Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

T he next time Lindy awoke, she was alone but the smell of bacon wafted up to her. Her stomach rumbled. Last night they'd snacked on cheese and crackers before the desire for each other overtook their need to consume food.

She had no idea how old Chris was, but she suspected he was a few years older than her thirty-six. Not that that stopped him from giving her the best night of her life.

The rattle of crockery had her straightening in bed, pulling the sheet up and tucking it under her arms. She didn't bother trying to tame her hair; it was always full of knots after a sleeping. No doubt it would be even more tangled than normal, Chris had run his fingers through her hair many times during their lovemaking. So, what if she had bed head, Chris had seen everything she had to offer, if he got turned off by her hair looking like a bird's nest then he wasn't the person she thought he was.

"Hey, you're awake."

"I am and you cooked breakfast."

"I did. Nothing special, bacon and eggs." He placed the tray over her knees. Chris wore the pants he'd had on last night and nothing else.

In the morning sunlight streaming through the sheer curtains—they hadn't closed the heavy drapes the previous evening, too caught up in each other's arms—she could see the impressive chest she'd kissed and caressed.

If he was this chiseled now, what had he been like when he was younger and just starting in the Army?

"How old are you." The words erupted out of her, and Lindy slapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. Don't answer that."

How could she have been so rude? No one liked to be asked their age. Where had her manners gone?

The bed depressed, as Chris joined her. "It's fine. I'm not ashamed I'm forty-two."

She placed her hand on his chest, the skin warm and she could feel the steady thump of his heart. Immediately her own heart began to beat in time with Chris's. "I'm thirty-six. I think it's only fair that you know how old I am, too."

He leaned forward and kissed her, a brief touch but with her other hand she cupped the back of his head and kept him where he was, deepening the kiss.

How easy was it lose herself in his touch?

Way too easy.

Lindy had no idea what the time was, but her workday wouldn't wait for her. She wished she could blow it off and spend the whole day in bed with this man.

She broke the kiss and he rested his forehead against hers. "I could wake up to you and this every day."

"Me too."

Those were the last words she'd expected to hear from him, but they thrilled her.

The shrill of a cellphone shattered the sensual bubble surrounding them.

Chris groaned. "That's me. I should get it."

She ran her hand over his chest. "Do you have to?"

"Minx." He grabbed her hand and brought it to her lips, biting the fleshy part of her palm, causing her skin to heat and desire to pool low in her belly.

Lindy groaned as he got off the bed and strode over to the dresser where he'd put his phone.

The aroma of the food Chris prepared reached her and her stomach grumbled again. She dug into the meal, not paying attention to Chris's conversation.

She busied her mind with her schedule for the day. Yesterday she'd been able to keep meetings to a minimum, but today, her morning was full of back-to-back ones.

"Lindy?"

Her fork hovered just above her plate. "What?"

Chris's expression was serious, and his tone churned the food in her stomach into stone.

"I've got some news and it's not good." He sat on the bed.

She swallowed hard to stop the nausea welling up inside of her from coming out. "Mum?" The fork crashed to the plate clattering loudly, the eggs falling off with a plop. God, she couldn't believe that something would happen to her mother, not so soon after losing her father. She couldn't go from having two parents six months ago to not having any.

Chris grabbed her hands. "No! No, not that. From what I know, she's fine. Hang on, I'll text Steve to check in with his guy watching and ask for an update."

"Thank you."

He released his hold on her and grabbed for his phone .

The needy part of Lindy ached for him to keep holding her but she knew that most people needed two hands to send a text.

She leaned back against her pillows, closed her eyes, feeling a tear trickle down her cheek, but appreciative of Chris understanding how important it was to her to find out that her mum was fine. She swiped the tears away and pushed the tray of food off her lap.

The last thing she wanted was food.

"Then what is it? What's the bad news?" she asked after he finished typing his message.

He moved the tray so that he could shift closer. "There was an attempted break-in at your company's office. And the tech guys working with Wilt found that the files you have password protected had been hacked into. They downloaded a couple of them but they were able to intercept the transfers and give them false documents. I imagine, whoever is trying to get information will be annoyed that they were thwarted."

Lindy's mind swirled with what Chris was telling her. She couldn't make any sense of it. Lying in bed, acting as if she was some weak woman, didn't sit well with her. She needed to move. To get out of the bed and into the office. Everything was falling apart around her and she didn't like it at all.

Not one little bit .

No way was she going to let the company her father built burn on her watch.

"I've got to get to work. Sort out this security and computer breach. The last thing we need is fallout from them receiving the wrong information." Tossing the covers aside she stepped out of bed, reaching for a silk robe that rested on the back of a chair and slid her arms into the garment. "I need a shower, and when I get out you will tell me anything else I need to know."

