Page 48 of Baby Take Me Home

CHAPTER 19

TJ

I walkedinto the Kovac’s party with a goddess on my arm.

Ashlee had her hair swept into an updo again, this time with a few long, curly strands left loose around her face. I liked to think that was just for me. She had a lighter layer of make-up than she’d had two weeks ago, so some of the freckles on her nose and cheeks showed through it. Also, I hoped, for me. And when I could tear my eyes away from her face, I could take in her gorgeous curves tucked into a navy blue, beaded, sleeveless gown with a sweetheart neckline, as she’d informed me on the drive here when she’d caught me ogling her cleavage more than once.

She’d offered me a slew of compliments as well on my blue suit that matched her dress, and a light blue tie that was the color of the topaz she wore on a chain around her neck. The cameras in my tie pin and her topaz captured everything we saw, and our imperceptible comms units picked up the conversations around us. The team would parse through each of those to collect all the intel we could on the guests.

“Ashlee, Draga,” Luka said, taking her hands and kissing each cheek. “You look like a princess. Perhaps even more beautiful than a certain princess I met years ago when I was fifteen years old. And Mr. Russo.” He turned and shook my hand. He looked me up and down. I’d been checked out by scarier guys, although probably not more criminal ones. He winked at me. “I must say, I envy you both.”

“Cameras and comms are working perfectly,” Jensen said through the comms unit, from the van parked a tenth of a mile away. “And I’m piggybacking on their security system now, tracking where all the cameras are. Oh, gross.”

Ashlee and I, who were smiling as Luka introduced us to his husband, glanced at each other. Her comms unit was only running one channel to keep her from the distraction of the multiple team conversations I could hear.

“There are video feeds in the bedrooms,” Jensen said. “No audio, and nothing in the bathrooms, so at least there’s that.”

I coughed once, a signal that I wanted more information.

“Alder thinks it’s either a sexual fetish or a blackmail scheme,” Jensen continued. “Either way, you’ll want to change clothes in the bathroom and refrain from any, uh, private activities in the bedroom until I take over the security feed later.”

Izak summoned a waiter to give Ashlee and me each a glass of champagne. We toasted with him and Luka, then our hosts thankfully moved on to greet other guests and we could make our own rounds in the room. Over the next ten minutes, the remainder of the guests arrived and there were twenty of us. Ashlee knew several of them, as the charity committee members that formed the basis of her human interest series were there with their spouses. We also met Luka’s assistant from his design business, two embassy staffers, an eccentric writer, and her husband.

But it was the guest in a distant corner talking with Luka who drew my discreet attention, first because I realized he was fixated on Ashlee, and if I had to guess, was unhappy to see her here. Then I realized who he was at the same time as my team did.

“Senator John Calder,” Alder said on the channel that Ashlee could hear. “One of the Subcommittee members.”

“Fuck me,” several team members said at once.

No way in hell that was a coincidence. I bent toward Ashlee so it looked like I was sharing lover’s confidences with her. “Start a deep dive on his staffers. Not all of them will have access to the Subcommittee information, so find out who does and focus on them.”

“What about the senator?” Kessler asked. “Based on the way he’s acting, I like him for the mole.”

“I do, too,” I said. “But we’re going to need a special warrant to investigate him. Eliminate the staffers first. That will give X a better case when she and the lawyers go in front of the judge to request it.” I whispered in Ashlee’s ear. “Try to stay away from him. He’s dangerous to both of us.”

She smiled and dropped her eyes as if I’d said something flirtatious, just the way we’d practiced it, but the tightness of lips smile showed the toll this was taking on her.

I kissed her cheek. “We’ve got this.”

Her shoulders relaxed and her smile looked more genuine. She had no idea what a gift it was to me every time she chose to trust me. I wouldn’t squander the faith she’d placed in me. I’d failed her and Aiden Brooks last February, even if she didn’t want to hear it, but I’d be damned if I would ever let anything happen to her again.

* * *

Ashlee

I had survived the longest,most stressful dinner I’d ever endured. I’d smiled until my face hurt, then did it all over again when the party moved into the formal living room, where the night had begun, for dessert, coffee, and Slovenian schnapps. The only time I’d left TJ’s side was to use the powder room. I had run into the senator in the hallway. TJ didn’t know about that because my comms was still turned off for privacy’s sake after my bathroom break, and I hadn’t mentioned the interaction.

Now, it was just past midnight, and TJ and I were finally in our guest room and blissfully alone. Almost.

“Confirm there’s no audio,” TJ said into his comms.

“None, Boss,” Jensen said. “Only video, northwest corner of the room. We’re set to go lights out in ten.”

“We’ll go off-comms here until then,” TJ said. “Turn them back on when it’s go time.” He tapped his ear.

I fiddled with my left earring to remove it, and subtly pulled the comms unit out of my ear at the same time. I put my jewelry into a case and kicked off my heels. TJ kicked off his own shoes, then hung up his suit coat, tie, and white shirt. He pulled off his undershirt and dropped it into our small shared suitcase.

I stepped close to him and ran my hands up his bare chest. “It’s a shame we’re being watched.”