She whimpered beneath him as he plowed into her, his hard desire eager and hungry.
Rikki wrapped her arms and legs around Quinn as he spent himself inside her.
After, he shifted from her body and pulled her back against his front, nuzzling the hollow of her neck. “I’m glad you’re among the living. It’s like I just had Christmas, my birthday and Mardi Gras all on the same day.”
“Me, too.” She pressed a hand against her stomach to calm the butterflies. Quinn wasn’t the bad guy. He needed to know about Bella, however he felt about having a child.
“Quinn?”
“Mmm?”
“I have something to tell you. I-I hope, well, I hope you’ll be happy about it.” She paused and swallowed. In a hoarse whisper, she said, “I had a baby—your baby.”
She waited several seconds while Quinn’s breathing deepened and slowed. Twisting her head over her shoulder, she scooted onto her back.
She sighed as she took in Quinn, sound asleep, still blissfully ignorant that he was a father.
* * *
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Quinn woke her up by holding a mug of coffee beneath her nose. “He’s in the shower.”
“Who? What?” She rubbed her eyes. “Jeff?”
Quinn nodded, and she nearly upset the coffee as she bounded out of bed.
“Relax. I already searched his clothes, which he left on the bedroom floor. I didn’t find a thing.”
She tripped to a stop and pulled the T-shirt she’d been clutching to her chest over her head. “Do you think you can devise some story to get him to tell you about the flash drive without revealing who I am? Maybe I can just admit I’m the person he was supposed to meet.”
“If you do, that’ll connect you to me. He’s gonna wonder what our relationship is all about.”
She grabbed the edge of her T-shirt and twisted it into knots with her fingers. “Jeff didn’t know why he was meeting me. Didn’t know who I was. I’m sure he still thinks Rikki Taylor is dead, if he thinks about her at all. He sure as hell doesn’t know you had a fling with Rikki once upon a time.” She narrowed her eyes. “Does he?”
“It’s getting cold.” He held out the mug to her. “And no, Jeff doesn’t know anything about my personal life.”
“Then let’s just tell him I was his intended contact last night.” She took the mug from him and curled both hands around it.
“I don’t like that idea, Rikki. The lower you keep your profile, the better. What if Jeff talks?”
“Doesn’t seem like much of a talker. Pretty tight-lipped if you ask me.” She took a sip of the black brew and rolled it in her mouth before swallowing it.
“He’s discreet, a good agent, but what if he hears something about us from someone and puts two and two together? You’ve been doing a good job of keeping under the radar.”
“We’re going to have to reconnect anyway. I’m not letting that flash drive slip out of my clutches if it’s something that can help me. He’s going to see me then.”
“Not necessarily. You can arrange a drop where you don’t meet face-to-face. That’ll be easy for you to insist on, since Jeff has already been compromised.”
Rikki sank to the foot of the bed. What Quinn said made a lot of sense. She didn’t want to reveal any clues to her identity to anyone.
“You’re right. I’ll arrange a drop with him.” She curled one leg beneath her. “Who do you think ambushed him, us or them?”
“Since he’s still alive, I’m betting on one of ours—FBI maybe. They could suspect him of being a double agent. The good news is that they were following Jeff and not you.”
“All Jeff needs to do is get Ariel to vouch for him without revealing anything else. She’s doing stuff not even the CIA knows about.”
“Obviously, if she’s helping you. Why is she helping you?”
“Let’s just say Ariel is a kindred spirit.”
“You mean another woman in a male-dominated field. You mentioned that before.”
“Something like that.” She pulled the T-shirt away from her body. “I’m going to take a shower.”
As she brushed past Quinn, he grabbed a handful of her T-shirt and pulled her toward him. “Any regrets about last night?”
“None at all.” She kissed the edge of his chin. “You?”
“No, except that I feel like I kinda tricked you, I mean by inviting Jeff to take the extra room.”
