Testing The Boss

Mallory Crowe

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Mallory Crowe (2015-11-19). Testing The Boss (Billionaires in the City Book Six)

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CHAPTER ONE

Evelyn let her head fall into her hands and sighed. “I hate New York City.”

“So I take it your transfer request didn’t get approved?” asked Gail from the desk across from

Evelyn’s in their shared office.

Evelyn looked through her fingers at the older agent who sat across from her. “This wouldn’t

happen if I were worse at my job.”

“You’d also probably be dead if you were worse at your job,” pointed out Gail. “Try to look at

the sunny side.”

Evelyn sneered at the idea of trying to find any sunny side. She wanted out of the closet that the

agency thought was an apartment and back to where she could actually do some good. Not just
babysitting the billionaires.

“I know at least five agents who would kill to be working with the Devereaux brothers,” said

Gail. “Only female agents, by the way.”

“Well, they’re all stupid. The only good one is taken.” Michael Devereaux seemed as if he was

already halfway to the altar with his girlfriend, Lori Briggs. Normally Evelyn was more than happy
for couples, but she really wished Michal had picked a better time to find his one true love.

“If the good one’s taken, you can always go for the bad one.” Gail winked.
If possible, Evelyn’s expression became even more sour. “No. Just... No.” Luke Devereaux was a

whole new sort of hell for Evelyn. Where his brother was reasonable and logical, Luke was an
anomaly.

He was impulsive, controlling and, worst of all, entitled. “If they want to take my place, all they

have to do is ask. The doctor gave me the all clear to get off desk work three weeks ago and I’m still
stuck here.”

Gail shrugged, obviously unsympathetic to Evelyn’s situation. “If Hotchins wants you lead on this

case, take it as a compliment.”

“He only wants me lead because I’m the one who brought it to him. And that was from a tip. Not

like I broke the case on my own.” If her old friend, Jace Lance, who she’d known from her military
days, hadn’t called and asked her to run some prints for him, she never would’ve been pulled into the
investigation of the massive white-collar criminal ring known as the Thirteen Stars.

“If you find the faces behind the Thirteen Stars, your career will be made.”
“If,” said Evelyn. So far every lead she’d had led nowhere. Joslyn had blackmailed Brian

Longineu, who was a known higher level employee of the Thirteen Stars. Unfortunately she’d
blackmailed him with evidence that didn’t exist.

They’d sent a hit man after Emma Devereaux to get the nonexistent evidence, and since the hit man

had been in custody, he hadn’t said a word about his employers. And every name Lori Briggs had
given Evelyn hadn’t given her anything she could use. Except for Ken Kemmerling, who would rather
take a nose dive off a skyscraper than get arrested.

And ever since Ken had come within inches of murdering Lori, Michael was adamant that she not

be used in the investigation anymore and took her out of town on lavish vacations every opportunity
he got. Once again, Evelyn would be more than happy for them in any other circumstance, but damn it,
Michael had been her biggest ally.

“Maybe you need to think about it from a different angle,” said Gail.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. She didn’t need another speech about looking on the bright side. She liked

Gail. She really did. The woman was smart and had been in the agency since a time when she was
one of the few women there. Gail had managed to keep up on her caseload through two marriages and
three kids, all boys. But Gail lived and breathed the white-collar division. She’d been there for a
decade before Evelyn arrived and she’d be there a hell of a lot longer, judging from the number of
college tuitions she had to pay for.

“What angle?” asked Evelyn. Just because she didn’t want to hear Gail’s opinion didn’t mean she

wouldn’t.

“Well, your assets haven’t been performing the way you’d hoped and you’ve been cleared to work

in the field. Maybe it’s time for some micromanagement.”

“Micro? You mean getting in the field? That’s just what I need. More time with Luke Devereaux.

He’s half the reason I want off this job in the first place.”

“You want off this job because you miss Texas. Luke is a lesser evil than being stuck in white-

collar any longer than you have to be, right?”

Evelyn leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Damn it, Gail really was

more perceptive than Evelyn wanted her to be, but she shouldn’t be surprised. Gail wouldn’t have
stuck around the FBI this long if she wasn’t a damn good agent.

“So I’ll glue myself to Luke’s side and pester him until he gets me the info I need? I like it. Well, I

hate it, but it could definitely speed things up.”

Gail smiled. “There you go! If you get the Thirteen Stars case wrapped up, Hotchins should let

you transfer out. And, you know, if you need some assistance on this one, I wouldn’t mind wining and
dining with the elite of the city.”

“Of course. I’m sure there are a few places I could use some experienced backup. If your

caseload isn’t too much already.”

Evelyn knew for a fact that Gail had more work than she cared for at the moment, but Gail didn’t

seem too concerned. “If I get the chance to meet any of the Devereauxs, I’ll take more work.”

Evelyn took a deep breath. “So get close to Luke to close the case. I can do that.” How hard could

it be?

~~~~~

“Are you going to get that?” asked Cali from the doorway to Luke’s office.

He turned off the ringer as quickly as possible and dropped the cell phone into his top desk

drawer. “It’s not important.”

Cali gave him a questioning look but didn’t ask any further about it. “You have a few free hours

before your lunch appointment at one. Let me know if you need anything.” She turned to leave but then
halted. “Oh, by the way, I’m taking Friday off.”

Luke tried to remember if he had anything going on Friday. Nothing important came to mind. “That

should be fine. Do you have any fun plans?”

Cali averted her eyes to the ground before she looked back up at Luke. “Yes, actually. I’m going

out of town with a, um, new guy I’ve been seeing.”

Luke opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Cali had never once mentioned any

man she’d seen before. He was more than happy that she was dating, but he didn’t know how much he
was allowed to ask about it. Should he ask where they met? Should he ask where they’re going? At

this point, Cali was more like a friend or a sister to him than an employee, but there were still some
lines he didn’t want to cross.

“If you ever want to head up to the Hamptons,” he said, “let me know and I can try to get you a

house right on the beach.” Of course, that offer would make much more sense if it was summer and
not late fall, but it was the best way to pry for more information that he could think of.

Cali smiled at his feeble attempts. “That’s super sweet of you to offer. Were actually staying in the

cabin upstate that’s owned by a friend of Easson’s.”

Easson... Luke racked his brain for anyone he knew named Easson, but nothing popped out. “Well,

I hope you two have fun.” Would having a background check run on Cali’s new boyfriend be crossing
a line? Did he really care about crossing a line if it meant keeping Cali safe? But before he could do
anything, he had to know more than just Easson’s first name.

The door to his office opened and he looked up, half expecting to see Cali standing there again,

and he formulated what prying questions he could ask her next. But it wasn’t Cali. It was his worst
nightmare.

Evelyn fucking Price was back.
“What a pleasant surprise,” he said as Evelyn strode into the office.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Funny. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if you returned any of my

calls.”

“I’m a busy man, Evelyn. You can’t expect me to be at your beck and call twenty-four/seven.” He

looked her up and down. Damn, it would be easier to hate her if she didn’t look so delectable. Her
curves filled out a professional-looking pantsuit (the same boring style she wore every day) just the
right way, and her black curly hair always seemed just the right amount tousled. As though she had
just emerged from bed. And that was the last place he needed to be imagining Special Agent Evelyn
Price.

“Luckily for you, you won’t have to be checking your phone every five minutes for my calls

anymore.”

Luke could tell from her tone this wasn’t good news at all.
“Because the agency values all that you’re doing for us, and in light of recent events, we decided

that it would be best if you had a more physical presence by the agency. So until everything gets
sorted out, I would like you to meet your new intern.”

Luke glanced over her shoulder but didn’t see anyone walk in. “Who’s the new intern?”
“I am,” said Evelyn.
Luke carefully controlled his reaction as he studied his nemesis. Her own expression was blank

as well, but he had to imagine she enjoyed torturing him with this joke. He had to assume it was a
joke, because there was no way in hell he was going working side-by-side with her. “What’s the
catch?” he asked. “Did Michael put you up to this? Is there a hidden camera somewhere in here?”

Evelyn sighed. “There is no catch. After what happened with Michael and considering the

circumstances your cousin found herself in before I was called, I think it’s best for me to stick closer
to you.”

The woman was insane if she thought for one second that he was going to allow this. “How the

hell are you going to be my new intern? With no one from HR or even Cali knowing who you are?”

Evelyn crossed farther into his office and took a seat in one of the chairs across from his desk.
That was a bad sign. That meant she wasn’t planning to leave anytime soon.
“Luckily for me, you’re a forgetful man.” He narrowed his eyes, but she continued before he could

ask what the hell she meant. “You agreed to be the prize in an essay contest for NYU’s business

school. The dean of the department will pick the winner—me—who will work hand in hand with the
CEO of DevX Tech. Normally Cali would be informed of things like this, but you agreed to it
offhandedly over drinks, so it makes sense that it slipped your mind to tell her or HR.”

“Things don’t slip my mind,” he bit out.
“That’s funny, because it sure seems to slip your mind to call me back all the time.”
He shot her an unapologetic smile. He didn’t need to explain himself to her. He didn’t like her and

she didn’t like him. This wasn’t some stupid after-school special were they needed to talk about it.
“Oh, trust me, Ms. Price, it’s not my forgetfulness that keeps me from calling you back.”

Evelyn pursed her thick, full lips, and Luke couldn’t help but be transported to that dark area of

his mind that lately seemed occupied solely by fantasies of Evelyn in every position he could think to
take her in. Sometimes in sultry black lingerie and garter belts, sometimes in an innocent white bra
and panty set, and sometimes her in just naked glory. Her legs open in invitation, her nipples hard
with arousal, and her lips screaming his name as he made her come.

“Just tell me what I have to do.” He forced himself away from his fantasies of her.
Evelyn’s expression softened and Luke had a feeling she had no idea the thoughts just racing

through his mind. “I really do want to make this as easy on you as possible. I’m going to need to be
close by. I can work with an agency laptop or you can give me a company one, but I can’t have IT
checking on my Internet usage. If you get a call from any of your contacts at Thirteen Stars or they set
up a meeting, try to get me in that room with you.”

“And they won’t realize who you are? They seem to have bottomless resources and a healthy

paranoia.”

“No one does a fake ID quite like the US government. My name for your purposes is Evelyn

Peterson.”

He frowned. “Isn’t that a little too close?”
“Honestly, my real name is common enough that I probably could’ve used it. But I’d rather have

something close than have you refer to me by the wrong name at some point.” He glared at her and she
added, “Or for me to not respond to my fake name.”

“I don’t understand. What good is it going to do for you to sit around for hours and hours of the

day when they barely ever contact me?”

“Perhaps I’d feel more confident if we have better communication between the two of us.”
“Yeah, that would imply communicating at all and I don’t think either of us wants more of that.”
She nodded in agreement. “At least we can both be sure about our goals. And unfortunately, I think

the quickest way to stop Thirteen Stars is to work together.” She pushed herself out of her chair. “I’m
off for the rest of the day, but do you think you can have everything ready for me to start here
tomorrow?”

Instinctively he stood as well and then cursed himself. She was forcing herself farther and farther

into his life. He didn’t need to be on high manners with her. “Everything should be ready. I mean, it’s
not like you’re going to be doing a lot of work.”

“I won’t be sitting around twiddling my thumbs all day. I have some agency paperwork I can catch

up on, but I will be open to doing reasonable assignments from you for the purposes of keeping the
cover up.”

His mouth curled in a wicked grin. Oh, he could have fun with this.
“Reasonable being the key word, Luke.”
“Oh, trust me,” he said. “I’ll be reasonable.”

CHAPTER TWO

“You’re an intern?”

Evelyn faced down Cali’s skepticism with the calm cool of someone who knew exactly how

ridiculous she sounded and didn’t give a damn. “Yep! Winner of the DevX Tech essay contest. You
knew I was coming, right?”

A momentary flash of annoyance crossed Cali’s features, but she regained her cool. “Yes. We

even have some VIP seating for you on the executive level. But I’m assuming you knew that?”

The one part of her story that would be flimsiest was the fact that Cali had seen Evelyn in the

office before on more than one occasion. But it wasn’t the first time Evelyn had dealt with a hole in a
cover before. And she had a proven method for covering over those holes. She let Cali make up her
own mind.

The only people who had to truly believe Evelyn had won an essay contest were the ones

involved with the Thirteen Stars, and chances were they weren’t even going to see Evelyn. From her
research so far, Cali was a loyal employee with a crazy good work ethic. Not exactly a risk for
blowing Evelyn’s cover.

“I’ve been to the executive level before, but I was hoping you could show me to where my

workstation is.”

Cali nodded and turned away from the lobby where she had been waiting. “This way.” She led the

way to the elevators.

Evelyn followed the bouncing blonde hair. Cali walked with a confident stride and sway to her

hips that was indicative of the power she held within the company. Even though Evelyn had a feeling
the Devereaux brothers would try to keep the company in the family, Cali was still going to be a big
part of the company’s future. She might be listed as Luke’s administrative assistant in her file, but Cali
was so much more than that. Evelyn had also seen enough financial documents to know that Cali was
getting paid a hell of a lot more than that.

If there was one thing Evelyn could respect, it was ambition. The only problem was that her

ambition was back in Texas, and not behind any desk in New York City.

The elevator made its way up and Cali maintained her silence. Evelyn chose to use the

opportunity to do a little bit of digging. “So you’re Luke’s assistant, but you work for both brothers,
right?”

“I do a majority of my work assisting Luke. He’s a bit more demanding.”
Evelyn had to hold back a laugh. Figured he’d be the one bossing Cali around the most.
“Oh, no,” said Cali. “He needs to be demanding. He’s traveling all the time and I take care of

things he can’t get to while he’s out of the office. Michael isn’t really the face of the company, so he’s
here most of the time. I just do general things for him.”

It was a good sign that Cali was defending Luke. So many people hated their bosses, especially

secretaries and administrative assistants, who were usually at the bottom of the totem pole—not that
Cali was anywhere near the bottom.

Still, she’d expected a bit more bitterness or at least hostile undertones when Cali talked about

Luke. Evelyn couldn’t help it. Something about that man just drove her crazy. She wasn’t sure whether
it was his cocky arrogance, the fact that he had more money than he even knew what to do with, or
even his good looks that rubbed her the wrong way.

Evelyn hated to admit he was attractive, but who was she kidding? The man was on pretty much

every eligible bachelor list the city had created since he took the reins of DevX Tech. Wherever he
went, women fawned over him, and ever since she started this assignment, all the female agents she
ran into tried to get in on the investigation.

But Luke seemed to have it all: thick, dark hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and enough muscle tone that

those expensive suits he always wore highlighted it exactly the right way. He wasn’t one of those guys
who had a treadmill in his office just for looks. He actually used it. And probably some weights.
Okay, a lot of weights.

Evelyn might’ve spent more time than she was proud of imagining exactly how Luke would look

once he took off his jacket and removed his shirt.

Damn it. Why couldn’t she fantasize about Michael? He was just as handsome as his brother,

except with the added benefit of being reasonable and nice. Did she really have to be one of those
stereotypical women who fell for the bad boy?

She’d measure this crush—No. Not crush. Strange fascination.—against the men in her past if

there weren’t so few. Once she’d set her mind on working in the FBI to battle the corruption so
rampant in the towns so close to the border, her personal life had been put on the backburner. She’d
had a good friends with benefits situation going on for the year or so after she got out of the academy,
but once he’d sent signals that he wanted more than what they had, she’d pulled away. Since then,
there’d been a few dates here and there but nothing serious. Because she couldn’t work in such a
volatile environment having to worry about a loved one still at home.

And she couldn’t stand working in the nonvolatile environment of New York. Her own personal

exile that her superiors probably thought was some sort of reward.

She forced herself to focus as the elevator doors opened. Fantasies were one thing, but this was

work. She wasn’t allowed to go all gaga over a guy. Especially one who hated her as much as Luke
did. She refused to be one of those women who was just asking for her heart to be broken.

Cali strode out of the elevator and Evelyn followed. The building was a simple square shape, and

they seemed to be getting closer and closer to Luke’s office. Her fears were realized as Cali turned in
to a small, windowless office right across from Luke’s door. “I didn’t realize we’d be working this
close,” muttered Evelyn as she set down her shoulder bag with her agency computer and notebook.

“Luke said that one of the benefits of the contest was that you work intensely with him. So I made

sure to put you as close as possible.”

Evelyn had no one to blame for this mess but herself. “Sounds good.” Cali stood back while

Evelyn sat in the comfortable computer chair and glanced around the office.

“IT will be up in a few minutes to make sure you get your laptop and make sure you’re connected

to the printers. Luke has a meeting right now, but he’ll give you a rundown of what’s expected from
you for the next few weeks.”

“Great.” Evelyn forced a smile. She really just wanted a few minutes to herself to get her

bearings. Except Cali wasn’t moving. “Is something wrong?”

Cali tilted her head. She opened her mouth and then shut it real quick.
Oh boy. Here were the questions about what Evelyn was actually doing here. Evelyn steeled

herself for the questions until Cali finally said, “You’re not a trust fund baby, are you?”

Evelyn’s brows drew together. “Um, no.”
“Full ride scholarship? Worked your whole way through school?”
Well, this wasn’t the line of questioning she’d been expecting. “For the most part,” she said

evasively. Cali was asking Evelyn Peterson these questions, but Evelyn Price was the one who they

applied perfectly to. After her dad skipped out on the family, there wasn’t any extra money for
education, and Evelyn had to spend every spare second studying to earn her scholarships. “Is that a
problem?”

Cali frowned. “I worked my way through college too. I want to give you a quick tip. If you want

to work up here, you need to look and act like a trust fund baby.”

Realization washed over Evelyn. “You don’t think I’m dressed right?”
Cali shook her head. “Oh, I think you’re dressed right. For your first day on the first floor. But this

isn’t the first floor. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars or wear super short skirts or
anything. Just try for a suit that matches. And avoid wrinkles.”

Evelyn tightened her lips and glanced down at her black pants and black jacket. Same color, but

from different brands. The blacks were just different enough that it was noticeable. And the suit
wasn’t wrinkled when she put it on. The insufferably hot subway had done that for her.

“I’m not trying to be bitchy, I swear. But you’re really lucky to get this chance and that kind of

stuff is what I wish I’d been told when I started. I can give you the name of a few reasonably priced
places I went to when I was first starting out.”

Evelyn eyed Cali’s perfectly fitted powder blue skirt and jacket that probably would’ve looked

ridiculous on her, but that Cali seemed to look professional in. Evelyn had a feeling she and the
administrative assistant intent on world domination didn’t have all that much in common. “I
appreciate the tip,” said Evelyn with a smile that wasn’t quite as forced as before. Even though it
wasn’t the nicest thing another woman had ever said to her, it was still good to know Cali wasn’t just
sitting back and waiting for Luke to see Evelyn’s mismatched suit.

Even though he knew she wasn’t actually an intern, it would be nice to not stand out like a sore

thumb. And she might even be able to get Hotchins to let her expense a new suit or two. Silver
lining...

“So Luke will be in the office in a few hours?”
“He’s here now. Just downstairs. He’ll be up to greet you as soon as he can get away.”
“Thanks,” said Evelyn as Cali finally left her alone.
Evelyn sat in silence for a moment as she collected herself. She would be able to do this. Catch

the bad guys, go back to Texas. She reached into her bag and pulled out the worn, printed-out picture.

A family smiled at the camera. A mother, father, and two teens. They’d done everything right.

Went to school. Started a family. Got a good job and put all their savings into their 401k. But the
Thirteen Stars ruined it for them. One of the members had been the president and CEO of the company
the father in the picture had worked for. The company had invested the employee 401ks in a massive
Ponzi scheme where the CEO reaped all the financial rewards. Once the SEC got wind of it, Thirteen
Stars threw their collective muscle behind their own, and he was long gone, with billions of stolen
money on his own private island.

So there never would be any recovery for the Rowe family. They were in their early forties with

two kids about to start schooling when tuition was at record highs with no savings or any type of
safety net.

It was families like the Rowes who she had to keep in mind. Even if she didn’t like Luke or want

to be alone with him any more than necessary, it was vital that someone look out for the honest folk.

She pulled a piece of tape from the dispenser on her desk and hung the photo on the wall next to

her chair. Her little reminder of what she was doing this for. The blonde- and brown-haired family
didn’t resemble her at all, but people normally weren’t rude enough to ask. And Evelyn would have a
great answer in a flash if anyone got too curious.

Just then, IT knocked on her open doorframe, and she waved them in. An hour later, she had a

DevX Tech laptop, phone line, and access to the network and all the printers on the floor. She even
got an access badge, which was rather comical considering she’d lifted one off another employee the
first time she’d been in the building. She’d be damned if she was going to wait for security to call
Michael or Luke every time she wanted to have a private conference.

She set aside the company computer and pulled out her agency one and her own wireless port.

She’d made Luke agree to keep his people from peeking in at her activity, but she wasn’t going to take
any chances.

Right as she was about to put in her login, Luke appeared in the doorway. “Well, if it isn’t my new

star intern.” He winked.

And it begins... “Good morning, Mr. Devereaux.” She used her most starchy and formal tone.
“I love that you can’t even muster fake enthusiasm to be here.”
“Is your brother in today? I can be enthusiastic for him.”
“You’re out of luck 'til Monday, hun. Just you and me.”
She took a deep gulp at the idea of them being alone together. But it wasn’t just them. It was them

and the hundreds of other employees of the corporate headquarters of DevX Tech. “I’m sure Cali will
protect me.”

“Yeah. She does have a habit of taking in the strays.” As always, his tone always seemed more

affectionate when he mentioned his assistant. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were brother
and sister, not employee and employer. Though she was shocked that they weren’t spending more time
together after hours. Considering how much of a womanizer Luke was and how drop dead gorgeous
Cali was, it seemed like it was just natural that the two beautiful people would, well, merge. Unless
they had already done the deed and were one of those rare couples who actually got along afterwards.

“But before she can rush in to save you, can I have a few minutes with you in my office?”
She raised a brow but got up and followed him across the hall and into his office. As soon as they

were in, he shut the door behind her and leaned against the polished wood, staring her down.

A shiver raced up her spine. Damn. Now she really was alone with him. Had she ever been in a

room with just him before? There had always been Michael or Lori or at least an open door as a
buffer. She took a breath and met his eyes. Those crystal blue eyes that no one besides some A-list
celebrity should be allowed to have.

“As much as I hated, hated, the idea of you being here, you have good timing.”
Evelyn backed up until she could lean her hip against the small conference table at the far end of

the office. “Did Thirteen Stars contact you?”

He nodded. “They scheduled a call for sometime this evening.”
“Nothing exact then?” Why would they make anything simple now?
“Nope. But you’ll be the first person I call after I get off the phone with them.”
She tilted her head as she considered him. “Awww, Luke. Did you really think you could get rid

of me that easily? This just means that you and I get to have a dinner date tonight.”

CHAPTER THREE

Luke glanced over at the clock on the bottom of his computer screen. Six thirty. He was normally long
gone from the office by now. But he hadn’t gotten the phone call he was waiting for yet, which meant
that if he left, Evelyn would probably want to go with him.

He didn’t remember the last time he’d been at the office past five. In this day and age, he would

much rather pull the late nights in the comfort of his penthouse apartment instead of at the office. And
he sure as hell wasn’t going to be inviting her back to his apartment any time soon. No matter how
much certain parts of his anatomy wanted her there.

At the slightest thought of Evelyn being alone with him, in his bedroom, his cock surged to

attention. Luke clenched his fists and took a deep breath, urging his body to come back under his
control.

He shouldn’t be this distracted by her. For the most part, she’d stayed out of his hair all day.

Except for popping in one time to ask where the bathroom was, she hadn’t bothered him at all. Even
so, Luke found himself hopping on his treadmill three different times to clear his mind, and from the
feel of his erection at the moment, the physical exertion hadn’t done much to calm him down.

As though he conjured her up, Evelyn popped her head in his doorway. She leaned her hip against

the frame and glanced at the paperwork in front of him. “Are you planning on staying much longer?”

“I was planning on waiting until I got the phone call,” he said.
“I’m thinking it might still be a while.”
“Are you spoiled by government hours—leaving right at five o’clock every day?” Not that Luke

enjoyed working late, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

Evelyn held up her hands. “Hey. I have no problem working late. It’s the not eating part that’s

getting to me. I brought some snacks that held me over for lunch, but I was thinking about ordering
something in. Any good recommendations?”

See, now if Michael were here, he’d know the best places to order in from. Luke had no clue. If

Cali wasn’t there to take care of food orders for him, he’d usually end up leaving and grabbing
something on the way back to his place. “I know a bunch of places we can eat out,” he offered. He
didn’t want to go to a sit-down restaurant with her, but he didn’t want her to starve either.

Evelyn shook her head. “I’m hungry, but I still have to work out after this and I don’t want a big

meal before that.”

“I promise, I’ll tell you everything I learned from this phone call. There’s no reason for you to

stick around. I can call you a cab right now to take you to the gym.”

She smiled at him. “You’re not getting away from me that easily, Luke. Just tell me what you want

to eat for dinner.”

Hell, Luke didn’t know what he wanted. No, scratch that. He knew exactly what he wanted, and

that was the problem. “We should get out of here.” He stood. Get out of the deserted building and
onto the crowded streets. He didn’t care where they ate, as long as it wasn’t quiet or romantic in any
way.

“Sure,” said Evelyn. “Let me just grab my things.”
Luke rubbed his temples. He could do this. Just a few more days or weeks and she would be

gone. And maybe after a day or two, she would lose whatever strange spell she seemed to have over
him.

Without waiting for her, he gathered up his computer, workout bag, and the documents he’d need

that night and headed for the elevator. He stood next to the buttons and stared down the hallway.

And then it struck him. He knew exactly why he was so fascinated by the FBI agent. It had been

too long since he’d gotten laid. Ever since Emma had almost been murdered, he’d been too distracted
from his usual pursuits. Of course the smoking hot Evelyn Price would be constantly starring in his R-
rated fantasies. As soon as he could ditch her tonight, he’d dial up one of his exes. There were a few
he’d parted with on good terms, and as long as they were still single, most of his past flames were up
for a few more orgasms.

And Luke swore to himself that as long as he was with those other women, he wouldn’t imagine

Evelyn’s gorgeous fuck-me lips screaming his name once.

~~~~~

Evelyn thought Luke would immediately usher her into a car to grab some food, but instead he led her
around the corner and approached one of the many street vendors lined up along the busy street.
Evelyn shook her head emphatically and halted.

Luke smiled over his shoulder. “Come on. This is quick and one brat won’t be enough to keep you

from working out.”

“Nope. Hell no. I am not eating a hot dog out of a vendor cart.” She’d done a lot of reckless things

in her time at the agency, but she’d never had a death wish.

Luke set a hand in the small of her back and led her closer to the cart with a line of about five

customers who apparently had no concern for what they put into their bodies. She stared wide-eyed
as the quick working man behind the cart handed out hot dog after hot dog.

“They’re brats,” said Luke as they were the next customers in line.
“Is that better somehow?” She grimaced as another one of the vile things was sold in front of her.
“Well, it sure tastes better.”
Luke dragged her up to the cart and the man behind the cart beamed down at them. His skin was

dark brown from his days standing out in the sun, but his bright grin and frenetic energy showed that
even though he was in the midst of the dinner rush, he wasn’t close to being tired. “Luke! Long time
no see! Who’s this pretty lady?”

Evelyn opened her mouth to reply, but Luke answered for her. “This pretty lady is Evelyn. She’s

working with me for a little bit. Evelyn, this is Jake.”

She smiled up at him and his face fell. “And here I was hoping you finally found a woman to make

an honest man out of you!”

Evelyn snorted. “It would take an army of women to make an honest man out of this one.”
Jake shook his head. “Nah. This one’s already had an army. All he needs now is one special one.”

He shot her a knowing wink before he turned back to Luke. “What can I get you two today?”

“Two brats and two waters.” Luke reached in for his wallet. In a flash, Jake had the brats in buns

and a thin paper wrapping and handed them over. Luke had his hands full, so Evelyn took them. She
noticed Jake never had to say the price.

Luke just handed him over one bill that Jake tucked into his apron before he ushered Evelyn over

to the toppings. “You can put anything you want on there except ketchup. That’s not allowed on brats.”

Evelyn raised a brow. As much as she did love ketchup, she wasn’t about to put it on a brat. But

she decided to give Luke some grief about it. “Isn’t it just like a normal hot dog?”

The look he gave her was of pure disdain. “I take it back. You let me handle your toppings.”

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist to hold her brat still as he put a neat line of mustard

along one side. “There. You get the basic. I don’t want you to get too overwhelmed with your first
New York brat.”

“Well, I appreciate you looking out for me.” She smirked.
He smiled back at her and for a moment, they stood there, motionless. The pad of his thumb

rubbed against the sensitive skin right beneath her palm, and Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat.

But just as quickly as the strange moment started, it was over. The man who’d been in line behind

them gave Evelyn the stink eye for holding up the toppings area and she stepped aside so he could get
in as Luke piled topping after topping on his own brat.

As soon as his was about twice the size of hers, Luke tilted his head to an empty bench across the

sidewalk. She managed to keep her shoulder bag perched in place as they maneuvered through the
pedestrians without spilling any of the toppings. Evelyn did a quick once-over of the bench to make
sure that none of the pigeons had used it as a completely different type of seat before she sat and
handed Luke his brat.

He set her bottle of water between them as he took a massive bite out of his brat. At that rate, it

wouldn’t last more than thirty seconds. But he paused to savor the food, closing his eyes as he
finished chewing.

“I didn’t realize food poisoning tasted so good,” she muttered.
He took one last swallow and motioned toward her own untouched brat. “Just quit your bitching

and eat the damn thing. You won’t die.”

“Probably won’t die,” she clarified. “There’s a difference.” He glared at her and she decided it

was time to bite the bullet. Or brat, in this case. The thing was massive and it didn’t make matters any
easier that Luke stared intently at her.

She sighed before she opened wide. She made sure she got a bit of bun, brat, and mustard in the

bite, but the second she bit down, juice squirted on her face. She quickly dabbed at her cheek with the
napkin, wondering whether the whole experience could be any more undignified, but then the taste hit
her.

Good Lord. It was moist and perfectly seasoned, and the bun was warm and scrumptious.
She moaned as she finished the bite and Luke laughed. Evelyn rolled her eyes, but she didn’t even

try to hold off before she took another bite. “Why does everything so bad for me have to taste so
good?” she asked when she was about halfway through.

Luke took one last bite of his own brat. “That’s just the way of things.” He leaned back on the

bench.

He looked so at home here in the middle of the city, eating the gross (if fantastic tasting) cart food.

She felt as if she had a giant spotlight shining on her, saying, “Outsider! Outsider! She isn’t
welcome!”

“I’m surprised you like it here so much.” She leaned back, forcing herself to go slower and savor

the rest of her meal.

He appeared surprised. “Why’s that?”
“Your family is from Georgia. You were raised there. That’s a far cry away from the busiest city

in the country.”

