He wasn’t that reckless. Ever. He was cool, methodical, and thorough. Yeah, he had sex with other women. But he used protection and he pulled out when he came.
There’d only ever been one woman for him, and that woman was gone. He didn’t want to go through it again with someone else. He had a child with Gina, and he would deal with that, but this thing between them wasn’t anything more than hot sex and short-circuited brains. He needed to remember that the next time his cock tried to do the thinking for him.
The plane came to a rolling stop and the seat-belt light went off. Stephanie came into the main cabin. “The door is open if you’d like to exit, Miss Domenico. Someone from immigration will meet you inside. Your bags will be delivered to the Margarethe Crown Hotel.”
“Thank you.” Gina stood and shouldered her handbag. Her hair was damp and messy, and she’d pulled on jeans that looked as if they’d been painted on. She wore a lemon-yellow silk top with a white cropped jacket and heels that made her seem tall again.
It hit him just how rarified her existence was. They’d just landed in St. Margarethe on her private plane. The captain spoke directly to her when he made announcements. The flight attendants arranged for her baggage to be taken to the hotel and came to inform her personally that she could leave the plane.
The room at the hotel was no doubt the best available, and if there wasn’t a bottle of Dom Pérignon in an ice bucket waiting for her, he’d be stunned. Jack grabbed his backpack and followed Gina down the aisle and out the door. The captain was waiting for her, of course, but at least that was somewhat similar to flying commercial. The flight staff thanked you for flying their airline as you stepped off. In this case, the airline was hers and the staff was comprised of her employees.
Surreal.
They went through immigration—a brief affair since St. Margarethe didn’t require a visa and didn’t much care about things you brought to the island so long as they were legal—and then they were in a hired limousine and heading toward the hotel.
When they reached the hotel, they checked in and took the elevator up to the suite. It wasn’t as luxurious as the suite at the Venetian, but it was still nice. Jack let his gaze wander the room—and of course there was a bottle of champagne. He went over and picked it up.
Not Dom Pérignon. Cristal.
He set it back down.
“What now?”
He turned to find Gina standing on the white plush carpet in her heels, staring at him. She’d removed her jacket and her arms were folded over her middle. It made her breasts even fuller, if that was possible.
His dick started to tingle.
“You should sleep for a while. I’ll check in with the team.”
She dropped her gaze for a second. “I figured that much. But I was talking about… what happened. On the plane.”
As if he didn’t know. A chill seeped into his veins, but it didn’t calm him the way it usually did. “What do you want to happen?”
She sighed and turned away from him. Then she sank down on the couch and crossed her legs. It was a casual move, yet he didn’t get the impression she felt very casual or at ease with him just now. Her green eyes fixed on him. They were wide, filled with a hurt that went deeper than she let on.
“You’re Eli’s father. I want you to be a part of our lives, and yet this complicates things.”
“How? It’s sex, Gina. Not a proposal.”
Her eyes flashed. “And that’s not complicated? I’ve dated one man since Eli was born, and he was never a part of Eli’s life. But you will be.”
Jack blew out a breath. “Do you really think now’s the time to discuss this? We have to get Eli back first. We can talk about the future after we’ve done that.”
Her jaw tightened. “All right. But I want to know one thing first.”
“What’s that?”
Her gaze dropped to her lap. “I want to know if you’re over Hayley.”
His belly was a ball of lead. Pain ricocheted out from his heart, across his nerve endings, and settled in his temples, pounding out a rhythm. “Over Hayley?” He sounded hoarse, and her head snapped up, almost as if he’d slapped her. “I met Hayley in elementary school. I rubbed dirt in her face and she told the teacher. I had to write sentences on the board. I didn’t like her very much then, but that changed. I asked her to junior prom. She wasn’t my first kiss—or my last—but she was my first in every way that mattered.”
His throat was tight. How to explain what Hayley had been to him? What he’d wanted out of life with her? And how miserably he’d failed. She’d never asked him to leave the Army, though he’d spent plenty of time away from her. But she hadn’t known what he did because it was top secret. What he never knew was why he’d kept doing it when he had her to go home to. That was the guilt that sometimes tore at him at the most unexpected times.
Gina clasped her hands in her lap. “Then I suppose the answer is no. Thanks for being honest with me.”
Somehow he felt like he’d disappointed her. And he didn’t like that feeling either. “She’s been gone for nearly four years. I miss her, I still think about her, I wonder if our baby would have been a boy or a girl, and I wonder if he or she would have had Hayley’s smile. She had a great smile.” He stopped and shook his head. “Why are you asking me this?”
She dropped her gaze, but he didn’t miss the way her eyes glistened. “Her name is on your ribcage, near your heart.” She shrugged. “I wondered.”
“So why didn’t you ask me then?”
“I didn’t see it until right before we landed. I didn’t think it was appropriate, given the circumstances.”
No, it wouldn’t have been. But he still felt like he had to explain. “It’s ink, Gina. I wear her name because she’s important to me, because she helped make me who I am. Don’t try to turn this into something it’s not. It’s not about you, or me, or Eli. We’ll deal with our shit, but Hayley’s not a part of it.”
