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Probably sound asleep. Barcelona was six hours ahead of Louisville, Kentucky. It was well after midnight there, and he’d just come off a three-week op. His very last for Aegis.
    “It’s seven thirty, Marley.” Jake Ryder strolled into her office and reached for the report she’d drawn up earlier from the corner of her desk, the one detailing the activities of each of his operatives currently on assignment across the globe. “If you don’t head home soon, I’m going to think you don’t have a life.”
    Marley bit her tongue as she peered over her glasses toward her boss. In typical Jake fashion, his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, he’d tugged off his tie hours ago, and his thick, dark hair was tousled, as if he’d run his fingers through it numerous times, which, knowing him, he probably had.
    A frown tugged at her mouth as she switched screens again, pulling up a satellite picture of Landon’s hotel. She didn’t have a life. She was in the office from sunup to sundown. And he was only just now figuring that out? She’d worked here for three freakin’ years.
    “Have you heard from Miller?” she asked, working for calm when sometimes she just wanted to smack Jake upside the head and say, “ Seriousl y ?”
    Jake flipped through pages in her daily report, not bothering to look at her. Another MO for Jake. It was all business to him. Even her. “Was I supposed to?”
    “No.” A tiny part of her felt stupid for being so worried. But Jake paid her well because she stayed on top of all parts of an op, even when it was over, and she’d learned long ago not to discount a feeling about any one of “her” guys. “He’s not responding to my messages or phone calls.”
    Jake turned to the back of her report. “He’s done with us, Marley. By now he’s probably sleeping. Or maybe he hooked up with a woman to celebrate.” His dark eyes flicked to hers. “Just because he went offline doesn’t mean anything.”
    Marley’s heart did that stupid little flutter thing it’d been doing the past few months whenever Jake looked right at her, which only ticked her off more. She was not interested in Jake Ryder. He was too controlling and way too domineering and, even on a good day, aggravating as hell. What she needed was an agreeable and pleasant man in her life, one she could unwind with after a long-ass day, like today. Not someone she wanted to slap upside the head every fifteen minutes.
    “Normally, an operative not responding to my messages after completing an op wouldn’t concern me, but this is Miller. He is in no way normal by any definition.” And though Jake might have his head stuck in the sand where his guys’ personal lives were concerned, Marley didn’t. The only woman Landon Miller was interested in was thousands of miles away, probably kicked back on the couch in her small ranch-style house, watching reruns of Scandal , which was exactly where Marley wanted to be.
    Jake lowered the report, tipped his head, and narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying?”
    What was she saying? “Nothing. Yet,” she added. “But if he doesn’t make that flight in the morning, I’m going to have plenty to say.”
    Jake frowned and headed for his open office door. “I’m sure you will. Miller’s fine. Go home and forget about work for a few hours. The world isn’t going to fall apart without you.”
    Marley tapped her toe against the floor as she watched Jake go, more irritated by his blasé attitude than she liked. No, Ryder’s world might not fall apart if she ignored this feeling, but Landon Miller’s was another matter entirely.

     
    The cold slap of water against his face jerked Landon awake.
    He gasped, shook his head, and tried to move, only to realize he was hanging by his arms. A dull throb echoed through his skull, but it didn’t even begin to compare to the ache spreading through his shoulders and limbs as he blinked several times against the blinding light.
    “It’s nice to