The Hidden Truths Series Box Set

by Brittney Sahin

  His dress shirt clung to the hard muscles of his chest. His large hands held my face as he guided me closer to him, crushing my lips with his.

  My naked body pressed against his clothed one, and I moaned into his mouth, wishing I could feel his skin. I needed him, more than I’d ever needed him before.

  Just for tonight.

  Only for tonight.

  My lips parted from his as I steadied my eyes on him. “I need to touch you.” It had been so long, and yet it felt like we’d first made love only yesterday.

  Connor slipped me off of him, and I groaned at the loss of his touch. He stood and unbuttoned his wet shirt. No, he didn’t rip it off—he wasn’t some overplayed Fabio—but as I watched him tug off his shirt, I almost thought he was. The shadows from the flickering candle flames played off his muscled chest and perfect abs as he reached for the button of his pants.

  I couldn’t wait any longer. I stood up, offering him full view of my body.

  His eyes dropped down to my breasts and continued until he pulled his gaze back up. “You’re so beautiful,” he rasped.

  I stepped up to him, trying to ignore the fact that I was now freezing. Goosebumps scattered over my body and my nipples were fully erect from the cold.

  Although his pants were still on, he reached for me and pulled me into his arms, leaning over to sweep my legs from under me. I reveled in how warm his chest felt against mine.

  He carried me into the bedroom and yanked at my bedspread with one hand. “Thank you,” I said as he lowered me onto the bed. I covered my body with the comforter and studied him.

  A smile teased the corners of his lips as he dropped his pants and removed his socks. He pulled back the covers and joined me in bed. “Are you sure you want this? After what you told me tonight—” He reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine.

  The time would never be right, but I wasn’t sure if I could tell him now. A dim sense of responsibility battered my brain, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

  My eyes opened as he released my hand. He was getting out of the bed. He must have known I was having second thoughts. “I let myself get carried away.”

  I didn’t know what to say. “Let me throw your clothes in the dryer.” I pulled the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around my body.

  He looked down at his boxers, which were wet, and crooked a smile my way. “You don’t happen to have anything big enough to fit me while they dry, do you?”

  I came around to his side of the bed, the white bedsheet clinging to my body. His smooth muscled chest, his trim waist, the oh-so-sexy shadows below . . . I captured the memory of him in my mind.

  Connor

  I couldn’t believe what had almost happened. We had been so close. But, no. It didn’t feel right, not after the revelation about her sister. We’d both lost control in the bathroom—our bodies had taken over—but thankfully, we came to our senses.

  We were wrong for each other. It hadn’t worked before, and I had the scars to prove it. But the woman was making it hard for me to hate her. I couldn’t even pretend to, anymore. Not after what she went through with her sister. I couldn’t imagine losing Mason, my brother. It would kill me.

  And Olivia and Jessie had been close. Her sister practically raised her after their father remarried . . . and her mother—well, she’d been out of the picture for a while. That was why Olivia and I made the decision to keep the baby. To raise the baby together. To give the baby a family.

  Or at least, that’s what I had thought we had decided.

  It had gutted me when she changed the plan without telling me.

  “Connor, your clothes are dry.”

  I pushed my thoughts to the side and forced my attention on Olivia. “That was fast.” I rose from the couch, clutching the blanket around me, and grabbed my clothes from her. “Thank you.”

  “You can use my bedroom.” She forced a smile to her face—one of the fake smiles I’d learned to know.

  I nodded and moved into her bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I dropped the blanket to the floor, holding only the clothes in my hands.

  We had spent the last twenty minutes in silence in her living room, both feeling the pangs of discomfort. Thankfully, she’d changed out of the sheet. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle seeing her wear the sheet any longer without sporting a painful hard on.

  “Sorry about tonight,” she softly said when I came out.

  I finished buttoning my shirt and looked up to meet her eyes. The pain and sadness were still there. “I’m so sorry about Jessie. Did they catch whoever was responsible?”

