by Doyle, S.
“Dmitri?”
“That’s his name. Dmitri the Douchebag. He doesn’t like that last part, but I do, so there it is.”
“You two know each other?”
Ted-not-Ted shrugged. “We’ve run into each other a time or two.”
“Why even bother lying about your names?” I asked, walking over and sitting on the hard, squeaky mattress.
“It helps create the role. A new character. A new person even. The more I’m Ted the sportswriter with the baseball hats and thick glasses, the more you believe that.”
“Okay, well, I know Ted is a fraud, so who are you?”
He sat on the bed next to me. “I’m…John?”
I rolled my eyes. So not believable.
“Look, I can’t tell you. Government secrets and all that. Just call me Ted for now to make things simple.”
“How about I call you asshole. That will make things simple for me.”
He got off the bed and went to lean against the wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and I could see the muscled biceps escaping the short sleeves of the T-shirt he’d been wearing.
Lean, narrow, but strong, arms. Really strong. Strong like you wanted to bite them.
Seriously, why did my sex thoughts around this guy involve teeth?
But I couldn’t think about sex now because I was thrust into some international spy thing.
“So spill it. Why did Ivan-slash-Dimitri kidnap me?”
Ted seemed to consider my question, but I’d already heard things. Things about my father. I knew the feds were looking for him and believed I might have contact with him.
“You said you don’t know your father,” Ted began.
“I don’t.”
“He knows you,” Ted said. “In fact, he basically announced to the world he knew about you when he called his newest innovation Legacy. His legacy. He told enough people close to him that his legacy was Beth Ryan. Which, given your nominal fame as a travel blogger, basically exposed you to the world of international technological brinksmanship.”
I blinked a few times. There was no way this could be real.
“You’re telling me some man I never met, called his whatever invention Legacy, and that automatically means I’m on the hook for it? Hello, do you know how many Beth Ryans there are in the world? How does anyone know he was talking about me?”
Ted sighed. “Because he told everyone it was you, Beth. He bragged about your resiliency, your courage, the travel blogs, your talent. Then, somehow, he fled U.S. surveillance. And me, and everyone else connected to this project, started watching you assuming he would eventually make contact.”
“You’ve been watching me?” I asked, my jaw dropping.
He nodded.
“Back in the States?”
“Yes. We’ve…I’ve been shadowing you now for several weeks. Monitoring your internet activity, your calls. When you booked this trip to Italy, there were many who thought you were coming to see you father.”
“I don’t know my father!” I shouted. “I told you, for real, already. My mom got knocked up when she was in her twenties by some Italian professor at the University of Penn who liked apple pie and coffee. That is my sum-total knowledge of my father.”
“Beth, your father is Angelico Gino Angelucci. Does that name ring a bell to you?”
That was strange because it did. Angelico Gino Angelucci wasn’t a name you forgot. So, when you heard it on the news or read about it in an article, you didn’t forget it.
“The nuclear guy?” I asked my voice dropping to a whisper.
“World renowned Nuclear Physicist to be exact.”
“He’s won multiple Nobel prizes and didn’t he recently announce some breakthrough in radioactivity containment?”
Ted nodded. “He did. That breakthrough was made through a two-year long project that those closest to him knew as…”
“Legacy,” I whispered. Holy shit. It was too surreal to even imagine. “I don’t get it. So, some old scientist claims to be my father. Why is everyone freaking out about it?”
“Because he’s gone. Like, in the wind gone. And he’s taken all his work with him.”
“It’s his work. Can’t he do with it what he wants?”
Ted shook his head. “It’s work that the planet needs, Beth. Nuclear mistakes are happening. Russia, in particular, but there are also concerns about the North Korean program. Not to mention natural disasters that have impacted nuclear plants. Finding a solution to reducing or eliminating radiation at blasts sites isn’t just crucial to U.S. nuclear advancement, it’s critical to the world.”
That was super heavy.
“And you all think because I came to Italy that I was actually coming to see him, where he would hand me the keys to the kingdom even though he’s never once laid eyes on me? Do you know what a crock of shit that is?”
Ted nodded.
“And why now? Why wait all this time to announce to the world I’m his daughter?”
Ted’s lips got tight, his expression grim. “Because he’s dying, Beth. Stage four, pancreatic cancer. It’s a terminal diagnosis and he knows it. If there was ever a time to leave you anything, it’s now.”
“I don’t want it!” I shouted. Now I was angry because I knew my father was dying, only I never had a chance to know him. “I don’t want shit from that guy. He knew he had a daughter and he did nothing to help me! No child support, no visits. He didn’t even care enough to make sure I was left with a decent mother. Whoever he is, he’s an asshole and he can take his Legacy, radioactive whatever the fuck it is, and go to hell!”
Ted winced, then he started to slow clap. “Great speech. Here’s your problem. No one really cares what you want. They either believe you know where your father is and are on your way to meet him. Or they think you know where his work is hidden. The U.S. doesn’t know if you’re a traitor to your country or not. That’s what the FBI was investigating when they approached you. And right now, there are about thirty NSA agents going through every letter of every blog post to see if they can detect a traceable pattern of communication between you and your father.”
