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“Maybe the two of us on that bed with a bowl of whipped cream and cherries, followed by a hot-oil tango in the shower,” he deadpanned, not shifting from his spot holding up the wall.
The image was so easy to imagine. The two of them, naked on that four-poster bed, rolling over the wedding-ring quilt. Their bodies slick and hot. Desire was like a wave, hitting her hard and fast and damned near sweeping her feet out from under her. Since opening the window to let in cool air would tip him off, she sucked in a discreet breath and forced herself to focus on the job.
And to pretend her hand wasn’t shaking.
Like a phone addict looking for cell reception, she ran the tiny wand around the room. It wasn’t until she reached the bedside table that the light on the end flashed red. With a warning look at Gabriel, she crouched down and ran her fingers along the side and back of the rich wood. Underneath, she found it. A tiny round bug. She aimed the wand at it and pushed a button. The red light turned green. Deactivated.
She found two more. One in the phone. And disgustingly, the other in the bathroom just behind the toilet lid. And deactivated both.
She slipped the wand back into its felt case.
Gabriel, still leaning against the wall like he was bored, arched one brow.
She shook her head. She had complete faith that the FBI was a few technological steps ahead of whatever criminals were coming to party this weekend. But it didn’t hurt to be careful.
So she pulled out a small device that looked like an MP3 player. Looking around the room, she decided the dresser was about as central as they’d get. She flicked a button on the device. The light glowed white for one second before flashing off. The room filled with a buzzing, then silenced.
“White noise,” she said, mentally slapping her hands together as she finished up. “If they have other bugs this’ll scramble them. The only way someone’s going to hear anything in here is if they are in the next room with a drinking glass against the wall.”
“Don’t you worry that they’re going to be pissed that you broke their toys?”
“I didn’t break them. I turned them off.” She thought of the welcoming goon squad and shrugged. “They’ll be irritated, but probably not surprised. Criminals are notoriously mistrusting.”
“You don’t say.”
Danita turned away, making a show of checking the view out the leaded glass window to hide her smile at his dry rejoinder. Smart, sexy and clever. That added up to an almost irresistible combination.
Before she could decide whether or not to share the smile, though, she saw two new goons patrolling the edge of the forest just beyond the manor’s emerald expanse of lawn. Even from this distance, she could see the outline of the submachine guns under their jackets.
She was on the job. Partnered with a criminal. And instead of focusing on the task at hand, she was trying to think of excuses to give in to the hot attraction flaming between them.
It wasn’t the same as blowing off her responsibilities for a fifth of Jack and an ounce of weed, but it was too close to that line for Danita’s comfort.
What a time for family resemblances to surface. Biting back a furious snarl, Danita pinned her gaze on the largest goon as if she could kick his butt just by glaring. Because her fury was aimed at her own past, and not the man standing behind her, she took a few seconds to get it under control.
Because while she’d happily skewer Gabriel for being a cocky criminal who was crazy-lucky to not be in prison, she wasn’t willing to take her own issues out on the guy.
Instead, she took three deep breaths and focused on the reminder that she wasn’t her past. Life was about choices, and she’d chosen to close the door on selfish irresponsibility.
And no cleverly sexy criminal was going to make her open it again.
With that in her mind and steel in her spine, she lifted her chin and turned back to the room.
“I can see why you’ve been such a success as a criminal,” she said, her words closed as tight as her expression. “You must be the best liar I’ve ever watched in action.”
“Blondie, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Anytime you want to see what’s beneath that tip, you just say the word.”
She didn’t even bother to sigh. “Men like you just can’t resist pulling out your double entendres to play with, can you?”
“You have no idea what kind of man I am.”
“One of a kind, I’m sure,” she said in a deliberately bored tone. She was nice enough to turn away before rolling her eyes, though. Needing, desperately, to be busy, she pulled a tiny transmitter and a video camera the size of a safety pin out of yet another cubby in her purse.
“Not quite.” Apparently tired of waiting for her to finish her room inspection, he strode over to drop onto the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he spread out, arms crossed behind his head as he rested it on the whitewashed iron headboard.
“I’m a chip off the old block,” he said as she surveyed the room. “Not so much in looks, although my brother, sister and I do take after my dad quite a bit. We have our mother’s eyes, though. But in personality? Talent? Skill? I’m my old man’s son, through and through. But you already know that, don’t you?”
Danita paused in the act of running her fingers along the top of the bathroom door frame to stare at him. “You sound like you’re proud of that.”
“Of course I am.”
“Your father is a known criminal. His FBI file is so thick it requires its own drawer. He’s rumored to have been involved in scams and cons on five continents, to have had his hand in three major art thefts and to have actually sold some idiot the Golden Gate Bridge.” Even though she was the one reciting the list, she still shook her head in wonder. It was hard to believe someone could be suspected of all of that and so much more, yet nobody had ever been able to bust him. Ever. She gave Gabriel a baffled look. “And you’re proud of your similarities?”