She snorted. “You didn’t have me fooled for one minute, Quinn McBride.”
Showered and dressed in the jeans and blouse from last night, Rikki joined the men in the kitchen with her empty coffee cup.
Jeff raised a piece of toast in her direction. “I was just telling Quinn how sorry I am that I barged in on you two.”
Rikki squinted at Jeff’s black eye and puffy jaw. “I’m glad Quinn was home. Do you need to see a doctor?”
“I might need some stitches.” He brushed aside the lock of hair drooping over a bandage on his forehead. “But I’m okay.”
Hopping up on a stool at the kitchen counter, Rikki placed her cell phone in front of her. “Then we don’t mind at all, do we, Quinn?”
“Happy to help, bro.” Quinn held up the coffeepot. “Refills?”
Rikki shoved her cup across the counter, and Jeff nodded as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
“Do you want something else to eat, Jeff?” He pointed to the fridge. “Eggs?”
“Nothing fancy. Toast is okay.”
Her phone buzzed on the counter, and Rikki grabbed it. Jeff had sent her a text.
Slowly she raised her gaze to meet his. Understanding and acknowledgment flashed between them.
She’d been outed.
CHAPTER SIX
A charged silence descended on the kitchen. Rikki held her breath as Quinn looked up from pulling slices of bread from a bag. His gaze darted from Jeff to her, understanding dawning in his eyes.
Rikki locked eyes with Jeff, his color high. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, her fight-or-flight instinct in high gear.
Jeff ventured first, turning his cell phone outward. “You’re my contact, aren’t you?”
She ignored the question. “What happened to you last night? You can tell me.”
Jeff shifted his gaze to Quinn, his head down, busy with a bag of bread, whistling like an idiot—as if she and Jeff didn’t know he was listening to every word they said.
Rikki waved her hand in Quinn’s direction. “You can trust him.”
Jeff tipped his head at Quinn. “Are you involved in this?”
“Who, me? I’m just making toast.” Quinn held up two pieces of bread.
“Quinn’s not involved.” Rikki circled the edge of her coffee cup with the tip of her finger. “I know him, knew he lived here. Just like you, I went to him for help after things fell apart last night.”
Jeff dropped his shoulders as if dropping his guard. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. I didn’t know what happened after that guy attacked me and took my cap. He was trying to get info out of me, but a cop came by and he took off. He knew where we were meeting but none of the details.”
“That became obvious pretty quickly, since he didn’t have the sequence of codes down.”
“I’m sorry. I would’ve stayed around to warn you, but the cops wanted to question me. I had to get out of there, and then I passed out in a churchyard.” Jeff traced the lump beneath his eye. “He didn’t get anything out of you? Didn’t hurt you?”
“I-I was able to get away, and that’s when I called this guy.” She leveled a finger at Quinn.
Quinn shrugged and snatched the toast from the toaster. “I guess I’m the go-to guy in New Orleans.”
Rikki crossed her arms on the counter and leaned forward. “Do you have it?”
“Not on me.” Jeff pat
ted his pockets. “Thank God. That man would’ve snatched it in a second.”
Quinn slid a plate in front of Rikki. “Do you have any idea who he was, Jeff? Was he one of yours?”
“CIA coming after one of its own? Maybe.”
“Let’s face it.” Rikki pinged her cup with her fingernail. “You were not on official CIA business. You were on Ariel’s business, and she flies under the CIA radar. Maybe someone at the Company picked up your actions and figured you for a double agent.”
Jeff leaned against the kitchen counter for support. “I hope not. I don’t want to have to do any explaining. After that whole Rikki Taylor thing with North Korea, our agency is on high alert.”
Rikki’s eye twitched and she rubbed it. “Rikki Taylor is dead.”
“Yeah, but not forgotten.” Jeff wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then dumped his coffee into the sink.