I covered my face with my hands. Oh. My. God! This couldn’t be happening. They were stupid little travel blogs, and now the U.S. government thought there was some kind of secret-code-communication thing happening.
“It’s really important technology, Beth. If Gino is out there somewhere in the world right now dying and we can’t find him, his work could be lost to us forever.”
“Don’t. Give. A. Shit.” I stood and started pacing in front of the bed. I knew I shouldn’t have left my condo. I knew this whole travel book thing was bullshit. I could be home, on my couch, in my yoga pants watching the Lifetime Channel. I did not need this chaos in my life! Not when I’d worked so hard to eliminate it.
For years I’d kept everything contained and normal. Then some old man I didn’t know went and blew up my world because he happened to be my sperm donor. Now, people were watching my home, monitoring my computer activity, kidnapping me from restaurants!
“I want to go home,” I finally said. “I want to go back to my condo in Philadelphia and I’m not going to leave it. Ever. Again.”
“Beth,” Ted said even as he pushed himself off the wall with his shoulder. “That’s not the answer and you know it. You’re too smart to think that shutting yourself up is going to protect you.”
I bit my bottom lip. “I’ll hire a security team. I’ll tell the media. Let them set up camp outside my door and see if Ivan—”
“Dmitri,” he corrected me.
“The Douchebag,” I finished, “if he can get through them. But I’m not staying here on this Joan Wilder, freaking, spy adventure. I’ve already lived through all the fear and uncertainty I need to. Thanks.”
He sighed. “You could help us, Beth. I need to find your father. I need to get to that work before it’s lost. If I could set you up someplace where I knew you would be safe, then he would have no choice but
to come find you there. It’s important to him to give this to you in person. I think he wants you to know him before he dies.”
That was the wrong thing to say. My blood pressure spiked, and I had to take a few deep breaths before I could answer.
“I am twenty-three years old. He’s had my whole life to get to know me,” I gritted out. “Now, you’re either a good guy or a bad guy. So you can either hold me here, or you can get me on a train safely to Rome where I will fly home immediately.”
* * *
Liam
My nice-guy, Ted persona was gone. Lost in the ditch the minute Dmitri had abducted my subject. Now I was staring down at one very pissed-off woman, who, every time she bit her bottom lip, was making my dick twitch.
Like, actually twitch.
I wasn’t sitting here thinking about how I could seduce her into staying and using her as bait to lure her father to me. Instead, I seriously was considering seducing her then helping her get to the airport so she could go home.
She’d be watched around the clock, some of the most intense government surveillance—legal and illegal—imagined, but she would be safe from the other actors out in the field. I hadn’t seen the Chinese yet, but no doubt they were here, too. And, as long as the national security apparatus knew where she was at all times, it was unlikely they would interfere with her life directly.
The intelligence community hadn’t known if she was a threat or not. The woman I spent the day with in Venice, and again today in Florence, was not here for any other reason than to break out of her comfort zone and take a bunch of selfies.
Making an effort to trust in people again.
I sort of blew that for her.
So I could help her out, let her go home. Report to my superiors she was not a security threat or involved in any way in her father’s actions, and they would watch over her and keep her safe, while she was content in her condo.
Or, I could seduce her for my nefarious purposes.
Tempting…
“Well? Are you a good guy or not?” she asked.
Good question.
“I’m working on it,” I snapped. “You have to understand, Beth. I make life-and-death choices that impact the balance of power in the world every day. Every instinct I have says I need to use you to get to your father.”
“Yes, but you also like me. Remember? I heard you say it to Dmitri.”
I glanced at her sitting on the bed again, hands in her lap, ankles crossed at her big, clunky shoes. Looking up at me with her bangs and her nose ring like she thought she was so badass…when she was really just a kitten.
“Yeah. I like you. To be honest—I can’t believe I’m being honest—I kind of liked you before I met you. Obviously, once we knew you were a target and I had to learn everything I could about you. So I read all your blogs and I thought…”
“What?”
I shrugged. What was I supposed to say? That she had this badass attitude with this super soft heart? That she was all prickly scratches and hisses like a kitten? But I knew if I could win her over, she’d purr for me. Her blogs were sweet and fun, but sometimes a little snarky with a sharp edge to them.
And sometimes they felt a little lonely.
There was no way I was telling her who my online profile name was.
“I thought you were cool.” There. That was easy enough.
“Take me home, Ted. Please.”
Liam. My given name is Liam. But, of course, I couldn’t tell her that.
However, I could do one right thing. I could be the good guy for once. Her hero.
“Okay, Beth. I’ll help get you home.”
9
Liam
“Can we leave now? Are the trains still running?” Beth asked.
“No, but I’m not taking you out by train. Too obvious. We’ll drive to Rome. Safer that way. At least until we get to Rome anyway. Driving in Rome is like taking your life in your hands. That can wait until tomorrow. There won’t be any flights out until then.”
