, his ass looked fine in a pair of jeans. She thought seriously about cupping those strong muscles with her palms, but decided against it. She could only push him so far before he did something he would regret.

“Or I could just send you to the street, where you belong.” The elevator dinged open and he strode inside.

She took a breath, steeling herself against the close quarters. “Ian, come on.”

Ian ignored her, looking toward his crew. “You guys stay the f*ck in the office or you’re fired.”

“I won’t fire anyone,” she shot back. The elevator was large and elegantly appointed and empty. She’d handled it on her way up. She could take a trip down. “Except Jesse. He nearly killed me.”

She heard a sad little sigh. “But I just got an apartment.”

“You’re not f*cking fired, Jesse,” Ian said, frustration evident in his tone. “This is still my company. I wanted to fire you but now I won’t because I know she doesn’t want you here. But if you try to follow us down, I’ll kill you.”

He turned so she couldn’t see anything except the back of the elevator and how fine his ass was. She concentrated on that and not the fact that they were in a small, enclosed space. “He’s a drama queen. He’s not going to kill anyone. He’s definitely not going to kill Eli Nelson because he won’t find the f*cker without me.”

A hard smack. Yes, he was definitely coming to the end of his rope.

He slapped a hand at the buttons and the door closed. He made not a single move to let her down.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ian.”

“I’ll bar you from the building.”

“That’s going to be hard since I own half of the top floor.”

A small pause. “No, you f*cking don’t.”

It was time to point out a few irrefutable truths of his situation. “We didn’t have a prenup, babe. Even if we did, this is property you bought after our nuptials. Texas is a community property state. What’s yours is mine. On the happy side, I have a ten million dollar condo I’ll share with you. I even bought thousand thread count sheets. I know you have sensitive skin.”

He let her down with a little shove, placing distance between them. His hand shot out, pressing the button that caused the elevator to stop mid-descent. “What the f*ck are you trying to pull, Charlie?”

She preferred it when he was carrying her like a sack of flour. At least there had been a connection then. Now she felt the space between them. And the tightness of the elevator. “I’m trying to make things right.”

“You can’t. I can’t ever trust you again.”

“Ian, I made a terrible mistake. I should have trusted you. I should have told you what was happening.” That was her real crime. She’d thought he would help her, save her, but she hadn’t risked it. From the day her father had kidnapped her until that moment when she’d taken Nelson’s drug, her life had been a careful balancing act, a constant game of not tripping over the landmines of her father’s world. Everyone in that world wanted something from her and they were all willing to hurt her to get it.