Justin lounged in the leather desk chair, glaring at the screen in front of him as he tried to read through more of the report he’d pulled from the research files at the hospital, but the shit just wasn’t making any sense to him. He’d already reached out to a friend who was a forensic pathologist. The autopsy reports had already been located for the three dead patients and he was sure that he could get his hands on the data during their time in the study. If he could get all that data over to Brianna, she could uncover the truth from all this medical jargon.

But first he had to break into the doctor’s portable hard drive or get into the files at Iaso. The hacking program he’d written was still working on the hard drive password and his phishing emails to Iaso had gotten him nowhere so far. Not that he was surprised. This part of the process was supposed to take weeks. The only problem was that he’d not expected to be hunted by another mercenary nor had he expected to have Gabriel Prescott under foot.

Not that Gabriel had been that problematic.

He’d actually been quite helpful. And sex before bed always helped him sleep better at night.

It was just the after that he was struggling with.

As if against his will, his eyes darted over to the computer screen that showed the video feed from the various cameras around the house. He’d switched the screen from a four-way split screen to a single feed of Gabriel lounging in a chair in the living room. With his feet propped up on the ottoman, Gabriel sat in a pristine, button-down white shirt and dark slacks. The outfit perfectly framed his wide shoulders and narrow hips. The only thing he was missing was a tie. All his tattoos were hidden away from view, but Justin knew exactly where they all were even if he couldn’t read them all. He sat primly in the chair, reading a book.

Blinking suddenly, Justin sat upright and leaned closer to the screen, staring at Gabriel. Had he moved the chair? He had! The fucker had moved the chair just a little bit, but it was now squarely facing the camera as if he knew exactly where it was. It was galling! And more than a little unnerving.

Justin had never had anyone stay in his home for so long. And never allowed anyone in his home that would be able to sniff out all his secrets. There was a twitchy part of his brain that was demanding he check all his weapons hiding places around the house, but he didn’t move from his chair. They’d called a truce.

Fuck…he’d already come harder with Gabriel than he had with anyone else in a long time. Not that sex meant shit in their business, but for some reason it felt like it did with Gabriel. It had been painfully obvious from the very first moment that Gabriel didn’t trust anyone, and Justin was at the top of the list for untrustworthy, but he was slowly unbending, and it was the most fascinating thing to watch.

Flopping back in his chair, Justin watched Gabriel lick the pad of his index finger and then slowly turn the page. Justin swore he could feel that lick on his goddamn dick. Narrowing his eyes, he could see Gabriel’s lips twitch as if he was fighting a smile. Fucker. He was doing this on purpose like he knew Justin was watching him. Asshole. Didn’t stop him from him from being sexy even if Justin knew he was teasing him on purpose.

He would just kick his ass out and—

Justin stopped sharply at the thought as he realized that he could kick Gabriel out. Well, send him back to stay in a hotel. They’d tracked down the culprit for the hotel raid. It was highly unlikely that the contract owner had discovered that the mercenary was dead. Gabriel was safe, and they could go back to operating in separate spaces again. How had he not thought of that before then? His eyes jerked back to Gabriel’s face, wondering if the same realization had occurred to his partner. Justin had a sneaking suspicion it hadn’t.

And now that he knew that he could kick Gabriel out, he didn’t want to. Holy shit! Fuck Gabriel. And fuck himself sideways with a barbwire dildo. He knew better than this. He couldn’t want Gabriel. Couldn’t feel…something. The man could kill him. He was a trained, cold-blooded mercenary. He was in it for the money. He was…wickedly brilliant and had a subtle, dry sense of humor that had a way of sneaking up on Justin. And even though he gave Justin grief over his own goofy sense of humor, he still laughed, even if it was only with his eyes. There was a quiet strength to him and Justin couldn’t help admiring him because under that strength, he knew there was something deeply broken within him.

Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. Justin covered his face with his hands and moaned loudly. This was stupid. It was as if his brain had permanently leaked out the end of his dick.

Gabriel had to go. They needed the space, so Justin could start using his brain again and stay alive.

A cheerful chime rang above the steady hum of computer fans. Justin dropped his hands to his lap and looked over to his main computer to find a little window greeting him with the best news he’d seen in days. The program hacking the doctor’s hard drive was done and the contents were now unlocked.

