Page 47 of Arrogant Bastard

He turns to me. “Anything happens to her, I’ll fuck you up.”

Okay, fair enough. “Anything happens to her, I’ll let you.”

“Oh my God. How the hell do you hear yourselves over all this chest thumping?” Faith snaps. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost, because I know I’ll pay for the testosterone bombs we’re throwing around her. “If you’re done with the bromance and the cock swinging, I’m going to leave now,” she snaps impatiently.

Axel opens his mouth.

She holds up her hand. “You better not be about to use pansy-assed words on me, Axel.”

“Fine. Get the hell out of my office, B.”

She looks over at Cleo, and, contrary to her sharp words to Axel, Faith’s face softens for a moment. They share a smile, and she turns and leaves the room. I follow her back into her office. As suspected, she gives me the cold shoulder as she unlocks a safe built into the wall and grabs whatever else she needs. When I hold out my hand, she silently hands over the thumb drives, and her gaze sweeps over the office.

“How much longer do you need to stay? Do you need to do anything else?”

She shrugs. “No. I can leave anytime I want.”

“Well, let’s make that right fucking now, shall we?”

Perhaps she’s putting a brave face on it, but I’m still disturbed that she doesn’t throw so much as a fond, lingering look at the room before we walk out and she shuts the door behind her.

Was that how easy it was for her to walk away from me in Cairo? One moment she was unconscious, hooked up to machines with her life hanging in the balance. The next she was gone. The hours I spent wondering if she was dead were the worst of my life. The faintest trail in the form of missing funds from our joint agency expense account was the only way I knew she’d planned to leave me.

The discovery that she’d planned her exit meticulously left me stunned for days. It’s the reason I know I can’t let down my guard around her.

Her gaze slides to mine as we enter the elevator. Whatever she sees in my face makes her avert her eyes.

We stop at the bar to collect a stoic-looking Mitch and Linc. Five minutes later we’re back in the SUV.

“I want to go back to my apartment,” she says.

I shake my head. “Not gonna happen. Your security is shit.”

She glares icy fire at me. “My security is absolutely fine.”

“How do you know? Has it ever been tested?”

She frowns and shakes her head.

“Your surveillance is pretty adequate, I’ll give you that, but all it’ll take is a good kick to that front door of yours and it’s over. So, no, you’re not going back there. Besides, we’re not living in two separate apartments. Not while there’s a threat out there. Once this is all over, we can discuss it.”

She exhales long and slow. “Fine. What about my things?”

“Already taken care of.”

Her eyes widen. “What?”

“I said—”

“I heard what you said, Killian. I’m just wondering if we’re going to make it to tomorrow without me severely maiming you.”

I smile for the first time since we left the club. I feel a little lighter. But I’m pretty certain that’s not going to last very long when the vehicle bounces over a pothole and her body moves suggestively with it. The sight of leather and lace against her skin is driving me nuts. “You’re more than welcome to try.”

She catches the change in my voice and swallows. “How…” She clears her throat. “How wide are you going to search for Galveston?”

I let her change the subject pulsing between us. For now. “He went straight to his father’s house in Georgetown when he landed. So Galveston Senior is still very much involved. How deep is yet to be determined. We already know there’s a connection between the contracts he brokered for his son to start delivering aid to Africa and the trafficking picking up sharply. But the Galveston family has doubled its airline outfitting business in the last two years. So it could be they don’t need the shipping angle any longer. We never managed to get any actual eyes on what the insides of the planes look like, so we don’t know if they’re building secret compartments to transport their cargo or whether they’re bribing officials to look away. Or both.”

Her brows pleat. “We’re talking officials from over a dozen countries. That’s a hellish undertaking to check everything.”

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