Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5)

by Lynn Raye Harris

  The remnants of the fruit-and-cheese platter he’d ordered last night were on a table nearby. He’d known Gina wouldn’t eat much, but he’d wanted her to have something. She’d obliged him by eating cheese and strawberries and nibbling on a slice of pita bread. She had not been naked though. Not that he’d expected she would be, but when she’d said that to him about not wearing anything to bed, his body had responded immediately.

  But then she’d come out of the room in a pair of silk pajamas that were actually pretty modest. He’d been disappointed, but whatever. She’d nibbled the fruit and talked about Eli until her eyes started sagging. He’d told her to go to bed, but she’d insisted she was all right.

  And then he’d ended up carrying her into the room and putting her into the bed after she fell asleep on the chair. She was lighter than he’d expected, but she wasn’t too thin. Her body was solid, if slight. She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and burrowed her head against his chest. He’d had to stop and close his eyes for a second at all the memories she brought up. He hadn’t carried a woman to bed in years. Not since Hayley…

  When he’d pulled the sheets back and placed Gina on the bed, she hadn’t wanted to let him go. But she finally had, and he’d pulled up the covers and retreated to the couch. He’d checked in with the team first, and then he’d sat there staring at the lights and thinking he’d never get to sleep.

  He’d taken off his shirt and jeans and stretched out with a blanket, but he didn’t remember falling asleep. Obviously he had. Now he gazed across the dim suite toward Gina’s room. He’d left the door open on purpose so he could hear her phone ring.

  It hadn’t, and that made his gut twist a little tighter. It was hard to think of the kid as his—and yet he was deeply invested in this mission to regain Eli. It wasn’t that he’d fallen in instant love with the boy—how could he when he’d never met the child?—but it was something.

  Something strange and wondrous—and scary as hell.

  He stood and picked up his phone before walking over to the window and looking down at the ornate reproduction of Italy below.

  “Hey.”

  Jack turned. Gina stood in the open door, her hair mussed, her silky pajamas wrinkled and clinging to her form. She was stunningly beautiful even when rumpled from sleep. She looked so real in these moments, nothing like the superstar he’d seen on that stage last night, and he found himself wanting to take her in his arms and hold her.

  She walked out of the bedroom and wrapped her arms around herself. The movement pushed her breasts higher and he focused on keeping his eyes on her face. Because, yeah, there was the inconvenient attraction thing too.

  “You sleep all right?” He was pretty sure he knew the answer to that question already.

  “Not really, but it’ll do.”

  “Maybe you should try for a couple more hours.”

  “I can’t, Jack. I just can’t.”

  “Okay. Then get dressed and I’ll order breakfast. We’ll see what the guys know.”

  “I’d rather see what they know now.”

  He should have expected that. His eyes drifted over her. “You may want to put on a robe then. I’ll call them over.”

  She nodded and went back into the bedroom, and he dragged on his jeans. Gina emerged with a thick hotel robe belted around her waist. Her blond hair was wild and curly and she looked as tempting as a buffet would to a starving man.

  Jack called the team. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. All but two of them filtered inside. The other two—Flash and Fiddler—would be monitoring the equipment in the next room. Jack ordered food for the group at Gina’s request, and they sat down to discuss the plan and any modifications. If they had anything on Barry, he knew they’d let him know first. But nothing was said as they discussed the situation.

  There just wasn’t much they could do without knowing what the kidnappers wanted. They couldn’t plan a raid, because they didn’t know where Eli was being held. It was nothing but a hurry-up-and-wait game.

  And it was beginning to wear on Gina pretty hard. She was staring at her plate as the guys—and Lucky—talked, pushing her eggs back and forth into little mountains. She was tough, but she was also vulnerable. He’d seen that over the last few hours, and it brought out his protective instincts even while he was furious at her for lying to him and for protecting Barry.

  Lucky looked hard at Gina’s bowed head for a long moment. And then she stood. “Think we should be getting back to it, guys.”

