Honey Trapped

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pria hated conference calls. Every time she got pulled into one, it seemed like nothing ever got done. Everyone talked circles around everyone else and eventually all the patchings for the computer programs they were using fell to her anyway. She didn't participate in the call except with quick yes or no answers, but she took plenty of notes because it was only a matter of time before her team lead would finish with his usual, "Okay, great work everyone. Pria, let us know how it goes. Ping us if you have any questions."

Pffft. As if! More often than not, she ended up having to do her own research to get anything done, but with the amount of money they paid her, she figured she didn't have much to complain about.

The doorbell rang. Putting Skype on mute, she headed to the door and looked through the peephole.

"Are you kidding me?" Asking him how he'd attained her new address would be pointless considering what he did for a living.

"Open up, Pria."

Experience had taught her that when it came to her brother's case, no one ever knocked on her door alone and it had been a long time since someone had shown up unannounced. The fact that SA Donati was outside her door now made her hands tremble. If bad news needed to be delivered, why couldn't they have sent someone else? Why did it have to be him?

"Drop dead, Drew," she sneered.

"I mean, I could call in a health and welfare check. I bet your parents would love to get the call that their daughter had police stop by her house because she wasn't fit enough to answer the door."

She swung the door open to glare at him. That stupid smirk was on his face, the one he had always worn when teasing her.

"How much trouble, exactly, would I get into if I punched you in the face?" she asked conversationally.

The smirk turned into a full-blown smile, eyes lighting mischievously. "Wanna find out?"

She moved to slam the door. His hand shot out to stop the momentum of the door and he pushed past her. She moved back quickly, not wanting to be run over. When he stood in the center of her living room, eyes moving over her space, she folded her arms in irritation. "Did something happen with the case? Is Sal dead?"

"Dead?" A low chuckle caused the hair on her arms to raise. "So you're still a bloodthirsty little thing?"

"Yeah, well, some things never change. What do you want, Agent Donati?"

He grimaced and corrected her. "Brogue."

"Give me a sec." She went to her computer, unmuted the call, and began clacking at the keyboard as she spoke. "Hey guys, something came up and I have to drop out of the call. Luz, I'll send you the notes I took if you can pick up where I left off, please. Email me the final version and I'll get started on those updates as soon as I'm able. Kevin, if you can set up a block of time for us tonight from about eight p.m. to midnight, that should give us plenty of time to comb through and get the patchings done."

There was a quick round of polite goodbyes and then she closed the laptop.

She turned back to Brogue. He must have increased the amount of time he spent in the gym. He'd been muscular before, but now he had the look of a bodybuilder minus the 'roids. Deep-set brown eyes were looking at her now, lit with the same teasing amusement she remembered so well, making it hard for her to separate the memory of Drew with the reality of Agent Donati. It shouldn't be so easy for her to remember the feeling of that same smile against her skin when he would bury his head in the crook of her neck.

Needing to clear her head, Pria looked away from him. He wasn't Drew. He was Agent Donati, and Agent Donati never came to her door. "Is it bad?"

"Is what bad?"