Rekindled (Titanium Security Series) by Cross Kaylea Page B

leveled his stare at her. His eyes burned with male interest and an unmistakable possessive light. Tension simmered between them, full of repressed need and old hurts that needed healing. God help her, deep down there was still a part of her that wanted to heal them. For closure, she told herself. “Do you trust me, Grace?” he asked quietly.
    She knew he meant more than at that moment, more than him watching over her now, and there was no way she was ready to go there again. There’d been too much damage, and too much time and distance to repair it. But as far as putting her life into his hands? There was only one answer she could give him. “Yes. I trust you.”

 
     
     
Chapter Six
     
     
    Grace sat up in Alex’s hotel room waiting for him to bring the other team members in to meet her. When they’d first arrived almost two hours ago he’d brought her bags in, told her to get settled, then taken her phone and left. She’d unpacked a little, but it felt weird to be here among Alex’s personal things. Especially when faced with the wide king size bed he’d slept in.  The act of placing her toothbrush next to his at the bathroom sink seemed so intimate, and slightly bizarre considering she was in his inner sanctum but wasn’t his lover anymore. That single, unforgettable night they’d shared before the attack was the most bittersweet of memories.
    She occupied herself by reviewing the files in her briefcase. They’d been more than two-thirds of the way through the agenda when Alex’s call had hauled her out of the meeting. By now her team had wrapped everything up and were probably having lunch somewhere. Her stomach rumbled. How long was she going to have to wait in here? With the security scare, room service definitely wasn’t an option.
    At the sound of the keycard sliding into the lock followed by an electronic beep, she set her papers aside and faced the door. Alex walked in, two large men right behind him, the ones she’d seen at the accident site yesterday.
    “Got you some lunch,” Alex told her, handing her a Styrofoam container full of something that smelled aromatic and delicious. “Chicken curry over rice, mild on the spices.”
    It shouldn’t have surprised her that he remembered her aversion to spicy food. Her mouth was already watering from the heavenly aroma. “Thanks.” She looked at the other men.
    “This is Hunter,” Alex said, gesturing to the built, dark-haired man, “and this is Gage.” He nodded at the big redhead who’d been driving the SUV yesterday. “Hunt was a SEAL and now co-owns Titanium Security. Gage is former SF, like me. They’re my personal security detail and will fill in watching over you if I can’t.”
    Grace smiled and murmured a friendly greeting to the newcomers. “Am I the only one eating?”
    “We ate earlier,” Alex answered for the others, and pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Use this one from now on. It’s encrypted, and we already loaded all your contacts into it. I took the battery and SIM card out of your phone to disable it in case anyone was trying to track you with the signal. You’ll get it back once Hassani’s in custody.”
    He sounded confident that it would happen, and some of her anxiety faded. “And what about the meeting with…?” She trailed off, glancing at Gage and Hunter, unsure how much she could say.
    “Don’t worry about watching what you say with these guys, they’re already up to speed on everything. We’ll make sure you attend the meeting. As soon as you eat I’m going to run over to your hotel and have a chat with your team’s security guys. You can come if you want to talk to your colleagues.  Hunter and Gage will shadow us on the way there before they have to leave for a recon job.”
    “And you’ll need to wear this,” Hunter added, lifting and holding out a bullet-proof vest. “Smallest I could find, but it might be a bit big on you.”
    Grace stared at it for a second, her pulse picking up at