Page 1 of Trust No One

Chapter 1

Mel walked down the hall to her office, still smiling. She’d just dropped Bree off at the Helena airport, and her security agent would be in Chicago in five hours. Mel’s smile widened. She was happy that Bree had managed to pull her head out of her ass and realize she’d made a huge mistake when she walked out on Jameson. She hoped the two of them would find their happily ever after and was pretty sure they would. Once Bree wrapped her mind around something and accepted it, she was a dog with a bone. She wouldn’t let it go.

As Mel strode past Dev’s office, she heard his intimate murmur of laughter. Her feet stuttered to a stop as memories swept over her of the times Dev had laughed like that with her. That soft laugh, those teasing, flirty words, were almost always the prelude to sex.

Swallowing hard, she told herself to keep moving. To get away from that cracked-open office door. She didn’t want to hear anymore of those build-up-to-sex noises from Dev.

She knew he didn’t have a woman in there. But she’d bet a lot of money that he was heading into Helena tonight to get together with the woman on the other end of the phone.

“See ya tonight, darlin’,” he said, followed by the sound of his phone dropping onto his desk. Realizing that he could emerge from his office at any time, Mel forced herself to keep walking at the same steady pace.

When she reached her own office, she stepped inside, then closed the door. Locked it to make sure no one walked in unexpectedly. Especially Dev.

Dropping into her office chair, she swiveled and stared out the window. Against the backdrop of the Big Belt Rocky Mountains in the distance, a few of their agents were working out on the lawn of the compound. Sunshine poured down on them, but it didn’t make Mel smile.

Another agent was running on the track that followed the perimeter of the compound. But all the activity blurred together as Mel thought about what she’d just heard. Dev making plans with a woman.

Her heart ached, and her brain called her an idiot.

The woman she’d overheard him talking to wasn’t the first hook-up he’d had since they’d opened the compound. She’d seen him with women at the bar they’d all hung out at in Helena. She’d known he had his fuck buddies.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Back in Kabul, she and Dev had been sleeping together. Until he dumped her. On the night she’d told him she loved him, he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in love. All he wanted was a series of hookups. He’d broken things off and walked away.

Mel sighed and tipped her head back, staring at the white tiles overhead. In spite of that, she’d been stupid enough to ask him to be her partner. She’d had good reasons. She, a master of intelligence gathering and technical tricks, could find out anything about anybody. She knew how to troll the dark web without leaving any traces and how to gather information from that ugly, disturbing rat hole. But she had zero experience in operations.

Dev did. That’s what he’d done in Afghanistan. And he was good at it. He’d devised diabolically clever ops that were almost always successful. And when they weren’t, he’d made sure that his agents were protected and safe. She’d wanted his experience for Blackhawk Security.

But maybe she’d asked him to partner with her because she was sure he’d come back to her. Admit that he loved her, too. And now, hearing him on the phone with his latest hookup, she finally accepted that wasn’t going to happen. Dev was a good-time guy who loved the chase. The dance. The sex. But once he caught a woman, he lost interest. Moved on to the next target.

She, on the other hand, hadn’t had sex with an actual person in two years. Instead, she’d been waiting for Dev to come back to her.

Huh. Hadn’t she realized what she’d been doing?

Maybe she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She was a fool.

She thought about Bree, who was probably in the air by now. Bree was taking a huge chance. Putting her heart on the line, laying it all out with no guarantee that Jameson would take her back. Getting on that plane to Chicago had taken a huge amount of courage.

And her? Mel was in business with the man she loved, but he didn’t love her back. He’d booted her out of his bed. Was fucking anything that moved. Clearly, the rat bastard had gotten over Mel just fine.

She’d always thought of herself as a strong woman. When had she turned into a door mat? What had happened to her strength? The steel in her spine? She wasn’t that woman anymore, but she wanted strong, fierce Mel back.

Spinning her chair back to her desk, she opened her computer. Pulled up the books for Blackhawk Security. Spent a long time studying their income and their expenses. Calculated how much the business would be worth if they sold it today.

Slumped in her chair. If she wanted to buy Dev out, there was no way she could come up with half of that amount. She’d saved a lot of money, but even every penny of her savings would fall far short of what she’d need.

Shoving away from her desk, she paced her office. Coming up with ideas, then discarding them. Finally she dropped back into her desk chair.

She needed advice. And the best person she could think of to ask was her sister Zoe. Her sister owned a successful business. She must have faced situations similar to this one. Mel needed Zoe’s expertise.

Making a decision, she texted Zoe, asking how Zoe felt about a visit. Zoe replied immediately. ‘Hell, yes! Come to Seattle whenever you want. Spence and I would love to see you.’

Mel breathed out slowly.Yes. She needed her sister. Needed Zoe’s unconditional love and acceptance.

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