Sweet Reward (16 page)

Returning to her arms, Jared gathered her close and held her tight. At some point, sanity and reality would return. Until then, he was going to enjoy this time for what it was: a moment of peace with the rarest woman he’d ever met.

His fingers drummed nervous thumps on his desk as Garwood stared at his computer screen and debated what he was going to do. If he hadn’t screwed up, no one would ever have known about the incorrect deposit. He could have deleted the account completely and Josette never would have discovered it. And now he had to make a decision.

If he was honest with himself, the boss man scared the shit out of him. What would he do if Garwood admitted his mistake? Would he fire him? Or do something even worse? He knew the man was capable of murder. And he had the contacts and the money to make people disappear permanently. Would that happen to Garwood?

But what if he didn’t tell him and the man somehow found out about it? Garwood actually feared that worse. He’d rather die with a bullet in his head than go through what he’d heard others had endured. Like that schmuck Boyd Fuller in Chicago. Hell, Ricard and Fuller had been friends of a sort, and look what had happened to the poor bastard.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t already made arrangements to fix the problem. The funds were hidden, and not even the geekiest of computer geeks could find them. Only three people knew about the incorrect deposit, and they would soon be taken care of permanently.

Surely the man would be impressed that Garwood had
fixed the problem himself. Question was, should he go ahead and take care of the problem and then ask forgiveness afterward? A chill swept through him at that idea. No, his boss would want to know up front what was going down. That way, when he made a public statement addressing the incident, he’d be able to feign horror that such a thing could happen to such fine, upstanding citizens. If he didn’t know why they’d died and thought their deaths were just accidents, he might not display his grief with the right amount of impact. The man enjoyed drama and used it to his benefit as much as possible. Garwood might get out of hot water simply because of the opportunity it would afford his boss.

Still, his fingers shook as he typed up the email and sent it to the private email account. No matter how it went down, the man was still going to be pissed. Hopefully, the new package he’d just obtained would make up for it.

   Mia eyed the gorgeous man sprawled on her sofa. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans and nothing else, he brought to mind every erotic fantasy she’d ever had of rugged masculinity and raw sexual power. How a woman who had made the decision long ago to look beyond a handsome face and an incredible body could now be salivating over one was a mystery. But there it was, and there was absolutely nothing she would change.

She had never expected to see Jared so relaxed and easy around her. Even when he’d been bluntly honest with her, he had always kept up his wariness and that damn impenetrable shield. Now he had an expression of satisfaction and contentment on his face, along with that ever-present dangerous air that zipped her heart rate up well beyond normal.

They’d done nothing since they’d returned from LCR other than make love, eat a simple meal of wine, cheese,
bread, and fruit, and then go back to bed for more of the most intensely sexual experiences of her life. She wanted more of the same. But they had to talk. And oh, how she hated to spoil the atmosphere, but she could avoid it no longer. “So are we ready to talk about a plan?”

“And what plan would that be?”

Though he knew exactly what she was talking about, Mia maintained her patience. The man had given her at least half a dozen orgasms in the last few hours. Getting angry with him seemed incredibly ungrateful. Still, she wouldn’t back down.

“The plan where I reconnect with Philippe Ricard, tell him I’m interested in seeing him again, maybe in learning how a major charity works. And then I snoop.”

“You think it’s going to be that easy?”

“It’ll be easy to get in. The snooping will be harder, but I’ll succeed.”

“Maybe you should tell me about this association. How is it that he’s a family friend?”

“He’s not a friend exactly—more of an acquaintance.”

With that implacable look of “I’m not budging” firmly in place, he waited for her to explain further. There was no reason not to tell him. She certainly wasn’t ashamed of her family; she was actually proud of what her father had accomplished in his career. Her biggest concern was how Jared would take the news. She’d had more than one man get uncomfortable when he had learned about her background. She told herself that Jared was the most secure man she’d ever met—this wouldn’t bother him.

