Everyone swiveled in their direction with the focus they reserved for missions.
Definitely not good.
“Son of a bitch,” Legend muttered under his breath.
Jordan rose as they entered and pointed to three seats near the head of the table. “Karolena, come sit. I need to talk to you about your background check.”
Tavish wouldn’t be surprised if Jordan knew every detail about her down to the color of the underwear Legend had destroyed. But he was smart enough that he wouldn’t give any of it away. He’d test her first, see if she was truthful about whatever she disclosed.
That was going to make the process take longer. They were going to have to suffer through a story from her that could be absolute bullshit and he wouldn’t know until the end. He could make it a game to test his own lie-dar, since he’d lost faith in his ability to detect the dishonesty of a pretty woman. Better if he could have gotten a direct briefing, but he knew how the game was played.
So did Legend. His partner huffed out a sigh as he sank into a chair on Karolena’s right side even as Tavish did the same on her left.
“Am I about to be fired before I’ve finished my first day?” She shrugged as if it was inevitable. “Your loss. You should have seen the job I did on their apartment.”
Tavish couldn’t help a wry chuckle at that, considering the silhouette of her ass was stamped all over their dining table.
“Is there reason for us to let you go?” Jordan asked, though Tavish was well aware that if she’d tried to pull anything on them, the only place she’d be heading was to their basement. Termination meant something far worse to the Shields than a break in employment.
The thought made him sick. He clutched his gut. Not because he had a single shred of remorse for the people he’d ended. They were evil enough to justify it or he wouldn’t have gotten involved. But because he had clicked with Karolena from the start and she’d fit him like she’d been custom-made for him…and Legend.
After watching agent after agent find their perfect counterparts, some stupid part of him had been hopeful that maybe he and Legend could cross paths with a woman who would bind them together for good.
Karolena’s shoulders slumped then. If she was faking the misery and distress beneath her thin veneer of bravado, he would resign. If his judgment was that bad, he didn’t have any business putting the rest of the team at risk. “Only if you object to women on the run hiding out here. I shouldn’t have lied on my application, but the truth is, I don’t have any experience or references. No one in Middletown—or even the US—knows me. And I’ve never worked a day in my life. Well, until today.”
Now, that Tavish believed.
“The facts are that I’m a woman in dire need of an income. A place to stay. A way to build a life on my own.”
“See, I told you someone would have to be desperate to take this job,” Nolan teased, though his wisecrack fell flat. Most of the other agents were too busy absorbing every nuance of Karolena’s delivery to make their own assessment of her sincerity. They couldn’t help themselves. It was a survival instinct.
Tavish understood the hazard of coming to the wrong conclusion better than most.
“Are you kidding?” Karolena shook her head at him. “James offered a generous salary in addition to room and board. Plus built-in security. For that, I’d clean every inch of this place with my toothbrush, including the toilets.”
“What kind of bawbag is after you?” Tavish couldn’t suppress his curiosity a moment longer.
“My husband. He’s…a very bad man.” Karolena pinched the bridge of her nose.
She wasmarried? Legend’s head whipped toward her at that revelation.
“I don’t plan to go back to him.” She looked up at Legend as she turned stony again. “Not ever. I’d kill myself before I let him take me.”
“Hey, no one here is going to force you to be with someone who hurts you,” James cut in before Tavish could lose control of the emotions warring within him. Rage that she’d slept with them without divulging her relationship status, and a foolish urge to stand between her and whatever was chasing her despite her apparent lack of respect for full disclosure.
Their adorkable manager was definitely the good cop to Jordan’s bad cop. And James’s compassionate approach seemed to work.
Karolena’s eyes watered, though she looked up and away for several moments to keep her tears from falling. “Thank you, but you have no idea what I’m dealing with. I’m not talking about some working class guy who has too many drinks at the local bar and comes home to smack me around.”
Which would be horrible enough, Tavish figured. What the hell was going on?
“We can handle it.” Jordan spoke with such confidence while the rest of the Shields nodded in agreement, that she retuned her gaze to him, hopeful. So he continued. “This firm has a lot of experience. Some of us are ex-military. Others have worked for government agencies, and a few learned to fight in the streets. We’re a lot more than our sign outside would have you believe. What kind of trouble are you in?”
Karolena looked from Jordan to Legend, then Tavish. She drummed her now uneven nails on the table as she considered her very limited options.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy.” She shook her head as if to herself. “It doesn’t seem real, even to me, and I’ve lived it for more than ten years.”
“It’s important that you’re honest with us now.” Tavish tried not to growl. “We can help you, but only if you don’t try to play us.”