Luke’s gaze scanned the busy street. “I don’t know. I think this pace is better suited for me.

Michael might end up moving back home at some point. If Lori agrees to it. That whole scene fits him
better.”

“And you’re a lifer?”

He turned those blue eyes back to her without answering. “What about you? You going back to

Texas first chance you get?”

“You know it.” Evelyn took a deep swig of her water. “I was making a difference down there.”
“Until you were shot.”
Tension crept through her muscles. “Why bother asking questions if you already know the

answers?” she snapped at him.

“Because sometimes reactions say more than words ever could.”
She tightened her lips. “So did you get the reaction you wanted then?”
“More of one than I was expecting. I kind of thought you were a robot. It’s nice to see that you’re

more normal than I thought.”

She snorted. “Normal because I don’t like being shot?”
“Normal because you’re pissed off you were shot. I imagine I’d feel the same.”
“You have no idea.” She doubted Luke had ever felt as powerless as she had those terrifying few

moments after the bullet ripped through her thigh. Knowing she was trapped and that if she moaned in
any way or breathed too deeply, the next bullet would be going through her head.

She ate the rest of her meal in silence as she tried to push the painful memories away. There was

no point living in the past. She chose to live for the present. Or rather, the future. The future without
Luke Devereaux in it.

“So do you work out a lot?” Luke downed the last of his water bottle.
She’d always enjoyed exercise, but she’d taken that love to a whole new level during her

recovery process. The faster she was back to one hundred percent, the better chance she had of being
transferred out of the white-collar division. “Every day,” she told Luke.

“Well, we’re done with dinner and there’s still no call. Do I have your permission to go home or

are we going to work out together?”

Evelyn stiffened. Seeing as how her workout equipment was all at her apartment, she’d rather

avoid that scenario. But if she backed down now and let him take that call alone, she’d be admitting
that she didn’t need to be here full-time. That she could let things keep playing out like they had been.

But she wasn’t about to do that. She was here to make sure this investigation got wrapped up. To

make sure the Thirteen Stars were completely disbanded and held accountable, so she could get back
to where she belonged. So she wasn’t about to admit defeat here and now on her first day with Luke.

“You don’t want to work out with me,” she warned.
He leaned forward and she realized that she’d made a horrible mistake. “Oh really? Think I can’t

handle it?”

Great. Now she’d activated his competitive side. “Oh, I think you can handle it. Far away from

me, though.”

“So I’m free for the night?”
“No! I’m going to be there for the damn phone call, Luke.”
“So we are working out together?” She opened her mouth to say no again, but he cut her off.

“Because you normally work out right now and we’ve got nothing better to do. Unless you have any
bright ideas?”

She had at least fifty reasons why she didn’t want to work out with Luke, and every single one had

to do with not wanting him in her space. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “You don’t even have
workout clothes with you,” she settled on.

He held up his duffel. “I always have workout clothes with me. I have a treadmill in my office.”
“We’re not working out,” she repeated.

He cocked his head and considered her for a moment. “Do I make you uncomfortable, Agent

Price?”

Those blue eyes were on her like a spotlight and she racked her brain for a good lie. Because he

did make her uncomfortable. Incredibly, intensely uncomfortable in the worst way. “Of course not.”

“Then give me the address and we’ll go.”
“You’re not a member of my gym.”
“I’m a member of whatever gym I want to be. You just give me three minutes alone with the

manager and I’ll be in.”

She snorted. “I doubt that. I’m the manager. I have a home gym.”
“The exclusive club Evelyn? Well, now I really want to go.”

CHAPTER FOUR

So maybe her competitive streak was starting to be a problem. Evelyn twisted the key in the door to
her building. Luke was eerily quiet behind her as she stepped into the old walk-up complex, but she
figured there was nothing to say. He was taking too much joy in getting this personal look into her life.

She didn’t break the silence as they made their way up the three flights of stairs to her studio. Not

that there was anything too shocking about her living conditions, but it was still hard to have one of
the richest men in the city seeing the small space she was able to afford. If she’d been willing to room
with one of the other agents, she could’ve been in a nicer neighborhood or had the kind of apartment
that guaranteed at least five minutes of warm water in the morning, but she liked her privacy.

She also liked her space, but that bridge had already been crossed.
Evelyn paused as she reached her door and glanced over her shoulder to Luke. “No rude

comments, okay?”

He actually looked insulted. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a dick. Do you expect me to laugh in

the face of a tiny apartment?”

“I give you some credit,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect you to laugh out loud.”
She unlocked the door and held it open, twisting around to carefully study Luke’s reaction. She

knew her space wasn’t about to get its own photo spread in Good Housekeeping, but it was hers and
served its purpose well.

The studio apartment was seven hundred square feet and every inch was put to use. Except for the

bed in the far corner and the kitchen area, the entire floor had been converted into a gym with a
treadmill, punching bag, and a weight set with an Olympic bar and plates going up to forty-five
pounds.

Luke let out a small whistle. “I feel like I understand you so much better now.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Big talk, pretty boy. You won’t have as much of a sense of humor after

you have me for a trainer.”

He set his briefcase on the corner table barely big enough for one person to eat at while she shut

and locked the door, throwing the deadbolt and chain in place.

“I can change in the bathroom.” She headed past him. It was the only area in the apartment that had

a door. Her workout clothes were already laying out for her on the bed. She spread them out every
morning so she had no excuse to skip a day. Evelyn snatched the sports bra and shorts from the bed
and paused. There wasn’t a shirt out. Shit. She knew exactly where all her oversized t-shirts were. In
the laundry bin she’d dropped off at the cleaners that morning. Pickup was scheduled for after six, but
she’d completely forgotten.

“Everything okay over there?” asked Luke.
Evelyn sighed. Looked as if she was working out in her sports bra today. Sure. Why not? Really,

what else could go wrong? “Everything’s fine,” she muttered as she escaped to the bathroom.
Grabbing a hair tie, she pulled her curls into a tight ponytail and stripped off her business suit.

The skintight shorts stopped just under the curve of her ass and the bra covered more than most

bathing suits, but it was still more (or was it less?) than she was comfortable with. Damn it. Back in
Texas, she had a washer and dryer right in the basement of the house she rented. The house that was
over three times the size of this place and cheaper.

So what if her outfit was revealing? When she was lifting, she wanted to see her body to make

sure she was working the right muscles. And what was the harm in Luke seeing her? It wasn’t as

though she didn’t have the body to pull off the tight clothes. Thanks to her borderline obsession with
getting back to her old position, she was in the best shape of her life. Actually, she could even see
some abs emerging, which was funny because she’d tried to get abs her entire life.

At least there was some silver lining to having a bullet tearing through her thigh and throwing her

career on its axis. She’d go out there knowing she looked good, kick Luke’s ass in training and then
have a damn good night’s sleep. Easy.

As soon as she opened her bathroom door, all her plans crashed down around her. Luke didn’t

look like a billionaire CEO anymore. He’d changed out of his suit and into a black t-shirt that hugged
the muscles in his shoulders and chest in exactly the right way and his loose sweatpants fell perfectly
against his toned ass.

And then he turned around and his eyes raked over her body. For a brief second, neither of them

said anything. Luke looked like less of a corporate man and more like a...man. A man who was just as
silent as she was.

Which meant she wasn’t the only one who was affected by this. She was half about to turn tail and

run, ordering Luke out of her apartment, when he broke the silence.

“So how do you want to do this?” he asked, his voice low and husky.
“Um, do what?” Were they still talking about exercise? She was just going to imagine they were

and go with it. “I usually do a warm-up on the treadmill for five minutes and then go into heavy
lifting. I alternate what muscle groups I hit. Today is compound lifts like squats, bench presses, and
deadlifts.”

Luke shook his head. “Come on. Screw that. Let’s do some real training.”
He approached her and she was fascinated by the ripple of his muscles as he moved. “Real

training?” she murmured.

“Like you wouldn’t want a chance to kick my ass?” He stopped just a foot away.
Her eyes widened as she finally got a hold of her libido and realized what he was saying. “You

want to fight me?” she asked incredulously.

“No. I want you to teach me how you fight. I’ve had a bit of training and would like to see how I

stack up next to a trained cop.”

“Agent,” she corrected. “And you know I can wipe the floor with you, right?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But I am bigger. And probably stronger.”
“But not smarter.” She smirked. Seriously, if he thought he could take her, he was out of his mind.

Even with a leg that wasn’t up to par, she had been training to take down guys bigger and stronger
than her from before she even entered the academy.

“I’ve gotten into one or two brawls, Evelyn. And I played football in the South. That shit gets

intense.”

She let out a laugh. “High school football! I’ve taken down cartel leaders, murderers, and

gangsters. Not exactly the same thing. I can take you in a heartbeat.”

He raised a brow. “Then prove it.”
A surge of adrenaline shot through Evelyn as she stared down Luke. “Fine. Move the weight

bench and try not to break your head open when I knock you on your ass.”

He smiled in a way that told her that he wasn’t going to go down easy, and she held her ground

while he moved the bench. Probably the first time he actually did what she told him to. Once it was
moved, they at least had a little room to move around. The ground wasn’t padded like she was used to
while training, but a few bruises would do Luke some good. But she would give him one consolation.
Holding onto her weight rack for support, she flipped off her tennis shoes and he followed suit.

The tension swirled in the air and she could tell Luke was probably just as excited about this as

she was.

Once everything was moved out of the way, Luke stood a few feet away from her and she stood

with her feet shoulder width apart as they eyed each other cautiously. “How do we do this?” He
shifted his weight.

She smiled confidently at him. “Come at me.”
A flash of uncertainty crossed his face. “What if I hurt you?”
She snorted. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
“You sound pretty sure of that.”
“I’m one hundred percent sure of that,” she warned. “If anyone is in danger, it’s you. Now, are you

going to come at me or are you going to get on the treadmill to do a normal workout?”

He growled low in his throat at her threat and she knew that she’d pushed him enough. She tensed

and narrowed her eyes as she looked for any sign that he was about to come at her.

And it wasn’t long before he lunged. If he thought she stood a chance, he probably would’ve gone

straight for a punch, but she could tell he didn’t think she could take him, so he grabbed for her arm
instead. Evelyn dodged his stretched arm and rammed her foot into his lower shin in exactly the right
angle so he fell to his knee.

She stepped back and eyed the oversized man kneeling in front of her; a self-satisfied grin

covered her face. “Want to try that again?” she asked cheerfully.

Luke didn’t seem nearly as amused. He pushed himself up and faced her again. “Playing dirty?”
“That was an honest takedown. No dirt required,” she assured. “Now are we going to—”
He rushed her again. This time he caught her off guard and managed to snag her arm before he

twisted her around until her back was to his front.

Her free elbow jammed back with all her force into his side and as he grunted in pain, she angled

her head back to slam into his, but he released her before she made contact.

She twisted around to glare at him for rushing her when she was unprepared. “Now who’s playing

dirty?”

He held his hand over his ribs were she’d jabbed him. “You were going to head butt me!”
What a baby. “You wanted to see what I’m capable of? This is it. I’m not like all your family

members and your employees who treat you like some special fucking snowflake, Luke. I’m giving
you all I’ve got and I expect you to do the same.”

“What if I hurt you?” he asked again, and she realized he was still holding back.
“If you hurt me, I’ll get better. Now grow a pair and hit me like a man, Luke.”
Just like that, he rushed her again. This time she had enough time to see what angle he was coming

at and managed to duck aside and landed a kick to his ankle, sending him sprawling on the floor.

Without missing a beat, he leaped up and came at her again. Except this time, he didn’t rush her,

but approached calmly. She retreated until the table pressed into the backs of her thighs and this time
he did go for a punch.

Evelyn leaned back just enough to avoid his swing, but she didn’t have enough room to get a solid

kick in, so instead she tried to slip under his arm as he regained his balance to swing again. She was
just too slow. He caught her as she was mid-crouch, just managing to snatch her arm. From the
awkward angle, she didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver, so she pushed her leg back as hard as she
could from her position and connected with his ankle.

She heard him grunt right before he toppled over. But he didn’t let go, and as he landed solidly on

his back, he pulled her down with him.

Evelyn sprawled on top of Luke, landing on her back. She tried to get up, but he wouldn’t let her

go. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she muttered as she tried to jerk out of his grasp, but his
fingers were unrelenting.

“I’m winning,” he muttered right before he jerked her to the side until her back was planted on the

floor and he twisted over until he straddled her, one knee on either side of her stomach. She
immediately went in for a punch, but this time he was ready for her and caught her wrists before he
pinned them above her head.

She tried to free herself, but he was leaning into her and she had no leverage to account for his

bulk holding her down. She forced herself to relax and let her head fall onto the hardwood beneath
her. “Are you proud of yourself?”

He smiled down at her. “You have no idea.”
“Congratulations,” she bit out. “You beat a girl.”
“I didn’t just beat a girl. I beat you. Much more satisfying.”
“I didn’t gloat this much when you were on your ass.”
“Maybe you should’ve pinned me down. Now I can gloat as long as I want to.”
“I only pin down the guys I want to...” She trailed off as she realized the dangerous turn the

conversation had taken. She suddenly became intensely aware of the exact position they were in. She
was half naked and could feel every inch of Luke through his thin pants and was suddenly feeling even
more of him...

Her eyes widened and met his. “Luke,” she whispered. “What are you—”
He bent down and pressed his lips against hers. Unlike his aggressive pose, his lips were soft and

gentle against hers.

Evelyn froze in shock underneath him. Good Lord, why was Luke Devereaux kissing her? And

why did it feel so good?

Luke lifted his head and Evelyn opened her eyes she didn’t even realize she’d closed. Was he

going to apologize? He should apologize. That was uncalled for and unprofessional and un—

He kissed her again. But this time shock didn’t take over. Something else deep inside bubbled to

the surface and she kissed him back. He still maintained control over her hands, but she ran her tongue
over the seam of his lips playfully before she met his aggressive kiss.

He groaned deep in his throat as he released her wrists to skim his palms over the delicate skin of

her wrists and upper arms before going lower, along the curve of her breasts and waist.

It felt as if his hands were all over her and it only stoked the fire. Evelyn stopped herself from

thinking too hard about who it was who was running his palms against her bare skin and ass. Instead,
she cupped his face and pulled him closer as she let all her frustration and aggravation out.

Luke pulled away and cursed under his breath. Before she could ask why he stopped, he’d hopped

up and lifted her effortlessly into his arms, crossing the few steps it took to get to her bed, and
dropped her onto her mattress.

In a heartbeat, he was back on her, kissing her as if she were the only woman on the planet. But a

part of her competitive streak kicked in, and before he could settle his weight on her, she pushed at
his shoulder, rolling him over while never once breaking off their kiss.

He groaned deep in his throat as she settled on top of him, her hips over his, his erection pressing

her core as she started to trail kisses along his jawline to nibble at his ear.

“Damn it, Evelyn,” he bit out as he moved against her. Only a few thin layers of clothes separated

them. She was overcome with the sudden need to remove those layers. To have him naked beneath her
and thrusting inside her hard and fast.

She reared back and started to peel his shirt off him, exposing his fit stomach to her hungry eyes

until a screeching noise filled her small apartment.

They both froze in place, staring breathlessly at each other for a few long moments before Luke

broke the silence. “That’s my phone.”

“Shit.” Evelyn scrambled off him so he could leap up and to the table where he’d apparently left

his phone.

“Luke here.”
Evelyn pushed herself farther back on the bed and tried to figure out what the hell just happened.

Luke kissed her. She kissed him back. Who knew how much she’d have given him if his phone hadn’t
rang?

“Okay.” Luke crossed back to the bed and gestured to the phone.
Great. Thirteen Stars was calling now.
He sat at the edge and Evelyn maneuvered so she sat on the other side of the phone and could

listen in, but she only caught the end of a sentence. “So does this weekend work for you?”

Luke met her eyes, but she didn’t have an answer to give him considering she had no idea what

they were discussing.

“I have to check my calendar, but I should be able to move any of my weekend plans aside for

you.”

“No, no,” assured the man. “You don’t have to move anything around. We can meet at your office

if that works for you.”

Evelyn’s mind raced. One of the higher-ups coming to the DevX Tech building? She could have

Luke’s entire office wired up in a heartbeat. This was the break they needed. She nodded her
approval to Luke.

“That works. Just let me know when and I’ll have Cali clear my schedule.”
“Tomorrow afternoon should be fine. Around three.”
Evelyn nodded again.
“Sounds good. I’ll clear everything. See you then.”
Luke hung up and Evelyn hopped off the bed. “Who was that? Did they give you a name?”
“Yeah. Brian Longineu.”
“Brian Longineu? He’s the man your cousin was blackmailing. He’s the guy we need.”
“So we’re one step closer,” said Luke.
One step closer to her being done with Luke. Which fifteen minutes ago would’ve been the best

news ever. Back before he kissed her. And she kissed him. Good grief, she couldn’t tell which one of
them was more idiotic.

“I should make some calls and get a few electronics ready to set up in your office first thing

tomorrow.” Evelyn took another step back from Luke, wishing more than ever that she was wearing
more clothes.

The sports bra and shorts had made her feel strong and powerful before. Now she just felt

vulnerable. He’d touched her all over and felt every curve on her body.

“You don’t want to do more...training?”
Evelyn’s jaw dropped, but she quickly cleared the surprise off her face. Luke wanted more? “No

more training tonight. It was a good workout, but we can agree that our styles don’t mix.”

A sardonic grin twisted his mouth. “You kissed me back.”
So he wasn’t going to pretend it never happened. Fan-fucking-tastic. “We all have temporary

moments of insanity every once in a while.”

He nodded. “Was that temporary moment before or after you were riding my cock on your bed?”
Evelyn clenched her jaw as she reminded herself not to sucker-punch Luke. “You’re going to play

it like that?”

He held his hands up. “Hey, I’m calling it like I see it. You can’t tell me you didn’t have a little bit

of fun. Why not have a lot of fun?”

“Are you that sure of yourself?”
He took a step closer. “Oh, I’m absolutely that sure of myself.”
Evelyn set a hand on her hip and stood tall, not letting him think she was even slightly tempted for

a second. “Then I’m sure you can find some woman who will be more than happy for your attention.
But I have work to do tonight. I will see you at your office first thing tomorrow to go over our plan.”

He clenched his jaw but didn’t come any closer. “You don’t want to brainstorm together?”
“I think I’ll be brainstorming alone tonight.”
He let out a laugh. “Oh, me too. Trust me,” he muttered as he turned to pick up his briefcase and

neatly folded suit jacket and shoes.

Evelyn refused to let herself think about what he meant by brainstorming alone and crossed to

open the door for him. “Thanks for your help, Luke,” she forced herself to say as he approached. They
might have their differences, but she was grateful he was going so far out of his way to help the
agency.

He nodded but paused in the open entryway. “This isn’t over, Evelyn.”
She took a breath and released it slowly. “If things play out with Brian right, it could be over.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. You think I’m going to forget what we just did?”
“We didn’t do anything.”
“We will,” he assured.
“You know I’m not one of those women who’s turned on by cockiness and arrogance.”
Luke leaned in closer. “That doesn’t matter. Because now I know that you’re turned on by me.

And soon enough, we’re going to finish what we started here.”

Evelyn’s heart beat a frantic rhythm in her chest as she tried to keep cool. “Good night, Luke,” she

said in a cool, calm tone.

He inched even closer and Evelyn braced herself for his kiss, unsure whether she’d push him

away or whether she’d give in.

“I’ll be seeing you, Evelyn Price.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Luke pushed himself harder, ignoring the burning in his lungs and legs as he told the treadmill to go
even faster. He made it fast enough that he wouldn’t spend any time at all thinking about Evelyn’s
luscious body pressed up against him. The way her mouth felt on his as she rubbed herself against
him.

The way she’d wanted him just as much as he’d wanted her.
He upped the incline once more and forced his aching quads to keep up. He had to focus today. He

needed to be on his A game and not in the midst of some fucking schoolboy crush on Evelyn fucking
Price.

It had been so much easier when he’d thought she hated him. Hell, he still thought she hated him.

The kiss had been random and ballsy, both things he specialized in. He was sick of her pushing him
down, and seeing as how he was a red-blooded male, it was impossible not to get distracted by her
fantastic ass in those skintight shorts.

So kissing her had seemed like a good idea at the time. She’d punch him in the face, give him a

black eye like he probably deserved for kissing a federal agent without permission, and that would be
that.

But instead, she’d frozen under him like a deer caught in the high beams. Which was especially

strange because he hadn’t thought Evelyn would freeze for anything, let alone him. So then he’d kissed
her again and that was when they both went up in flames.

“Oh no,” said Cali from his office door.
Luke’s foot landed slightly off and he had to stumble to keep his balance on the quick moving belt.

As soon as he regained himself, he rested his feet on the edge of the treadmill and caught his breath,
slamming his hand down on the stop button. “You couldn’t have knocked?” he barked at Cali.

Anyone else probably would’ve been cowed by the harsh tone, but Cali just raised one blonde

brow. “It’s seven thirty and you’re in the office working out. You’re never here this early. I was just
dropping something off on your desk.” She emphasized the point by slowly crossing to his desk to
drop off the file folder. “So you want to tell me why you’re so pissy?”

Luke stepped off the treadmill and wiped his face down with a towel. “Don’t worry about it.”
She snorted. “Easy for you to say. You being pissy directly affects the way my workday goes. So I

do worry about it. And I have a distinct impression it has something to do with the intern who isn’t
really an intern.”

Shit. “Don’t worry about her.”
“You pay me to worry, Luke. It’s what I’m good at, except I’m used to being able to actually fix

the things that worry me. Not just sit by while they break their neck running on a treadmill.”

“That was your fault,” he reminded her.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said, changing the subject.
Luke bit back a groan. He didn’t think there was one conversation in the history of man that started

with that phrase and ended well. And he already had enough trouble on his plate to deal with for the
day. “And what have you been thinking about?”

“About the offices opening in Seattle. And the fact that Michael seems more committed to the city

than ever since he and Lori started spending every waking moment together. I don’t think you have any
plans to pack up and move across the country any time soon. You’re going to need someone to head up
that project.”

Was seven thirty too early for a drink? “I need you here, Cali.”
For the first time in all the years he’d known her, Cali didn’t hide the disappointment from her

face. “I didn’t get my master’s degree so I could be your assistant for the rest of my life, Luke.”

“And you won’t be,” he promised. “I’m going to find a great position for you. One that will suit

all your talents and will be timed right. But at the moment, there are just too many outside factors at
play. I can’t take the chance that something will be messed up during your transition.”

“Don’t be a fucking coward, Luke.”
He jerked his head back. He didn’t think Cali had ever cursed at him before. “What?”
She shook her head and crossed to the door. “You and I both know there’ll never be a good time

to transition me out. So if you were never planning on transferring me, you should tell me instead of
stringing me along like one of those bimbos you’re always with.”

“I don’t string along the bimbos!” he called after her, but she was already walking out, shutting the

door behind her.

Damn it. Maybe it was time to let Cali go. He didn’t know how many more raises he could give

her before she finally got tired of this game. She was too smart to be twiddling her thumbs at the
assistant’s desk, but she did so much more for the company as an assistant that he’d probably need
two or three different people to replace her.

And he probably wouldn’t like any of those people as much as her.
He ran the towel over his head and through his hair. He was a sweaty mess and would need a

good shower before he could get any work done. Just one more thing to add to his ever growing to-do
list.

Luke pulled off his sweat-soaked shirt and set it in the coat closet in the back corner of the office.

He didn’t want to set it in his bag until after it had dried but didn’t want it sitting out either.

He heard the doorknob twist behind him. “Just tell me how much of a salary increase you want to

make you happy, and it will be done,” he said as he turned. But instead of Cali, Evelyn stood in front
of him.

“I’ve always wondered how great it would be to cross over that six-figure hump.” Evelyn crossed

to set a black bag on his desk.

Luke took a calming breath and set the towel down. Evelyn, as always, looked damn sexy. Her

discount suit hugged her ass in just the right way, and the jacket, which actually seemed to match her
pants today, wasn’t enough to hide the way her blouse stretched over her generous breasts.

He was starting to think this whole working out thing wasn’t a good distraction when it came to

Evelyn. But he wasn’t sure there was anything at this point that would get his mind off her and her
body. Especially now that he knew what it looked like. Felt like.

“I have a feeling that if you weren’t working for the FBI, you could be making as much as you

wanted to.” Luke knew she used to be in the military with Jace, and although he’d chosen to go the
private sector path, Evelyn had stuck with the government. Luke was sure someone with her skills
would have done very well for herself, taking jobs on a freelance basis.

“I guess I’m still holding out for a sugar daddy.” She winked.
He had a feeling she tried to keep her eyes firmly planted on his face, but he noticed as they

trailed down over his still overheated chest and stomach. Suddenly all those hours in the gym were
completely worth it. She tried to stay cool and collected, pretending that last night never happened,
but he could tell he’d gotten under her skin.

If only he’d gotten inside her the way he’d wanted to.

“So what’s the plan to set up for today?” he asked, giving her a reprieve. As much as he’d like to

continue what they’d stopped the night before right now on his desk, he knew that now wasn’t the time
for that.

“I thought a bit about how things are going to go down today. I think that Brian is still on damage

control after Ken tried to kill Lori. He wouldn’t come into your domain like this if he was going to
give up any sensitive information. Your main goal for today is to get him to agree to do something
outside the office with you.”

He raised a brow. “Like go out for coffee? I don’t think that’s in the cards.”
“Whatever bored billionaires do to bond. Play golf or drink Scotch. I don’t know. Go swimming

in pools of money?”

“That sounds unsanitary.”
“Probably fun though.”
He cracked a smile. “So what happens when I go swimming in piles of money with Longineu?”
“You talk. You talk your ass off. Talk about your family. Talk about your women. Talk about your

secrets. You do that, he’ll talk too. Human psychology.”

“He’s not the kind of guy I want knowing my secrets.”
“Then tell him the ones he already knows. Talk about Rourke. What you two fell out over.”
Luke clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck do you know about that?”
Any joking expression fled. “It was in your file,” she said quietly.
“And you’ve known this entire time?” Shit. He’d known she’d done her research but didn’t think

she’d go that deep.

“It was a long time ago. But secrets like that will make Brian think he can trust you.”
“It wasn’t that long ago for Rourke.” Considering the last time he’d seen his brother was after

Rourke tossed him through a window in anger, it felt as though it was all too recent.

Evelyn shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Wining and dining rich people is your specialty.

You know what you’re doing. Just make him like you. Hopefully he’ll spill. You already have a big
chunk of money with the Thirteen Stars, so it shouldn’t take much to get him saying things we’ll make
him regret later.”

“And you’ll be listening to every word?”
She nodded. “Give me your phone.”
He crossed to behind his desk and pulled it off the charger. As soon as she had it in her hands, she

pulled off the back and started to install something on the inside of the battery compartment.

Luke bent closer to get a better look and Evelyn went still. “Do you mind?”
“Well, it’s my phone you’re messing with. That’s kind of important.”
“Can you at least put on a shirt while you’re invading my personal space?”
So that was why she wanted him to step back. Luke smiled. “Haven’t you heard? Invading

personal space is much more fun with less clothes involved.”

She let out a small laugh. “Dick,” she muttered as she finished putting the chip in the phone and

sealed it back up. “So I’m now officially listening to whatever you’re saying around your phone. So
don’t talk shit about me when it’s around.”

“Only behind your back and away from the phone. Understood.”
She gave him a look, but he couldn’t tell whether she was more amused or annoyed. “The

recording quality could be compromised by where the phone is located. So try to keep the
microphone unobstructed. On your desk would be best. If you have it on your person when you’re out,

try to wear slacks, not jeans, since the material is lighter. Or, better yet, a belt clip that holds your
phone but doesn’t cover the mic part.”

“So there’s no way for them to sense this? You don’t think they’ll wave me down like the

movies?”

“If they were going to search you for a wire, they would ask you not to bring your phone inside.”
It wasn’t the quick rejection of the idea he was expecting. He’d just go ahead and assume that it

wouldn’t be like the movies. “I will do my best to catch every syllable the bastard says.”

“I’m glad we have an understanding.” She was quiet then, and they stood like that for a few long

seconds. Eventually, she finally let her gaze trail lower, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
No matter what she said, he was going to get her in bed. It might not be until after this whole thing
was over, but it was going to happen.

Evelyn finally let out a sigh. “I’m going to try to stay scarce today. I doubt Longineu would tag me

as FBI, but better safe than sorry. I’ll have my door cracked and will be thoroughly eavesdropping, so
I’ll hear if Cali brings him over.”

“I’ll feel very safe knowing that you’re nowhere to be seen.”
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t give any witty comeback. Instead, she turned to head out of the

room, taking her bag with her.

“What’s all that?” He pointed to the bag.
Evelyn shot him a grin over her shoulder. “Toys. I don’t think we need to completely wire up the

office for this one meeting, but I like to have the tools here just in case.”

“Never get between the feds and their toys.”
“Got that right.” She reached the door. “Remember, I’ll be right across the hall if you need

anything.”

“Trust me, I’ll remember.”

CHAPTER SIX

Evelyn had listened in on a lot of people in the past decade, and she couldn’t think of one who she
liked more than she had before hearing all their private conversations. But Luke was the first.

For some reason, the cocky, arrogant ass she was so used to wasn’t around when he spoke to

anyone else. After overhearing a phone call between him and one of his male managers, she’d
assumed that maybe he was just that way with women.

But he was also a perfectly decent human being around Cali too. No sexual innuendo, he listened

to her ideas, was respectful even when he disagreed and never once said anything rude. He was
charming, polite, and most of all, smart. He was able to maneuver people to his way of thinking
without even making it seem as though he was disagreeing or sounding like some oily used-car
salesman.

Evelyn managed to get a few items of paperwork done in the few silent moments that Luke wasn’t

on the phone or in some meeting, but for the most part, she tried to familiarize herself with Brian
Longineu as much as possible.

The forty-five-year-old was heir to a Texas oil fortune. He had a beauty queen trophy wife but

was known for his side relationships. Based off correlating travel and credit card records, the agency
thought that his affair with Joslyn Devereaux had lasted for about six months. His tax returns showed
a steadily increasing wealth consistent with legit investments, but Evelyn had a feeling that if they
knew where to look, they could at least get him for tax evasion.

Because if he was in the Thirteen Stars, and a leader of them from what Evelyn suspected, he was

making a lot of money he wasn’t reporting on those tax returns.

“Luke, there’s a Mr. Longineu here for you,” said Cali from the hallway.
Evelyn perked up and turned up the volume on her earbuds. She didn’t want anyone else knowing

that she was listening in, and this way she could have the volume as loud as possible.

“Great,” said Luke. “Send him in.”
Evelyn pulled open the drawer and grabbed out a pen and paper to take notes. The entire

conversation would be recorded, but she wanted to write down anything that stuck out to her just in
case.

She tapped the pen repetitively on the paper as she waited for Longineu to get there. Please be

something, she thought. This case was dead end after dead end.

