Page 3 of Six
He shook his head and continued to watch her. Once the cups were full, she whisked one away and handed it to him, hoping he’d leave. Why he made her so uncomfortable she didn’t know. Yes, he was an attractive man, and yes, she was attracted to him, but she was also a grown-ass woman. She had zero interest in pursuing something with a man who flirted with everyone as easily as he breathed. The stereotype of the jealous Italian was not based on fiction, and that was a level of crazy Six was not going to stoop to.
“What were they saying?” Gavin asked. “Before they fled.”
Six glanced over at him as she poured a dash of steamed milk into her mug. She rinsed the small metal carafe, then, setting it to dry, unlocked both filters. “Like I said, it’s not important,” she said, then emptied the coffee grounds into the small bucket the cleaning staff left for that purpose.
“You didn’t say it wasn’t important, you said I wouldn’t want to know. What if I do want to know, Violetta?”
Six raised her gaze to his as she rinsed the filters. Only her parents used her full name—and apparently Gavin. The asshole even pronounced it right, with an impeccable Italian accent.
She sighed and picked up her mug. If he wanted to know, he had a right to know. “Sandy wanted to lick you from head to toe, and Laura wanted to fuck you fifteen different ways over the weekend. If you want to file a sexual harassment claim, I’ll support you in that.”
The side of Gavin’s mouth tipped up. “And what did you say that had them scurrying away like mice?”
Her own lips twitched. “I reminded them that sexual harassment and a hostile work environment weren’t complaints that only women could make.”
The hint of a grin turned into a smile. “You defended my honor.”
Six rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m certain you don’t need me to do that. I did, however, defend the integrity of this office.”
Gavin’s smile turned into a frown, but the teasing kind. “I like the idea of you defending my honor.”
Six snorted. “Did you not just hear what I said about a hostile work environment? Stop flirting with everything that walks and get back to work, Cooper. I’m sure Mitch has some document you can format or edit or something.”
He grinned again and pushed away from the counter. Holding his mug up, he spoke. “Thanks for the coffee, Salvitto. And for the record, if you paid attention, you would have noticed that I don’t flirt with everything that walks. Until today, it was only those who don’t matter.”
Six shot him a skeptical look, but he didn’t stay around to clarify his statement. Her shoulders relaxed with every step he took away from her. She was glad to see him leave. Not only would she not be able to argue with him—something she felt compelled to do given his blatant lie—but honestly, the view wasn’t too bad, either.
Chapter Two
Though he kepthis head down, Gavin watched Violetta exit the kitchen and head to her office. Not once did she look his way. Which was fine with him. Really. No, really.
In collaboration with the US government and the government of Italy, MI6 had dispatched him to be her backup should she require it. He did not need to be thinking all the lascivious thoughts that he somehow couldn’t keep buried whenever she was present. And often when she wasn’t. His orders might have been somewhat vague, but he was quite certain that they did not include fantasizing about the fifteen ways he’d like to fuck her over the weekend—thanks for the inspiration, Laura—let alone acting on those fantasies.
Besides, he was also certain that Violetta had no idea who he was or the real reason he was now part of the DA’s office. If he got close to her, he’d have to tell her. And it didn’t take a genius to know what her reaction would be to learning that her government thought she needed backup. So, no thanks; he liked his balls right where they were, thank you very much.
Her office door closed, and he switched his attention to the brief he was editing. Originally, he’d become a paralegal so that he could help his teammates with their wills and other life affairs. Everyone on his former team had seen more than one family struggle through the legal system when no will or directive had been in place. And over the years, he liked to think hehadhelped. But supporting his teammates hadn’t prepared him for the work MI6 had him doing at the field office for the federal district attorney. Writing briefs, filing motions, and all the other things that went along with supporting a federal prosecutor in a legal regime he wasn’t familiar with had led to more than a few long nights as he tried to catch up and learn. Five months in, though, he was definitely enjoying it. It wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind for this stage of his career, but he liked working for Mitch—one of the most ethical men Gavin had ever met—and he got to watch Violetta every day.
Yes,everyday.
His part-time schedule was the same as hers, and since his orders were to be her backup, he’d taken those seriously and rented an apartment in a town just south of Cos Cob. He would have preferred to be closer. But he’d weighed his options and decided to live where he wouldn’t be recognized. And where, as a newcomer, he wouldn’t be the topic of a conversation Violetta might overhear. But on each of their shared days off, he usually took a jaunt up the coast to her picturesque little town and checked in on her. Now that the weather was getting better, he’d even taken a boat out a few times and cruised by her house—an iconic New England-style home with three stories, paned windows, storm shutters, and a wraparound porch. Her yard flowed from the house down to the sea, and on sunny days, he could usually find her in her garden or on her porch.
Or at her friends’ homes. The older agent who’d briefed him had given him dossiers on her three closest friends—Cyn Steele, a fellow MI6 spook; Lily Devillier, known as Devil; and Nora Amiri. The four had been thick as thieves since the age of twelve, when they’d all met at a boarding school they attended in Switzerland. A school so exclusive that only one girl from each of the eighty sponsoring countries was invited each year to attend. If anyone dropped out or was asked to leave at any time during her six years of study, the vacated spot remained unfilled.
When Gavin had first been told about the school, he thought his superiors were having him on. It sounded a little too much like Hogwarts for it to be real. But no, St. Josue was a real school—a real school that not only educated girls and young women, but trained them to be spies. Yes, spy school was a real thing.
During the months he’d watched Violetta, he’d been tempted more than once to ask her what it was like to attend St. Josue and have her country more or less determine her life’s path when she was just twelve. But back to his earlier point, if he asked, then he’d have to explain how he knew about the school in the first place, and he was too fond of his balls to risk it.
Returning his attention to the brief, the minutes, and then the hours, ticked by. The next time he looked up, the office was empty. He remembered mumbling some goodbyes, but to whom, he couldn’t say. Although Violetta wasn’t one of them. As his target—in a good way—he was more attuned to her than to anyone else in the office. At least that’s what he told himself to explain his awareness of her.
Still, he glanced at her office door. It was closed, and he could see a thin light coming from underneath. He considered asking her if she wanted to go grab a drink, then nixed that plan and considered offering her another coffee. He was about to rise from his seat when he heard a noise coming from her office.
It wasn’t unusual to hear Violetta going off on a tirade in Italian when a case wasn’t going her way, or a witness wasn’t cooperating. But this wasn’t that same sound. No, this was more like a mix of surprise and pain.
In an instant, he was up and moving toward her. He knocked once on the door, then, taking his life in his hands, opened it.
Violetta sat behind her desk. Her honey-brown hair fell in waves over her shoulders and her cognac-colored eyes were fixed on her computer.
“Violetta?” He moved quietly in to the room and shut the door behind him. After a beat, she dragged her attention from her computer and looked at him. And damn, she was tearing up. Never did he think he’d see her cry at the office. He assumed that she, like everyone else, cried sometimes. He just hadn’t ever expected to see it happen here.
