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THE PLANE TOOK OFF for Vegas promptly at nine fifteen the next morning. My bag was packed with everything I could need for a possible ambush, and I was on high-alert. Derek placed the folders of information I needed in my hands, and I slid them into my bag, saving that work for tonight after I swept his hotel room for bugs and traps.

“Okay. I’m going to take this time in the air with you to talk about your past,” I said.

“Sounds like a good time,” Derek said. “Care for some champagne?”

“I’m good. I don’t drink on the job. So, how many past lovers have you had?”

“Wow. We really just hopped in there, didn’t we?” he asked.

“I want to make the most of our time together.”

“How romantic,” he said.

“I don’t want your official past. You know, the past you put out to the public. I need the past you don’t talk about.”

“Under one condition,” he said.

“What?”

“I’ll answer any question you ask if you promise to answer it in return.”

“Fine, if that’s what it takes,” I said. “How many past lovers have you had?”

“Dated or slept with?”

“Dated and slept with more than once,” I said.

“Three,” he said. “Your turn.”

“Dated and slept with? Two. I’m going to need the names of them, by the way.”

“Then I’ll need the names of yours,” he said.

“No.”

“Then this conversation stops.”

“I’m gathering information to compile and cross people off your list. The names are necessary to look into them further and see if their broken hearts have spiraled into something more.”

“I don’t leave women with a broken heart. I make sure they’re taken care of.”

“Mr. Steele, if you make me search for this information on my own, I’ll be very loud about it. You know, to piss you off.”

“Please tell me your loudness is a promise,” I said with a grin.

“Get me their names so I can run a check on them. I’m not asking again.”

“I love it when you’re demanding. Fine. Next question,” he said.

“Have you had any beef or issues with any companies? Other CEOs you’ve pissed off? Companies you’ve acquired in your time as CEO that resulted in people who could lash out in anger?”

“Yes, but if you ask me to compile a list, I’ll be compiling for days. With every business I’ve bought, turned around, and kept stock in, there’s always a few people who are pissed I’m there.”

“Are there any who have acted on that anger? Gotten in your face or threatened you in any way?” I asked.

“A few. I take it you want their names as well?”

“And the companies they belonged to, yes.”

“I don’t know how I can turn that question around on you, so I’ll ask you this. What’s your family like? Got any siblings?”

“I did.”

I watched his face fall as pity began to fill his eyes. I hated that look when I answered shit about my family, and people automatically thought I needed to be coddled. I’d coped with what happened. I moved on from the incident. I didn’t need their pity pulling me back into a past I’d left behind for a reason.

“What is your company like?” I asked. “Have you laid off anyone who became disgruntled in your opinion?”

“I, uh, excuse me.”

He cleared his throat and straightened himself out as I kept my eyes on him. Why had he become so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

“I run a decent company, but it hasn’t been without its faults. A lot of money runs through our walls on a daily basis, and I have fired a few employees for embezzlement. I never did it without proof, but once it was proven, swift action inside and outside of the office was taken. We also had a massive merger a couple years back, and some layoffs occurred. I felt terrible about it, but there was nothing I could do. The merger couldn’t sustain the employees we’d taken on with it.”

“How many were laid off?” I asked.

“Two hundred people in all. The other company was going to tank without the merger, and the only way to resuscitate it was to merge it with us. Long term, it was the best thing I could've done for both my company and their company. Otherwise, everyone would’ve lost their jobs. As the company stabilized, I’ve hired some people back, but thirty people out of two hundred is still one hundred and seventy people laid off.”

“Again, any of them threaten you face to face?” I asked. “Over email, maybe a phone call?”

“Only two. So that’ll be easy. If you want, I can rattle off these names for you now.”

“That’s fine. Go ahead.”

“You want to write them down or something?”

“I’ll remember them. Just go,” I said.

“The two disgruntled employees from that layoff were Robert Wiltshire and Nancy Pettigrew.”

“What about the embezzlement layoffs?” I asked.

“You sure you can remember this?”

“Yes. I’m very good at remembering things. I have near-perfect recall.”

“Near-perfect isn’t perfect,” I said.

“Trust me. I got it. Keep going.”

“Harvey Wilson, Sam Wilcox, and Martie Chandler were the three caught embezzling.”

“I actually recall an article I read on that issue. I’ll backtrack it later. What about the women?” I asked.

“The women I dated?”

“Yep.”

“Um, let’s see. There was Lisa Blatacky. She was a shrewd businesswoman. We parted on mutual terms because we got caught up in growing our own companies. Then there was Valerie Rickshaw, who was nothing but a rich socialite. Killer pair of legs. Lived off Mom and Dad. And Gretchen Lancaster, who was in journalism school at the time. I met her at a fundraiser. She was smart as a whip but incredibly judgmental about my passion to be a businessman. She was always ‘fighting the man’ and ‘pushing back against the system’ and shit like that. Last time we spoke was around last year.”