“The man’s the best there is. Why wouldn’t I be proud?”
Proud. She thought of the door closed tight against her own past and cringed. Why would either of them want to be aligned with their legacies?
“So why aren’t you partnered up with him? Why have you been estranged for the past eight years?”
His eyes narrowed with a frustrated fury that surprised her. Then he blinked and the fury was gone. But Danita wasn’t surprised that he changed the subject.
“I’m going to head down to the car,” he said. “How long do you think you’ll be here playing Jane Bond?”
“Why are you going to the car?” she asked slowly.
“To get the rest of the luggage, of course,” he said, slipping his feet back into shoes before giving her a smile that was part charm, part exasperation. “What’s the worry? You’ve got the keys right there, it’s not like I can go anywhere.”
Eyes narrowed, Danita gave him a long look before nodding slowly. “The head goon said your fellow criminals were all out and about, but just in case, try not to talk to anyone.”
“If anyone dares say more than hello, I’ll brush them off. You know, tell them I’m in a hurry to get back upstairs for a hot nooner,” he tossed over his shoulder with a wicked grin.
With that smile seared in her mind and a gurgle of reluctant laughter lodged in her throat, he was gone.
GABRIEL REVELED IN the power of the Corvette’s big block as it tore down the quiet country road.
It was crazy to be disappointed, but he had to admit, he was feeling a little let down. He’d just walked right out of that room, ditching Blondie with hardly any effort at all. You’d think a government-trained agent would be a little smarter. Her car had been in full view of the window, yet she hadn’t noticed when he’d boosted it. Or maybe she had and didn’t want to blow their cover by chasing him down like an obsessive girlfriend.
He grinned at the image and wondered how long she’d wait for him to return with the bag before she came looking, then shrugged. Didn’t matter. She was pretty enough, and surprisingly not boring. But still, she wasn’t his type.
Although he’d love to know how a woman so uptight ended up playing the floozy. And damned if she didn’t play an excellent one. Those big blue eyes wide and just a smidge vacant, her lips slick and glossy and that sexy body poured into just enough fabric to make a man sweat. All the while she gave the impression that she was worth every penny in the man’s wallet she was grasping.
The memory of her lips under his flashed through his brain like lightning. And through his body like a raging thunderstorm. God, she’d tasted good. Just thinking about her got him hot and hard.
Which was the last thing he needed, he reminded himself as he turned off the highway onto Main and downshifted the ‘Vette to something closer to the speed limit.
Ten minutes—and one quick sentimental drive around the town—later he parked his borrowed car in the town square and, one arm across the steering wheel, he looked around with a sigh.
It was the same. A tiny part of him, a part he rarely let see the light of day, relaxed as the warmth of his childhood hometown enveloped him in a welcoming hug.
Damn, he’d forgotten how simply lovely Black Oak was.
Cobblestone walks and brick buildings. Antique lampposts and planter boxes just waiting for the warmth of spring. In the center of the square was a statue of town founder, Gabriel’s great-great-grandpa, Andrew Black. Curved iron benches surrounded the square, and in honor of the season, Valentine’s hearts decorated the flags waving from various buildings.
A man who rarely allowed sentiment to take hold, he had to smile at the beauty of it all. It was as though he’d never left home.
Before he could get too gooey and emotional, there was a quick rap of knuckles on metal. His gaze flashed to his side-view mirror. A grin, wicked and wide, spread as he swung out of the car.
“Well, well,” he said as he leaned one arm on the door-jamb. “What have we here?”
“Trouble, from the look of it,” the other man said. Besides an extra inch in height and the really lousy haircut, it was almost like looking in a mirror. That fact had bothered Gabriel growing up.
It was damned hard to stand out within his family. Between his father’s rep, his brother’s looks and his sister’s brains, Gabriel had often wondered what was left for him. Part of why he’d run, he knew. He’d never felt he measured up. Away, he’d been able to find his own strengths, to choose his own priorities.
“You’re still sneaking around pretending to be a bad guy?” Gabriel asked, trying to keep the grin from splitting his face at the sight of his brother. God, it’d been close to five years since he’d laid eyes on Caleb, and that’d been a quick, accidental meeting since his brother had been undercover at the time.
“I quit the DEA,” Caleb said, leaning his hip against the ‘Vette and crossing his arms over his chest and offering one of his long, intense looks.
“And you’re back home? The old man finally coaxed you into the fold, huh?”
Caleb’s grin was just as wicked as Gabriel’s own. With nothing but a slight inclination of his head, he invited his younger brother to look over his shoulder.
Glancing past his brother, it was all Gabriel could do not to cry. He actually felt the tears welling up behind his eyes.
