Free Whatever It Takes by Dixie Lee Brown

did the bastard know he was taking time off? He must have someone inside the precinct funneling information to him.
    “Daniels, I thought maybe I discouraged you last night.”
    “On the contrary. I’m more determined than ever. Oh . . . and it will be so much fun to exact revenge on that pretty little thing who helped you. What’s her name? Alex?”
    Rage burned in Nate’s blood, and he took several deep breaths before he could trust his voice. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information, Daniels, but you’ve been misinformed this time.”
    Daniels laughed. “You’re a lousy liar, Sanders. I pay well and often for the information I need. I’m never misinformed . I am curious, though. Is she special to you?”
    “Never saw the girl before last night. Besides, this is between you, me, and Uncle Leo. Involving other ­people, like you did in the bar, was a big mistake.” Nate would say anything to keep Alex out of this.
    “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just lie to me, Detective. We had a chance to settle this between us, and your little girlfriend got in the way. Now we’ll do it my way. Enjoy your time off, Detective.” Daniels laughed and then the line went dead.
    Nate’s jaw clenched as he fought for control of his anger. He had to call the captain and tell him of this new threat, and that he suspected someone at the precinct had been bought off. Then he had to choose the right time and place to break the news to Alex. This whole mess was his fault, and he intended to stick to her like glue until Daniels was behind bars.
    A LEX WAS STILL shaking when she reached the safety of her room. Why did that man insist on irritating her? Did he do it on purpose or did it just come naturally? She grabbed her bag from the floor at the foot of the bed and dropped it on the undisturbed comforter. She hadn’t been in this room long enough to even ruffle the covers. The memory of lying in Nate’s warm embrace in his bed this morning, tucked against his hard body, made her skin flush with heat and her lips twitch with a grin that was wrong in so many ways.
    Alex tossed her head to banish the image and stomped to the bathroom for the few personal items she’d bothered to unpack, quickly stuffing them back in her bag. What was it about Nate that turned her into a blithering idiot who wanted to kiss him one minute . . . and slap him the next? She squeezed her eyes closed. If only she couldn’t remember that incident quite so vividly. What a fool she’d made of herself. Yet he hadn’t gotten angry. He’d treated her with kindness and respect . . . right up until he started telling her how their faux marriage was going to work.
    She understood the necessity to have one person ultimately in charge of their operation. If they didn’t, they ran the risk of the two of them going in opposite directions and working at cross-­purposes. It made total sense that the person should be Nate, but taking orders from him was an entirely different matter.
    It wasn’t only Nate. There was a time, not that long ago, when Alex was told every move to make and beaten if she didn’t comply fast enough. Anyone who sought to control her in that way for a lesser reason than rescuing Marco would be sorely disappointed.
    The almost-­kiss in the storage room had been a huge mistake. Not only because Rayna had almost walked in on them, but because, up until then, Alex had been blissfully unaware of how much she desired his touch. The new knowledge terrified her and awakened longings in her she never knew existed.
    She’d have to be more careful from now on. Renew her efforts to stay away from him. Unfortunately, he was her ticket to be included on this mission. He’d said yes when Joe would have said no . . . and she hadn’t forgotten that he’d glossed over her activities last night when reporting them to Joe might not have gotten her shipped home, but would have certainly curtailed her jaunts on the town by herself.