She wanted to ask Jeff the meaning of those words but didn’t want to show too much interest in Rikki Taylor. Quinn had been right. He wasn’t one to kiss and tell, and Jeff didn’t know of the connection between her and Quinn.
Now this second chance had fallen into her lap, and she had no intention of letting it slip by.
“Where is it?” Rikki had broken up her toast into several pieces but hadn’t taken one bite yet.
Jeff narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were last night when I staggered across Quinn’s threshold? You must’ve made me right away as your contact.”
“Quinn’s a friend. I didn’t want to expose him—not to you, not to the CIA. He’s on leave trying to relax. Just because we both chose to drag him into our business doesn’t give us the right to put a target on his back.”
“Hey, what are friends for?” Quinn raised one hand.
Jeff nodded. “I get it. I wouldn’t have come here if I thought I could get back to my hotel safely.”
Rikki’s heart flip-flopped. “Nobody followed you here, right?”
“I was careful.”
Rikki pressed her lips together. Not that careful if he’d been found out before. “Anyway, I didn’t want to pull Quinn into this and didn’t want you linking me to him. I figured I could get you to drop the flash drive for me somewhere, and I’d pick it up and be on my way. Less exposure for you, too—you don’t know who you met, what she looked like or why you were dropping the flash drive.”
Jeff coughed. “I didn’t even know it was a flash drive. All I have is a small padded envelope.”
“My bad.” She exchanged a quick glance with Quinn, who was pretending to clean up the kitchen. Rikki should’ve known Ariel would keep things as anonymous as possible. “So, can you get it for me now?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you the same information I meant to give you at our meeting.”
“I’m ready.”
“It’s in the St. Louis Cemetery Number One.”
Rikki’s mouth dropped open. “You couldn’t leave it in a safe-deposit box?”
“Who’s going to suspect a cemetery?” Jeff lifted one shoulder. “It’s in the entrance to one of those family mausoleums—the St. Germaines. Two steps down, loose stone six in on the right. Pull that out, and you’ll find your flash drive…or whatever.”
“Kind of a public place, and it’s summertime with lots of tourists. Hope nobody stole it.” Quinn crossed his arms, feigning disinterest no more.
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to be there overnight.” Jeff pushed himself off the counter. “Now I’d like to get out of this city.”
Quinn didn’t budge from his position, and with his arms crossed and his biceps bulging, he looked large and in charge. “How and where do you think that guy picked up your trail?”
“I don’t have a clue.” Jeff licked his lips. “Nobody knew I was out here. I was thinking it must’ve been Ariel. Maybe someone is tracking her communications.”
“Why would that be?” Rikki tried to keep the panic from her voice, and she slipped her hands beneath the counter where she twisted her fingers into knots.
“I’m not sure. Have you ever met her?”
Rikki relaxed the lines of her face into a smooth mask. “No.”
“Nobody has. Do we even know if she’s male or female? Ariel’s a pseudonym.”
“I’m assuming Ariel is she.” Rikki lifted and dropped her shoulders quickly.
“She’s a woman.”
Rikki held her breath and swiveled her head around toward Quinn. He’d better not out Ariel. Rikki asked, “How do you know that?”
“One of my teammates actually spoke to her. She was going to help him out with an ambush but didn’t have to in the end.”
“If that’s who he was really speaking to. All I know is Ariel is the head of the Vlad task force, and she has a lot leeway, including employing Navy SEALs stateside in her efforts to stop him.” Jeff wagged his finger at Quinn. “You’d better lie low, or she’ll get you, too.”
Quinn held up his hands. “I’m trying to, but you never answered my question. Do you know when this guy picked you up?”
“I’m ashamed to say, I don’t. He wasn’t in a talkative mood while he was punching me in the face.”
Quinn stepped aside, clearing the way for Jeff to leave the kitchen. “Take it easy, man, and get those stitches, and, Jeff?”
