“I need protection and someone who can work with me on this case. I’ll pay you as my private investigators. That way, I won’t be breaking privilege.”
“We can discuss payment later.”
Shane waved it off, but the Alliance Agency was still in its infancy, and despite some big government contracts, an operation like this cost money.
“Fine, but I’m paying you the going rate.”
Shane looked at Malco, and she wondered what unspoken conversation they were having.
Malco nodded and turned to her. “I’ll work with you. I know gang wars, and I’ve had experience with situations like this.” The man didn’t elaborate, but she sensed there was more to the story.
“Thank you.”
“Do you have a safe place to stay tonight?” Emme asked.
“I can get a hotel.”
Malco shook his head. “Stay here, it’s safer. There are spare clothes and stuff in the ladies’ changing rooms. We can go to your office tomorrow and get what you need.”
“No!” Frida stood awkwardly, making Shane frown.
“Why not?”
“I need to secure my files tonight. My office is fine, but the ones in my home aren’t.”
Shane and Emme stood. “We can do that, Frida. Stay here with Malco, and Shane and I will go to your home and secure everything.”
Frida hesitated and then handed over her keys. She trusted these people to help her. She glanced at Malco, who was regarding her silently. She knew she was a far cry from the poised woman he’d met before and cringed inwardly at her loss of control.
“I’m not normally such a mess.” Frida felt self-conscious for the first time in many years, and the feeling reminded her of weakness.
“You’re not a mess. You had a fright and handled it well. It’s normal for the adrenaline crash to hit hard.” His eyes held warmth, and again she felt the pull of attraction to this man.
He turned suddenly on his heel and stalked from the room, and Frida wondered if she’d offended him in some way. He came back shortly, holding a crystal glass in his big hand, the amber liquid promising to soothe her frayed nerves.
He handed it to her. “Drink this. It will help with the shock.”
Frida took it gratefully and sipped the expensive, smooth Scotch. It burned her throat, and she felt the heat spread from her throat to her belly and lower into her womb. That wasn’t the Scotch though, that was the heated gaze of the man watching her with calm assurance and the look of pure sin on his face.
Malco had always struck as the handsome, calm one who steadied everyone, but the look of sensuality in his dark eyes made her think perhaps she had misjudged this man.
He had secrets, and for the first time in a long while, she wanted to unravel the mystery of a man. Know what made him tick, what made him the man who looked at her with desire and control.
“Emme and Shane will be back with your files soon. Let me show you where you can sleep tonight.” Frida began to stand on her abused feet, and Malco stepped up close and silently offered her his help. Frida nodded, and his strong arm slid behind her back, and he helped her hobble the short distance to the changing rooms.
She stopped at the door. “I can manage from here.”
He tilted his head as if she were something he wanted to figure out.
“There are clean clothes in the lockers. Cleo keeps them stocked.”
“Thank you. I’ll be out as soon as I change. I won’t sleep until I know my files are secure anyway.”
“I’ll come and get you when they return.”
Frida regarded him. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? A wife or girlfriend waiting for you?” She saw the tilt of his lips and knew he’d caught the inelegant way she’d tried to find out if he was single. A blush tinged her cheeks, so unlike the woman people saw in the courtroom—the woman they’d nicknamed ‘The Barracuda’ behind her back.
“No, ma’am, nobody is waiting for me. Not even a cat.” Frida offered him a small smile and nodded and moved away.
“Thanks again.”
“No problem, beautiful.”
Frida closed the door and sagged against it. What the hell had happened to her? Where was the confident, strong woman who was feared by opposing council? She had turned into a quivering mass of nerves in the presence of the tall, imposing operative with ‘come to bed’ eyes. Allowing him to call her by a cutesy name was so unlike her. She would have annihilated any other man that dared to treat her that way. But as she conjured up Malco’s image, she couldn’t find the natural indignation. No, all she saw was a man who was willing to help her, a man who had saved her from God knew what tonight. Whether he would be her salvation or her destruction was undecided, but she felt a wisp of excitement at the thought of working with him.
Chapter Three
Malco waited by the ladies’ locker room door, phone in his hand, scanning the compound’s outdoor cameras, making sure nobody was lurking in the shadows and waiting for Shane and Emme to return with Frida’s files.
He could hear her shuffling inside the locker room where she was changing, followed by a gasp and a moan of pain, making him wonder how far the woman had run barefoot to find refuge at the Agency. It had been a gamble to run in this direction as it wasn’t an active neighborhood at night. It would’ve been wiser to head toward the more lively parts of the city or even a police station. Or maybe she’d headed for the safest place she knew.
Earlier, she’d revealed her past connection to gangs, and it wasn’t unheard of for there to be links and corruption within members of the force. Was her case related to that?
Frida
