Shoving open the door, he exited into the cool San Francisco air, the breeze a welcome relief from the heat of his anger and, yes, his fear. He’d not felt fear in a long damn time, but he felt it now. Fear pissed him off. Fear gutted a person and destroyed them. Fear did not let him hunt Alvarez with all guns blazing, balls to the wall.
“Fuck!” he cursed, using the word Kara hated because she hated it, because he didn’t want to feel this growing attachment to her. Pacing, he tried to burn off the adrenaline burning through his body. Kara was going to hate him when he was done with her tonight, and trying to convince himself that was for the best. It was what had to happen. He couldn’t keep her close to him as he had Whitney. He couldn’t risk getting her killed. Kara hating him might be good. Maybe then he could stop thinking about her, stop with this damnable distraction that was going to make him give a damn if he was killed. Giving a damn and fear—two things that would be his weaknesses to Alvarez, and both came down to one person. Kara. Kara was his true weakness.
Blake stopped pacing, scrubbing a hand over his face. Grinding his teeth, he snatched his phone from his pocket and glanced discreetly at the window above, finding the barely there crack he expected to see. Kara was listening to see who he called. There had never been a chance in hell this woman was a secretary, and if she thought Mendez was stupid enough to believe that himself, she was wrong. He’d figure her out sooner than later, if he hadn’t already.
Dreading the call he was about to make, Blake punched the auto-dial for his brother Luke. “Where the hell are you?” Luke asked the instant he answered. “You damn sure aren’t on the job you said you were on. I checked. I’ve left you three messages. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“Why were you checking on me in the first place?”
“Where are you, Blake?”
Blake sat down on the step in front of the door and sighed, accepting the inevitable beating his brothers were going to give him when they heard the details. “In San Francisco.”
“Tell me this isn’t about Alvarez.”
“Okay, I won’t. I’ve stumbled onto a slave trade operation going on down here. Young and pretty girls are being kidnapped and forced into things I don’t think either of us wants to imagine. I’ve got two I rescued who need a safe house. Kyle has them locked down in a hotel right now.” He paused and glanced over his shoulder up at the window, before turning his back to it and lowering his voice. “Actually, make that three women who need protection. I have one with me.”
Luke cursed. “And let me guess. Alvarez is running the operation.”
“Yeah.” Blake ran his fingers over his jaw. “Alvarez is running the operation.”
“How deep are you into this?”
He rotated back around. “I’m working as head of security for one of his top men.”
“Damn it, Blake—”
“I’m going to get enough shit from Royce over this, so save me yours,” Blake snapped. “I have women who need help and a shot at bringing this asshole down once and for all. Are you in or out?”
“You know we’re in. We’ll charter a flight and get a team there tomorrow. I’ll work on arranging a safe house.”
“Kyle has his hands full taking care of two of the women. I need you to check on someone for me. I need to know everything you can find out about Anna Michaels. Her sister is Kara Michaels, an FBI agent on a leave of absence. Actually…fuck. I’m not sure what her sister’s name is. Their father was FBI and he was compromised on an undercover job, and Kara and her sister were given new identities.”
“If they’re in witness protection plans it will be nearly impossible to get that information, even at the highest level where Royce has connections. Why is this important?”
“Kara is here, trying to find her sister. She seems to think she’s one of the kidnapped women. I’ll need to get back to you on the sister’s name. Just get me everything you can on Kara and make sure no one but Kyle has been digging around in her file.”
“You mean Royce digging around. If Kyle got you information on Kara, he got it from Royce. And Royce is going to be pissed when he finds out Kyle lied about why to protect you, because we both know he didn’t tell him Kara tracked back to you hunting Alvarez.”
“He was just doing as ordered.”
Luke was silent a long moment before he said, “I’m not even going to bother asking the ten questions on my mind right now.”
“Thank you for that little piece of heaven,” Blake replied in mock relief.
“Royce—”
“Will turn heaven to hell. Believe me, I know.”
Luke changed the subject. “Is Kara one of the women you’re protecting?”
“I thought you weren’t asking the ten questions.”
“This is the eleventh.”
Blake’s lips thinned. “Yes.”
He snorted. “Does she know you’re protecting her? Because I’m pretty sure she’s trained to protect herself and others for that matter.”
“No,” he confessed. “But she’s about to.”
Luke whistled. “The shit’s about to hit the fan. She’s going to bust your chops.”
“You don’t even know her.”
“I know enough. She’s FBI and her father was FBI. That enough to assume her to be tough and independent. To top that all off, she’s gone undercover inside the cartel to save her sister. That takes a pair of balls.”
“Alone,” Blake said. “She went into this alone, which is a death wish.”
“Sounds familiar,” Luke replied dryly. “Like my brother who just went MIA.”
“Screw you, Luke.”
“I’m just speaking facts. And you better be prepared for what’s coming when you try to shut down Kara. This is not a woman you send to her room and promise cookies or candy-coated orgasms, Blake. I assume that’s your plan, right?”
“Seriously, Luke. Screw you.”
