Chapter 9

Shivers wracked Teresa’s body,and Angelo cursed Ramirez and his fucking cartel. He wished he could make it all go away, but that would be impossible.

As much as he hated it, what she was doing was important. Even if they could kill off one avenue, it would be a start. Although, as he’d told her, Arturo wouldn’t be the only company laundering money for Ramirez.

“Apart from what you showed us earlier, you still have everything you gave your boss over the weeks of your investigation before he dropped his support, don’t you?” Angelo already knew she had, but he hoped by asking, it would take Teresa’s mind off the fact her home had been invaded.

“Yes. I have it backed up on the cloud, as well as on two separate thumb drives. One I keep in safe deposit box at the bank, and the other is hidden in a pocket in my laptop bag.”

He wasn’t surprised she had backups. Nor that she kept them in different places. “Will you give the rest of that information to Cass? She’ll be able to dig a little deeper, and if you happen to have passwords, she’ll be able to hack into the computers at Arturo and try to get more information.”

Beneath his hold, Teresa stiffened momentarily.

He was asking a lot. She’d worked hard for this information. Had put herself in danger for it, and he was asking her to give it up.

A sigh rippled beneath his fingers, and he preferred that to the shivers of fear that’d been coming from her only moments ago.

“Yes. I know it’s going to help, but it’s hard to let go of it,” she whispered.

“I know, Tre. I know. I respect everything you’ve done in the past, and what you’ve done with this assignment. And I know you’re not going to like this, but I think you need to resign from the job. If your cover has been compromised, then going back will be too dangerous for you.”

Like before, Teresa pushed against his chest, and Angelo immediately let her go. She began to pace around the room.

“I’ve never abandoned an assignment, ever. I can’t start now,” she huffed. “I won’t.”

While this wasn’t the battle he’d been expecting to fight—that one was still to come—but now that he’d started it, he would finish it. If he had to get a little dirty with his words, then Angelo would do what he needed to. “You’ve never had over twenty listening devices in your place until this job.”

As expected, she caught the bomb he’d thrown and tossed it right back. “That you know of? With the amount of devices there, the last five assignments I did could have resulted in someone putting them there.”

He doubted it, but he had to acknowledge her point. “Unlikely because when Growler and I walked in, we both felt that someone had been there recently.”

Teresa scoffed. “What, did the hair stand up on the back of your neck for the both of you? Or maybe you got an itch on the inside of your wrist? I’ve seen the movies where the leads are special forces soldiers. Read books where the hero is a Navy SEAL or Delta or whatever, and they also know things before they happen. Or they’d know the instant their woman was in trouble. We may live in the land where make believe is a big part of everyday life, but this is the real world, Angel.”

Angelo filed away the tidbit about her reading habits—he’d ask her about them later. Nor did he miss the way she’d used his nickname. He was used to people rolling their eyes at how he talked about trusting his instinct.

Something every military person did. Coming from her, it bothered him even more, and a slow burn of anger flared to life in his belly. “Believe what you want, but let me tell you, my instinct or feeling has saved me on numerous occasions. After everything I’ve seen and done, I’ve honed my skills, and yes, I’ve listened to my gut more times than I care to count. I’m standing here right in front of you. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t learned to trust that instinct.”

They entered a staring contest.

Adrenaline pumped through Angelo, mixed with the overwhelming urge to haul Teresa close and kiss her. An irrational thought, considering they were in the middle of an argument.

Yet, he couldn’t stop it. His eyes dropped to her mouth, and as if she could somehow read his mind, her tongue darted out, swiping across her full bottom lip.

Not giving it a second thought, he dragged her close. “Do you want to know what my instinct is telling me now?” he asked, stroking his thumb across her cheek.

Her pretty gray eyes widened, and she panted out a few breaths. “What?” she whispered.

“That you want this.” Angelo lowered his head, stopping a hair’s breadth from her lips. “You want this, don’t you?” he taunted softly. If Teresa said no, he’d walk away, but he prayed to the God his mother worshipped that she wouldn’t.

“Yes.”

Another whispered response, but it was all he needed.

He closed the tiny gap and fitted his mouth over hers. Sparks of desire and electricity sizzled all over him.

Her lips were as soft as a pillow. She fit perfectly in his arms.

Why the hell didn’t I do this in high school?

The thought flit through his mind as he adjusted his hold and traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, encouraging her to open for him.