With a celebratory whoop!, Justin rolled forward and opened up the hard drive. There was just one file folder, but it was enormous. There were piles of spreadsheets and databases of information. There were more file folders with copies of X-rays and MRI results. There were pictures taken of what looked to be cultures in petri dishes. He opened a few, but he really didn’t understand what he was looking at for the most part. An hour passed, Gabriel’s taunting sexiness temporarily forgotten as he worked his way through the files. He didn’t understand what he was looking at, but there was one document that got his heart pumping.

Unplugging the portable hard drive from his computer, he jumped up and grabbed it and a spare laptop before charging up the stairs. When he pounded into the living room, Gabriel was shutting his book. He looked poised to make some snarky comment, but he must have read Justin’s excited expression because his own eyes widened and he stood, dropping his book on the chair.

“What did you find?” Gabriel immediately demanded.

“I got into the hard drive.”

“And?”

Justin looked around for a place to set the laptop where they could both see it without one of them needing to sit in the other’s lap. With a grunt, he turned and placed the laptop on the breakfast bar. He slid into one of the chairs while Gabriel remained standing at his shoulder. Heat emanated from the man and Justin wanted to twist around and offer up his mouth for a deep kiss, but this really wasn’t the time for such things. Maybe later…to celebrate.

“There are a shit-ton of files on here. Patient records. Test results. I don’t understand…well, any of it.”

“Fantastic. My degree wasn’t exactly in medicine.”

Justin perked up at that little bit of information and looked over his shoulder at Gabriel. “What is your degree in?”

Gabriel pursed his lips together, glaring down at Justin for a moment before he finally said, “Some other time. Is there anything we can use?”

Justin looked back at the file, but he was definitely going to circle back to that little fact. Now he was dying to know what Gabriel got his degree, but he was right. It could wait. “I’ve got a friend who is a forensic pathologist. I’m going to send her everything and let her dig through it. She’ll be able to spot the good stuff we need.”

“You can trust her?”

“Yes,” he said, and then gave a little huff, hunching his shoulders a little. “She’s not totally free. We will have to pay her a couple million for the consult.”

He looked back at Gabriel to see him give a little eyeroll. “If she can find what we need, she’s worth the expense. How long will it take?”

“With this much data?” Justin sighed heavily. “A week. Maybe two.”

“Send it. We need this soon. Iaso’s CEO announced to shareholders that the company is expecting an announcement from the FDA advisory committee within the next few weeks.”

“Well, this could help her along a little bit.” Digging through the files, Justin pulled up a since Word document that was simply titled “Notes.” With it pulled up on the screen, he sat back and allowed Gabriel to skim over as he had. The farther along he got, the more the hand on his shoulder squeezed. He felt the same excitement.

“This is good,” Gabriel whispered.

Dr. Weiss had left a little trail of breadcrumbs for the next person to follow. It wasn’t much. Just dates and a series of brief notes where he started noticing discrepancies in the data and problems with the dead patients’ kidneys, problems that had never been noticed in any of the trial tests.

“It doesn’t give us a smoking gun in the hand of Elba or Hamilton, but it gives Brianna a place to start when she’s digging in the data. Might save of a few days. She might also spot something pointing to Elba or Hamilton that we haven’t seen yet.”

Gabriel took a deep breath and loosened his hold on Justin’s shoulder. “It’s about time we got a break.”

“I’ll bundle this all together and ship this off to Bri. She knows to expect it and I’ll be sure to call attention to the notes.”

Gabriel walked into the kitchen and pulled down a glass out of the cabinet. A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he watched the man move. It was more than the fact that he was smooth and graceful. It was that he was at complete ease within Justin’s kitchen as he filled his glass with ice and water. He then placed it on the counter and turned back to the fridge, where he pulled out a beer and set it in front of Justin.

“How many more of your little cameras do you have, particularly with the ability to shoot at night?”

Justin stopped in the middle of reaching for the beer and lifted one eyebrow at him. “A few. What do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking that hacking a place like Iaso has got to be close to impossible. But not everywhere is going to have the same level of security. And some of those companies with not-so-strong security could also have access to Iaso.”

“You know, you’re really sexy when you talk hacking mumbo jumbo.”

Gabriel glared at him and Justin grinned wide. It was getting really hard not to grab Gabriel and kiss him while pinning him against the nearest hard surface.

“I’ve been trying that,” Justin admitted while managing to keep his hands to himself. “I got the name of the company that does their window cleaning and water delivery. No luck yet.”

