Regret flashed for the briefest of seconds across the hard planes of his face. He lifted his hand so she could take the file folder. “Fair enough.”
Chapter Six
After a truly rotten day of reading police records and hacking into personal email accounts, Brigid’s temples pounded and her chest hurt. She’d confirmed that the two mobsters had traveled to her small hometown, but what they’d done there, she had no clue. There was absolutely no evidence that they’d met with her father. But why would they go to such a rural area if not to meet him?
The manila file folders in her hands felt heavy. Aye, her father had been a criminal before meeting her mother. She wasn’t sure what to think about that. He’d given her such a hard time the first time she’d been arrested.
Maybe that was why.
She stood outside Raider’s apartment as he unlocked his door. The HDD had put them both up in an older complex just about ten miles from the office in a sprawling neighborhood full of commuters. He’d been inside her apartment many times, usually doing a sweep after he brought her home, but she’d never set foot inside his.
He opened the door. “I don’t think I need assistance.”
Her stomach clenched and her curiosity took over. “Angus asked me to help you with a wardrobe that makes sense.” No way would she take a guy in a suit home to meet her father. The idea of seeing her dad again strengthened her headache.
Raider flipped on the small hallway light and walked inside a living room furnished with low-end leather furniture and end tables that had come with the apartment. They were the exact same ones she had. “We need to start looking for new places,” he muttered, moving into the utilitarian kitchen with blue Formica countertops. Hers were yellow. They both had contractor-grade gray carpet and plain white tiles in the kitchen. “The HDD only gave us three months of rent.”
She hadn’t had time to search for a new apartment, since she wasn’t sure how long she’d be with the Deep Ops unit.
The place smelled like Raider. Clean and musky with a hint of something spicy. A guitar leaned against the far wall, near a window that looked out at more apartment buildings. “You play the guitar?” she asked, turning to view the agent. He was full of surprises, wasn’t he? Just how good was he with that incredible voice?
“Yes.” He pulled his gun out of his waistband and set it on the counter, then took his cell phone and speed dialed. “What kind of pizza do you like?”
She shrugged. “Anything without anchovies that isn’t too spicy.”
“Ham and pineapple?” he asked, his gaze raking her.
She turned away. She had to. “Sure.” There wasn’t another personal touch in the living room other than the guitar, and she itched to check out his bedroom. Would there be more clues about him there? Somehow, she doubted it. Straightening her shoulders, she set the folders on the counter next to his gun. “One of these is the cover that Force and Nari came up with. We both need to memorize it as well as our history together.” She rubbed her eyes.
He finished ordering the food. “I’m sorry you have to lie to your father.”
Yeah, that was bugging her. She hadn’t seen him forever, and lying to her father now didn’t feel right. But she had to clear his name. She was confident of his innocence. How could she not know the man who’d raised her? “Force is wrong about him.”
“Maybe, but Force is rarely wrong.” Raider brushed her long hair off her shoulder.
She jerked.
He grinned. “We’re gonna have to work on that if we’re going to convince anybody we’re lovers.”
“Lovers?” she snorted, ignoring the instant tingling through her skin. “You are such a dork.”
“Maybe.” He brushed her hair from her other shoulder, and this time she didn’t react. “Better,” he murmured, his gaze heating. “Are you ready to turn me from a dork into a bad boy?”
She lifted her chin to meet his gaze more directly. “It’s hard to turn you into anything when I don’t really know the true you.” Apparently, he was a master at remaining anonymous. Yet, so was she.
“Meaning?” he asked.
She glanced at the guitar. “Well, in the last couple of days, I’ve learned that you grew up in foster care, play a guitar, and were already investigating the Irish mob before taking this job with Angus Force.” Yeah, she wasn’t stupid. “Were you after my father all along?”
“After him, no. Aware of him, yes.” Raider slid his hand into his dark jeans. “I can’t help it if people look at me and make assumptions.”
“You like that,” she said, studying him. “You like people not knowing the real you.”
His chin lifted. “Maybe. I was seven when I entered the foster system, and some places were good and some not so much. Holding life close to the vest was necessary. At least until I landed at Miss A’s when I was twelve.”
Miss A. Brigid knew Raider had just gone back to a small Kentucky town to see Miss A and help out a foster brother. Everything in Brigid wanted to meet this mysterious woman who made Raider’s voice and eyes go all soft and gentle. She must be quite a lady. “You grew up in the South,” she said.
He grinned. “Yes, ma’ am. I did.” The pure Southern accent rolled right over her skin, tunneled down, and spread warmth throughout her entire body. It was probably safer for females everywhere that he kept that under wraps. “Learned diction and different accents while in training with the HDD.”