"Of course. The guys are watching your systems to make sure there isn't any backlash. They'll let us know if there is." The phone in Chris's hand buzzed again.

As she gathered her clothes, she waited for him to tell her what was going on. She assumed it was a return message about her mum, at least she hoped it was that and nothing else—like another computer breach, this time them bringing down the company's whole network.

Chris finished the call and smiled, some of the tension drained out of her.

"You're mom's fine. Andy's watching her and he said apart from the neighbor dropping in the previous evening there's been no movement at her place."

Lindy recalled that Andy was one of the guys she'd met at Steve's office. He seemed like a nice guy, but from the moment Chris sat next to her, her focus and attraction and been on him only. "Thank you."

Her retreat to the bathroom was halted by a hand on her arm. "Do you need someone to wash your back?" His eyes crinkled with mischief, but there was also the hint of concern there, as though he could tell what was going through her mind and wanted to help ease the load on her shoulders.

She didn't doubt that his suggestion wasn't to ease a desire within him, but to help her. Show her that he cared and wanted what was best for her.

Lindy kissed him, pulling away before the kiss could deepen and she'd forget everything and drag him back to bed with her. "As much as I'm open to that idea, can we take a raincheck?"

"Absolutely. And I'm going to hold you to that promise."

"Please do." She touched her lips to his again, before heading to the bathroom, hoping the water would inspire her in a way to solve the problems that seemed to be building and building with each passing day.

C hris followed Lindy into the underground garage of her building. Mina, her efficient receptionist, had not only arranged for a security pass for him, but also a temporary parking space. Somehow, he didn't think that was the norm, and figured Lindy had something to do with it.

Anticipation to get into the building had him parking quickly and getting out of the car, before she'd gotten out of hers.

The call from Steve hadn't been comforting, learning someone had attempted to break into her office, along with the computer breach had alarm bells ringing within him. Chris hadn't been able to uncover anyone from her staff that would want to usurp her from her position. Even the board members she'd told him about appeared to be above board, then again, a good cover was necessary if they were trying to do a shock hostile takeover.

Clearly there was someone who didn't like Lindy being in the position she was in, and he would uncover who they were. If they hurt her, he'd make them pay .

The strength of his reaction to the thought of Lindy being wounded should freak him out. It didn't, though. The need to protect her was one he grasped with both hands. Being with her never felt so right.

The high-pitched beep of Lindy's car alarm engaging propelled him into action and he strode over to her, annoyed that he'd let himself get distracted—again.

How many times had he done that since he'd met Lindy?

Too many.

If he wanted to keep her safe, then he needed to be alert—starting now. A quick scan around showed they were the only two in the parking garage and his neck wasn't tingling, which was usually an indication that shit was about to go down.

"You ready?" he asked, placing his hand at the small of her back. What he wanted to do was put his arm around her, but that probably wasn't what she wanted to present to the people she worked with. They had to keep their personal touches away from the prying eyes of her employees. A decision he respected.

"Yep, let's do this. I want this wrapped up as quickly as possible."

"I know you do, but it's not going to be that easy."

"You're right, but that still doesn't mean I can't hope that we find the culprits soon and then I can get back to running the business."

"We'll find them."

Chris opened the door from the stairwell to the foyer of the building, on guard for anything untoward.

Unlike the previous day, they were there much earlier so not many people were in the vicinity. The coffee shop employees were setting out chairs to the few tables they had scattered around.

He gave the security guard a chin lift and received one in return. He'd be making a beeline for the security room after he'd escorted Lindy to her office.

The ride up to her floor passed quickly and when the doors whispered open, he wasn't surprised to see Steve standing outside the glass front doors of Lindy's company. Lindy, however, was.

"What are you doing here? And how did you get up to this floor? You need a keycard to access it before business hours." Lindy pulled away from Chris and marched over to Steve.

God, she was amazing when she was fired up.

He believed she could run this company, just like her father had trusted her to do. In time, she'd come to believe it herself.

"Morning Lindy."

Chris nodded at his friend, noting that he hadn't answered Lindy's questions. No doubt Steve had talked to the security guy downstairs, that was the only way for him have been able to access the floor. "You know someone in security, right?"

His friend's expression remained enigmatic. "How about we take this inside?" Steve said.

Chris agreed with Steve, but didn't say anything.

Lindy's eyes narrowed, as she looked between the two of them and appeared as if she was going to argue. In the end she must've understood that neither of them were going to change their minds, so she huffed out a breath and opened the door.

Once they were all standing in the foyer, he waited. As suspected, she turned on them.