  Her face blanched as white as the sheet she’d worn earlier. “No.” But then her expression changed and a mask veiled her face. But the mask was thin, and I could see through it—I could see her. She couldn’t hide from me, not even after all the years between us.

  “Will you be okay?” I worried about leaving her alone.

  She inhaled a breath through her nose, her mind obviously working. “Yes,” she whispered and rubbed her arms.

  I wanted to comfort her again, but I knew if I touched her, I wouldn’t want to stop. “I should go,” I rushed the words from my mouth before I could change my mind. I grabbed my keys off the end table by her sofa and shoved them into my pocket. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I asked again, unable to shake my concern.

  “I’m fine,” she drew out the words with obvious emphasis. “Really.”

  I wanted to protest her answer, but I turned away and started for the door.

  “What are you going to do about Declan?”

  I placed my hand on the doorknob. “You think we can work together?”

  “Do you?”

  I turned to face her, and she was standing only a few inches away. I touched her shoulder, and she flinched, but I kept my hand there anyway. “I think I can.”

  Her lips became glossy after she wet them. “We can make it work,” she answered in a somewhat strained voice.

  “Then I’ll call Declan tomorrow. I’ll make the deal.”

  16

  Olivia

  “He was at your place pretty late. What happened?”

  I gasped and took a step back from Blake, crossing my arms. “Were you spying on me?” I wondered if my eyes were bulging with the rage I felt.

  Blake glanced over at Sean, who was standing a few feet away with a laptop in his hand. “Can you give us one sec?”

  Sean nodded at us and retreated to the bedroom. We were at our meetinghouse in Brooklyn, not too far from the Metro Detention Center. That was the federal prison I hoped Declan would wind up in. He deserved to be thrown in the hole for twenty-three hours a day. And Konstantin and the Russians he was partnered with? Well, they were worse; they merited a special place in hell.

  “Were you watching me?” I asked Blake again, with grit in my voice.

  He touched my shoulder, but I jerked back free of him. “Olivia, I was just keeping an eye on you. Connor could be dangerous. We don’t know.”

  “Nothing happened, Blake. He spilled something on his clothes, and I had to dry them.” Not quite a lie to my apparently jealous superior.

  He rubbed his jaw and eyed me.

  “Did you find anything on Lauren Tate?” I maneuvered to a different topic.

  “She’s clean.”

  I turned my back to him. “I find that hard to believe. There’s something off about her.”

  “Trust me. I would’ve found something.”

  “Alright.” Maybe she was an opportunist and saw dollar signs when she looked at both Declan and Connor. Hell, maybe I just didn’t like the way she looked at Connor. But that was insane. Connor wasn’t mine—not anymore.

  Still, the ripcord had been pulled, and there was no stopping now—the memories began parachuting in my mind the second I had laid eyes on Connor at the club.

  I’ll never stop loving you, Liv. There’s nothing in the world that could make me run away. Connor’s words from the past planted root in
my mind.

  Everyone runs, Connor. I had responded to him, remembering my mother, my father.

  I’ll never leave. We’ll grow old together. I’ll die first because I wouldn’t survive a day without you, he had told me. I’d actually believed him.

  But I shouldn’t have. He took off like everyone else in my life had.

  “What did you learn last night?” Blake’s voice slipped into my ear, interrupting my thoughts.

  Turning around, I took a deep, grounding breath, and answered, “He’s going to make a deal with Declan.”

  “And what’s the deal?”

  I pressed my back to the window, irritation pushing through my body, making my legs feel shaky. “His company invented an EMF railgun. A hand-held one.”

  “What?” That was Sean from the other room—apparently eavesdropping. “You’re shitting me?” He re-entered the room, taking quick steps toward me. His eyes darted to Blake and back to me.

  “Declan obviously wants the weapon.” I described everything I’d remembered from the meeting, hating myself for keeping the truth from Connor. He wouldn’t do the deal if he knew how deep this whole thing ran, would he?

