“I have his name here.” I pass him the file.
“Dammit,” he curses softly as he reads through the papers. “I really liked him.”
“I don’t know for sure if he’s sabotaging anything or involved with the issues with your patent, but it’s suspect.”
“It is,” he agrees.
“I’ll give FBI the information, make sure they loop you in on next steps because acting too quickly on this might tip him off and spook him.”
“You’re right,” he says. “And Duarte?”
“Duarte is a security company. They have government contracts, and one of their subsidiaries runs private security for?—”
“Companies like mine,” he murmurs. “That’s why you went still before when I mentioned their name.”
“Yes.”
He sighs. “Their services are a nightmare, though. They’ve been nothing but trouble from the moment we signed the contract. You got a taste of that tonight with the unlocked doors and unmanned desks.”
A flicker of worry slides through me. “They’re not providing the contracted services.”
“No,” he agrees. “Or not to the capacity they should be doing. Legal is working on getting us out of the contract, but they’re shifty, and though we’re working on bringing in a new company in the meantime, this shit has gotten very complicated with about a hundred hoops to jump through.”
“I know.”
His brows shoot up. “You know?”
“They do security for Titan Capital too,” I tell him, snagging a paper and passing it over to him. “And we’ve had some of the same problems—orhadbefore Jean-Michel chewed out the owner, made suitable threats, and they finally got their shit together.”
“I guess I need to work on my scary face.”
I chuckle even though nothing about this is amusing. “Maybe. He’s also brought in another firm to backfill and keep an eye on the Duarte guys.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“It’s still a tangle,” I say, barely resisting the urge to scrub my hands over my face. “And expensive. But between the real estate connections and the security contracts I think this is big enough of a connection to pass on to my contact at the FBI.”
“Agent Phillips?”
“She gets around, huh?” I say dryly.
“Apparently.” His mouth quirks. “I met her the first time the other day—she seems whip smart and fully capable.”
“Make sure you call her Attie next time you see her,” I slide in, feeling slightly jealous. Whip smart? Capable?
Then I mentally smack myself.
It’s not like he’s saying she’s gorgeous…which, of course, she is.
“She like that?” he asks, eyes twinkling.
“It’s her favorite.”
He taps me on the tip of my nose. “Always mischief-making.” Then he leans close, nuzzles my throat. “Always beautiful.”
And I melt.
Especially, when he says, “I knew you’d solve it.”
