Page 62 of Point of Contact

It was not a fun place to be.

But Reed caught her just as she started to move, one hand splaying across her hip to drag her close and pin her at his side. It was a move both Pierce and Mona noticed, their eyes snapping to where the warmth of his hand burned into her skin like a brand.

"We can stand. We've been sitting for a long time." Reed's words sounded reasonable enough, but the tone he said them in was clipped and short.

Pierce leaned back in his seat. "Very well." His eyes came her way, pinning her in place. "It appears you were finally telling the truth about your situation, Ms. Vasquez."

It was unsurprising to have her past misdeeds thrown in her face. She saw it coming. Knew it would happen. It still stung.

Courtney opened her mouth, ready to apologize since that was her only option, but Reed cut her off.

His gaze was sharp as it landed on Pierce. “Watch your fucking tone.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

REED

COURTNEY STARED AT him like he’d lost his fucking mind.

So did Pierce.

The only one in the room not looking at him like he had two heads was Mona, whose mouth was tipped up in a knowing smile. She turned to her husband as she slid off his desk to her feet. "It seems like I'm not needed here, so I'm going to get back to work." She turned away from him without another word, her cool blue eyes fixing on Courtney as she passed. One closed in a conspiratorial wink.

When the door closed behind her, Pierce let out a long sigh, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Is there anything I should know about?"

Reed shook his head. "Nope."

Again, Courtney and Pierce's eyes found him. But this time it wasn't shock in their gazes. Courtney looked a little hurt and Pierce looked confused as fuck. He didn't give a shit about how Pierce felt, but he sure as hell cared about her.

Reed kept his focus on the owner of Alaskan security as he explained his answer, primarily for the benefit of the woman beside him. "What I do in my free time isn’t really your business."

Pierce's brows lifted. "I don't disagree that your free time is your own to spend as you wish, but when you spend it with one of Alaskan Security's clients, my interests come into play."

Reed stared him down. "Then I guess it's good I didn't spend any time with a client of Alaskan Security." Courtney's jaw dropped open in his peripheral vision. He caught her hand with his, but he didn't stop doling out the truth of who funded their trip. "Not a cent of Alaskan Security’s money was spent getting Ms. Vasquez from Miami to Fairbanks. I explained to her we would no longer be helping her as I was directed to do, and I was not paid for any of my time from that point on."

He'd worked the logistics out with Heidi since he needed her help to access his bank account, and adjust his paycheck, but it appeared she hadn’t filled Pierce in, because one of his eyes was twitching the tiniest bit as he stared them down across his desk. "Is that so?"

"It is." He’d made it halfway through the trip before realizing the huge conflict of interest that was happening. He'd abandoned enough of his principles as it was. Having a physical relationship with a woman he was being paid to take care of wasn't one he was willing to cast aside. It’d happened more than once at the company, and at the time he'd passed judgment on the men who did it. His opinion of their actions and reasonings had changed, but it still wasn't anything he was willing to do himself.

"Well." Pierce pursed his lips before running his tongue across his teeth. "It would appear there's nothing for us to discuss regarding the situation then."

Reed agreed. "Not a thing."

Pierce brought his eyes back to Courtney, folding his hands on his desk and giving her a tight smile. "Welcome back to Fairbanks, Ms. Vasquez. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Courtney stood silently, eyes shifting from Pierce to him before going back to Pierce. "Thanks?"

Pierce took another long breath, his shoulders lifting and dropping as he refocused on Reed. "Once you're settled, you should be briefed on what happened while you were gone."

"Understood." He needed to find out what was going on, but he needed to get Courtney situated first. She'd obviously been nervous about meeting with Pierce, probably because she expected a confrontation. So when the owner of Alaskan Security came at her right out of the gate, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Didn't want to.

He had a point to make to both people in the room.

He turned to Courtney, tipping his head to the door. "Come on."

Giving Pierce one more glance, she angled her body at the door and let him guide her out. She stayed completely silent as he led her down the hall of offices, through the glassed-in entryway, and along the walkway connecting the main building to the rooming house where he stayed when he was on duty.

Heidi was standing outside his door when they got there, holding up a brand-new badge. "Figured you might need this."

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