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"I do have friends. Close ones. But I wouldn't recommend threatening them. Their significant others take offense to that and they're men I would be afraid of. The military teaches a variety of skills and they have been known to make a person or two disappear."
The nervous look on Alexander's face was worth the dreaded lunch and her unexpected trip to Rome. If only she had a camera to capture it at the moment. All confidence in convincing her to do his bidding seemed to have suddenly disappeared. Despite the salad in front of her, she was done with this conversation, and now that she had no reason left to stay, she cleared her throat.
"Thank you for the delicious lunch, but I think our time is over." Slowly rising from her chair, she grabbed her purse. "I think it's best if we never speak again."
She didn't stick around to see the look on his face, or if he was going to try and stop her. With a normal client, she would have treated them to lunch. Alexander wasn't a normal client, and she wanted no ties to a man who could later come back to haunt her. She was almost out the door when a voice she never thought she’d hear again stopped her in her tracks.
"Monica Cole."
Turning around slowly, she clocked the man in a similar fashion to the way she had last night. Only this time, instead of looking like a businessman, she noticed the boots and jeans that hugged him in all the right places and the shirt that showed off every single muscle she had greedily explored the night before.
"How do you know my name?"
CHAPTER FOUR
How do you know my name? Her velvet voice wrapped around him like a comforting breeze. It annoyed him that he wanted to pull her close. She was either a damn fine actress or she really didn't know who he was. He was hoping for the latter, but prepared for the first. He wouldn't let their one night of passion deter him from discovering how she knew Alexander.
He had yet to answer her question. After years of interrogation practice, he learned one thing for sure. People will continue to ramble on to fill the silence. It was during those ramblings that he usually found out the most information. Monica was no exception.
"Are you stalking me? How do you know my name because I sure as fuck didn't give it to you. And what's with the commandoes behind you? What, you need an army to talk to one little woman?"
He was forced to bite the inside of his cheek. It was that, or break out the smile that her sassy mouth caused. And that wasn't the only part of his body that responded to her quick wit. It was clear he needed to have a discussion with his dick about when it was appropriate to be twitching. While he was trying to get information from Monica certainly wasn't one of those times.
"How about we take this somewhere a little more private?" He caught the humor in Ryker's tone. He hadn't told his team that he knew Monica, and based on her reaction, she hadn't exactly given it away either. Which was a good thing, but he doubted it would stay that way for long.
Monica didn't put up much of a fight as they led her toward a quiet conference room they had requested to use. But she had no problem displaying her displeasure in the way she huffed or rolled her eyes when she assumed he wasn't looking.
His happiness that she hadn't mentioned their one night together was short-lived when she turned around and glared at him.
"One night of off-the-charts sex does not give you the right to be a pushy asshole. I said no names for a reason, and I think I made myself clear when I snuck out this morning."
Well, fuck, that stung a bit. Monica's claws were out, and she wasn't afraid to draw some blood. He quickly glanced around at his friends. While he recognized the shock in their eyes, he had to give them credit for keeping their faces neutral.
"Off the charts, huh?"
Apparently, that wasn't the response she was looking for. If he thought she was throwing him sass before, it was nothing compared to the fire in her eyes now, those green eyes with a hint of blue around the edges that had kept him captivated the night before. The fists at her side also told him that she was about five seconds away from wiping the smirk off his face. Luckily, Monica didn't get the chance to act as Caden stepped up.
"How do you know Alexander Fletcher?"
Thank God for his buddy bringing the conversation back to what was important, and reminding him that he needed to be thinking with parts of his body other than the one between his legs.
"You seriously expect me to answer questions when I don't know who the hell you are? Let's try this again. You all clearly know who I am. How about you reciprocate by telling me who you are?"
He supposed he at least owed her that much. "Luke Matthews." He stuck his hand out but pulled it back when it was clear she had no intention of shaking it. "My associates Ryker, Caden, and Austin." He pointed to them respectively. Besides a brief glance at his friends to put a name with a face, her eyes never left his. This wasn't the same flirty woman he had spent the night with.
"And, Mr. Matthews, how is it you know my name?"
He would be concerned about her need for anonymity if the attitude she was throwing at him wasn't turning him on so much. He had thought she was a firecracker in bed, but it was nothing compared to the way she was out of it.
"Ms. Cole . . ." Caden wisely stopped talking the moment Monica raised her palm in the air.
"It's Caden, correct?" Monica continued after Caden nodded his head. "No disrespect, but I was asking your associate here."
Monica wasn't backing down. He could see how she had risen to CEO of a billion-dollar company. If she was half as tough at her job as she was with them, then she was a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom.
It was that realization that had him spilling what he learned first, something he never did. "Your name came up in our investigation when we were sent to surveil Mr. Fletcher."
"Investigation? So, you're cops?" Her eyebrows shot up like she didn't believe him.