  “Wow. That weapon is like Sci-Fi shit. I’d love to see it,” Sean remarked.

  I reached into my pocket and handed Sean a folded piece of paper. When I’d gone to dry Connor’s pants last night, I found the printed image of the weapon folded in the pocket. Thankfully, it hadn’t been too badly damaged by the bath.

  Sean eagerly unfolded the paper and studied it. “This is sick.” He handed the paper to Blake and pushed dark strands of hair out of his eyes.

  “And what did you find?” I asked Sean and slouched onto the couch.

  Sean grabbed his laptop and powered it on. “We stumbled upon the holy grail.”

  “Don’t get too excited.” Blake held his hand in front of him.

  I rubbed my hands up and down my thighs, nervous apprehension spiking inside me. Sean sat next to me, but Blake remained standing before us. “What am I looking at?”

  “This is an aerial photo of a location just outside Baghdad.” Sean pointed to the screen. “This guy here is the Russian general Josef Zhuravlev. And he’s meeting with what looks like a group of insurgents. They’re trading crates for briefcases. The assumption being money is in those briefcases.” He zoomed in on a cargo box off to the side of Zhuravlev. “Recognize that?”

  My hand went to my mouth. “Oh my God. That’s the Matthews Tech logo on that box.”

  “There’re more of these images. Another one in Islamabad, Pakistan. Two more in Syria,” Sean said. “I almost missed these. The pictures were filed under vacation photos 2016.”

  “I know you feel guilty about encouraging the deal with Connor and Declan, but I hope these images help you see the light,” Blake’s voice cut through me.

  “When were they taken?” I asked.

  Sean answered, “All in April.”

  “Connor’s father was still alive and in charge. You can’t pin that on Connor.” I felt some strange need to defend him.

  “And Connor is continuing business as usual,” he shot back. “He told you he’s making the deal.” He gaped at me, his blue eyes piercing mine as his lips twisted into a scowl.

  “Whether Edward knew his weapons were going to terrorists is questionable. But I do know Connor would never turn weapons over to terrorists. He’s only agreeing to Declan’s proposition because he thinks it’s good for the company. Connor spent years in the Middle East fighting terrorists—there’s no way he’d supply them with weapons to turn a profit.” I had my own issues with Connor, but they were mine to have. I wasn’t about to ruin his life just because he broke my heart.

  “I know what you’re thinking. The answer is still no.” Blake’s biceps flexed as his arms crossed over his chest.

  I was gathering my thoughts when Sean cleared his throat at an obnoxious level. “I’m surprised Declan has incriminating photos of the exchange on his computer.” Sean looked at me, his forehead pinching together with concern. He was trying to redirect the conversation and avoid what was about to be a shouting match. “If Konstantin found out he had these pictures, he’d blow a fuse.” Sean slid his laptop on the coffee table in front of us.

  I looked back at Sean, ignoring Blake. “You think he’s keeping the pictures in his back pocket in case the Russians ever tried to screw him over?”

  “All I know is that if these images ever got leaked to the government, there’d be major issues between the U.S. and Russia. The photos could also be used to make sure Edward never backed out of the arrangement,” Sean said.

  “This is bigger than we thought.” I knew we’d uncover something eventually, but I honestly never thought our investigation would relate to terrorists. We couldn’t let Connor get any deeper. I pushed to my feet and folded my arms. “So our local Russian mob boss, Konstantin, is working with General Zhuravlev. And Declan is the middleman between Matthews Tech and Konstantin.”

  “Destabilizing the Middle East means continued war, an increase in defense spending, an increase in rebuilding efforts . . .” Sean rattled off the domino effect.

  I nodded. “Makes sense. Reid Enterprises has been turning a huge profit by winning projects in Iraq to rebuild the infrastructure. And the Russians want a reason to push into the territory. It’s been looking like a new Cold War these last two years, with the Middle East as the age-old playground between Russia and the U.S.” I touched my neck and tilted my head back, thinking.

