Normally, she’d ignore him. After all, he worked for her—or her stepfather. Whatever. She didn’t have to do what he said. She finished the glass of wine and narrowed her eyes at the handsome man who still looked like he expected Ava to fall into his bed. He was watching her like she was the most fascinating thing in the world.
“What are you?” he whispered with barely contained excitement.
“I’m an American photographer. It’s really not all that exciting.”
“I don’t think that’s what you really are.”
Weirdo. He might have been handsome, but the guy did nothing for her. She was about to pour another glass of wine when she heard her phone buzz again. She looked down. It was Malachi’s number.
Ava, go to Leo. Now.
“Ugh.” Her head fell back and she groaned. “Bossy men. Damn bossy men. Who the hell do they think they are?” She’d tell them off in person.
Ava stood and picked up her purse. As soon as she did, she felt a hand on her arm. It was Hot Guy, who had morphed into Mr. Intrusive.
Okay, not cool.
“Hey!” Feeling bold with wine, Ava rounded on him as she yanked her arm away. “Do not touch me, do you understand? Did I give you permission to do that? Did I indicate in any way that I wanted your attention, mister?”
The man’s green eyes widened in shock.
“You pulled away from me.”
“For heaven’s sake, do you really think you’re God’s gift? Get over yourself, buddy!”
She was starting to draw attention. Luckily three-quarters of a bottle of wine meant she didn’t really care all that much. She was only a block from her hotel, after all. And there was always—
“Leo!” She grinned, her annoyance forgotten. She turned to the pushy stranger. “Now this guy? He’s a catch. For one thing, he’s handsome without looking like he’s been airbrushed, because really?” She waved a hand in front of the guy’s face. “Are you wearing makeup? I mean, whatever, if that’s your thing, but see, Leo here—”
Leo cleared his throat. “We should go, Ava.” He was trying to steer her toward the door with a hand on her shoulder, but Ava ignored him, still talking to Hot Guy.
“See, Leo’s got the confident-without-being-arrogant thing. You need to learn that. Because girls don’t usually go for… a guy who looks in the mirror more than they do.” Ava giggled as she looked around the place. “Well, obviously not some of these ladies, but where I come from… that’s probably a bad example. Still—”
“Ava.” His low voice sounded across the bar. She turned, stilling immediately when she heard it. Heard him. Their eyes met.
There you are.
Even slightly inebriated, she was shocked by how the realization hit her.
He was here. And he belonged with her.
Malachi strode into the room, looking rough and angry. His shirt was torn at the collar and there was a bandage across his ribs. He was still the best thing she’d laid eyes on in… ever.
“You’re here,” she murmured, letting his voice wash into her mind. Relieved. He was relieved, but worried. She reached out for his hand. She knew if she could just hold it—
He dodged her at the last minute, slipping around Leo’s back and standing between the stranger and Ava, pressing a warm hand to the small of her back. She could feel it through her shirt. The heat. The calm. She wanted to surround herself until she lost her mind in his.
“Let’s go,” he said, pushing her toward the door.
As soon as her feet started moving, she came out of her daze. “Hey, I’m not—”
“You’re done. We’re going back to the hotel. I’ll explain more there.”
“You’d better. And I don’t appreciate—”
She broke off when the man with two women, who was sitting by the door, leaned toward her as she walked by. There was a snarl, then before she could blink, Leo had shoved her behind his back, and Malachi had the gorgeous man pinned against the wall of the bar, his hand around the man’s throat. The girls at the table started shrieking and calling for the owner.
Ava peeked from around Leo’s back, and she heard Malachi whisper, “If you want to survive to see the dawn, come no closer. My dagger hungers for your neck.”
She gasped. “Holy shit!”
Leo spun and almost shoved her past Malachi and the other man, dragging her onto the sidewalk outside the bar.
“What the hell was that?” she yelled.
“Ava, let’s get going.”
She shook off the hand that had reached for her shoulder. “You people are maniacs! Get away from me!”
Ava was practically running toward the hotel. She could see the doorman sitting outside the door, smoking one of the sweet cigarettes he always carried. She could smell the waft of tobacco reach her nose a second before a hand grabbed her shoulder. Malachi spun her around, then immediately raised his hands in surrender.
“Let me explain, Ava.”
“Explain what? How you threatened to stab some guy because he was making a pass at me?” She backed away from him, inching closer to the doorman with every step. “He wasn’t even making a pass at me. He leaned in my direction, and you—”
“There was a girl almost killed tonight.”
“That’s horrible.” She kept backing away. “But what the hell does that have to do with me?”
“Those men are…” She saw him give Leo a panicked glance. “They’re… in a gang.”
Liar. She shook her head. He was lying; she could hear it.
“And that gang is the one responsible for this girl’s attack. They specialize in… human trafficking, and they’re targeting foreign women traveling alone.”
He was just making things up as he went along, but his voice… His inner voice was still panicked. Worried. He was lying, but it was out of fear. Something had frightened the big, bad bodyguard, and it had to do with her safety. That reason alone caused her to take a deep breath and stop backing away from him. Logic, even the fuzzy logic she had to work with from all the wine, told Ava that if Malachi wanted to harm her, he’d had plenty of opportunities in the week and a half they’d already known each other. He’d had her alone many times. So obviously something else was going on.
She asked, “What does this have to do with me?”
“There were four of them in that bar, Ava. One attacked me earlier as an associate and I were rescuing a girl they had kidnapped and almost killed. We have a standing assignment from our bosses in Vienna about this organization. They’re active all over the world, and for some reason, they’re targeting you. We don’t know why.”
For the first time, his words had the ring of truth. Ava took a deep breath. She still felt like there was something she wasn’t seeing, but at least some of what he said made sense.
“Carl,” she muttered.
“What?”
“My stepfather, Carl Matheson. He’s rich as Midas. Richer, maybe. In addition to being a film producer, he also has all this family money. Shipping. Oil. He’s loaded. If it’s human trafficking, they probably want me for ransom. It wouldn’t be the first time someone has tried.”
Or succeeded. She tried not the think about the awful week when she was eight. Routine, they had called it. The monsters who had taken her in Brazil had laughed and called it a routine kidnapping when they teased her. One girl for one million dollars. A respectable week’s work. She hadn’t slept through the night for a year afterward.
Malachi said, “That must be it. They’ve become bolder, and I don’t know why.” He stepped closer cautiously. “I’d like to stay at the hotel. I called already and booked the room next to yours.”