“I thought we could have a little outing now that we’re not being actively hunted. Put up a few cameras close to the entrance to the place. See if we can grab the names of some companies that provide services. Give you a few more avenues to attack.” Gabriel stepped around the breakfast bar so that he was beside Justin. “Your friend Brianna might dig up the truth about the cancer medication, but we need inside Iaso if we’re going to find out who ordered the hit on Weiss and Jones.”

“Well then, Mr. Prescott, I suggest you change into some sneaking clothes while I contact Bri.”

“Sneaking after dinner,” Gabriel said firmly.

“After dinner?”

Gabriel leaned close, brushing his lips across Justin’s parted ones. “After. It’s too bright out right now and you promised me coq au vin.”

Before he could actually get a real kiss, Gabriel stepped away and walked back into the living room. He stopped long enough to grab the book he’d been reading and then disappeared up the stairs, where Justin assumed he was getting changed for their evening out.

Gabriel stood in the deep shadows of the woods surrounding the Iaso Health complex, staring up at Justin’s tight ass as he shimmied up a tree. This job was turning out to have its perks. Not only was the sex amazing, but he was also enjoying the scenery. And the food was spectacular. When Justin had boasted that he knew how to make some rather difficult and vintage French dishes, Gabriel had been prepared to call the man out on his bullshit.

But he’d sat at the breakfast bar for the entire three hours it had taken Justin to prepare the meal talking to him while he sipped his Bordeaux. Justin was proving to be an endless fountain of crazy stories. He wasn’t entirely sure which ones were true and which ones were utter fabrications, but they were all entertaining. And in each story, he was able to see a little glimmer of the real man beneath it all.

There was no doubt in his mind that Justin was former military. There was something in his bearing still that screamed to Gabriel that he was likely a Marine. And if he’d followed the traditional route of mercenaries from Marine to CIA or FBI, then Justin had been in the special forces. Marine recon. Gabriel had a few encounters with their ilk over the years and they were a group to be approached carefully.

Justin was more, though. More than the chameleon he presented himself as.

His questions the night before when they were lying in his bed. The Marines and CIA might have trained him to be an efficient killer, but he was one with a quick brain and unyielding moral compass. He might have found ways around the compass for a bit, but time and too many years in their business had worn him down.

Gabriel knew that soul-weary fatigue all too well. It was the reason he could no longer meet his own gaze in the mirror most mornings. He didn’t want to face the man he’d become. The blinding fury that had consumed him the first few years after his lover’s murder had become a twisted, cold bitterness. Where Justin struggled with pulling the trigger and holding onto the goodness he still believed in, Gabriel struggled with the knowledge that pulling the trigger was too easy and he didn’t want to be that person.

But for now, Justin’s ass in a pair of black jeans stretched tight as he climbed over a final limb to get into position to place the final camera was a perfect distraction from the bigger questions rattling around in his brain.

The storm that had passed through the area the night before had left behind even thicker, heavier air. The day’s heat refused to dissipate and Gabriel could already feel his long-sleeve black shirt sticking to his arms and chest. He’d opted for black cargo pants so he could potentially help carry things for Justin, but the man was prepared with a slim black sling bag that held a handful of cameras, a miniature drill, and a variety of other tools and wires for the job. He shouldn’t have been surprised. The man had been doing this job for a while.

A short whistle drew Gabriel from his thoughts. He looked up to see Justin hold up one finger and then point toward the east. Gabriel carefully edged around the trunk of the tree Justin was currently in to see the steady bob and sweep of a bright white light as it looked like a security guard did a physical sweep of the grounds. That was…surprising. He had been confident that all of Iaso’s security measures outside the grounds would be electronic in the form of cameras and motion sensors. A guard walking rounds felt archaic.

But archaic or not, Gabriel couldn’t allow him to get too close to where Justin was working, or others might be tempted to look for other evidence that someone had been there, possibly spying. They’d spent that past three hours setting up three other cameras. This was their last one, giving them a good view of the entrance and exit of the parking garage. Justin believed that he could use it to pull license plate numbers and maybe target some of the employees directly.

Dipping low so that the majority of his body was masked by the thick undergrowth, Gabriel moved slowly and carefully toward the guard. He swept wide, aiming to come up behind him. It was slow going. The wooded area was heavy with old leaves and broken branches so that it was nearly impossible to move without making noise. His only hope was that the guard couldn’t hear him over the noise he was making as he moved through the woods.