  Kev looked up at his new wife with an expression Jack hadn’t ever thought he’d see on the other man’s face. The two of them had spent plenty of time seeing who could charm the panties off a woman first. It had been a contest of sorts, and they’d been pretty evenly matched.

  But Kev wasn’t charming the panties off anyone but Lucky these days. The guys all got to their feet and followed Lucky’s lead. She’d really become one of the team after that mission to Qu’rim. She didn’t always go out in the field with them, but when they needed an interpreter, she was there. And she did a damn fine job of translating documents and analyzing intel back at HOT HQ as well.

  “We’ll be listening,” Matt said as he paused at the door. “And we’ll be ready.”

  Jack nodded his thanks as his team leader walked out and closed the door behind him. He turned to find Gina leaning back against the couch, her eyes closed. He went over and took the plate from her lap, knowing she wasn’t going to finish her food. She opened her eyes as he did so.

  They were troubled, their green depths full of hot emotion she was working hard to contain. He sat down across from her and put his elbows on his knees.

  “You okay?”

  “I wasn’t sure if I wanted kids,” she said softly. “I have a sister, but she was put up for adoption when she was a baby. I was two, and they didn’t want me. Or maybe my mother didn’t want to give me up. I have no idea, really.”

  She sounded like a hurt little girl and it twisted into his soul. Damn, he didn’t want to feel any tenderness toward her. But he did. “Have you ever asked her?”

  “My mom died five years ago. And no, I never did.” Gina sighed. “I think I was afraid to know the answer. But I always thought if my mother could give up a baby so easily, what if I was like her? What if I had a kid and then resented the intrusion into my life?”

  He already knew the answer to that. “You don’t, though.”

  She shook her head. “No, I definitely don’t. I hate leaving Eli. I don’t often do it, but I was only going to be gone a few hours. I was planning to get on the plane and be home again after the concert. If I’d brought him with me—” She pressed her knuckles to her mouth.

  “They would have taken him another time. They were watching you, Gina. This wasn’t a crime of opportunity.”

  She sniffed. “I know. And that’s what I don’t understand. Who would want to hurt me so much?”

  He didn’t mention Barry because he knew she didn’t want to hear it. And they didn’t know a damn thing anyway, so why antagonize her? “I’m afraid that’s something I don’t know.”

  “I always have fans who are a little too exuberant. Men who write me letters from prison, or men who send me inappropriate photos of themselves. And then there are the rare ones who track me down at my home. But they aren’t usually all that stable to begin with.” She looked pensive. “Then there were those ugly threats.”

  He’d read the report and it made his gut churn. “I know. But whoever took Eli had the resources to hire professionals. The two things might not be connected at all.”

  Which didn’t mean Barry was in the clear, but one thing at a time.

  She watched him for a long moment. “You’re really handling all of this so well.”

  “It’s my job.”

  She shook her head. “No, I meant that you must hate me but you aren’t letting it show. I appreciate that.”

  *

  He was watching her with those gorgeous blue eyes o
f his and her heart throbbed in response. But his gaze didn’t waver. If it had, she would have known he was about to lie to her.

  “I don’t hate you.”

  If it was a lie, well, he was damn good at it. Because she believed him. She drew in breath to speak, but he cut her off with a raised hand.

  “I don’t hate you, Gina. But I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you.”

  She swallowed and looked down at her lap. “I get that.”

  And she did. She’d kept the truth from him for too long, and even though she’d told herself he didn’t want to know, she had nothing to base that on but three days in a cave three years ago. He’d still been mourning the death of his wife and unborn child. And she’d known that wouldn’t last forever. She’d owed him the truth in a much better way than she’d given it to him.

  He got to his feet and moved away from her. He’d dragged on his jeans and T-shirt, but she remembered the way he’d looked when she’d first walked out this morning. He’d had his back to her and she’d gotten a full view of a tight ass and a broad back.

