Page 27 of Lacey's Fight

If anyone came toward them she would lean into him, stroke her fingertips across his abs, even touch soft kisses to his jaw, but that was it. No more.

Given his meltdown over the kiss, it was no wonder she wasn’t going to do it again unless they had to in order to maintain cover.

There was no reason in the world he should be disappointed about that when he had all but demanded it.

Now that she’d taken it away, Ben found that he sought her light.

Needed it even.

Since they had no idea how many cameras covered the extensive gardens or where they might be placed, Lacey made sure to stay close to him, holding onto his arm and pointing out things with the zeal and excitement he’d come to expect from her.

Only now that excitement was fake.

Before he’d ruined things last night, even though she’d been playing a role there had been a genuineness to it that was lacking now. Now she was merely going through the motions with a detachment that unsettled him.

Accusing her of basically sexually assaulting him when she was right, he had voluntarily come here to play her husband, had been going way too far. His mother would be ashamed of him. His dad too, and his sisters. Hell, his entire team would be disappointed in him if they knew how he’d treated Lacey.

She was a good woman, a good person. Maybe she cared too deeply, it could make her a little reckless, but she deserved a whole lot better than he’d given her.

“Maybe we should head back soon,” he suggested. They’d already toured the entire house, admired the artwork, strolled through the library, and gushed over the gorgeous pool area. Then they’d walked the gardens, looked at the flowers, and wandered through the woodland. Visited the horses, stopped by the aviary, and now they had made it almost to the boundary.

“Just a little further,” Lacey insisted. “I want to know everything so that I can give a detailed report.”

Damn, she was a stubborn thing.

If he had to, he wouldn’t hesitate to throw her over his shoulder and march her back to their room. That was within keeping of his Drake Harper character, and he knew Lacey would make it seem like he was taking her back to their room for sex. She wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this mission.

But neither would he.

His primary role was backup and support to Lacey. His job was to keep her alive while she did what she knew how to do and fooled everyone into believing she was Diana Harper, a socialite and upscale brothel runner.

“We should head back for lunch,” he said.

Lacey glanced at the gold watch adorning her slender wrist. “It’s not even eleven, lunch doesn’t begin till twelve and goes till two.”

She was right, but he was worried the longer they hung around out here the greater the chances that someone would come looking for them and wonder why they had wandered so far from the house. Tempting fate was never a good idea in his mind. Better to play things safe.

However, it didn’t seem Lacey shared that viewpoint.

Releasing her hold on his arm, she walked over to the eight-foot-high brick fence, a puzzled frown on her face. She ran a hand along it as she walked down toward a corner section. The corners were more like towers in a castle wall, and as she reached it and ran her hand along it a section popped open.

A bad feeling settled in his gut.

Thankfully, it pushed out a little of the guilt, but since it replaced it with fear, Ben wasn’t sure he’d really come out any better than he’d been.

“Lacey, we should go back.”

“This is why we came. I’m going in, I want to know what’s down there.”

Without waiting to see if he was going to agree to go with her or not, she stepped inside the small opening and disappeared.

Ben cursed.

This was dangerous. They should go back to the house, try to get eyes on The Master, and confirm if he was indeed in attendance. That was the job. To give intel to Prey, they didn’t need to search every inch of the grounds.

But since his job was to keep Lacey safe, he had no choice but to follow.

The space inside the tower was small, maybe only five feet wide, and descended down a steep metal staircase. There was dim light coming from somewhere down below, and since he wasn’t sure if it was Lacey or someone else already there, he couldn’t call out to her.

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