Jeff glanced down at the hand Quinn had placed on his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“You never came here, never saw me, never saw her here, never saw her period, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course, man.” Jeff ducked away from Quinn and nodded once to Rikki. “Good luck.”
Rikki let out a long sigh when Jeff closed the door behind him. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Quinn rubbed his knuckles across the dark stubble on his jaw. “I think Ariel could’ve picked a better agent to make the drop. Someone obviously followed Jeff from his hotel, from the airport, who knows? And Jeff didn’t have a clue.”
Rikki slid from the stool and stretched. “At least that guy last night hadn’t been following me. It seems as if Jeff was the focus of that whole mess. Someone suspects him of double-crossing the Agency. Hopefully, once it’s cleared through Ariel, he’ll be off the hook.”
“Ariel is currently not answerable to anyone in the CIA. I know guys who have been on her assignments. You’re lucky she can act at will.” He swept her plate with its crumbled toast from the counter and dumped it in the sink. “Why is she looking out for you?”
“I told you. It has to do with Vlad.”
“And we know Ariel would move heaven and earth to bring down Vlad. Do you know why?”
Rikki shoved her hands in her pockets. She had no intention of outing Ariel. The woman had her back, and Rikki would do everything in her power to keep Ariel’s secrets. “That’s a dumb question. Vlad is building a terrorist network across the globe. He’s involved in drugs, weapons, assassinations. He’s the CIA’s public enemy number one. Why wouldn’t Ariel be hot to bring him down?”
“From what I’ve heard, it seems…obsessive.”
“I don’t know. All I can tell you is that David was on Vlad’s tail when he proposed that North Korea trip to me.”
“Talk about dumb.” Quinn slammed his fist into his palm, and Rikki jumped. “David should never have dragged you along on that assignment.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?” Rikki wedged her hands on her hips.
“No, damn it.” In two steps, he ate up the distance between them and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Because I was falling in love with you, and David took you away from me.”
Rikki pressed a hand to her chest, above her fluttering heart. “That wasn’t going to work, Quinn. It was hot and heavy sex in the heat of Dubai. I left because of my job, a job I couldn’t do tangled up in the sheets with you.”
He pinched her
shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh. “Don’t pretend that’s all it was between us. I’ll admit, the sex was exciting, crazy—just like last night—but you know there was more than that.”
She stroked his wrist. “Your libido can play tricks on you sometimes.”
“I’m a man, not a boy.” He softened his hold on her, smoothing this thumbs across her clavicles. “I know the difference between sex and love. When you left me—” he thumped a fist against his chest “—I felt it here, not farther south.”
“And when you got the assignment to kill me?”
“God, Rikki.” He spun away from her. “Didn’t we go through this yesterday? I didn’t know it was you until it was too late to back out. They’d already convinced me of your guilt before I got the name and picture of my target. If it had been so easy to prove your innocence and call off the hit, where was your precious Ariel? How come she didn’t do anything about it?”
“Like you said, the proof was there, but someone manufactured that proof against me and David. That’s what I hope to discover from the flash drive—information about who double-crossed us. That’s my starting point.”
She backed up from the heat emanating from Quinn’s body. She wanted to get on safe ground and away from Quinn’s feelings. Had he really just mentioned love?
She’d always been afraid of hearing that word from any man. For her mother, it had been a magic spell, and she’d dragged Rikki around from man to man, giving up everything for that one little word. Rikki had a mission, a career, or at least she’d had one. Even if she did clear her name, she had Bella now.
Her stomach sank. She had to tell Quinn about his daughter. If she really did want to push him away, keeping his daughter from him would cement that. She couldn’t do that. For all Quinn’s sexy manhood, he had a big heart. He’d fallen for her, foolishly and disastrously, and here he was admitting it. Any other man whose lover had left him would never fess up, never make himself vulnerable to that woman again. And yet here he was.
Kick A** Heroines Box Set: The UltimatumFatal AffairAfter the DarkBulletproof SEAL (The Guardian) Page 96
