Delta: Retribution (5 page)

They skimmed through the water. Marlena sighed, relief on her face, and then she caught him staring. She wiped her expression clean, replacing it with an almost laughable calm. It couldn’t have been more fake, and he couldn’t have wanted to kiss her any more than he did that second.

The dock came into view as a chopper began its descent. Marlena leaned into his arm. “Instead of tossing you every dime I’ve ever made, how about you let me make up that shower I missed out on?”

Roman kicked him in the back. “It pays to be a winner.”

Hooyah to that
.

CHAPTER SEVEN

After a boat, helicopter, and airplane ride, Marlena was tucked safely in an underground compound. Jared Westin and Brock Gamble had introduced themselves and then walked out, leaving her with the national-defense stiffs who’d been overseeing her project. Not once had they asked if she was okay or if anything had happened to them. They’d been caught up in the details of their classified project and whether any of it had been leaked. She told them the truth: that she’d given her captors enough busy work—making it as complicated as possible—that they may’ve thought they’d received covert intelligence, but it was nothing more than graduate-level engineering homework.

Their secret was still safe, but it wouldn’t take a genius to connect the dots to technology that already existed and be on an equal weapons-making playing field. She sighed, stood up, and saw that Jared’s dog had stayed in the room. For some reason that made her a little less empty inside.

She had seen less and less of her friends since starting her super top-secret, giant pain-in-the ass job, and when she was most alone, she heard her dad’s—no, Brian’s—voice in her head, telling her that her intelligence was the only thing that made her worthwhile and that she’d be exploited. Well, Brian had been right on that account. Wow, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mentally and physically.

But at least she’d gotten away from Romatar.

Still… Abandoned friends and a self-esteem problem weren’t the greatest combination, and then she had those crazy couple of days and no one she could talk to. But she did have a one-night stand who she couldn’t help but feel drawn to.

Too bad that once Delta had deposited her at the Titan Group’s home office outside DC, he’d walked away with his team. Not that she could blame him. Though there was a part of her that thought he’d snatch her away from everyone and have her make good on that promise of a shower.

Marlena bent down to pet the drooling bulldog that guarded the door. The dog’s tag read THELMA, and she rolled over, begging for belly rubs.

A door opened behind Marlena, and she jumped, her heart racing. Panic seized her throat. She spun to see Trace leaning against the doorjamb. His muscles popped in the cotton shirt, the colors tattooed on his arms making her want to inch closer just to touch them.

“Hey, you.” His eyes danced, alert to the fact that she’d been staring and having a heart attack at the same time.

“Sorry.” The more time that passed, the jumpier she became, especially after the interrogation she had just suffered through. That stupid reaction had been happening ever since she had woken up in Mr. Romatar’s compound and continued after her rescue. It had to be an after-effect of the abduction, but still, it was embarrassing.

“Don’t apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you.” His quiet smile didn’t do much to still her spastic thoughts. “Little bit edgy, huh?”

“No. I don’t. Yeah, I guess so.”

His smile morphed into something more confident, and he strolled to the table and grabbed a chair, pushing it to her. It rolled over, and he sat in another. Thelma ran to him, jumping into his lap.

Trace grunted as the dog landed. “Good Lord, Thelma. You’ve been eating rocks lately?”

He grabbed a handful of furry wrinkles and rubbed while the dog stretched in his lap. Marlena took a seat in the chair and pivoted back and forth. Alone under fluorescent lights, her ballsy let’s-jump-in-the-shower promise seemed insane. She wanted it so badly and couldn’t match the level of hotness this guy had. She was so out of his league. He even liked dogs. Hugging a wrinkly bulldog was pretty much the only thing that could make this guy any better looking.

“So, Marlena.”

He made her name sound like sex. She’d heard her name a million times, during twenty-one years walking the earth, and never once had it made her want to get naked. When Trace said her name, she prayed the fabric would just melt away. Looking down just to double-check, a smidge of disappointment teased her when she saw herself fully clothed.

She bit her lip then forced a smile. “So, Trace.”

“I get the feeling you’ve been thrown to the wolves recently. Sergeant Dick and Captain Shithead looked about as nice as fucking on sandpaper.”

Her brows furrowed. “Guess that wouldn’t be too nice.”

“You’re not military, are you?”

“No.” She tilted her head, toying with a stray strand of hair. “You really don’t know anything about me? They just sent you to find me and bring me home?”

“Yup.”

“Well, it wasn’t because they were concerned about me, that was for sure,” she scoffed.

“You’re in intelligence?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what?” he asked.

“I’m a biological engineering student. Getting my bachelor’s and master’s in a combined accelerated program, and I
lucked
into this program.” She used air quotes on
lucked
. “My freshmen year, I wrote an article that was picked up by a scientific journal. Guess I piqued the government’s interest. They came calling. The rest is history.”

“Oh.” He winked. “So, you’re smart.”

That made her laugh. “Depends.”

“I like smart.”

And that made her blush. She could feel the hot flash move across her cheeks. “Um…”

“You need a ride? You look exhausted.” He tossed up his hands. “In a you’re-very-pretty kind of way.”

An ache eased in her chest. She hadn’t realized it was there, but since it had dissipated, she could relax more with him. “A ride home would be appreciated.”

“Thought you didn’t have a home anymore.”

“You were listening,” Marlena said.

“Surprising, right?”

“Not that surprising.” She threw her hands up with a laugh. “In a you’re-a-very-macho-listener kind of way.”

