Chapter 7
The Bitoo brothers were not at the store and my contact told me they hadn’t checked in with Nazari.
If they’d taken the tablets and run, they were screwed.
Or better yet, if they’d sold them outside of the auction, they’d wish for death.
There were a lot of interested buyers. So far, I was still the highest bidder on the ten Iraqi cuneiform tablets.
They’d bring in a hefty price, and I’d be able to follow the money back to whichever terrorist organization was smuggling artifacts out of Bahrain.
I’d like to say my motivation was preserving the cultural and spiritual relics but it was purely about the money. It was my job to track, then intercept, payments before they could be used to buy guns and fund extremist groups hellbent on killing.
A knock had me looking at the villa door.
No one knew I was here. I’d moved every day since the annex was firebombed and I hadn’t even checked in with my handler.
It was probably one of the other tenants in the building.
This was one of the nicer areas of Bahrain, a small group of man-made islands.
Amwaj offered the most beautiful panoramic views of the sea and was popular among expats.
My thought was cut off when I opened the door. “Hey there, Doll.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too.” He shouldered his way in and shut the door behind him.
“No, really, Brooks, what are you doing here?”
I didn’t need anything screwing up the next few days. Brooks being here meant his team was, too. I’d gone to great lengths to make sure I wasn’t being followed. Them being anywhere near me didn’t mean good things. For one, I hadn’t been as careful as I’d thought.
“Thought you could use some intel on the Bitoo brothers.”
“Who?” I tried to keep my face impassive even though my insides were a riot of nerves.
How in the hell did he know that name?
“Cut the shit, Tatiana. This will go much smoother if you stop playing stupid.”
I didn’t appreciate being called stupid, and had no issue telling him so.
“I’m far from stupid, asshole.”
“I know you are, Doll. What you seem to forget is, I’m far from stupid as well. Time to stop bullshitting and lay the cards on the table.”
“What cards?”
Now I was playing stupid just to piss him off. I knew what he meant, but I still wasn’t ready to give him anything.
“I know you’re tracking some tablets. Ten to be exact. Bad news for you is, six are in the hands of the US government. Four are unaccounted for.”
“How do you know that?”
“Not at liberty to say.”
“Bullshit.”
“Bullshit nothing. I saw six with my very own eyes.”
“Goddammit. Please tell me you’re fucking with me.”
If he was telling the truth, months of hard work were in the toilet.
“’Fraid not. But the good news is, we’ve tracked down the brothers. Consider this an olive branch.”
“Olive branch?”
“Yeah, you know a gesture of goodwill.”
“I know what an olive branch is. What I don’t understand is why you’d want to extend one to me.”
“We didn’t get off on the right foot. I’d like to rectify that. Thought you’d like to go with us.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I work alone.”
“Suit yourself.”
Brooks started for the door and my stomach dropped. I thought he’d argue his point, let me negotiate an exchange of information.
“Wait. That’s it?”
“Yeah, Doll. That’s it. I’m not going to force you to go with us if you’re not interested. I thought you’d want in on the op. I was wrong.”
“I want the intel,” I told him. “How about I give you what I’ve found on Militrix and you give me the location of the Bitoo brothers?”
“No dice.”
“Why not? It’s a good deal. You’re not interested in the tablets and you need the information I have on Militrix.”
“It may be a good deal, but I’m not taking it. No way am I letting you try to take down five men on your own.”
That pissed me off. His words were too close to the shit my ex-husband used to shovel at me. I’d worked my ass off to prove myself in this business. And it was no easy feat, I’ll be dammed if I stood there and listened to Brooks and his alpha male bullshit.
“Why’s that, Brooks? Because I’m a woman?”
For some unknown reason his face turned hard and the cold stare he leveled me with made me shiver.
“You shittin’ me? I have to say, it pisses me off you’d try that fucked-up nonsense on me.
I had no problem you taking my back at the compound.
Never said shit about you being a woman and staying behind in the safety of the house.
” He was right, he didn’t, none of them did.
Thad had simply handed me a rifle and sidearm and never asked if I knew how to operate either.
“They’re dangerous and unpredictable. They know they fucked up and lost six tablets.
They also know they’re as good as dead. If not by the hands of the people they’ve double-crossed, by the hands of the three SEALs they unsuccessfully tried to kill.
Lucky for the brothers, the three men they’d locked in a cellar are alive and well and on their way back to the states.
Unlucky for them, they’re about to be on the receiving end of retribution.
We thought you’d like to question them about the tablets before they’re disposed of. ”
“Fuck.”
“Your choice, Doll. But what isn’t, is going in alone. Not a chance in hell I’ll let that happen. And it has nothing to do with you being a woman, and everything to do with wanting you breathing.”
