“Why?”
His eyes held her, even though he’d stopped actually holding her, and she felt him to her core.
“Because, sweetheart, until this conversation, nothing about us was built on an ending.”
“An ending?” Her stomach bottomed out. Why were they so complicated when they really weren’t. “Roman, I was just—”
“Forget the logic and the smart moves and whatever I may’ve said and you may’ve thought. Tell me what you want.”
Simple. You. From the bottom of her heart, to the tips of her toes, she wanted him in every sense of the word, all of him, even if it killed off her memories, even if it would be her death. “I want—”
His phone rang. “This is not over,” he growled.
“M-kay.”
Roman glanced at the screen. “Jared,” he told her then answered the call. “Boss Man.”
The conversation was mostly one sided with Roman agreeing before he hung up.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Turns out we’re not going home. Titan’s coming here, and Naydenov’s checked out.” He leaned forward to get the driver’s attention. “Turn us around, buddy.”
“Okay…” Beth said. “Look, Roman. I—”
He turned back to her. Pure, tactile seriousness colored his features. His eyes flamed deep, dark brown. His jaw flexed. He grabbed her hand. “Ever look at someone and realize everything you know about the future was wrong?”
Her heart stopped.
“Answer me, Beth.”
“I’m…” Her voice shook. “I’m too scared to answer that question.”
Hard and fast, he pulled her onto his chest. “Funny shit. Beth Tourne has exactly one fear, and it’s me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
They were a block from the hotel when three monster SUVs with blacked-out windows passed them. Each screeched into the hotel’s driveway and slammed to a stop. Bellboys came running toward the massive vehicles parked inches apart as if they’d choreographed the whole scene.
Beth watched out her window. “Who is…?”
The doors opened, and several large men got out, all the size of Roman, all dressed in dark clothes.
Titan. Whoa. Talk about making an entrance.
There were guys she didn’t recognize, but several she did. And they were filing into the hotel as though they owned the place. Well, maybe because they did.
“Guess they failed to mention they were wheels down already.” Roman opened the door. “For the sake of your cover, just in case, we’ll hang back. Don’t say hello. We don’t know them.”
She nodded, and he led her through the doors after asking a nearby bellboy to get their luggage. Roman didn’t seem concerned at the lack of a reservation, and the bellboy didn’t act like it was a big deal.
“How often do you come here?”
Roman winked. “Often enough that Jamil knows which room I want.”
Oh…
They followed Titan at a close distance. Jared led the pack, then Colby, Cash, Brock, and the ones she didn’t know. Nearby, several luggage carts were loaded with large black boxes and Titan go-bags. Those went down a different hallway. That was some serious trust for Jared to let his property out of his sight.
Jared and the group bypassed the reservation desk, heading toward the elevators. She and Roman had caught up, but no one acknowledged them. She followed Roman’s lead and didn’t say a word. The elevator came, and half the group left them. Another elevator dinged. Same deal. Then she and Roman were the only ones left.
She glanced behind her and noticed that several people had been staring. A few looked as though they needed the elevator but were waiting out the group of deadly-looking men. Probably a smart move.
Their elevator arrived. Her heart tripped when Roman guided her on board. He pressed the button for the twenty-first floor and the little circle lit up, apparently scanning his fingerprint. Print accepted, they started moving.
“You guys are an intimidating bunch.”
Roman gave her a curt nod. When he was in business mode—even though he was holding her hand—it was impossible not to want him. Something about that I’m-ready-to-die-for-you vibe made her shiver.
The doors opened to an industrial hallway, nothing like the opulent, gold-gilded decorations downstairs. A few feet from the elevator was a secure door. Roman punched several digits on a keypad. A panel lifted, and he placed his hand on the scanner. A light blinked around his palm, then the door clicked open. They moved into a room the size of a closet. He shut the last door and faced an opposite one. Roman blinked into a retina scan then entered another round of codes on a pad that appeared from a secret panel.
