Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“Respectfully, sir, what the hell is going on?”
Ghost sighed. It was Seth, of course. The other four members of the Ghost Ops team looked uncomfortable, but Seth appeared ready to shoot lasers from his eyeballs.
They were in the SCIF, a place where they could talk freely. Nothing was off limits here, though he was beginning to think he should have made Diana off limits.
He’d been in such a good mood when he’d walked in, too.
He’d cooked breakfast, eaten with the woman he’d spent the night with, and walked her to her car where he’d kissed her hot and deep just because he could.
They hadn’t made any plans for getting together again, but it was inevitable.
Maybe not tonight since she was sore, maybe not tomorrow night.
But soon because he needed to taste her again.
Needed to show her how much he loved burying his face in her pussy and making her come.
What kind of fucknut didn’t want to take care of his woman’s needs?
And how had she gotten to the age of thirty-one and never had a man go down on her?
If he taught her nothing else in their time together, he’d teach her how to accept only the best when she took a man to her bed.
His insides turned sour at the thought of her with another man.
But that’s what was going to happen because this was temporary.
He wasn’t the kind of man could do long-term.
His shit went too deep, and he never knew when the cracks would form, when any woman who tried to stick with him would realize he wasn’t worth the trouble.
It was safer to be alone, to find comfort and companionship in the short-term and keep his life his own in the long.
Lonely sometimes, but that was the price he paid for his peace of mind.
He aimed a look at Seth that was somewhere between annoyed and mildly amused. “It’s called chemistry, Phantom. I think you know what that’s like.”
“But with her?”
“Yes, with her.” He glared equally at everyone as his temper jumped the tracks.
“Not taking any shit from you guys. Not over this. Every damned one of you agreed to the mission. You showed up here with your gear and your oaths to this country, and yet one by fucking one, you got involved with a woman. Not just let’s fuck involved, but I love you, you’re my everything involved.
Which makes you vulnerable, and you damned well know it.
That’s why the order to stay unattached, which you also know, even if you think it’s unreasonable.
You didn’t have to take the assignment. So if I happen to find a woman who knows our secret—who has high-level access of her own and isn’t nearly as risky to get involved with, by the way—if I find her sexy as fuck, not a damned one of you is going to say a word. Not. A. Word. Understood?”
They all stared at him with equally shocked expressions.
Hell, he was shocked too. He hadn’t meant to come out swinging quite so hard but fuck it.
What he did with Diana in the privacy of his bedroom—or hers—was none of their fucking business.
Not only that, but she wasn’t the ice princess she presented to the world.
She was far more vulnerable than she appeared, and she roused his protective instincts.
He still didn’t know who in her life Viktor Dashevsky had hurt, but the pain in her eyes when she told him it was personal was something he wouldn’t forget anytime soon. If he could help her put an end to that asshole’s sick empire while achieving his own objective, he’d happily do it.
“Yes, sir,” his team said in almost perfect unison.
“Excellent. Now before we go any further, I want it understood that when I invite Diana to join us at the Dawg, or anywhere we gather, I won’t tolerate anyone making her uncomfortable.
That’s for you guys because your women are nicer than you are.
They won’t make her feel like she doesn’t belong. Got it?”
Another chorus of agreement echoed in the room.
Tension ebbed from his body. They might not like it, but they damn sure wouldn’t disobey.
It was a lot easier to ignore Washington’s edicts than his.
He was right here, in their faces, and he knew them well enough to know his opinion mattered.
They may not technically be active-duty military anymore, but the structure still mattered—and he was in charge.
“Down to business then.” He tapped his pen against the table. It was that or break it in two. “The update from Washington is more of the same. Delays, problems, obfuscations. Athena is on schedule, or not on schedule, depending who you talk to and whether the moon is in Virgo or some such shit.”
Blaze groaned. “For fuck’s sake.”
“Know you want to marry your girl, Shadow, but it’s gotta wait a while longer.”
Blaze and Chance both had kids on the way, and their women were growing bigger with child.
They had engagement rings, but no wedding date in sight.
Both Emma and Rory seemed happy enough, planning their nurseries and reading baby books together, but he knew it had to chafe.
Especially for Emma, whose parents were pillars of Sutton’s Creek society and active in their church.
Neither Dr. Sutton or his wife were pressuring Blaze and Emma, but he knew they’d probably like a wedding so they didn’t have to keep fielding judgmental looks or snide comments from certain quarters.
Chance and Rory were engaged too, but Rory didn’t give two fucks about other people’s opinions and her parents were long gone. Her brother, Theo Harper, whole-heartedly supported her in whatever she wanted to do, so that wasn’t a problem. No judgement there.
Still, Ghost imagined both men wanted to marry soon. Ethan and Paisley, who already had a child together, as well as Kane and Daphne, and Seth and Callie would probably like the freedom to plan their futures too.
“When do they say it’ll launch this time?” Seth asked.
“January is the target date.”
There was a collective groan in the room. Ghost didn’t like it either, but in some ways it was better because he had more time to infiltrate Dashevsky’s militia group. If it was up to the suits in Washington, he’d be sitting around waiting for intel and orders until the next ice age.
He was done sitting around. “You realize some CIA agents spend years on one mission, right? Infiltrating, assimilating, becoming part of the community. If all you have to do is run this range and the corporate security business while living with your women and forging lives here, is that so damn bad?”
