“I could ask you the same thing.” Jonas bent to pick up the plastic bottle that April had dropped and set it on the bar. He turned his back and put some distance between them.
Her smile, it sucker-punched him in the obliques whenever she directed it at him. This was worse though, because a sheen of moisture glistened her big blue eyes.
Shit.
He wanted to run. Run as hard and fast as he could in the opposite direction, but he had to catch his breath first.
“You left without saying goodbye.”
“Yeah, well,” Jonas glanced at her sideways and rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t feel like I had to report to you. It’s not like we were in a relationship. It was just one fuck.”
The angel’s glorious smile faded and hurt pinched her face.
He was a dick.
The crude words hit their mark though. Maybe she’d leave now and never come back, or at least not until he was long gone with the PRIM. The very last thing he needed right now was a distraction and April Linus was a monumental one. If her sweet smile and kind heart weren’t provoking enough, her body was the stuff of wet dreams. The front her dress dipped almost to her belly button displaying a generous amount of inner cleavage. Her tits were even larger than he remembered, but that might have been because she’d lost weight she didn’t need to lose. Her oval face had the leanness of maturity and the dark circles of a woman who worked too much.
Why the hell was an heiress working too much?
“You don’t have to be so crude, even if it is the truth.” She grabbed her water bottle off the counter, capped it, and headed for the table. “I just thought something terrible had happened to you. That’s all.”
Now that was an intriguing statement. “What would make you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you carry knives strapped to your chest for a living.”
A smile tugged on the corner of his mouth. He frowned instead. “I heard you moved out of here five years ago. What are you doing back?”
April picked up her purse and tucked it under her arm. “You were asking about me?”
“Hell no.” Jonas crossed his arms. “Linus mentioned it in the interview.”
Her baby blue eyes studied him. “How did you get your old job back?”
He shrugged. “I asked.”
“My father is feeling very benevolent these days. He’s invited me to move back home.”
“We both know he doesn’t do anything without strings attached. And not all strings are visible ones.”
“I don’t want or need your advice.” She raised her chin in defiance, but she was trembling almost imperceptibly.
Did he make her nervous? Good. Maybe she’d learned her lesson about playing with fire.
“Why did you move out in the first place?” He stepped closer hoping to intimidate her and caught a whiff of her perfume. It was delicate and floral with an undertone of something sensual. His dick lurched with interest. He fisted his hands by his sides to keep from reaching for her.
“It’s really none of your business.” She had a maturity about her that wasn’t there before, but five years was a long time. What had she been doing on her own all this time? Maybe she wasn’t alone. Maybe she had a boyfriend or a husband. No ring on her finger. A boyfriend then.
What did he care? He wasn’t here to make friends.
“Did you give up all this for a guy?” The question popped out of his mouth before he could put a clamp on it.
She stared at him for a hard minute then nodded. “Actually, I did, and I don’t regret it. He’s my whole world.”
Jonas’ gut tightened. Linus probably kicked her out because the guy was a loser. Jonas snorted derisively. “Sounds terrific. Love to meet him.”
Her eyes flared just enough for him to notice. “I have to go.” She spun away from him and headed for the house. “Tell my father I couldn’t wait any longer.”
Jonas rolled his eyes. “April, wait.”
She didn’t look back as she fled through the open sliding glass doors.
“Shit.”
“You didn’t mention you were pals with Philip Linus’ daughter.” Vera Velez said through the lanai screen.
The petite brunette opened the door letting in the Linus’ fat orange tabby cat. The animal dashed past him like the Russian FSB was on his tail as a wall of rain came across the lawn and stalled over the house. In typical Florida fashion, the sun still shone brightly through the downpour.
How long had Vera been standing there? Not too long, he hoped. He had to be more careful. She was posing as a nanny for one of Linus’ daughters. She’d successfully broken into the family’s circle of trust, but she had yet to gain access to the Brazilian compound, which was thought to be the heart of the Albatross organization. “Back from Disney World so soon?”
