Lisa Childs - His Christmas Assignment

Milek cursed him. “You brought Viktor to Payne Protection as a client. You sought out this assignment. I’m going to ask you again—what the hell are you up to?”

Garek opened his mouth, ready to spin the situation the way he had to Logan, so the CEO of Payne Protection had agreed to take on the Chekov family as a client. But Milek knew Garek hadn’t been in love with Tori—like he had professed to Logan. His brother would immediately know he was lying.

So he admitted, “I’m not supposed to tell anyone what I’m really up to.”

“Is that what whoever you just met in the alley has been telling you?”

Milek hadn’t seen Rus. To keep the FBI agent out of it, Garek could lie about whom he’d just met. He hesitated as he considered it.

And Milek asked, “Don’t you think I’ve had enough secrets kept from me?”

That question struck Garek harder than Milek had when he’d knocked him into his vehicle. He nodded in agreement. “But it’s hard to be totally open and honest when you’re working undercover.”

The tension eased from Milek’s shoulders and he breathed a sigh of relief. “That was Special Agent Nicholas Rus who you met in the SUV in the alley.”

“Nobody can know.”

Milek tensed again. “You’re trying to take down Viktor Chekov?” The anger was back in his voice as he asked, “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe...”

But a man had been murdered. Recently. Before that there had been others. Lives Garek could have saved had he taken Chekov down fifteen years ago. He hadn’t been brave enough then; he’d been a scared kid who’d given in to threats. But now he was a man, and he knew if Chekov wasn’t stopped, there would be more lives lost.

“But it needs to be done,” Garek said. “He has to be stopped, or he’s just going to keep killing. He should have been stopped a long time ago.”

“Killing...” Milek murmured.

Garek wanted to bite his tongue again—that he’d brought up a subject too close to his brother’s wounded heart. “I’m sorry...”

Milek raised his voice again, which shook with anger. “Garek, this is too dangerous.”

In the spirit of being honest, he had to admit, “And it’s not dangerous just for me. He threatened if my assignment is more about betraying him than protecting Tori, he won’t just hurt me. He’ll hurt my family, too. He’ll hurt everyone I care about.”

Garek shuddered but not because of the cold; he shuddered because he remembered the coldness with which Viktor had so casually uttered that threat. But he knew it hadn’t been idle.

“If you want to do this or you feel you have to, don’t worry about me,” Milek said. “I can take care of myself.”

His brother always had.

“And Logan will protect Stacy just like he did before,” Garek said. He was trying to assure himself that he hadn’t put everyone he loved in danger. “You’ll all be fine...”

But then Milek warned him, “I’m not the only one Stacy reached out to...”

Garek raised his brows. “Who else is there?”

Since their father had gone to prison, it had been just the three of them. Their mother didn’t count; she had never been there for them and then she’d turned on them. He wouldn’t have gone to prison and Milek juvenile detention if she hadn’t testified against them. They had an aunt and uncle, too, but they had only wanted to exploit them—like Viktor Chekov had.

“Candace,” Milek said. “Stacy was going to track her down and bring her back to River City.”

“Damn her.” He loved Stacy, but she had interfered in their lives too much. Her interference had cost Milek everything that mattered to him. What would it cost Garek?

Candace?

* * *

Logan couldn’t stop staring at his wife—with his usual awe at her beauty. But he was also in awe of her powers of persuasion.

“How did you do it?” he asked.

She paused with her fingertips on buttons at the front of her blouse. “You did this,” she said. “You threw me down on your desk the minute I stepped inside your office.”

He grinned unabashedly. “That is true,” he admitted. Then he leaned down and gently skimmed his mouth across hers; her lips were slightly swollen from his previous kisses. “But that’s because you’re irresistible. And beautiful and amazing...”

Beneath his, her lips curved into a smile. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” he said. He pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers. “I missed you.”

“I guess.” She gestured at the papers and pens strewn across his floor. He’d swept them off when he’d pulled her down onto the mahogany surface with him. “Nikki and I were only gone a couple of days.”

“That’s a couple too many,” he said.

She nodded in agreement. “It was.” Disappointment darkened her already dark gray eyes. She stepped back from him and uttered a heavy sigh. “And it was for nothing. I couldn’t convince Candace to come home.”

He skimmed his fingers along her bottom lip and tilted it back up. “You were so successful she actually beat you home.”

“Really?” Stacy’s eyes brightened, and her whole face lit up with a smile. He hoped their daughter took after her beautiful mother. “She must have packed right up and headed back. Nikki and I only stopped at an outlet mall for some early Christmas shopping.”

“Nikki, of course...”

Stacy arched a brow. “You wondered how I found Candace on my own?”

“I don’t doubt you could have done it,” he said. His wife was as brilliant as she was beautiful.

“I didn’t have any time to lose, though, so I asked for Nikki’s help.”

His sister was as brilliant as his wife. If only she could be happy doing what she did best—instead of nagging for dangerous field work.

Then Stacy’s words sank in and he asked, “What’s the urgency in bringing Candace back? I know I’ve been griping about not having her on my team, but...”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “You think I did this for you. That’s sweet.”

He grinned at her teasing. “And obviously off base. Then why did you want Candace back so desperately that you and Nikki tracked her down and convinced her to come ask for her job back?”

Stacy cupped his cheek now in her soft palm and gave him a pitying smile. “Men are so oblivious.”

He was used to his wife giving him a hard time; they’d been going at each other since they’d been teenagers. If only he’d realized sooner most of that resentment and anger had been attraction and passion...

“What am I missing?” he asked.

“Candace didn’t come back for her job.”

He tilted his head. “Then why did she ask me for it?” Even though he had been able to tell that it had been really difficult for her to bury her pride and ask...

Stacy shrugged. “I guess she needs the job. But it’s not what she really wants.”

Logan tensed with dread. He had been oblivious once before, totally unaware the woman he had considered a friend and only a friend had had a crush on him. “What are you up to?”

Stacy patted his cheek and laughed. “Sweetheart, once again—not about you. Candace has been over you for a long time. Not that I think her feelings even ran that deep or she wouldn’t have been able to continue working for you after you fell for me. Nobody’s that much of a masochist.”

That was what he’d thought, too. That everyone had exaggerated what might have been Candace having a small crush on the boss.

“No, Candace came back for Garek.”

He cursed as his dread rushed back.

Stacy’s smile faltered, and she insisted, “That’s a good thing.”

Logan shook his head. “No, no, it’s not.”

Now hurt flashed in her dark gray eyes. “Do you think she’s too good for my brother?”