SATURDAY. AEGIS GROUP Safe House, Erbil, Kurdistan.

“Grant? Grant, talk to me.” Riley turned, always heading north and west, away from the safe house.

“What’s going on?” Erin sucked down oxygen.

“I don’t know.” He wanted to turn back. To help his team. But his job was keeping Erin safe. The only reason someone might have attacked them was for her. Going back would mean endangering everyone.

Riley pulled his phone out of his pocket and jabbed at the screen. The Bluetooth chirruped, signaling it was connected.

“Call Zain,” he snapped.

“Cameras are still down,” Zain said after no more than half a ring.

“Someone just hit the safe house. I made it out with Erin, but I don’t know about the others.” Riley tightened his grip on the wheel.

Erin came first.

“On it. How many?” Zain’s tone changed, his words clipped.

“I saw four,” Erin said.

“Thugs? Military? What?”

“Private contractors. Black body armor, the works.” The image of those men would be burned into Riley’s head forever. He didn’t like close calls. What if they’d taken a moment longer to get out of there? Erin would have been front and center during the breach.

“Get out of there, head downtown, find a hotel.” Zain’s call ended.

Riley turned again, almost straight into a security check point, which left them sitting still. He glanced in his mirrors, looking for some sign that they’d been followed this far

Erin’s breathing was ragged, her chest heaving. He reached over and grabbed her hand. She was tough, but everyone had a limit.

“Everything is okay,” he said.

“They were right there,” she said.

“Yeah, and we got out.”

“What about the others?” She wouldn’t be Erin if she didn’t think about someone besides herself. Riley was learning that about her.

He didn’t want to think too hard about the fact he’d just left his team behind. It was the kind of thing he had to do. Their directive, more than anything else, was to bring the asset home safe. Sometimes that meant they lost a man. So far, Riley hadn’t lost one of his. They’d had some gnarly injuries, and they’d had a few retire or go into the general pool of bodyguards, but they hadn’t lost anyone.

Riley squeezed Erin’s hand and cleared his throat.

“They’ll be fine, too.” It was what he had to say. He had to believe it otherwise he couldn’t do his job.

“We could send people back to the house?” she said.

“Zain has it handled.” Riley took a breath and pushed his need to back his team up. The only thing that mattered in this moment was Erin. He handed the phone to her. “I need you to make a list of every hotel you’ve stayed at in Erbil, okay?”

“Why?” She blinked at him.

“Because that’s the list of hotels we can’t go to.” He rolled his window down and pasted a smile on his face.

The people manning the security checkpoint were efficient and didn’t make chit chat. They asked their questions, peered inside the vehicle and examined Riley’s licenses before waving them on. All total it took a handful of minutes. Not once did he spy anyone sneaking up on them or paying their SUV more attention than necessary.

“How’s the list coming?” He glanced at Erin tapping on his phone.

“It’s long, but I’ve really only stayed at the big chain hotels. We could stay at one of the locally owned, independent hotels?”

“What’s the most expensive one?”

“What?”

“When in doubt, go for the most expensive hotel. They typically have the most security.”

“The Erbil Rotana, then. I have been there for an event, but I’ve never stayed there.”

It gave them a destination at least. He’d take it.

Erin plugged in the address and the GPS rerouted them west, cutting through the heart of the city. This hour there wasn’t any traffic on the highways which allowed them to make good time.

“Why haven’t we heard anything yet?” Erin asked after a period of silence.

“Zain won’t distract us until we’re somewhere safe. It’s not out of the question to think that we could be followed or are still targets.” He glanced in his mirrors again. There wasn’t anything remotely out of place or suspicious. “We’re safe, though.”

Damn, but they were lucky.

“You said one of the others saw us leaving? What if they saw those men? Warned the others?” Erin leaned back in the seat.

“If Brenden saw us, he had to see them.” That idea eased the muscles in his chest and allowed him to breathe easier. As long as the team was prepared, they’d be okay. “I bet he got everyone upstairs. They could defend themselves from the higher ground more easily.”

They were going to be on the hook for whatever damage was done to the property, but it was all part of the job.

Riley pulled onto the grounds of the Erbil Rotana. The white stone set off the brilliant blue windows rising up against the night sky in a way that was both exotic and modern. It was one of the prettier hotels he’d ever seen, that was for sure.

He eased the SUV to a stop and turned to survey the vehicle. There wasn’t a piece of gear, empty water bottle or anything besides what they’d picked up at the rental place. The only things they had were what he had on him.

Great.

At least Zain had begun issuing company cards to everyone.

They left the SUV with valet and proceeded into the swanky hotel.

