Chapter 18

Over the next few days Alec eased up on the twenty-four hour surveillance of Gaige. He let him work, especially now that he knew about the job he was doing for Seth. Leave it to the SAD officer to dump the shitty work on Gaige.

Alec refused to think about what this meant in terms of trust. He didn’t believe in people, in general. A few, like his brothers and Tony. But most were flawed and self-interested. Some let greed take over. Hell, he’d been raised by the king of me-first.

Alec didn’t judge people’s choices so long as they didn’t threaten others. But with Gaige he’d invented a whole new set of rules. He had allowed the man into his house…into his bed.

Gaige influenced Alec’s schedule and had him rethinking the way he balanced his life. Suddenly work wasn’t the only thing Alec cared about, because being at home didn’t mean more time in the home office or being alone. He had a more positive option.

The new order threw off Alec’s equilibrium. He spent part of his day off-balance and thinking about what would happen once he got home and out of his suit. It had never been that way for him before.

Chalk it up to rebuilding the business or a general lack of interest, but his adult life centered around the work. Now priorities were shifting and it frustrated him. Made him even more irritable than usual, which he guessed others picked up on since employees were all but scampering out of his way in the halls today.

He turned the corner to his office suite carrying a sandwich wrapped in white paper. He didn’t know why he stopped at the café or what made him order something for Gaige, but he did and he didn’t want to talk about it.

Pam pulled up beside him. “Do you have a second?”

He looked up and saw Gaige sitting in his usual seat, with Seth looming over him. In the time it took him to take another step, his temper ratcheted up. Alec needed a way to burn off his unspent anger and Seth provided the perfect target. “Can it wait?”

“No.”

That got his attention. He stepped back, just out of sight of Gaige and Seth, and stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Gaige.”

Yeah, Alec was listening now. “Meaning?”

“Since he’s been here you’ve had an accident with a car and a break-in at your house.”

The way she connected those things wasn’t wrong. She just had the wrong suspect pool. Gaige wasn’t the perpetrator, but he could be a target. All thanks to Seth. “He was with me at the time of the accident.”

“Do you think that proves something?”

Everything she said made sense. The concerns were sensible. Very rational. In her place, he’d be asking the same questions and launching a full-fledged investigation into Gaige’s background. But he knew better, and now he had to throw Pam off the scent.

“I’ve had him checked out.” In a way that was true. Sort of.

“But I could—”

“Case closed, Pam.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Is there something else I should know here?”

He knew where she was going. He knew from experience, as the boss the best way to cut off this sort of discussion was to hit it straight on. Employees tended to panic about the idea of a heart-to-heart with the guy who signed their paychecks. “Like what?”

To her credit, she didn’t back down. If anything, she stood up straighter and moved in closer before diving in again. “There’s office gossip.”

Of course there was. Alec bit back a string of profanity that might make both of them blush.

“Which I’m sure you ignore.” Alec used that tone. The one that made it clear he was done with this shit.

“Right.”

“Then we’re done here.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He headed right for Gaige. Having Seth wandering around the office floors, likely acting as if he was in charge, was almost too much.

“How did you get in here?” Alec stepped up beside Seth and put the sandwich on the desk in front of Gaige. “Which is my way of telling you to get the hell out.”

“I’m about to drag Gaige out of here and find someone who can arrest him.” Seth stepped around to Gaige’s side of the desk. “You’re lucky I don’t have that power.”

“Wait.” Gaige frowned at him. “Why?”

“No,” Alec said at the same time.

The word came out on reflex. That was nothing compared to the anxiety building inside Alec. The thought of Gaige being led away…or not seeing him. “I’m not in the mood for this. Both of you, in my office right now.”

He was still the damn boss, after all. Nothing happened within these walls without his approval. That absolutely included a strict rule that no one touch Gaige but him.

Alec unlocked the door and walked inside. He expected the two of them to follow, so he didn’t look back. His focus stayed on the far wall and its bank of windows, all of which were blocked by heavy curtains. The security protocols demanded no outside access and a list of other procedures.

He passed the small seating area to his left and nearly kicked the chair that sat across from his into the wall. Thanks to years of learning how to hone his control, he banked the sudden burst of rage that slammed into him.

