Author: Jaci Burton

“Not true. I find you incredibly disarming, Miss West.”

She snorted. “Smartass.”

He wound his arms around her. “You were trying to get my gun. Or find my cell phone. Or the virus.”

“Does that mean you still have the vial? That you didn’t deliver it to anyone here at the rally?”

The casual smile he’d been sporting left his face, replaced by the hard ass look she knew all too well. The impenetrable wall had returned. “The less you know the better.”

“Mac, please.” She didn’t want to push, didn’t want to break the idyllic spell of their lovemaking, but knowledge of the vial’s contents continued to pound at her. She couldn’t let it go. She was a woman and had enjoyed a woman’s pleasure, but she was still an investigator, had been a cop. She wasn’t going to let this go.

He pulled away from her embrace. “You have to trust me on this, Lily.”

She hooked her thumbs in the belt loops of her jeans and blew out a breath of utter frustration. She’d held enough inside. “I want to trust you. God, you have no idea how much I want to. After what Jessie told me about you, I know you care about people. I know you wouldn’t deliberately do anything to harm millions of people.”

“You’re right.”

“Then why can’t you have enough faith in me to talk to me? Why is that so hard to do? Why has it always been so hard for you to be straight with me?”

He brushed his fingers through his hair. “It’s too dangerous for you to know.”

“Bullshit. It’s too dangerous for me to be with you. You didn’t have any trouble dragging me along, though.”

He didn’t answer her. Of course he didn’t, because there was no answer. “This is just like ten years ago.” The reality of it slapped her across the face like an ice cold hand.

He frowned. “What?”

“Ten years ago, you pushed me away. You didn’t trust me.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re the one who thinks I’m going to sell the virus to some terrorist organization. The issue of trust is with you, Lily.”

“Is it? Ten years ago you didn’t believe in my feelings for you, or my faith in you. You didn’t trust that I knew what I was doing when I said I loved you and wanted to be with you.

You always thought you knew what was best for me. You thought you knew better than I did. Just like now.”

“That’s not true.”

His voice went low and he looked away, no longer meeting her eyes. She knew Mac. That meant he was lying.

Why did this have to happen? Every time they got close something happened to pull them apart. Maybe they weren’t meant to be together. Her head knew that. Logic told her that.

She was on the good side of law enforcement. Mac was…God only knew what he was, but he wasn’t eager to share it with her, and that meant trouble.

Maybe it was time her heart caught up to cold reality.

They had great chemistry together, but beyond that, they couldn’t sustain more than a couple hours worth of happiness without it dissolving into an argument. They were polar opposites in thinking and values.

Maybe her father had been right all those years ago.

She and Mac didn’t belong together. They had nothing in common, no shared belief systems.

He didn’t believe in her.

And right now, she didn’t believe in him.

She went to the door and threw open the dead bolt.

Mac’s hand covered hers.

“Where are you going?”

“Out. The air in here is stifling.”

“Then we go together. I don’t want you to go out there alone.”

She half turned, making sure he could read the expression on her face.

“You don’t trust me. You’re not being solicitous or looking out for my welfare. You just think I’m going to find the nearest phone and turn you in.” She pivoted all the way around. “I could have done that the night at the museum, you know.”

At his wide-eyed look, she nodded. “Oh yeah. I saw you break in. My hand was on my cell phone. I could have had the cops there waiting the moment you stepped out of the museum with the artifact in your hand.”

He stared at her, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

“Why didn’t you?”

She blinked back the welling tears, refusing to let him see her cry. “Because instinctively I knew it was you. The sounds of the motorcycle, something about the way you stood.

My heart told me it was you. I compromised my job, probably my career, for you. Because I couldn’t bear to see you fail.

How stupid was that?”

She turned and walked out the door.

This time, Mac didn’t follow.

Chapter Seven

Mac watched Lily walk out, then dragged his fingers through his hair.

Ah, hell. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy with Lily. But he thought they’d reached an understanding, or at least some warmth. To hell with warmth. Things had reached inferno level.

But every time they got hot, each time they seemed to grow closer, something happened to put a wedge between them.

He put it there. And maybe it should just stay there.

Keeping distance between them would probably be easier on Lily when the time came that he had to let her go.

Or maybe it would be easier on him. Because short of telling her who he was now and who he worked for—which was impossible—there was no choice but to keep her in the dark. Which meant she was going to maintain that level of mistrust. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it other than continue to ask her to believe in him, when she had absolutely no reason to.

He’d let her leave the RV, because she needed to cool off. And after what she’d said about the museum, he didn’t think she’d run and find the nearest phone and give him up.

Because he did trust Lily. If he told her everything, she’d be fully on his side.

But he’d taken an oath and that meant something to him. No matter how he felt, no matter what his personal needs and wants were, he couldn’t betray the Wild Riders. Because it wasn’t just his ass on the line. Other people counted on his discretion. He had no choice.

