Re/Bound (Doms of the FBI Book 1) (10 page)

Snyder rubbed his hand from her shoulder to her elbow. Then it disappeared behind her. Malcolm wanted to remove it even though he knew he only touched the small of her back. That kind of possessive move should only be made by someone who bore genuine affection for her. Violent impulses made his hands clench.

Forcing a relaxed pose he didn’t feel, Malcolm smiled at the woman who occupied his every waking thought. “Darcy. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

She stopped just out of his reach and nodded a greeting. Her shoulder brushed against Snyder’s chest as she leaned into his body, an unconscious search for security. Malcolm knew she trusted Snyder, but he wasn’t prepared for such an outward demonstration. She offered a tentative smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she addressed her question to Snyder. “Who told you we know each other?”

“I have a confession to make.” Snyder gestured to the chair behind Darcy, indicating she should sit. His grimace managed to appear both boyishly regretful and affectionate. She didn’t sit. “I had one of my most trusted guards, Mickey Halter, contact you this weekend. I couldn’t be there to support you, and I wanted to make sure you’d be all right.”

Darcy swallowed, and her eyes flared, betraying a hint of displeasure. “Victor, that man is seriously creepy. The next time you want to be supportive, send me some flowers or recommend me to a friend.”

To his credit, Snyder appeared embarrassed. “I’m sorry, my dear. I had your best interests at heart. When Mickey told me that you were there with a man, I have to admit I didn’t believe him at first.”

A little color left her face, and she sank into the chair Snyder had indicated. All traces of defiance vanished. She bit her lip and fiddled with the handle of her bag. Malcolm hated to see her brought to this point. While he warred with his protective instincts, the analytical, cop side of his brain noted how pleased Snyder seemed with her reaction. The jerk’s statement had been calculated to use her grief and guilt to put her in her place.

Snyder had obviously picked up on Darcy’s conscientious nature, and he used it to control her. But why would he want to control her? Malcolm suppressed the Dom instincts railing at him to rescue her from this pig, and he watched their interaction. Snyder wasn’t the kind of man who did anything without a reason. Malcolm needed to know Darcy’s role in Snyder’s company, even roles she unwittingly played.

Snyder patted her shoulder. “Would you like something to drink, my dear? How about some coffee?”

“No thanks.” Her soft response didn’t mask her underlying emotional turmoil. His heart went out to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her everything would turn out okay. He would catch the bad guy, lock him up, and throw away the key.

Glancing up, she caught Malcolm’s eye. He affected the calm demeanor that, according to his last ex-girlfriend, kept his face an unreadable mask. It came in handy in his line of work. It also provided a basis for the strength and resolve that straightened her spine.

Flipping the handle and the strap out of her way, she dug a white, three-ring binder out of her shoulder bag. “Victor, I have the rest of the paperwork completed. All you need to do is approve the temporary hires as permanent employees and put someone in charge of the department. I’ve done all the rest.”

She held the binder out to Snyder. He held up a cautionary hand. “Darcy, I need just one more thing from you.”

She lifted the binder higher and shoved it closer to Snyder, forcing him to take it. “You always want just one more thing. I have other clients, Victor. Please don’t think I’m not grateful for all you’ve done for me, but it’s time for me to move on.”

Snyder set the binder on his desk. In a smooth motion, he knelt on one knee next to Darcy and took her hand in his. He gazed at her with paternal patience, which almost made Malcolm burst out laughing. According to the files he’d read, Snyder only had a little more than a decade on Darcy. Though his hair contained a bit more salt-and-pepper than most forty-two-year-olds, it just meant he didn’t use hair dye to maintain the facade of youth.

Malcolm found himself leaning forward, more interested in their private tête-à-tête than any of his favorite Vin Diesel movies.

Darcy’s sigh told him she’d been through this drama one time too many. He studied her expressive eyes, where he found thinly veiled impatience. This also interested him. He hadn’t seen her like this before. This must be what the files referred to when they labeled her as hostile and uncooperative. As hot and cold as she’d run in their few days together, he shouldn’t be surprised by this development.