“Let me do the talking, okay?” He hadn’t wanted to give Erin too much to think about. She was rattled and scared enough without adding pressure to the mix.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She narrowed her gaze.

“Hello and welcome to the Erbil Rotana.” The concierge spoke excellent English, which Riley was grateful for.

“We’d like a room for the night.” Riley kept away from the counter, mindful of his dirty, sweaty gear.

“Are you with someone? A group?” The woman tapped away at her computer.

“No, it’s just us.” He glanced at Erin. “Our plans got put on hold while the airport finds our luggage. Don’t suppose you have a shop here?”

“We do.” The concierge gestured at the corner to their right leading deeper into the hotel. “It’s open for another hour. We have a few vacancies, all of which are in our executive range. Can I have a name, please?” the concierge asked.

“Jennifer and Erick Rush,” Riley said before Erin could respond. He produced his company card, bearing the name Aegis Group, and not his real name.

In short order they had their reservation, keys, and instructions for how to find the complimentary breakfast in the morning.

“Jennifer and Erick Rush?” Erin muttered.

“Names the company has on record for us to use when we need to be discreet,” he explained.

“What now?” she asked.

“Visit the shop, get some essentials, and head up to check in.” He placed his hand on her lower back. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No, but I have faith in my team.”

Riley and Erin stepped into the shop, selling everything from toiletries to food to clothes.

“Let’s be out of here in five, okay? Make sure to get you something else to wear.” He nodded at the mannequin sporting some sort of gauzy dress.

“I’m not wearing that.” Erin turned and strode away from him.

He grabbed a basket and began tossing in essentials. Deodorant, toothbrushes, a couple razors, some general medicines. If they couldn’t hook up with the others, Riley needed to be ready to handle whatever came next. He carried a lot on his person when he was in gear, but there was plenty he didn’t have on him.

At five minutes exactly, he and Erin converged on the register together. Their pile was bigger than he thought they’d need, but it never hurt to be prepared. He didn’t listen to the total, just handed his card over and was grateful he didn’t have to foot this particular bill.

“What now?” Erin asked once they were outside the shop.

“Let’s find our room and get up to date.”

“Finally.”

He suppressed his urge to agree with her sentiment.

Their room was on the upper floor of the hotel. The halls were quiet, almost eerily so given it wasn’t that late. Then again, swanky hotels like this weren’t prone to parties. The convention center signs indicated this was a place of business first.

“This is us. Swipe the card?” Riley nodded at the key card sticking out of a vest pocket.

“When are they going to tell us what’s going on?” Erin glanced up at him, worry lining her face.

“Inside first.” He was just as anxious as her to find out what had transpired at the house, but his priorities were set.

Erin swiped the card and pushed the door open. He followed her in, peering around the spacious room. The six-piece bathroom was damn nice. The rest of the room was modern and comfortable. There was no secondary entrance for him to worry about.

Riley dumped the bags on the bed and pulled his phone out from his pocket. He jabbed Zain’s contact and flicked his finger over the speaker button. With a typical client, Riley wouldn’t dream of letting them listen in, but Erin was different.

“Finally. Where the hell are you?” Zain said by way of a greeting.

“Erbil Rotana. I’ve got Erin here listening in.”

“Hi,” Erin said.

“Ms. Lopez, I’m glad Riley was able to get you out as fast as he did,” Zain said.

Erin glanced at Riley then at the floor. Yeah, their escape wasn’t exactly intended to go down the way it had.

“How is everyone?” Erin asked.

“Couple of bruises, that’s about it. Thomas took the worst of it,” Zain replied.

“What?” Erin gaped at Riley.

“After Brenden sounded the alarm, everyone got upstairs except Thomas before they breached. Local law enforcement arrived and found him unconscious by the kitchen. They traded a few shots with the attackers. Grant took one in the vest, covering Melody from the sound of it, so he’s going to be a real peach.”

Riley blew out a breath, the tension unraveling inside him. Vests could save lives, and this time it likely had.

“That’s great. When are they going to be here?” he asked. He couldn’t wait to give Grant shit just to watch his mouth pucker.

“I’ve sent Grant and the others to a different hotel. Our official story is that you two are still missing.” Zain’s voice changed, growing harder.

“Why’s that?” Riley stared into Erin’s eyes.

“Because Grant reported that Ms. Lopez was concerned about her bodyguard, and the professionalism of the guys who hit the safe house means she’s still in danger. I’m sorry to say that, Ms. Lopez.”

“I don’t know if I’m glad people believe me now or not.” She blew out a breath and pulled the scarf from around her head.

