For a moment, Roman feared he wasn’t making sense…but that moment was fleeting. His brain wasn’t in charge. Nope, his cock was.
And his cock was pissed.
He pulled away from Gus and thrust his head into the closet, peering into the shadows. “Do you even understand how unprof—”
But no one was inside. Certainly he didn’t see anyone panting and half dressed with his junk hanging out. He only saw a row of neatly hung suits and loafers.
Suddenly, Gus shoved him into the closet. He gaped at her as she killed the dim light inside and shut the door with a barely audible click. The only illumination was the screen of her phone. He could see her face in the ghostly light.
“Get in the corner and be quiet,” she whispered. “Please, Roman. Please. He’s coming and he can’t find us here.”
Kemp? Didn’t she want him here with her? Undressing her? Pleasuring her? Roman would have thought so…but the quiver in Gus’s voice said no. If not, what was she doing here? He had a million questions, but then he heard the bedroom door open. Gus shut off her phone, wrapping them in darkness.
She backed up against him, and he could feel her shiver. He edged to the other side of the closet, finding a little extra space so he could pull her deeper into shadow. Obviously, she wasn’t pulling some prank. Had she been scheduled to meet Kemp here? Roman wondered if his sudden appearance had thrown her plans for seduction for a loop.
Maybe she didn’t want her lover to see her with him. On second thought, no. Gus would simply tell Roman—or anyone who butted in—that she and her guy were going to have hot sexy time and they should get lost pronto. But Gus would never willingly hide her desire.
Gus was hiding now. She was scared.
He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “Get behind me.”
She shrank back against him, rolling her head onto his chest. “Stay quiet.”
“Hey, I’ve got a minute. I thought I’d touch base.” Matthew’s voice was clear and strong on the other side of the closet door.
She stiffened and strained against his hold, working to get closer to the sliver of light filtering through the cracks. Holy hell, she was trying to listen in. Was she trying to see if her latest fling was cheating? Otherwise committed?
“Yes, everything seems fairly normal except for the fight with the woman,” Kemp muttered. “I believe so. He knows something. I don’t know what, but he’s definitely keeping her out of the loop. He’s nervous. Something spooked the hell out of him a few months ago. He went somewhere in DC on a secret meeting and when he came back, I noticed the change.”
Now Roman was listening—and listening hard. Who the hell was Kemp spilling these details to?
What the hell had Gus gotten herself into?
“Yes. I’ve got it all set up. Something different this time. Keep ’em on their toes.” A long pause followed, and Roman could hear the shuffle of Kemp’s feet as he paced. “You know I will. And I’ll get the information to you as soon as possible. I think I’ve identified who I need to talk to and who I need to take out. Yes, we’re getting close. I’ll know more after I return from my trip to the countryside. Everything will be quiet until then. I’ve made sure of it. You’re going to owe me everything you promised very soon.” He chuckled. “I’ll hold you to that. And no promises on the other thing. She’s pretty delicious. If I can get my hands on her, it might be worth it.” There was a low groan. “Yeah, I hear you. Fine. I’ll do my job. Spoilsport. I’ll call in after I get back to London.”
A long sigh resounded, followed by the slide of a drawer opening. The twisted sounds of metal and plastic being smashed filled the air next.
Gus smothered a gasp. Kemp was destroying something, probably that phone. Damn.
A moment later, they heard the efficient click of a magazine sliding into a gun. She stiffened, and Roman wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her back against him as quietly as he could. He didn’t have a gun, didn’t carry one, but now he saw the benefits. His heart thudded wildly as he realized this might be a fight he couldn’t win. If Matthew Kemp opened the closet and found them here, Roman could do nothing to protect Gus except step in front of her and offer to die first. Kemp was highly trained and heavily armed.
Gus trembled in his arms. Roman held his breath.
A moment later, the sliver of light filtering inside the small space shuttered. They heard the bedroom door open and close again.
He held her for another long moment as he listened for the sound of Kemp’s footsteps fading in the distance.
Finally, they were alone.
Roman dragged a calming breath in and released her.
Gus flipped the overhead light on and turned to him. “What are you doing down here?”
He felt his eyes narrow at her tone. “You’re asking me that question? No, baby. I want to know what the hell you were doing, searching a Secret Service agent’s room and eavesdropping on his phone call. And I want to know right now.”
Because Augustine wasn’t worried about whether her lover had someone on the side. She was spying. He had to find out how deep she was in.
When he took her hand and reached for the doorknob, she resisted with a forced chuckle and her head held high. “You’re imagining things, Roman. I was just looking for something I left here the other night.”
Ah, her queenly pose. How many times had he seen her use that very tactic when she was in a corner? She wouldn’t back down, merely send whatev
er fool chose to question her a haughty look and say something cutting in that how-dare-you-question-me tone. This was how she’d become such a popular surrogate for Zack on the news shows. She could stare down and tear down even the best argument from her most able opponents.
Roman shook his head at her because if she was going to play the queen, he would show her who the damn king was. He wasn’t allowing her the upper hand now. “No, Gus. You have two seconds to tell me what’s going on.”
She held his gaze with a little shrug, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “If you have to know, I lost my best thong in Matthew’s room last night. I was looking for it.”
She was lying. Connor had sworn to him that he’d walked Gus back to her room last night, then waited until she had shut her door and turned out the lights. He’d hung around another few minutes to be absolutely certain she’d gone to sleep. What she hadn’t done was sneak out to have a little nookie with Kemp at four a.m., especially when Gates was lying in the twin bed beside his.
If Roman couldn’t get answers out of her, he would get them from the only other person who could shed some light. “All right, then. You keep looking, baby. Maybe Kemp will help you, though I don’t know why you didn’t ask him when he was here a few minutes ago. But if you’ve got this under control, I’ve got something else to do.”
He opened the closet door and strode out.
She followed right behind him. “Roman, let it alone. This is none of your business.”
He glanced down at the nearby trashcan. Nothing there except a couple of tissues. So where had he taken the remnants of the phone he’d destroyed? Roman knew damn well what he’d heard. Kemp had smashed that device, then probably taken the SIM card with him. Little wonder. Based on that conversation, the man was up to no good where the country—and Gus—were concerned.
But Roman had to hand it to the agent; he was good. He hadn’t left a single trace of the device behind.
He pulled out his phone, ready to call Zack. They would need to advise Connor, develop a strategy. He wanted a quiet interrogation, and that meant keeping the Agency and the FBI out of this. Until he could prove what was going on, Roman refused to bring in anyone he couldn’t absolutely trust. They could say Connor had been promoted and was now filling the role of the president’s acting advisor on sensitive security matters. It was good to be chief of staff. He could make up jobs on the fly.