Maverick thought about calling the police, or his boss, Richard. Both ideas gave him anxiety, and he wasn’t sure why.
He had heard of someone who specialized in situations like this. Someone who wasn’t connected to police or other agencies. A guy who was guaranteed to be on your side. A guy you could trust.
Maverick pulled out his phone and called Nick Milan.
CHAPTERONE
PILAR
Pilar was stretched out on her couch, basking in a warm shaft of sunlight that angled through the window behind her. Her skin and muscles sang under the attention of the late afternoon’s light, and she luxuriated in it, turning over to let it caress her bare belly.
A lioness on a riverbank couldn’t be happier. Like a day when all the hunting is done and all the cubs are well tended.
At the idea of cubs, her eyes opened and flickered over to the armchair on the other side of the room. Her nineteen-year-old sister, Lydia, was stretched across the chair with her legs over the side in an almost identical position to her own. The setting sun glinted off Lydia’s blonde hair, making a shimmering halo around her face. Her pale blue eyes, which were so similar to Pilar’s, were focused downward on her phone screen.
Pilar sighed, turning over again to focus on the TV. When she had first settled in, there had been an old movie on that she liked, but she must have fallen asleep at some point and missed the end. She’d woken midway through a game show, and now she was bored.
Blame the sunbeam. What cat can resist a nap in the afternoon warmth?
The sun was sinking swiftly, but she didn’t need to get up to see that. The angled rays were moving from her bare belly and thighs, sliding across the floor to paint the wall, leaving Lydia in shadow. Not that her sister had bothered to notice … her eyes were still locked on her phone.
Pilar rolled onto her belly, sighing. Cats were nocturnal, and waking from an afternoon nap feeling bored meant she was feeling like a hunt. Even if no hunting was involved, Pilar knew that food was the next best thing.
She glanced at Lydia again, wanting to ask her if she was hungry. When she saw her sister still scrolling mindlessly, she frowned but didn’t bother to say anything.
There was nothing wrong with a good, lazy scroll. Besides, Pilar was so ferociously protective of her sister that she tended to indulge her more often than not.
Whatever makes her happy. Both of us deserve a little joy.
Pilar turned her mind from that train of thought. She didn’t want to think about their misery, not now.
Just as Pilar opened her mouth to ask her sister about dinner, her phone rang. She shifted, then reached for it without getting up and answered it in a bored voice.
“Hello?”
“Pilar. I have an assignment for you.”
“Nick! Excellent. What’s the job?”
“It’s a bit different this time,” Nick said, his voice husky as if he were in a hurry. “You’ll have to room in with the client and watch him twenty-four seven.”
“Okay,” Pilar said, sitting up. “That really is different. This must be a special client?”
Already, Pilar could feel her disappointment growing. She wasn’t going to be able to take this job.
Dammit. Just when I was feeling like a good prowl would do me a world of good!
“Yeah, he is,” Nick said. “This guy is working on some very important medical research, and we don’t know who’s targeting him or why. I need you to get started on this straight away.”
“Whoa, whoa. Slow down. How long is this job?” Pilar was thinking she might be able to swing it if it was only for a few days.
“As long as it takes. It’s going to take time to track down the guys who are after him.”
“Hmm, Nick, I have to tell you, I don’t know if I can.”
Pilar had never turned down an assignment before. It was the best part of this job … using her fury and her strength to protect those weaker than herself. It helped get out her frustration and helplessness that she hadn’t been able to help her pride … leaving her and Lydia all alone.
Pilar’s eyes slid over to her sister. Lydia had finally looked up from her phone and was watching her intently with big, pale blue irises. Pilar narrowed her eyes, and her little sister bared her teeth.