She got to her feet. “Great to know. I’m going to bed.”
Jack watched her walk out of the room, her hips swaying in that come-to-mama way she had, her head held high, her back straight. She was something else, that woman. And he had no idea how to handle her or how to begin to address everything that lay between them.
*
Gina woke the next morning with a start. She sat up in bed, certain she was supposed to be frightened and not quite sure why. And then everything that had happened to this point downloaded into her brain, and she threw back the covers and grabbed a hotel robe before hurrying over and ripping open the door to her bedroom.
Jack looked up from the table, his blue eyes raking over her. An array of weapons sat on the table in front of him, dark and gleaming. Boxes of bullets were stacked up on one side and her heart thumped.
“Are we robbing a bank?” She didn’t know why she thought she’d find herself alone, but she had. And it had scared her. Except he was here, bent over his weapons and looking lethal. Since when did the sight of a shirtless man polishing guns make her feel happy?
She pulled her robe tighter and walked toward him.
He glanced at the table and back at her. “Just getting prepared.”
“I doubt Stavros will let you arrive packing heat.”
“His men will find some of them. But they won’t find them all.”
She didn’t bother to ask. “Have you heard from the others?”
“Stavros has fortified the compound. Security there is five times as tight as it was three years ago.”
Her heart thumped. “And what’s that mean for us?”
“It means it’s taking more time to get into position than we anticipated.”
Gina’s mouth was dry. “We’re running out of time.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She bit her lip and tried not to let her fear show. “What if he insists I come alone?”
Jack got to his feet then. There was something comforting about the way he towered over her. But he didn’t r
each for her. He stood there and gazed down at her, his body radiating leashed energy. “Don’t borrow trouble, Gina. Let’s just take it one thing at a time.”
“I should shower and get dressed.”
His gaze slipped over her body, back up again. Her nipples tightened and her core melted at that look. But he wasn’t about to let his icy reserve crack again. “Yeah, you should. We need to be ready to move.”
She could feel his eyes on her back the whole way, and when she reached the bathroom, she shut the door and stripped out of the robe while the shower heated. She watched the door in the mirror, wondering if he would come through it like he had on the plane, but it stayed firmly shut. Gina showered alone, her hands slipping over her soapy flesh, gliding over her nipples and between her legs, reminding her of Jack’s touch. She closed her eyes and bit her lip—and skated her thumb over her clitoris again and again until her body shuddered and she had to bite back a moan as she came.
She dressed in a shirtdress and heels before twisting her damp hair on her head and pinning it up. Then she returned to the living area of the suite and found Jack standing with his back to her, his hands in his pockets while he gazed out at the city below. He was wearing a jacket with his jeans and she knew he had a shoulder holster. God only knew where else he was packing a weapon.
He turned when he heard her heels on the tile and her heart skipped. He was so incredibly handsome and so remote. Had he really held her close and made love to her only a few hours ago? Had he let down his guard long enough to gasp his pleasure in her ear?
It didn’t seem possible, and yet she knew it had happened. Heat blistered her cheeks as she thought about pleasuring herself in the shower just now. But Jack didn’t know she’d been thinking about him and making herself come.
As if that made it better.
His brows drew down. “You look flushed. Everything okay?”
“I just took a shower. I’m hot. But everything’s fine.”
“You should have used cooler water.”
It wouldn’t have helped, but she didn’t tell him that. “I’ll remember that for the next time,” she snapped.
He shook his head as if she were a silly child. “You ready for this, babe?”
She lifted her chin. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then make the call.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THERE WERE PERIMETER ALARMS rigged around the property, starting about a mile out and getting denser as they got closer to Metaxas’s compound. Billy Blake had them pinpointed on his computer, but disarming them took time. Time they didn’t have.
Nick Brandon remembered the spot where he and Hawk had hidden before, but he couldn’t reach it. In the aftermath of his brother’s death, it seemed as if Stavros Metaxas had systematically hunted out every possible perch and rendered it moot with infrared equipment and alarms. There was no way to get close enough to take a shot. Not without a week’s notice anyway.
“They’re on the way,” Matt said.
“Did Metaxas let her bring Hawk?” It was Lucky who’d spoken. She didn’t usually go on this sort of op with them, but she’d insisted on this one because she figured Gina might need a woman along. For what, Nick didn’t know.
“He agreed to it. But that’s not really a surprise. He’s bringing them into a fortified compound. One man is easy to disarm.”
Iceman snorted. “Guess he doesn’t know Hawk.”
“Truth.” But Matt didn’t look happy. He gazed at the computer screen on the table in the yacht’s main cabin and frowned. “He’s never gone in after his own son before.”
No one said anything, probably because they couldn’t imagine what that was like. Nick’s gaze flickered over the team. To his knowledge, none of them had any kids.
“Guess we’re going with Plan B,” Lucky said, and the guys all looked at her. She whipped her T-shirt over her head to reveal a pink bikini top. Her breasts were spectacular, Nick decided. And then he decided he’d better not look or Big Mac would kill him.