“Darcy, this is your project. Your baby. You conceived it, nurtured it, and now I need you to see it through to maturity. You can’t abandon it yet.”

The imagery of Snyder’s loaded words wasn’t lost on Malcolm. As a woman approaching thirty, she and Scott had to have discussed the idea of children. This played on her maternal instincts and on any grief she might harbor over having lost something that might have been.

Extracting her hand from between Snyder’s, she pushed to her feet and moved to stand behind the chair. “Victor, I told you months ago that I was moving on. This project is as finished as I can make it. The rest is up to you. I think Snyder Foundation is a wonderful resource and it’s going to help a lot of people. I’ll definitely recommend it to many of my clients. But I’m just a surrogate. This is your kid now.”

Brava
. Malcolm leaned back and flashed a proud smile in her direction. Strong, smart women turned him on in a big way. Intelligence and backbone were the sexiest assets a woman could possess, and Darcy had those in spades.

Then Snyder played another card. Rising to his feet, he inclined his head in Malcolm’s direction. “I want to automate the whole system. I’m hiring Stevenson to put all your stuff online, streamline the process. I want you to work on that with him.”

Darcy turned her attention to Malcolm. Her frown asked a lot of questions, most of which he couldn’t answer. He didn’t see how the job Snyder wanted him to do could possibly involve Darcy. Even if Snyder wanted to put the whole grant application process online, he didn’t need Darcy’s input to make it happen. He only needed her documents.

She lifted her bag and adjusted the position of the shoulder strap, all the while pinning Snyder with a mild frown. “Vic, if I work only for you, then I’m your employee and my business falls by the wayside. I won’t do that.”

“Part-time, then. I just want this to be perfect, and nobody knows what I want better than you.” Snyder clasped his hands together and held them near his heart.

Darcy melted. She closed her eyes and gave in. Malcolm identified the exact moment she capitulated. “Ten hours a week, but I’m billing you double. Tell me what you need.”

Snyder pulled her into a warm hug. Malcolm had no doubt it was genuine and heartfelt; he just didn’t know why Snyder insisted on having Darcy work for him.

“Great. I want you working with Theo. When I first heard about the two of you together, I was a bit shocked. But now that I’ve met him, I can see why you like him. He has that whole authoritative air you seem to like so much, and he’s quite distinguished looking.”

Malcolm lifted a brow at the compliment. The call he’d got from Snyder bright and early Monday morning suddenly made more sense. Instinct told him Snyder was less interested in Malcolm’s talents than he was in using Malcolm to make Darcy stay.

He looked at Darcy with new eyes and wondered at her secrets.

Snyder returned his attention to Malcolm. “Theo, when can you start? I want you to work closely with Darcy. This has to be perfect.”

Malcolm rose to his feet and avoided Darcy’s questioning gaze. “Monday. I have another job to finish up, and then I’m all yours.”

__________

Darcy’s freezer contained a pathetic amount of food. A half-empty bag of frozen corn occupied one corner, and an empty freezer baggie lay crumpled in another. Only the ice tray had done its job this week. She closed the door and opened the refrigerator. Three Styrofoam takeout boxes mocked her. Several bottles of condiments presented some color. She ate out entirely too often.

Living alone made it so easy to not make actual meals. Scott would be appalled at the austerity of the cupboards. The two of them had often prepared meals together. They would chat about their day and the myriad other topics that came up.

Miss Priss meowed and rubbed her head against Darcy’s ankles. She leaned down and scratched the soft, short fur under the cat’s chin. Miss Priss purred and headed toward the laundry room with an insistent cry. Darcy followed like a good owner and filled the little bowl with fresh food.

