Chapter 2
Seductive moans swarmed around in Shawn’s memory as he recalled every delicate feature of Cydney’s curves. He should have been paying attention to the current topic of discussion at his weekly meeting, but he couldn’t get his mind off her. For months, he’d dreamed about the unbelievable sex he’d had with his exotic lover, and this past weekend he’d sampled her sweetness again.
When he’d learned her identity a month ago, he’d wanted to contact her right away but he didn’t think she’d respond well, since like him, she assumed they’d never see each other again.
I wonder what brought her to Anguilla eight months ago. He’d planned to ask her after they were formally introduced. But when he saw her, the only thing on his mind was getting her out of her dress. She’d looked even sexier than he remembered and he wasn’t done with her yet. Far from it.
An undercover FBI assignment had led him to Chicago and he was definitely going to make the most of his time here after he solved the case. He’d need a good distraction after the upcoming months he faced, anyway. This case was one of the biggest of his career and for personal reasons, it was one of the most important.
“That’s all for now, folks,” said Chicago senior supervisory special agent Larry Wolfe as the meeting came to a close. “Shawn, can you follow me to my office?”
“Yes sir,” Shawn said, putting his thoughts of Cydney on hold. When they arrived at the office, Shawn took a seat close to a window.
“Shawn, I wanted to talk to you about the assignment in a little more detail,” Agent Wolfe said as he sat in a large desk chair opposite Shawn. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you how important this case is. The DEA and Chicago P.D. will be working closely with us. I know you’ve researched all the current employees for the Peter Vallant Company, but as acting chief information security officer, you need to be debriefed on all the new employees and volunteers for the company.”
Agent Wolfe opened the top shelf of his file cabinet and pulled out a manila file folder. “I need you to go over everything in this file. As you know, Mr. Peter Vallant is the owner of the Peter Vallant Company, one of the top real estate firms in the nation. Mr. Vallant is throwing a series of customer appreciation events in Illinois and Indiana to thank all of the company’s supporters and contributors who participated in their Rebuild Your Community program initiative. You’ll be attending every event and Mr. Vallant is aware that you are undercover. He has agreed to assist you with any additional information you need while attending the events. I trust that your team is prepared.”
“Yes, sir. My top four security guards are aware of the situation and will provide extra sets of eyes during the tour for any suspicious activity. The rest of my security team will stay in Chicago and were told to be alert as they are with every security matter we handle.” In addition to working with the FBI, Shawn had spent the past year building his own high-level security firm. He hadn’t decided on a city to headquarter his company, but he had hired a top-notch security team of former members of the FBI, CIA, P.D. and U.S. military.
“Good. They leave on the appreciation tour later this week.”
“I’ll be ready,” Shawn said as he stood from his seat.
“Oh, and, Shawn,” Agent Wolfe called.
“Yes,” Shawn said as he turned his head over his shoulder.
“Can you handle this?”
Shawn knew why he was asking and appreciated the concern. But there was no way he was giving up the opportunity to work on this case. He stood to lose too much and he knew that solving the case would bring him some closure. “Is there anything I can’t handle?” he said sarcastically, demeaning the seriousness of the situation.
“Just making sure,” Agent Wolfe said with a slight laugh.
Shawn then walked out of the office and into the busy hallway buzzing with agents and other personnel ready to start their Monday. Using his thumb to flip through the pages in the file, Shawn familiarized himself with a few new faces he hadn’t originally researched as he shuffled around people walking past him.
When he was halfway through glancing at the pages in the file, Shawn stopped short. “What are the odds,” he said surprisingly as he studied the beautiful brown eyes of the woman who’d been sneaking into his thoughts way too frequently.
“Cydney Rayne, Elite Events, Incorporated. Lead planner for the appreciation series of events,” Shawn said aloud as he read the headline on the page. “Damn.” Yes, he was anxious to see her and continue what they’d started in the closet, but he didn’t mix business with pleasure. When it came to his work, nothing and no one stood in his way, and he couldn’t afford to compromise this case.
Shawn had a reputation as being one of the best undercover special agents in the bureau. A lot of agents were surprised to learn he ultimately wanted to leave the FBI and start his own company. But those who knew his story weren’t surprised by his decision at all. For the past few years he’d tried to avoid coming back to Chicago, the second city he was assigned to when he joined the FBI. But a few months ago, he’d known he had to return and finish what he’d started. It was a miracle he even got on this case in the first place. Agent Wolfe was more than his supervisor. He was more like family. Shawn hadn’t had the pleasure of knowing his biological parents and although he had great guardians, Agent Wolfe had been key in his development from boy to man. Agent Wolfe knew what Shawn stood to lose if he didn’t solve the case, and since he cared about him, Agent Wolfe had appointed Shawn as the undercover agent despite the personal conflict. But Shawn wasn’t too sure how Agent Wolfe would react if he knew about his relationship with Cydney.
“Miss Rayne, Miss Rayne. It seems I have a bigger issue than I thought,” Shawn said as he continued to stare intently at her picture. Since their relationship had been purely physical, he hadn’t told her what he did for a living. He would have given her a fake job, anyway, but that would have further complicated the situation, so he was glad that he had kept his mouth shut. Cydney wouldn’t like the fact that she would be working so closely with him, so she’d probably maintain her distance. At least that was what Shawn was hoping would be the case. He had a feeling that Cydney could be unpredictable at times and that could definitely pose a problem.
He looked from her eyes to her lips as he studied her picture one last time. For his sake, he hoped she would decide to keep her distance because if she didn’t, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to resist her.
“Stay focused,” he said to himself as he tried to reinforce his thoughts before leaving her page to finish scanning the rest of the documents in the file.
* * *
Cyd chanted Beyoncé’s recent hit as she poured herself a cup of coffee and waited for her partners to arrive to the conference room. The song had been playing in her head all weekend and she was feeling good. Even better than good—she was feeling great. She wanted to ignore the fact that Shawn was the cause of her happiness, but she couldn’t. The man had sexed her in a much needed way and she’d been on a high ever since.
After adding the perfect amount of cream and sugar to her coffee, she took a sip and savored the bitter yet sweet taste. She walked to a nearby window to enjoy the brilliant colors of the