That was CIA-level security, maybe even more complex. They walked in, and the metal door locked behind them. Roman guided her down a dark hallway with tiny running lights on the floor then through a door into a working ops center that was alive and buzzing. Computer monitors, flat screens, and more people filled the room. Weapons were available within arm’s reach everywhere she looked.
“What is this place?”
“Titan’s Abu Dhabi HQ.”
“Oh.” Because they had an Abu Dhabi headquarters.
Roman curled his hand around her neck, guiding her through the room. They went down another long hallway, and he opened a door at the end. It looked like a typical war room. Jared stood at the front, and the team was around a table. Roman nodded. Jared nodded back. Beth nodded because it seemed like the thing to do. Hellos apparently said, Roman continued with her down the hall to another room. He opened the door, and there was Sugar. That was unexpected. Boxes of ammo and parts were on the table, some piled, some in pieces, all very much in what had to be an order that Beth couldn’t make sense of.
“Hey, girl. What’s up with you?” Sugar kept her eyes on her work. “I want the dirty details on Roman later.”
Roman laughed. Beth groaned, feeling a sudden shyness. Sugar was the most to-the-point person Beth had ever met. There was nothing Sugar wouldn’t ask if it piqued her curiosity, inappropriate or not.
Finally, Sugar looked up. “Alrighty, stud. You can have her back later. Beth and I have to get to work.”
At the word stud, Beth had to have turned as red as Sugar’s lipstick. And that was cherry red.
Roman leaned close, letting his lips touch the top of her ear. “Have fun.”
Then he kissed her goodbye. In front of Sugar. Which might as well have been in front of the team because it was Sugar, and she knew no boundaries.
Sugar waved a hand. “Get a move on, CIA girl. Finish lip-locking your man, because I need your hands.”
A tiny part of Beth wanted to crawl into Roman’s arms just to hide from the inquisition she knew was coming. Roman swatted Beth’s butt—making her yip. He left, and when she looked up, Sugar’s bright-red lips were pressed together. The woman was trying to smother a laugh.
“I saw that,” Sugar sing-songed.
“He wasn’t hiding it.” Beth sat across from Sugar. “So what are we doing?”
Sugar’s eyes pointedly went to the door Roman had just exited before coming back to Beth. “Weaponizing these babies.”
Beth picked up what looked like shoebox-sized white airplanes. There were a handful of them. “Drones?”
“Baby drones. A Parker creation. Because the boys can’t be everywhere they need to be, we’re going to give them a little firepower and some agility at a fraction of the cost and on very short notice.” Sugar winked. “Parker’s a genius. And I ain’t too bad, either.”
After a five-minute tutorial on how to turn what looked like a model-airplane kit into a killing, spying machine, Beth had her tasks down, and they worked in near silence, except for the occasional click-click-click of Sugar’s nails drumming on the table.
“Am I going too slow?” Beth warily asked.
“Nope.”
A few more click-clicks followed.
“Alright, Sugar. Say whatever you have to
say. And be nice about it.”
Sugar’s smile stretched across her face. “It’s about damn time, you and Roman.”
Beth shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s a huge mistake. Who knows.”
“Nah. But if you could’ve held out for another two months, I would’ve appreciated it.”
Beth’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
“Had a little bet going with my husband as to when this was going to happen.”
“You did not.”
“Oh, we so did. And now because Roman couldn’t keep it in his pants, I owe Jared a custom-made rocket launcher that, forever more, will be dubbed The Jared.” Sugar smirked. “That won’t deflate my man’s ego anytime soon.”
Beth snort-laughed. “The Jared?”
“Do you think he’d name a weapon like that anything but The Jared? Pffsh.”
“Well, glad to see we were a topic of conversation.”
“You’re playing it down. A topic of conversation?” Sugar shook her head, clucking, and placed a weaponized baby drone next to her row of finished killers. “The only thing that slowed that gossip-fest down was Rocco and Cat getting pregnant. But if you remember, even at their whatever-you-want-to-call-it shower, there were a lot of eyes watching you two ignore each other.”
