the large file box, Derek pushed open the tall glass door to Lily’s building and headed into the grand foyer, the white marble floor reflecting his shadow, and glanced around. He’d spotted the cameras, both seen and unseen, the first time he’d walked in.
Today, their locations were different. He couldn’t help but smile. Nice job.
The doorman stared at Derek, his black eyes hard and searching, reminding him of an enormous Maasai warrior he’d once met on one of his 67 trips to Africa.
“I’m here to see Lily Andrews, penthouse.”
The old man glared at him. “Yes. I’m aware of that.”
Though the information wasn’t in Lily’s file—which irritated the shit out of him—it hadn’t taken Derek long to piece together that both George and Ben had a background similar to his own. Ben Tinsdale was a no-brainer. The man was a legend within Unit 67.
George, on the other hand, was a bit of a mystery.
Derek had watched the massive black man until he was certain. There was no denying it, in the way George moved, and with his access to Lily and Ben. It screamed that something was missing in the papers that chronicled Lily’s short life—he definitely played some role in her life in Omaha, and quite possibly even before.
He quickly read the situation. The big man staring him down had gone from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1 overnight. Time to diffuse that ticking time bomb.
Derek dropped the file box on the counter and reached out his hand. “Let me get straight to the point here, George. I’m not the enemy.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Jury’s still out on that one.” George grabbed Derek’s hand and squeezed, hard. “But let me get straight to the point, too. I’m watching you.”
Derek locked eyes with the man trying to crush his hand bones and smiled. “No doubt.”
George let go and tipped his head toward the elevators. Derek silently made his way to his waiting ride and resisted the urge to shake his hand until after the elevator doors closed.
Damn, that old man had the grip of Godzilla.
* * *
LILY’S FRONT DOOR swung open before Derek could knock. Impressive. Cameras downstairs. Monitor upstairs. What other surprises did this woman have up her sleeve? He was sure there were plenty, and he hoped to uncover every single one of them.
“Hey.” Her brown hair was pulled back into a high, messy ponytail. She wore a black tank and matching yoga pants. There wasn’t a spot of makeup on her olive skin.
She was beautiful.
His stomach tightened. Focus, Moretti.
She glanced at the box of case files in his arms and grimaced. “This is the part I could’ve lived without.”
Stepping back, she let him through the door, then closed it tightly behind them.
“You and me both. But there’s no getting around it. We have less than three days to bring you up to speed, and we need to put together your file. Rowland will vet you, so we need your identity to be airtight.”
“I thought you might say that,” Lily said, grinning. “I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared into her bedroom for less than sixty seconds, then reemerged, balancing her open laptop. “Already started.”
Of course she had.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was exactly why he wanted—needed, really—Lily on this case. She knew the outer workings of this game just as well, if not better, than he did, and a solid, unbreakable file was crucial to the success of their mission—and essential to keeping her alive.
She set the computer down on the island and turned it to face him. “Take a look. Rowland is your guy, so feel free to add whatever information you feel is pertinent.”
Derek set his box of files next to the computer and silently scanned through her backstory, checking for any inconsistencies. He found none. “Impressive.”
She leaned against the counter, an embarrassed smile lighting her face, and shrugged. “Thanks.”
“Now we bring in the big guns.” He reached for his phone and punched in his security code.
“Wait, what? What are you doing?”
“Testing to make sure this thing holds.” He punched in a number he knew by heart, held the phone to his ear and waited, grinning at the sight of Lily’s scrunched forehead.
A soft, feminine voice answered on the third ring. “Hey, D.”
Derek smiled at his baby sister’s nickname. Alexis didn’t call any of her brothers by their given name, hadn’t since she was old enough to talk.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Confusion swept Lily’s face, and her brows arched in a silent question. He threw her a wink. She turned away, color rushing her cheeks. Derek turned his attention back to the other woman in his life. “You have a second?”
“For you? Always.”
“Great. I need red.” Red was their term to go secure on any line. His genius baby sister had figured out a way to scramble their calls without needing a special phone. It had saved all the Moretti brothers at one point or another.
“Go ahead,” she said, her voice high with excitement.
“I just sent you a file. I need you to run a background check on it, see if you can find any holes or discrepancies.”
“Easy peasy.” Her tech skills were legendary and highly sought-after. She’d been able to hack into the FBI database without leaving any type of footprint since she was fifteen. Vetting Lily’s cover story would be child’s play for Alexis. “When do you need it done?”
“Yesterday.”
“How about thirty minutes?” she countered.
“Sounds perfect. I’ll wait for the call.” He hung up and pocketed his phone.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Lily said. “Who was that?”
“My baby sister, Alexis.”
Lily’s mouth popped open. “You sent my encrypted file to your sister?”
“Easy, tiger. There’s no one else on this planet that I’d want to make sure your file is bulletproof. Trust me.”
“Okay, but we’re going to need something stronger than water tonight.” Lily headed to the kitchen and called over her shoulder, “What do you want, Merlot or Guinness?”
Derek followed her movement with his eyes. What he wanted to drink didn’t matter, not when he was in the same room with Lily. Especially not with her walking around with that tight black getup hugging her curves just so, no matter how