Luke chuckled. “Yeah yeah, I love you too, bro. I’ll let you know what I find out about your poor, helpless FBI agent.” He hung up.
Blake growled under his breath and returned his phone to his belt, but he didn’t move. He just sat there, thinking about Kara, and he didn’t give a damn if she was FBI. She wasn’t going back inside the cartel, even if that meant he had to tie her to a bed and keep her there. Of course, he wouldn’t be in that bed. Not anymore. Not until Alvarez was dead. The distraction was too dangerous. He and Kara were not doing candy-coated anything.
Shoving to his feet, he entered the apartment, locked the door, and charged up the stairs, his adrenaline pumping in anticipation of a confrontation.
Chapter Three
Blake rounded the corner of the stairs and found Kara standing by the couch, her long, dark hair in sexy disarray, her hand firmly holding a gun on him. He wasn’t the least bit rattled or dissuaded, charging right on ahead toward her with long, determined steps.
Her eyes went wide at his continued approach and she backed into the couch. “Stop or I’ll—”
Blake stepped in front of her and snatched the gun from her hand. “Did you really think I didn’t expect this?” Flipping the safety into place, he slid the gun inside the back of his jeans, and then trapped her soft, too-feminine, too-tempting body between him and the couch.
“You only took that from me because I let you,” she declared, her chin lifting defiantly.
“I couldn’t agree more. We both knew you weren't going to shoot me.”
“If you knew I was going to pull a gun, why leave me alone?”
“Trust, sweetheart,” he drawled. “I want you to have it, so I have to give it in return.”
“That’s why you asked one of your men to check up on me? Because you trust me?”
“You wouldn’t respect me in the morning if I didn’t check on your story, any more than I’d respect you if you hadn’t listened at the window.” His gaze lowered, lingering on her full kissable lips he wanted pressed to his, before lifting. “Find out anything interest
ing?”
“Whoever you called wasn’t Mendez.”
“You would have chased me out the door with the gun if you’d have thought I was calling Mendez.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe,” he repeated, his lips twitching.
She shoved him. “Must you always crowd me?”
“Yes.”
She glared. “I didn’t shoot you this time, Blake, but if you try to shut me out of the cover I’ve worked long and hard to develop, I will.”
Damn, she was hot when she was pissed. “Is that right?”
“Try me.”
Blake stared down at her, the fire licking at his limbs at her challenge, telling himself not to act, not to do what he burned to do, before he cursed, and did it anyway. Tunneling his fingers into her hair, he dragged her mouth to his and said, “I will,” before he kissed her, slanting his mouth over hers, with a hot, demanding slide of his tongue that demanded her response and told her who was in control. And it wasn’t her. It was impossible for him to keep his hands off of her.
Kara moaned into his mouth, her body softening against his, her arms wrapping around his neck. Her submission should have been enough. But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough with this woman, which was exactly why this had to be it. This last taste of pleasure, before he got her the hell away from him, where she couldn’t distract him from killing Alvarez.
One of his hands slid from her face to her breast, caressing her, teasing her nipple. She arched into his touch and tugged at his shirt, trying to press her fingers beneath it. Blake shackled her wrists and pushed her hands to the couch behind her. “Keep them there,” he ordered.
She glared up at him, her lashes heavy; her lips swollen from his kisses. “Not a chance in hell that’s happening. You want to touch me, I’m damn sure touching you.”
His cock thickened, his anger magnified. He leaned in and nipped her lip. “This isn’t a negotiation.”
“You’re right,” she assured him. “It’s not. You want a woman you can control, and she’s not me. Not in bed or out.”
“We’ll see about that.” He turned her to face the couch, forcing her to press her hands to the cushions.
“Blake—” She moaned as he palmed her breasts, his thick erection nestling against her delectable little backside.
He leaned in near her ear, drawing her sweet floral scent into his nostrils, and pinching one of her nipples as he whispered, “We’re doing this my way.”
“You can’t just claim me like property,” she hissed, her hand covering his, molding it closer when he knew she meant to push it away.
“I can and I will until I know you’re safe.”
“I’m FBI. It’s my job to never be safe.”
He wasn’t going to think beyond this mission and the cartel, or he might go insane. He nipped her ear roughly, making her yelp. “My way, Kara. That’s how this works. And the FBI wouldn’t put you in the danger you’re in now.”
She laughed bitterly. “You don’t know my boss.”
“I’m your boss now.” He shoved his hands under her shirt and pushed her bra down, covering her bare breasts with his hands. “I own you until I say otherwise.”
“Making me moan means you have skills, not authority. And using it against me means you’re an asshole. It means you’re a momentary escape, not the answer I’d hoped you were.”
Blake went completely still, and something dark, something he refused to let take shape, started to burn in his mind. He tugged his hands free of her shirt and gripped the sides of the couch. “If anyone is using sex against the other, it’s you, sweetheart.”
“Me?” She shoved back against him and then laid a hard elbow in his ribs.
Blake grunted and lifted his body enough so that she twisted around, grabbed his shirt, and lifted her knee to his groin without making contact. “You’re lucky I don’t really want to hurt you, Blake.”