Not that public corruption cases she worked in Texas moved much faster, but at least she was

home when she was working those. Not stuck in New York, working white-collar. This could be the
break in the case she was waiting for, and if they could bust Longineu for tax evasion, that would be
enough to make her career—even if none of the Thirteen Stars went down with him.

If there was one thing the government liked, it was money. And the agents who found the money.
She could hear Cali and Longineu’s footsteps before they spoke. Cali did a quick introduction

before she left the men to it and Evelyn leaned in closer.

Only to practically jump out of her chair as someone knocked on her slightly open door. She

regained her composure and cursed under her breath, taking out one of the earbuds as she turned to
look at the intruder. Cali.

“Hey,” she said with a forced smile. “What’s going on?” Hopefully it was something small and

she’d be out of Evelyn’s hair ASAP so she could go back to listening.

“Hello.” Cali’s smile looked genuine. “I wanted to check in and make sure everything was

working out so far.”

Great, she was trying to be friendly at exactly the wrong moment. “Everything’s fine. Luke has

been keeping me really busy,” she said briskly. Hopefully Cali would take the hint and leave.

Cali’s gaze quickly scanned over the desk and Evelyn bet she was noticing that there was no

paperwork in front of Evelyn to signify she was busy at all. “Well, if you have a spare moment, I’m
taking a long weekend and could use some extra hands.”

“Of course. I can probably stop by after lunch to see if you need anything.”
“Sounds great.” Except Cali’s expression practically screamed how suspicious she was.
Evelyn didn’t care about Cali being suspicious. As long as she didn’t mention it to Longineu on

the way out, which Evelyn thought was highly unlikely considering Cali’s normal professionalism.

But after a few seconds, Cali was still there. As though she wanted to voice her concerns but was

working up the nerve to question not only the new girl, but the boss Cali had worked with for years.
Evelyn didn’t have time for patience, though. She needed to be listening to Luke and Longineu right
now.

“If that’s all, I really need to finish this up for Luke.” She pointed her pen at the empty notebook as

though it was filled with a mile-long to-do list.

Cali’s frown deepened, but she finally nodded. “Sure. Come see me when you want some more to

do.”

After she was out of the doorframe, Evelyn reached out with a leg to kick the door shut. It

bounced on the frame but didn’t latch. Close enough. She wasn’t going to get up and miss any more of
this conversation.

She shoved in the other earbud and leaned forward, trying to orient herself with what they were

saying. It sounded as if they were exchanging pleasantries still. Talking about the stats of some sort of
sports players...football.

Not her favorite sport, but not the most boring one. They went on about the most recent game for a

while before Longineu got down to business. Apologizing for the way the Ken situation went down
and making sure Luke knew they were a professional organization.

Evelyn held a hand over her ear, trying to listen for any tense undertones or any signal that Luke

might be uncomfortable. But he sounded like the easygoing guy she was so used to. As they got back
to football and discussed the newest draft picks for Rutgers, Evelyn rolled her eyes.

But it made sense that Luke would be into it. She knew from his file that he’d played in high

school, and judging from his still cut body, he still enjoyed sports.

And then her mind was back on his abs. She’d been so damned determined to put last night behind

them, and of course she’d walked in on him all...sweaty. Why was that so hot? Sweat was gross and
smelly, but seeing those biceps and chest all shiny had been anything but gross to her in the moment.

Nope. That man would be haunting her fantasies for the rest of her life probably. Which wasn’t

exactly professional. Or logical, for that matter. But Evelyn was coming to understand that her
attraction to that man didn’t give a flying fuck about what was logical.

She picked up the pen and started to draw the rough outline of a man as the conversation went on.

She added on a few ridges and planes until the shape started to resemble Luke more and more.

And then the conversation finally went to the good stuff.
“I have a meeting coming up,” said Luke. “I can move it over, or we can continue this later. I’d

love to know a bit more about the operation.”

There was a pause and Evelyn held her breath as she waited to hear Longineu’s response.

“That sounds great. I’d love a chance to get to know you better too.”
Good grief, it sounded as if they were going on their first date. But Evelyn didn’t care. This was

perfect. One on one, private location—Luke could ask all the questions he wanted. Yes. Please say
yes, Luke.

“I have a busy week coming up,” said Luke. “Let me check my schedule...”
No, you son of a bitch. You agree to whatever day that man wants!
“Hmmm. I can do Friday evening.”
“Friday it is. I think there’s a club opening happening that night. I’ll make sure you’re on the list.”
Club? What kind of club did too-rich-for-their-own-good tycoons go to? She supposed she’d find

out soon enough.

“I look forward to hearing from you,” said Luke.
She listened for any sound of them leaving or final good-byes, but didn’t hear anything. Maybe

Luke wasn’t one for long good-byes. Guys tended to be more short with the pleasantries. Especially
once they got what they wanted.

Evelyn let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Two more nights and she might be all

set to get arrest warrants. So close, yet so far...

“Excuse me,” said a masculine voice from the hallway.
Evelyn was able to contain her surprise this time and calmly removed the earbuds before she

turned to face the one person she didn’t want to see. Brian Longineu. She let the confusion show on
her face. “Hello. Can I help you?”

He had a sheepish grin on and she tried to determine how genuine it was. He had crow’s feet in

the corners of his eyes and some of the hair at the top of his temples was starting to go gray, but
Longineu was still an attractive man.

This was also the man Joslyn had blackmailed for six figures a month and the one who put a hit on

Emma out of fear for what she would discover.

“I was looking for the restroom. Could you point me in the right direction?”
Every nerve was on high alert and Evelyn made sure her breathing stayed calm and smooth. “The

executive bathroom is right around the corner.” She pointed in the direction of Cali’s desk. “It has the
little man figure on the door, so you should see it.”

“Fantastic. I must’ve missed it coming in. Thank you, Ms....”
“Peterson,” she supplied. She had a feeling he wanted her to stand and shake his hand, but Evelyn

stayed put. She didn’t want to invite more conversation, so playing the bitch card might be best.

“Thank you, Ms. Peterson,” he finished. He gave one more small nod of thanks before he turned to

leave. She managed to keep herself at her desk for a good fifteen minutes before she finally jumped up
and made her way across the hall to Luke’s office. Once she saw that he was alone, she slipped in and
shut the door.

Luke glanced up from his computer and smiled.
A bit of her worry faded away as she saw how happy he looked. “That proud of yourself?” she

asked.

“What? Not a football fan?”
“You did that on purpose?”
“Hell yeah. I thought you’d appreciate a bit of an education on the wonders of college ball.”
She snorted. “I’m trying to protect you and you’re trying to put me to sleep.”
He held up his hands. “You said to bond with him.”

“Smart ass,” she muttered even as a smile crept into her mouth. She almost hated to burst Luke’s

good mood with what just happened. “I have concerns...” she said carefully.

Just like that, his face fell. “Why? Everything seemed to go great on my end.”
She nodded. “On your end. Longineu showed up at my office right after he left yours. He asked for

the bathroom.”

“He could’ve just had to piss.” But Luke’s face didn’t seem convinced.
“He could’ve asked you. Or Cali. Not wander into a strange office to ask me. There’s only two

options I can think of.”

“Like?”
“Either he suspects I’m not who I say I am—”
“Which makes no sense because he shouldn’t know you exist.”
“Or he wanted to hit on me.”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Now that makes sense to me.”
Well, it was nice to know Luke thought she was hit on material. Er, not nice. Not something her

asset should be thinking about her. “It makes me uneasy. How sure are you that Cali is loyal?”

Luke went dead serious. “One hundred percent certain.”
“Even the nicest people can be desperate. Has she had any money trouble that she’s mentioned

recently?”

“With the amount we pay her, I don’t think money problems are possible. None of my people

would be giving away my personal business. What about your end?”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. “My people? The FBI?”
“Don’t look so shocked. You do come from public corruption. Your entire job was finding dirty

cops.”

That would be a problem. Mainly because there were enough people at the Bureau who knew

about her assignment that it would be almost impossible to nail down who it was. If it actually was a
dirty agent, which Evelyn wasn’t willing to believe yet.

“Either way, I feel that I should warn you that going to meet Longineu on Friday might not be a

good call. If he suspects something, I don’t want you alone with him.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “Is that right?”
“It’s my responsibility to get the Thirteen Stars and keep you alive. I’d prefer to do both.”
He nodded briefly. “Well, that’s nice, but I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
“If this is the guy who tried to kill Emma, I’m going to nail his ass to the wall. Not tiptoe around

at the slightest threat.”

“And if he tries to hurt you?”
“Then I’ll take care of it.”
Cocky man had no idea what he was saying. “And if he tries to hurt me?” she tried, hoping to talk

some sense into him.

“Then I’ll kill him.”
Evelyn was taken aback at the sudden declaration, but Luke seemed one hundred percent serious.

“I’m, um, I’m supposed to be protecting you.”

Luke scoffed and stood, meeting her eyes over his desk. “As long as you’re helping me, you’re

under my protection. I might not be a ninja like you, but around here, Devereaux protection means
something.”

Evelyn opened her mouth and shut it just as quick. She didn’t know what to say to that. Just a day

ago, she could’ve sworn that Luke wanted to kill her, and now he was protecting her? For that matter,
she hadn’t been very fond of him one day earlier either.

“I appreciate that,” she finally muttered as she backed up a few steps. “I’m going to talk to a

coworker and I’ll let you know my assessment of the Friday meeting.”

“Assess all you want. I’m still going,” said Luke.
Evelyn reached back for the door. “And I’ll consider that when I’m assessing. Good-bye, Luke.”
Before he could say anything else, she slipped out of his office and closed the door behind her.

And looked right into Cali’s big, blue, suspicious eyes.

“Updating Luke on your...project?” asked Cali, the innuendo clear in her tone.
Evelyn sighed. On the list of her problems, worrying about Cali thinking she and Luke were

screwing was on the bottom of her list. “Yep,” she said as she headed back to her office. “Just
showing Luke all the ins and outs.”

She left Cali standing slack jawed as she shut the door to her own office on the woman.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Gail straightened her leather jacket before she tucked the rest of her shoulder-length hair into a
ponytail. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better if Luke knew I was there?”

Evelyn shook her head as she sat back on Gail’s bed. “Luke is smart, but he’s not a field agent. I

can’t trust him not to look for you or give you away. Also, I think my faith in him to keep himself safe
is giving him a confidence boost that he needs right now.”

“I thought you said he had more confidence than ten men combined?”
“Well, yeah. In terms of looks and his job. But I think he’s a little out of his league here.”
“So it increases your confidence in him?”
Gail was much too perceptive for her own good. “If you don’t want to help, just say so.”
“I can do a simple watch and report job.” She smiled, obviously enjoying giving Evelyn a bit of

crap. “At least you’re worried about his safety now. That’s a step up from last week.”

“Just because I didn’t like the guy didn’t mean I wanted him to die.”
“Didn’t like him? Does that mean you like him now?”
Evelyn tightened her lips and pulled out a phone from her bag. “Here’s a disposable phone for

you to keep me updated on what you see.”

“So you really like him?”
Evelyn couldn’t tell whether Gail was just really bad at taking a hint or whether she didn’t care

about the hint. “Just because I don’t want Luke to die doesn’t mean we’re best friends.” For the most
part, she’d hardly seen him since that Wednesday in his office. She’d gone to Cali and asked whether
she’d needed help with anything after lunch, like she’d promised, and had been busy the rest of the
week helping Cali and catching up on her own Bureau work.

Luke had popped in a few times to see whether she wanted to go out to lunch or dinner,

platonically so he said, but Evelyn had nipped that in the bud. No matter what he thought happened
that night in her apartment, there was nothing between them. That kiss had been a fluke. A bad
judgment call that never should’ve happened. She was his handler and responsible for keeping him
alive. He, more than anyone, should want her head clear and in the game.

Not muddled with images of his bare, sweaty chest in his office.
“I’m thinking tonight will be easy. You might not be able to go wherever they go. I expect there

will be some private parties Brian will take Luke to. Those guys love to show off how exclusive they
are. As long as his phone is on, we can get a read on his location. All you have to do is open up the
mapping app that’s preloaded on the phone, and it will show you his location. I will be monitoring it
from my apartment, so even if they go somewhere you can’t follow, we can at least know where they
go.”

“And Longineu got a good enough look at you that he would recognize you if you were

following?”

“Oh yeah.” Even though the encounter in her fake office was brief, it was more than enough to

completely blow any chance of Evelyn tailing Luke herself. “Are you sure you’re free to do this?”
Evelyn had gotten the okay from her boss, Hotchins, but Gail still had a large family who took up a lot
of time. She’d agreed at the drop of a hat to help out, but that didn’t mean this was convenient for her.
And it was overtime. Probably not the best way for a family woman like Gail to spend her nights.

“Are you kidding? Roger has the boys for a night and I haven’t done reconnaissance for over a

year. I’m more than happy to get back out there.”

Evelyn snorted. She didn’t know how Gail could be so laid-back about this. Maybe not this

mission in particular, but being an agent. An active agent still logging time in the field.

The world was a dangerous, messed-up place and Gail had a family depending on her. Sure, Gail

was a competent agent, but Evelyn liked to think she was a good agent too. It didn’t stop her from
getting shot. Why would anyone with a family depending on them put themselves in this kind of
career?

That was probably why Evelyn was such a loner. It seemed too selfish to put her life on the line if

someone was depending on her. She knew far too many coworkers who had tried to put down roots,
only to have the job pull them apart.

But there had been the odd success story, like Gail. Her husband, Roger, was gung ho about

helping with the kids and the long hours. Evelyn assumed they had talked about the risks and both
accepted them. A functioning, synergetic relationship.

Evelyn liked the idea of settling down and having a family, but giving up her favorite parts of the

job were almost unimaginable for her. And the possibility of finding someone like Roger who was
okay with the risks she took every day seemed impossible at the moment.

Gail bent down to enter a code into the safe in her closet. She pulled out her government-issued

handgun and a loaded magazine, clicking it into the weapon before she tucked it into the holster
hidden by her jacket. One more reminder of what Evelyn was asking her to do.

“Hopefully this will be just as boring as a night in. A couple of guys talking numbers and business

over drinks,” said Evelyn.

“Speak for yourself,” muttered Gail. “As long as no one gets hurt, I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit of

action.”

Evelyn raised a brow. “You still know how to fire that gun?” She winked.
“Hell yeah. I’m at the range every weekend.”
“Hmmm. I didn’t think you’d have time to do that with the kids.”
“Are you kidding? The oldest comes with me. Our house is probably the safest place on the East

Coast.”

“Note to self. Don’t piss off the Bruce family,” muttered Evelyn.
Gail gave herself one more look in the mirror, adjusting the jacket so no hint of the gun or holster

was visible. “Got that right.”

Evelyn nodded, feeling much better than she had that morning about Luke meeting with Longineu.

She hated the idea of him going alone, even if every logical part of her mind told her he’d be fine.

She just couldn’t shake the unease of Longineu walking right into her fake office. Had it really

been a misunderstanding? Evelyn didn’t believe in coincidences in normal situations, let alone in
such a delicate operation that the FBI had been working years toward.

Knowing Gail would be there as backup was just what Evelyn needed. “Okay. They’re scheduled

to meet up at eight p.m., but I don’t think a location has been decided. So start heading in his direction
around seven thirty?”

Gail set a hand on her hip and glared at Evelyn. “This ain’t my first tail job. You head back to

your place and make sure you’re getting a clear signal from the bug in his phone. I’ll take care of the
rest.”

Evelyn gave Gail one more once-over. She wore a sharp, fake leather jacket, a sweater and tank

top, so if she wanted to change up looks, all she had to do was remove a layer since the holster was
under the sweater. Her brown hair could also go from ponytail to down in a heartbeat. The boots she
paired with her jeans had a heel, but it was short enough that she could still walk for miles if needed.

All in all, she looked as though she knew what she was doing. Which made Evelyn feel a hell of a

lot better about the idea of letting Luke go off on his own with Longineu. “Okay then. I’m off. You
know how to get a hold of me if you need to.”

Gail nodded as they crossed out of the bedroom and through her empty apartment. “Go! I got this,

okay?”

“Okay! Okay! Going! I owe you,” she promised as she slipped out of the front door. Evelyn even

managed to feel relatively confident about the entire thing right until she got back to her own
apartment and saw Luke lounging against the door in her dingy hallway.

She couldn’t help the scowl that covered her face. “What are you doing here?” she snapped.
Luke raised a brow and cocked his head. “Nice to see you too, Agent Price.”
She reached the door, but he didn’t move out of the way. “You’re supposed to be getting ready for

your man date,” she reminded him.

“And as excited as I am for this man date, I thought me and my handler should have a talk ahead of

time.”

“We don’t have anything to talk about. You know what you need to do. You’re charming enough in

your own way to get it. And you also know that you’re not supposed to get shot while doing it. That’s
really all the pertinent information.”

Instead of being annoyed at her brush-off like she hoped, Luke smiled down at her. “You think I’m

charming?”

Evelyn brushed her hair aside to rub at the back of her neck. Lord help her, she did think he was

charming. Especially when he looked like he did at the moment. Somehow she’d imagined a pair of
billionaires going out on the town would be dressed like she was used to seeing him. In suits and ties.

But Luke was dressed casually. A very nice casual. Every simple piece of clothing was fit

perfectly and only seemed to accentuate his broad shoulders and muscular build. Like Gail, he wore a
leather jacket, but his was probably real leather and stopped just at his waist. And his jeans were fit
so well that she was sure if he turned around, she’d get a class-A view of his behind.

“I think you’re something,” she said under her breath. “Now would you please spend less time

with the FBI and pretend you’re a perfectly innocent criminal.”

“I know you don’t like me, but I don’t want you sending me off into illicit meetings without so

much as a ‘good luck,’” he snapped. His smile faded for the first time since she’d gotten there.

“I like you,” she said weakly.
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Evelyn. I’m fine being on your shit list, but I don’t want your

handling of this investigation to be muddled because of your personal dislike of me.”

Evelyn clenched her jaw and glared up at him, half pissed at the idea that he’d question her

judgment and half guilty because she did go out of her way to avoid him more times than she was
proud of. “You want to take this inside?” She glanced between him and the door he was blocking and
he finally moved out of the way.

She slid the key in the deadbolt lock and could feel Luke’s heat from behind her. Damn, the man

felt like a furnace. After finally managing to get the locks open, she stumbled inside the apartment as
Luke followed.

“Ah, the gym with the bed. Just like I remember.”
“I feel judgment,” she muttered as she set her purse on the small table and turned back to face him.
The corners of his mouth ticked up as he approached. “I didn’t say they were bad memories. In

fact, I—”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to shoot you.” She was not going there. Especially not here,

alone with him without Cali or Michael sitting around the corner to interrupt at any minute.

Luke stopped a few feet away from her. “Fine. Then tell me why you don’t like me.”
Evelyn groaned. “Damn it, Luke. You sound like you’re in an after-school special.”
“An after-school special where you hate me for no reason. Now fess up, Evelyn.”
She let out a breath and steeled herself. “I don’t trust people with the amounts of money that you

have.”

He appeared taken aback. “You don’t like me because I’m rich?”
“Kind of...”
“You like Michael,” he pointed out.
“Michael is a likable guy!”
“What the hell?”
She sighed. Evelyn knew more than most just how ridiculous it was. But from the second she met

Luke, she’d been completely on edge. “Michael was kind of backed into a corner. I ambushed him and
offered to help with Emma. I never really felt like I had the upper hand with you.” He started to say
something, but she cut him off. “And don’t act all high and mighty. You hate me just as much as I hate
you.”

“Hated,” he clarified. “Past tense. And how was I supposed to act when the hostility was

radiating off you in waves?”

“Please. I know exactly what was wrong. You hate not being in control.”
He scoffed. “I’m not a control freak.”
“What? You are the textbook definition of a control freak. Why else would Michael be VP of IT

instead co-CEO?”

He inched closer. “Michael has a master’s in computer technology and a list of certifications

longer than my arm.”

She tilted her head back to glare at him as he got closer. “He also doesn’t have the issues letting

go that you do.”

He pointed a finger at her. “I’m not the one wound up so tight that the second I touched you, you

practically molested me on your bed.”

Evelyn gasped. “You son of a bitch. It’s not like you were the master of restraint on Tuesday!”
“That’s because I don’t find something I want and then immediately ban myself from having it.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“That means that the second you saw me, you wanted me, and from that moment, I was enemy

number one to you. But I don’t keep myself from things I crave. I make sure I get what I want.”

Luke stood much too close to her to continue this conversation. She pushed away from the table to

go around, but his hand shot out to grab her arm. She flinched at the suddenness of the contact but
didn’t pull away. “You’d better remove that hand before I remove it for you,” she warned.

He leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “Is that your way of saying you don’t want me to?”
She turned to meet his gaze. “That’s my way of telling you to get the fuck out of my apartment.”
He didn’t budge. “Tell me you don’t want me and I’ll leave you alone.”
“That’s what this is about? Your ego decided it needed a boost?”
“I admitted I want you. I’m fine with stroking your ego,” he murmured. “And any other part of

your body that feels neglected.” He released his grip on her arm and ran his hand down her forearm
until it rested against the back of her hand. Not holding it. Just touching.

Her breath caught at the skin-to-skin contact as she tried to keep her face expressionless. “There’s

no part of me that wants to be stroked by you.”

Luke leaned in and brushed his lips against the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. Evelyn’s

already pounding heart beat a frantic rhythm in her chest. Okay, maybe she was lying a little bit. But
she had reasons! She pulled her neck away from him and caught his gaze again. “So what? You want
to go on my bed right now and screw?”

“Well...”
“Because you’re going to meet one of the few people who can testify and bring down an entire

ring of white-collar criminals who have stolen thousands of innocent employees’ pensions. So I’d
rather get ready for that instead of indulging in whatever fleeting attraction I’m feeling for you.”

His lips tightened, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. “So if I get Brian

to say something incriminating tonight, will you feel like celebrating?”

“Are you blackmailing me?”
“Oh no. I’ll be trying to get Longineu to say something to trip him up no matter what. But once I

get him, once we get the Thirteen Stars, you won’t be my handler anymore. And after that, I won’t be
your asset. So if we both get what we want, would you be open to celebrating with me?”

She opened her mouth to tell him exactly why that was a terrible idea, but for some reason she

couldn’t think of one reason. Damn it, he was right. She did want him, and once they weren’t working
together anymore, why not? It had been over a year since she’d been with any man, and she might as
well break the streak with Luke Devereaux, who was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

“I wouldn’t mind sharing a glass of wine or two once some arrests have been made,” she said

carefully.

He smiled in victory. “I knew you were reasonable.”
Before she could give a quick comeback, Luke leaned forward and kissed her. It was quick,

fierce, possessive, and over much before Evelyn wanted it to be.

He pulled away and took a step back. “I should get going. You can still hear everything I’m

doing?”

Evelyn blinked a few times, trying to clear her cluttered mind. “Um, yeah. As of this morning I

could. I’ll have to set up my laptop and make sure it’s still transmitting. Should only take me a few
minutes. I’ll shoot you an all clear text message once I’m set up. Are you okay? Still feeling good?
Secure? If you want to call this off, now is the time.”

“I’m going,” he insisted. “I’m going to get Brian plastered, he’s going to spill all his secrets,

you’ll arrest him, and then I’m going to fuck you hard and you’re going to love every minute of it.”

Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat as she tried to remember how to form words. “As long as you

have a plan,” she finally murmured.

He leaned in and gave her one more quick kiss. “I’ll be seeing you,” he promised before he turned

and left.

Evelyn reached behind her, fumbling until she grabbed hold of the back of a chair and pulled it out

for her to fall into. Good grief. Was she really going to sleep with Luke Devereaux?

Well, if he got her Brian Longineu, she was.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Follow me.” Longineu led the way deeper into the back of the gentleman’s club.

These types of clubs weren’t Luke’s favorite, but he was more than familiar with them. Something

about the entire experience felt off. The women, who were half naked, flirted with him as though they
actually meant it. Some of them were good enough actresses that he could almost forget that making
him happy was their job.

But every once in a while, one of the girls would have the dazed, spaced-out expression only

brought on by some sort of heavy drug, and he was reminded it was all an act. Some guys seemed to
get off on the power rush, and some of those guys who got off on the power rush happened to have
very lucrative contracts with DevX Tech, so he was more than happy to show some of the clientele
the rounds if needed.

And apparently Brian was also a fan of the clubs. This one was more exclusive. Kind of like a

sleazy country club. This was its opening week, but from what Luke understood, they charged a
massive membership fee up front and from then on, free drinks and eye candy abounded. More
services from the girls were always a bit extra...

“Here’s my booth.” Longineu ducked into a table in the back corner. They’d gone through a maze

of rooms, and Luke was pretty sure he could find his way out if he needed to, but it wasn’t a straight
shot to the door.

Luke slid in across from Longineu. The booth was in a scallop shape, so there was room for

plenty more, but he kept his distance. Within a second of him settling in, a girl in tall, spiky heels,
barely there shorts and a sparkly, bejeweled bra came over to pour some top shelf whiskey into a
glass for Longineu before she glanced over to Luke. “Can I get you anything, sir?”

Luke gave her his favorite brand of Scotch, and she nodded and winked at him. “Coming right

up.” She smiled before she twisted around and strutted away, probably putting more sway to her hips
than was natural.

“I thought this was a new opening.” Luke motioned to Brian’s glass that had been filled without

any instruction needed.

“A friend of mine is the owner. They appreciate my patronage. They should have a good selection

of cigars if you want to browse.”

Luke shook his head. He needed to focus on drinking and getting Brian as comfortable as

possible. “I’ve had a long week. I think just sitting back sounds perfect.”

“Trouble at DevX?” Brian took a drink.
“Not exactly.” Luke didn’t want to give Longineu any personal information, but he needed to give

something to get his trust. His pride might have to take a hit to pull this off. “I’m in the middle of a dry
spell and it’s not a feeling I’m used to.”

“Well, hell. We can break that streak tonight easy enough. You just say the word and we’ll make it

happen.”

Luke shook his head. “Hate to be that guy, but there’s someone I already have in mind.”
“No shit? I thought you were bagging chicks left and right. You know, I hate to stereotype, but

usually all I have to do is break out the Ferrari and the panties drop. Ferrari is one of my cheaper
cars. They don’t care.”

Luke ran a hand through his hair and really wished he had less in common with this ass. At least

he wasn’t married while he was using his cars to pick up women. “It’s a bit more messy. She works

for me and doesn’t want things to get complicated.”

“Well, shit. What’s the problem? If anything, fucking you would just be better for her career.”
“That’s what I think!” said Luke in mock agreement. “Would she rather I fire her?”
Longineu snorted. “They always think they’re making things easier, don’t they?”
Luke had to bite back a look of disdain. “True.” Just then, the waitress dropped off his Scotch,

and Luke immediately took a swig. If he wanted to get his information, he needed to remain relatively
clear-headed, but there was no way he could carry any more conversation with this ass sober. “So
how are the investments coming along? The last statements looked promising.”

Longineu shook his head. “No, I’m not done yet. Who is the chick?”
Trust. He needed to build trust. “Some new secretary who just started. No one important.” No one

Longineu should have any reason to think he knew.

“Didn’t your brother just hook up with a secretary? That should make this chick feel fine about

it!”

“Lori’s not a secretary, actually.”
Longineu didn’t look as though he cared a bit. “Is it the hot blonde who took me to your office? I

can totally understand why you’d want a piece of that.”

Luke practically spit out his drink. “Cali? No. Hell no. She’s like a sister.”
“Interesting. Does that mean I can get to know her better the next time I’m at your place?”
That’s it. Luke was going to kill him. “Last I heard, she was seeing someone. But feel free to take

your shot,” he managed to squeeze out. Trust. Building trust.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Longineu took another drink. “What about the other hot one? The

Mexican chick?”

His hands balled into fists under the table. He knew from the file he had on Evelyn that her

grandfather was Puerto Rican, but he didn’t say anything. “Mexican?”

“She has the office across from yours.”
Oh...that Mexican. Luke shrugged, feigning ignorance. “Oh, her. She’s some intern who got the

position by winning some essay contest. I forgot to tell Cali about it and that office was the only thing
open. Don’t really know anything about her.”

“That’s funny,” said Longineu.
“What’s funny?”
He slammed his glass down. “Because she’s an FBI agent.”
Luke met his gaze over the table. “She’s a what?”
Longineu leaned forward. “She’s. An. FBI. Agent. And I think you knew that.”
“I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. Why would the FBI be in my building?

Everything I’ve done is legit.”

“The hundred mil you gave to me wasn’t legit. You knew that. I know that. And I can think of a

few reasons why you’d be working with the FBI. Ken might’ve thought you were the best thing to ever
happen to our little organization, but I never agreed with him.

“See, I know your family. I know your crazy ass cousin, and I know the cousin who wouldn’t

touch people like us with a ten-foot pole. So I never, not for one second, thought you were honestly
trying to increase your portfolio by joining up with us.”

Luke leaned forward, setting his arms on the table, refusing to be cowed by Longineu’s

accusations. “That didn’t stop you from taking my money, did it?”

He shrugged. “Not my choice. The higher-ups gave you approval.”
“And who are these higher-ups who are on my side?”

Longineu’s smile twisted into a grin. “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you? Probably transmitting

every little word I’m saying right to the government.”

“You think I’m wearing a wire? This isn’t a made-for-TV movie, Longineu. It’s an honest fucking

question.”

He shrugged, not seeming convinced at all. “I don’t care if you’re wearing a wire or not. This

entire level has a signal blocker, so no matter what you’re trying to transmit, nothing is getting out.”

For the first time since he sat down, Luke started to get worried. “That seems a little paranoid.”
“Oh no,” said Longineu. “Paranoid would be sending my best man to pay your little FBI agent a

visit. Now that would be paranoid.”

CHAPTER NINE

Evelyn banged on her computer for the tenth time but still didn’t get anything from the open line she
was supposed to have on Luke’s phone transmitter. “God damn it!” she screamed at the good-for-
nothing machine.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Gail’s disposable line. The agent answered on the third ring.

“I lost transmission,” she said before Gail could get more than a “hi” in.

“I saw them go into a building,” said Gail. “But I can’t get in. It’s a men’s only place. I’d need a

male escort to get past the bouncers. A rich male escort from the looks of it.”

“Mother fuc—” Evelyn stood and paced around the room. They could just be in a place that was

built to protect against all transmissions, or they could’ve destroyed his phone. “That’s it. I’m coming
out there.” Evelyn snatched her jacket off the back of a chair and pulled open her nightstand drawer
for her loaded gun.

“They might recognize you,” warned Gail. “Just lay low and let me look into this.”
“I don’t care. It’s my job to keep Luke safe and I can’t do that with no eyes or ears on him. I need

to do something.” She knew Luke had never been all that concerned for his own safety, but she wasn’t
about to let him pay for her being unprepared.

Damn it. She’d felt fishy about this entire thing ever since Longineu had come into her office. This

was why she needed to trust her instincts and not let Luke tell her how to do her job.