“Do you know when you last spoke to the other two?” I asked.

“I’ve been too busy running a company to recall that kind of information. The only reason I remember her was because she was the most recent.”

“Seems she left her imprint,” I said.

“Like I said, she was the last so she’s easier to recall.”

But I knew better. Men didn’t always recall their last. But they did always recall their best.

“I get where Gretchen’s coming from. I’ve always been a warrior woman, of sorts. It’s why I haven’t dated much. If I wasn’t out in the field or training, I was intimidating men who didn’t enjoy the company of a strong woman.”

“It takes a special man to stand beside a woman like that,” Derek said.

“Plus, being in all my units, not much dating happened, period. No one ever wanted to throw off the cohesion of the group by introducing distracting outside influences.”

“Then why did you bring John into things?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you attracted to him?”

I threw my head back and laughed at the thought of it all.

“What? Hell, no. He’s nowhere near my type. Yikes. Where the fuck did you get that notion?” I asked.

“The way you look at him,” he said matter-of-factly.

“I’ve known him for years. Worked alongside him in many ops and with many clients. I trust him. He’s probably the only person I do trust.”

“So you don’t trust easily.”

“In my line of work, can you blame me?” I asked.

We talked back and forth a little while longer before I had to get up to go to the bathroom. The restroom was so much bigger than any airplane I’d ever been on, and I grinned as I shook my head. Derek Steele was a lavish man who enjoyed his finer things, but I wasn’t going to complain about it. Whatever finer things in life he enjoyed, I could enjoy right alongside him to ease the work this detail was going to create for me.

I was making my way back to my seat when turbulence struck. I tried bracing myself on my feet, but then the plane hit an air pocket. I went falling to the side, right into Derek’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around me to keep us from going anywhere. His arms locked around me, and my eyes whipped up to him, and he held me there until the plane stabilized.

But once the plane was steady, his arms didn’t budge.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded, unable to speak as my eyes stared up into his.

His touch was warm. Soft, despite how strongly he was holding me. His entire body was positioned around me, curled up in case something else happened. He was trying to protect me, and I knew the instinct well.

I’d always been the giver of it instead of the receiver.

Whipping myself out of the trance, I scrambled from his grasp. I fell back into my seat, then buckled myself for our descent. I got off the plane quickly and scanned the car. Then, I checked to make sure the driver was who I’d vetted before this trip.

Then, we headed over to the hotel.

I swept his room for bugs and traps as he stood in the shared alcove outside the front door. I could tell he was annoyed at it all, but I wanted to make sure nothing was taking us by surprise.

“Why isn’t your backup doing all this?” Derek asked.

“I’m on my own this weekend so they can get the electrical hooked up,” I said. “Okay, the room’s clear. Come on in.”

I walked over to the door that separated his hotel room from mine.

“I’m just behind this door,” I said as I opened it. “I’ll keep it cracked at night in case something happens.”

I couldn’t stop looking around the hotel room. The sheer size of it was breathtaking. I’d never been in a place like this before.

“To answer your question, yes. Your room is identical to mine,” Derek said.

My eyes fluttered to his, and I could see a cheeky little grin sliding across his cheeks.

“I’m going to go get cleaned up,” I said as I slid through the door. “Remember to check your peephole before you answer the door for anyone. If you don’t see anyone, come and get me before you make a move.”

“Got it,” Derek said. “Loud and clear.”

I slipped into my hotel room and kept the shared door open. I dropped my back next to the couch as my eyes scanned the expanse of my room. I had my own private balcony and everything. It was amazing, a place I would’ve really enjoyed had I not been working.

I heard Derek beginning to talk, probably alerting someone to the fact that he was safe. I walked into the bathroom and began to strip down, shaking my head at the size of the damn thing. The walk-in shower could fit five people comfortably, and there was a bathtub with jets. I took my time cleaning myself up, allowing the hot water to cascade over my body as I relaxed from the plane ride.

From the questions and the enjoyed conversation.

From the feel of his arms wrapped around my body.

I stepped out of the shower, remembering that my guns were still in my bag. I wrapped a small towel around me and went to go grab one so I could carry it around with me at all times. I needed to be prepared. I couldn’t allow the beauty of this place to distract me. But as I was coming out of the room with my gun in my hand, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

I lifted my gun and turned toward the movement, only to find Derek staring back at me.

His phone was at his ear, but he wasn’t talking. He was staring at me from the shared door as he leaned against the doorframe. I lowered my gun at my side as his eyes raked up and down my body, and I felt a heat pool in my gut. I could see his pants tightening around his pelvis, and I shuddered at the thought. Our eyes connected again, and I could feel my goosebumps breaking out all over my legs.

For some reason, I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.