"How is it that both of you know what's happened here with my organization and I don't? Why didn't I get the call when the security incident had occurred? I will concede about the computer hacking because that is not something I have knowledge of. But this," Lindy pointed to the door. "This I should've been told about."

Lindy's questions were reasonable, and he had no idea why she hadn't been informed. However, he didn't have any answers.

"I can answer that for you." Steve stepped forward from where he'd been lounging against the reception desk. "The police called the Chairman of the Board. Apparently, the contact list for the company hasn't been updated with building security. First person on the list was your father, second is Jonathon Buckley, the chairman. He attended the scene with the police."

"What? That's absurd, they're aware that my father died. That I've taken over his position. I should've been called not Jonathon."

Chris came up behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back, showing support and feeling the frustration coming from her. "This isn't going to make you feel any better, but I'm sure they're aware of the change in situation with the company, but they would need it in writing. This is something your assistant or your father's assistant should've looked in to. With everything going on, the transition from your father to you, it appears to have been overlooked."

Beneath his hand her muscles tightened with every word. "Are you saying it's my fault?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is others let you down."

"Right." Without another word, she turned and headed toward her office.

He wanted to race after her, but didn't. She needed time alone to process everything, Chris would give her that .

Steve stood beside him. "The perps that tried to gain access weren't amateurs. They managed to stay out of every security camera's trigger until they got to the front door. Then they shook on it a couple of times and disappeared. From what the police told me Jonathon didn't seem too concerned either. He came and said, if they didn't get in then there's nothing to worry about . He sent them home."

Chris wasn't going to ask how his friend got the information; some things were better left unknown. "Are you telling me, that these perps were savvy enough to avoid cameras but couldn't get in here? And the Chairman of the Board had no concerns either? That makes no sense."

"I know, something about this whole situation is off."

Chris paced around the small foyer. Pacing always helped him get his thoughts together when he'd worked with his former team. "Why would someone go to all the trouble to stage an attempted break-in? What could they possibly achieve? To draw attention away from one area while they got what they really wanted? Did they know Lindy wouldn't be called, but figured she'd find out somehow and come early to the office? Was this all an attempt to lure her away from her home so they could get in there? Or was it to set a trap here in the office?" The hairs on the back of his neck lifted. "Fuck!"

A crash sounded in the direction of Lindy's office. A muffled cry that sounded awfully like Lindy spurred Chris into action and he raced down the hallway, knowing without needing to look that Steve followed. He wished like hell he had his gun, but he was in a different country with different gun laws and his conceal carry permit wouldn't carry any weight here.

Chris approached Lindy's office, stopping a few feet from the entrance. His heart screamed that he needed to storm in there, but his training kicked in, slowing his roll as well as working out various plans to get to his woman.

"What are you thinking?" Steve spoke quietly behind him, confirming he had followed him.

"There's a few possible scenarios, and they're all viable." He quickly relayed what he'd worked through to Steve and his friend nodded in agreement.

"I'll call Wilt to go to Lindy's place to check it out. If they could avoid the cameras here, they can at her place. They would also have the know-how to disarm the alarm."

Chris nodded. So far there hadn't been anymore noises from Lindy's office and that worried him. What was going on in there?

Anxiety crept into his bones. He needed to get to her now. He looked around to see if he could find some sort of weapon. "I don't suppose you're carrying?"

"Always, but I'm not going to risk my licenses to give you something, so don't ask."

"Wasn't planning to. I won't put you or your business at risk." Steve's business was his life, and there was no way Chris would do anything to jeopardize it.

"Why are we waiting here? Why haven't you gone into Lindy's office?"

"Because as much as I want to barge in there, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end which usually means shit is about to go sideways. We need to remain calm."

"Right." His buddy slid his gun from beneath his jacket. "Do you want me to take the lead, or do you want to?"

"I'll go first. Whoever is here, probably knows Lindy didn't come alone, but they'll not be aware you've got a weapon. I think it'll be best if I go in myself and then I'll give you a signal to enter."

"Copy that. I'll stick close but out of sight so that I can hear what's going on, if anything is."

Chris nodded and took a deep breath, embracing the moment. There was a chance that there was nothing going on and Lindy had knocked something off her desk. However, he couldn't ignore the way his instincts were cautioning him that danger lurked. One thing he'd always been able to count on while on a mission was the way his body reacted to danger; it had never let him down.

He took a deep breath and centered his thoughts on the woman in the office he was about to go into and sent a short prayer to whoever was listening that this time, his instincts were off and there wasn't any danger in Lindy's office.

He crossed the threshold and paused; his prayers hadn't been answered.