“Evelyn!” shouted Gail through the line.
She brought the phone back to her ear. “I’m about to leave now. Just hold tight and I’ll message

you when I get closer. My ETA is twenty minutes.”

“Evelyn, I got this. There’s nothing you could do if you got here. You wouldn’t be able to get in.

And unless we get a sign of distress, we can’t go barging in the front door without a warrant.”

Sign of distress? What the fuck was Gail waiting for? It wasn’t as though she’d be able to hear

Luke’s screams from the street. They needed to move fast. Right now.

“I promised Luke I’d keep him safe. I’m not going to wait for Longineu to light up some massive

sign saying he’s up to no good. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she repeated before she hung up the
phone.

She dropped the phone in her jacket pocket and arranged it carefully so her shoulder holster

wasn’t visible. Then she undid her chain lock and deadbolt in a quick motion and opened the door.

Only to look straight into the barrel of a gun.

~~~~~

“What do you mean you’re sending someone to pay her a visit?” bit out Luke between clenched teeth.

Longineu took another drink, emptying his glass, and smiled. “Well, you know how protective I

am of my secrets. I’m not going to let some outsider threaten everything we’ve worked to build. You
should be just as upset as me. Some agent sneaking her way into your company. That’s a major
invasion of privacy. But if it makes you feel better, I’ve ordered my man to make sure she suffers.”

Hell no. Luke stood up fast, bumping the table and knocking over Longineu’s empty glass. Without

a word, he turned to leave, but two muscle-bound men immediately blocked his path. His hands
balled into fists as he stared them down, not about to let anyone stop him from getting to Evelyn.

“If you want to go, you’re allowed,” said Longineu from behind him. “But if you walk out this

door, it will be war between us from now on. Know that.”

Luke didn’t need to think of a good answer. He simply pushed through the two men in front of him

and made a beeline for the front. He’d deal with Longineu later, but if there were men on their way to
Evelyn’s place right now, that was his foremost concern.

Damn it. He’d been the one who convinced Evelyn that Longineu wasn’t suspicious. He’d been

convinced that even if Longineu was onto something that the only one in danger would be him. How
the fuck had Longineu gotten Evelyn’s real name? Her address to send his man to?

Unless the whole thing was a bluff. What if this had been a test that he failed? Now they knew for

certain that she was an agent just because he couldn’t keep his cool. Mother fucker!

As soon as he got outside, he paused. If he went to her apartment right now, he’d lead Longineu

right to Evelyn.

Fuck it. He’d move her to one of his places then. As long as he knew she was safe for now. He

held up his hand to hail a cab. If he had his own car service, he’d be able to make it to Evelyn a hell
of a lot faster, but he had to rely on a stranger to get him to Evelyn in time. Damn it.

As soon as he was in the backseat and on his way, he took out his phone and dialed Evelyn’s

number. She should be right next to her phone considering she had been listening in on him.

But there was no answer.

CHAPTER TEN

Evelyn held up her hands and took a step back.

“Keep moving,” said the man at the other end of the gun.
She took a nervous gulp and continued to back up until she was in the middle of the room. The gun

in her shoulder holster pressed into her side, but she knew she couldn't go for it while this guy had his
gun drawn and ready. The man stepped inside and kicked the door shut.

He didn’t look familiar to Evelyn, but she had to assume he was one of Longineu’s men. Which

meant Luke was probably screwed right now. This guy definitely seemed formidable. He was well
over six feet tall and had a muscular build that showed exactly how much time he spent in the gym.

His dark brown hair was slicked back and his clean-shaven face clearly showed his handsome

features. Which meant he wasn’t worried about Evelyn identifying him later. Not the best sign.

But he came alone. Which was his mistake. He also hadn’t shot her right away, which probably

meant he wanted to kill her in a quieter way. She could handle that. All she needed was one chance to
get to her gun.

“I have money,” she said, looking for a way to distract or stall him. Even if he lowered his gun,

would she have time to draw? Guns were horrible for close quarter fighting anyway. Maybe it would
be easier to disarm him...

He glanced around the tiny apartment with a scowl. “I doubt it.”
“There’s a laptop on the table,” she pointed out. “And I have savings. I’m sure we can make a

deal.” All he had to do was lower the gun just long enough for her to rush him. She inched closer to
the table.

“Don’t move!” he ordered.
“No, it’s a really nice laptop! Top of the line, brand new! I’m sure you can get a few hundred for

it!”

He let out a laugh even as she kept inching to the table. “I’m getting a lot more than a few hundred

for this.”

He took a step closer, and Evelyn forced herself to let out a fearful squeak as she jumped closer to

the table. As much as she wanted her fear to be completely an act, every second that passed, her heart
beat faster and faster. All it would take was one flash of impatience and he’d pull that trigger and
she’d be done.

She just needed time for one distraction and she could get him. And the distraction was just a

few...more...inches...away...there! Evelyn hooked her foot under the chair and gave a quick yank.

The wooden chair clattered to the ground, and the man’s gaze jerked to follow the noise.
Evelyn jumped on her chance and ducked low as she rushed him. He must’ve seen her as he

started to reposition the gun, but he wasn’t fast enough. Her shoulder slammed into his stomach and
she kept going, pushing him back until she rammed his back into the door. As he tried to catch his
breath, she grabbed his gun hand with both of hers and pushed up and back, jamming his wrist into the
wooden doorframe with all her strength.

He grunted but didn’t let go. Shit. She brought her knee up hard into his groin. That got his

attention. He moaned in pain, and his grip finally released on the gun enough for her to pry it out of his
hands. She tried to turn it on him, but he retained his composure enough to push the gun down and on
the floor.

Fine. They’d do this the old-fashioned way. Evelyn brought her elbow up and rammed it into the

man’s throat. Take that, jackass...

Then she fisted her fingers in his hair, slamming his head into the door before she kneed him in the

gut and tossed him farther into the kitchen.

While he was sprawled on the floor in front of her, Evelyn dove for his gun, but this guy was one

step ahead of her. The second she brought it up to aim, a stream of burning liquid hit her eyes,
blinding her and clouding her mind with pain. Evelyn screamed and fired off a shot in the direction
he’d been in. She heard a grunt of pain and then the clash of breaking glass. She forced her burning
eyes open for the briefest moment but didn’t see anyone.

“Fuck!” she screamed as she closed her eyes again. Her lids felt like sandpaper rubbing against

her sensitive eyes. Her scream caused the spray that she’d inhaled to get in her lungs, and she coughed
at the whole new irritation. “Ahh!” She’d had him!

At first, she’d had a horrifying thought that he’d thrown acid at her, but she’d been around enough

pepper spray to know that she wasn’t in danger of losing her eyesight. But that didn’t take the pain
away. Or the anger. Damn it, she’d had him outmatched and outgunned and he’d still gotten away. She
had a feeling she hit him with the one shot, but she couldn’t be sure. And she wasn’t about to chase
him down, waving a gun around when she could barely see two feet in front of her.

Luke... If they were at her place, they for sure knew about Luke. Evelyn dug out her phone but

couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough to dial anything. She cursed under her breath as she pocketed
the phone and pushed herself up, feeling her way to the sink.

As soon as she was there, she flipped on the cold water and splashed it in her face. She managed

to get just enough washed out that she could keep her eyes open long enough to dial Luke’s number.
She turned it on speaker as she splashed more water in her sore eyes and drank big gulps from her
cupped hands. Ugh, even drinking hurt.

Luke answered midway through the second ring. “Evelyn, you need to get out of your apartment.”
Well, at least he was alive. That was a good sign. “I’m fine,” she said over the sound of the

faucet. “Are you out of there? Longineu is dangerous. You need to get somewhere safe. I’m coming to
you.”

“I’m going to be at your place any minute. What happened? Longineu said he was sending guys

over there. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just stay away from here and don’t go back to your apartment. I’m going to get some

backup and we’ll reevaluate then.” And try to pick up the pieces of her investigation. Damn it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Evelyn took another drink of the water that simultaneously burned and soothed. “Nothing’s wrong.

My place has been compromised.”

“Well, my entire life has been compromised. I’m coming over.”
“Son of a— Don’t come over here!” But he’d already hung up. She spit out more curse words as

she dialed 911, her boss, and then Gail, who didn’t answer.

By the time she put the phone down, someone was pounding on the door. From the intensity, she

could tell it wasn’t the local police she was expecting. Which meant it was Luke. “Hold on!” She
pulled some paper towels free and dabbed gently at her eyes. Before she could move, the door was
pushed open and Luke was in the kitchen. Great, she’d forgotten to bolt or chain the door.

“Shit,” he muttered as he crossed to her. “What the hell did they do to you?”
She kept her eyes closed, which was probably a good thing so she didn’t have to come face-to-

face with his look of pity. “It’s fine. Don’t touch anything. Police are on their way. They’re going to

try to get some prints. There might be some blood by the window and I have his gun.”

“Come here.” He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her out of the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
She could tell from the number of steps that he was leading her to the small bathroom off the

kitchen. “Was he in here?” asked Luke.

“I don’t think so. There was so little time...” Before she could finish, the shower was turned on

and running.

“You need to flush your eyes,” he said. “This will work best.”
She frowned, but still didn’t open her eyes. “I know that. I’m too busy to shower.”
“Well, now you’re not.” With that, he started to push her into the warm stream of water.
Evelyn’s hands went up and gripped his biceps. “Hold on!” she shouted. He paused as she pulled

off her jacket and shoulder holster. He took the jacket from her and gently set it on the sink as she
kicked off her tennis shoes and set her gun on the windowsill. She still wore jeans and a white t-shirt,
but she wasn’t going to wait any longer.

The police would be here any moment, so Luke was safe enough for now. She ducked under the

water and threw her head back, letting the stream hit her closed eyes.

“You need to open them for this to work,” said Luke.
“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped. Just because it would make her feel better didn’t

mean it wouldn’t hurt.

He groaned and the next thing she knew, he was in the shower with her, tilting her head back.
“I’m going to kill you,” she muttered as she finally pried her eyes open.
“As long as you’re safe while you’re doing it,” he said softly as she moved to the other eye. After

the quick flushing, she blinked a few times and looked down to give her eyes a break. Luke wasn’t
standing in the stream of water, but he was getting splashed like crazy, and her floor was soaked from
the water that bounced off the both of them.

“What are you doing in here? You’re getting soaked, you moron,” she said with a small laugh.
He stepped out and pulled her pink towel off the towel rack to wipe down his face. “Stay in there

and keep rinsing,” he ordered.

“I’m trying.” She rubbed her eyes gently and gave another quick rinse in both her eyes. “What

happened with Longineu?”

“Nothing. He knew we were on to him and didn’t start saying anything interesting until we were in

a no-record zone. He said he had guys coming after you, and I got the hell over here as soon as
possible. Obviously not soon enough. I was half convinced he was bluffing and I was going to lead
them here.”

“Nope. They were well aware long before you got here.”
“How would they know that? Who knows your address? Was it on the fake HR paperwork you

filled out?”

She shook her head. “That was a vacant place seized by the Bureau a few weeks ago.”
“So they followed you.”
Evelyn forced her sore eyes open and for the first time they didn’t cause agony to shoot through

her. “No one followed me. Someone must’ve told them.”

“Shit.”
“My thoughts exactly.” It was as though she was right back in corruption. How the hell was she

supposed to catch anyone when half her coworkers were being paid off? “I’ll book a hotel for the
night under a different name and find somewhere else to go.”

“Screw that. You’re coming home with me.”
Evelyn turned off the water and looked up to Luke. “Excuse me?”
“My building is one of the safest in the city. No one gets up to my floor without express

permission from me or a key. You should stay with me until this all blows over.”

“You keep me safe? You know there are a few people out there at the moment who want you

dead?”

“Then come home with me and keep me safe.”
She stepped out of the shower and he wrapped her up in the towel, holding her in his arms as he

gently wiped at her face and her eyes that she knew were probably as red as a beet. Between the
soaking wet ponytail and discolored face, she probably looked like a hot mess at the moment, but for
some reason Luke looked down at her as though she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. “I don’t
think it’s a good idea for me to come home with you,” she said softly.

“I think it’s the best idea I’ve had all month.”
She opened her mouth to keep fighting him, but a knocking sound carried from the main space of

the apartment. “I should get that.”

He nodded and backed away. “Go talk to the police. And when we’re done here, I’m going to take

you home.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Evelyn stepped out of the car and looked up at the towering apartment building. Well, let’s call it
what it was. It was a penthouse building. There wasn’t a single place in there that sold for less than a
million dollars, and Evelyn was half convinced the doorman would take one look at her and ask her
to vacate the premises.

But then Luke was at her side again, holding her overnight bag over his shoulder. “You ready?”
No. She wasn’t even slightly ready to go up to his apartment with him. “Sure,” she said. She’d

fought this tooth and nail with her boss, but he’d insisted that keeping Luke safe was their number-one
priority. Mainly because he had the money and lawyers available to sue the hell out of the FBI if he
wanted to.

Of course, Hotchins didn’t understand exactly why Evelyn was so hesitant to go to Luke’s place

and she wasn’t about to tell him the truth. Please don’t make me go, sir. I’m not sure I can resist him
much longer and I feel that if I want to remain professional and not rip off all the asset’s clothes, I
should be kept as far away from him as possible.

So here she was, hopping into a lavish elevator and climbing higher and higher with one of the

most attractive men she’d ever met, who she kind of hated but for the life of her couldn’t remember
why she hated him.

The elevator doors opened straight to Luke’s apartment and Evelyn let out a laugh. “You’re

kidding me.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder as he led the way inside. “Is something wrong?”
No. Nothing was wrong. The entire place was perfect. Beautiful. White marble floors led into the

two-story tall entryway and living room. The exterior was completely made out of windows, and the
apartment was surrounded by a spacious terrace decorated with lounging chairs and a few potted
plants and trees.

“You can make yourself comfortable.” Luke led her toward the kitchen. His place had an open

floor plan, but that was about where the similarities between their places ended. The kitchen
contained a massive island with a stainless-steel top that was large enough to fit six stools on the long
side and two on the edge. Across from the island was a counter with dark oak cabinets that stretched
to the ceiling, and an oversized apron sink that tied in with the stainless countertop.

She crossed around the cabinets and saw that the wall on the other side housed a television that

had to be over a hundred inches. “Good grief, what do you need all that television for?” she breathed.

“Women seem to like it.” Luke gave a cocky grin as he set his jacket across one of the two

recliners in the room. Between the two recliners was a large sofa that looked perfect for a long day of
watching movies.

“I’m sure they do. But those are the one-night women. The lifetime women wouldn’t care about

the big TV.”

“They can still like it.” Luke crossed to stand in front of her.
“Luckily you’re not looking for a lifetime girl, right?”
“Right.”
They were silent for a moment. Evelyn never should’ve brought up the idea of him bringing

women over. It was dangerous territory for them and she knew better.

“I should shower,” she said abruptly. And then she realized that making him think of her all wet

and soapy probably wasn’t any better. “I’m still all pepper spray-ey.” There. Pepper spray was

decidedly unsexy.

“Let me show you the spare bathroom.” He crossed to the other side of the living area to the

spiral staircase with a winding, clear railing.

“All the rooms are upstairs?” She had a feeling that was where the master suite was, and she’d

rather sleep as far away as possible.

“There’s a room down here too, but that’s where Emma stays. The upstairs room is nicer

anyway.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to debate him on that or not. Because if she said she wanted to be as

far from him as possible, she’d be forced to admit that the reason was because of how much he
tempted her. And the last thing he needed was an ego boost.

He led her into a decent-sized room with gray walls, white trim and crown molding, and a blue

comforter with a delicate floral pattern, the one feminine touch in the room.

“Will this work for you?” He set her bag on the bed.
She snorted. “Well, you saw where I was sleeping before. Trust me, this is more than enough.”
He nodded without saying anything too judgmental and then led her to the door on the left wall.

“This is the bathroom. There’s a tub and a shower, so whatever you’re in the mood for, feel free. I
don’t have any fancy girl shampoo.”

“Fancy girl shampoo? Really? I have a feeling the stuff you use is way more expensive than

whatever fancy girl shampoo I use.”

“Whatever works.” He ran a hand through his hair.
Evelyn had to admit, he did have a great head of hair. It was jet black, betraying a bit of Italian

ancestry. He looked practically perfect in his t-shirt and jeans, and she was a sloppy mess in the
sweatpants and t-shirt she’d changed into after her impromptu shower.

Although her throat was back to normal, her eyes were still a bit sore and she’d practically

rubbed her face raw. She’d gotten sprayed before during her training days, something all recruits had
to go through, but that had been a quick mist. The son of a bitch who’d attacked her had dead-on
aimed straight at her face.

“And where are you sleeping?” she asked. The question seemed strangely intimate. Knowing they

were sleeping in the same place...

“In the room right next door. So if you need anything, don’t hesitate to come and get me.”
She let out a soft laugh. “You’d like me to wander into your bedroom in the middle of the night,

wouldn’t you?”

Luke closed the distance between them and set a hand on each of her shoulders. “I want you. I’m

not hiding that. But you had a rough day. You need to rest and relax and heal. And once you’re all
better, then you can come into my bed any time you want, day or night.”

“Fat chance of that happening.” If by fat she meant pretty damn good odds. Hey, maybe taking a

few minutes, or hours, to really enjoy her time alone with him wasn’t the worst idea. Lord knew that
she needed some stress relief after the week she’d had.

“We’ll see,” said Luke confidently as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Michael and Lori are coming over first thing tomorrow morning. We can regroup then and figure out
our next move.”

“Tomorrow is another day,” she said as he moved away and left the bathroom. She followed him

out and looked to the inviting bed. A wave of exhaustion swept over her. “Good night, Luke.”

He stopped in the doorway and gave her one more once-over. “Relax for tonight. Tomorrow,

you’re mine though.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Luke tossed some more cheese in the skillet and stirred up the eggs a bit more when he finally heard
her.

“Oh my goodness,” said Evelyn from behind him. “The only thing that would make this better was

if you were wearing one of those pretty flowery aprons.”

He shot her a sardonic grin over his shoulder and pointed the spatula to the island. “Have a seat.”

He already had an empty plate and glass of orange juice waiting for her. “And don’t get too flattered.
Eggs are the only thing I actually know how to cook.”

“I’ll take it.” She sat down. “Better than my normal protein bar.”
“I figure you deserve something after yesterday. You did put your life on the line for me and all.”

Luke tried his best to remain cheerful, but every time he remembered how close she came to dying, he
was taken over by a barely containable rage. Every bone in his body wanted to take Evelyn to some
remote cabin out in the middle of nowhere where she could be safe and he could take care of
Longineu.

But he had a feeling Evelyn wasn’t the type to sit idly by while he took care of everything. So the

best he could hope for was distracting her long enough to keep her out of more trouble.

“You look refreshed,” he said as she pushed her damp hair to the side and sat down.
“Well, three showers in one day will to that to a girl.”
Luke frowned. “Are your eyes still bothering you?”
“No. I felt pretty much back to normal after the shower here last night.” She held up one of the

drying ringlets of dark hair. “This, however, demands to be washed every morning. Curly hair
problems.”

He smiled at the thick hair he’d become so fond of as the intercom buzzed. Luke switched the

burner to low. “That should be Michael.”

“I love having official meetings in my pajamas,” she muttered before she took a sip of orange

juice.

“I meant to wake you up a while ago, but I figured you needed your rest.” Actually, he’d gone as

far as to enter into her room to wake her. But the sight of her had stopped him cold. She’d obviously
had a restless night. All the covers were kicked onto the floor in one big lump, and her hair was a
sweaty mess around her face. As he watched, her legs kicked out as if even in her sleep she was
fighting off her attacker.

But it wasn’t the first time she’d had to fight for her life. He knew it from reading her file, and

there was visual proof in the small but devastating scar on her upper thigh. The bullet wound that was
the reason for her transfer to New York City in the first place.

After seeing how restless her night had been, Luke hadn’t been able to bring himself to wake her.

She needed every moment of sleep she could get. And now he was grateful he hadn't. She looked
refreshed, almost no hint of redness left in or around her eyes and her damp hair was drying into the
curls he’d become so fond of.

Even though she was in her pajamas, she’d put on her bra, which was a great shame. Her thin,

flimsy top had done almost nothing to hide the beautiful peaks from his gaze last night. And now that
she felt better, he was making it his number two priority to free those breasts to his gaze. Preferably
today.

But number one was making Longineu pay for what he’d done.

Luke scooped some eggs onto her plate and set the skillet down. “Eat,” he ordered. “You’ll need

your strength.”

He could practically feel her glare burn into his back as he left the kitchen to check through the

camera to confirm it was Michael. Once he saw it really was his brother, he hit the button to bring the
elevator to his level.

Luke glanced around the corner and smiled when he verified that Evelyn was eating. Good. She

was stubborn, but at least she wasn’t stupid. The ding of the elevator rang through the apartment and
the doors glided open. Michael and Lori looked decidedly somber.

Damn it. These were supposed to be some of the happiest days in his brother’s life. A whole new

rage snaked through Luke even as he forced a smile. “There’s the happy couple!”

Michael cracked the tiniest grin, but Lori stepped forward and wrapped her arms forcefully

around Luke. “We were so worried about you! I had to physically restrain Michael from coming here
last night!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“No, I bet that was just an excuse to break out the handcuffs though.” Luke winked. “I always

knew you’d be the bitch in the relationship.”

“Luke!” said Lori, while Michael muttered a curse at him under his breath.
There. At least he’d lightened the mood. Sex was always a good way to change the subject, in his

experience. “Come on in. There are eggs and an FBI agent. What more could you want?”

He led them into the kitchen, where Evelyn had stopped eating and stood next to the island.

“Hello, Michael, Lori. I hope your trip was nice.”

“It was.” Michael leaned against the counter on the other side of the island. “I heard you had a

party at your place without us.”

Evelyn’s eyes went wide. “Luke and I were over there for training purposes only!”
“Umm...” muttered Lori. “I think he was talking about the guy who tried to kill you.”
“Oh.” A blush crept up Evelyn’s cheeks. “The murder kind of party.”
Luke turned away to pour himself some coffee as he tried to suppress a laugh.
“So what’s the plan?” asked Michael, never one to mince words. No wonder Evelyn liked him

more than Luke.

“Well, we’ve obviously lost the element of surprise. But not everything is lost. Based off the

information Lori was able to give us from her uncle’s files and computer, we have more leads than
ever. Also we have a full set of prints from the gun we recovered last night, along with some fresh
DNA. As soon as we find him, we have enough to put him away for decades. So if we find him, it
won’t be hard to cut a deal. Like I’ve been saying, all we need is one good witness and some
computer files and we’ll have a case.”

“And what do we need to do to make that happen?” asked Luke.
Evelyn ran a hand through her damp hair. “Well, that’s the easy part. You don’t have to do

anything. I’m here on protective duty for the time being until we can find someone more qualified.
Your family has been a great asset to us, and we intend to make sure that none of this backlash hits
you.”

Luke slammed his hands on the counter. “Like hell! You’re not kicking us out.”
“I’m not kicking you out. That would imply this was your investigation to begin with. But as soon

as we know you’re not targets for Longineu, your business with the FBI will be over.”

And Luke’s relationship with Evelyn. His breath caught in his throat as he kept himself from

banging on the counter again.

“This is good news,” said Michael somberly from behind him. “We’ve done our part. Now let the

FBI do the rest.”

Luke glared over his shoulder at his brother, but his expression softened when he noticed Lori

staring intently at the marble tile on the floor. No wonder Michael was so happy to be done with this.
Lori had been put through the wringer already, between her uncle being murdered and their former
contact within Thirteen Stars trying to kill her. “Do you think the two of you can go out of town again?
I know you just got back, but it’s probably safer...”

“I can work from anywhere with Internet.” Michael looked questioningly at Lori.
“I’m almost out of vacation time, but I can see if I can get an unpaid leave. My new bosses don’t

know about everything, but I told them Ken tried to kill me. I’m sure that if I tell them some of his
associates might be coming after me, they’ll understand.”

Michael met Luke’s gaze and the brothers exchanged a knowing glance. Luke knew that one way

or another, Michael would get Lori out of town. And if she ever needed a job, DevX Tech would
welcome her back, even if she didn’t want to be known as the employee sleeping with the owner of
the company. Hell, if she ended up back at DevX, that would almost make the whole thing worth it. It
was damn hard to find people who knew computers as well as Lori did.

“Grayson had a house in the Rockies that went to my mother,” said Lori. “Michael and I can hole

up there for a week at least. Mom would probably appreciate us taking a look at the place and making
sure it’s in good shape.”

Evelyn nodded. “That would be great. Make sure you tell as few people as possible where you’re

going. We’re thinking that an agent of ours might’ve told the Thirteen Stars who I was, so don’t trust
any agent who’s not me, understand?”

Michael narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure who to be more afraid of—Longineu or your people.”
Luke turned and stood between Evelyn and Michael. “Hey. Evelyn has been working her ass off to

finish this investigation. This isn’t her fault.”

Michael and Lori exchanged a quick glance. “Well, that’s a switch,” muttered Michael.
Luke clenched his jaw. The last Michael had seen, Luke and Evelyn were barely on speaking

terms, and Luke wasn’t about to start explaining what changed. Hell, he didn’t even know what
changed. So maybe Evelyn wasn’t the ice queen he first thought, and he wasn’t the spoiled little rich
boy she’d expected. None of that was Michael’s business for the moment.

“Maybe we should get started on those arrangements.” Lori set a hand on Michael’s arm.
Luke forced himself to calm down and grinned at his brother’s girlfriend. “How did my brother

get so lucky to find you?” Really, he didn’t remember the last time his brother had dated anyone, let
alone someone who seemed to be able to read his moods as well as Lori. Normally he and Michael
would just hash it out in a screaming match and then make up over a bottle of Scotch later. But since
Lori had been around, there hadn’t been any screaming at all. “You need to marry this girl before she
realizes she’s too good for you.”

A red blush crept up Lori’s neck and Evelyn let out a laugh from behind Luke. “You two did not

elope!”

“No!” Lori emphatically shook her head.
“Not yet,” clarified Michael.
Luke glanced between the now incredibly guilty-looking couple. “What’s going on?”
Lori looked back to the ground and Michael set an arm over her shoulders. “We’ve just

been...talking,” he said.

“Talking about eloping,” clarified Luke. “You didn’t think this was important enough to bring up?”

“There wasn’t a good time,” said Lori. “I told him to call you but every time we started talking

about marriage, we’d get...distracted.”

Evelyn made a sudden choking noise and Luke looked back to see her holding a hand over her

mouth. “Sorry,” she choked out through her obvious laughter. “I just inhaled orange juice. You all are
ridiculous.”

Luke shook his head at her and turned back to his brother. “Do what you want, but I need to be

there, understand? And Emma, too. If she doesn’t kill you, she’ll sic her guard dog of a boyfriend on
you.”

“Unless they’re going to get married without you too,” said Evelyn, completely unhelpfully from

behind him.

Lori held up her hands. “We understand! No big decisions without you.”
“Damned right,” he muttered.
“Control freak,” said Evelyn under her breath.
Luke narrowed his eyes at her. “I heard that.”
“I meant for you to,” she said with another serene smile as she drank some more of her juice.
“Umm...” said Lori, interrupting their moment. “We should probably get headed out if you really

think this guy, Longineus—”

“Longineu,” said Evelyn and Luke at the same time.
“Longineu,” clarified Lori, “is coming after us.”
Evelyn nodded. “I can’t say for sure, but better safe than sorry.”
Michael pushed away from the counter and led Lori back to the door. “I’ll call Emma and make

sure she knows about the changes in the situation.”

“And I’ll update Jace,” said Evelyn.
Luke wasn’t Jace’s biggest fan, but damn if it didn’t make him feel better to know that the former

SEAL was looking out for his little cousin.

He finished up good-byes with Michael and Lori, and in the next few moments, he was alone with

Evelyn again. She turned back and padded to the kitchen, where she started to scoop out another
serving of eggs. A rush of pride filled him. She might not like him all that much, but she liked his
cooking. Ladies couldn’t resist the added cheese.

“So how exactly do you know Jace?” Luke sat on the stool next to hers.
“You read my file. Shouldn’t you know everything about me?”
“Funny thing about your file. Now, I have contacts. Lots of contacts really high up in the

Department of Defense. Yet no one could get me a file that didn’t have your military record redacted.”

“At least there’s still some privacy in government.” She winked. “And I think the fact that it’s

redacted and you know I worked with Jace should tell you everything you need to know about my
military time.”

“Yes, but—”
“And it should tell you not to ask questions that I can’t answer.”
He nodded in defeat. “Fine. No more questions about your terrifying past.”
“Awww,” she said condescendingly as she sat down next to him. “You’re safe with me. Don’t

worry.”

He rolled his eyes at her teasing. “You must be really pissed then.”
“I’m normally pissed about something. Care to be more specific?”
“The guy in your apartment last night. He got the jump on you. That’s never happened to you, has

it?”

“Oh, it’s happened. Just not often. And yes, I’m pissed. The son of a bitch pepper sprayed me. I

had him and he took a coward’s way out.”

“I didn’t realize pepper spray was for cowards.”
“I almost had him.”
“You’ll get him,” promised Luke. “I’ll throw all my resources behind the search. We’ll bring this

guy down and Longineu in the process.”

“No. You’ll keep your head down and out of the way. You do your job of wining and dining all the

big-time clients of DevX and I will do the criminal catching, okay?”

“Technically, our biggest contract is with the government. So, me helping you catch Longineu

would be a good way of keeping ourselves in the FBI’s good graces.”

Evelyn rubbed her temples. “I keep forgetting how much money we throw at you. Are my tax

dollars paying for this place?” She motioned around her at the lavish apartment.

“Maybe for the bathroom.” He winked. “The FBI actually doesn’t use our software. The Pentagon

and a few branches of the Army do, and that’s a pretty damn big chunk of people. Keeps us on our
toes.”

She tilted her orange juice glass toward him. “Well, thank you for keeping our country safe from

behind a computer screen.”

“And thank you for keeping our country safe from behind a gun.” He set a hand on her knee. He

didn’t know why he did it. Touching her just seemed natural. Right.

And for some reason, Evelyn didn’t remove his hand. She glanced down where he touched her

bare leg exposed by the pajama shorts. His fingers weren’t too high on her thigh and there was
nothing overtly sexual about the touch.

But somehow everything he did around Evelyn turned sexual. Every look she gave, every time she

laughed at one of his jokes—which was rather difficult considering she was a tougher critic than most
of the people around him—it was like an electrical charge would fill the room.

It had always been that way, now that he thought about it. Somehow they’d put all that energy into

hating each other before. But now that he’d spent more time with her, it was clear that what he thought
was a mutual hatred before was actually just a really, really intense chemistry. A chemistry he had
never experienced before.

And Luke had thought he was an expert on chemistry.
“Are you planning on getting out of town too?” she asked, still not removing his hand.
“I think that would be best,” he said carefully. “With my FBI escort, of course.”
“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “So where are we going?”
“I don’t want to go too far. I have a place in the Hamptons. It’s off-season right now, but we can

still escape there for a few days. I can have Cali reschedule all my meetings that need to be in person
and call into the rest.”

“Sounds good. I have my boss looking into who at the FBI gave Longineu my information. He’s

discreetly following up on a few leads.”

“Any ideas?”
“One. I don’t know many people at the New York Bureau, but there was one woman who seemed

to go out of her way to make me comfortable. I’m starting to wonder if maybe it wasn’t my charming
personality that won her over.” She pulled her knee out from under his hand, and he could see the
tension creep into her shoulders.

“It might not be her.” Luke had no idea what to say in a case like this, but it was obvious that

Evelyn didn’t want this woman to be the one giving information to Longineu.

“We’ll know for sure when we pull her bank records. Back in Texas, this was my job, you know.

Sniffing out dirty cops. For some stupid reason, I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with it here. That I
could let my guard down. Should’ve remembered that corruption isn’t solely around the Mexican
border.”

“And yet you still want to go back?” asked Luke.
“At least there I know the rules. Rich bad, poor good.”
“Really?”
“Only the bribed cops are the ones driving the fancy cars. The good ones all get shot.”
“Like you.”
“Like me.”
“Maybe it’s time for a change,” he said. “New York needs good agents.” He didn’t know what he

was talking about. If Evelyn hated the city, who was he to ask her to stay? But he didn’t want to think
about the idea of her leaving. Especially not after solving this case. Because he wanted Longineu to
pay, but he didn’t want him getting what he wanted to coincide with something else he wanted leaving
the state.

“I have a confession.” Evelyn turned to face him.
Luke took advantage of their newfound closeness and set both hands on her knees, testing her new

boundaries. “I love confessions. Is it sexy?”

She didn’t move his hands. “Not sexy. Stupid. The woman who I’m suspicious of—Gail—before

yesterday, I trusted her. And since you’re important to this investigation and Longineu saw me in your
office, I had Gail tail you.”

“You were worried about me?”
“Worried about the investigation,” she clarified. “So basically, there’s a chance that I had a dirty

agent follow you last night.”

“Oh, that is a juicy confession.” Luke leaned forward. “I’m going to make you pay for that one.”
Evelyn leaned in just the slightest bit, and Luke held his breath. If she kissed him, there would be

no stopping this time. He’d carry her right up to his bedroom and not let her leave until he’d made her
orgasm at least three times. She’d be screaming his name until her voice was raw...

“You’re not going to go easy on me?”
“Not in the slightest,” he warned.
“Ass,” she said with a smile as she jumped off her stool, breaking the moment.
Shit. Cold shower for one, coming up.
“I have to make some calls. How soon will you be ready to leave?”
“Just have to shower and pack,” he called as she turned the corner out of the kitchen.
“Meet you down here in an hour!”
Just a few more hours, he promised himself. Then they’d be alone for days in his secluded

Hamptons cottage. And then he could do whatever he wanted with her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Evelyn was in over her head. She tapped her pen repeatedly on the notebook in front of her as the
