Hard Target Read online

  A wave of heat flash over me, making my entire body tingle from head to toe. I should have known the best sex of my life would happen with a man I’ll never see again. But Lord, what a man. Coal black hair and eyes the color of a blue glacier I’d seen in a National Geographic once… only his gaze was never cold. It was white hot. Just like the rest of him.

  Last night that long, lean body belonged to me and I explored every muscled part of it. Kissed it, licked it… wrapped my mouth around his—

  The elevator dings and I jump.

  As soon as the doors part, I hightail it out of there. Already, I feel like my life is becoming unraveled. My scarf floats to the floor and I glance upwards.

  The irony of it all doesn’t escape my notice.

  “I’ll get you when I get back,” I tell the scarf, kicking it out of the way. I can’t afford to stop and pick it up.

  Like a spy on a mission, I check the hallway before I enter. In order to get to the lab, I have to go right by Mr. Romanov’s office and I can’t take the chance on him seeing me. While I know he knows everything that happens in this building, I’m counting on him being out for lunch or using the restroom at the very moment I pass his door.

  My heart leaps into my throat as I force my legs into a run. My muscles protest, but I ignore the pain, promising to soak my body in a hot bath as soon as I get home tonight.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I half expect to see him step out, but nothing happens, so I turn my attention back to my mission and make a beeline for the lab.

  I open the door, calling out Dr. Clark’s name, but no one answers.

  Strangely, the lab is eerily quiet. The times I’ve come here before, music is playing in the background and usually a tech is nearby to chat with me. It’s cold as anything in here, so I grab one of the white lab coats hanging by the door and put it on then shove my hands into the large pockets and let the small package rest inside.

  Walking further into the room, my footsteps are barely echoing as I try to find someone to give the package to. When it comes to the lab, I’m not allowed to simply leave a delivery on a counter in the hopes that it will be seen. These lab types barely know the rest of the world is still going because PharmGen’s lab is their world, so I’m required to physically hand it over to one of them.

  “Dr. Clark?” I call out again. Dr. Clark is the only one who requires that we address him by his title while the others are very laid back. Not even Tansy has me call her by Dr. Bhamra and she’s the assistant lead scientist here.

  “Tansy? Farooq?” I wait another beat before finally trying again, calling out the name of the woman I like least. “Olivia?”

  No one answers me.

  My skin pricks. Foreboding rakes its sharp claws down my spine. With every step that leads me further inside, my body screams at me to leave. Finally, I listen. I have no desire to end up like a girl in a horror movie, so I start to hightail it in the opposite direction.

  Suddenly a hand appears in front of my face. I suck in a breath to scream, but the hand covers my mouth, and then I’m being dragged backward. Shock turns me into a ragdoll. I can’t scream for help. I can’t even move. Fear paralyzes me.

  “You wasted your time trying to alert the media,” a low voice says. It’s heavily accented but I can’t tell if he’s German, French, or even Middle Eastern.

  Do something.

  I bite his hand and he jerks it away.

  “Bitch!” He kicks the back of my legs and I hit the floor hard. Pain shoots up through my kneecaps. Tears spring to my eyes as my survival instincts finally kick all the way in.

  “Help me! Help!” I scream, scrambling to my feet.

  The man shoves me back onto my knees.

  “No one will hear you. The lab is soundproof.”

  The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking makes me almost wet myself. “Someone will see you,” I insist.

  “No one will see you die because the windows are frosted, you stupid girl. It’s only you and me.”

  I whimper. “Can’t we talk about this? Make a trade or something?”

  “There is nothing to talk about. Nothing to trade.”

  “Sure there is. There always is,” I babble. Keep him talking. Make him do a bad guy monologue so that somehow the hero shows up and saves you. “Like a helicopter. Money. Your own island.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Don’t you want to tell me how you’re going to kill me?” Frantic and desperate, I scan the room, looking for something to hit or stab him with. “All the best villains give a detailed description.”

  He nudges my head with something hard. The gun, probably. “It’s simple. You didn’t follow protocol, so now I have to kill you.”

  Protocol? Oh crap. “You’re going to kill me for sleeping with Ben?” I all but shriek.

  “Shut up.” He kicks me in the back.

  I fall forward with a cry, my head narrowly missing hitting the floor. Squeezing my eyes shut, I begin to pray.

  A shot rings out and my body jerks, and I’m sure I’m dead. Except there’s no pain. There’s a thud. My eyes open to find a man staring back at me. Only after a moment do I realize it’s a dead-eye stare—his forehead has a smoking hole in the center of it, and it’s trickling a thin line of blood.

  He’s dead.

  Images of dead bodies flash in front of my eyes. Lifeless arms reaching for me. Pale skin and dark blood on the floor, on the walls.

  I swallow a scream. I have to get out of here. I have to.

  “Oh God. Oh God. Please help me. Oh God. Oh God,” I chant.

  Move your ass, Morgan. Don’t think about the past. It can’t hurt you.

  My slick palms make it hard for me to find purchase, so I start to Army crawl my way to the door. Only a few more feet and I can escape. I can run for help and—

  I’m grabbed from behind again and lifted into the air. Only this time I fight like hell, landing a few kicks and backwards head butts along the way.