Seth pissed him off just by breathing. Threatening Gaige invited being thrown out the window.

Alec stepped behind his chair and watched Gaige shut the office door. A few seconds later, Seth and Gaige stood next to each other on the opposite side of the oversized desk.

Now that they’d all filed in and quieted down, Alec didn’t waste any time. He glared at Seth. “Explain.”

“Your boy has been poking around where he’s not supposed to be.”

Seth likely meant to put a scare into the room. His words actually eased some of the tension vibrating through Alec, but he didn’t give up his outward harsh stance. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“He’s been trying to break into secure emails. Mine.”

Gaige stood with his hands behind his back and shrugged. “Not just trying.”

“You’re done.” Seth took a step toward Gaige.

Enough.

“Hey!” Alec’s yell had them both looking at him. “Stop with the alpha spy shit.”

Seth’s eyebrow rose and his voice dropped low. “Excuse me?”

“That tone might work on someone else, but not me. I invented that damn tone.” Alec used it to intimidate and keep everything running the way he wanted. The last thing he needed was a dose aimed at him.

Seth made a humming sound as he glanced at Gaige. “Maybe I underestimated your skills.”

“Which?” Gaige asked.

Seth toured his gaze over Gaige. “You spend a few days with the boss and now he’s your protector. Late nights. Long shifts. Living at his house…well, things happen.”

The absolute last person Alec intended to confide in about his sex life was Seth. He looked at Seth, daring him to keep it up. “You have been lying to me from day one.”

That was the point. Seth set up the meeting with Gaige. Seth planted Gaige in the office. It was also possible Seth created the evidence that convinced Alec to go along with his plan. He’d assumed from the start Seth was off-book on this mission and trying to resolve it by pulling strings rather than leveling with all of them. The few people at the top who were involved in this at the CIA likely insisted, but Alec didn’t care. Seth knew how to get things done. He crossed the lines when needed, and this was one of those times.

Seth took a step toward the desk. “Believe it or not, Alec, this isn’t about you.”

“No, it’s about you using all of us without providing any real information about what’s going on.” When Seth started to say something, Alec held up his hand. “And don’t give me the need-to-know speech.”

Seth snorted. “It’s a real thing.”

“And this is your phone.” Alec reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the burner. Put it right in front of Seth. “Now do you want to talk about honesty?”

Seth shook his head as he looked at Gaige. “You gave it to him? It’s like you want to go to prison.”

Gaige didn’t look even a little concerned about that fact coming out. “You’re half right.”

“Your role in this is limited,” Seth said to Alec then turned to Gaige. “Yours is fucking over.”

Gaige didn’t even blink. If the threat spiked panic in him, he hid it well. “As I told you before, if you level with Alec that this is about more than messed-up seed deliveries, he’ll help you.”

True but Alec needed Seth to work for it. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I never promised to help. Seth should beg.”

Seth shook his head. “You don’t know what’s going on in Svalbard. Neither of you.”

“I know you think something more than seed deliveries is happening. This is about one of the empty vaults and security people not being where they should be. About potential tampering with entry logs and seed records to hide a bigger issue.” Gaige’s hands fell to his sides but his temper didn’t noticeably spike. His voice stayed even.

“God damn it.” Seth turned to face Gaige then. “Do you want to be locked away in a federal prison until you die?”

Alec slammed his chair into his desk. It didn’t calm his anger but it sure as hell felt good. “Stop threatening him.”

The fury pinging around the room didn’t seem to faze Seth. “What, because you two are fucking now that somehow makes him off-limits?”

Gaige’s body jerked. It was the first time he showed an actual reaction to the carnival show spinning around him.

This time Alec dropped his voice. If throwing things didn’t work, maybe the promise of lethal destruction in his tone would. “You are really close to the line, Seth. Be careful.” Alec put his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “You aren’t the only one who knows people at Langley.”

Seth’s eyes grew wide. “Now you’re threatening me?”

Damn straight. “I’m pointing out that someone in power might think it’s more important to keep me happy—me, a billionaire with international ties, someone who steps in and helps without ever saying a word—than you.”