  “Konstantin helped Declan rescue the crumbling Reid Enterprises,” I added. “In exchange for the help of the Russian mob, Declan had to do something for him. Apparently, that something was to get his hands on weapons.”

  “Which is where Matthews Tech fits in,” Sean finished. “I did some research. Matthews Tech was almost in the same situation that Reid Enterprises was in a few years back. As of last summer, their financials were frightening. Edward Matthews was on the brink of closing down.”

  “And the Saudi deal saved the company and made him a fortune.” Wow. Edward Matthews had made a deal with the devil—well, with two of Lucifer’s imps. “We have Konstantin on camera meeting with Declan several times. We have an obvious connection between Declan and Konstantin in relation to their partnering on some clubs and restaurants, and now we have these photos. This is good.”

  There was hope, right? I had something to cling to, didn’t I?

  “Illegally obtained, they mean nothing.” Blake finally joined the conversation. He had remained a bystander in the conversation between Sean and me until now, which suited me just fine. It annoyed me how much Blake wanted to peg Connor as an enemy. “The photos aren’t enough. We need to catch the deal in action.”

  I inhaled a sharp breath and released it through my nose. “Shouldn’t we bring Homeland or the CIA in on this? Now that we know we’re dealing with arms sales to terrorists on foreign soil?” I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening.

  “I’ll get in touch with a contact of mine in D.C. We need to follow the weapons to the end point and bring down anyone connected to the pipeline,” Blake answered.

  Yeah, including Connor?

  “I really don’t think Connor’s a bad guy.”

  Both Blake and I turned to face Sean.

  Sean shrugged his shoulders. “I made a few calls, and—”

  “You did what?” Blake barked out.

  “Sorry, when we discovered Connor’s involvement I asked around.” Sean took a step back from Blake.

  It was nice to know I had Sean on my side, but Blake was right to be upset. If Sean’s calls tipped anyone off . . .

  Blake turned away from Sean, but I had a feeling he wasn’t quite finished with him. “Olivia, you know what you have to do,” Blake’s shrill voice gave me the chills.

  Great. His anger was back on me.

  “I don’t want to discuss this issue further.” Blake pointed to the picture of the EMF gun in his hand. “Make sure the exchang
e happens, and we can finally end this and bring them all down.” Blake moved directly in front of me, his eyes focused on mine, drilling into me. “Do it, Olivia. Prove to me I didn’t make a mistake by bringing you on this case.”

  Connor

  A call from Declan interrupted the text I was sending out to my friend Ben, in Vegas. “Hey, Declan.”

  “Are you into MMA, by any chance?”

  Why the hell was he calling me about mixed martial arts? “Um. It’s okay. I guess.”

  “Well, I’m friends with John Jackson, and he’s swinging by around lunch time to square off with me in the ring. Feel like stopping by? I own a gym a few blocks from The Phoenix.”

  I had no interest in spending time with Declan, nor did I care to meet some famous fighter. What was his angle? As much as I wanted to tell him to go to hell, I knew I needed to keep up with the act if I wanted to find out the truth about whatever shit storm my father had fallen into before he died.

  “Connor?”

  I glanced down at my Omega. Half past eleven. “Be there in an hour. Just text me the location.”

  “Sounds good. Maybe we can talk a little business while you’re here, too.”

  Of course. Why else would he want me there? “Sure. See ya.” I hung up the phone, finished my text to Ben, and stared at the stack of paperwork on my desk. God, I just wanted to shift it over about two feet, and let it fall into the waste basket.

  The vibration of my phone alerted me to a text. And then another. The address from Declan and a message from Jake.

  Thank God. Jake had asked me to call him on a secure line.

  “Good or bad news first?” Jake. Always to the point.

  I stood up and clutched the phone to my ear. “Good news.”

  “The good news is I got my hands on the bank video cameras, and I was able to see your father, along with his driver, at the bank on the sixteenth. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, though, so I’m not really sure what else, or who else, to be looking for.”