He laughed and pulled her leg round his hip, fitting his cock into the V of her body. “That’s more like it. And I was trying to fuck you, sweetheart, not hold you captive, but I guess I should have remembered—you like to strike when my pants are down or headed that way.”
She flinched. “That’s unfair. I thought you were part of the cartel when I drugged you.”
“Life isn’t fair and I don’t know what answer you’re looking for to your problems, but, like it or not, I’m the only one you have.”
“Then be one, Blake. Help me. I can read between the lines. You want me out of the cartel and that’s not happening. Don’t treat me like I really am a helpless secretary. I’m not.”
“I told you I’d get your sister back—and if it’s possible, I will.”
“And I’m supposed to just walk away and trust you to do it?”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m not walking away, Blake.”
“You walk away or I’ll force you to walk away.”
She drew back, shock in her face. “Are you threatening what I think you’re threatening? Because if you are…”
His cell phone rang with an AC/DC tune. “Hold that promise to cut my balls off. That’s my ringtone for my man escorting the women to safety.” He hit the “answer” button to Kyle’s incoming call. “Talk to me.”
“The girls were followed. Does Kara have a way to call either of them?”
Blake glanced at Kara. “Do you have a way to call one of the girls and tell them I’m here to help?”
“Yes. We exchanged cell phone numbers.”
“Yeah,” he told Kyle. “We can call them.”
“Give them the code word ‘Midnight’.”
“Copy that,” Blake said. “We’re on it.”
“Great,” Kyle said. “That solves one problem. I can get the women in the hotel and convince them I’m their Prince Charming, but the chance whoever is following the girls saw you and Kara is big. You need to shut them down and come up with a story to cover your asses.”
“Where are you?”
“A few blocks from the hotel. When we get there, I’ll make sure the girls get inside and try to get you a plate number. The perps are in a black Chrysler sedan.”
“We’re on our way.” Blake ended the call and stepped away from Kara. “Grab that extra gun and come on. We might need it.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“I’ll explain on the road, but let’s just say you might not have to cut my balls off if we don’t take action. Mendez might do it while you watch.”
***
Kara settled into the truck next to Blake. She ended the call with Tami, the waitress from the restaurant, having given her the code word and instructions to let Kyle help them. “Done,” she said, placing her purse, now weighted with two guns inside, between them. “The girls expect Kyle. They were about to pull into the hotel. I’m sure you heard, but I told them to park close to the door and stay close to as many people as possible.”
“I heard,” Blake said, pulling onto the road, out from under a streetlight illuminating her apartment building. “But then I expected nothing less from an FBI agent.”
She studied his profile, the dark shadows of the late night masking his expression. “What do you know about FBI agents?” she asked, thinking about his claim she knew less about him than he did about her.
“My brother’s ex-FBI.” He cut her a sideways look. “Translation: Royce isn’t on a leave of absence like you are.”
“You really just can’t stop yourself from being a smart-ass, can you?” she asked.
“It’s a gift,” he assured her.
“Well, you sure don’t waste it,” she assured him. “I assume your brother is how you managed to find out who I am.”
“It pays to know people.”
Pays. Blake was supposed to be all about money, but it didn’t add up. “Is that who you called outside my apartment? Your brother?”
“I called Luke. He’s the middle brother. Royce is the eldest.”
“And you?
??re the baby of the bunch,” she laughed, unable to stop herself. It was hard to imagine him the baby of anything.
“Glad you’re amused.”
“It’s just…you know. You’re so…impossibly…”
“Impossibly what?”
Hard to resist. “You. You’re you, Blake.” She just wished she knew exactly what that meant. “Is Luke FBI?”
“You know I’m going to make you finish that sentence later, don’t you?”
Please, make me. “You can try.”
He ran a yellow light right as it turned red. “If I’m a smart-ass, you must be a gambler, because you like to push your luck.”
She leaned against the door to face him. “I think that’s what you like about me.”
“It’s why I want to tie you to a bed and keep you there, and yes”—he cut her a look—“there are many ways you could take that, and I mean that in all those ways. And so you don’t start over-analyzing that and asking questions, no, to your prior question. Kyle is ex-FBI. Luke’s an ex-Navy SEAL.”
“And you? What are you, Blake?”
“Ex-ATF,” he said—and with his reply, he confirmed what Kara had known from the start. There was more to him than met the eye.
“ATF,” she repeated. “You’re undercover.”
“Ex, Kara. I’m not ATF anymore.”
This was where she could think he was dirty, but she didn’t. She didn’t believe that for a moment. “You investigated Alvarez when you were with the ATF.” It wasn’t a question. She knew it had to be true.
“Yes.”
She went with her gut and didn’t push for more, at least, not directly. “You and your brothers are an interesting mix of skills. Why did you all leave your prior careers?”
“We opened a private security company. It started with an airport consulting contract that grew into more.”
She didn’t point out that he wasn’t exactly working on an airport job. She pointed out what was important to her, what her instincts had told her from the beginning with Blake. “You’re not a criminal.”
“Not yet.”