scenery outside passed by. Luke was at the wheel of his Pagani Zonda and for some reason felt the
need to drive at breakneck speeds down the highway.

Maybe it was a natural New York complex. So much time was spent being in stop-and-go traffic

or waiting for a subway—not that Luke ever rode the subway—that when they finally did get out of
the city, they needed to get some of their speed demons out.

But that didn’t make the eighty-five miles an hour he was going legal. Or less terrifying. “You do

know I carry a gun, right?” she asked as he passed a driver going the perfectly normal speed limit.

“I have a lot of things to get done today.”
“And you will get them done a lot faster if you’re alive,” she pointed out.
He glared at her from over his sunglasses but lifted his foot off the gas just a bit.
“There you go. Happy?”
“I’m happy I’m not dead. Besides, there are eggs in the back. Please don’t ruin my chance of

having a pancake breakfast,” she said. They’d stopped at a grocery store outside of the city to pick up
supplies to stock the mostly empty cabinets of his Hamptons home. She looked back to her empty
notebook. There was nothing she could do without her laptop at the moment, but it made her feel
better to have something in front of her.

“You won’t have to deal with my driving much longer.”
“Good.” Evelyn let out a deep sigh and looked out the window. Just a short drive until she and

Luke were trapped together alone in his cozy little cottage. Of course, cozy for Luke was probably
over four thousand square feet.

But she couldn’t pretend she didn’t know what was going to happen there. The kiss at her

apartment. The affectionate way he’d said goodnight. The touching in his kitchen that morning. No.
When they got to the Hamptons, Luke wasn’t going to stop with a chaste kiss, and Evelyn didn’t think
she would try to stop him.

One last hurrah before going back to Texas. Or maybe multiple hurrahs before going back to

Texas. The whole thing seemed so...certain. But wholly inconvenient.

She’d had a one-night stand before. An agent in from out of town for a week. They’d hit it off,

gone back to his place, and after a good time, she’d slipped out at three in the morning and never
spoken of it again. Neat and over. She had a feeling whatever she was getting into with Luke would
be messy and definitely last longer than one night.

“Did you tell Cali where we were going? I would hate for all this to mess with you running the

company.”

“Not yet. She was off on her romantic weekend, so I’m trying to not mess things up for her. But

Monday morning she’ll have the wonderful surprise of rearranging my whole schedule.”

“Give her the weekend and screw her over Monday? Nice.”
“I know Cali. If I tell her now, she’ll spend half the day working. And once she gets started

rearranging the schedule, she’ll see something else that needs to be done. She’s a workaholic. Which I
love about her, but I don’t want to destroy her life. And...” He trailed off, and glanced around the
road.

“And what?”

“She already wants to leave. If I mess up her work-life balance any more, I don’t think I can hold

onto her much longer.”

“Luke Devereaux being possessive? I don’t believe it.”
“Good help is hard to find. If I can keep her with me for another year, I’ll take it.”
“Well, she seems to like you for some strange reason. So you’ve got that going for you.”
“Life was much easier when women weren’t ambitious.” Luke shot her a look to see her reaction.
“Oh, come on. Women were always ambitious. We just used to have to pretend we weren’t. Or

convince the menfolk that it was their idea.”

“I guess I can’t fight you on that one. Lord help the man who ends up with you whispering in his

ear.”

“Well, I talk dirty, so I haven’t had many complaints.” The second she said the words, she wished

she’d kept her mouth shut. As though Luke needed any opening to talk about sex.

And from the way he suddenly clenched the steering wheel, she had a feeling he hadn’t missed her

slipup. “You talk dirty?”

“No! I was just talking out of my ass,” she quickly clarified. “Really, I didn’t mean anything...”
“Maybe you just need someone to teach you how to do it then,” said Luke in a deep, husky voice.
Evelyn fidgeted in her seat, her jeans suddenly seeming too tight and the car too hot. She wasn’t

sure whether she wanted Luke to turn around and hightail it back to the city or whether she wanted
him to drive faster.

She looked out the window and took a deep breath. Maybe it would be best if she could just keep

her mouth shut for the rest of the drive. Hell, the rest of the weekend.

An hour later, Luke pulled into the driveway of his Hamptons cottage. Dark, fall skies didn’t

detract from the beauty of the beach and waves crashing on the shore. As pretty as it was, Evelyn
couldn’t stop staring at the perfect little blue house. “This isn’t what I expected,” she said as she
headed up the steps to the wooden, wraparound porch.

“Expecting a mansion?” Luke took the steps two at a time to beat her to the door and unlock it.
“Well, I hate to sound spoiled, but it’s rather shocking that your apartment in one of the most

crowded places in the country is bigger than this.”

“My father bought this place right when he started making money. Not even he knew back then

how big things were going to get. We’ve fixed the place up a few times over the years, but we
couldn’t bring ourselves to make it any bigger. This was my father’s gift to himself and he loved it as
is. I have some good memories of coming out here back in my college days.”

“Still bigger than my place,” she said as he held the door open for her.
The inside was the same upscale nautical theme as the outside. The front door opened to a living

room that took up the entire right side of the house and was filled with natural light from the picture
window that faced the beach. The walls were adorned with decorative anchors and a few other
pieces of boat memorabilia, mostly blues and whites but with a touch of red here and there.

“It’s very charming.” She set her bag on the floor next to the couch and turned back to face Luke.
“Beautiful.” But Luke wasn’t looking at the cottage. He was looking straight at Evelyn.
“Flattery?”
“Truth.” And then he closed the distance between them, cupped her face between his palms and

kissed her.

Evelyn didn’t think about fighting him. She’d known from the second she’d gone back to his

apartment last night that this would happen. And, Lord help her, she didn’t want to fight him.

She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her body into his,

trying to feel every inch of him. He angled his head to kiss her deeper, his tongue teasing hers, and she
was suddenly overcome. She’d waited too long for this. No more waiting.

Her fingers twisted in his shirt and pulled it up, breaking the kiss so she could pull it over his

head, revealing his toned chest and abs. Abs that she could touch now. No pretenses. No one about to
walk in and interrupt.

She skimmed the planes and ridges with the tips of her fingers, and her breath caught in her throat.

Luke tilted her chin up and gave her another devastating kiss as he pulled at her shirt, reaching
beneath it to spread his hands on the bare skin of her back. She gasped into his mouth at the sudden
contact.

And he caught her gasp with his mouth before he moved to kiss along her jaw and down the

sensitive cords of her neck, nipping her softly at the base before soothing the sting with his tongue.

Her moan seemed to set him off as he pulled her shirt off in one quick motion. He moved forward,

pushing her back until her thighs hit the back of the couch, and he lifted her to sit at the edge. She
wrapped her legs around his waist as he cupped her breasts, clad only in her black lace bra.

He pushed her breasts together, kissing the top of one, and then the other, before moving the cups

down so the taut peaks were exposed. As though she had no control over herself, Evelyn arched her
back, wordlessly telling him exactly what she wanted him to do.

And he obliged, taking one nipple in his mouth as his fingers caressed the other one with just the

tips of his fingers.

Abruptly, he pulled away. He gripped her ass tightly as he pulled her up against his hard erection

and carried her out of the living room. He kicked a door open with his foot and the rest of the room
was a blur as he crossed to the bed and set her down.

Without waiting for him, Evelyn undid the button on her jeans and pushed them along with her

panties over her hips. Luke was there to meet her, but he took his time pulling off the hard denim. He
slowly pulled the material lower, kissing along the exposed thigh as he moved down, pausing to lick
the delicate skin right along the side of her knee.

He pulled off her shoes and then the jeans, and she was completely bared to his gaze. But it was

impossible to feel self-conscious when a man like Luke looked at her the way he was. As if she were
the first woman he’d ever seen. As if she were made of gold or some other priceless artifact.

Then his hands were on her knees and spread her for his view. Her breath caught in her throat as

he sat up on his knees, kissing the inside of her legs again, except this time, he was going up. As he
trailed the kisses higher, sometimes nipping, sometimes kissing, he hooked her leg over his shoulder
as he spread her wet folds.

She had to bite her lip to keep from moaning as he slipped his fingers into her tender flesh, as his

tongue stroked over her sensitive clit. Her hips bucked, but his free hand held her down as he kept on
with the sensual torture, alternating between driving her higher with his fingers and mouth.

She reached down to run her fingers through his hair, not sure whether she was pulling him closer

or pushing him away. It was so hard to think straight when it felt as though her entire body was
burning.

And then she was on fire. The orgasm crashed into her, deep waves of pleasure washing over her.

Her head fell back and she allowed herself to savor the moment.

When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, Luke was standing and pulling off his jeans. She

held her breath as his erection sprung free. Her body craved him inside her. Filling her.

She bit her lip to keep from begging him to come back to bed as he kicked off his jeans and bent to

pull out a condom from the back pocket. As he rolled it over his hard cock, she was half convinced he
was taking his time just to tease her.

Finally, she gave up on being proud. “Luke,” she breathed. “Please. I need this.”
He smiled as he looked down at her. “You need me?”
“I need you,” she admitted, her hand held out to him.
He climbed up her body, pushing her farther onto the bed as his blazing hot skin touched hers all

over. “I need you too, baby,” he said as his mouth crashed down on hers. As his tongue plundered her
mouth, he settled between her thighs, his erection pressing against her core as her feet stroked the
back of his legs, encouraging him to move.

But before he gave her what she wanted so badly, he pulled away, pushing her hair out of her

eyes, and stared down at her.

“What are you waiting for?” she snapped as the desire reached a record high.
“Well, someone told me that you liked to talk dirty in bed, and I have yet to hear anything dirty

come out of that sexy mouth of yours.”

She was going to kill him. Fuck him first, but there was definitely going to be killing too. “Are

you kidding?”

“Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.” He pressed the head of his cock against her clit as

a form of erotic bribery.

“I’m not doing this now,” she warned.
He smiled down at her. “I can’t think of a better time to talk dirty.”
Evelyn pushed herself up just enough to brush her lips against his. “Please, Luke. Fuck me. I need

you inside me so bad. Please fill my—”

He thrust inside in one long, sure stroke. She groaned at the sudden sensation. He was big and it

had been too long since she’d been with a man. He remained still for a few moments, allowing her to
adjust. Then he pulled almost all the way out and thrust again. Evelyn’s fingers bit into Luke’s back as
he started to move. All sign of playfulness in him was gone. He seemed wholly transfixed by her as
he kissed her forehead and then started to move in fast, powerful strokes.

All she could do was hold on as a new wave of pleasure crashed over her. He braced himself on

one arm while his free hand slid under her ass to hold her in place for his pistoning hips.

The friction of his skin moving against hers added to her arousal, and when she lifted one knee

higher, opening herself as wide as possible to him, that was the last straw. A second orgasm hit her,
and this time, she screamed.

Luke pumped into her faster and harder until his own orgasm erupted. He buried his face into her

neck as he came, holding her close as he shuddered his release.

Evelyn came back to reality slowly, trying to catch her breath as she ran her hands over Luke’s

muscular back, taking a moment to savor the feel of him in her arms.

Luke let out a little laugh against her skin and she feathered her fingers through his hair. “What’s

so funny?” she breathed.

“Just thinking...”
“Oh no. Luke Devereaux thinking. That’s never a good sign.”
He gave her hip a playful swat.
She gave a mock surprised sound. “Fine, fine! Sorry. What were you thinking about?”
He pushed himself up to look down at her. “I was thinking that this was the best house tour I’ve

ever given.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Luke rolled over and reached for Evelyn, like he had done plenty of times in the night, but this time
her warm, naked body wasn’t there. He felt around on the empty sheets, but all he felt was cold
emptiness.

He opened his eyes and confirmed that he was alone in the bedroom. Damn it. He knew the night

would have to end at some point, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

Groaning, he rubbed a hand over his eyes. The sun was shining brightly through the window, but

he didn’t feel as if he’d slept in. Granted, he’d been in bed for over twelve hours, but he’d been
awake for most of it.

Awake and fulfilling all the fantasies that had relentlessly played in his head for the past few

weeks. Even thinking about the things he and Evelyn had done the night before had his cock hard and
eager again. Greedy bastard.

After last night, he should be out of commission for a week at least. Not already wanting more. If

he’d thought that once he had a taste of Evelyn that would be enough, he’d apparently been wrong.
Very, very wrong.

But they were here for the weekend at least. Maybe he could even stretch it out for a whole week.

Her boss, Hotchins, had seemed well and intimidated by Luke during their brief conversation in
Evelyn’s apartment. Luke had enough connections that were well over Hotchins’s head that he had
reason to be worried. He could work to keep Evelyn as his own personal protection for as long as he
could.

But after that? After this was all done? She wanted to go back to Texas. She’d been very vocal

about that. And it wasn’t as if he wanted anything long term, so he should be happy. A week of great,
no-strings-attached sex. That was his dream.

So why was he so pissed at the idea?
“Hey sleepyhead.” Evelyn poked her head in the doorway. “Get your lazy ass up. I made

pancakes.”

“You cook? I’m shocked, Agent Price.”
“And for that remark, you can eat the ones I burned. Come on.”
He sat up, pulling the sheet off and rubbing his eyes one last time. “I’m coming.”
“That’s what he said,” she called as she disappeared from the doorway.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he stared at the spot she just vacated. He might be in serious trouble.
He pulled on a pair of jeans, but decided to go shirtless. He knew how much Evelyn liked him

without, and at this moment, making Evelyn happy was his priority.

He padded out into the kitchen. The setup was old-fashioned, with white cabinets and appliances

in a galley that led to a small eat-in section with a wooden table and four chairs. A large window next
to the table overlooked the ocean. There were also tables and chairs on the wraparound porch, but it
was too cold to eat outside. Maybe in the afternoon when the sun was high in the sky, he and Evelyn
could take a walk along the beach.

Sure, it was corny, but he’d love to see Evelyn against the backdrop of the crashing waves with

the wind blowing through her dark curls. Actually, they probably wouldn’t even make it off the
property line before he was dragging her back to the bedroom.

He smiled at the thought as he took a seat at the table. A plate of pancakes waited for him. She

must’ve been up for a while. She’d found some mismatched plates for the two of them to use. Some

butter and syrup was also on the table. She picked up his glass and carried it to the kitchen. “We have
water or milk. Any preference?”

“Milk.” He leaned back. “I could get used to you waiting on me.”
“Don’t,” she warned. “This is only fair after you made breakfast yesterday.” She poured him his

milk and brought it back to the table, but her normal sultry walk was stunted, replaced with a limp.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Was I too rough last night?” He never even considered her injury. She never

mentioned it or complained in all the time he’d known her. But of course her leg would be sensitive.
Damn it. He should’ve paid more attention.

“No,” she assured him. “This isn’t you. It’s a low pressure system moving in. Didn’t you know?

Getting shot makes you a weatherman.” She set his glass down and took her seat across from him.

He picked up the syrup and doused his pancakes. “I always thought that was an exaggeration.”
“So did I, to be honest. But when it’s about to rain, it tends to hurt a little more than normal.”
“You walk so well on it normally. It’s like it never happened.”
She let out a sad laugh. “I wish. I try really hard to make sure no one can tell. It’s a weakness, and

where I come from, weaknesses are exploited.”

“From Texas?”
“From the border.”
He took his first bite of pancakes and moaned. “Damn, these are good.”
“They should taste good. They’re soaked in butter. It’s my secret weapon.”
“Good choice in weapon.” He shoved more into his mouth. After he was done chewing, he

washed it down with more milk. “So how did you end up in border work?”

“I wanted to make a difference. To make the bad people pay. I have Hispanic heritage and speak

Spanish, so it was easy enough to get my original transfer in.”

“Isn’t Puerto Rican Spanish different from Mexican Spanish?”
“It’s like someone from New York trying to speak to someone in Ireland. The words are mostly

the same, but very different dialects.”

He took a breath and finally asked the question he’d been holding back since he’d first had his

government contact run a background check on her. “So how did it happen?”

“I thought you knew.”
“More information redacted. You should see the amount of black highlighter in your file.”
“If I tell you, will you show me that file? I’d be interested to see what Uncle Sam thinks about

me.”

“They think you’re amazing. But deal.”
She bit her lip and looked down. “I was transporting a witness from the police station to a safe

house. Somehow they found out and attacked the car. I was t-boned while crossing an intersection.
They hit the passenger side, which was probably the one thing that saved me. Once the car was
incapacitated, they started shooting. The witness was in the backseat, so that’s where most of the fire
was aimed. It was a stray bullet that went into my leg. And, for the record, when people call a bullet
wound a flesh wound in the movies and then get up and kick ass for the next twenty minutes, that’s not
realistic. This flesh wound did some serious damage to the muscle. Took months of physical therapy
for me to walk normally again. I’m still limited the amount of running I can do. It’s why there are so
many weights in my apartment. I need to keep my muscles strong and working well. At least, if I want
to get back.”

“And the witness?”

She shrugged, but he could tell from her somber expression that the whole thing had affected her

deeply. “He didn’t make it. I was able to fire off a few rounds. Hit a few of them too, but they were
gone just as quick as they came. I think from start to finish, it was over in two minutes. Hard to tell.”

“You’re lucky to be alive.”
“Lucky,” she scoffed. “I hate luck.”
“Sorry. I guess it was bad luck that got you into the whole mess to begin with.”
“No. Luck implies that you’re not in control. Pinned down in the front seat. Unable to move with

only twelve rounds of ammo to protect myself with. I don’t like luck.”

“How did they know you were transporting the witness then and there?” he asked, even though he

had a feeling he knew the answer.

“Same reason Longineu knew where I was staying. Knew who I was. One of my own people told

him.”

“Did you find out who it was?”
Evelyn met his eyes. “Not officially.”
“Unofficially?”
“I had a few of my old coworkers pay him a visit for me.”
“Old coworkers like Jace?”
“Now there’s some luck.” She smiled.
“How so?”
“If I had been well enough to pay the bastard a visit myself, he would’ve gotten a lot worse than

one convenient car crash into that tree. But at least I can walk again.”

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
Evelyn’s face fell. “Damn. I forgot that you’re normal. Did I just freak you out?”
Luke stood and walked around the table to kneel in front of her. He set his hands on her knees, like

he’d done back in his apartment, but this time he raised them higher and ran his palms along the
outside of her thighs until one of his hands rested over the now healed bullet wound. “Evelyn,” he
breathed. “If anyone tries to hurt you again...FBI, Longineu, cartels, anyone...I’ll kill them myself.”

She set her hand over his. “That’s the scariest and sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” The

corner of her mouth twisted up.

“Well, that’s what happens when girls make me pancakes. I become their slave for life.”
“Slave, like normal stuff? Or slave like sex stuff?”
“When it comes to you, I prefer the sex stuff.” He winked.
She stroked a finger down his cheek. “Oh, the things I could do with you.”
“We have time. Make a list and I’ll let you do whatever you want to my body.”
Her eyes darkened with desire and his cock was rock hard. “Evelyn?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Those pancakes will microwave okay, right?”
“They microwave fantastically.”
He gathered her in his arms and she held on with her arms around his shoulders and legs around

his waist.

“Good,” he whispered. “Because I’m suddenly not hungry for food anymore.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“What did you see in Gail’s bank statements?” asked Evelyn, feeling half guilty for even asking the
question.

“It was like you thought. There was a ten thousand dollar wire transfer into her account on Friday

morning. We’re still trying to track down the source, but that was enough to get a warrant for a wire
on her cell phone,” said Hotchins over the phone.

“Shit,” said Evelyn under her breath. She’d suspected but really hoped she’d been wrong. “Does

she know you’re suspicious?”

“Not that I can tell, but recently turned agents tend to think everyone suspects them. I’m trying

really hard not to spook her until we have something concrete.”

Evelyn thought back to Gail’s apartment. The tiny space where she’d raised three boys. The

pictures on the walls of the loving family, all smiling for the camera. What would they do if their
mother was arrested? “Why now? Do you think she’s been taking bribes for longer?”

“We don’t know anything for sure. But her youngest just went off to college. Those bills aren’t

cheap these days.”

“Have you ever had this happen before?” Evelyn didn’t remember hearing any reports of dirty

agents in the New York white-collar division, but it wasn’t something the agency liked to brag about.

“Not under me, personally. I’ve known Gail for a long time and this is...hard. But we’ll figure it

out. But we can’t assume she’s the only one. Are you being careful out there? If anything happens to
Luke, his brother will not take it lightly.”

Screw Michael. If anything happened to Luke, she wouldn’t take it lightly. “An agent I used to

work with in Texas set me up with an IP address. If anyone tries to track our locations based off of
emails or Skype conversations, they’ll think we’re in the middle of nowhere Montana. You’re the only
one I’ve called using a phone.”

“And Luke hasn’t told anyone where he is?” asked Hotchins.
Evelyn tried not to be offended. Sure, Hotchins hadn’t worked with her long, but she still wished

he gave her a bit more credit. “I’ve been making sure he’s been discreet. Cali might know where we
are, but she’s the only one, and we thoroughly vetted her back when we first started working with the
Devereauxs. So we should be safe here for the time being. But this won’t last long. Michael and Luke
need to be back in the city eventually. Do you think we can bring in Longineu any time soon? I feel
like I should be doing something, but I’m limited out here.”

There was a silence on the other end, and Evelyn didn’t take that as a good sign. “We’re working

on it,” said Hotchins finally. “All we need to do is get him to talk, but we need to have something on
him first. We have plenty of proof of affairs, but I have a feeling his wife already knows, so that’s not
good enough. We know Joslyn Devereaux was able to convince him she had sensitive information that
had him scared, but she refuses to talk to us without a lawyer, and even with the lawyer trying to
convince her to cut a deal, she’s keeping quiet.”

And considering how self-serving Joslyn Devereaux was, that probably meant she was scared.

“Grayson was their banker and he had something that spooked them. The answer has to be in the
financials. Just keep digging. Follow all the trails. If we run into something that looks like a dead end,
keep digging. We’ll find it. No one can commit this type of financial fraud and not leave any digital
footprint in this day and age. Get every CPA we can to dig through bank statements, tax returns,
everything. We need to catch Longineu and we need to catch him yesterday.”

“You do know I give the orders, right?” asked Hotchins, a bit of amusement in his voice.
“You do know I’m alone in a cottage with an annoyed Luke Devereaux, right? He’s not happy.”

Well, that was slightly an exaggeration. But if name-dropping would motivate Hotchins to throw all
available money and resources into this, then she was going to name-drop.

“Consider it done,” said Hotchins. “Are you two okay up there? I’d send more agents so you can

get some relief, but...”

“The fewer people who know our location, the better. Keep me updated on what you find. Let me

know if I can help on my end. I’m limited, but not useless.”

“Trust me. If I can use you, I will.”
“Thanks for your help, Hotchins,” she said honestly. It was nice to know she wasn’t alone on the

case.

“Take care of yourself,” he said. “And, for the love of God, take care of Devereaux. I don’t want

a lawsuit after this.”

“I’m taking care of him the best I can,” she assured him. If only he knew exactly how well she

was taking care of him.

He said one more good-bye before he hung up. Evelyn wrapped her sweater more tightly around

her as a gust of wind whipped through the porch, tangling her hair and chilling her more than the
sunshine and beach suggested.

Luke stepped out onto the porch next to her. “Are things progressing in New York?”
“Eavesdropping is rude,” pointed out Evelyn.
“It’s also very smart at times. Depends on the situation.”
She tilted her head in agreement. He wasn’t wrong. She glanced out over the water, squinting at

the bright sun reflected on the waves. After the rainy weekend, this was the first day that the sun had
come out. It was a breath of fresh air, literally, after her months in the city. Texas didn’t have views
like this. The cold air was refreshing and invigorating. Even in the winter, the Texas heat was enough
to settle heavy in her lungs. Maybe New York wasn’t all bad. Just the city.

But she supposed Luke didn’t have all the troubles she did. He never had to wait forty minutes for

a seat, even at a less desirable restaurant, to open. He didn’t deal with the space limitations that she
had to make work in her apartment. Except for traffic. Even the rich had to deal with the crappy
traffic.

“What are you thinking?” asked Luke.
“Thinking about how spoiled you are.” She smiled.
“Are you going to hate me again? I thought we were over that.”
“I’m not going to hate you again.”
Luke set his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close as they looked out over the ocean

together. “Good.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“But I’m totally going to judge you,” she said with a wicked smile. “And maybe make fun of you.”
“Classist.”
“Got that right,” she said, unashamed.
“I wasn’t always like this, you know.”
“You always had money.”
“Wasn’t raised that way. My father and uncle tried to keep us as grounded as possible.”
“Back in Georgia?”
“Yep. We were as normal as the South gets down there. Michael and I played football. Went

hunting in the fall. Would sneak out back and shoot cans on the property when we were probably too

young.”

“Jock,” she muttered.
“There’s really no making you happy, is there? Well, what about this. Michael, Rourke, and I

would drag out the tent and walk for hours to find some secluded spot on the property to set up camp
and we’d make our own fire and everything.”

“Why don’t you talk to Rourke?” she asked.
“I thought you knew why.”
“I know what happened. But you and Michael are so close. Emma too. I don’t really have much

family. It seems a shame to have a brother you used to do so much with who you don’t speak to.”

He stiffened next to her. It was a touchy subject obviously, but she’d shared her secrets with him.

It only seemed fair that she could pry a bit.

“It’s not my choice.”
“It’s your choice not to reach out.”
“I did. I tried.”
She tightened her lips but forced herself to stay quiet. Luke was one of the most stubborn,

persistent men she’d ever met. If he really wanted, he’d push down the doors of wherever Rourke
was staying and force him to reconcile.

“The thing is,” said Luke finally, “if the roles were reversed, and Rourke had done to me what I

did to him, I’d never talk to me again either.”

“So your guilt is keeping you away.”
Luke abruptly swooped down for a deep, hungry kiss. His lips moved against hers, his tongue just

brushing the seam of her lips until she opened for him. Evelyn closed her eyes and let herself fall into
the kiss for a brief moment before she pulled away. “You’re changing the subject.”

“I’m changing it to a better subject.” His hands roamed down her back and rested at her hips.

“Now it’s getting cold out here. I just had my last work call of the day. So why don’t you come inside
and help warm me up?”

“You going to start a fire?”
“I was thinking shower.”
“I always heard shower sex sounds better than it actually is.”
Luke grinned down at her. “Well, that’s because you never had it with me. Now I’m going to go

get the water warm. You meet me in the bathroom in ten minutes, completely naked, and I’ll show you
exactly how good it can be.”

“Challenge accepted.” Evelyn pushed him away. “I’ll see you in ten.”
“Or less. Really, as soon as you want,” he said as he disappeared in the house.
Even the chill of the setting sun couldn’t detract from the heat that rushed through her veins. She’d

had so many orgasms this weekend, it was as though her body was hyper aware of Luke at this point.
It took everything in her to keep from running straight into the shower with him, but she forced herself
to wait.

Let herself pretend that she still had some measure of control.
She probably lasted five minutes. Then she was inside and stripping as she walked. Her sweater

was left on the back of the couch. She left her shoes in the door to the bedroom. Her blouse and tank
top came off together and landed on the bed. And she stripped off her leggings at the door to the
bathroom.

Luke was in his naked glory, adjusting the temperature, when he turned and saw her leaning

against the doorjamb in her white bra and panties. Not technically a set, but in Evelyn’s book, same

color counted as a set. And judging from the sudden heat in Luke’s eyes, he didn’t mind.

“I was promised an erotic shower.”
“Get over here,” he ordered and she followed. Who could say no to that command?
She fell into his arms, and she moaned at the feel of his naked body against hers. The skin to skin.

He felt warm and hard and secure. His fingers wrapped in her hair, and he tilted her head to access
her neck. He started with her ear, nibbling and sucking, the sensations shooting through her body.

Her breathing kicked up as he moved lower, along the cords of her neck, and delicately licked her

collarbone. He bit the top of her bra strap and pulled it over her shoulder, lowering the other one with
his hand.

She let her eyes fall closed as she soaked in the erotic sensations: the feel of his body against

hers, his hands on her back, his breath on her neck as he kissed her there again, then her collarbone,
and then the valley between her breasts.

“Luke,” she breathed as he lowered one of her bra cups enough to lightly bite at the taut peak

before soothing it.

But instead of giving her more like she wanted, he pulled away. “I think the water is warm enough

now.”

She forced her eyes open and saw him standing there in all his beauty, erection standing taut and

proud. After the first night, they’d stopped using the condoms. She hadn’t been with a man in ages and
knew she was clean and on birth control. Luke hadn’t been quite as saintly, but said he used
protection for any affair that wasn’t serious. And pretty much all of his weren’t serious. Not to
mention she’d seen his personal health files. One of the perks of being with the FBI was invading
privacy.

For a moment, she imagined what he would look like in the shower, with warm rivulets of water

caressing over his shoulders, chest, abs, and lower...

“Okay.” She nodded as she removed her bra and panties.
Luke opened the glass door of the shower and stepped in, under the water. It was just like

Evelyn’s fantasies come to life... When he held out a hand to her, she couldn’t imagine ever turning
this man away. It was as if he had cast some sort of strange spell over her that turned her into a sex-
crazed nymph, and for some reason she didn’t even care.

She took his hand and he pulled her inside. Their heads were clear of the spray, but from the neck

down, she was confronted with the heat of the water on her side and back, while Luke’s heat caressed
her from the front.

He caged her head between his big hands and gave her a devastating kiss. His tongue tangled with

hers as he inserted a foot between her legs until his thigh was pressed up against her core.

Instinctively, she rubbed against him. Needing some sort of friction. A small shudder raced

through her as the sensations between her lips and clit battled within her. She let out a small moan and
rubbed against him again, harder.

He laughed softly into her mouth. “Going somewhere without me?”
She tried to smile up at him, but she was too over-sensitized to work one up. But she still had

enough sense to give a smart-ass remark. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

“Oh really? Well, I’m the only one giving you orgasms for tonight.”
“If it’s your leg, it still counts, right?”
“That’s it.” He twisted her around until she was looking at the teal and white tiles. He guided her

hands until they braced her against the wall at eye level. Then he skimmed his hands down the sides
of her breasts, waist, and then her ass.

She caught her breath at the sudden vulnerability. She couldn’t see him. All she could do was wait

for his next movement. The next time he decided to touch her...

“Spread your legs for me,” he whispered into her ear.
Without hesitation, she widened her stance and was immediately rewarded as Luke’s body came

flush with hers. “Good girl,” he murmured as he reached around her. His hand ran over her belly and
through the curls at the juncture of her thighs. And then he found her clit.

Evelyn jerked in his arms at the sudden sensation, pleasure shooting through her like a lightning

bolt. But he didn’t stop. He pushed two fingers deep within her as he flicked her clit again. She
closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cool tile as the steam from the water seemed to
encase them in their own little cocoon.

He didn’t give her any leniency. He kept working at her, rubbing in just the right way until her

entire being seemed to be one tight bundle of nerves waiting for release...

Then the orgasm hit her. Her back arched and she pressed her ass against his cock as the moan

escaped her lips. As the aftershocks quaked through her, Luke angled her hips and thrust inside in one
long, sure motion.

Her hands balled to fists, but she kept them against the tile. He wrapped one arm around her

breasts for leverage as the other one went right back to her oversensitive clit. He wasn’t about to give
her any break.

He started to move within her, and she let her head fall back against him. Everything felt so

good...the water, his body, his touch on her breasts....

As his thrusts quickened, he gently bit her ear before he finally started to lose control. There was

something so gratifying in seeing Luke reduced to a pleasure-driven beast. Just like he seemed to do
to her. His breaths quickened against her ear as he pushed in her harder and faster. And with every
thrust, the pressure on her clit increased and as Evelyn’s second orgasm crashed over her, Luke
finally lost it.

His hand on her breast tightened as he shattered in his own release. “Evelyn...” he breathed as the

final quakes of his orgasm rocked him.

For a few moments, neither of them moved. Instead, they both caught their breath as they tried to

come back down to earth. Luke pressed a kiss to her shoulder and released her breast, running his
hand over her front to rest at her waist.

“Best shower ever.” She smiled.
He let out a soft laugh and pulled out of her. She turned in his arms, but he didn’t seem nearly as

happy and carefree as she felt at the moment. “What’s wrong?”

He met her eyes with his intense gaze and he sighed. “I just can’t imagine never having another

shower like this.”

She shrugged. “We’re here for a few more days. Don’t worry. Besides, after that, I think I owe

you.”

“Not that. After this. After Longineu is arrested.”
Evelyn stiffened, suddenly realizing what he was saying. Damn it, did he have to bring this up

while they were naked? “I’m going back to Texas after this,” she reminded him.

“But do you want to?”
Evelyn glanced down. Of course she wanted to. She’d worked her entire career to get a chance to

stop the rampant corruption along the border. To be one of the honest ones keeping people safe.

But the idea of staying with Luke was enticing. Besides the physical aspect of their relationship,

which was undeniably fantastic, she liked him. He pushed her. Challenged her in a way that no other

man had. And he seemed to respect her and her job for the most part. None of the macho “I’m the man
—I know what’s best” attitude that she’d been fighting against her entire life.

She couldn’t lie...the idea of trying to make something work long term with Luke was appealing,

but... “I hardly know you, Luke.”

He nodded and stepped back. “I understand.”
She opened her mouth to say more, but he immediately erased any trace of sadness with a big

smile. “How about I go open a bottle of wine? You can finish your shower and then we can find
something nice to watch on TV.”

Damn. She wanted to say more, but if he wanted to act like the entire conversation never

happened, who was she to rub salt in the wound? “Sure. That sounds nice.”

“Great.” He leaned in, kissing her briefly before he got out of the shower and shut the glass doors.
Evelyn fell back against the tile and rubbed at her temple. Even though the tile had finally warmed

and the entire bathroom was filled with steam, she couldn’t help the cold that seemed to creep in now
that Luke was gone.

