Page 41

The scotch sat untouched on the edge of the desk, the amber liquid catching the glow from the desk lamp. Elliot Wilde didn’t reach for it.

Not yet. Not when his head was still a hurricane of thoughts, each one slamming into the next with the weight of everything that had happened.

Brody O’Connell.

The name alone soured his stomach, sent a sharp twist of regret cutting through his ribs.

He should have seen it.

Elliot prided himself on being the guy who noticed things. The cracks before they widened, the lies before they unraveled. He was the one with the instinct for deception, for danger lurking beneath the surface.

And yet, Brody had fooled him.

Not just fooled him. Broke him.

Hell, he’d considered him a brother. The kind of friend you take into your confidence, into your family.

Elliot had brought him into WSW.

That was the part that sat like a rock in his chest. Elliot had vouched for him. When they’d both left the military, when WSW was growing and Davey needed more trusted operatives, it had been Elliot who convinced his brother to bring Brody in.

Brody had been his guy.

Smart, sharp, loyal—or so Elliot had thought.

How many times had they worked side by side? Trained together. Covered each other’s six. Laughed over beers after long missions.

And all the while, Brody had been betraying them.

A Praetorian mole, embedded inside Wilde Security Worldwide.

Feeding intel to their enemies. Sabotaging operations. Putting his people in danger.

Putting Elliot’s people in danger.

And worst of all?

He’d done it with a smile.

Elliot clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stare at the tablet in front of him, files scrolling past in a blur. Daphne had decrypted everything. The extent of Brody’s treachery was all laid out in black and white, cold and damning.

And now Brody was gone.

Dead.

At least, that’s what they were telling themselves.

It should have made him feel better. More in control.

It didn’t.

No body, no confirmation.

Which meant Elliot couldn’t shake the feeling that Brody wasn’t finished with them yet.

The sharp buzz of his phone cut through the silence. Elliot blinked, dragging himself back to the present as he glanced at the screen.

Rue Bristow.

He hesitated—just for a second.

The last time they talked, she’d been running her mouth about how she didn’t need a babysitter in Antarctica. How Rowan and Davey were overreacting.

Elliot knew that tone. Knew her.

Knew the way she deflected with humor when she didn’t want people worrying about her.

He exhaled and swiped to answer. “Rue.”

The second he answered, her face filled the screen—framed in dim hotel lighting, honey-gold hair still damp from a shower, an energy drink in her hand. She looked tired. But knowing Rue, she’d never admit it.

“Hey,” she said, too casual.

She wasn’t pacing—yet—but he could see it in the restless twitch of her fingers against the can, like she was debating something.

That alone set him on edge.

“What’s going on?”

A pause. “Rowan and Davey are nagging the hell out of me about taking an operative to Antarctica,” she admitted, her voice somewhere between amusement and exasperation. “They even had Frost back them up, which feels deeply unfair. But if I have to drag someone along, it’s going to be you.”

Elliot’s brows lifted. That, he hadn’t expected. “…Me.”

“Yes, you,” she said like it was obvious. “Problem is, your boss-slash-brother is being a real pain in the ass about it.”

“Yeah,” Elliot muttered, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “He would.”

Davey had been treating him like a fragile glass egg ever since the poisoned pizza incident. And when he’d reminded his brother that Davey, himself, had hated being treated like that after he returned from his last deployment with more metal than bone in his leg, it had only caused a fight.

“So, talk to him!” Rue insisted. “Tell him you’re fine and want to take the job.”

“Do I want to take the job?”

“Of course you do. You’d get to spend three whole weeks with me!”

“In Antarctica.”

“I’m extremely good company.”

“In Antarctica.”

“Look, I know it’s not the ideal location, but I promise to make it worth your while.”

Elliot leaned back in his chair. “That right?”

“Obviously.”

He could hear the grin in her voice before she even said the next part.

“I’ll keep you warm.”

His fingers curled around the armrest. Jesus.

She did this on purpose. Threw out lines just to watch him react, just to push that one extra inch until he gave in.

“You’ll keep me warm,” he repeated dryly.

“Well, sure. Body heat and all that.” A pause. “Are you going to make me beg? ‘Cause I don’t beg.”

I could make you beg.

The thought came out of nowhere, hot and sudden, and he shoved it down immediately. Jesus. Not going there. Not with Rue.

Not when she was halfway across the world, about to drop herself into one of the most isolated, dangerous places on the planet. Not when he was supposed to be thinking tactically, not about her mouth and what she’d sound like if?—

Nope. Not doing this.

She huffed out a breath. “If you don’t come with me, I’ll just pick someone really incompetent. Maybe that guy who almost shot himself in the foot during training?”

Jesus Christ, she was impossible.

“Unless you want to volunteer…” she said sweetly and let the suggestion dangle.

“You mean unless Davey lets me volunteer,” he corrected.

“Ugh. I know.” She sighed. “Your brother is so overprotective. So are you, for that matter.” She made a face. “Maybe I don’t want you to come after all.”

Elliot smirked. “Yeah, well, you don’t exactly make it easy to look after you.”

Rue gasped, offended in the way only Rue Bristow could be. “I am very easy to look after.”

