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I knew Dane didn’t want to get the FBI involved, but I still thought it’d be the best route, especially when I was at GTC on assignment for the Feds. As much as I didn’t want to go behind Dane’s back, I’d have to let my contact at the FBI know what was happening...see if there might be a way to manage this problem with Stubbs before things really got out of control.
Dane may have broken my heart, but I didn’t want him or his family coming to harm. At least that’s what I was telling myself when it came to helping him. It was my prerogative if I chose to ignore the little fact that my heart hadn’t stopped racing from the moment I first ran into him.
With little more to say on the matter, I tucked back into my bowl of chili, knowing we’d both have to think things through a bit more before coming to any sort of decision about Stubbs and GTC.
“I’m stuffed.” I’d eaten more than my fill—and it’d been damn good. If Dane ever decided to try his hand at something completely different, he could easily make a go of opening a restaurant. People would be lining up.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He gave me an easy smile that made his hazel eyes sparkle, and then took my empty bowl and headed to the kitchen.
I followed, thinking that it’d be best if I got going. I needed to call my contacts at the FBI and let them know what was happening. Not that I could tell Dane that. “I should probably head home.”
He put the bowls in the sink, and then turned to face me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me to him. “Or you could stick around for dessert.”
I put my hand on his chest and pushed, making it clear that there needed to be some distance between us. “I’ve given up sugar.”
He laughed. “Liar.”
Okay...so that was definitely a stretch for anyone to believe, especially when I’d had the bananas Foster pancakes the night before. “I’m not here to hang out, Dane.”
“Exactly—and there’s still work to be done, since we haven’t come up with a solution that’ll work to keep GTC’s plans safe and will get Stubbs out of my life. So don’t fault me for trying to sweeten up your work experience.” His voice was deep, smooth, and laced with humor, making him damn hard to resist.
“Fine. What’s on the menu?” Trying to fight this was pointless, especially when I knew that whatever he’d made would be damn good. And it’d likely be one of my favorites.
“You know it could really only be one thing, baby.”
Of course.
“You made your mom’s sticky toffee pudding, didn’t you?” Bastard.
It was the most delicious cake I’d ever had.
“Warmed and topped with vanilla bean ice cream.” His smile was so damn sexy and smug, because he knew he had me. There was no way I could walk away or turn him down. “Let me just get a pot of coffee going.”
“Fine—I’ll stay. I just need to make a call.” I left Dane there in the kitchen, and headed outside into his yard, wanting to put enough distance between us to make sure he didn’t overhear my conversation, since I was calling my FBI handler.
I couldn’t risk this job getting screwed up—and the last thing I wanted was for Dane to get into any sort of trouble, since he could easily end up facing charges for the theft of military secrets. I’d already emailed them about the situation, but had been vague on the details, not wanting to implicate Dane if I didn’t have to.
Pulling out my phone, I dialed Agent Turner’s number. “Hey, Turner... I need to know how you want to proceed with this. The one who’s set this thing in motion sounds like a pretty heavy hitter. Name’s Bruno Stubbs. He’s blackmailing my friend into doing this job at GTC by threatening to go after his family.”
“The Stubbs family is certainly known to us.” Turner seemed to mull over the info before continuing. “This friend of yours...will they work with us to put Stubbs away?”
“I’m working on it, but for now, the answer’s no. I think they’re too worried that Stubbs will find out and retaliate. But if I don’t figure something out soon, I’m worried my friend will go through with this job, which in turn could jeopardize our plans. If GTC realizes someone’s stolen their plans, then they’ll lock everything down.” It could easily mean that the last nine months I’d spent working undercover at GTC could go up in smoke.
“Then you need to keep your friend close—and we’ll put him to work for us, whether he knows it or not. He’s from your hacking days, right?”
I hesitated, but knew there was no point. Turner probably already knew what I was having for dessert, let alone that “my friend” was Dane Blackthorn. “Yeah, he is.”
“You need to do whatever it takes to make sure he gets on board with our plans. Keep him close, Avery. We need him as an asset, not a loose cannon. And that means you’re to do whatever it takes to persuade him to join our team. Am I making myself clear?”
Fuck. “Yeah. Clear enough.”
“This will be over soon, Avery. As long as things don’t get screwed up by your friend butting his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Unless you’d rather I pull you from this job. I can put in a different agent once this dies down.”
“Don’t you dare, Turner. I’ll get it sorted out.” I hung up, feeling frustrated.
I knew that there was too much at stake, since GTC wasn’t just developing Chameleon. One of the scientists there had a side project going on...developing something with far more dangerous applications. We just didn’t know who was behind it or what it entailed, since our informant had been killed before she was able to pass on any details to us.
I tucked my phone away, and headed back inside, ready to be just a little more charming, since my job now involved seducing my ex into compliance. And to hell with my heart.
Dane was still in the kitchen, warming up the sticky toffee pudding when I walked in. “Everything okay?”
I managed a smile. “Yeah. Just had to deal with some work stuff.”
“Something’s bothering you, Rae.” He closed the distance between us, making me all too aware of just how close he was. And when he cupped the back of my neck and brushed his thumb over my cheek, I found myself leaning into his touch. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s been a bit of a problem at work. I’ve caught wind that someone’s working on a project—something far more dangerous than Chameleon—and I need to figure out who’s behind it. Except that I don’t know how high up this goes.” If I could get Dane to help me find out what was really going on at GTC and who was behind it, then maybe I could offer him Chameleon as a trade. Of course, Turner would insist we electronically tag the information so we could catch both Stubbs and whoever he was selling it to.
Except that I knew I’d be betraying Dane’s trust. This was a mistake. And yet, my options were few.
He gave me the sexiest pout, truly looking worried about me. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Yeah...if you could put some ice cream on that sticky toffee pudding, that’d be great.”