  When he’d turned around, the view had been even better. He was tall and lean and hard, with the kind of body that could belong to a mixed martial arts fighter. She’d had to drag her gaze off his chest. She hadn’t really had time for men in the last few months, and she hadn’t missed them at all.

  Until now.

  Now she just wanted to bury herself in this one’s arms and let him hold her until everything was right with the world again. But it had little to do with his being male and everything to do with him being who he was. Jack Hunter. Soldier, hero, badass.

  Her phone blared in the silence and she gasped. Then she grabbed for it where she’d set it on the table. Jack was instantly at her side.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s so nice of you to visit Las Vegas. I hear it’s excruciatingly hot this time of year.” It was a different man than the one she’d talked to before. His voice seemed familiar. He had an accent, a slight rolling of his words from time to time. She thought maybe she’d heard it before, and yet she couldn’t place it. She talked to so many people.

  Gina’s heart pounded. “Where’s my baby? What do you want?”

  The man laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Your baby, Gina? I thought he was adopted.”

  Gina swallowed. Jack was watching her with hard eyes and she knew that his team was listening in on their devices. “He is adopted, which makes him mine.”

  “Oh, I’m thinking he’s more than adopted,” the man said.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I think you do.” She heard the tapping of a keyboard. “Jackson Eli Robertson, born at five oh three in the evening, seven pounds, eight ounces. Mother, Regina Marie Robertson. Father, unknown.”

  Her heart was in her throat. Her eyes burned. Someone had leaked her baby’s birth certificate. Barry knew the truth… but no, he wouldn’t. She closed her eyes. “Of course I’m his mother. When I adopted him, the record was changed. That happens in some places, you know.”

  “Yes, but there was no need in this case. Because you gave birth to him in a small hospital on the island of Monterosso. The attending physician was Giovanna Crespini. You left the hospital a day later with your baby. But Gina, you’ve kept a terrible secret. A secret I know.”

  Her blood was pumping so hard she thought she might pass out. But she gripped the phone tight and forced the words past the knot in her throat. “What secret is that?”

  Jack looked angrier than she’d ever seen him as he watched her. It made her feel there was a glimmer of hope, no matter how tiny. This man was fierce and tough and he would get Eli back. One way or the other, he would do it. She believed it. She had to believe it.

  The man on the phone laughed softly, and she suddenly knew precisely who he was. She’d heard that laugh before on a windswept Greek night. Her blood froze.

  “Your baby is a Metaxas. And he is therefore mine.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “HE’S NOT A METAXAS!” Gina yelled, and Jack’s gut turned to ice. Fuck. Whoever it was thought that Eli was Athenasios Metaxas’s baby. And that wasn’t a good thing for anyone involved. He couldn’t imagine what they wanted from Gina, but whatever it was, he was seriously fucking pissed now.

  Gina’s eyes grew big. She started to plead, but her plea cut off abruptly and she pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at Jack. Her face had drained of all color. It took him half a second to realize she was about to drop, but he reached out and caught her in time.

  He swept her up in his arms and carried her to the couch where he deposited her as gently as he could. She turned her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wasn’t crying, but she was shaking like she’d been outside in a snowstorm without clothes.

  He wanted to know what the kidnappers had said, but he told himself to be patient. Even if she couldn’t tell him, his team would. And soon. First, he had to hold her and hope the shaking would subside. He might be angry with her deep down, but he didn’t like seeing her this way.

  “Gina, babe, whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”

  She held him tighter. “He wants Eli. That’s all. Not money. Not anything. Just my baby. And me.”

  Holy shit. He didn’t want to think about why this asshole wanted her. He squeezed her tighter. She sniffed and pushed back until she could look up at him. Her eyes were glassy. “He thinks Eli belongs to Athenasios. That I gave birth to Athenasios’s baby.”

  Jack pushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Who thinks that, sweetheart?”

  Her fingers curled into his shirt. “Stavros Metaxas.”

