“The space beside you.”

A second passed, then another and he released her hand and motioned her forward. Kara didn’t hesitate to seize her victory. Her chin lifted and she started walking. Blake pursued instantly, behind her, stalking her, the short walk to his passenger door and her driver’s door. This man made her feel exposed, out of control. Bad things with lives on the line, and not her own. She wasn’t worried about herself. She’d learned years ago that to do what she did, you had to wake up ready to die, but she was never, ever; ready to let someone else die.

She clicked her keychain so that her locks opened and reached for the handle. Blake reached around her, the front of his thigh pressing down the length of hers starting at her hip, the feel of him stealing her breath. “Don’t even think about running,” he warned.

Heat washed through her and over her at his touch, and she was shaken by the depth of need she felt for him. She didn’t look at him for fear he’d see her reaction. “I have nothing to run from,” she said, and silently added, because I have everything to lose if I do.

Silence greeted her declaration, the seconds ticking by again, and she held her breath, waiting for his reaction. Finally he stepped back, and instead of relief, ice slid over her where heat had been moments before. She didn’t understand the sensation any more than she understood anything this man made her feel.

Kara yanked open her door and he walked to the 4Runner. She slid into the car and tried to tell herself everything was fine. But it wasn’t fine. Blake saw too much. “You have a good story,” she reminded herself, needing to hear it out loud. She’d covered her bases, created her identity without flaw. Except for Denver, she thought. It had been a last-minute decision and she knew better than to make unplanned moves. Her stomach knotted with the realization she’d screwed up. If Blake mentioned Denver to Richter, he’d discover she wasn’t working for Richter, Newport, or the cartel that night she’d stolen his files. She’d be dead for sure, which meant she had to do what she’d come here for and get out of here. She was out of time.

Chapter Four

Why the f**k couldn’t he stop thinking about getting her naked again? And why was he still feeling this ridiculous urge to save her when she’d thrown him under a bus in Denver?

Blake pulled the 4Runner out of the garage behind Kara’s car, cursing her for distracting him, and fighting a flashback of blood and loss and…more blood. Damn it to hell, the acid burn of the past never faded and, no matter what he did, no matter what the momentary rush of pleasure or adrenaline rush he created, it always came back. Even trying to make it go away felt wrong, like he was trying to wash away Whitney, when he’d have traded himself for her in a heartbeat. Finally, he had the chance to do the only thing he had left…avenge her. He wasn’t going to let anything, or anyone, stand in his way.

His cell phone rang and a glance told him it was Kyle. Blake answered to hear, “Were you going to call and tell me Denver didn’t get you killed, or just drive the new 4Runner around town and break it in?”

“You knew I made it out of the building alive the same time I did, or we wouldn’t be talking. Someone is skimming product and selling it on the side. Mendez slid me inside by naming me as his head of security.”

“What happened to the prior head of security?”

“He failed to solve this problem.”

“He’s dead.”

“I’m sure.”

“Good opening for you, but I’m scratching my head. I thought for sure when we saw your Denver playmate waiting on you, you were about to be ten feet under.”

“According to Kara, the head of the Denver division was testing me to see if I could stumble and recover before recommending me to Mendez.”

“That doesn’t seem like a test. It sounds like a setup for blackmail, a way to control someone he gets inside Mendez’s operation.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Blake agreed dryly, pausing at a stoplight behind Kara.

“And Mendez’s secretary is helping to undermine him. It pulls this together for me. It makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Blake let out a breath, not sure why that logical answer to why Kara had been in Denver didn’t feel right to him.

“You don’t think so,” Kyle observed, having spent enough years working with Blake to know him better than even his brothers did.

“Something doesn’t add up,” Blake admitted. “What do you know about her?”

“On paper, she looks like a perfect candidate to be motivated by money. She’s caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s disease who has no insurance.”

“But?”

“But she’s too squeaky clean. No other family, no ties. Her identity reads like something I’d create to go undercover.”

The light turned green and Kara started moving again, and Blake followed her. “Find out when she went to Denver, if she was alone, and who paid her expenses.”

“I’m on it, but I’m guessing it was all cash no matter who is involved.”

So was Blake. Kara turned right and he followed, bringing the pier and the hotel sign into view.

“We have to consider the possibility she could be working for an agency. Royce could call in a favor and run her through the FBI database—”

“Forget it. I’m not having my brother, who has a pregnant wife at home, involved in this.”