  “Be still, Morgan,” a harsh voice whispers into my ear as I’m set on my feet. “If you want to live, be still and be quiet.”

  “Ben?”

  “Yes.”

  I’m so happy it’s him and not the bad guy come back to life that I start weeping. “Oh thank God.”

  His arm comes out to the left side of me and that’s when I notice he’s holding a gun and using me as a shield, his arm like a band of steel around my chest.

  The asshole.

  “Get behind me,” he says and shoves me to one side.

  Okay, maybe he’s not using me as a shield after all. Still, he has a gun and he used it. “Why do you have a gun?” Slipping behind him, I hold onto his suit jacket for dear life.

  “Every hacker has a gun.” He stops, then turns to his right.

  “I thought computer viruses were y’all’s weapons of choice?”

  “Not today.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper, leaning against him. My body starts to shake violently and he turns around, his blue eyes sharp and cold as diamonds. I miss the heat he provided but at this moment, with him looking like that, I’ll keep my hands to myself.

  “Are you okay?”

  I attempt to nod, but end up shaking my head instead. “No.” My teeth clatter against one another. “I thought I’d get fired, not executed for breaking the rules.”

  He eyes me, as if he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. “That man works for Wraith. He’s not here to enforce PharmGen’s rules. Most likely, he mistook you for Dr. Neal.”

  “Why would he do that?” Yes, Olivia and I both have blonde hair, and we’re of similar build, but that’s about it.

  His gaze drops to my boobs and I cross my arms over my chest. “Because you’re wearing her lab coat.”

  “Oh.” My teeth start chattering again. “Can we get out of here? Go tell whoever what happened?” Then it hits me… “Wait, y-you said most likely. Why else would he try to kill me?”

  He slices his gaze to my face. “Perhaps you mad
e a deal with the Wraith organization and didn’t follow through.”

  My mouth drops open. “A deal with—Look I’ve never even heard of this Wraith Organization.”

  “I have to keep every possibility in mind,” he says softly.

  “I prefer you not judge me until you know all the facts.”

  “Fair enough.” He leans against a counter casually, as if there isn’t a dead body in the lab. “I’m listening.”

  “Oliver has off today, so it’s my job to deliver time sensitive packages. I signed for one, not even twenty minutes ago, and then came up here.” I flick my gaze to the body on the floor, then back to him and shudder.

  His mouth quirks on one side. “I saw you.”

  Of course he had. “Once I got to the lab, I let myself in. No one answered and I couldn’t leave the package, so I grabbed the nearest lab coat and went searching. Except that guy found me instead.” A shaky breath leaves me. My knees tremble, but my heart rate is slowly returning to normal. “Then you saved me.”

  “That remains to be seen.” He grabs my arm. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Four

  Benjamin

  Morgan’s face is so white that I’m tempted to give her time to calm down, but we can’t stay here. Security has been alerted, yet they have not responded.

  Something is very wrong with this entire situation.

  I grab her arm, my grip harder than I mean for it to be. “Let’s go.”

  For the third time in my life, I’m scared shitless for another human being. The first time was for my brother, when I thought our father would kill him and the second… well, the second was for a woman who the Bratva thought was getting too close to me. But Kate managed to save herself by breaking things off with me. I hadn’t been the most understanding, then.

  “It will be okay,” I tell her.

  “Are you sure?” she asks, licking her lips.

  I’m not sure at all, but confidence is what she needs right now. “Yes.”

  She smiles at me. It’s watery, sweet and grateful. The kind of smile a woman would give a man for rescuing her.

  “Have you ever seen him before?” I ask, knowing it’s a long shot but figuring it’s worth a try.

  “No. Never,” she says, her voice strained. “I need—”

  Whirling her around, I push her against the wall and lean in. “You need to keep going, love. Later, I promise you can rest.”

  While there is every need to hurry, there is no need for me to look or act guilty because I shot a man. If anyone should see us, they would assume that I’m throwing her out for sharing company secrets. More likely than not, they would send up a silent thanks to God that it’s not them, that they’re going home for the day with the security and a paycheck that a job brings.

  She eyes the place where I’ve hidden my gun. “By killing me?”

  “I’m not going to kill you, Morgan,” I say, disgusted with her assumption. While my brother had a strict policy of only killing the guilty, I have a strict policy of killing those who are trying to kill me. Or in Morgan’s case, killing those who would kill her. She’s innocent in this. She has to be.

  A gun to one’s head will make most anyone spill their guts.

  “You’re going to kill me for sleeping with Ben?”

  There was no mistaking the pure terror and disbelief in her voice. She actually thought that was why he wanted to kill her. Morgan isn’t dumb and she’s not a ditzy blonde either. She simply doesn’t realize that evil lives, hell, thrives, in the world, at least not the kind I’m used to being up close and personal with.

  The majority of the people on this planet go through life like that, thinking that the guy who took their parking spot deserves the ninth circle of hell, or the woman who stole their man away should rot. They don’t worry about things that go bump in the night. They think their governments will protect them. Their military and law enforcement.