“My father works for the U.S. State Department. He’s a foreign diplomat. Right now he’s stationed in Rome, but he’s had posts all over the world.”

His expression never changed; he looked neither impressed nor disturbed by the news. The breath she hadn’t known she was holding released in a long, silent sigh of
relief. From the moment she’d met him, she’d realized that Jared was a different breed of man than she had known in the past.

“You feel you know Ricard well enough to contact him out of the blue?”

Here was the sticking point, but it might well be her best bet on getting close to Philippe as quickly as possible. “Actually, it was more than drinks and dinner. We saw each other off and on for about a month.”

Now,
that
got a reaction. He sat up and said, “What?” very quietly. Way too quietly.

“There was this embassy event several years back. Philippe was there, and we got to talking. Then we went for drinks. A week or so later, I saw him at a party; he asked me if I wanted to have a drink with him, and again, I said yes. A day later, I went sailing with a group of people, and he happened to be one of them. All of this was before he took over his family’s foundation. He had a reputation as a bit of a playboy, but he was always a perfect gentleman.”

“And that’s all?” Still in the too quiet voice that for some reasons sent shivers of delight through her body.

“We went to dinner a couple of weeks later. That’s it. That’s the last time I saw him.”

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Of course not.” She surged to her feet and stood in front of him. “Do you think because we slept together, I sleep around a lot?”

Anger flared in his eyes. “Hell no. I asked because if you renew your acquaintance, he might expect to pick up where it left off.”

Okay, so maybe she had overreacted. “I don’t think he’d give that any thought. Philippe is a few years older than me and didn’t act as if he found me that attractive.”

“Then either he’s an idiot or women aren’t his thing.”

She managed to keep the smile off her face, but the glow inside her went brighter.

“So since you know the man, tell me about him.”

“As I said, I haven’t seen him in a few years, but I remember him as polite, attractive … very much a gentleman. Proper manners and all. Doesn’t have much of a sense of humor about himself and is very dedicated to his family’s legacy of philanthropy.”

Jared nodded. “I did some research on him last night. Looks like his family has done some damn good things. It’s going to take a hell of a lot of proof for anyone to believe he’s in the business of kidnapping and selling babies.”

“The work the Ricard Foundation has done is phenomenal.”

“You sound like you admire the man. Are you going to be able to be objective?”

“I’m not as gullible as you seem to think. I admire what his foundation has done, but the man has never really impressed me, so yes, I will have no problem being objective.”

“Okay.”

“That’s it? No more questioning my qualifications or abilities? You’re actually going to trust me?”

“Lack of trust was never the issue.”

“Then what was?”

Answering that was going to get him into a hell of a lot of trouble, but he wasn’t going to lie. Other than undercover work, the lies had ended with his marriage. “You don’t look or act as if you’re capable of handling yourself.”

“There are female LCR operatives who are smaller than I am. And several are younger than me. Do you think they’re not capable either?”

“It’s not your size … it’s your demeanor. Who you are.”

“And who am I?”

He could tell her everything. That he’d never imagined that anyone as sweet, kind, and beautiful could be capable of killing a man. Now that he knew she was a trained operative, her abilities were no longer in question. Still, there was an incredible sweetness and artlessness to her that he found almost impossible to reconcile with what he knew she was able to do.

He struggled with how to explain himself without insulting her or hurting her feelings. “You look like the kind of girl a guy would bring home to meet his family.”

Her smile of delight told him he’d explained it right. He was glad, since he’d been enjoying their new relationship and hadn’t wanted to see it end so soon.

“You know, you really are the sweetest man I know.”

Hell, maybe he’d given her intelligence too much credit. “Can we get back to the plan?”

A secretive smile played around her beautiful mouth, and Jared almost groaned. How the hell he could want sex after the hours they’d spent in bed, he didn’t know.

She returned to her seat. “Here’s what I propose we do. I’ll call Philippe and let him know I’m in Paris for the next few weeks.”