“Do you know of anyone who would wish you harm, Ms. Lopez?” Zain asked.

“Erin, please. And no. I mean, the only people who’d want me dead were the ones who kidnapped me in the first place. I have no idea who those people were tonight.”

Riley reached out and wrapped his arm around her. She let him pull her to his side and leaned on him. Sometimes they all needed support.

“Okay.” Zain blew out a breath. “The rest of the team is going to comb over the equipment, see if they can’t identify how it was tampered with leading up to the attack. They’re also going to keep a close eye on Thomas and see if they can learn anything from him. I’ll rip his life apart and have something for you in the morning. For now, get some sleep. That’s an order.”

“Sounds good to me,” Riley replied. He didn’t like leaving the others, but he was willing to bet they had a good idea that Riley and Erin were safe. Brenden would have volunteered the facts of their escape at the earliest possible moment.

Zain hung up the call, leaving them in silence.

Riley tossed the phone on the bed and let go of Erin. He undid the Velcro holding his vest on and shed it, grateful for the cool air. Erin turned away from him and paced toward the tinted, floor to ceiling windows, worry following her like a shadow. The borrowed dress swirled around her feet, making her seem to float.

He crossed the room to stand next to her, staring out over a park in the heart of Erbil.

“We’re going to figure this out,” he said.

“How?” She glanced at him. “Whoever these people are, they’re organized. They have equipment and tools. What did I do to piss them off? If this was directly related to NexGen, wouldn’t there have been something else? An attack on them? Other employees?”

“Zain will find out.”

“You think?”

“I know.” Riley snorted. “I’m glad he’s on our team because that bastard can uncover shadows under a rock. If there’s something to find, he’ll have it for us. Just give him time.”

“How’d you get into this line of work?” Erin nodded, but the weight was still firmly on her.

“I was invited to interview. Aegis Group never takes applications. They don’t do open hires. You have to know someone or be recruited by someone up the chain of command. It’s how our boss makes sure our guys are good people.”

“Guys? No women?”

“We have a few, but this isn’t the line of work many want to go into. We’ve got a waiting list for female bodyguard assignments. The plush kind. The ladies never make it onto the teams before they’re offered a fat bonus for taking one of those gigs.”

“A job like that’s sounding real good right about now.”

“You interested in switching careers? I bet I can put a word in for you.”

Erin chuckled and shook her head.

“Anyway, I was approached about the job, told them I was interested, and we started the process. I had a sit down with Zain and our boss, Admiral Crawford. He’s retired. I thought this was going to be an easy, shooting the breeze sort of thing. I’d interviewed at a few places by that point, shopping for the best salary. Zain starts trotting out pictures, records of stupid shit I did in high school. Before social media was even a God damn thing. He even asked me about my baby brother, the cop.”

“How many brothers do you have?” Erin turned to face him, her face scrunched up.

“Three. Two are still at home running the place. The youngest got out of there the day he graduated and is currently a cop down in Ransom, Texas. He went as far as he could get at the time in his POS car.” Riley shook his head.

“Were you that mean to him?”

“He hated baling season more than I do.”

“Baling...season? What the hell is baling season?”

“It comes after cutting season.” Riley shrugged and grinned. He’d managed to distract her.

“What are you cutting and baling?”

“Hay.”

“Hay?”

“You know, for livestock. We grow a lot of alfalfa hay, cut it, bale it and ship it to other places. Sometimes our dad, who is a trucker, will deliver a load down to Texas and stop in to see Casey. Totally unannounced, which drives him nuts.”

“My mom does that to my sister, and she hates it. Mom comes in and starts cleaning, putting things where she thinks they should go.” Erin shook her head.

“Family, right?” Riley grinned.

“Yeah.” Erin pushed her hand through her hair. “I have to start preparing myself to go home, I guess. No more, hey mom, the call is breaking up, when she starts harping on me to settle down.”

“I tried that on my mom once. Didn’t work. She just kept calling, talking to my voicemail, and quizzed me about it later.”

“Oh, my God. I swear, your mom would drive me nuts.”

“She’s not that bad. She makes up for her annoying quirks in cookies, cards, little things you don’t think matter until you can’t have them.” He’d learned how much he loved his rowdy family the first time he went on a sensitive, four week op. God, the box of cards and random shit he’d gotten when he made it back was the best present ever.

Riley leaned on the window and turned his gaze to Erin. The strain of the day wore on her. He could see it in the way she stood, slightly hunched, arms wrapped around herself. The weary way she stared into space.

“What’s the story with Grant and Melody?” she asked.