Elliot huffed a laugh. “Right. That’s why your file is flagged as a flight risk.”

She scoffed. “Okay, first of all , WSW has a file on me? Can I see it?”

“No.”

“Fine.” She pouted. “And, secondly, that was one time?—”

Elliot arched a brow. “Four times.”

“Semantics.” She waved it off. “What can I say? I’m the fun Bristow sister. Rowan’s the scary one.”

Elliot huffed a quiet laugh. Not wrong. “Can’t argue with that. Your sister once looked me in the eye and told me she could kill me with a hairpin.”

Rue snorted. “She wasn’t bluffing.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

She grinned. “But I would never say something like that.”

“No, you’d just wing it and hope for the best.”

“Because I’m the fun one,” she insisted.

“You’re a catastrophe in the making.”

Rue gasped again, this time with dramatic flair. “Excuse you—I am a delight. ”

Elliot exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. “A menace.”

“A delightful menace,” she corrected. “Anyway, since you’re considering signing up for three weeks of my company, I figured you should know something important.”

Elliot frowned. “That sounds ominous.”

Rue tilted her head, a slow, syrupy grin spreading across her face. “Well, I hate to break it to you, El…” She leaned in slightly, those golden eyes filled with unholy amusement. “…but once Rowan and Davey get hitched? You and I are family.”

Elliot froze.

She cackled, the sound bright and wicked like she was savoring every second of torturing him. “Ooooh, that look on your face. You just realized, didn’t you?”

“That’s not how that works,” he said immediately.

“Sure it is.” She took a sip of her energy drink and looked smug as hell. “I’ll be your adorable, charming, favorite sister-in-law. So all those naughty thoughts you’ve been having about me are a big, taboo no-no.”

This woman.

Elliot closed his eyes. “Rue…”

But even with his eyes closed, he could hear the grin in her voice.

“Hey, I saw your face when I made that beg comment. You were considering it. All the ways you could make me beg.” She clucked her tongue. “Such naughty thoughts for a good boy like you.”

“I don’t have—” He cut himself off, jaw tightening. No way in hell he was finishing that sentence.

A beat.

“Oh, come on, El.” Her voice dripped with mock innocence. “That pause was incriminating.”

“I did not pause.”

“You totally did.”

“I was choosing my words.”

She let out a low, delighted laugh. “Mmm. And yet, somehow, that only makes it worse.”

“Jesus Christ.” He exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t dare open his eyes and look at her. Not when he felt heat crawling up the back of his neck. Not when he knew she was watching him, waiting, thriving off the reaction she’d just pried out of him.

“Relax.” The warm, throaty sound of her laughter slid under his skin and burned like a slow fuse. “I’m flattered, really. I’d be concerned if you weren’t thinking about me like that. I’m gorgeous, and, as we’ve already established, I’m a delight.”

He couldn’t avoid looking at her forever, so he steeled himself and opened his eyes. “I’m not thinking about you like that.”

Her golden-brown eyes sparkled. “But now you’re thinking about not thinking about me like that.”

He rested his head back against the chair and stared up at the ceiling.

This was hell.

This was actual hell.

And if he gave in and went to Antarctica, there was a very real chance he wouldn’t survive three weeks alone with her.

He could fight this. Pretend he had a choice. But that was a joke, because the second she called, he was already going.

The silence stretched for several beats, and the laughter faded from her expression. “Listen, if you really don’t want to do it, just say so,” she said breezily, like it didn’t matter. Like he didn’t already know her well enough to hear the weight under it.

He dropped his gaze back to his desk. Scowled at the untouched scotch, at the files laying out Brody’s betrayal, the puzzle pieces of Pratorian’s game.

A game in which Rue was an unwitting player. Frost had all but confirmed it.

And if she was in danger, there was no goddamn way Elliot was letting her go to the most isolated place on Earth alone.

He sighed. “Text me the details. I’ll be there.”

There was a pause, then?—

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Rue let out a breath, quiet and quick, like she didn’t want him to hear she’d been holding it. For all her bravado, she still wanted someone in her corner.

He had a feeling she didn’t get that nearly as often as she should.

“You’re the best, El.”

The line disconnected, leaving him in silence.

Elliot sat there for a moment, staring at his phone. Then, finally, he reached for the scotch. Instead of drinking it, he poured it back into the decanter. He wasn’t getting blindsided.

Not again.

Not with her safety on the line.

And definitely not by her.

He’d need a clear head for whatever was coming.

And with Rue Bristow? Something was always coming.

The Wilde Security Worldwide adventure continues with Wilde & Untamed !

Elliot Wilde is a man of control. Rue Bristow is chaos incarnate. Their flirtation was always harmless—an easy game of sharp words and slow smiles. Until Antarctica traps them in a deadly mission with no rules, no backup, and only each other to rely on.

Her latest expedition isn’t just about adventure. It’s about survival. And to stay one step ahead, she needs a cover story. A fake fiancé. A man she can trust.

Elliot should have said no. But when it comes to Rue, walking away has never been his strong suit.

Now, with enemies lurking in the ice and nowhere to run, the most dangerous thing between them isn’t the cold.

It’s the heat.