Her hands twisted in her lap. “But we’re not stealing a car, right?”
Of course we were stealing a car. I needed something untraceable.
“It’s okay to steal if it’s for your country,” I explained.
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t want to, if we don’t have to. I’ve stolen enough in my life. I’m trying to make amends at this point.”
I walked over, sat on the bed next to her, and took her hand. It felt small but also strong. That was the yin and yang of Beth. Tiny, vulnerable and insecure. Tough, strong and fearless. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. Back then. And now.”
She shook her head. “I’ll go home. I’ll stay tucked in. The bad stuff will stop happening.”
“You can’t live your life tucked away, Beth. That isn’t the answer either. Eventually this thing with your father will get resolved. One way or another.”
I hoped. For her sake.
She pulled her hand back. “We’ll see. Are you going to come with me? Back to the States?”
“No. My job is still to find your father. And my gut tells me if you’re here on the continent, then he’s around here somewhere. I’ll find him, too, although he won’t be as easy to track down as you.”
She was quiet for a second. “I guess I didn’t do such a great job of ditching you.”
Hard to do with an electronic tracking device in her shoes, but I didn’t tell her that.
“Are you going to get in trouble for helping me? Dmitri made it sound like you were supposed to torture me for answers just like he wanted to.”
“Dmitri’s default is torture. I like to use a little more finesse,” I said.
Was I going to get in trouble with my superiors? Probably. At this point, I didn’t care. This hadn’t ever happened to me. I’d never really cared about a target before. It’s the reason why I’d gotten into this work.
I’d never really connected to people in general. A loner in high school. A loner in college. Then onto spec ops in the military. All that crap I’d told her about having buddies was just more lies.
I excelled at the work because I never led with my feelings. Always my brain. Yes, Ted was a role, but the truth was, with Beth I hadn’t really gotten into character. I’d been more myself with her because I wanted the person whose blog I’d been reading for months now, to know me.
Not the version of me I chose to show the rest of the world.
“We should get some sleep,” I said. Because my chest was tight at the thought of sending her home. Of never seeing her again.
Not of defying my superiors.
She toed off her shoes then scooted over to the other side of the bed to make room for me.
“This is the second night in a row we’re sleeping together,” she stated.
“Yeah,” I laughed, laying down next to her. “Nice habit to get into.”
“So you weren’t drunk last night. Was the snoring fake, too?”
I didn’t remember fake snoring, so probably not. “We walked a lot yesterday. I was legit tired.”
“What if someone breaks into our room?”
I rolled toward her so we were face to face on the bed. Reaching out, I couldn’t help but touch her nose ring, watch her scrunch her nose and bite her lower lip. Cute little kitten who’d laid out Dmitri flat.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, Beth.”
“Because you like me?”
“Yeah.”
“But you’re not into me…that way.”
What was the point of lying now? She was leaving tomorrow. “I told you, that also might have been a lie.”
“You secretly dig flat-chested women?”
“They’re my favorite,” I teased and reached out to tug on a lock of her hair. “The truth—”
Her eyes closed, but before they did, I could sense her sadness. “I don’t know if I can believe you.”
Fair enough. It’s not like I had any track record with honesty. I basically lie
d for a living. But there was something I could be honest about. I released her lock of hair and reached for her hand. I tugged it and placed it over my dick, which had gotten hard the minute I laid down with her.
“There’s no lying about that,” I said. “That’s physical.”
She didn’t immediately pull her hand away, and, because I was a man, I gently thrust my hips against her hold, closing the distance between us.
“How do I know this isn’t some trick?” she asked, but still she didn’t take her hand away. “How do I know this isn’t you seducing me to get me to change my mind about leaving?”
I leaned in closer. “Are you going to change your mind about leaving?”
“No!”
“Then even if this is a trick, we both already know it’s not going to work. So let’s just have orgasms and we’ll deal with the fallout tomorrow.”
“I don’t even know your name,” she said, pouting.
What she wasn’t saying, was no.
I kissed her lips to save them before she bit down on them again. If they were going to be bruised, I wanted to be the one to do it. And that first taste of her, yeah…
It’s what I thought she would taste like.
* * *
Beth
It was the adrenaline. The rush of fear that was making me so damn horny. It was just the crazy circumstance of us being in this hotel room, knowing there was a host of spies out there roaming the city looking for us, but me in particular.
I could make any excuse I wanted, but it didn’t change how I was feeling. I wanted Ted. I wanted his big ears and his lanky body and his lips, which were kind of full and delicious.
I wanted to forget everything that had happened after dinner, and go back to laughing with him. I wanted that feeling I had last night when I was in bed with him and I didn’t feel alone. More than ever, I wanted that connection. I needed it.
His kiss was ravenous. Like he’d been thinking about kissing me for a while. Not the soft exploratory hey, let’s see how kissing each other feels. More the I want your mouth and I’m going to take it kind of a kiss.
