Reckless (Benson Security 1)

“What’s to stop me going down there and summoning the police instead? I’m sure they’d be happy to remove you from my home.”

That vein throbbed again. “Don’t test me, Rachel.”

Megan swallowed hard. It was very clear they’d pushed the man to his limit. Even Rachel was wise enough to back down.

“Fine. I’ll be back shortly.” She grabbed a plush white robe, slipped into it, along with some designer flip-flops, and headed out of the apartment.

Megan noticed that only Callum watched her leave. Joe was staring at Julia, who was now cowering behind Elle. And Dimitri was glaring at Megan. Fury vibrated off the three men. This wasn’t good. She would have much rather dealt with them when they’d calmed down—in a couple of months. Maybe. She tried to casually glance around her, looking for an exit that didn’t take her past the men.

“Please,” Dimitri said. “Try to run. I dare you.”

Her eyes snapped back to him. The sight of his tense muscles and death ray glare made her decide staying in the water was a better plan. She wasn’t a coward by any stretch of the

imagination, but she still took a step closer to Elle. Safety in numbers and all that.

“Get out of the pool,” Callum ordered. “We need to debrief.”

Megan caught Elle’s eyes, and saw the same surprise she felt at Callum’s term. Debrief sounded very civilised. Perhaps he wasn’t that mad after all.

“By debrief,” Joe said, “he means find out why you scrapped the operation, went AWOL and put the life of one of your teammates in danger.” He pointed at Megan. “You could have been killed. You went in there alone, unarmed, to face off against a guy who’s known for hurting women. Not cool. Seriously, not cool.”

“You kept your team in the dark,” Dimitri said. “You kept your partner in the dark. You risked lives. Yours. Claire’s. Mine. Katrina’s.”

Okay, so not so civilised.

“Out. Now.” Callum’s voice was deadly low. The kind of tone no one dared argue with.

With slumped shoulders the women moved in a line towards the stairs. Dimitri grabbed a couple of towels and threw them at her and Elle as they climbed out of the pool. Julia, who had just noticed her slip and white underwear had turned transparent, was trying to cover herself with her hands while her face turned pink. Joe took the last towel, stepped up to Julia and wrapped it around her. She held it tight as she stared at his feet.

“Living room.” Callum barked.

He stepped to the side to let Megan and Elle pass. Megan could have sworn she heard his teeth grind together. They obviously weren’t moving fast enough for Joe, who picked Julia up and strode from the room with her in his arms. She squealed her protest, but Joe ignored her.

Megan caught Dimitri’s eyes and opened her mouth to explain. He held up a hand, fury emanating from his very pores. “Don’t. I’m so mad at you I can’t think straight.”

She snapped her mouth closed and hurried after the other women. By the time Rachel came back everyone was downstairs in the living room. The three women were sitting in a row on one of her huge expensive sofas, clutching their towels around them. The London skyline was behind them and the men were standing, arms folded, staring at them.

Rachel sashayed into the room and stood behind the sofa, folding her arms to mirror the men. No one said a word. A few seconds later the door banged open and Ryan ran in.

“What’d I miss?” He sounded particularly gleeful, which made all of the women frown at him.

Callum cast him a cool glance. “We haven’t started yet.”

“Cool. Time to grab a snack then.” He headed into Rachel’s kitchen.

“I didn’t say you could help yourself, Ryan,” Rachel told him and Ryan just grinned as he opened the fridge.

“Okay,” Callum said. “Before we get into how stupid…”

“Irresponsible…” Joe said.

“And dangerous…” Dimitri added.

“Your stunt was today,” Callum continued. “You four are going to start at the top. I want every detail of this plan. Now.”

Megan shared a glance with Elle. Julia was studying her feet, her shoulders hunched as she curled in on herself.

“Now!” Callum shouted.