“Well that’s an out of the blue question.” Riley didn’t know where to start on that one.

“They don’t seem to like each other very much.”

“Grant is a control freak. Melody’s role on the team means she has to make decisions he’s not involved with and he no longer talks directly to clients without Melody being part of it. She’s barely been with us six weeks. We’re still working the kinks out, that’s all. They just need to figure out how to play nice with each other.”

“Grant wasn’t good with clients, I’m guessing?”

“I guess it depends on who you’re asking. Grant’s a good Team Leader, don’t get me wrong. We had a few clients who needed to be handled with kid gloves, but the truth is when we’re out on a job he doesn’t always have the time to think before he speaks.”

“I can see that. You’re in a tense, combat like situation and someone needs to be coddled. We had a few journalists with us who were that way.” She rolled her eyes.

“See what I mean?” Riley chuckled. “You want to shower? Get something else to eat?”

“All of the above?”

“Why don’t you look over the menu and I’ll take care of that while you shower. Then we can get some rest.”

Erin pulled the dress up over her head. She still wore yoga pants and her t-shirt underneath.

Riley was torn. He liked Erin. She was his kind of girl. Which made being her shoulder no hardship whatsoever. On the other hand, she was a client. He had no business getting involved with a woman he’d never see again.

Was he creating a problem for her by going along with this?

“Wow, wow, wow.” Erin pointed at him. “What the hell does that face mean?”

“What face? My face? It’s the only face I have.” He pinched his cheek.

Erin glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

Fuck it.

She was a big girl. They were adults.

“I’m wondering if this is a good idea. For you,” he said.

“What’s a good idea? Room service? A shower? Sleeping?”

“Sleeping together.”

“Because we’re not two consenting adults? Or are you not into me like that?” She narrowed her gaze. He could feel the hot lick of her temper and he didn’t like it.

“That is not it. All I’m saying is—you’ve been through a lot. It’s worth talking about.”

“I don’t need the kid glove treatment, Riley.”

“I’m not saying you do. That’s why we’re having this conversation. Fuck.”

“Then what are you worried about? That I’m going to fall madly in love with you and you’re going to have to break my heart?” Erin clasped her hands in front of her, face creased.

“You know what? You can order room service, and I’m taking a shower.” He turned and strode back to the room door.

“Riley? Riley, stop.”

He flipped the lock on the door to the room and turned to face her.

Erin had followed him halfway across the room. She stood at the foot of the bed, her face partially in shadow.

“Look, I don’t get to be a relationship girl. The way I live, with most of my time here, it’s not good for anything permanent. I’m always coming back here. I don’t usually have to explain to someone that the most I can offer is a no strings sort of arrangement.”

“You were kidnapped. They held you hostage for days. Now you can’t be in a room by yourself or in the dark without getting wound up. I’d be a real piece of shit if I didn’t pause and wonder what was best for you.”

“Ouch.” Her gaze narrowed again.

“I’m not trying to take shots at you, Erin. Fuck. I’m just... I’m trying to do the right thing here.”

She shoved the bags aside and sat on the corner of the bed. For several moments they stood there in silence.

“I might be a little defensive,” she finally said.

“And that’s okay. In your shoes, I’d probably be the same way.”

“I just want to feel something else. Normal even, you know?” She glanced at him. “I didn’t—last night wasn’t just about me. It wasn’t supposed to be. I didn’t have a plan or anything.”

“I don’t think you did, but it’s also worth asking ourselves if we shouldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.”

“Well that’s no fun.”

“I know.” He chuckled. “For the record, it’s not like I can offer a woman much either. I haven’t been home in...three weeks? I’m shit at this stuff.”

“It’s okay. I’ll try to be a good girl. Girl Scout honor, or whatever.”

“Go take a shower.” He jerked his head at the door. A little space would do them good.

“And here I was going to say we should save time and shower together.” She sighed and pushed to her feet.

“I did not hear that.” He squeezed his eyes shut. He was human, male and very aware of his attraction to her.

Erin chuckled, and he listened to her pad across the carpet into the bathroom. It took every bit of Riley’s self-control to not watch her slow stroll into the bathroom, but he managed. He remained seated there until the shower turned on, and even then, he waited for a count of five before standing.

He turned his attention on their little shopping spree for something to keep him busy, emptying the bags out and dividing them into toiletries, clothing and other essentials. When he got to the box of condoms he paused. He sure as hell hadn’t picked them off a shelf, which only meant one thing.

Riley dropped the bag on the floor and took a few steps until he was facing the wall. He let his forehead thump against the wall. Fucking good intentions were a damn cock block.