“No,” I admit. “I was trying to throw you off.”
“Coming to my apartment took balls.”
“My secret weapon,” I say. “I have a set of my own.”
“I like that about you, except when it works against me.” He molds me close. “Don’t do that again.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
“Maybe I’ll just tie you to the bed to be sure.”
“Will you be in bed with me?”
His lips curve. “That’s the only way it makes sense.”
The elevator dings and he takes my hand, leading me into the garage. We round the corner to find Seth a few feet away, wearing a trench coat and leaning against a black Mercedes. And while he normally has that lethal, hard air about him, which you’d expect from ex-CIA, tonight he’s reading more like the Mafia, with me on the hit list.
“Can we hurry up and convince him I’m not the enemy before he shoots me or something?”
Shane laughs. “Look on the bright side. He’ll shoot your enemies once he knows they exist too.”
“No. He’ll shoot your enemies.”
“Your enemies are my enemies,” he says, and fortunately Seth doesn’t look at me as we reach the car. Or maybe it’s unfortunately. I kind of get the impression he’s calculating ways to tie me up and he’s the wrong man for that job.
Shane opens the back door for me. “Give us just a minute,” he says, and I gladly nod and slide into the car, the warm air surrounding me, exhaustion seeming to hit me like a blow. I slide low into the seat and close my eyes, heaviness overcoming me.
Shane and Seth’s voices hum outside the car, random words reaching my ears. Brother. Stepfather. Texas. Law school. Law school. If I stay Emily, I’ve lost my credits, and I can’t go back without risking discovery. God, that hurts, but I know it’s true. I’m lingering on that painful thought when the word “Gemini” rumbles off the glass, spoken by Seth in just the right tone, at just the right spot outside, for me to hear him clearly now.
“I worked a case involving the Geminis,” Seth goes on to say. “If they are after her, she’s in trouble. And so are we if they find her.”
I wonder if this is the moment when Shane regrets coming after me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
EMILY
I hold my breath, waiting on Shane’s reply, which comes without hesitation. “Can you keep her off their radar?”
“I have questions I need answered before I can give you a conclusive reply.”
They move toward the driver’s door, and I frustratingly can’t hear the rest of what they say. I’m about to just get out and ask when the doors open, and Shane slides in beside me, while Seth claims the driver’s seat.
“What questions do you need answered?” I blurt out.
Seth eyes me in the rearview mirror and then he and Shane exchange a look, before Seth puts us in drive. Shane turns to me and takes my hand. “Obviously you heard that conversation.”
“Enough to know the Geminis are as dangerous as I suspected and I need to disappear completely and I can’t stay here and expose you.”
“Does your brother know where you live or work?” Seth asks.
“No,” I say. “He only knows I’m in Denver because he bought my airline ticket. That and five thousand dollars and I was on my own.”
“How long ago was that?” Seth asks.
“Two months ago,” I reply.
Shane gives me a disbelieving look. “And he hasn’t even asked how you’re surviving?”
“He didn’t ask,” I confirm. “Our conversations were short and I didn’t tell him I had a job because I was afraid he wouldn’t send me my money.”
“That certainly makes things less complicated,” Seth says, and already we’ve traveled the short three blocks to the Four Seasons and are at the door.
“Seth is going to park and come upstairs,” Shane says when the doorman opens the door.
Eager to get upstairs and get a plan together, I exit the car, and for once I’m thankful our favorite doorman Tai isn’t around, because I really can’t make small talk right now. Shane steps to my side, palming the man who’d gotten my door a bill, and then drapes his arm over my shoulder. “Deep breath, sweetheart. Things happen for a reason and that reason was to get our shields up and impermeable.”
“Do you really think that’s possible?”
“Yes. It’s possible.”
“God, I love how confident you are about everything,” I say, and we round the corner toward the elevators. One of the cars dings and Shane and I step to the doors, waiting for them to open. When they do, they reveal Brandon Senior. I suck in air at the unexpected, and highly unlikely, second encounter in one night, but then everything about this evening has been trouble. He is different now. His tie is missing, his face is redder than normal, and I have the uncomfortable feeling he’s just had sex, and yet, there is this dull throb of what I think might be pain, and perhaps the reason he’s leaving, in the depths of his gray eyes.
“In for the evening?” he asks, looking between us.
“Mr. Brandon—” I begin, not even sure what explanation is going to come out of my mouth.
“In the morning,” Shane says, his arm wrapping my waist, hand settling at my hip. “Goodnight, father.”
Brandon Senior’s eyes light, that dull throb banking as he looks at his son and says, “Goodnight, son.”