Mine

Eli scoffed. “Give me some credit.”

With the relationship still new and in limbo—with her not even knowing if what she had with Gabe qualified as a relationship—she switched to the other topic that stayed on her mind all the time now. “How did you do it? Adjust to life after?”

“It’s a bumpy ride and it still backs up on me some days, but you pick a new start and then go. Do not look back or second-guess. Don’t answer the phone when the people you used to work for, the same ones who threatened to wipe you off the planet, come sniffing around for a favor.”

Typical Eli. No stray details but he said enough for her to know exactly what he’d been ignoring the last few months. “You make it sound easy to move forward.”

“It’s not. Not even a little.” He tapped the file against the side of his thigh. “But Bast is speeding the process up for you. He’s been his usual ruthless self in negotiating on your behalf so that you can then make informed decisions about what comes next and feel safe doing it.”

“You mean Bast is threatening people who handle covert op teams for a living.” The idea of Bast using muscle didn’t bother her. She had to hope he covered his safety and the safety of those he cared about as he zigzagged through this dangerous turf.

But the CIA types, her former people? She had no more loyalty to the men in suits. They’d reached a fair deal months ago, one that sucked for her but granted closure, and if someone in the CIA was trying to tiptoe around it she hoped Bast slammed him for it.

“I think we’re saying the same thing.” Eli smiled for a second then it was gone again. “The point is it looks like the leverage you’re holding is going to work. People are backing off. He still wants you to be vigilant, but he thinks this transition period where you wonder if you will be allowed to move on is almost over.”

“I want to be happy about that.” But that led her right back to the question she kept avoiding. The file and the answer and Gabe. She decided to stall. “So, you and Andy?”

Eli shook his head. “A long time ago.”

But she knew all about it. She’d tracked Eli’s private life back then, slim as it was. That had been part of her job, and she knew he’d left Andy reeling. “Did you clean up your mess?”

“I think I finally did.”

She felt a stab of regret for Andy. Now that her heart was involved with Gabe the complications doubled. Investment and caring only led to confusion as far as she could see. “Then I guess I’m not the only one who will be moving on.”

Eli handed her the file. “That probably depends on what you decide to do with this.”

She took it because Andy and Gabe headed their way. The door opened and they both appeared on the patio. Andy more muted than usual and Gabe looking satisfied and in control. The man sure understood the concept of being the king of his castle and carried it through his broad shoulders.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

When she just stood there not really sure what to say and overwhelmed as usual by Gabe being so close, Eli jumped in. “I gave Natalie a status report. Looks like we almost have a deal that will keep her safe.”

Gabe frowned. “Again. That’s what Bast hoped the last time.”

“There’s that,” Eli admitted. “But when Bast started actually reading from one of the leverage files during the last meeting that seemed to get everyone’s attention. It became much harder for the group at the table to deny the existence of the intel.”

“I like his style.” She’d been grumpy about people stepping in and hiring Gabe, and Bast taking over her case. Those days everything had whipped around her. The loss of control left her dazed and fighting mad. But Bast had followed through on every promise, even the one where he said she’d grow to trust Gabe.

“Soon, your normal life can start.” Eli’s gaze dropped to the file in her hand then back to her face.

She tried to skate right over that. “Right.”

“Andy?” Eli put his hand on the door handle. “Time for the blindfold and—”

Gabe waved him off. “It’s fine. You don’t need the cover to get in and out. You can see where you are.”

The comment shocked her. “Really?”

“I trust Eli.” Gabe didn’t add any flowery words or descriptions. He put it out there and that said he meant it.

“I appreciate that.” Eli shook Gabe’s hand then turned to her again. “You get a message to me if you need me.”

She knew he talked half in code. If she pulled the trigger on the information in the file and her world tilted, Eli would rush in and help. The idea of a safety net in the form of another person never appealed to her. She preferred to handle things on her own. But this was different. This drove to the heart of a very personal matter, and she appreciated everything from his discretion to his support.

She nodded. “I will.”

As she slipped back inside she watched Eli walk next to Andy to the front door with a healthy bit of space between them. At first they didn’t talk then Andy said something that had them both laughing. She didn’t want to know what.

She passed the file from one hand to the other. Leaned against the back of the couch and ran through Eli’s warnings. Backing down from being sure about a course of action was not really in her skill set. She knew how to assess new facts, but the problem remained. The contents in the file and how she went about securing it could drive Gabe away, and she was desperate to keep him close.

She heard Gabe shut and lock the door behind her. A second later his body pressed against hers, his front to her back, and his mouth went to her hair.

She thought about how much they’d both changed in such a short time. He opened his house to her and now widened his trust circle to include Eli. Big steps for a man who proclaimed to be stuck in his ways and fine with that. “You like Eli. Admit it.”

“He apologized to Andy.”

It made sense Gabe would care about that part. Want to see his brother put back together again. She loved his family loyalty. “How is he?”

“Better.”

She didn’t press because Andy’s private life was just that. But Gabe most definitely counted as her business. “Well, you were very impressive.”

“You know what’s impressive . . .” Gabe’s palm traveled down her stomach to settle on the fly of her jeans.

The man did enjoy sex. He mixed it with talking and sharing. A sort of intimacy she’d never really experienced. So much deeper than the act. “I doubt Andy is even in his car yet.”

“He knows better than to barge into my house. Usually an alarm would trip, but this time he’d face my wrath, which is much worse.” Gabe slipped the file from her clenched fist and balanced it on the back of the couch. Then his fingers slipped through hers.

At the crinkling sound of the paper her gaze went to the still-sealed envelope, abandoned there but sitting so close. “Good, because we should really talk about something.”

His mouth traveled to her ear and his tongue licked around the outer rim. “Getting you naked.”

“Before that.” Because if he kept touching her, all that would matter would be touching him back.

“Kissing your neck.”

“Gabe . . . I . . .” She let her head fall back against his shoulder as his tongue tickled her sensitive skin. “Man, that feels good.”

With a flick of two fingers he opened the top button of her jeans. “It’s only the start.”

“I need—”

His fingers slipped behind the zipper and skimmed down the outside of her underwear. “Me.”

Now, it had to be now. She couldn’t sit on the information. That would make everything worse. She had to drag it out or forget it. There wasn’t a middle ground, and her good sense kept blinking out as need took over.

“Okay, look.” She forced her hands to let go of his and turned around. Still in the cocoon of his arms, she looked up and stared into those dark eyes. “I need my brain functioning, and when you touch me that can’t happen.”