He stood, pushing Thelma off his lap. “Cute. Come on.” With a hand on her back, he walked her to the door. She couldn’t help but notice that between the time she’d been left with Titan honchos and secret project pricks, Trace had showered. He smelled squeaky clean. She, on the other hand, needed a shower.

Scooting in front of him, his hand caught her elbow, pulling her close. “What’s the deal with you and running off?”

“You’re very clean.” She made a face. “And I’m very not.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Whoa, baby
,
I sure noticed
. She wasn’t sure if he had just lied, but she prayed he hadn’t. “Let’s just keep some distance between us. I’m pretty sure if I don’t find a toothbrush soon, both of us will be totally grossed out.”

“Whatever you say, hot stuff.” He patted her bottom as they left the room.

Behind her, Thelma rolled over and groaned. Marlena bit her bottom lip, unsure of what she should think or say. Instead of doing either, she trailed behind Trace through a labyrinth of security doors until they were in a parking lot. Not her favorite type of place. Every time she saw one, she thought about Mr. Romatar’s people grabbing her, shoving a rag in her mouth, and watching her wake up when they were on a plane flying to what she’d since then discovered was South America.

It was time to fake confidence again, because surely Trace wasn’t the type of man to hang out with weak girls. They reached a black car with black windows, and he beeped it unlocked then grabbed her door.

“Need a hand in?”

She jumped into the car, fumbling the handle and closing herself away from him. “I’m good.”

Right. Super-duper confident
. She hung her head until he joined her in the front seat. Then she looked out the window, feeling like the most awkward girl ever. “My place is off exit twenty-one. It’s a temporary until…”
Until
I figure out where I should go and why I’m so dang lost.
“Until something better comes along.”

The parking garage was a cement maze full of barriers and security measures. It was more secure than any secret location she’d been whisked away to for her project.

After a few minutes on unmarked roads, Trace hit the highway. “I’ve got a temporary place now, courtesy of Titan.” He mumbled something she couldn’t make out. “Too bad I’m climbing the walls.”

She turned, not expecting him to say that at all. “You? You’re the calmest person I’ve ever met.”

He chuckled. “Not all the time I’m not, Cinderella.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’ve been forced stateside. I’m not handling it well, but it had to be done. So, I’m doing it.”

Trace didn’t live here? “Where would you be?”

“Anywhere else.”

“Germany?”

“No…” He shook his head. “I was following up on an investigation of sorts.”

“Sounds vague. Is everything you do for Delta or Titan, whoever, is it all—”

“That was a personal project.”

“Oh,” she said.

“When we’re off the job, I have something I’ve been working on for a few weeks now.”

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer but just changed lanes needlessly. “You hungry? I’m going to grab a burger from a drive-thru.”

Sore subject. That was interesting, because she thought nothing fazed him. “Burger’s good. Thanks.”

They went through the drive-thru and left with bags of food, eating quietly as he drove. He took an exit and followed her directions to her house. Then they were home, the end of the road for her time with him.

She looked at the condo duplex while they sat in her driveway. Everything felt tense. It wasn’t sexual tension, but more like she’d said something that went too deep. “Thanks again.”

Trace nodded, and a car zoomed down her street. She flinched. It was just someone racing down the block.
So stupid
. Her lungs had almost jumped out of her chest for no reason. God, she was a jittery moron. It was embarrassing. She couldn’t go around hopping in the air every time a car made a noise or a door slammed.

“Marlena?”

Her eyes shot to him. She knew he could see right through her. Weak. Still, she painted on her smile. “Yes?”

“I’ll call you later, make sure you’re doing okay.”

“You don’t have my number.”

“Not sure why that would stop me from calling you.”

“It’s new and unlisted.”

His face tightened as though he were running through the possibilities as to why. “That’s interesting. Call you later.”

Marlena opened the door and got out. Why did she constantly offer information that wasn’t needed? For the same reason she’d run from him: she couldn’t control herself around him, and that was scary. From then on, every interaction with him would be mapped out. Except they had no plans. She’d been a one-night stand he happened to rescue, and his offer to call was an easy way out of an uncomfortable drive home. Still, it couldn’t hurt to hope she was wrong.

CHAPTER EIGHT

When Marlena walked through the door of her place, she was surrounded by desolation. It was so empty. She’d lost her cell phone when the Romatar men abducted her. But there was still her landline. She never used it, yet it was there, mocking her after Trace had said he’d call. The only reason she had a phone at home was in case of emergency. It was a silly safety net.

She showered, nuked a microwavable dinner, and vegged out in front of the TV. Tucked into a blanket, sleep called for her—

The ringing of her home phone jolted her awake.

No way did he call, just
no way
. But her phone rang, echoing from the kitchen… and maybe this was a dream. She stared toward the kitchen in absolute disbelief. He couldn’t have taken the time to look up her unlisted number. Right?

Jumping up with the blanket tucked around her, Marlena shuffled for the phone. “Hello?”

“Told you I’d call.”

Her stomach fell, but she smiled. “You did.”

But “why” was the question. There was no reason for him to throw her a pitying bone. If he hadn’t wanted to call, he’d never see her again.

Trace cleared his throat. “Are you surviving okay at your place? Because I hate mine.”

“I dozed off on the couch while watching TV.” God, she sounded like a loser.
Why say that?

Trace laughed. “Me too. Bored as hell. I hit up a game of pool with the guys then came back here. To a townhouse. In a car. Shit.”

“I don’t get it. How else would you have driven home?”

He laughed again. “I’m not really a car guy.”