Those weren’t reassuring words. “You never know,” she said softly. Her fingers lifted, and she tightened the belt of her robe, making sure that she was covered. Judging by his voice, he had to be on the left-hand side of the room. She turned her head, narrowing her eyes as she strained to find him in the dark.
“I was sent down here with strict orders.”
Her eyes adjusted a bit, and she could just see him, sitting in her heavy leather chair. She was in one of the bigger suites offered by the hotel. A suite that should have been secure, but the agent had certainly gotten entrance easily enough.
Now he was lounging in her bedroom. He’d just made himself comfortable. “Do your ‘orders’ include breaking into my bedroom?” Mercer wouldn’t have gone that far.
Would he?
“I’m supposed to keep an eye on you. Supposed to keep you safe.” He paused a beat. “But you already know that, just as you seem to know so very much about—”
“The EOD?” Cassidy supplied in what she thought was a rather helpful way.
Silence was her answer.
But silence was pretty much the norm when it came to the EOD.
She sighed. “Look, uh, Agent, I—”
“Cale.”
Cassidy frowned, not that he could see her frown in the dark.
“My name’s Cale Lane.”
The words could be a lie. Other EOD agents had given her false names before. “All right, fine, Cale.” She headed toward him, her steps angry, a little too hard, but their sound was swallowed by the thick carpeting. “We’re ending this farce right now.”
She’d get Mercer on the phone. He could call off his attack dog.
“Why were those men after you?”
He didn’t know?
Her steps slowed.
“Two men died tonight,” he continued. “Two men who seem to have no identities. Their fingerprints had been burned away, and, so far, no one can figure out a single thing about their pasts.”
Her mouth was getting dry. “The EOD can figure out plenty. Just give them time.”
“Are you part of the EOD?”
He seemed so doubting that it was actually insulting. But she bit her lip before she snapped back a response at him. He obviously thought she was nothing but a piece of fluff, flitting around from party to party.
After all, wasn’t that exactly what she’d been doing for the past week, ever since she’d arrived in Rio? One party after another.
But that was her cover. What she was supposed to do.
Pity no one ever actually looked beneath her cover appearance.
Not even Mercer.
“I stood between you and a bullet tonight,” Cale said. His voice seemed even rougher, and it sent a shiver over her. “Don’t you think that entitles me to some explanations?”
No, she didn’t. “I don’t remember telling you to stand there.” Actually, if he hadn’t gotten in her way, then she would have finally made the headway that she needed on this case. Instead, he’d gotten all tough and alpha male, and she’d had to act defenseless as he’d carried her away.
If she’d fought him too hard, if she’d broken free, then all that she’d worked for would have been destroyed in an instant.
He rose slowly, a lethal shadow that came toward her with slow, stalking steps. She refused to retreat from him, but when he closed in, every cell in her body flashed on high alert.
Being near him made her feel too on edge.
Too aware.
She shoved back that awareness. Locked it deep inside.
“Two men got away tonight,” Cale told her. “Doesn’t that worry you?”
Yes. “No.”
“Liar.”
He seemed so sure. No one had seen past her lies before, so why would he be any different? “I want you out of my room.”
He didn’t move.
Fine. She skirted around him, made it to her nightstand and grabbed the smart phone there. One press of her fingers and— “Mercer?” she said when the EOD’s director answered the call. “What have you done now?”
She heard Cale’s sharp inhale.
“You’ve got the EOD director on speed dial?” he asked, seemingly shocked.
On speed dial? Um, something like that.
“Your agent is going to ruin everything,” she said, her words tumbling out. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about what happened tonight, but—”
“I heard.” Mercer’s flat voice, completely devoid of emotion, cut through her frantic speech. “I heard, and that’s exactly why Cale Lane is staying with you.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone. “If he’s here—”
“Then nothing will happen to you,” Mercer told her. “Cale is one of the best agents I’ve got. No one will get to you while he’s on guard.”
If no one could get to her...then how am I supposed to complete my mission? Only, Mercer didn’t think she had a mission. Mercer thought she needed to be coddled. Protected.
That she wasn’t strong enough to face the dangers in the world.
Wrong. Mercer didn’t know her very well. “This is a mistake.” She fought to keep her own voice as emotionless as his. Impossible. Emotion always ruled her.
Never him.
Hadn’t she learned that lesson long ago?
“No. This is your life, and I won’t risk it.” There was no give in his voice at all. “While you’re in Rio, Cale Lane stays with you.”
She was going to break the phone. In her mind, Cassidy could see it splintering beneath her hand into a dozen pieces. “If that’s what you want...” Because he always got what he wanted. When would she ever get what she wanted? Not bothering with any more words, Cassidy ended the call. After all, there was nothing else to say.
Her fingers trembled.
Cassidy turned toward Cale. She needed to phrase this right, in order to match up with the conversation she’d just had. Cassidy cleared her throat. “Mercer agreed that he’d made a mistake. Your services are no longer—”
Her phone rang.
Cale reached for her hand and pried open her fingers. He took her phone.
“Sir?” he said, and she knew he was talking to Mercer.
“Yes, she’s right here.”
Then he leaned forward and turned on the bedside lamp. She flinched when the light hit her. The sudden flow of light should have made Cale look less intimidating.
It didn’t.
She could see the hard edge of his jaw and the intense lines of his face. “I’ll stay with her. Every minute.”