  Fuck.

  “I t…told you it wasn’t Barry.”

  “You did. I’m sorry.” Jack’s phone rang and he brought it to his ear with a clipped, “Yeah.”

  It was Kev. “We got the whole thing, Hawk. But it’s not going to do us a damned bit of good. The call came from an island in the Caribbean.”

  Jack knew which island. They all did. St. Margarethe, where they’d taken out Athenasios Metaxas and the terrorist leaders he’d been about to sell arms to three years ago. “Shit.”

  “Yeah,” Kev replied.

  There was always a successor. In this case, Stavros, the younger brother. His contacts weren’t as extensive and he’d had trouble getting business in the years since HOT had interfered in their last big arms deal. He’d made small deals here and there, but nothing as big as what his brother had been on the verge of achieving. What the fuck did he want with Eli and Gina?

  “But where is the boy? Is he with Stavros?”

  “Most likely. Billy sampled the audio until he could separate out the streams. There was a child in the background. For what it’s worth, he was laughing. And Stavros told Gina he had the boy.”

  Jack wanted to hit something. Or better yet, shoot something.

  Stavros had been toying with her by sending her on a wild-goose chase to Vegas, nothing more. He’d wanted to get her hopes up, make her frantic and biddable—and then he’d cut the ground out from under her and left her swinging. Hell, maybe he’d been behind the letters, but they’d clearly moved beyond that now. Stavros Metaxas had his son. His son.

  “What else did he say?”

  “He believes Eli is his brother’s child, but you’ll have gathered that by now. He said he’s taking him and raising him as a Metaxas. If Gina takes this public, he’ll make sure the boy disappears forever. But if she comes to him within twenty-four hours, he’ll make a deal with her that ensures she can have access to her child.”

  A fresh chill washed over Jack. And a spike of anger unlike any he’d ever felt before. “What kind of deal?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  “We can’t let him get away with this.”

  “Agreed. But this one’s going to take some serious planning. And more than a private plane and some equipment.”

  “How in the hell are we—”

>   “Richie’s calling the colonel. This is a hostage situation now, bro. And you know what that means.”

  Fuck, yeah, he knew what it meant. It meant HOT could go after Eli. Because Metaxas was a petty arms dealer who sold weapons to terrorist organizations, and Eli was an American citizen. So was Gina. Metaxas expected her to come to the Caribbean and make a deal. But what kind of deal? And what if he refused to let her leave? So long as he had control over her child, he had control over her.

  HOT wasn’t going to allow it. Jack wasn’t going to fucking allow it.

  He felt scalding hot tears press against the backs of his eyes, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of Gina and Eli or because of his team. Maybe it was all of them.

  Goddamn, he loved these guys. “It means we’re saddling up the posse,” he said.

  “Damn straight it does.”

  “Yippee ki-yay, motherfuckers.”

  Kev laughed at the line from Die Hard. “Let’s rock and roll, buddy. We’re bugging out.”

  *

  In the end, it took several hours to get everything together and form a plan. They returned to DC on Gina’s jet, and then they needed to go to their headquarters to gather intel and make deployment plans. Gina didn’t know what any of that meant, but she knew she had to trust Jack and his team to get this done the right way.

  She believed Eli was safe for now, but every minute that ticked by on the clock made her more frantic. Stavros wanted her to come back to the island where she’d conceived Eli. She had no illusions that that was all he wanted. When she’d started dating Athenasios, Stavros had made her uncomfortable the few times she’d been around him. Where Athenasios was all charm and politeness at first, Stavros was nothing but a pig. He’d made her skin crawl just by looking at her.

  She should have taken that feeling as a hint about the whole family, in retrospect.

  If Stavros got her alone, she didn’t know what he would do. Gina shuddered and ran her hands up and down her arms. It was spring, but she was cold. Evie Baker looked up from where she was standing at her stove, stirring something. Whatever it was smelled divine.