~~~~~

“Fuck.” What the hell was wrong with him? Asking Evelyn to stay? Of course she’d say no! She
hardly knew him and they’d been “together” all of three days. And of those three days, she’d never
once hinted that she’d wanted anything more than a quick, fun fling.

Which should’ve made him ecstatic. Wasn’t that his one requirement in a woman? Willing to have

a fun, no-strings-attached relationship with amazing sex. Now that he’d found one, he suddenly was
going to become the clingy one. Fuck.

He pulled a clean pair of boxer briefs out of his drawer and a pair of black pajama pants.

Hopefully he hadn’t scared Evelyn completely away. They would be here for a bit longer, and he’d be
damned if she was going to give him the cold shoulder the rest of the week because he didn’t know
how to keep his damn mouth shut.

What the hell had he been thinking? Sure, he liked Evelyn. If she was a native New Yorker and

wasn’t planning to leave the state as soon as possible, then, yes, maybe he’d consider trying for
something more than a fling. But if the tables were turned and she suddenly announced—after sex, no
less—that she was going to stay in the state and completely alter the trajectory of her career for him,
he would’ve freaked out.

Well, overjoyed and then freaked out. So who the hell was he to ask her to change all of her plans

just because he was having great sex?

He shook his head as he pulled on his pants and padded into the kitchen. Maybe he could get her

to drink enough that she’d forget he even mentioned anything to her. He pulled out a bottle of wine and
eyed the three bottles remaining in the wine cooler. He had a feeling it would take hard liquor to wipe
that memory from her mind. Fuck.

He set the bottle on the counter and reached up for the glasses as the floor creaked behind him.

Was Evelyn done already? Somehow he thought she’d linger under the water, looking for any reason
to avoid him after that fiasco.

He turned to face her, determined to act as though nothing had happened. Except for the mind-

blowing sex. He’d own up to that. “I hope you like red wine, because that’s all we—”

Something slammed into the side of his face, and the last thing he remembered as the world went

dark was the sound of his parents’ favorite wine glasses smashing on the hardwood floor.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Evelyn jerked her head out of the water at the sound of the glass breaking. She opened her mouth to
ask Luke whether everything was okay, but stopped herself. She knew Luke well enough to realize he
didn’t drop things.

If he had knocked something over, he probably would’ve cursed. Or she’d hear him going into the

closet for the broom and dustpan. Something. All she heard over the sound of the shower was silence.

Unease drifted over her. She’d been around long enough to know when to trust her gut. Leaving

the water on, she pushed open the shower door and stepped out. She ran a towel over her soaking hair
and body as quickly as possible. She peeked around the corner to make sure there was no one in the
master bedroom off the bathroom, but it was empty.

After verifying the room was clear, she pulled on her t-shirt and panties and grabbed her gun

holster off the dresser. The gun was already loaded, so she flicked the safety off. If she was
overreacting, Luke might think she was crazy, but she was here to watch over him, so he’d have to
deal with her crazy.

Evelyn was about to leave the bedroom when she heard heavy footsteps approach. The soft sound

of boots against hardwood echoed through the house. Which was worrisome, because why would
Luke be wearing boots right after a shower and before bed?

Her heartbeat sped up as she glanced around the room. There was nowhere to hide except the

closet; that would be the first place anyone would look, and it would effectively trap her.

She took a calming breath and took a chance by standing behind the open door. As he entered, he

wouldn’t be able to see her, but if he looked in this direction she’d be outed. Chances were that he’d
start with the bathroom and closet, and that would give her the chance to get a jump on him.

She held her breath as he approached, trying to make no sound at all. His steps slowed as he

entered the room. He paused in the middle of the room, and Evelyn tried to get a look.

He wasn’t the man from her apartment. This man was older, maybe in his forties, and even though

he was muscular, he appeared to have a substantial beer belly. He headed for the bathroom and
disappeared into the other room. Evelyn leveled her gun in that direction. She started to step out from
behind the door when Luke’s voice cut through the house. “She’s not here!”

Shit. He wasn’t alone, which meant that Luke was with whoever this asshole brought with him. If

she shot the guy in the bedroom, the other guy might freak, and who knew what he would do to Luke.
Evelyn slipped out of the room while Beer Belly was still in the bathroom. She tiptoed through the
empty hallway. She’d heard glass breaking but wasn’t sure where. It could be from anywhere,
considering the entire cottage had hardwood and the sounds echoed like crazy. She paused at the end
of the hallway. Chances were that once she emerged, guy number two would see her and she’d have
to act fast.

But then a grunting sound came from the kitchen and Luke screamed, “Evelyn, get out of the hou

—” The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the house, and Evelyn kicked into gear. She
stepped out from the hallway and immediately saw the man standing over a tied-up Luke, ready to
strike him with the butt of his handgun.

Evelyn didn’t hesitate as she brought up her gun and fired off three shots in quick succession. The

man fell hard and fast. She met Luke’s eyes. He seethed with anger and she knew there was going to
be hell to pay for whoever was behind this break-in. But the anger disappeared in a flash, replaced by
fear, and she knew Beer Belly was coming up behind her. She tried to turn in time, but the man

already had his gun up and aimed. All she could do was drop to the floor as bullets flew right over
her head. He ran as he fired, which had to be hurting his aim, but the closer he was, the more
dangerous he was.

She fired off a round blindly and ducked behind the corner where he couldn’t see her anymore. In

a flash, Luke was at her side. His hands were still bound behind his back, and two trickles of blood
covered the right side of his face. “Untie me.” He knelt next to her.

“A little busy,” she muttered as she stared at the hallway. Either the guy was going to come into

the main living area firing blindly, or he was going to try to get out of the cottage via the back rooms.

The sound of smashing glass from the bedroom answered that question. “Shit. He’s making a run

for it.” Everything in her wanted to chase after the man, but her priority was Luke, and they weren’t
exactly alone in the house.

She pushed herself up, passed the small table to the counter and snatched a knife from the counter.

She went back to Luke and knelt next to him, eyeing the zip ties that held his wrists. The thing was so
tight his hands were purple. No wonder he wanted it off. It had to hurt like a bitch. She cut through the
plastic in one quick motion before she pulled him up to stand. “Come on,” she said. “We need to get
to a phone.”

Without waiting for him to respond, she pulled him into the bedroom and grabbed the first phone

she saw, which was hers. She dialed 911 first, asking for paramedics and alerting them to a suspect
running on foot and described his clothes and build. She had a feeling he’d be long gone before the
police got out here, even with the quick response time in such a high-income area.

After that, she called Hotchins, who agreed to get in his car immediately to drive out. But it would

still be hours before he arrived.

She hung up the phone and looked back to Luke. “Police should be here any minute. We need to

talk to the guy who roughed you up before they get here.”

She turned to go back to the kitchen, but Luke’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Evelyn, wait.”
She pulled free of his grasp. “I have a job to do, Luke. The paramedics will be here soon to take a

look at your head.” Without waiting for a response, she headed back to the kitchen to look down at the
man she’d shot. “Damn it,” she muttered.

The man wasn’t familiar to her. Younger than the one who got away, but still strong. Evelyn bent

down and pressed her fingers to his throat, looking for any sign of a pulse. Nothing. She’d hit him
three times in the chest, and his death had probably been instant. A cold ice flowed through her veins.
“Damn it!” she said again.

“What’s wrong?” asked Luke from behind her.
“What’s wrong? I just killed a man.” She didn’t look back at Luke; instead, she stared at the dead

man at her feet. At least his eyes were closed. It was always so much worse when they were open. He
only wore a black t-shirt and black jeans, so there wasn’t much room for him to have any identifying
information. She felt his pockets and when she felt something hard in one, she pulled out the cell
phone.

“He had a gun, Evelyn. There was nothing else you could do.”
She thought back to the moments before she fired. Once Hotchins was here, she’d have to give a

full, detailed report of everything that happened. She stood, holding the phone in her fist. “How did
they get to you?”

“Snuck up behind me like cowards. Knocked me out with something, and the second I woke up, I

called to warn you.”

“Did they say anything? Give any indication of how they knew where we were?” Hotchins was

the only one she told, but did that mean he was the traitor? That made no sense. He’d been riding her
harder than anyone to bring down the Thirteen Stars.

“As I said, it was bang, then me screaming for you to get out of the house. Which you didn’t do, by

the way.”

“My job isn’t to run and hide. It’s to bring down the people who want you dead.” Which she’d

failed to do. Horribly. Fuck.

“I’m happy you take your job so seriously, believe me, but I don’t want you putting yourself in

danger for me.”

“Trust me, I don’t want that either. I’ve already done too much for you.”
She heard him approach and she steeled herself for his questions.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Evelyn forced herself to go blank. To force out any possibility of a relationship from her mind.

“That man never should’ve died.”

“I told you, Evelyn, it was self-defense. He had a gun. Who knew what he was going to do to me?

To you?”

“Not that. He could be a link to Longineu. These guys, the ones who do the dirty work, they break

easy. If we brought him in, this would all be over. I shouldn’t have killed him.”

“You didn’t have a choice!”
Turning to face him, Evelyn snapped, “No, I didn’t have a choice! I got one look at him about to

hit you and everything went blank. Empty. I had to stop him the easiest way I knew how! And now
he’s dead and you’re still in danger for God knows how long. And that’s because I was worried about
you.”

“What were you supposed to do?”
“Shoot a warning. Distract him. Get him away from you and hit his firing arm. I’m a good enough

aim. I could do it.”

“With another guy in the house? You were surrounded.”
“I’m a worse agent around you,” she said softly. “My feelings and emotions got in the way and

they jeopardized this entire operation.”

Sirens sounded in the distance and Evelyn knew the police would be here any minute. Good. Then

maybe she wouldn’t have to finish this conversation.

“Does that mean you’re leaving?” asked Luke. His own face was stone cold, and the flashing blue

and red lights started to fill the cottage, making his features seem even more harsh.

“Of course not. I started this investigation. I’ll finish it. I just can’t let myself be distracted any

more. It’s hurting both of us.” The sound of a car door closing told her that they needed to start
recounting their stories to the police. But to pound the point home once more, Evelyn said, “And once
this is over, I’m going back to Texas.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Luke eyed Evelyn’s boss. The man looked haggard, which made sense considering he’d left his home
at nine p.m. and driven two hours to get to a crime scene.

Hotchins wore jeans and a wrinkled gray button-up. He had light brownish-red hair, and a short

beard covered the bottom half of his face. And he seemed just as upset as Evelyn did about the whole
thing.

By this point, Luke had gone over the entire thing five times, but he was pretty sure he’d made it

clear to the locals that he didn’t want to have to go into the station to answer more questions.

He’d rather just sit and stew in his own anger for a bit longer. If he’d had his way, the son of a

bitch would still be alive too. He’d snuck up on Luke. Invaded his home. Threatened Evelyn.

What would’ve happened if Evelyn hadn’t heard the glass break? What if she’d written it off to

him being clumsy and continued on with her shower? The other guy would’ve found her naked and
alone, and there would’ve been nothing Luke could’ve done to stop it.

His fists were clenched so tightly that his arms shook, and he forced himself to relax them. There

were too many people here for him to have a temper tantrum, and there was nothing he could do now.
The one man was dead and the other one could be anywhere. There were empty houses all over this
time of year, and he could’ve broken into any of them to hide out. And considering the wealthy
families who owned the homes in the area, the police weren’t about to start searching random homes
in hopes they found the man Evelyn referred to as Beer Belly.

Hotchins approached and Luke took a deep swig of water, wishing it was something else that

could distract him from the clusterfuck around him.

“I hope you’re doing okay, Mr. Devereaux,” said Hotchins.
“Honestly, it’s been kind of a shitty night.”
Hotchins nodded in understanding. “I believe it.”
Hotchins didn’t know the half of what was pissing Luke off, but he wasn’t about to enlighten the

agent.

“I just got off the phone with your brother and cousin. They’re both fine and haven’t noticed

anything out of the ordinary. Mr. Lance said he’d work on getting them protection that they could, um,
trust, as soon as possible.”

Which meant he might be trying to send more guys to Luke. And if there were new bodyguards for

Luke, that meant Evelyn wouldn’t be anywhere close. He glanced down to see that his hands were
curled into fists once more.

No. All he needed was some time. He’d be damned if Evelyn was going to blame what happened

on their relationship and he’d be damned if she was going to wallow in guilt over killing some man
who wouldn’t have thought twice about doing the same to her.

“How is Evelyn doing?” asked Luke.
Hotchins’s brow furrowed. “Evelyn? She’s a professional. She’s doing fine.”
“She just killed a man,” pointed out Luke.
“And she will process that in her own time. Right now you’re her number one priority. Because of

the incident at her apartment, we’re hesitant to get anyone else on your detail, so she’s determined to
stay on. I guarantee, you’re safe with her.”

Great. Hotchins thought he was complaining about Evelyn now. “As long as she’s in New York,”

muttered Luke.

“What was that?”
“Evelyn told me that she wants to transfer back to her old position when this is all over. I’m just

worried that the investigation will stretch on too long and she’ll go back sooner.” Or she’d finally let
her anger take over and leave as soon as possible to get away from him. Luke was reasonably certain
he could get Evelyn to come back to him if he had time. But he couldn’t woo her from across the
country. Well, maybe he could, but the kind of chemistry he and Evelyn had in person was electric. He
needed her to remember that feeling.

And hopefully she’d realize how unique it was.
“I’m sure Evelyn will stay until everything is taken care of,” said Hotchins.
“I’m going back to the city tonight,” said Luke.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I have no idea if it’s a good idea, but our theory about hiding out obviously didn’t get us

anywhere and I have shit to get done.” True, but not work shit. As much as he trusted Evelyn as an
agent, this situation with the Thirteen Stars was getting out of hand, and he needed to take over.

He had one major advantage over the FBI. He had no problem breaking all laws necessary to get

what he wanted. And he wanted Evelyn Price.

In order for that to happen, Brian Longineu was going to have to go down.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Hi, Gail,” said Evelyn with a fake smile as she sat down on the other side of the interrogation table.

The older woman looked as if she’d been through hell. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair a

tangled mess. Despite her attempts to be cold, Evelyn had to admit she felt bad for her former friend.
She knew that Gail had been kept in nice conditions under the circumstances. She’d had a bed and
blanket and, except for Hotchins, no one had interrogated her at all. So her deteriorating physical
condition was almost completely due to stress and her guilty conscience.

Which meant that there was still a federal agent in there somewhere.
“Evelyn,” said Gail. “Believe it or not, I’m very happy you’re okay.”
“I don’t know if I can believe that.” Gail had refused to talk to anyone but Evelyn after she was

brought in on Monday, so she and Luke had split up. He was going to be secluded in his office for the
morning, and Evelyn took the opportunity to get this interrogation over with as soon as possible. “I’m
assuming you had your reasons for talking with Longineu.”

A tear rolled down her face. “I don’t even know who I talked with. They never told me their

name.”

“This person offered you money to give information about my investigation?”
“No! Well, yes. It’s not that simple.”
It never was. “Explain it to me.”
“They stole our savings. Almost every penny from my husband’s 401k. We’d be left with nothing

and the boys are still in college...”

“You work for the FBI. If they committed financial fraud, why wouldn’t you come to us?”
“Because they didn’t even take it!” She took a few deep breaths, as though trying to calm herself

down. “They made it disappear. He didn’t direct the investments himself. He doesn’t know the first
thing about money. So we checked the box that had the fund direct investments for us. And last year,
every single cent was put into the highest risk investments in the market. There was nothing we could
do.”

They both knew that was a lie. If she had come to the agency, it would’ve raised alarms. Got

people looking into it. But, that being said, they might not have been able to recover the money either.
And money made people do things they normally wouldn’t do.

“I tried to avoid giving them anything useful. They only asked for easy things at first. They only

started asking harder questions recently. But I never told them the Devereauxs were working with
you, I swear!”

“You didn’t have to. You told them I was working the case and Longineu spotted me at Luke’s

office. You remember how you recommended I go to his office?” Though Longineu had still somehow
known exactly where she was sitting...

“I didn’t want to.” More tears poured down Gail’s face.
Evelyn wanted to be dispassionate about the whole scene, but it was hard not to feel sorry for the

woman who’d almost caused her death. “Do you know if any other agents were working with them?”

Gail shook her head. “I think I’m the only one. They didn’t seem to know things before I told

them.”

“What about Hotchins? Did he seem suspicious at all to you?”
For the first time, Gail seemed truly confused. “Hotchins? No. He’s one of the best agents I

know.”

“Funny. He said the same about you,” pointed out Evelyn.
The color drained from Gail’s face. “If he is working with them, I don’t know anything about it,”

she murmured.

If it wasn’t Hotchins who gave them away, who was it? Damn it. She needed to get back to Luke,

and she needed to get down to business with this interrogation. Hopefully they’d get something useful
out of Gail.

Evelyn pushed a pad of paper and a pen across the metal table to Gail. “I want you to write down

every single thing you remember. When they first contacted you, how they contacted you, what they
sounded like. Everything.”

She nodded and picked up the pen. “I am sorry, Evelyn.”
“They tried to kill me, Gail. He invaded my home and tried to kill me. What would you have done

if they’d attacked Luke the night you were watching him? Would you have the balls to watch what they
did or would you close your eyes?”

Gail didn’t say anything. She just picked up the pen and started to write.
While she was writing, Evelyn took out the phone she’d taken from the dead attacker from the

night before. After picking it up with her bare hands, she’d packed it in a baggie and put it in her
luggage. She didn’t want the locals putting it into evidence.

Now that it had been scanned for fingerprints—only hers and the dead man’s showed up—she

was free to touch it. She looked at the history and wrote down the two numbers in the phone’s history
log before she passed the paper over for Gail to see. “Do any of these numbers look familiar?”

Gail looked them over and shook her head. “No. The numbers they called me from were always

blocked, so I couldn’t see anything about them.”

Another dead end. Shocking. “I’ll be right back.” Evelyn walked out of the interrogation room.
Hotchins waited for her on the other side of the one-way mirror. “Do you still suspect me?”
She shrugged. “Someone found out where we were. Luke said he didn’t tell anyone. I made sure

no one could track us by our computer activity and Luke didn’t use his cell phone at all.”

“Are you sure he didn’t use it? A lot of people are surgically attached to those things these days.”
“Well, I made him give it to me for the time we were in the Hamptons. So I’m pretty sure.”
“He could’ve snatched it sometime when you were in the shower. You weren’t with him every

moment.”

Evelyn tried her best to make sure no hint of blush crept up her cheeks. If only he knew exactly

how many moments she and Luke spent together. “If he had been stupid enough to use his phone, he
would’ve copped up to it after what happened last night.”

“If you say so. Any luck with the phone?”
“Gail didn’t recognize the numbers. I’m going to call them from a secure line right now and see if

anyone is stupid enough to answer.”

Hotchins nodded. “I’m going to see if Gail will talk to me. Maybe now that she apologized to you,

she’ll be more open to sharing all the details of what happened.”

Evelyn nodded as he walked past her. Part of her wanted to listen in to hear what Gail would tell

Hotchins, but she didn’t have time. She could listen to the recordings later when she was back with
Luke.

She went up three flights of stairs until she got to one of the secure lines. This way, if whoever she

was calling had caller ID, they’d see her as a John Smith calling, instead of the FBI number. The first
number she dialed went straight to an automated voicemail that gave nothing away. Hopefully
whatever database they ran the number through would give her more.

Then she tried the second number. This time, she hit pay dirt. “You’ve reached Easson. I’m not

able to come to the phone. Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

Easson. That was something she could work with. It wasn’t a super common name, and the phone