So…same frustrating as hell status quo. He returned Jim’s RV keys and searched for Lily. It didn’t take long to find her, since she wasn’t far from Jim. She was hanging out with Jessie near the front of the band stand, virtually guaranteeing they wouldn’t be able to talk. Jessie tilted her head in his direction as he approached. Lily had her arms crossed over her chest and didn’t bother to make eye contact with him. She didn’t turn around or acknowledge his presence, just kept her focus on the band. Her posture was tight and strained. She wasn’t enjoying the music at all, wasn’t relaxed.

He knew she was mad and would probably stay that way for a while. Nothing he could do about that and he refused to apologize for doing his job. So he let her listen to the music, let Jessie lean in and talk to her. He stayed behind them, keeping an eye on her and the crowd.

Not that it was unusual for him to keep watch. He’d been doing that from the moment they’d hightailed it out of the museum alley. Since then he’d been keeping one eye behind him the entire time, wondering if whoever had shot at them had been following. He doubted it, because if they had he’d have spotted them by now.

Maybe. He didn’t believe in sure things or getting off easily, so he just assumed the bad guys might follow them.

And he’d continue to keep looking, because he had two things to protect—the virus, and Lily. Like it or not, Lily was stuck with him, and she’d just have to remain uninformed until he let her go.

The warmth of the day had long ago been sucked away with the setting sun. Lily pulled on the jacket she’d been carrying, huddling inside it as a stiff breeze picked up. It might be almost summer, but it still got cold at night. And with the cold shoulder she was giving him, Mac figured there’d be no cuddling for warmth in their tent tonight.

He tapped Jessie on the shoulder and leaned over so he could talk in her ear over the band. “I’m going to grab the tent and set it up. Watch Lily.”

Jessie nodded and resumed jamming to the music. Mac tracked toward where the bikes were parked, using the opportunity away from Lily and the noise of the music to call Grange and give him a report.

“We’ve been doing a little recon of our own here at headquarters,” Grange said. “We have video surveillance tapes of the cities the artifact had been to before it hit Chicago.”

“And?”

“Someone’s been in every city since the artifact was first put into play in New York.”

That was interesting. “Who?”

“No clue, but we figure it’s the same guy based on height, build and type of walk. All we’ve picked up is a dark image stalking the grounds outside, and we’ve confirmed it’s not security in any of the locations. Wears a long coat, a hat and dark pants, stays in the shadows. Smokes.”

“How Humphrey Bogart of him.”

Grange snorted. “We’re studying video of everyone who’s passed by the exhibit in each location, trying to see if anyone similar pops up from city to city, but that’ll take some time.”

“Any thoughts?”

“Someone who knew the virus was in the artifact.”

“Do you think he was casing each location looking for an opening to do a heist?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not really sure yet, but we’re looking at all the angles.”

Why else would someone be monitoring each museum?

Mac shook his head, deciding to leave the big picture stuff to Grange. “What’s the word on Chicago? Anything on Lily?”

“Big news on the theft of the artifact, of course. The heat went down on the night security team. Media’s focused more on that than anything and the museum is taking shit in a big way. Nothing about Lily West or her involvement.”

“Good.” Mac didn’t want any press on Lily or her absence, and he was glad her agency hadn’t implicated her. Her boss was probably covering his own ass, but Mac would bet the agency Lily worked for wanted her back and probably suspected Lily in the theft. Maybe they were even working with the local police to finger Lily for the theft.

“Grange, we need to make sure Lily isn’t targeted for the theft at the museum.”

“It’s already taken care of. According to what we’ve found out from intelligence we’ve gathered at her agency, they’re concerned since her gun was found at the scene that she was kidnapped by whoever did the job. She’s not a suspect.”

Mac smiled. Grange had contacts everywhere. “Great news. Thanks.”

“She still in the dark?”

“Pitch black.” And hating every minute of it. In her shoes, he’d feel the same way.

“Keep it that way. And watch your back. Since they know you have the virus, they’re hunting you.”

“I’m on alert.” Mac pocketed his phone and grabbed the tent from his bike, then circumvented the crowd to find a spot to erect it. He set it up in the middle of a grouping of trees, still within the area of the other tents, but a bit separate from everyone else. He moved his bike, just like everyone else did, making sure to park his alongside Jessie’s and all the others he knew, so they’d all be parked near the tents. After he had the tent in place, he went back to find Lily and Jessie. They weren’t in the band area any longer, so he hunted them down and found them in the food tent.

Jessie passed him a burger, fries and a drink. “I figured you hadn’t eaten either, and Lily looked like she was about to drop.”

“Thanks.” He realized after he downed the burger in three bites that he was hungry. Eating made him feel better. He looked at Lily. Her skin was pale and she had dark smudges under her eyes.