“No,” Kane said. “Other than not being in control of our own lives—no taking off for vacation, or a honeymoon, or doing anything that takes us outside a fifty-mile radius of this place—it’s freaking fantastic. No disrespect meant, just pointing out the limitations.”
“Understood. Still a small price to pay compared to what you used to be asked to do. Weeks downrange, stinking of sweat and shit and living rough while you waited to take out the target or rescue the hostages. This is a fucking fantasyland picnic in a field of wildflowers.”
He understood the frustration. He really did. These guys were chafing under the restrictions, ready to kick some ass and take some names so they could move on with life—move on with their women—but they couldn’t yet. Because Ghost Ops had them in a chokehold.
“You’re right, boss,” Ethan said, frowning at the others.
“I know it sucks. But if we hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have Paisley and Violet back.
I’d still be the shell of a man I was before she came into my life again, and if I have to stay in this area and never step foot outside of it for the rest of my life, I’m gonna call it a damn fine bargain. ”
“Look, nobody said you can’t ever go anywhere,” Ghost told them.
“Three of you can’t go out of town at the same time, but we can operate with four if we need to.
You can go to the flipping Gulf Coast for a romantic weekend.
Athena will launch. It might not be as soon as we want, but it’ll happen.
Until then, we keep our ears to the ground, listen for rumblings around the project, and wait for orders from Washington.
We’ve got a lot of contacts in the defense contractor community at this point.
We’ve done security jobs for half of the companies in Research Park.
We know where Athena will be controlled from, and we’ve got access to the building through our business.
If we get intel from Washington about a threat, we’ll act on it. ”
“What about the Dashevsky Group?” Chance asked. “They seemed to be our prime suspect for a while, what with Smirnov trying to get the code from Callie. Seems like Washington’s swept it under the rug lately. And we still don’t know if McCann gave them our records or not.”
“We don’t. And we aren’t likely to unless they make a move in our direction.
” It was part of the reason he’d decided to infiltrate.
Stop waiting and start doing. Give them someone to focus on instead of letting them target his team.
He’d lain awake nights thinking of Dashevsky’s people going after the innocent women and children belonging to his men. He wasn’t letting that happen.
“We know that Diana’s been told to leave the Dashevsky Group investigation to FBI HQ in Washington.
Either somebody’s pulling some strings to shift attention off the man and his organization, or the FBI’s got it under control.
Unfortunately, we’re being kept in the dark on this one.
But we’ve got a bug in Gannon’s office at Eagle Tech, and we’re listening.
If something comes up, we’ll do what needs doing and fuck politics. ”
He leaned back in his chair. He could tell them he’d put a bug in Gannon’s apartment but then he’d have to tell them how he’d gotten in there.
Wasn’t ready for that yet. If something shook loose, he’d bring them in.
Until then, better if they stayed separate from the risky shit he was doing. “What’s on for today?”
“Blaze and I have a security assessment at King Solutions in Research Park this morning,” Kane said.
“The long-range target group is coming at one,” Chance replied. “I’m checking the field, making sure the targets are reset and the berms are good.”
“RSO duty this morning,” Ethan said. “Self-defense class after lunch.”
“Combing through the local dark web for keywords,” Seth said. “It’s possible I’ll find something about Athena or Dashevsky we can follow up on, but most of it’s a lot of dudes in their mommies’ basements trading conspiracy theories.”
“Typical,” Ethan said. “You know, if people who sit around thinking this shit up would actually do something productive, like get a job and work for a living, the world would probably be a better place. Fewer dumbasses believing everything they read online and causing trouble for the rest of us.”
“But what would we do if everyone was happy and productive?” Kane asked.
“Find a new profession,” Blaze said.
“Never happening,” Seth told them. “So long as people click on crazy headlines, the advertisers make billions. They have no incentive to hold anyone accountable for the crap so long as the clicks make them rich.”
Ghost got to his feet, signaling an end to the meeting. “Okay, think we’re done here. If anyone needs me, I’ll be grilling Daphne about her plans to erect that giant skeleton I saw in the warehouse this morning.”
Seth snorted. “What about the giant spiders? Did you see those, too?”
“Aw, hell, really?” Ghost asked. “Musta missed those.”
Kane managed to look contrite. “I swear I didn’t think she was serious when she showed me the website.”
“You knew about this?”
“Not entirely,” Kane muttered. “To be fair, she distracted me.”
Chance let out a bark of laughter. “I bet.”
“Like you have room to talk,” Kane clapped back.
“None of us do,” Ethan replied as they filed out of the room. “Paisley wants anything, she knows just how to talk me into it. Not that I ever refuse her what she wants. But we both have fun with the talking me into it part.”
Ghost snorted a laugh along with everyone else.
He liked hearing them talk this way. Liked that they were happy.
Nobody deserved it more than men who’d lived through the kind of shit they had.
Taken the kind of shit they had so they could keep this country safe.
Not just in the past few months, but their whole careers.
Despite everything, they were still willing to take a load of shit for their country. That’s what made them who they were. Made them trustworthy and good. The kind of men who would sacrifice their own happiness if it came down to it, just so they could save people.
They hadn’t changed. He had. Because he was no longer willing to let them. He’d take the shit himself, shoulder the load. If there was a sacrifice to be made, it was going to be his.