Seth folded his arms across his chest. “Unbelievable.”

But he got the not-so-subtle hint. Alec could see it in Seth’s eyes. He knew how people who never saw action in the field—Seth’s bosses—handled these sorts of decisions. It was shitty and sometimes sacrificed the officers who did the real work, but the suit-and-desk crowd would look long-term, not caring who got left behind. Alec depended on that desk-jockey mindset to help him now.

“Okay, look. It’s just us here, and we really are trying to help you,” Gaige said to Seth. “What do you think is happening in that vault? Tell us so we know what to look for. No more secrets.”

“I don’t know.” When Gaige swore under his breath, Seth kept talking. “Seriously. I don’t know. There are those who think I’m blowing this out of proportion, but I was given the okay to check into it so long as I didn’t use company resources and kept this out of official operations.”

So this assignment was happening off-book. Alec had correctly recognized the mission type but he almost wished he’d been wrong. With backing, they’d have access to intel and satellites and the impressive strength and strategy of Seth’s team without question. “I take it only a few people in the CIA know you’re working on this.”

“Exactly two.” Seth exhaled and some of his anger burned away. “Look, those unscheduled vault openings matter.”

He seemed sincere but Alec knew to be skeptical. If Seth volunteered information that meant there was a whole lot he held back. “You didn’t set them up to force me to help you?”

“No.” Seth glanced at Gaige. “And we’re going to have a long talk about how you got your hands on those emails off a secured server.”

“You know how.”

Seth shook his head. “You never fucking learn.”

This was the past Gaige never talked about. He hinted at trouble. That first day he’d met Gaige, Alec had looked, poked around, even called in a favor, and still he couldn’t track down the truth. His ex had done something shady, but that was the extent of what Alec knew.

“You’re the one who put me on this assignment,” Gaige said.

“To save you.” Seth turned to Alec. “Do you know what Gaige did or how much trouble he’s in?”

He was so close to the answer that had his mind spinning. Alec knew he could ask and Seth would spill it. He clearly wanted to disclose, thinking it would trap Gaige even more.

The temptation tugged at him but Alec didn’t give in. Now that they’d spent time together, he wanted to hear the news directly from Gaige. For it to be voluntary.

“I already know all about it.” It was a lie but Alec refused to let Seth think he had an advantage here. If he found a hole, he’d weasel his way in. Now that they were moving forward, Alec didn’t want to fall back again.

Seth’s head actually pulled back at that answer. “What?”

That did it. Alec knew he had Seth’s attention now. “If you want us to figure this out, to get you the intel you need to pursue this, then you need to work with us.”

“Maybe try trusting us,” Gaige said.

“You earn trust,” Seth shot back.

Alec was done with this bullshit. “Okay, enough with the trite sayings. You made your point.”

“Okay, we’ll try it your way.” Seth nodded. “But I want to be kept up-to-date on everything. When you know something, you tell me.”

“Will this newfound communication run both ways?” Alec knew the answer but he tried anyway. The only way to hold Seth accountable was to push him.

“You know I have limits on what I can say.”

Gaige scoffed. “So, no.”

“Stop hacking computer systems. I’ll protect you—again—but this is it.” Seth stared at Gaige as if waiting for agreement. “Do we understand each other?”

For a second Gaige didn’t say anything, then he nodded. “Better than you know.”

That response only seemed to rile up Seth more. Energy pulsed off him. It was as if he were preparing for battle by just standing there. “What does—”

Alec pointed to the door. “Time for you to go.”

Without saying a word, Seth turned and marched across the room. He stopped with his hand on the door handle and looked back at Gaige and Alec again. “I want an update in two days.”

Gaige waited until the door closed behind Seth to say anything. “Apparently he wants an update. We should give him one.”

“You sound like you have a plan.” Alec sank into his chair. He had a feeling he needed to be ready for whatever bombshell Gaige dropped next.

“From Norway.”

Alec didn’t even have to think it through. It was the right answer. The information, the bodies…they were all up there. In the middle of nowhere. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I have two words for you.”

Alec mentally braced. “Go ahead.”

But Gaige just smiled. “Private plane.”