  But in the world I left behind, everyone has a price. Everyone will look away for the right incentive. Honestly, I hate that she’s had to experience even a little of that, but it’s better this way. She will be better for it.

  I’ll make sure of it.

  “I really don’t know what’s going on, Ben.” Her voice is whisper thin.

  “I know you don’t.” Grabbing my key card, I scan it, triggering elevator. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?” she asks as the elevator doors close.

  “To the top.”

  She sags against me.

  I can’t help but put my arms around her. It’s not the best position to be in, but I’m not expecting another attack. The shooter acted alone. The gun and the bullets he used were made of the same kind of plastic used in 3-D printing—so neither would set off an alarm. It’s how I get through security every day as well. The little metal required in the making of each is no more than the amount of jewelry a woman wears each day.

  “I’m scared,” she admits, tipping back her head to look at me. “What if they did mean to kill me?”

  “Who would want to kill you?”

  She shrugs. “Rival moonshiners.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I’m from the mountains of Georgia. My family was the preeminent family in the production and selling of moonshining, which is illegal in the states.”

  “Was?”

  “I’m all that’s left… well, along with a few cousins.”

  “Your government did this?”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “Some guys from a Tennessee family, who thought we were poaching on their territory, dressed up as Federal Agents. My mother had turned my dad in and wanted protection for me and her, so she let them come on our land.” A tremor rolls through her. “It was a massacre. No survivors.”

  “You witnessed it?”

  “No.” I hear her swallow. “I found them. I was twelve.”

  “Fuck.” I gather her tighter to me, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m… I don’t know what to say.”

  “Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, but you can Google it.” The elevator stops. “It was twelve years ago. I’m mostly fine… now.” Her voice wavers at the end, but she takes a deep breath, as if girding herself against the past and possibly the not-so-distant future.

  The doors swoosh open, and I push her behind me, palming my gun at the same time. After checking the hallway and finding nothing but the usual hustle of employees, I grab Morgan’s arm.

  “Why are you holding on to me? I’m not going anywhere,” she says under her breath.

  “I have to have a reason for bringing you up here. Hauling you to the boss’s office means that I’ve caught you in the act.”

  “Act of what?”

  “Selling company secrets.”

  “Oh.” Her arm goes limp. “That’s embarrassing.”

  “Perhaps, but once we get everything sorted, I’ll make sure to let everyone know that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Story of my life,” she mutters.

  David’s personal assistant, Patrice, greets us. Her gaze bounces between Morgan and me.

  “You actually did it, eh?” This she directs to Morgan.

  Morgan gives her a wan smile. “Yeah.”

  “All for a pair of sparkly pink shoes with butterflies on the toes.” Patrice laughs. “You’re hard core, Mr. Romanov. I’ll let Mr. Pinter know you’re here.”

  As soon as she disappears into his office, I turn my attention to Morgan.

  “Did what?”

  Color blooms on Morgan’s cheeks. “I took the bet.”

  “What bet?”

  “The ladies and I had a pool going on who would be first to break company policy by asking you out. As of yesterday, it was up to three hundred pounds. I’ve had my eye on a pair of shoes in a Covent Garden’s shop for a while now.” She lifts a shoulder. “Obviously, I won. Go me.”

  “You only asked me out because of a wager?”

  “Not only because of that.”
<
br />   Patrice appears in front of us. “Mr. Pinter will see you now.”

  As we pass by, Patrice whispers, “You won’t tell him I nicked the laptop from the break room, will you? It was only for the night.”

  Morgan shakes her head as I lead her into David’s office.

  He is standing at the windows, his hands clasped behind his back. A man against the world, or so he wants to project to his employees, as well as clients.

  “Ms. Tanner. It’s such a shame to see you in my office.” He turns, facing us. Streaks of grey are at his temple, but there are no laugh lines around his eyes or mouth. In fact, he has no wrinkles at all, due to his weekly appointments with one of the company’s on-staff dermatologists. It baffles me as to why he would go to so much trouble to keep his face young while allowing the grey to come through. Perhaps he likes the contrast.

  I shut the door.

  “That’s not why we’re here.” Steering Morgan to the closet chair, I indicate she should sit. “Morgan’s done nothing wrong. In fact, it’s your security team that should be in here. I was forced to kill a man in your lab. I’m nearly one hundred percent certain that he acted alone, but I texted an alert to security as soon as I found him. They didn’t respond.”

  David’s eyes widen. He grabs his phone and puts in a call to security. “Patterson,” he all but barks. “Are you aware we’ve had a security breach?”

  A long pause.

  “Right. Yes, Mr. Romanov took care of it, but you can pack your bags.” He ends the call by slamming the phone into the cradle. He eyes me a moment. “Once again, I’m in the position of thanking you.”

  “It was no problem at all, sir.”

  He smiles gently at Morgan. “And you, my dear. How are you holding up? I can only imagine how you must feel to survive imminent death. Damned guns are a menace to society.”

  My gaze sharpens on him for a moment.

  “F-fine, sir.” She shrinks into her chair, her hands working in her pockets. What is she doing? “I just want to go home.”

  “Romanov, why don’t you escort her home?”

  I nod. “Of course. Ms. Tanner?”