Chapter 2

Luke rolled over, expecting to find the warm body of the woman who had accompanied him to his room last night, but all he felt beneath his fingertips was cold sheets. He was disappointed, but a part of him had known it was coming.

His mystery woman had done everything in her power to keep things as impersonal as possible. That should have been his first hint that there was no way he was going to wake up with her still in his bed. It was probably for the best. He was a heartless bastard, a man who couldn"t give a woman more than one night. Then why does the thought of never seeing her again hurt so much?

He tossed the thoughts aside along with the sheets. He had a busy day ahead of him, and there was no time for him to be distracted. His team was in Rome for a reason, and as much as it sucked to admit, that reason wasn"t so he could have random hookups. Even if it had been one of the best nights of his life.

After a quick shower, he threw on a simple pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. It was important that he blended in today. He needed to look like a tourist even if he hated doing so.

Twenty minutes later, he and part of his team were sitting around a table in the hotel restaurant eating breakfast. Since this assignment was simply surveillance, he only brought Ryker, Austin, and Caden with him. Dominic, Nash, and Jayce had stayed back in the States to help set up their new office.

After ten years abroad, and traveling all over the world, they finally decided it was time their security firm needed a home base. Living out of hotel rooms or long-term rentals just wasn"t cutting it anymore. At nearly forty years old, he wasn"t getting any younger, and as much as traveling sounded exciting when he and his friends first started their business, it no longer held the same appeal.

"Has Dom checked in and said how things are going?" Austin asked.

"He sent a text this morning. They"re getting the security and the servers hooked up today. They should be able to finally work inside the office by the end of the week. Even though the office furniture won"t be delivered until next week," he explained.

He was hoping that by the time they wrapped up this assignment, everything in the States would be ready to go. They would still have to travel, given their line of work, but over the last few years, they had started taking more federal assignments rather than international, with the hope of making the shift one day.

"One step closer," Ryker grumbled.

They all nodded. It was a move they had all agreed upon. He might be the one they deferred to, but they were all equal-share owners in the business itself. He wouldn"t be where he was today if it weren"t for his six friends. Twelve years ago he had a pipe dream, having left the CIA after just a few years because he couldn"t handle the bullshit and lies. A drunken discussion one night led them to where they were today.

"So tell us what you learned." He addressed Caden, the guy on their team who could pretty much do anything with a computer.

"Alexander Fletcher." Caden pulled out a picture of the man they were sent to observe. "Suspected of insider trading, among other things. It would seem that he used to work with Samuel Silverstein from Carmichael and Silverstein Financial Advisors to gather insider information about Silverstein"s clients and then scam them. The Feds were looking into the pair when Silverstein went to jail for kidnapping Carmichael"s daughter. Alexander has been in the wind ever since."

"So, what finally brought Alexander back out of hiding?" he inquired.

He could care less about Samuel Silverstein. The man was already serving jail time and, from what he knew, for a very good reason. The bio Caden put together showed not only kidnapping charges but also ones for beating his wife. A real winner. It was a good thing the man was already sitting in jail or he would be tempted to pay him a visit.

"We believe a meeting. The Feds aren"t sure, but they suspect Alexander figured there was no chance that Carmichael would be too keen on working with him after the kidnapping. But in the last year, Carmichael has begun to transfer some responsibilities over to the new CEO, Monica Cole, in preparation for retirement," Caden continued.

Another picture slid across the table. This one stopped him dead in his tracks. No, it couldn"t be. It was the woman he had picked up at the bar the night before and the same one who had slid out of his room sometime in the early morning. Did she know who he was when they met? How could she? But damn, he didn"t like coincidences or complications when he worked. And fucking someone who was connected to one of his assignments was certainly a complication.

"What do we know about her?" His tone was much harsher than he meant it to be, causing his team to give him a strange look, but Caden continued anyway without questioning him.

"Background is clean. Met Carmichael"s daughter when they were in college freshman year. Roomed together after their first semester. Monica returned to Seattle right after college and immediately started working for Silverstein and Carmichael. Rumor is Carmichael expected his daughter to take over, but after her kidnapping, she wanted nothing to do with the business. She"s a successful event planner now. Stays in contact with Monica and visits often. Nothing about what I have found would suggest she"s ever worked with Alexander Fletcher before this visit."

He had listened to everything Caden said, but he hadn"t been able to take his eyes off the picture. It was a professional headshot, the kind he assumed was found on the company"s website. It did nothing to hide the passionate woman he had spent last night with.

If it hadn"t been for the small birthmark at the corner of her eye, he would have wondered if it was just his imagination playing tricks, a way for his mind to not allow her to leave his thoughts. But he would recognize that birthmark anywhere. He had spent hours last night memorizing every inch of her. Probably because a small part of his brain had known she would leave, and he hadn"t wanted to miss a thing.

"So, why meet now?" The question was more to himself, but his team shrugged in response anyway.

"Do we know where they"re meeting?" Austin chimed in.

"No, but we did confirm that both are staying in this hotel. Security has allowed us access to both floors Monica and Alexander are staying on. While I doubt they will meet in either of their rooms, we can put a contingency in place, just in case. Otherwise, we can rotate between watching the lobby and the security feed for movement." Caden"s plan had merit, as it usually did. The man was brilliant at his job.

Luke was tempted to peek at what room she was staying in, but that was bordering on stalker. It was clear Monica didn"t want to exchange information last night, and he already knew her name plus some. More than what she knew about him. At least he hoped so. He considered himself a good judge of character, but was their meeting at the bar last night really happenstance?