On a moan, she did, and he deepened the kiss, their tongues dueling. Her arms wound around his shoulders, and Angelo relished how right it was, as though this was always meant to be.

A clearing of a throat had them springing apart, as if they were those high school teenagers they’d once been.

Irish stood in the doorway, his expression giving nothing way, but his blue eyes were taking in the scene he’d just interrupted. “Ox and Cass have found something, and they want to talk to you both.” He gave them another onceover before he disappeared from their view.

“Does he have any emotions?” Teresa asked, without a hint of a tremor in her voice.

Should Angelo be offended that she was able to get herself under control when he was willing his dick to settle the fuck down?

The last thing he wanted to do was walk into Ox’s office with a hard-on.

“He does. He just doesn’t show them often,” he managed.

Irish wasn’t cold, he was just controlled. The only time Angelo had ever seen him lose his hold on it was when something was up with Cass. Then emotion would come out from them both. Once they’d had words, he’d shut down again.

Angelo didn’t know everything about Irish or his career as a Delta—only that he’d been dishonorably discharged and his reputation within the military world was shit.

Ox taking him on had surprised a lot of people. However, after a couple of missions with Irish, Angelo had learned the guy was one of the best marksmen he’d seen, and his ability to move without making a sound was impressive.

“Is he married? In a relationship? Have someone special?”

Jealousy seared his soul with Teresa’s questions, especially after she’d been so soft and compliant in his arms not five minutes ago. “None of the above. Irish keeps to himself most of the times.”

“Except when Cass is around, from what I observed today. Speaking of Cass, we should probably go see what she and Ox want to talk to us about.” Teresa spun around and headed out of the conference room.

She left him standing there with a partial hard-on and the desire to drag her back to his house so he could show her that all her thoughts should be on him and not Irish.

Teresa pushed openthe door to the bathroom and leaned back against the locked door. How she managed to walk out of the conference room when her legs resembled limp noodles was a miracle.

Angelo’s kiss had shaken her to the core. From the second his lips hit hers, all thought had gone. All her focus had been on the way his mouth moved over hers. The way his arms held her. How strong he’d felt under her fingertips.

Where had the closed off man from that morning disappeared to?

If someone had suggested that a few hours after he’d been short and sharp with her, Angelo would be rocking her world with a simple kiss, she would’ve laughed in their faces. Yet that was exactly what’d happened. His whole demeanor had been different from the moment he’d tossed those listening devices on the table.

Just like that, the euphoric glow that’d surrounded her after the kiss was gone and was replaced by the sick feeling that she’d been violated.

It might not have been physical, but it had been sneaky, unobtrusive, and she’d been oblivious to it all.

Teresa’s skin was clammy, and heat suffused her skin, while her stomach rolled and twisted. Stumbling to the sink, she turned the cold water on and shoved her wrists under it. The coolness helped to reduce the heat, and the feeling that she was going to vomit everywhere passed.

Once the threat of her tossing her cookies had faded, she turned the water off and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her red, kiss-swollen lips stood out against her pale skin. The only flash of color in the reflection. If she walked out like this, Angelo would rush to her side and ask her if she was okay.

No way was she ready for that. There was still an assignment she needed to complete. His suggestion that she shouldn’t go back to Arturo hadn’t sat well with her initially, but after some thought and remembering that people had been in her apartment without her knowledge, maybe he was right. Maybe it would be safer if she did quit.

Although they knew where she lived. The place that had been her sanctuary. Teresa’s resting place had been compromised, and she’d never feel safe there again.

By doing the right thing, her life had been turned upside down.

Don’t give up.

Three little words that whispered in her mind were a reminder. Her own personal mantra she’d always whispered when things got difficult, and she wondered what the hell she was doing.

This was no different. Teresa would just have to make a few adjustments.

Pivot and come at it a different way, and that way was not in this bathroom. It was in the room a few doors down.

With renewed confidence, she dried her hands and exited the bathroom, coming to a quick stop when her gaze connected with Angelo’s.

How long had he been standing there?

Did it matter?

He was there, as if he knew the inner turmoil she’d been going through.

“You good?” he asked, his gaze scanning her from top to toe. If he noticed her hair was a little mussed, he didn’t comment.

“Yep. More than good.”

After a moment, that tiny smile, the one that lifted the corner of his mouth, appeared. “I do believe you are. Come on, let’s go before Ox sends a search party out for us.”

Teresa chuckled. She shouldn’t get too attached to Angelo, but boy, was she glad she’d made that phone call.