After fulfilling her obligatory petting duties, she sighed and headed back to the kitchen. She opened the junk drawer to consider menus. Instead of the neat stack of folded papers, Theo’s face swam in her vision. When she had first discovered him in Victor’s office, she had been surprised, and she didn’t like surprises. That emotion had melted into suspicion. Why hadn’t he told her he planned to meet with Victor? He knew she had a friendly relationship with Victor, yet he hadn’t sought her help at all. She could have paved the way for him, talked him up to Victor.

Victor was a bit manipulative, especially when it came to keeping her working for him, but he was a decent guy. He would have hired Theo based on her recommendation alone. Of course, that had been the undercurrent of their entire exchange. She knew Victor well. He had purposely instructed his assistant to send Darcy in during Vic’s meeting with Theo. Vic had wanted to see Darcy’s reaction. When she didn’t deny their relationship, he had proceeded with his plan.

He used the unspoken threat of not hiring Theo to get her to continue working for him. How could she refuse when she knew Theo’s fledgling business needed a client like Victor in order to open a lot of doors? She couldn’t.

Sometimes she hated how Victor used her soft heart to bind her to him. Scott would have listened to her story and advised her to refuse. But if Scott were around, she wouldn’t be in a position to care so much about what happened to Theo.

Before her line of thinking could devolve into something pathetic and self-deprecating, the doorbell chimed. She’d left Theo in Victor’s office over two hours ago. They hadn’t exchanged many pieces of conversation, and they hadn’t said anything of a personal nature. Her heart leaped, hoping to see Theo’s sensual lips stretched in that sexy smile of his, but then she remembered she hadn’t given him her address.

The only people who showed up at her place unannounced were her mother and her sister, but she disengaged the bolt and opened the door to find Theo standing there. Earlier his shirt had been tucked into his pants, and his tie had been meticulously neat. Now his shirt hung out, the tie was missing, and the first few buttons on his shirt hung open to show a hint of the defined muscles of his olive-complexioned skin underneath. One hand stuck in his pocket, and the other dangled at his side. In it, he held two long-stemmed red roses. His brown eyes studied her with a piercing gaze.

She fidgeted under his scrutiny. “Theo. I didn’t expect you. I didn’t know you knew where I lived.”

“I have your number,” he said. “Google is wonderful about finding out all sorts of information related to your phone number. Some of it is pretty personal. I can show you how to block it.”

Not knowing what to say next, she let her head bounce in a small nod.

He shifted, somehow managing to avoid appearing ill at ease. “Are you angry with me, Darcy? You didn’t look all that happy to see me this afternoon.”

Puzzled, full of questions, and a little hurt, she shook her head. Anger wasn’t among her emotions.

“Can I come in and we can talk about it?” He framed it as a question, but his underlying authority made it seem like an order.

Reaching forward, she pushed the latch on the screen door. He caught it with his free hand and pulled it open. Two steps and he stood inches away. The rich scent of his aftershave, faded after a day’s worth of wear, worked with the magnetism of his body to flood her senses. Nothing made a woman’s every nerve ending stand up and take notice quite like having a Dom in her personal space.

The expected caress of her brow and lip never came. She lifted her chin and her courage and looked up at his face.

Lines of confusion pinched between his brows. “You aren’t mad at me, but you are upset. I didn’t arrange it so that you would be at that meeting, Darcy. I never meant for you to have to be a part of that.”

And that bothered her. She licked her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue, more to gather her thoughts than to wet her lip. “No, but I should have been involved a little. Why didn’t you tell me you were courting Victor? I could have smoothed the way and given you a recommendation.”

“You’re upset because I didn’t ask you to set up the meeting and put in a good word for me?”

Leave it to a Dom to repeat her words back to her just to confirm their meaning. She liked that his summation contained no judgment. Someone less scrupulous could have made her sound petty.

“Yes. Theo, I could have helped you.”

“Are you angry that Snyder roped you into working for him for longer than you’d planned?”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging a bit. “He always manages to talk me into doing just one more thing. I like working for Vic, but he often treats me as if he’s my only client, or like I’m cheating on him for taking on other clients.”