Free Heat Seeker by Lora Leigh Page B

for him was sated.
    “You knew he was being paid off to let you live, didn’t you?”
    What to tell him, what not to tell him?
    She smiled back at him. “Where did you get your information?”
    “Why didn’t you tell me everything you knew in Atlanta?” he queried instead. “I helped you, Bailey, I got you out of there. You held back on me.”
    “Information wasn’t part of the deal,” she reminded himcoolly as she leaned forward and braced her arms on the table. “You released me without conditions, John, remember that. Now, how did you find out Orion was being paid off?”
    He couldn’t know who had been paying the assassin to not kill—otherwise, he wouldn’t be here pumping her for information. He would be tracking another of Orion’s employers instead.
    “Orion was a very expensive assassin,” he stated. “Only the richest of men, or women, could have afforded his services. He was careful. He was damned good at what he did and he wouldn’t have allowed you to live if he wasn’t being paid handsomely to do so.”
    Bailey tilted her head to the side and watched him curiously for long moments. She’d been right last night: He was here to poke his nose into her business again.
    “I have no idea who was paying him,” she finally admitted.
    “But you knew he was being paid?”
    Bailey tightened her lips for a second before nodding. “I knew. He told me in Russia, when he sliced my wrists. He warned me then to stay out of his way. That he wouldn’t let me live the next time.”
    John’s eyes narrowed dangerously. For a second, just a second, a flashing memory of Trent with that same look on his face, his body tightening protectively when she had been threatened, flashed across her mind.
    “And you continued to search for him?” His voice lowered, became almost guttural with anger.
    Bailey smiled at the sound. “Of course I did. If I backed down every time I was warned to do so, then I wouldn’t have had a career for long, now would I?”
    “You nearly didn’t have one the way it was,” he growled. “Orion was out of your league, Bailey. No lone agent could have taken him out, no matter how good they were. You didn’t have a chance.”
    “So I let you have him.” She rose from the chair and moved back to the coffeemaker, where she collected the pot and returned to refill their cups. “What’s your bitch?”
    She glimpsed the tightening of his jaw, the way his forehead tensed and had to force herself not to grit her teeth. Was it wishful thinking?
    “My bitch is the fact that you haven’t learned your lesson,” he said dangerously. “You’re still trying to bite off more than you can chew.”
    Now, this was just supposition, she thought in amusement. He couldn’t be certain why she had returned home, no matter what he wanted to believe.
    “I was fired from the agency, John, or did you forget that little piece of information?” She shoved the pot back into the coffeemaker before turning to face him once again. “I’m not on assignment here.”
    “You weren’t on assignment in Atlanta, either,” he grunted as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t play games with me, Bailey. We both know why you returned here.”
    Bailey inhaled deeply, gritted her teeth and forced back the anger that rose inside her at his domineering attitude.
    “This is my home, John. Where else was I supposed to go?”
    “The same home you disowned fourteen years ago?” He rose from his chair now and faced her challengingly. “The same home you swore you’d never return to when your father refused to believe that his best friend had killed his wife and daughter? Is that the home you’re talking about here?”
    Control, control. She breathed in once, twice. She wasn’t going to let him crack the shield she had promised herself she would keep in place.
    “That was a long time ago . . .”
    “Bullshit!” he snarled. “You came back one time, when your parents were