“I don’t remember it like that.”
Sugar gave her a sidelong look. “So you two are together?”
Beth dropped her head back. “I guess.”
“Sounds super serious.” Sarcasm dripped from her words.
“What if it is?” Beth asked, crazy aware that she was asking Sugar for relationship advice when her history of stable relationships was nonexistent. Other than Jared. Beth studied the gorgeous, sexed-up woman in front of her. “Did you ever sleep with someone for the job?”
“Yup.” There wasn’t a hint of remorse or embarrassment in Sugar’s voice. “But you and I are two different types. Sex was just a means to an end. Maybe I shouldn’t have in some folks’ eyes, but before I met Jared, it didn’t matter at all. I was safe. It was enjoyable. End of story.”
Beth mulled that over. “I think we aren’t that different.”
“How’s that?” Sugar picked up the baby drone that Beth had moved over.
“I was married before.”
“Fun fact I didn’t know about you. Where is he? Cheated? Loser? Gay?”
Beth shook her head. “Dead. Killed himself.”
Sugar put the plane down. “I’m sorry.”
“His name was Logan, and after he died, I shut off. The only time I ever let a man touch me was when I wanted to reinforce how I felt for Logan. Because anyone else was just physical companionship. I was lonely, and they were filling a void. Logan had been my life. I was… blissfully numb to anyone else. I didn’t want to be lonely, and I loved the confirmation that Logan was the only person for me.”
“And now you have Roman?”
Beth nodded.
Sugar inclined her head. “I’m very protective of these boys. You have to know that.”
“I know.”
“And with Roman, there’s more than whatever you were just blabbing about? Filling a void, that crap?”
Beth scowled. “Yup.”
“How?”
“He gives me butterflies.”
Sugar arched a penciled brow. “Those are good.”
“And a lot more.”
She raised the other eyebrow. “Those are better.”
Beth blushed. “Yup.”
“So what’s with your hesitation? He’s a solid guy. About as good as they come. Hot as hell, though he knows that far, far too well.”
“I don’t know if I can fall for someone who could die, like every single day on the job.”
“Yes, you can.” Sugar’s certainty was concise.
Beth wasn’t sold. “Plus, he’s scarred for life after Nicola disappeared on him.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
Beth bit her lip.
Sugar continued, “So you two should just agree you’re fucked. Have some great sex. And call it quits.”
Beth’s mouth fell open. “Really?”
“No. Are you stupid?”
Beth shut her mouth. She’d walked into that one. “Why are we friends again?”
“I’m not very good at being friends with anyone. Though I’m working on it.” Sugar picked up the baby drone and adjusted a barrel protruding from its belly. “We can call Mia. She always knows the right thing to say. Or we can call Nic. Where is she anyway?”
Beth averted her gaze. “Flu.”
“Huh.”
“Heard Rocco’s doing better.”
“Yeah, he kicked influenza’s ass. Staying away from Cat almost killed him. And man, that woman, all pregnant and Spanish-cursing, worrying about her man? If I didn’t love her, I would’ve hated her. All that angsty, Was I too mean? Should he come home? pregnancy crap.” Sugar shook her head. “Nothing but craziness.”
Nicola and Caterina were going to be crazy-pregnant together. Beth had seen how Rocco acted, and Cash was going to be the same way—over the top and overprotective. That would be a show.
The door flew open. Beth jumped. Sugar didn’t flinch.
Jared bore down on them. “Beth, let’s go.”
Her stomach twisted. Jared always made her so damn nervous. “M-kay.”
She scooted her work toward Sugar and followed Jared down to another room. The lights flipped on when they entered. It was cooler than the other rooms, and everything was gray. Gray table, walls, carpet, ceiling. A little claustrophobic.
He sat and pushed a rolling chair out for Beth to join him. “Princess has the flu.” It sounded like a statement, but his face said it was a question.