As he drew close to his target, Gabriel knelt down behind a tree while the bright light slashed to the left and then back to the right. The guard was a large brute of a man with a bald head that glistened in the light with sweat. A gun was nestled in its holster on his side and there was the soft jingle of keys as he trudged through the old, dried leaves. Gabriel frowned. There was a small reflection in the center of his chest as if from glass. Likely a body camera. Lovely. That device limited his options for attack and sharply cut down Justin’s time to work.

When the guard was a half dozen steps in front of Gabriel, he leapt out from his hiding place and onto his back. The guard managed a surprised yelp before Gabriel got his arm wrapped around his neck, locking in the chokehold. The guard twisted and tore at Gabriel’s arm, trying desperately to pull it free, but Gabriel was willing to snap his own arm before releasing this man. Releasing him meant killing him. For now, he was content to simply knock him unconscious.

A few muffled choking noises came from the guard as he fought for air. He gave up on trying to pull Gabriel’s arm free and stumbled over to the largest close tree. Gabriel swallowed back a curse as the guard rammed his back against the tree, crushing Gabriel between his sizable girth and the hard trunk of the tree. Gabriel hissed and clenched his teeth. The air rushed out of his lungs and pain shot through his spine and ribs, but he refused to loosen his hold. The bastard rammed the tree twice more, but each time was with a little less force.

The guard stepped forward, ready to ram the tree a fourth time, when his knees buckled. Gabriel held him upright, still blocking both the air to his lungs and the blood to his brain. He counted to five and then released him completely, allowing the guard to fall onto his face in the dirt. He nearly turned him on his back but stopped. Turning him over would be exposing the body camera and it was safer if that stayed obscured. After one last quick check to make sure that the man had a pulse and was breathing on his own, Gabriel rushed back to where Justin was working in a tree.

“Out of time,” he softly called up to him.

“Guard?”

“Unconscious, but I’m sure he’s got friends.”

“Coming down,” Justin said, right before he adjusted his bag and quickly descended the tree. Gabriel stepped back out of the way but remained close enough that he could lend a hand if Justin needed it in the darkness.

When Justin was on the ground again, he smirked at Gabriel. “Any problems?”

“Just one large guard. Though, I think he cracked my ribs.” Gabriel reached up and rubbed his ribs on his right. He was also pretty sure his back was bleeding from where the bark had torn through his shirt and scratched along his spine. “How are we going to keep them from investigating the woods?”

“I’ve got a plan for just that problem.”

Opening his sling bag, he pulled out two cans of beer. He handed one over to Gabriel and then cracked the other one open himself. “Where’s the guard?”

Gabriel led him over to the man’s unconscious body while cracking open his own can. Just a few feet away from the guard, Justin proceeded to pour his beer all over the surrounding ground. He motioned for Gabriel to do the same. When the cans were empty, they crushed them up a bit and then dropped them in the brush. Justin followed his lead and then they hurried back across the woods to a nearby neighborhood where they’d parked Gabriel’s rental car.

“What was the point of the beer?” Gabriel asked when they were safely in the car and starting back toward Justin’s house.

“There’s a high school less than half a mile from those woods. It would be a prime place for teenagers to sneak off, drink beer, and generally goof off,” Justin explained with a grin. “When they find the guard, they’re going to smell the beer and see the cans. They’ll think he just got jumped by some stupid, drunk kids. And it’s likely the guard isn’t going to remember much from being knocked out. The cameras should be safe for at least a few days if not longer.”

Gabriel grunted as they drove down the road. The windows were rolled down and the cooler wind felt good through his sweaty hair. He was already looking forward to a cool shower and sleep.

“Really? A grunt? That’s all you’ve got.”

“What can I say? I was more impressive with your cooking.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Justin’s glare in the ambient light from the dashboard.

“Better watch it, G. Love. You’ve got dinner duty tomorrow night and I might be feeling beef wellington or maybe a rack of lamb.”

Gabriel couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his lips or the warmth that rose up in his chest. It wasn’t the nickname that had reluctantly grown on him, but the fact that Justin was planning ahead to tomorrow. That they had a rhythm where they so easily worked together. He didn’t want to look too closely at why it meant so much to him or think about how temporary it was. Even if it was only for one more night, Gabriel would enjoy every second of it while he could.