number was probably registered to him considering the voicemail had his name on it. She gave the
number to the technical division before she headed back to DevX.

~~~~~~

“Are you comfortable keeping this from Evelyn?” asked Luke into the phone.

“Evelyn is more than qualified to deal with anything, but not with her hands tied behind her back,”

said Jace. “I can be on the next plane out.”

“No. I want you there with Emma.” The words felt like sandpaper in his throat, but it was true. As

long as Jace was with her, nothing would happen. “Just see what you can find out on your end. I’m
done sitting around and waiting for them to make a move. I’m going on the offensive.”

“Do you know the Farrells?” asked Jace.
“The Farrells? As in the real estate moguls?”
“Those ones. Walter Farrell works with a former associate of mine. Colin Carter. I’m going to see

if he can help you out. Walter has lived in the city the past few years and Carter usually isn’t too far
behind.”

“Great. I appreciate it.”
“Anything for Emma,” said Jace.
“You two aren’t going to elope, are you?” blurted out Luke.
“What?”
“Michael and Lori had me freaked out that they were going to elope. I mean, a destination

wedding is one thing, but Emma isn’t getting married without me, Lance.”

“Michael and Lori are getting married?”
Shit. “Not officially. But they’ve been talking about it.” Luke let out a sigh of relief. Jace wasn’t

planning to elope with Emma. At least part of his family wasn’t changing.

“I mean, I’m definitely going to marry Emma, but I think we’re going for something bigger. Her

choice, not mine.”

“You’re engaged? Emma should’ve told me!” It was like his entire family was coupling off and

they were keeping him out of the loop.

“Um, well, it’s not official or anything. But it’s come up a few times in conversation.”
Not official? You’re either getting married or you’re not. There’s no maybe about it, at least as far

as Luke was concerned. Luke shook his head and figured he’d deal with that problem later. “Get
Colin Carter up to speed on what we’re dealing with and pass him my contact info.”

“Will do.” Jace hung up right as Evelyn walked in holding two cups of coffee.
Luke set the phone down and tried to look normal. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” Evelyn set one of the coffees on his desk. She was at least being civil to him, which

was nice to know. After the awkwardly silent drive back to the city in the early hours of the morning,
he’d been half worried that this was how things were going to be between them now. But he took the
coffee as a sign of good things coming.

“Thank you.” He took the large cup from her. “Did you get anything from that agent you were

questioning?”

“A few things. Also I might have a phone number that will lead to a real, live person. Was Cali

able to fix your schedule now that you’re working from here?”

Right back to her professional self. Even back to her mismatched pants and suit, this time beige

slacks and a brown suit jacket with a white blouse beneath. “She’s been doing her best.”

“I want to have a few moments with her today. I think it’s time she knows that I’m not really an

intern since I’m pretty sure she never bought that story anyway.”

“Funny. She’s never believed much of my bullshit either,” said Luke with a sideways grin.
Evelyn didn’t crack a smile.
“If you want to take a break on my couch, feel free. I know you got just as little sleep as me.”
“I can handle the lack of sleep. Just let me know if you need anything.”
“And what if I need privacy?” If Colin Carter called him back, he’d rather Evelyn not be in the

room when he talked with someone about going over her head.

“Keeping secrets?”
“My biggest client is the US government. Secrets kind of go along with the territory. If you saw

the size of the nondisclosure agreements they make me sign, you’d understand.”

“You should see some of those I’ve seen.” She took a seat on the couch at the other end of his

office.

She didn’t say anything else, and he tried to go back to work. Which was difficult considering a

majority of his work involved phone calls and meetings. She didn’t seem to mind the constant noise in
the background. She’d moved from his office sofa to the table in the corner for more private meetings
in his office. She had her computer set up and stared intently at the screen every time he glanced over
to her.

During a fifteen-minute lull in calls, the silence finally got to him. “Did you have any thoughts on

dinner?” he asked. “I was thinking about making reservations at a nice Italian place down the street.”

Evelyn met his eyes from over her computer screen, but she seemed unenthused with the idea.

“Whatever you want.”

“Do you have a preference? Everyone likes Italian, right?”
Evelyn lowered her laptop halfway so Luke could get the full effect of her frown. “I’m here on

protective detail, Luke. Just go about like you normally would.”

“I don’t normally have a smoking hot FBI agent following my every move. So there is no normal

here.”

“If you want to go out to dinner, that’s fine. But not a date. From now on, things between us will

be strictly professional.”

Luke stood up, his chair shooting behind him at the sudden motion. “Damn it, Evelyn.” He crossed

the room in a few long strides. He pulled the arm of her chair until it rolled out from the table and set
his hands on the armrest on either side of her, caging her in. “I’m not going to pretend the last three
days never happened.”

She started to get up, but he didn’t budge, and she remained stuck in the chair. “Get out of my way,

Luke.”

“Stop treating me like just another one of your assets.”
“You are just another one of my assets. The fact that we slept together has no bearing on our

interactions from now on.”

Luke leaned in closer. “I still want you. You still want me. Don’t let a little guilt over something

that wasn’t even your fault cloud your judgment.”

“The only thing clouding my judgment is you.” She brushed her fingers over the tender spot on his

forehead where he’d been struck the night before. It was now a nasty dark blue and raised. “If I’d
been doing my job, I never would’ve showered with you. I would’ve been in the living room,
standing guard like I was supposed to be doing.” She pushed herself up again, and this time, he did
move out of her way. “So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to doing my job the way I
should’ve in the first place. Distraction free.”

Evelyn crossed to the door and Luke watched her go. “Just tell me one thing,” he said right before

she left.

She paused before she stepped out of the office. “What?”
“I’m a damn fun distraction, right?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “You weren’t the worst distraction,” she conceded before

she left.

Luke smiled as he looked around the empty office. That was promising. He’d get Evelyn back

even sooner than he expected.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Evelyn tried to shake off the shivers that raced through her. Even though Luke hadn’t touched her, it
was as if she could feel him all over.

She let her head fall back and rolled it around, trying to get back to her equilibrium. Luke had a

way of throwing her off balance, even with just a look. All the more reason for her to keep her
distance.

She didn’t know why it was so important to him to be with her. From what she knew about

playboys, once they had a taste, they were normally done. But she supposed there wasn’t much normal
about Luke.

As she approached Cali’s desk, she forced herself to go blank. She needed to be focused for this

next conversation. “Hey there,” she said, and the blonde looked over immediately, smile in place.
Evelyn wished she could be that cheery. Or at least know how to fake that kind of cheer.

“Morning, Evelyn. It’s nice to have you back after your sick day.”
“About that, do you have a few minutes to talk somewhere private?”
“I actually have a lot I need to—”
“It’s important,” stressed Evelyn. She tilted her head toward the conference room between

Michael and Luke’s offices. “Let’s go.” This time she brought in her official FBI tone that tended to
get things done.

Cali set her computer to sleep mode and stood. Evelyn led the way to the conference room and

pushed the door closed once Cali was inside.

“Have a seat.” She motioned to the closest chair of the twelve around the oversized table.
Cali raised a brow at Evelyn’s authoritative tone but sat down, pulling her skirt down as she

crossed her legs. “Fine. I’m here. What do you want?”

“So you’ve probably guessed I’m not an intern.”
Cali shrugged. “Hey, if Luke wants a pretty new intern who doesn’t actually do any work, it’s not

my place to judge.”

“Funny. That sounds judgey.”
“It’s not my place—doesn’t mean I won’t do it.”
Evelyn smiled. She really didn’t want to like Cali as much as she did. The woman seemed like

Evelyn’s opposite. Her clothes, makeup, and hair were impeccable, and she was somehow able to
resist Luke’s charm. But it was past time to tell Cali the truth about why she was here. “My real name
is Evelyn Price, and I’m an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Cali blinked a few times but kept her expression mostly under control. “Not just FBI, huh? Must

be serious when you don’t even use the abbreviation.”

Evelyn studied Cali and noticed that, despite her joking tone, she’d straightened in her seat and

her foot tapped out a nervous rhythm on the floor. At least she was taking this seriously.

“So are you investigating Luke?”
“No. Luke is helping me with an investigation that has been ongoing for years. I’ve been the lead

agent for the past few months. We were trying to keep Luke and Michael’s involvement under wraps,
but word is out. So for the next week or so”—hopefully not longer—“I’m going to be hanging around
Luke a lot. We thought you had a right to know.”

“Ummm, thanks for telling me now, I guess. What does this mean for me?”

“It means that you have an explanation for some of the strange things that are happening around

you. I know Luke wanted you to know sooner, and now that the people we were looking into know
Luke was working with the FBI, I don’t think it could hurt that much to let you in. Obviously we don’t
want all of your friends knowing about all this, but Luke thinks we can trust your discretion.”

“Luke said that?”
“Well, I wouldn’t be talking to you if I didn’t believe it too.”
“That’s good to know. Here I thought Luke was copying me by running off to the Hamptons for the

weekend with you.”

Evelyn frowned. “Wait, you knew where we were?”
“I had a Skype meeting with Luke. He didn’t say where he was working from, but he’s lent me that

house for the weekend before. I recognized the room he was in.”

So if Cali was able to recognize it, anyone he had a Skype meeting with might know. “Can you

give me a list of all the people Luke had a video meeting with over the past three days?”

Cali glanced down at her watch. “Sure. I’m meeting Easson for lunch in a few minutes. Should I

cancel?”

Evelyn’s mouth dropped and she blinked a few times, trying to figure out whether she was

imagining things. “I’m sorry, your boyfriend?”

“I do have a boyfriend. Is that so hard to believe?”
“No. Totally believable. I must’ve run your file before you and him were together, so I wasn’t

expecting it.”

“Luke probably didn’t mention it either. He kind of thinks of me like a sister, so he likes to

pretend I don’t date.”

Evelyn nodded. “So you go have lunch with Easson and get back to me about those meetings when

you get back.”

“Will do.” Cali stood.
“But don’t tell him about this,” warned Evelyn.
Cali frowned but didn’t protest. “I’ll see you in an hour or so.”
“Have a nice lunch.” As soon as she was gone, Evelyn pulled out her phone and dialed Hotchins.

He answered on the second ring. “Hey, I need someone here as soon as possible. The assistant, Cali,
is meeting with her boyfriend for lunch—his name is Easson.”

“That’s the name you pulled off the phone, right?”
“Yes. And it’s a unique enough name that I’m thinking it’s more than coincidence.”
“I’ll work on getting a tail there.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep an eye on her and let you know what time she heads downstairs. I doubt he’d

come up here.”

“Good work, Price.” Hotchins hung up.
Now Evelyn needed to let Luke know a plausible reason for why she was hanging out around

Cali’s desk for the next fifteen minutes. The conference room had windows with a view of the
hallway. If she stood and pretended she was on the phone, she’d be perfect.

Evelyn quickly made her way back to Luke’s office and poked her head in.
He looked up immediately. “Done running away?”
Evelyn squared her jaw, forcing herself not to explain that she wasn’t running away, even if that

was probably exactly what she did. “I wanted to let you know that I have a few phone calls to make.
I’m going to borrow the conference room next door. Make sure you don’t go anywhere without me.”

She left before he could respond, not sure she could handle another strangely accurate crack about

her running away. Once she was back in the conference room, she took out the phone and pretended to
have a conversation while subtly glancing out to Cali’s desk to verify where she was.

After about ten minutes, Cali started to pack up her stuff and Evelyn dialed Hotchins to let him

know she was on the move. Once Cali was on the elevator, Evelyn hung up. Cali knew Evelyn too
well for Evelyn to tail her any further without being noticed.

One more thing out of her hands. So she’d do the one thing she could. Watch Luke and make sure

he didn’t die.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“I have some news,” said the man over the phone.

Luke stood and pushed his carton of shrimp fried rice farther on the kitchen island as he headed

for the balcony. “I have to take this,” he mouthed to Evelyn before he escaped to the terrace. The wind
up here was loud, but he held the phone closer. He wasn’t going to take this call anywhere Evelyn
could overhear.

“Colin?” he asked once he was alone.
“Jace said that you needed some assistance in the city. I owe him a few favors.”
Luke noticed he didn’t confirm his name, but he didn’t care who it was if they had something that

could help him. “What do you have?”

“Not much yet, but I got a copy of Longineu’s private schedule. I just sent it to your phone.”
“That was fast. Didn’t Jace just contact you today?”
“It was convenient. Longineu has been spending a lot of time with Walter Farrell over the past

few weeks. I lifted his phone for a few minutes during lunch today.”

Convenient...and scary. If Longineu was trying to recruit Farrell, that meant he was stepping up his

plans. The Farrell fortune was notorious, and Longineu was probably chomping at the bit to get his
hands on some of that money. Not to mention the power that went along with it.

If Farrell joined the Thirteen Stars, their power would increase exponentially.
“Thanks for the schedule,” said Luke. “Do you need a retainer for your services?” He didn’t mind

paying for the help, but he’d like to know the fees ahead of time.

“This one’s on the house.”
“On the house?” If there was one thing Luke didn’t trust, it was free things.
“Longineu rubs me the wrong way and I don’t like that Walter has been meeting with him so much.

If you take care of Longineu, that would be payment enough for me.”

Luke frowned. What kind of relationship did Colin have to the Farrells that would inspire so

much loyalty? But saving a few extra bucks probably wouldn’t hurt. He had a bad feeling he’d never
see that hundred million he’d invested to get into the Thirteen Stars again.

“Thanks for the info. Keep me updated if you learn anything else.”
The other man hung up without a word, and Luke pulled up the calendar that Colin had sent over.

Lots of business lunches, dinners, drinks, but not a lot of work. Figured.

He tucked the phone into the pocket of his pants and headed back into the living room.
Evelyn had taken off her suit jacket and was just in her unbuttoned blouse, and he found himself

wishing the tank she wore beneath was lower cut. “Did I miss anything?” he asked. He realized that
her gun holster was off too, and resting on the far side of the counter next to her phone. The holster
had to be uncomfortable after eight hours, but it was still a strange sight to see in his kitchen.

“Just me stealing one of your shrimp. Besides that, nothing. Was that a work call?”
“Yep. Nothing important. I tell people only to call me after hours if something is on fire or

someone is dying, but they never listen.”

Evelyn let out a small laugh. “Unfortunately, that’s the reason for most of my phone calls.”
Luke pushed his food over and took the stool next to her at the island. “So what about your day?

Make any good breakthroughs on the case?”

Evelyn met his eyes and then looked back to her food. “Unfortunately, we’re still coming up empty

in most areas. We’re working on tracing one of the phone numbers from the cell I took from the man at

the cottage, though.”

Luke took a breath. Damn. She was still feeling guilty. What did he have to say to get through to

her that she shouldn’t mourn that man’s death? “Stop thinking about it.” He set a hand on her knee.

Fear flashed in her eyes. “Forget what?”
“This guilt you’re feeling,” he said. “You know, the only reason you should feel bad is if you felt

nothing. If killing someone had no effect. But trust me, as the person you saved, I think you were
completely justified.”

Evelyn smiled at him and reached up to cup his cheek. “That’s really nice, Luke,” she whispered.

“But that’s not what’s bothering me.”

“What is?”
She tightened her lips as her hand fell from his face. “That’s confidential.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Don't keep secrets?”
“Don't stop touching me.” He used his free hand to catch hers, the one that had just been stroking

his face.

“I thought we weren’t doing this anymore.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “You did think that. I never did.”
“Feeling a little cocky, Devereaux?”
“Feeling like I want you in my bed, Price. Now I challenge you to give me one good reason why

we shouldn’t go upstairs together right now.”

Her brows furrowed. “How about the massive bruise and cut on your forehead that has been

giving you a headache all day?”

“Would’ve been much worse without you there to be my knight in shining armor.”
She rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t have happened at all if I didn’t let you distract me. Which is

exactly what you’re trying to do right now.”

Fuck. Reasoning wasn’t working. Luke decided to go for it and leaned in, capturing Evelyn’s lips

with his. She started to pull away and he caged her head with his hands. “Please, don’t.” He couldn’t
say that he was proud to beg, but damn, he really didn’t want her sleeping alone tonight. He didn’t
want to sleep alone tonight. Not when she was so close and so perfect. “Come upstairs with me,” he
said between kisses.

“Luke, I—”
“You want to,” he insisted. He wasn’t opposed to playing dirty. Evelyn wanted him, and he was

determined to make her see that. He reached down to her knees and pushed her legs open. Her breath
caught as she met his gaze, but she didn’t move to stop him. Progress.

He reached between them and pressed his palm to her mound. He could feel her heat through the

fabric of her pants, and he knew that if he could push inside her like he wanted to, she’d be wet for
him.

Her eyes drifted closed as he rubbed her, and he leaned forward, nipping at the curve of her neck

while she wasn’t expecting it. She jumped under his unexpected touch and made the sexiest sound of
surprise he’d ever heard.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her, leaning back at the same time until she was

straddling him on the stool as he kept kissing her throat.

Her arms held him tightly as though she thought he might drop her, but he had her perfectly

balanced. There wasn’t any way he was going to mess up having her in this position.

He gripped her ponytail to angle her head in the other direction so he could give the same

attention to the other side of her neck, and she signaled her approval as she started to move against
him. He was torn between the discomfort of his erection pressing against his pants and the need to
move against her. Damn, he needed to get her into bed as soon as possible.

But then she tilted his head back and kissed him fiercely even as she pulled at her blouse,

throwing it on the floor next to them. Luke immediately pulled at the hem of her tank, desperate to
expose as much of her skin as possible. Desperate to get more of her.

She pulled away from him just long enough to pull off the tank top and bra in one quick motion.
His breath left him as her beautiful breasts were freed right in front of his eyes. But he couldn’t

touch her and keep her on his lap at the same time. Which meant he needed to adjust positions ASAP.

He stood with her in his arms, kicking the stool down. It fell with a loud bang as he positioned her

ass on the edge of the counter. She tugged at his belt, and he knew they were on the same wavelength.
God, he loved this woman. He pushed her hands away and undid his pants himself, pushing them
down and kicking off his shoes at the same time.

Evelyn turned back to her own pants, and he helped lift her so the material could slide down her

legs. He knelt down to unzip her boots until she was fully naked.

He took in the sight of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen: naked, leaning back and staring

at him with lust in her eyes. He might never be able to eat on this counter again, but, damn, it was
worth it.

“I need you so bad.” He stood up and positioned himself between her legs. He wanted to romance

her. Seduce her. Prove to her why she should stay.

But every time he was around her, logic seemed to slip away, replaced with the primal urge to get

her naked and beneath him as soon as possible.

At least it seemed he wasn’t the only one. Evelyn reached between them and wrapped her fingers

around his cock and all rational thought fled. He needed to be inside her. Now.

She positioned the tip of his cock at her entrance, and he didn’t wait any longer. Luke held her

close as he pushed in. Her head fell back as she moaned his name.

He pulled almost completely out before he thrust in again; her breasts jiggled at the motion, and he

thought he might come right then and there. He was never going to get enough of this woman.

But he was determined to make her come. He just needed to hold on...
One arm wrapped around her waist and held her steady as the other one found the small, sensitive

nub right above her entrance and pushed.

Evelyn gasped and moaned at the same time. The sexy noise went straight to Luke’s cock. Damn.
His thrusts came faster and harder, his own body directing the pressure his hand was putting on

her clit, and he said a silent thanks as her orgasm hit her hard.

The feeling of her clenching tightly around him was all it took to push him over the edge. He had

to use both hands to hold her ass as he came, the release shaking his entire body.

He opened his eyes a second later and held the breathless Evelyn close. He rested his head

against her neck and ran his hands along her back, savoring the feel of her. He might be losing her
soon, but at least she was still with him for now. He’d savor the moment and take advantage of any
future ones as long as she’d let him.

Evelyn ran her hands over his back and pressed a kiss to his neck. “You’re officially a bad

influence.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he muttered, even as a grin covered his face.
“I can’t believe I didn’t even get you shirtless.” She pulled at the buttons of his shirt.

“Night is young,” he promised. “I have plenty of time to keep corrupting you.”
He started to pick her up, but she shook her head. “Wait.”
Luke winced. Was he going to have to convince her that this was a good idea all over again?
Evelyn reached back and grabbed her holstered gun and cell phone from the counter. “I’m ready

now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Tell me everything you know about Easson Harper.” Evelyn pulled Hotchins into the conference
room next to Luke’s office.

He held out a folder and set it down. “Nothing good. He’s military background, but his files were

sealed. If you can read between the blacked-out sections, you’ll know as much as me.”

Evelyn frowned as she pulled the folder from his hands and opened it on the conference table.

“Military? What branch? What squad?”

“Nothing. Everything was classified, even for me. It took me three days to even get this.”
She frowned as she flipped the pages in the file, skimming over everything that wasn’t concealed

by a fat black marker. “This doesn’t make sense. He seemed trained, but I was able to fight him off
easy enough.”

“Well, you’re special. He probably wasn’t expecting a fight when he came up on you.”
He hadn’t expected a fight as he snuck up on a woman alone in her apartment. “This man is

dangerous,” she muttered.

“Does Luke’s assistant realize what she’s gotten herself into?” Hotchins took a seat.
“I didn’t tell Luke about it.” Hotchins frowned and Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t judge me. She

was out with this guy for the entire weekend and didn’t have a scratch on her. What harm could a few
more days do?”

He raised a brow. “Since you already know the answer to that, I’m not going to dignify it with a

response.”

“Fair enough.”
“But you should’ve told Luke,” he said.
“Scared of a lawsuit?”
“You seemed to be getting along lately. I’d hate for that newfound trust to be ruined.”
Evelyn felt the blood rush from her face and tried to keep her reaction neutral. Did Hotchins know

exactly how well they’d been getting along? Ever since that episode on Luke’s counter, she’d hardly
been able to take her hands off him. The only boundary she’d been able to maintain was no showers.
At least she could slightly concentrate on hearing if anyone broke into the apartment.

“We’ve been able to set aside our differences for a common goal,” she said carefully.
“That’s good. He mentioned that you were hoping to get back to Texas when this investigation was

over.”

Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and stood up straighter. What was Luke doing talking to

Hotchins behind her back? “That’s hardly a secret. You’ve already declined three of my transfer
requests.”

“You do good work here. I know it feels like you’re running on a treadmill getting nowhere, but

you’ve made more progress with Thirteen Stars in a few months than we’ve done in years. I’d hate to
lose a resource like you.”

“I appreciate the praise, sir, but this was only temporary until I recovered enough to head back.”
Hotchins sighed. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Price.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“The man you shot back in Texas didn’t die from his wounds.”
“You know who he was?” She’d been under the impression that the man had never been found.
“His name is Victor Morales.”

“Shit.”
Hotchins stood and put on his official face that told Evelyn that nothing good was going to come

from this conversation. “So you know who he is?”

“The nephew of the leader of one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico. I’m familiar with the

family,” she said bitterly.

“You should be happy he’s not dead. If he was, their hitters would’ve tracked you down no matter

where you were transferred to. But even though they haven’t found you, you’re officially on the do not
enter list down there. If the cartels find out that you’re back, you’ll be dead before you can get any
shots off.”

An uneasy feeling settled in Evelyn’s stomach as she realized exactly what Hotchins was telling

her. “This wasn’t a temporary transfer, was it?”

“I hoped that you would see how well you fit in here and want to stay, but I suppose I

overestimated my charm.”

“You could’ve told me up front.”
“In my experience, people don’t like being told what to do. I prefer to lead them to the right

decision and let them think it was their idea.”

“What changed your mind about making me decide to work here?”
“The fact that your best friend in the department gave your address to someone who tried to kill

you was a nail in that coffin.”

He probably figured right. “I hate this city,” she reminded him.
“So I’ve heard. But not in the past week, funny enough.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Hotchins passed her and opened the door to the conference room. “I have a schedule full of

meetings this afternoon. Keep me updated on your progress, Agent Price.”

“What did you mean?” she asked again, not happy about his evasiveness after he just confessed

how much important information he’d been concealing from her the entire time she’d been up here.

“It’s not my business,” he said, “but you seem to be a bit happier about the city ever since you

stepped up your involvement with Mr. Devereaux.”

She tried to keep her face blank, but she could feel the blood rush up her cheeks. “You have a

strange definition of happier,” she said, but he was already leaving.

“Keep me updated,” he called as he headed down the hallway.
Evelyn glanced behind her and saw that he’d left Easson’s file for her. Probably a not-so-subtle

hint to tell Luke about what they were up against. Evelyn snatched the file and tucked it under her arm
and started to turn when the glinting sun reflecting off the skyscraper across the street caught her eye.

She crossed to the window as though drawn by some force and glanced out at the street below,

mostly in shadow due to the buildings and setting sun. So unlike Texas, where the sun was practically
a constant. Sun she’d never be able to see again.

Maybe for short periods, sure. But long term? As long as the man she shot still had family

connections in high places in the cartel, she’d never be safe there. That was just how powerful they
were. She could actually count herself lucky they didn’t send someone to track her down in New
York, but she didn’t see anything lucky about this.

As soon as she finished this case, she was supposed to go home, but now there wasn’t a home to

go to. Just a crappy apartment and a job where her best friend had tried to kill her.

So she was just supposed to sit back and get comfortable?

There was another option still. She could leave. Transfer to another office or even leave the

Bureau. Jace had done well for himself on his own, and she had a feeling he wasn’t going to be taking
on as many clients in the near future. If she went into the business, he’d be more than willing to shoot
her referrals.

But she’d wanted to make a difference. After her time in the service with Jace and the rest of their

team, she could’ve made millions if she struck out on her own. But she’d thought she could help if she
had Uncle Sam backing her work. And she had. She hadn’t fixed the broken system down there, but
she’d made a lot of busts and set up a great backbone in the agencies she’d worked with.

Could she get that same validation from working white-collar? The system was just as broken, but

the criminals were better hidden and better defended. And she’d still be working around Luke. Even
if it wasn’t on this case, it would be around him.

Which made sleeping with him all the more idiotic. Somehow she’d convinced herself it would

be okay if she was going to leave as soon as this whole thing was over. But now there would be no
clean break. And, frankly, the idea of breaking at all caused her more pause than she felt comfortable
to admit.

The more she was with Luke, the more comfortable she was becoming with him, and that was

dangerous territory.

The bright light reflecting on the building across from her disappeared as the sun dropped lower.

It wasn’t late by any means, but that was just how it was here. Evelyn sighed. She’d work with
Hotchins to decide a good time to bring Easson Harper in and maybe he’d be the key to cracking the
case.

And after that, she’d decide where she was going to go. Until then, she needed to focus on the task

at hand. She and Luke were close to cracking this. She could just feel it. All she had to do was hang in
there a little bit longer and she could sort out the rest of her life then.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“How much do I owe you for this?” Luke sent the document he was looking at on the computer screen
to the printer.

“Five grand,” said Colin Carter over the phone. “I’m sending you the account information for you

to send the wire to.”

“That’s it?” Not that Luke wanted to pay any more than he had to, but considering what Colin had

just given him, he felt as if the man earned a much bigger payday than that.

“That’s enough to cover expenses. I have a feeling Walter isn’t buying the shit Longineu is selling,

but I’d still prefer for him to be out of the way.”

“As long as he’ll be where you say tonight, I can make that happen,” assured Luke.
“Tonight at seven. It’s black-tie and invitation only. I think that the doorman at the ballroom might

recognize you and give you a pass no matter what, but if he doesn’t, ask for me and I’ll give you the
all clear.”

Luke nodded, even though Colin couldn’t see him as his thumb tapped out a frantic rhythm on the

table. Adrenaline rushed through him as he thought forward to exactly what he would say to Brian
Longineu tonight. This was going to stop for good and he was going to be there to wipe the smile off
the smug bastard’s face.

“Thanks for your help, Carter.”
“I owe Walter my life. If he needs protection from slimy assholes like Longineu or even himself,

I’ll be there. As long as Walter doesn’t know I’m getting in the way of him and getting business done.”

“He sounds more like a father than an employer.” Luke knew a fair amount about the Farrell

family and his three sons. Maybe the old man had taken on a protégé in Colin.

But the scoff on the other end of the line told otherwise. “Not exactly. But I still consider it my

responsibility to keep him safe.”

“I’ll take care of it,” promised Luke as Evelyn appeared in the doorway to his office. “I’ll see you

tonight.”

Evelyn entered the office and sat next to her workstation as Luke closed his laptop.
“Do you have any nice dresses?” he asked.
“Ummm...” She frowned and looked up as though she was thinking about it. “I think so. Why?”
“I forgot that I have to go to some party thrown by Walter Farrell tonight. I figure you’re going to

insist on going, and if you don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb, you should probably look the
part.” And hopefully she wouldn’t ask too many questions about why he’d missed something that
should’ve been on his schedule for weeks.

“If we leave now, we should have just enough time to pick something up. You’re not the type who

needs hours to get ready, are you?” He needed to be there by nine so he could catch Longineu early.
The whole thing started at seven, but Longineu wasn’t the type to arrive on time, and Luke wanted to
spot him before Longineu spotted Luke.

“I think we should talk about a few things first,” said Evelyn as Luke pushed his laptop into his

computer bag and tucked the shoulder strap over his arm.

Luke made a show of glancing at his watch. “Actually, we’re tight on time. While we’re in the car,

I can have a few dresses sent to the apartment for you to try and we can return whatever ones we
don’t use. That will save us the time of stopping at a store. Does that work for you?”

“Are you sure you want to go somewhere with me? I don’t exactly fit in with your crowd.”

“No one fits in with my crowd. You just pretend, like everyone else, and you’ll be fine.” He

crossed over to lean against the table as she shut her own computer and started to pack up. “And I
won’t let you out of my sight, so if you get caught by the vultures, I’ll save you. Promise.”

She gave him a skeptical frown. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You seem...off.”
“Everything’s fine. I am just upset that I didn’t realize this was tonight. I don’t like unexpected

things like this.”

“You don’t like not being in control,” she clarified. “I noticed.”
“Luckily, I’m almost always in control.” He slid in closer. She pulled her strap over her shoulder

and stood. “And maybe this is all just an elaborate excuse to get you into a little black dress.”

Evelyn leaned in closer. “Hate to break it to you, but you don’t have to try that hard to get me into

a little black dress for you. Getting me out of one, however...”

Luke bent down for a quick, deep kiss. “Think I couldn’t do it?”
She smiled and set a hand at the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss of her own. Her lips

played against his, her tongue teasing the seam of his lips. Right as he opened for her, she pulled
away. “I think you probably could,” she admitted. “That doesn’t mean I have to make it easy for you.”

Damn, he wanted to call this whole thing off and spend the rest of the day cocooned with Evelyn

in his office. Would it raise eyebrows if he replaced his sofa with one that had a fold-out bed in it?
That would be convenient at the moment. But first things first. He needed to take care of Longineu
once and for all.

“Are you ready?” he forced himself to ask.
She glanced around the office. “Sure. Let’s go and get me all fancy.” She winked.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Evelyn wrapped the hair tie around the end of her braid before she put the small floral clip over it.
There was no way she could get her hair to look as nice as some of the heiresses and trophy wives
who would undoubtedly be there tonight, but she could at least try.

The French braid was simple, but elegant. She liked her hair down when she was going to black-

tie events, but having it back made much more sense considering she’d have to maintain a good range
of visibility to watch out for Luke.

And she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d need to be on high alert. Ever since she’d left

Hotchins and gone back to Luke’s office, something had seemed strange. The last-minute event.
Rushing her out of the building.

But if Luke Devereaux wanted to party, there wasn’t much she could do to stop him without hard

proof that he was in immediate danger. Well, she could handcuff him to the bed. As appealing as that
option was, Hotchins would be pissed if she took such drastic measures. He was still seeing visions
of a lawsuit in his mind.

Evelyn had to forgo a fashionable clutch for a small handbag where she could fit her firearm and

ID. Along with her bright red lipstick. Between her simple black dress and her ankle boots with
reasonable heels so she could move as needed, she needed something to up the drama of her outfit.
But the shorter skirt on the dress combined with the flattering cut of the shoes made her legs look
really long. It was black-tie, but Luke assured her that it didn’t require a floor-length dress.

She took one more look at herself in the mirror and let out a sigh. This was as good as it was

going to get if she wanted to leave right now. Luke sounded as if he wanted to be out the door fifteen
minutes ago, and she didn’t want to keep him waiting any longer.

When she left the bathroom and headed down the stairs, Luke was on the phone. It sounded as

though he was scheduling a meeting with one of his clients for later in the week from what she could
hear. She hated to eavesdrop, but she always tried to hear what was on his radar, especially
considering she had felt as though he was hiding something from her all week.

Luke turned as she reached the bottom of the stairs, and he abruptly went silent as he saw her.
“I’m going to have to call you back tomorrow, Douglas,” he said as the phone fell to his side.

“You look...”

“I know. Not really fancy enough, but I have to work with what I have.”
He let out a little laugh. “You look fucking fantastic.” He set the phone down and approached.

“I’ve never seen anyone look as good as you do right now.” Luke set his hands at the curve of her
waist and pulled her in closer. “All I can think about is dragging you right back up those stairs and
taking this dress off,” he breathed.

Funny. That was exactly what she wanted too. “Let’s blow off this whole thing.” She leaned into

him. “Spend the night in with me.” And don’t do whatever fishy thing you’re planning to do...

But she must’ve said exactly the wrong thing because he pulled back and picked up his wallet and

phone from the counter. “We’ll make an appearance and then get out of there. Super quick, I promise.”

“And who should I tell people I am?” she asked as Luke pulled on his formal suit jacket. She had

to take a deep breath to keep from swooning. His black hair was slicked back, but whatever product
he wore made his hair look completely natural and not oily at all. Evelyn wanted to run her fingers
through it and was only spurred on by the fact that she knew exactly what it would feel like against
her skin.

Despite the clean-cut clothes, his strong jawline was covered with just the right amount of stubble

to give him a rough look.

“Tell them the truth,” he said.
“That I’m an FBI agent watching your every move?”
“That you’re my girlfriend. We met while I was consulting with you on a case. If they ask for

details, we’ll just say that we aren’t allowed to give specifics quite yet. The truth.”

His girlfriend? Was he serious or did he just think that would cause fewer questions from the

partygoers? Before she could ask for clarification, Luke set his arm around her waist and ushered her
to the elevator. At the same time, he dialed the car service to make sure that their ride was ready and
waiting downstairs.

Her suspicions about his motives only increased as he avoided any serious topics on the drive

there, instead making jokes about the city as they drove, and every time she tried to broach the subject
of the investigation, he’d make a sexual comment or lean in to kiss her. As much as she enjoyed those
kisses, she didn’t like his manipulations.

Or maybe she was going along with it for her own reasons. She wasn’t looking forward to telling

him about Cali’s boyfriend. When he found out that she’d known since Tuesday and had said nothing,
he was going to be pissed at her. Maybe if she held off until tomorrow, when the agents moved in and
arrested Easson...she knew she should tell him sooner rather than later.

But he obviously wasn’t going to let her get a productive word in until he got whatever he wanted

to get done at this party over with.

The car came to a stop in front of one of the most exclusive hotels in the area. Luke tipped the

driver and exited the car, walking around to get her door for her.

The outside of the hotel was decorated with intricate stonework and metal plates with some

fascinating designs. Luke did have a knack for showing her the prettier side of the city.

“What’s this party for again?” she asked as they headed into the lobby.
“One hundred years ago today, Walter Farrell’s father bought his first property in the city. Now

the entire family owns billions in assets all over the world. Probably just an elaborate excuse to
network, but anyone who’s anyone is here tonight so I figured I should pop in.”

“I suppose you are someone,” she murmured as they passed the beautiful marble columns in the

lobby and stopped at the equally decadent gold elevators. Not that it was real gold, but rich-looking
nonetheless.

He hit the number for one of the higher levels, and the high-speed elevator had them there in no

time. The doors opened to a less impressive hallway, but it was obvious that there was something big
going on in the room behind them. But in front of the doors were two men in suits and clipboards. It
made sense that this would be invitation only.

Luke confidently strode over to them and gave his name. The “bouncer” looked over his board

and turned a few pages. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t see your name here.”

Evelyn set a hand on her hip and raised her brow at Luke. Well, this should have a damn good

explanation.

“There must be some mistake. Colin Carter knows I was supposed to come tonight. Can you call

him over?”

The bouncer nodded and pulled a radio from his pocket to call this Colin Carter person over.
Evelyn straightened as she saw the man approach a minute later. Colin Carter had the muscular

build and observant gaze of someone who wasn’t a casual guest. Or even an off-the-street rent-a-cop.

Evelyn was willing to bet military, but she knew well-trained men like that came from many

different sources.

The question was, where did Luke find him?
“He’s okay,” said Colin as he reached them without even asking for Luke’s name. And Evelyn

knew the bouncer hadn’t said it over the radio. “They can come on in.”

Luke nodded his thanks and pulled Evelyn into the beautiful ballroom without saying even a thank-

you to Colin Carter.

“What’s going on?” she whispered to Luke, even as she put on a smile.
“I’ll tell you everything,” he promised. “After I get a drink. Do you want one?”
Of course she didn’t want a drink. She wanted to know the truth. “Water, please,” she bit out,

letting her tone carry exactly how she felt about his behavior.

He led her to the bar and she followed, glancing around the room for any sign of threats. The room

had soft blue lights around the border, giving the room a relaxing glow. One side of the room had
tables for the guests to sit, and servers walked around with trays of gourmet hors d’oeuvres. Two
sides of the ballroom were flanked with an outdoor terrace that overlooked the nightscape of the city
and Central Park. Renting this space must’ve cost a fortune, but, like Luke said, the Farrells could
afford it.

Then she saw someone across the room who had her stopping in her tracks. “Is that Cali?”

