Page 31 of Cipher

The sheriff released a breath through his nose but did not argue, because he knew the club’s local network reached people who would never answer a deputy’s questions. Then he closed the folder he had brought and rested one hand over it. “We found a second phone when we searched Jeff’s apartment last night. It’s secured in evidence, warrant application is with the judge, and no one touches the device until the signature comes through.”

I waited to make sure he was done, then replied, “Understood.”

His eyes narrowed. “That answer should not make me more nervous.”

Bex lowered her gaze toward the table, but the small smile tugging at her lips told me she knew exactly why I had accepted the restriction so easily. Raines was waiting for authority to enter the physical device. But phones existed inside ecosystems, and Jeff had left a trail scattered well beyond the device sitting in county storage.

Raines pointed at me without lifting his hand from the folder. “Nobody searches that phone before I have the warrant.”

“Your phone. Your warrant,” I agreed with a nod. “I won’t touch the device.”

He stared hard at me. “Just like that?”

I didn’t bother to confirm with anything but a steady stare.

Bex’s shoulders shook once with a laugh she disguised as a cough. I looked at her, and the amusement in her eyes confirmed she was already learning the difference between my compliance and my patience.

My phone vibrated against the table before Raines could say anything else. I saw the name Wrangler on the display and answered to the sound of tools and an engine running in the background.

“Your woman’s SUV passed the full sweep,” he reported. “Tamper sensors are live, secure tracking is isolated from the manufacturer account, and the remote alert package is tied into your profile and operations.”

“We’re coming down.”

Wrangler grunted his acknowledgment and ended the call. Raines gathered his folder and headed toward the observation wing to speak with Nina’s protection specialist before she took her through the secured visitor route. I locked my office, placed Bex on the inside of the corridor beside me, and kept my palm at her waist as we crossed the busy campus toward the garage elevators.

Black Castle employed hundreds of people across protection, intelligence, transportation, medical response, and crisis operations. Most recognized me well enough to offer a nod and keep moving, but Bex drew attention simply because no woman had ever walked through the executive wing tucked beneath my hand. She noticed the glances without becoming self-conscious, her body staying close to mine while her fingers occasionally brushed the back of my wrist.

One of our newer threat analysts—a young kid just out of college—stepped from the elevator as we approached, carrying a tablet against his chest. His gaze found Bex, lingered on her mouth, then dropped briefly to her chest, before returning to her lips and drifting up to her eyes. He offered a friendly smile, once again staring at her mouth as he extended one hand. I closed mine around Bex’s first, threaded our fingers together, and drew her tighter against my side before his palm came within reach.

“She’s mine,” I snarled, my voice carrying an unspoken threat.

The analyst looked at our joined hands, then at the expression on my face, and wisely converted the attempted handshake into a small nod. “Good to meet you.”

He scurried away, and Bex waited until the elevator doors closed behind us before turning her face up to look at me. Amusement danced in her eyes, and the smile she was trying to suppress made my cock stir.

“Did you just intercept a handshake?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“He looked at your mouth three times.”

Her lips twitched harder. “You counted?”

“I count everything.”

I didn’t mention the ogling of her breasts because I was still fighting the urge to go after the fucker and take him apart piece by piece.

Bex laughed and leaned into my shoulder. “Military-grade caveman tactics.”

“Stopped looking.”

“That probably had more to do with the deadly expression on your face.”

“Same result.”

She shook her head, but the pleased warmth in her expression made it clear she enjoyed my jealousy far more than she intended to discourage it. I lifted our joined hands and pressed my mouth to her knuckles, watching the humor soften into heat as the elevator descended.