In fact, Big Mac was glaring at them all as Lucky shimmied out of her jeans and stood there in one smoking-hot bikini. Her skin was scarred along her arms and back, but it didn’t detract from her beauty in the least. She was tanned, toned, and hot enough to make water steam.
“I’ll be lounging on deck like the rich bitch I am,” she said with a grin. “Fetch me a drink, would you, sweet cakes?”
That last was directed at Kev who miraculously didn’t get pissed. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll rub oil on your back.”
Ryan Gordon wasn’t called Flash simply because of the obvious superhero reference. He was also pretty reckless at opening his mouth—flashing his teeth—when it would be better to keep it closed.
“Man, how in the hell are you going to manage that without losing focus? This ain’t your honeymoon, bro.”
Kev’s eyes narrowed. “You want to keep those teeth of yours, jackass?”
Ryan held up both hands. “Hey, if you can do it without getting distracted, you’re a better man than I am.”
“Already fucking knew that,” Kev growled.
Lucky put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Seriously, you’re getting pissed over this? First, he has a point—you do get distracted easily when, uh…” She cleared her throat. “Second, Flash, darlin’,” she said, turning her smile on him and mimicking her husband’s accent. “You remember what I did to Al Ahmad?”
Jeez. Nick’s balls tightened involuntarily, as did every man’s in the cabin. They all knew what she’d done to the terrorist.
Flash automatically cupped his hand over his groin. “Lucky, with all due respect, you’re the last woman on earth I ever want near my package.”
“Damn straight,” Kev said.
“Ladies, Jesus,” Matt interrupted. “Can we focus here? Sorry, Lucky,” he added, but she was used to their banter by now and simply nodded. “All right. Lucky’s going to lie on deck and make us look like party boys on a joyride. The rest of you know what to do…”
*
The helicopter set down on the same pad where Jack had shot the engine out of another one three years ago. Palm trees and pines swayed in the breeze the rotors whipped up, and the Caribbean sparkled just a few yards away. The same long dock was still there, but there was no yacht tied up to it this time.
Jack glanced at Gina. She’d put on red lipstick and giant sunglasses and looked every inch a star. But the corners of her mouth were tight, little grooves cutting into her skin on either side of her lush lips.
He wanted to squeeze her hand and then he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but neither was appropriate any longer. He was her bodyguard, a hired gun meant to give her peace of mind when she came face-to-face with Stavros. Except they both knew there was no peace of mind here.
If Stavros wanted, he could have Jack killed and throw his body to the sharks. Jack hoped that wouldn’t happen, at least not before he got a look at his son. He’d tried to keep Eli’s existence in the abstract for as long as possible, but now that he was faced with the prospect of actually seeing the kid he’d fathered three years ago, his nerves were stretched tight.
Not that he would let that affect him. No, he was a special operator for a reason—he was cool under pressure and he had a deadly accurate aim in all kinds of conditions.
A man in a white jacket and black pants came forward and opened the helicopter door. Another man stood with a tray that contained a single champagne flute and a red rose.
Jack didn’t pat the gun on his ankle or the one tucked under his arm, but he wanted to just the same. And then there was the one he’d put on Gina. She hadn’t seemed comfortable with the idea, but she’d watched him with those big green eyes of hers while he’d tucked it into the thigh holster he’d strapped onto her pretty leg.
“This thing won’t go off, will it?” she’d asked when he’d stepped back and let her dress fall.
“No. But don’t pull it no matter what. It’s for me, n
ot you.”
She’d propped her hands on her hips. “The damn thing’s between my legs.”
He’d grinned. “I know. Guns and pussy. Two of my favorite things on earth.”
Only he knew why she’d sat there with her legs slightly apart during the helicopter ride, and it had made him hard to think about it. The gun should be on the outside of her thigh, but he couldn’t take that chance with Metaxas, so he’d put it on the inside. He kept picturing the grip rubbing against her panties whenever she moved, and it turned him on. Though really the gun was too low for that or she wouldn’t be able to walk. Still, what an image.
Gina exited the helicopter with the butler’s help and Jack joined her. He stood respectfully behind her, his gaze sliding over the grounds of the compound. There were men on the roof, men in a guard shack on the perimeter, and cameras everywhere. Metaxas had erected a concrete wall on either side of the compound, but he’d left the water approach open. Of course, because it was pretty.
And because he didn’t expect anyone to come in that way since it was obvious and easily defended.
“Champagne, miss?”
Gina took the glass with a smile and Jack felt a knot of panic harden in his belly. But she didn’t drink it. When the man tried to hand her the rose, she waved him off and Jack was forced to take it instead. He wanted to throw it down, but no sense antagonizing Metaxas just yet. Besides, it made him look like a trained lapdog and that could be an advantage.
The man led the way toward the house. Before they passed inside, two men with machine guns stepped out. They insisted on patting Jack down—and relieved him of his weapons as expected—but they didn’t touch Gina. Jack let out a breath as they passed into the darkened coolness of the house.
They were shown to a long room that overlooked the lawn and beach. Gina set her untouched champagne down while Jack gazed out across the blue Caribbean. He didn’t see any boats bobbing on the water, but he knew HOT was there somewhere.
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