Brooks (Gold Team #1)

Prologue

Zane Lewis

The incessant ringing and vibrating of my phone pulled me from a deep, sated sleep. I angrily snatched my phone off the nightstand and without checking the caller ID, I entered in my ten-digit security code and answered.

“Zane,” I growled.

It was two in the goddamn morning, someone had better be bleeding or missing body parts.

“We have a problem.” John “Tex” Keegan cut right to the chase, one of the many things I liked about the man. That and he had to be hands-down the best computer geek I’d ever met. Though I’d never call the former SEAL a geek to his face.

“Of course we do.” I glanced over at my beautiful wife as she stirred in her sleep.

Ivy sighed and rolled to her side. The sexy sound made my cock jerk.

Not even an hour ago, she had made that same sweet sound after I brought her to orgasm with my mouth and fingers.

Regretfully, I slid out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweats on my way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “What kind of problem?”

“Tatiana Jones called me when she found out Gold Team was in Bahrain.”

There was so much to process from that one simple statement.

“At two in the fucking morning?”

“It’s ten a.m. in Bahrain.”

“Tatiana Jones is in Bahrain?”

It was taking longer for my sleep-muddled mind to track than it should have.

“Yep. And she wants reassurances that the team will not be an issue for her.”

“What the actual fuck? I thought she retired. Found herself a nice man to drive off into the sunset with. Oh, wait, I forgot she married that asshole Monroe. Bet that ended badly.”

Ivy would’ve given me shit if she’d heard me making smartass comments about the failure of someone’s marriage. Or maybe not if she knew what a douche James Monroe was. He was an embarrassment to the Special Operations community and a shit husband from what I’d heard.

“After she finally got shot of Monroe, she went back to work,” Tex informed me.

“A new company, or did she go back to her previous employer?”

“New. She’s running solo now.”

Well, fuck me running . There was nothing I could do but agree to the meet.

“Would you mind putting together any intel you can dig up on her and pass it to Declan?”

“That’s a joke, right? There’s nothing out there I can put in a workup for the team. And even if I could dig something up, I wouldn’t ever divulge it in a report.”

“Would you take a meet with an unknown?” I asked.

“Hell, no.”

“Right. Dec’s gonna want a dossier. I don’t care how barebones it is.

We have to give him something. And it should be a quick meet and greet.

Gold Team will only be in Bahrain a few more days, tops.

In and out.” Tex’s deep rumbling chuckle gave me pause.

I’d only ever heard the man laugh a few times.

“What’s funny?”

“You’ve seen her, yeah?”

“Shit.”

Tex’s chuckle turned into a deep belly laugh. “Good luck.”

“Ass,” I mumbled. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

“Anytime. I’ll have something for you by morning.”

“Night.”

I disconnected and continued to stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the marina down below. My gut told me this wasn’t going to end well.

I actually felt sorry for Declan Crenshaw.

It wasn’t too long ago I’d given him the Gold Team.

He’d been restless since he’d quit the CIA and came to work for me.

I thought giving him his own team to lead would help him work out some of his issues before he burrowed in any deeper.

Years of deep undercover work could fuck with a man.

He hadn’t shared what he’d seen or done, and I didn’t push.

Tatiana wouldn’t be an issue for Declan.

He’d made it clear he didn’t want to settle down and find a woman.

Though, neither did I, until Ivy. One look at her and all bets were off.

No, Declan wouldn’t have any interest in the woman.

Dec had also revealed when he was ready to find a woman, he wanted a delicate wallflower.

There was nothing delicate about Tatiana.

“Whatcha doing?” Ivy asked.

I heard her the minute her feet hit the top of the stairs. Even if I hadn’t been trained to detect the quietest of sounds, I would’ve known she was in the room. Every part of me was aware of my wife.

“Thinking,” I told her when her arms wrapped around me from behind.

“About?”

“How good it’s going to feel when I press you against this window and slide inside of you.”

“Really? That’s what had you so deep in thought?”

“Yep.”

I had Ivy in my arms, legs around my waist, and her body balanced against the window before she could ask anymore questions.

“I love you, Zane.”

“I love you, Ivy.”

With my wife’s heat surrounding me, all thoughts of the Gold Team and Tatiana Jones flew out the window.

They’d figure it out. Surely, the group of five former special operations soldiers could handle one tiny woman.

Even if that woman had the reputation of being one of the best spies the CIA had ever trained before she went rogue.