Page 38 of Protecting You

He shook his head, hard.Stop talking.

She turned away, taking her phone with her.

What was she thinking?

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“We’ll discuss it in person.”

“Fine.” The word sounded as if it had been spoken through gritted teeth, but her anger made sense. “I’ll replace my equipment. Just let me know?—”

“I think not,” Ghazi said. “That will take too long, and since your apartment was compromised, I’d prefer you somewhere safe. I promise to protect you.”

Protect her? Ghazi was the dangerous one.

“Besides, knowing you,” the terrorist continued, “you’ll have the information we need by the end of the day.”

“I don’t like being dictated to.”

“I assure you, Alyssa, when you finish this task, I’ll be out of your life. I’ll pay you well for your work, and nobody ever need know whatinterestingtactics you’ve used to get my information. We both get what we want.”

She huffed. “You’re not giving me any choice. What’s the job?”

“I’ll tell you when I see you.”

She said nothing. And Ghazi didn’t, either.

Callan moved around the coffee table to get in front of her. He was nearly there when she spoke again.

“I’ll do it.”

He shook his head, mouthing,Stop. Stop!

But she added, “Caleb’s coming with me.”

Callan froze. What was she saying?

On the phone, Ghazi said, “It is nottake your boyfriend to workday.”

“He changed his schedule to be home with me this week. We have things we need to manage. Look, Mr. Sanders…Charles.” She softened her voice with his name. “I don’t know anything about…anything you’re doing, and I don’t want to know. But when Caleb saw us together last night, he got the wrong idea. I’d told him I had a business meeting, but when he came in and saw me sitting with an attractive, charming man… It’s stupid. There’s nothing between you and me, but anyway.” She uttered a nervous laugh. “I’m embarrassed to say all this, but how am I supposed to tell Caleb I’m blowing him off to be with you?”

Callan’s heart was thumping hard.

She was selling a story, and she was doing it well. But would Ghazi buy it?

“You have a job to do,” Ghazi said. “A man who travels for work as much as your fiancé does should understand that.”

“Well, yeah. Probably.” She paced in front of the coffee table. Even when she walked toward Callan, she didn’t make eye contact. She was in the zone. “I get that you need me to do this thing for you, and I get that you probably even think you could…blackmail me or whatever.” A hint of humor laced her words now. “I’m sure whatever it is you’ve done, it’s not that bad. You’re a nice guy.”

Alyssa managed to acknowledge that Ghazi was a criminal and, in the next breath, brush that fact away as irrelevant.

She was eerily impressive.

Callan would need to stay on her good side. Well, if he couldgeton her good side.

“Caleb comes off as super confident,” she said, “but he can be insecure. And, I have to admit, if he told me he needed to go to some gorgeous woman’s home for a few days to do a job, I wouldn’t like it either.”

And there was a roundabout compliment, comparing Ghazi to the male equivalent of a gorgeous woman.

---