“Say it ain’t so,” he murmured with a pathetic shake of his head. “You’re trying to kill us, aren’t you?”
Caleb laughed, following his gaze to look at the sheriff’s car parked behind the ‘Vette. “Once a rebel.”
“Yeah, but at least before you had the decency to rebel elsewhere. Now you’ve brought it home? You hate Dad that much?”
It’d been bad enough when Caleb had come home right after college graduation to announce that he was joining the DEA.
At least that’d taken him away from California. But now he was back, rubbing his legal activities in Dad’s face day in and day out? And they thought Gabriel had issues?
“Dad always said we all have to take our own path,” Caleb said with a shrug.
“I don’t think he meant for those paths to cut his off at the pass.”
“He can take care of himself.”
Gabriel considered his brother’s face. Caleb had always had a very concrete sense of right and wrong, made all the more obvious since the rest of the family’s was so fluid. Given the problems Hunter said were facing their father, which path would Caleb choose? The one that defended family, no matter what the evidence? Or the one that locked the cell door?
“Maybe Dad can take care of himself,” Gabriel acknowledged slowly. “But he’s got his blind spots. His kids being the main one.”
The warning hovered for a long second. Then Caleb gave a shrug, as if batting it away. “You’re awfully defensive of a man you haven’t bothered to see for yourself in almost a decade,” he pointed out.
It was like getting hit in the face with a bagful of guilt. It wasn’t as if he’d abandoned his old, decrepit father in a sewer somewhere. Yes, he’d left after an ugly fight, determined to prove himself. Sure, he’d been pissed that Tobias had let some trampy bitch horn her way into the family business. But that wasn’t a big deal, dammit. He wasn’t ashamed of the vow, or the drama of it. He was irked that he hadn’t kept it, though.
“I swore I wouldn’t come back until I’d made my point,” Gabriel muttered.
“Tough luck, little brother. We all vowed to stay away and we all blew it. Might as well prepare to take Dad’s gloating like a man.”
“Like you took it?”
“Yep.”
Caleb’s angry vow had been to never return to Black Oak and look at him now, all spiffed up and in charge of the town’s law. Gabriel grinned, feeling a little better. Then the full impact of his brother’s words sank in.
“All of us? Maya’s here, too?” As he mentally watched the stakes climb higher and higher, the tension returned to Gabriel’s shoulders in tight knots. Sure, Hunter had threatened him with trouble for his dad, his brother and sister. But he hadn’t realized they were all cozied up together here in Black Oak, easy targets to that trouble.
For Hunter and the FBI.
Or for whatever asshole was trying to ruin Tobias Black.
“Maya’s in town for the wedding,” his brother stated, the hard line of his jaw softening.
“I can’t believe you’re really getting married.” He didn’t quite know what he thought about the prospect of his badass older brother settling down. “And on Valentine’s, no less. Isn’t wrapping a noose around your neck enough? You have to do it with cupid aiming his arrow at your ass, too?”
Unoffended, Caleb laughed and shrugged. “Pandora’s worth it.”
“Pandora?” Gabriel prompted.
“Pandora Easton.” With a slight inclination of his head, Caleb indicated one of the stores across the street.
Gabriel’s gaze cut across the street to the clever display in the window of Moonspun Dreams. It, too, was all decked out for Valentine’s, although the hearts in that window were crystal and the signage shouted a sale on love potions. Shocked, he glanced back at his brother for confirmation. “The woo-woo queen’s daughter?”
The bar on unbelievable just kept getting higher and higher.
“Yep. That’s Pandora. You’ll like her,” Caleb decreed. “There’s a party at the store tonight. Something about welcoming spring or …” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, you need to come. You can meet her. See Maya. Deal with Dad.”
The twist of Gabriel’s lips was more grimace than smile.
“As you yourself pointed out, I haven’t seen Dad in a while. With good reason, given that things are pretty ugly between us. I doubt you want to ruin your party with our reunion.”
“Pandora’s used to bad behavior,” was all Caleb said.
Gabriel debated. A part of him, the part that missed his family like crazy, wanted to go. Wanted nothing more than to relax, set the games aside and just be himself for a couple hours. But there was too much at stake.
“We need to talk,” his brother said quietly.
Gabriel frowned.
Talk about what? How much did Caleb know about the crime ring playing house at the manor? Did he have a clue that Tobias was being set up for an ugly fall? And how much would he share?
He could push. But his brother used to have the disposition of a granite wall and there was no reason to think that’d changed.
Before he could decide which direction to take, he felt heat. Like the sun breaking through clouds, warming his back with a tingling awareness.
“There you are, sweetie,” a husky voice purred just over Gabriel’s shoulder. “I was starting to worry that you’d gone off to have a good ole time without me.”
