Page 18 of Trust No One

He’d find another job. He had no idea where it would be or what he’d be doing, but it would involve security of one sort or another. There were always jobs for dudes with his skills.

He’d been drawn to Blackhawk because Mel would be there. He’d wanted to work with her. He’d known she’d do a good job with the company, because that’s what Mel was about. She threw her whole heart and soul into a project and made sure it was done the right way.

Like she’d thrown her heart and soul into their relationship.

The realization made him regret he couldn’t be the man she needed. He was going to miss Mel.

He raised his glass, and Mel raised hers. “To success,” he said, knowing it wouldn’t be smart to broadcast their mission in public.

“To success,” Mel repeated, then she took a sip of her wine. When she set the glass on the table, a shadow of sadness crossed her face. Then she swallowed and it disappeared.

She forced a smile. “We’re going to nail this bastard, Dev,” she said, and he saw the determination in her eyes. The passion that had drawn him to Mel from the very beginning.

“Yeah,” he said. “We are.”

Then they’d go their separate ways. Mel would take all that passion and determination back to Montana, and she’d eventually find some guy who’d appreciate her. Someone who could give her what she wanted.

And him? He’d move on to something else, just like he always did. It was how he rolled. Don’t stay too long, don’t put down roots.

Don’t fall in love.

When their meals arrived, Mel dug into her seafood pasta as he cut into his thick slice of prime rib.

“Mmm,” she said. “Delicious. How’s your prime rib?”

“Fine,” he said. The pricey cut of beef was ashes in his mouth.

Chapter 7

With Dev sitting on the bed beside her the next morning, Mel pulled out the burner phone she’d bought in a convenience store the night before and called Simon Livingston. When he answered, she said, “Hi, Mr. Livingston,” in a high, chirpy voice that was nothing like her own. “This is Tiffany, your interior designer. I have those upholstery samples you wanted to see. Can we get together in the next few days so you can take a look at them?”

To Simon’s credit, he didn’t miss a beat. “That’s great that you got hold of them so quickly,” he said. “I’m in the office all day today, but I have a few hours tomorrow when we can meet. I’ll text you my address. Shall we say eleven a.m.?”

“Eleven’s good,” Mel said. “I’ll see you then.”

She texted her burner phone number to Simon, and in a few minutes, he’d texted her an address. Dev leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen, and Mel shivered as her chest tightened. The heat from his body poured over her, bringing unwelcome memories with it. Dev had always run hot, and her body recalled all too well the sensation of curling her limbs around his on cold nights in Kabul. Twining their legs together. Pressing her cold feet into his thigh or his calf.

She swiveled away from him and shoved the phone in his direction. “Figure out where we’re going tomorrow.”

He took it from her, his fingers scraping her palm, and she curled her hand into a fist to hold the sensation there. Flew off the bed when she realized what she was doing.

Hands shaking, she fixed herself a cup of coffee from the machine in the room. “Coffee?” she asked, amazed that her voice sounded normal.

“Love a cup,” he said without looking at her.

She shoved another pod into the machine, not even looking at what it was. When it finished brewing, she added cream and sugar the way Dev liked his coffee, then handed the cup to him.

He took it without looking at her. “Thanks, babe,” he said automatically. Froze when he realized what he’d said.

She waved her hand at him. “Don’t worry about it. You have a location yet?”

His thumbs worked as he scrolled through the mapping app on her phone. Finally he frowned. “It’s in Virginia,” he said. Outside the city.” He pursed his lips as he studied the map. “Horse country, it looks like. A place called Donohue’s. An Irish pub.”

He tossed her phone onto the bed and turned to watch her. “Should be pretty empty at eleven in the morning. Good choice for a meeting.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Good choice on Simon’s part.” She drew a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Thank God Dev hadn’t noticed her reaction to him. If he had, he’d never let her forget it.

Dev pulled out his own phone and entered the address. “A thirty-to-forty-minute drive, depending on traffic.”

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