The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [43]
Clayton chuckled. "Why should we?"
Christy glared. "Mainly because you can't keep up with me forever. You have wives and children of your own. Don't you think you should be keeping up with them?"
"Yeah, but we have an obligation to keep up with you as well. Just think of how boring your life would be if we didn't," Clayton said, grinning.
Christy shook her head, wondering if they actually believed that. When she was younger she'd thought their overprotectiveness was rather cute, and it hadn't bothered her any since she'd always had a crush on Alex Maxwell, and had made up in her mind that she would one day grow up and marry him. But last year Alex had pretty much burst her bubble when he'd told her that he wasn't interested in her childhood fantasies and she needed to grow up and remove him from the picture.
So she had.
Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere with her brothers, Christy turned to walk off, only to bump into a hard, solid chest. When she realized who it was, she took a step back. But it hadn't been quick enough. She had felt the heat from Alex Maxwell's body the moment they had touched, but she refused to let him know how strongly he affected her. "Alex."
"Christy."
She met his eyes and the look in them was dark, intense, like he was the hunter who had cornered his prey. She shook her head to clear her brain cells, thinking she was definitely imagining things. Alex had pretty much let her know he was way out of her league. Anger filled her every being at the very idea that at one time she'd thought her entire existence had revolved around this one man.
"I see the three of you have pissed Christy off again," he said to her brothers in a deep tone of his voice that she found slightly hypnotic. It reminded her of that one time he had lost control and kissed her.
It was a night she didn't want to remember but could not forget.
"She's upset because we cared enough to question her about her date," Clayton explained.
"Oh."
Christy's anger increased. They were discussing her like she wasn't standing there! She met Alex's gaze again and saw the hint of amusement that touched his lips. Unable to find anything remotely humorous about the situation, she angrily walked off, leaving the four men staring after her.
"California?" Solomon Cross murmured to the caller on the phone. The Red Hunter had called to report they had located Victoria Green. It seemed that she had purchased a place on the beach in California.
As far as Cross was concerned it had taken long enough to locate her. "What took you so long to find her?" he asked, annoyed. It had been almost two weeks.
"Someone in the Agency wanted to make sure she wasn't found. It wasn't easy breaking the code in the database and getting the information in a way that it couldn't be traced."
Cross sighed. He really didn't want to hear excuses. "How soon can you get her to me?" He'd been thinking about her a lot lately, anticipating her arrival.
"We have to plan this one well and not be too hasty," the Red Hunter was saying. "She's a former CIA agent and if she suddenly becomes missing, a lot of questions will be raised. We don't want anything to look suspicious or there will be an investigation that you don't want."
Cross shrugged. "And nothing will be linked back to me. How can it? Besides, I'm paying you enough to make sure that it doesn't."
CHAPTER 6
Tori's eyes suddenly flew open when she heard a sound. Struggling through the sleep that clouded her mind, she quickly sat up in bed; her heart was rapidly beating in her chest. She sat there, straining to hear whatever had awakened her.
There was nothing but the pound of the surf outside. She looked toward the window opposite her bed and didn't see anything, but still, her sixth sense had alerted her to danger. Goose bumps were forming on her arm and a shiver was running down her spine.
Moving quickly, she quietly eased out of bed and slipped into her robe. She automatically opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out the Beretta 9mm pistol