She said nothing.
He crossed his arms. “I need you to fill in for her.”
“Doing?”
“For the past few days, we’ve been building the profile of a woman who can authenticate weapons codes. There’s a buy going down. Those codes will lead us to an ancient, probably unstable nuke that’s hot on the market right now.”
Beth’s eyebrows rose. “There’s a stolen nuke out there?”
He dipped his chin. “And the codes. We had a failed intercept before. Now several parties are scrambling very quickly to make purchases. Think shark-infested feeding frenzy.”
“And your plan is?” she asked.
“Authenticate the codes and follow them to the bomb.”
“Holy shit.” That was about as risky as plans could get.
Jared read her mind. “I’ll scorch the earth before we fail this job again. It’s go-big-or-go-home time. Nic was supposed to authenticate the codes. Word has it there’s a former KGB seller and an Albanian buyer. Pretty sure the bomb’s still in transit. I’m thinking there’s a Syrian involved, but I’m not sure. The Albanian we know with decent certainty. We follow the Albanian; we get the bomb. You follow?”
More or less. “Yes.”
“The Albanian hired Nicola. Still following?”
“Maybe.”
Jared nodded. “First, you have to wrap up this CIA job. Go home, act like nothing’s happened. We’ll stay here, set up the groundwork. Just need to know you’re game. Titan will bring you back out here. You do Nic’s job. You game?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Now.” He leaned back. “About you and Roman…”
Shit. Her mind went a thousand places.
“He’ll head back with you, keeping your cover up.” Jared studied her with an intensity that would make a seasoned CIA spook quiver. “He’ll also go wherever the meet-up is, with you, when we know.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Right.” He cracked his knuckles. “Alright, woman, I’m going to try this again. About you and Roman…”
Beth kept a straight face and said nothing. Jared hadn’t asked anything, and she wasn’t volunteering.
“Compartmentalize whatever the hell is going on there. Do your job. Do it well. I will
tell him the exact same thing. You understand?”
Her cheeks heated. “Yes, understood.”
He smiled slowly, but it was as big as Sugar’s smile earlier. “Ah, confirmation.” He stood and slapped the table. “The Jared. Nice.”
“You placed a bet on my life. Nice.” He still scared her, but when he did things like joke about winning The Jared at her expense, she at least wasn’t shaking in her stilettos.
“Harmless fun.”
“What was she going to get if she’d won?”
He shook his head, smile still there.
“Come on. Unless it’s something kinky.”
“Not kinky.”
“Good. ’Cause then I wouldn’t want to know.” Though the guy was smokin’ hot in a killer-scary badass kind of way, a little kink wouldn’t be nightmarish. “It was my love life you were betting on. Not even a hint?”
He shook his head, his scowl back. “She’ll still get it. But tell her that, and you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
“M-kay.”
“Say it, Beth.”
“I won’t tell her.”
“Good girl.” Another hint of a smile before it disappeared. “Get back to work.”
What the hell was that all about? And why did big, bad Jared Westin suddenly have a trying-to-hide-it grin?
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The jet had touched down, and Beth was whisked to Langley. She met up with Evan and told him everything she could think of, though he seemed to care a lot less than before her trip. She also confessed to losing Greg after ignoring him and that she hadn’t heard from or seen him since the auction.
Again, Evan’s reaction was less than expected, and his attitude confirmed one thing. This job had been nothing more than a public-relations move so that the government could say they were making good on trying to return looted art to the Iraqi museum. Or even more pathetically, this was a test to see what she would do and how far she would go when the Agency called upon her for a mission.
After landing, she should’ve checked on Nicola after she debriefed with Evan. But instead, Beth had returned to Roman’s side, even though she’d just spent the better part of a long flight snuggled into him. But he’d offered to cook. After surviving a long minute of actual shock, she’d said, “Cool.” And he wasn’t kidding about cooking. While she’d been chatting with Evan, Roman had gone to a grocery store. The guy made a killer roast.
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