He cocked his hip on the edge of his desk, his leg inches from her knee. “We can make it safe. It won't just be me protecting him. There will be other agents there, watching. We’ll only make it look like he’s alone, unprotected, and when the assailant strikes, we’ll catch him.”
It was a good plan. It was hisonlyplan, and he knew Wil and the others would back him up.
But that left him with Juliana. For a month. With her close enough to touch. To taste. To worship.
He didn't know if that month would kill him, or be something he remembered for the rest of his life.
Juliana popped to her feet and paced about her chair, her skirts swishing angrily. “Why wait?” she asked. “We already have bait you can use.”
He cocked his head. “What are you talking about?”
She spread her hands wide. “Me. That same person wants to kill me, as well. We can lay a trap for him to try and kill me again.”
“No.” His voice brooked no dissent. There was no way in hell he was going to let Juliana risk her neck.
“You said it was perfectly safe.” She smiled sweetly. “That there would be no risk to my father. Then there should be no risk to me, either.”
His palm itched to spank the smug right out of her. She thought she’d caught him in a neat trap. What she didn’t know was that he didn’t care if he was hypocritical, not when her safety was at stake. He wasn't going to let her do it.
“We would all be there for her.” Verity and the other three agents in the room nodded.
Brogan glared. They all were much too friendly with Juliana, but he understood it. They were the ones spending their days with her. Watching her, talking with her, enjoying her. Of course, she'd crawl her way into their hearts.
“I said no.” He slammed the half-formed badger on his desk. The bang was loud enough to bring Wil out of his office again.
“Problems?” he asked.
Brogan squeezed the wood piece until he felt the badger’s claws imprint into his skin. “No problems.”
“No, there isn't a problem,” Juliana agreed. “Brogan came up with a plan to catch the man after my father, and we're just deciding how best to implement it. If I’m to be used as bait, how will we make it look realistic that I'm off on my own without Brogan following me around?” She tapped her fingers to her lips.
“It’s not happening,” Brogan said.
Wil stepped further into the main office. “It's not unheard of for you to sneak off without a chaperone.” He gave her a wry grin. “If any woman were to go about alone without it causing suspicion, it would be you.”
Agent Hurst planted his elbows on his desk. “No, I think she's right. We need a better pretext.”
“She doesn't need a pretext,” Brogan said, “because she's not doing it.”
They all ignored him.
“A fight?” Juliana said. “A public break with this agency?”
Wil limped closer, rubbing his thigh. “Where could this fight happen?”
Juliana hurried to Brogan’s desk and picked up one of her discarded correspondence. “This ball. It's in two night's time. I can have the fight with Brogan there. If we make it loud enough, word of my separation from this agency should reach whoever's behind this.”
Heat rose up Brogan’s neck. “I said—”
“That is a good idea.” Wil nodded. “But if you severed ties with our agency, you would naturally return to live at your London home. That'll be a hard place for us to protect you.”
“I'll stay with Hyacinth again.” Juliana shrugged. “There won’t be a problem.”
Brogan threw the wood piece across the room. “I said no,” he roared. He was the lead investigator, damn it. He was the only one who truly cared about Juliana's well-being. Theywouldlisten to him.
Silence descended. Every eye was on him, some pitying, some confused.
“Brogan,” Juliana began.