~~~~~

Luke cursed under his breath as Evelyn pointed to a woman in the middle of conversation with three
men all in suits just as expensive as his own.. “Huh. I didn’t realize she knew the Farrells. But she is
pretty personable. Maybe she got an invite.”

Evelyn tightened her lips as her eyes darted nervously around the room.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. Evelyn had seemed on edge all day. Did she know the real reason

he was here?

“We need to see who exactly invited her. Come on.” Evelyn started across the room and Luke

followed. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to get to Longineu before he saw Luke and bolted.

As they got closer, Cali turned away from the men she was talking to and scanned the crowd

before she noticed him and Evelyn. She gave them a confused smile as they approached.

“Hi, Cali,” said Evelyn in a strangely cheerful tone.
“I didn’t realize you were coming tonight, Luke.”
Evelyn smiled over at Luke. “Funny. I thought this had been on your schedule for ages.”
“Not the one I keep.” Cali glanced between the two of them.
“The one in my head,” he bit out.
“Whatever you say.” Cali smiled. “Easson just ran to the restroom. He should be out any minute if

you want to meet him.”

Evelyn stiffened and reached down for her purse. “Easson is here?”
“Yes. He invited me.” Cali studied Evelyn for a moment and her face fell. “Why—is that a bad

thing?”

“Why is that a bad thing?” asked Luke.
Evelyn looked around the room again and Luke realized her anxiety was increasing by the second.
“Because your boyfriend tried to kill me," admitted Evelyn.
“What?” shouted Cali.

“Evelyn...”
“Easson is very dangerous and he’s working for the people who are after Luke.”
Luke stared in disbelief at Evelyn, and she refused to meet his gaze. How long had she known?

Why the hell hadn’t she told him?

“And you decided to let me carry on with him...why exactly? So you could keep tabs on him?

Have a way to track him?”

Luke shook his head. “Cali—”
She backed away. “No. I’m leaving before I get pulled into any more of your shit. And if you see

my ex-boyfriend, please tell him that I don’t appreciate being used by anyone.” She turned and cut
across the room, making a beeline for the door.

Luke started to follow when Evelyn grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side of the room.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“You’re asking me? You’re the one who’s been letting my assistant date a serial killer.”
“That was a calculated risk after much consideration. He was dating her to get close to you and if

we want to catch him, I needed him close. I only found out how dangerous he was today and I
would’ve told you if I weren’t convinced you were hiding something from me. Now spill. What are
we doing here?”

Luke clenched his jaw as the anger coursed through him. Evelyn had used him. Used Cali to get

what she wanted. “I thought we were partners,” he hissed.

“We were never partners!” she snapped. “You’re good at what you do, but you’re not a cop or

FBI agent or anything. You’re not investigating this with me. I’m here to protect you, which is damn
hard when you bring me to parties with killers, and I have a sinking feeling you knew he would be
here.”

“Hey, I didn’t know apartment guy was here.” Easson. He knew he didn’t like the sound of that

name. “I’m here because Longineu is here tonight and I’m going to bring him, and the entire Thirteen
Stars organization, down.”

“And you were going to tell me this when?”
“When you became a fucking human being and stopped putting your investigation in front of

people’s lives.”

Rage burned behind Evelyn’s brown eyes and for half a second, Luke thought she would scream at

him right then and there.

But she contained herself and took two deep breaths. “Let’s go talk about this before Easson, or

worse, Longineu, spots us.” She turned and made her way for the nearest exit into a long hallway. She
glanced at the first few doors they passed before she opened a door to a janitor’s closet and pulled
Luke inside.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked as the door closed behind him.
“I’m talking some sense into you. You can’t go up against Longineu on your own.”
“That’s no worse than you using one of my friends as bait.”
“She had an FBI tail all day. As soon as I confirmed that her boyfriend was the one who attacked

me, I made sure she was under protection until I had enough backup to take him in. I wasn’t leaving
her in the dust, Luke. I promise.”

He stared her down, trying to decide how much of what she was saying was sincere and how

much was just to save her own ass. “What would you do if Easson was in her apartment with her?
Alone. What would your FBI tail have done then?”

“Cali had already been alone with him multiple times. There was no reason for me to believe she

was in immediate harm.”

“A calculated risk. That’s all it was to you.”
“Yes, it was a calculated risk! After everything these people have done to me. To you. To your

family! I took a risk.”

“Anything to get this over with and back to your precious Texas and the job that almost killed you,

right?”

She shook her head and tears started to well behind her eyes, but she blinked them away. “You

idiot. Maybe I did this because I want to protect you. Maybe I—”

“Yeah, right,” he interrupted.
“Maybe I did this because I love you, you moron, and I want to protect you. And thank God I’m

here, because without me, you’re throwing yourself right in the middle of this.”

He stared down at her, speechless finally. Had she just said that she loved him? Was that just

another ploy? She sure as hell didn’t look like she was joking.

Evelyn reached out for his tie and pulled him in, kissing him fiercely. Luke was still pissed, but he

couldn’t help kissing her back, tangling his tongue with hers.

It didn’t seem to matter where they were. As long as they were together, he would want her:

kitchen, office, fucking janitor’s closet. He still wanted to push her back against the wall, hike up her
skirt and wrap her legs around him.

She let go of his tie and stepped back, but he followed her, not breaking the kiss. If he stopped,

they’d go back to fighting, and he didn’t want to deal with that. He just wanted to stay in this sexy
cocoon and ignore the reality of where they were and that they were each furious.

She ran her hands over his shoulders and arms and a strange, plastic noise cut through the silence

in the room and Luke suddenly realized he couldn’t move his hand.

He broke the kiss and looked over where Evelyn had zip tied his wrist to one of the supports in

the metal shelf next to them. “What the hell—”

In a flash, she had his other hand zip tied to the same beam.
“Are you kidding me?” he snapped.
Evelyn stepped away and leaned back against the door. “Sorry, Luke. You obviously have a death

wish and I’m not going to let you put yourself in any more danger. I have to go and try to apprehend
Easson by myself since Cali won’t want anything to do with him anymore and we won’t have a good
way to track him after tonight. So it’s now or never. I’ll get you once he’s out of the way.”

“Evelyn! I am not sitting here doing nothing while you’re out fighting for my life! Now cut these

fucking things off me!”

“I’ll be back soon,” she promised as she opened the door.
“Wait! Does this mean you lied?”
She paused. “Lied about what?”
“You fucking know what.”
“Stay here.” She walked out, shutting the door and leaving him alone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Evelyn blinked back tears as she tried to keep her walk as straight as possible as she went back to the
ballroom. Keep it together. She needed to stay focused. Once Easson knew that Cali was on to him,
he’d know she and Luke had found out who he was and he’d slip out of their fingers.

Arrest Easson. Get him to flip on Longineu. Get Longineu to spill the beans on all of Thirteen

Stars. Problem solved and she would be well on her way to not going back to Texas.

Evelyn pulled out her phone and dialed into headquarters. She’d need backup and support if she

was going to bring Easson in. Local police said that it would be about ten minutes before anyone
could get there, but Evelyn needed to get eyes on Easson so that they could have some game plan to
bring him in once backup got there.

She reached the ballroom and glanced inside, looking for the man who could put all the pieces

together. She frowned as she thought back to the file Hotchins had given her earlier that day. If this
guy really was black ops like it said, there was a real chance that he wouldn’t flip once in custody.
Those guys could handle an interrogation like no other.

She’d just have to hope that loyalty wasn’t his strong suit. She scanned the room once more, but

there was no sign of Easson.

Damn it. She headed down the corridor, looking for any sign of him, but nothing. Evelyn reached

into her purse to feel the comforting butt of her gun and paused in front of the men’s room. Without
giving warning, she pushed the door open. Judging by the lack of curses thrown at her, there was no
one there. Just to double-check, she looked inside each of the three stalls, but there was no one there.

If he wasn’t in the ballroom and wasn’t in the bathroom, where the hell had he gone? She’d need

to go back to check on Luke to make sure he was still secure, and then she’d do another loop around
the building.

She did one quick look through the women’s room before going back to the janitorial closet. Her

stomach flipped when she saw that the door hung open. Did Easson already get to Luke?

She ran over and her fears were confirmed when she saw the cut remains of the zip ties and no

Luke. “No,” she breathed.

Evelyn twisted around and ran straight into a hard chest. “Luke! I was worr—”
Nope. Not Luke.
She stepped back as she looked up into Easson’s dark eyes.

~~~~~

Luke rubbed at his sore wrists as he snuck into the ballroom, making sure Evelyn was nowhere
around. He would’ve been in there for ages if the metal shelving beam he was hooked to hadn’t rusted
enough to become sharp and jagged. Just enough for him to work away at the zip tie. But he knew it
was only a matter of time before Evelyn realized he was gone and came after him.

He needed to make sure he got his point across to Longineu.
Colin Carter stood in the back corner of the room and met Luke’s gaze, giving a slight nod of

acknowledgment. Luke nodded in response and took out his phone, dialing Longineu’s number.

“I wondered when I’d hear from you,” said the cocky bastard when he answered.
“Where are you?” he bit out, scanning the room.
“I’m enjoying some choice cigars with some of my friends, far away from you. How can I help

you?”

“I know about Bella.”
There was silence on the other end of the line and he knew he’d hit a mark. “What?”
“I’m at the Farrell party. I know you’re here too. Now do you want to talk to me or do you want

me to let the entire city know just how much of a scumbag you are?” He turned in a circle, looking for
any sign of the man.

“You don’t have any proof,” said Longineu, the fear evident in his voice.
“I have everything I need. Now come and face me, you son of a bitch.”
There was another pause before Longineu said, “Come out on the terrace, back corner. We’ll have

some privacy.” Then the line was dead.

Luke tried to keep his nerves under control. He only had one chance at this. He’d thought that he’d

be able to talk reason into Evelyn once she was here and there was no time for her to back out. That
wasn’t going to happen now. So he’d have to go in alone.

The memory of Evelyn shutting the door on him cut like a knife. That was how she saw him: A

hindrance. In the way of her getting what she wanted.

But she was right about one thing. These people had fucked with his life for the last time, and he

was going to show them exactly what happened when you messed with a Devereaux.

Ken Kemmerling had taken the coward’s way out and jumped off a building rather than face the

repercussions from the leaders of this group. He had a feeling Longineu wasn’t as afraid of them. He
was a good ol’ boy. Too close to the heads to ever think they’d hurt him. Luke had a feeling Longineu
himself was one of the leaders.

So in order to get him to turn on his friends, and himself, Luke needed leverage. Leverage like

Joslyn had discovered.

Luke found the balcony and slid open the door. The large open area wrapped around the entire

side of the luxury hotel, but it was easy enough to see where the cluster of men smoking cigars was.
Luke put his hands in his pockets and walked over casually, getting angrier with each step. Angry at
Longineu. Angry at Evelyn. Angry at himself.

The men around Longineu noticed his arrival and moved to form a barrier between Luke and their

boss. Luke smirked at them. “I think we need our privacy for this one.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“Bring your pepper spray today?” Evelyn wrapped her fingers around the butt of her gun in her purse.

His mouth twisted into a cruel smile as he took a step forward and backed her into the closet. “I

have lots of other toys I could use on you.” His eyes glanced around the room at the various chemicals
and supplies that lined the shelves behind her. “I’m assuming you’re the reason my date bailed on
me?”

“I’m the reason she realized you were just using her.”
Easson tsked at her with his tongue. “I underestimated you. Again. That won’t happen this time.”
Damn. She was kind of counting on that whole underestimating thing. She pulled out her gun and

aimed it at him. “Don’t come any closer,” she warned. Backup had to be close. All she had to do was
keep him busy for a few minutes. Which was difficult, considering she was dealing with a guy who
could kill in seconds.

“I’ve looked into you, you know.” He took a step closer.
She inched back, but there was only about six inches between her and the shelving unit behind her.

If she got cornered, she’d have no room to fight if she needed to. “Find out anything interesting?”

“I figured out how you got the drop on me the last time we danced.”
“Never assume a woman can’t fight.”
“I never thought someone who had so little respect for herself that she’d sleep with a mark could

be trained. My mistake.”

“Says the guy who had to pepper spray me in order to run away.” What if she shot? He was right

in front of her. She could aim at the head and get one clean shot. But then they’d have nothing on
Longineu and be back at square one. He was only a few feet away and guns weren’t best for close
combat. Damn it, nothing about this room was good for close combat. But at least Easson had the
same disadvantages as her. And she was the only one pointing a gun.

“I think that the two of us are going to have some fun together.” Easson took one more step

forward and started to push the door shut.

Nope. She wasn’t going to wait for him to make a move. Without waiting any longer, Evelyn fired

off a round, but Easson charged her. He was on her in a flash, shoving her back against the shelves.
She tried to aim the gun at him, but he slammed her head back into the metal beam Luke had just been
tied to.

As bright lights flashed behind her eyes, Easson twisted the gun out of her hand, ejecting the clip

and letting both clatter to the floor. Evelyn gritted her teeth and tried to get ready to go at him again,
but he punched her full on in the face before she could move.

This time, the lights flashed brighter as unconsciousness tried to take over.

~~~~~

Longineu jerked his head to the side, signaling the men around him to clear out, far enough away to
give him and Luke some privacy but close enough to let Luke know he wasn’t in the clear.

“So why don’t you tell me what you think you know?”
“I know that you’re a bad, bad man.” Luke looked over the man he was about to bring down.

Longineu had taken off his suit jacket somewhere and was in a blue button-down and black trousers.
The sleeves were rolled up and top few buttons undone, as though he were lounging at home instead
of trying to wrangle another investor into the Thirteen Stars. “Had a rough day?”

“The old Farrell bastard effectively shot me down.” Longineu crossed his arms over his chest.

“So I’m excited to hear how you plan to ruin my night so I can tell you exactly how you’ll fail.”

“Well, I know about Bella.”
Longineu was stone-faced. “I got that from your delightful phone call. But to be honest, I couldn’t

care less about what you know. Exactly how much can you prove?”

“It was suspicious, you know. That Joslyn had something on you that petrified you into paying

whatever she demanded and then was mum once she got into prison. And we threw everything we
could legally throw at her. The best interrogators, all of our family visited her and yet she didn’t give
one word about what she had to blackmail you.”

“As your delightful cousin, Emma, informed my people, Joslyn was full of shit. Like I suspect you

are.”

“The electronic copy of the birth certificate she claimed she had didn’t exist,” said Luke.
Longineu narrowed his eyes. “So you got Joslyn to talk?”
“Well, once we exhausted all the legal options, I tried some illegal ones.” And Colin Carter had

plenty of resources for Luke to use. “It wasn’t too hard to find a guard who would help with scaring
the hell out of her.”

“You have a strange way of treating your family.”
“I’d do anything for my family. But Joslyn separated herself from us years ago. You, on the other

hand, have gone pretty far out of the way to hurt your family, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Prison isn’t nice to people who hurt children, you know.”
“And I’m still waiting for that proof.”
“Bear Creek.” Stark fear covered Longineu’s features and Luke knew he had struck a nerve.
“Where did you hear that from?”
“From a long line of gardeners, landscapers, nannies, old police files, and various other

associates of yours who you’ve managed to piss off since then.”

“What do you want me to do? The people I work with aren’t going to just let you and your

girlfriend walk free.”

“This isn’t about me walking free. I’m going to be getting out of this no matter what. This

conversation is about your future.”

Longineu strode up to Luke and shoved his finger in Luke’s chest; it took everything in Luke to

hold off from punching him in the face.

“No,” said Longineu. “I’m going to tell you how this conversation is going to go. You’re going to

turn around and walk away and I’ll pretend you were never here, or you can keep talking and I’ll have
my men throw you off the balcony.”

Luke glanced down at Longineu’s hand, still pressed against his chest, and backed up. “Before

you throw me off the balcony, do you want me to show you the exact spot you buried the daughter you
murdered? Or do you want to keep on thinking I’m bluffing?

“So let me tell you what’s going to happen.” Luke grabbed Longineu’s hand and twisted it off his

chest, making sure to add enough pressure to make the grip painful. “You’re going to turn yourself in
and you’re going to tell the FBI everything they want to know.”

“You’re crazy if you think I’d agree to that.”
“And in exchange, I won’t tell them that you murdered Bella. You know, white-collar crime

prison is much nicer than child-killer prison. And you also know I’m angry enough to do it.”

“Give me one good reason not to kill you right here. Surrounded by people and no one would see

me do it. I promise you that.”

“Two words: Automated. Email. Kill me, and all the proof the government will need to fry you

will be sent over at a time I’ve already chosen and you don’t get to fucking know. So make up your
mind.”

“Boss,” called one of the men from behind Luke.
“I’m busy!” called Longineu.
“Harper is with the FBI chick right now. Says he has her contained.”
Longineu pulled his hand out of Luke’s grip. “Your move, Devereaux.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Evelyn opened her eyes right as Easson kicked her in the ribs. She let out a pained cough as she took
in any possible weapon before he struck again. Thinking straight was too hard and her eyes refused to
focus.

Just hang on. Backup would be here soon and someone had to have heard the gunshot.
He started to rear back for another kick, and all Evelyn could do was brace herself until the

electronic sound of a ringing phone cut through her pained gasps for breath.

“Hold on, love.” He pulled out his phone. It must have been a text, because he didn’t answer.

“Damn. I really wanted to make this last, too...” He typed something into the phone.

The brief interlude was enough for Evelyn to get some of her senses back. There it was. One-

quart paint cans right within reach. She snatched the closest one up and slammed it into his leg. He
grunted in pain and she swung again, hitting his ankle, throwing him off balance.

It was just enough time for Evelyn to push herself up. She hit him in the head as hard as possible

with the can, the force so hard that the can popped out of her hands.

He swung wildly, but she was just able to avoid it, and she slammed the side of her palm into his

throat. Even as he coughed, Easson lunged forward, jamming his shoulder into her side and pushing
her back into the concrete wall.

Under normal circumstances, the hit would be painful enough as is, but the blow to her already

sore ribs practically blinded her with pain. She bit back a curse as she slammed an elbow into his
back, but he only grunted as he punched her in the ribs.

Evelyn scanned the room for anything she could use to help her get out of this when the door

pushed open. Easson let her go, and she fell to the ground with a thump as he turned to face the
newcomer.

Luke. Holding a gun. Pointed straight at Easson.
What the hell was he doing here? Evelyn grabbed her gun and clip, slamming it back together and

pointing it at Easson’s back.

“Still have those zip ties?” asked Luke.
Evelyn glared at him as she bent down until she could grab her handbag that had been discarded at

some point during the fight. With her free hand, she managed to pull out one of the restraints.

“Shit. Are you bleeding?” Luke’s eyes went to her side.
She looked down and saw the red smears along her dress, and then up to Easson. Finally some

good news. “Not me. Him. Where the hell did you get a gun?”

“I brought it with me,” he said dismissively.
Easson stared daggers at the two of them. “You can’t arrest me, you know. I’ve got friends in high

places.”

Luke started to step closer and Evelyn shook her head. “Keep the gun out of his reach,” she

warned as she poked his shoulder with the butt of her gun. The more she touched him, the more
chances he had to disarm her and use her as leverage to get past Luke, so she refused to take any
chances. She’d shot him once already and she wasn’t afraid to do it again.

“If you’re talking about Longineu, he’s not going to help you anymore. He can hardly help himself

at this point. In fact, he’s going to be turning himself into police custody pretty much as we speak. So
don’t expect anyone to save your ass.”

“He would never do that,” said Easson, for the first time sounding less sure of himself.

Evelyn met Luke’s gaze over Easson’s shoulder, silently agreeing with him. Why the hell would

Longineu turn himself over? She carefully set the gun between her arm and side and tightened the
restraints a tad tighter than was probably necessary, so there was no way he was squeezing out, even
if he broke his thumbs. This dude was the exact kind of crazy who would pull some stunt like that.

As soon as he was secured, she pulled out her phone and called into the local police, who

connected her to the officers who were already headed up. “Go in the hallway and wait for them,
Luke. Keep me in sight, though. After what happened earlier, I don’t know how much I trust these
restraints.”

He nodded and started to back up.
“And after this, we’re going to talk,” she warned.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Evelyn leaned against the hallway and hugged Luke’s jacket closer to her as Longineu was pulled into
the elevator in handcuffs. She shook her head at the scene as Luke approached with some coffee. It
was normally too late for caffeine, but she was going to the hospital after this to get a barrage of tests
and x-rays, so she needed all the help she could get to make it through the night.

“Thanks,” she muttered as he handed her the cup. “So are you going to spill your secrets?”
He leaned against the wall next to her. “I’m a man of many secrets. You’ll have to be more

specific.”

“Brian Longineu. You must’ve scared the hell out of him, and since you didn’t tell me, I’m

assuming I wouldn’t approve.”

“I found out the secret that started it all. What Joslyn discovered to hold over his head and what

he almost killed Emma over to cover up.”

“I thought she had something on Thirteen Stars.”
“That’s what he told them, but it was his personal secrets this time. His family is old money, but

his father’s will had a morality clause in it. He had to destroy all the evidence of a crime to avoid the
possibility of charges and losing his inheritance.”

“Destroy the evidence?”
“In this case, the evidence was a child conceived between him and a fifteen-year-old he was

with.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped. “You’re not serious.”
“Completely serious. This dude is the scum of the earth. He probably thought he was lucky when

the mother died of an overdose shortly after giving birth, but all they need is a DNA test and the
mom’s birth certificate to put him away. So he took the baby.”

“That’s horrible. Joslyn found out and threatened him?”
“Yep. And I found the evidence she pretended to have.”
“What part of all this caused him to turn himself in, though?”
“I told him I wouldn’t turn over my evidence to the FBI or any other government authority if he

turned over everything he knew about the Thirteen Stars and a full confession to all the white-collar
stuff.”

Evelyn pushed away from the door and stared at him in shock. “You can’t be serious! After

everything that man has done, you can’t let that poor child—”

“Relax.” He set a hand on each of her arms. “I lied. Everything is being emailed to you right now.

All you have to do is hold off on pressing charges for a few days while the other arrests are made.”

She let out a sigh of relief.
“You don’t really think I’m that evil, right? I mean, you probably did at first. But I’d like to think

we moved past that.”

“You should’ve told me,” she said.
“I didn’t use completely legal methods to get this information. I figured the less you knew the

better.”

“You’re wrong, you know. I did think of you as a partner. At least I wanted to.”
“Until you go to Texas, right?”
“There is no Texas in my future,” she said, admitting it for the first time out loud.
Luke frowned. “Was it, um, why did you decide to stay?”

Evelyn knew he wanted her to say it was him. That she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him.

And on some level, that was true. She didn’t want to leave him. But she wanted to be honest too.
“Apparently I’m on the cartel’s shit list, and people on their shit list don’t have a high survival rate
down there.”

He nodded. “It’s good to stay safe.”
Evelyn reached up to thread his tie through her fingers, not pulling him closer, but not letting go

either. “I was less broken up about the news than I thought I’d be.”

“Is that right?” Luke set his hands on her hips. “I thought you hated the city.”
“I do,” she blurted out. “I did. I don’t know. There are a few things in it that I’m rather partial to.”
“A little bird told me there are a few things in it that you love.”
She bit her lip and looked up at him. He stared at her as though she were the most beautiful

woman he’d ever seen, which was much funnier when she thought about how black and blue her face
was probably turning. “That did slip out, didn’t it?”

“It did. Was it an accident, or did you mean it?”
Of course she found the one guy in Manhattan who wanted to talk about his feelings. Just her luck.

“Well, I’ve never been one to half-ass things. I tend to dive straight in.”

“I’ve noticed. But you didn’t answer my question.”
He was really going to make her do this, wasn’t he? “I know I probably freaked you out back

there, and I was upset and emotional and really pissed off, but I’m not taking it back.”

Luke pulled her in closer, but she could tell he was being mindful of her sore body. “I love you

too.”

Evelyn couldn’t help the smile that formed. “Really?”
He nodded, resting his forehead against hers. “Really.”
“Shocking. How many times has Luke Devereaux told a woman he loved her?”
“Including this time?” He squinted as though he thought about it. “Once.”
The elevator down the hall opened, and two uniformed officers strode intently toward Evelyn and

Luke. It looked as if their little moment was over.

“I have to head to the hospital.” She pulled away. “Hotchins was working on contacting your

family and letting them know the gist of what happened tonight.”

But as the police got closer, she realized they were much too tense for a quick debriefing. Evelyn

straightened and pulled away from Luke as the police reached them. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Easson Harper escaped,” said the first cop.
“He got out of the restraints and shot two officers. We’re pulling all our available men to look for

him, but we’d like to get you to the hospital now.”

“He escaped!” shouted Luke. “We practically gift wrapped him for you.”
Evelyn set a hand on his arm even as she tried to control her own anger. But in her experience,

little good ever came from insulting police. Especially police who had just had two of their own
wounded. “Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do for now, and with the information Longineu can tell
us, we might be able to find him.” Evelyn intertwined her fingers with his. “Trust me.”

EPILOGUE

Evelyn walked past Cali’s empty desk and headed to Luke’s office. She paused in the doorway as
Luke stared intently at the computer, but it didn’t take long for him to realize she was there. “Hey.” He
jumped up and ran around the desk.

“Hey yourself.” He stopped just short of her and leaned in for a kiss, barely touching her.
“You know you can’t treat me with kid gloves forever.”
He pressed a hand softly over the bandage wrapped around her ribs. “At least until the bandages

are off.”

“And here I thought you’d like me in a dress.” Which she’d be wearing until the act of buttoning

pants didn’t hurt so much.

The corner of his mouth hooked up as he reached down until he was at her knee and moved his

hand up, bunching her white dress as he moved farther and farther up her thigh. “I do kind of like this
dress thing,” he whispered.

“Oh my,” said a woman with a hint of a Southern accent.
Evelyn jerked at the interruption, but Luke stayed in place. “Emma, so glad you could make it.”
“Emma. Nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Evelyn. I figured that you were his girlfriend by the way, well, you know.”
“Yes, this is my girlfriend, Evelyn Price. Evelyn, this is my baby cousin, Emma.”
Evelyn smiled at the petite reddish blonde. Her skin was tanned from the Southern sun, and she

looked decidedly less beat-up than Evelyn did. “Michael and Lori just got here. They’re waiting for
you.”

Luke let go of Evelyn and took her hand as they headed toward the conference room.
She clenched his hand. This was her first time seeing his family when they weren’t on official

duty, and it would’ve made her feel better if she’d known ahead of time. “I didn’t realize everyone
was here.”

“Well, Emma and Jace were coming up the second they heard we made a major arrest and once

they found out that someone was getting us video footage of the party at Farrell’s.”

“Everyone’s a voyeur,” she muttered.
The second she stepped into the conference room, everyone stood and stared as though she was

some being from another planet. Good grief, she didn’t know whether she’d felt this uncomfortable
the last time she was surrounded by cartel gangsters.

These were no gangsters, though. This was her boyfriend’s family. She didn’t think she’d ever met

a guy’s family before, let alone been in a room with a brother, cousin, and their other halves. At least
Jace was a more familiar face. She shot him a quick nod as Michael broke out into a huge grin.
“Agent Price. I hear you and Luke have reconciled your differences.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Hey, you’re still my favorite brother, but only if you stop making cracks

like that.”

“Awww. He’s my favorite brother too.” Lori winked.
Luke held her hand tighter. “Hey, hey. I have it on high authority that I am now Evelyn’s favorite,

okay. Be nice to her. She came bearing presents.”

Jace leaned forward, ready to get down to business. “You have the security footage from the

hotel?”

Evelyn reached in her shoulder bag and pulled out a USB drive. “I told Hotchins I wanted to take

it to review it further. He doesn’t need to know we’re having a viewing party.” She knew the entire
family was invested in making sure they were in the clear, and Hotchins was especially happy since
they’d been able to recover the hundred million Luke and Michael had invested with the Thirteen
Stars and they’d gifted the Bureau with an extremely generous reward.

Evelyn leaned across the table and handed Michael the USB drive, which he plugged into the

computer that projected onto the big screen.

“Everyone get comfortable,” she said. “There’s hours’ worth of footage on here.”
But the entire family seemed focused on the screen. They eventually found the spot where Cali

and Easson entered together. They followed Easson’s movements as he met with Longineu and shared
a dance with Cali.

Then Evelyn and Luke showed up, and Evelyn saw the exact moment they told Cali the truth about

her boyfriend.

“Easson wasn’t with her at this point,” said Evelyn. “Let me try to get an angle in one of the

hallways to see where he was before he decided to pay me a visit.”

She took the mouse and looked through the video files until she saw a good angle of a hallway.

Setting it to fast-forward through all the activity, Evelyn saw Cali come out of the ballroom before
she leaned against a wall, holding her head in her hands.

Guilt washed over her as she met Luke’s eyes. Making things right with Cali was on the top of her

list. Luke said she’d be in during the afternoon, so hopefully Evelyn could start soon.

“Wait, stop it,” said Michael.
Evelyn switched the setting to real time and looked up to the screen.
“That guy she’s talking to...”
A man on the screen slowly approached Cali, but all she could see was the back of his head. It

was impossible to make out who it was.

“The guy she’s kissing,” said Emma.
“Oh, wow,” murmured Evelyn as Cali threw her arms around the man’s neck and he pushed her

into the wall. Just as quickly as it started, the kiss was over and the man had turned to leave, finally
looking at the camera.

“There,” said Michael. “Zoom in.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes. This wasn’t exactly CSI, but she was able to take a picture of the image

and then enlarge it to a grainy image.

“Holy fuck,” breathed Luke.
Michael shook his head. “I can’t believe it’s him.”
“What’s he doing with Cali?” asked Emma.
Evelyn met Jace’s confused gaze over the table. “Who is it?”
Luke let out a deep breath. “That’s our brother, Rourke. We really need to talk to Cali.”

~~~THE END~~~

Document Outline

Title Page
Copyright Page
Testing The Boss (Billionaires In The City, #5)
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
EPILOGUE

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