“Wait. Won’t he know about your rescue business?”

She grimaced and shook her head. “I changed my name when I left home.”

“Why?”

“My family’s name and my father’s career would make me a target for the nut jobs of this world. It was my concession to them. My dad wanted a bodyguard to stay with me when I left home. I refused and changed my name to alleviate the threat.”

“So what’s your real name?”

“Still Mia, but my family’s name is Maxwell.”

“Your father is Quinton Maxwell?”

“You’ve heard of him?”

Either he needed sleep or he trusted this woman more than anyone he’d ever known. The damning admission that he’d heard of her father had put him in dangerous territory. Jared’s vow never to lie again was a personal commitment. But as a former operative for IDC, he’d sworn an oath never to tell anyone about the organization that had saved countless lives throughout the world. IDC was a secret organization, and only a handful of people in each participating country even knew it existed.

Years ago, while with IDC, he’d arranged a meeting between Quinton Maxwell and an informant for an extremist religious sect. He’d met Maxwell only one time, and from what he remembered of the man, he’d been impressed.

“Jared?”

“A few years back, I had a job that brought me into contact with him.” Before she could start with the questions, he added, “It’s not something I can talk about.”

“I understand.”

And she did, he could tell. Maybe it was because of her father’s job that she understood the need for such secrecy. However, he was beginning to see that trying to pigeonhole Mia would be a fruitless endeavor. The woman was too unique.

“So what have your parents told people about you? I’m assuming they keep it to themselves that you own a rescue business?”

She grimaced. “They wouldn’t talk about it even if they could. I’m not exactly their crowning achievement. My parents don’t speak of me a lot, making me a bit of a mystery. My sister is the perfect diplomat’s daughter.”

“So you have a sister, too?”

“Got the whole package. Mom, dad, and an older sister. What about you?”

Yeah, he definitely needed sleep. If not, he never would have led her to a comfortable discussion that involved asking him questions. Before he could tell her that his family wasn’t up for discussion, she surprised him by saying, “Oops, sorry, forgot you don’t like to talk about your past.”

He told himself he had no reason for regret. She’d known the rules up front. Still, the niggling thought of disappointing her lingered.

“So you’re going to call Philippe, tell him you’re interested in seeing him again, maybe learning how a large charity works. What then?”

“I’ll ask if I can work with him. With my family connections and the fact that we have a bit of a past together, he already trusts me.”

Jared hated to admit it, but this might well be their best chance. If they sent in someone else, it could take months, if not more, to establish the kind of relationship Mia already had with the man.

“Won’t you need to put together some kind of a cover? If the man hasn’t seen you in years, he’s going to want to know what you’ve been up to. Might even do his own snooping.”

She shook her head. “Not a problem. Part of my protection includes a tight cover. If Philippe does his own snooping or hires someone, all they’ll find is that Mia Maxwell works for the State Department as a hostess and occasional French and Italian translator. If asked, a dozen people or more will verify that they’ve worked with me and will vouch for my competence and professionalism.”

Jared nodded approvingly. “Impressive.”

She grinned. “Thanks. So far, it’s worked out well. My
parents aren’t embarrassed, and I get to live my life on my own terms.”

If ever there was a loaded sentence, she’d just uttered it. As much as Jared wanted to ask why the hell her parents would be embarrassed by a lifestyle that included saving lives, he wouldn’t. She had been considerate enough to back off from questioning him. He could do no less for her.

Jared shot a glance at the clock. Almost eleven. He’d been awake for over forty hours. He needed to go home, but he didn’t want to leave. At that admission, he shot to his feet. They hadn’t talked about what had happened between them or if it would happen again. But one thing he knew for sure: it wasn’t a permanent thing.

“I’d better get home and let you get some rest.”

She stood and went to him. Her smile one of invitation and promise, she whispered, “It’s late. Stay.”

Jared pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers. Damned if he could argue with such logic.