“I never left. Faked a migraine so I could get some work done. The other nanny can handle both girls on her own. How long have you been friendly with April Linus?”
“It’s none of your damn business.” He picked up the plastic water bottle April left on the table and carried it to the bar.
Vera’s face darkened as she stabbed a red-nail-polish-tipped-finger in his direction. “Don’t even think of holding anything back from me. This is my investigation now.”
The former prima ballerina turned spy was as rigid and tenacious as a dance floor. She’d already cornered him once to give him the lay of the land. She was in charge, and he was working for her. It wasn’t true. He reported to The Agency and no one else, but he didn’t have an issue with letting her think what she wanted, as long as she didn’t interfere with his mission.
“There’s nothing to tell.” He tossed the bottle in the trash. The earlier spill was almost dry. “Our paths crossed a few times back in the day. That’s it.”
“I don’t have to remind you that you are obligated to reveal any pertinent information that would aid in my investigation.”
“I know the rules.”
“Do you?” She arched an overly manicured eyebrow. “Out of professional courtesy, I’ll give you one chance to tell me if you think your relationship with April Linus will comprise this mission. If you do, I’ll file a request for your replacement and they’ll be no harm done.”
Jonas sighed. “There isn’t, and never was, a relationship, so get off of it.”
As he headed for the house attempting to end this pointless interrogation, she stepped in front of him blocking his path. “So, you won’t interfere when I investigate April Linus?”
“There’s nothing to investigate. She’s been estranged from her father for the past five years. If that doesn’t prove her innocence than I don’t know what will.”
The top of Vera’s head barely reached his shoulder, but she stepped into his personal space and pointed that red-tipped fingernail at him again. “Get in my way, and I’ll personally make sure they toss you and that high tight ass of yours in exile.”
As if the woman had a sixth sense, she spun away from him and exited through the screen door disappearing into the rain a moment before Phillip Linus emerged from the house.
“Where’s April? Have you seen my daughter?”
“She left. Said she couldn’t wait.”
Linus muttered a curse.
Jonas started for the house intending to continue his rounds inside until the rain stopped. He needed to regroup. Figure out what he could do to prove himself to Linus before April, or one of his brothers, showed up in his life again and screwed with his chance for redemption.
“Wait a moment, Jonas.”
He’d almost made it to the door. Turning on his heels, he stood and waited for Linus who scrolled through his cell phone searching for something.
“Yes, sir?”
“You say you want to be indispensable to me?”
“I do.”
“I have an important task for you.”
Jonas hadn’t expected a breakthrough so soon, but this could be it. He made an extra effort to school his face. The quicker he got this job done, the quicker he could move on to the next one and secure his career. “I’m at your disposal, sir.”
Linus chuckled and glanced up from his phone. “Yes, well, I appreciate that. I’m texting you an address. I’m giving my daughter twenty-four hours to respond. If she doesn’t give me the answer I want to hear in the allotted time, I want you to go the place she’s staying and convince her to accept the deal I offered. I have a feeling she’s going to decline and that is unacceptable.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. The very last thing he wanted was see April again. “The deal, sir?”
“I’ve offered to help her friends with a private financial matter and, in return, April would move back to Casa Linus with her son.”
Hell no! He wasn’t about to convince April Linus to do the one thing he absolutely didn’t want her to do. It didn’t matter how many Brownie points it would win him with Linus, he wasn’t doing it. Nope. Absolutely not. Wait. “You said move here…with her son?”
“Yes, Archie. Quiet, well-mannered boy. Looks nothing like his mother. I can only hope he’s inherited his brains from me.”
Blood pounded in Jonas’ ears, muting the rain thundering against the roof of the lanai. The coffee he’d chugged an hour before mingled with the bile climbing his throat.
Linus droned on about IQs and some other bullshit.
“How old is he?” Jonas interrupted him.
“Let’s see. He’ll be five on April 8th.”
Turning away from Linus, Jonas steeled his core to keep himself upright and mentally counted nine months from July. August. September. October. November. December. January. February. March. April.
Fuck.