She’d take the day of reprieve before starting with new people. Her stomach ached. She walked down the hallway, noting the clean lines and pleasant colors. How different it was from the dingy basement where she’d worked during the past year. How different this man was from the one who’d kissed every inch of her the night before. She swallowed.

Vaughn halted her by the arm at an office toward the end. “This will be yours.”

It was a medium-size office with wide windows overlooking what looked like a park. It’d be nice to have windows again. The carpet was dark and she had several watercolors that would look perfect in the room. She could even put a bed for Roscoe in—

She shook her head. Roscoe didn’t work with her any longer. Loneliness descended onto her shoulders with a surprising chill.

“This way.” Vaughn released her and moved toward the next office, which he opened. “My office.”

She followed him in and sank into a guest chair, while he walked around his desk and sat, facing her. A position of power. Framed awards and photos of him with political figures lined the bookshelf next to him, while diplomas covered the opposite wall. Behind him was a wide window.

“So,” she said. “Care to explain how I ended up on your team?”

“Ask your daddy.”

Ah. There was the asshat she remembered. Oh, he’d hidden that aspect of himself for the first four months they’d dated, but the truth inevitably emerged. She studied him. It was odd that while he was probably the same age as Angus, he looked ambitious and kind of fresh, where Angus, well, didn’t. Angus was more wounded, angry, and sexy. Both handsome, but in a totally different way. A fight between them would be interesting.

She started. Where in the world had that thought come from?

Even so, it would be. They were both tough and well trained. Vaughn would be calculating and Angus would be fierce. Yeah. Her money was on Angus Force.

Her abdomen did a slow roll, heating her tender sex.

“Nari?” Vaughn asked. “I lost you for a minute.”

He’d lost her for all time.

She smiled. “Well, I suppose my daddy, as you called him, wanted us to get the gossip behind us so we could move on.” Quan had liked Vaughn and probably still did. They were similar men. Interesting. She hadn’t noticed that before either. Wasn’t she chock full of insights today? “Our working together and seeming to get along will quiet any rumblings. Plus, it sounds like your team might need me.”

Vaughn sat back and studied her with a look that would’ve intrigued her before she’d gotten to know him. “I’ve looked beneath your façade. You’re high-strung, irrational, and violent.”