I needed to find the other tablets and I couldn’t do that if Brooks and his team killed them before I had a chance to talk with them.
“I want in.”
“Grab your shit and let’s go.”
“My shit?”
“Yeah, Tatiana. Your shit. Personal belongings.”
“Why? All I need is this.” I pulled the Sig P226 from the waistband of my shorts and smiled when his lips twitched.
“You’re with us at the compound until this is over.”
“Why?” Damn, I sounded like a broken record.
“It’s safer there. Time’s wasting. You wanna hurry? We have an op to plan.”
I weighed my options and figured it would take more energy than it was worth to argue with Brooks.
Besides, even if I agreed now, it didn’t mean I had to stay at the compound later.
I could leave anytime I wanted. And we did need to work out a way to keep at least one of the men alive long enough for me to question.
“Give me a minute.”
I rushed into the bedroom and quickly changed my clothes.
I may wear shorts in the privacy of my apartment or in the early morning hours while I knew I was going on a boat.
But being in a country that frowned upon women exposing any skin, I was respectful.
I yanked on a pair of pants and a long-sleeved tee knowing I would be sweating through the cotton within seconds and hoping we’d be at the compound fast so I could change back.
I didn’t miss Brooks’ long sweeping appraisal when I walked back into the living room with my backpack over my shoulder.
I didn’t have time to contemplate why I liked his eyes on me, or why my insides had warmed when he had me pressed against the wall the other day.
It should’ve pissed me off he had the audacity to invade my space, but it hadn’t.
I grabbed my laptop case and checked my files were secure before I joined him near the door.
“Want me to take anything?”
I felt my eyes narrowing.
“Jesus, woman, you need to relax. Everything I say isn’t a slight. I was simply offering to help.”
He was right, I was overreacting. “No. Thank you, I’ve got it.”
We made our way to a ratty-assed Toyota SUV that had more rust than paint left. Kyle was behind the wheel and Max was in the passenger seat. They said their hellos but other than that the drive to the compound was done in near-silence.
Once we’d entered the gated compound Max and Kyle exited the SUV, leaving me alone with Brooks.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“You seem…off.”
I was beginning to learn nothing slipped Brooks’ notice. I found the observation disconcerting. I didn’t like how he could so easily read me.
“Just thinking what all of this means for my mission.”
“Let’s get inside and you out of these clothes and we’ll talk it out.”
My cheeks heated at his innocent comment. I knew what he meant, I was sweating like a pig, but I couldn’t help thinking what it would be like if he helped me out of my sweat-drenched tee. Not the sexiest thought, but an inappropriate one nonetheless.
Brooks’ eyes stayed glued to mine when he said, “I’d love to know what just ran through your mind that pinkened your pretty cheeks.”
His hand slowly came to my face, giving me every opportunity to back away or stop him, which stupidly I didn’t. I remained still even as his thumb brushed my cheek while his fingers dug into the back of my neck.
“There’s something about you, Tatiana Jones, that drives me wild.”
Right back atcha, Brooks Miller, was what I was thinking but didn’t dare say.
I hadn’t been able to get him out of my mind.
He’d invaded my every thought. Not good, not good at all.
I had to concentrate on my mission, not on his crazy-cool hazel eyes with specks of blue.
Or his too-long shaggy brown hair, or the days-old stubble on his face that would feel oh-so-good scraping my inner thighs.
And I really should not have been wondering what he looked like under his tight tee and cargos.
“Good God, Doll. When you get lost in your head and your eyes go soft, right before they get heavy…” He shook his head before he continued, “That look. It can make a man weak. Make him believe in all sorts of shit. Make him want to do anything to keep it.”
Weirdly, that may’ve been the best compliment I’d ever received. Men like Brooks were a lot of things, weak wasn’t one of them.
“We can’t go there, Brooks.”
“Go where, Tatiana?” He smiled.
“Wherever it is this thing between us leads.”
“So you admit there’s something.”
“I admit—” A sharp whistle had me looking out the front windshield. Thank God for the interruption. “We should go inside.”
“We’re not done with this conversation.”
“We are. We both have an op to complete. Neither of us need the complication.”
“Nothing complicated about it.”
Of course he would think that. To him it would be an exchange of bodily fluids. A way to blow off steam and get off. I hadn’t been with a man since my ex-husband. Not that I’d tell him that. But undoubtedly things would get complicated.
“Not interested, Brooks.”
That was a big fat lie and I knew he knew. I didn’t need his words to confirm it.
He leaned in and brushed my hair off my shoulder. “Liar,” he whispered against my ear. My body shivered despite the oppressive heat. “I know you feel it, too, Doll.”
Asshole.