Chapter 30
Holy fuck. I was stunned motionless. The shock of her kiss hadn’t worn off when Thad’s meaty paw slapped my shoulder.
“Move it. I want out of this tin can. And next time, you two lovebirds get the back so I don’t have to watch you make out.”
“No one was making out,” Tatiana protested. “And next time, I’ll remember my noise cancelling headset. My ears are bleeding after seven hours of the two of you arguing about deflated footballs and the Lakers’ draft pick for the year.”
“Wagner is our ticket to a winning season,” Thad argued.
“I don’t know who that is, and I don’t care.”
“You four gonna sit in the car all night, or get out?” Declan asked.
I was definitely getting out and so was Tatiana.
There’d be payback for the kiss she’d planted on me.
The good kind of retribution that would have her panting and begging.
I hoped the walls in this piece of shit house were thick because there was no way I was taking it easy on her.
Not when I was feeling ten feet tall and like a caveman.
I gripped Tatiana’s hand and helped her out of the back seat.
Once she was settled on her feet, I went to the back of the SUV to grab our bags.
Kyle was already standing watch, Declan was sweeping the perimeter, both had their weapons out, ready for anything.
Which reminded me, I gave a sharp whistle and Tatiana turned to look at me.
I patted my hip, reminding her she needed her gun at the ready as well.
Her Sig cleared her holster and she followed Declan.
I knew she was rolling those pretty eyes of hers and if she were closer, she would’ve given me shit. Yeah, she was feisty, I was damn lucky.
Less than an hour later, we were settled in the house, the perimeter was trip wired, and Declan’s crazy ass had set some IEDs around the points of entry.
Garrett had called to inform us that he and Tex were able to move all of Matek’s money.
His sons would be left penniless. They’d never touch the blood money their father had acquired.
Instead, the two computer-hacker-geniuses divided up the funds and anonymously donated hundreds of millions of dollars to relief organizations around the world.
There was a girls’ school in Africa that would have funding for years.
A Midwestern state in the US that had counties so poor they were closing schools, were now flush with cash.
A town in the state of Michigan that had water issues for years would no longer need to worry about bottled water.
The money had gone all over, good people would benefit from his ill-gotten gains. That was the good news.
The bad news was, we were in a holding pattern.
Tex had new drone footage of Al Issa’s compound and more men had arrived.
We were already out-numbered, but it was manageable.
With the addition of ten more men, it was questionable.
Thankfully, Zane didn’t do questionable, so we were going to sit on our thumbs for a few days and see what the prince did.
The extra days and nights I would get with Tatiana were welcomed, but the longer we were in the area, the better the chance someone would see us and tip off Al Issa. Or think it would be a good idea to try their luck at killing a few Americans.
Thad and Tatiana were sitting on the smaller of the two couches, heads together as they looked at her laptop balanced on her knees.
My gaze moved lower and something that felt a lot like jealousy started churning in my gut at the sight of their thighs touching.
He was casually chomping on a protein bar and she was pointing to something on the screen.
“You look like you’re ready to rip someone’s head off, buddy,” Kyle said and followed my stare.
Thad turned in our direction and shoved the last of his bar into his mouth.
He chewed, swallowed, then smirked. Then he moved.
Not to get up and stop touching my woman, no not Thad.
The fucker stretched his arm closest to Tatiana above his head and in a move every teenage boy in the world had tried, he lowered his arm down behind her and turned closer.
The jealousy roiling around was now threatening to bubble over.
“Great. You woke the sleeping bear,” Kyle joked.
“It’s not my fault I’m a big man,” Thad returned, humor lacing his tone.
“Seriously?” Tatiana finally glanced up from her computer and looked at me.
Thad and Kyle both chuckled, obviously finding humor in my discomfort. If I wasn’t the one pissed, I would’ve been able to see why they’d think it was funny. But I was pissed, so I didn’t see anything funny about the game Thad was playing.
“You mind?” I asked Thad.
“Not at all,” he said, but made no effort to move.
Irrational annoyance and possessiveness washed over me. I went to take a step toward the couch when Kyle grabbed my arm. “He’s fuckin’ with you.”
I knew he was. That was where my annoyance stemmed from. Tatiana wasn’t a game and I wasn’t joking. She was mine and no one, not even Thad, was going to touch her.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, caveman. We’re looking at maps, not watching porn,” Tatiana told me.
“What’d we miss? Who’s watching porn?” Max asked as he walked into the room with Declan.
“ Not watching porn,” Tatiana corrected.
“Damn. That’s too bad.”
Declan remained quiet while he took in the scene, then muttered, “Totally understand Zane now. I owe him an apology and a box of donuts.”
“Don’t lump us in with the Red Team. Just because lover boy over there has his panties in a bunch doesn’t mean the rest of us are stupid. Zane had to deal with Linc, Jaxon, Leo, and Colin. We are practically monks compared to them.” Kyle laughed.
“And don’t forget Jasmin. That woman is harder to handle than any man on that team,” Max added.
“We’re a quiet drive in the park compared to them,” Thad told Dec. “Brooks is just jealous his woman would rather sit next to me than?—”
“I’m not jealous,” I denied.
“Dude…” Kyle trailed off as if all he needed was one word to call me on my bullshit.
“Has anyone gone over the last SITREP Garrett sent over?” Declan thankfully inquired, moving the conversation back to work and away from my newfound jealousy.
“Yeah. We’re looking at it now,” Thad answered.
“I was thinking,” Tatiana started. “We need to watch the black market and bidding. The new additions could be there for transport of goods. If an auction just ended, the buyer could’ve sent in a convoy to pick up their product.
It’s not like Al Issa calls UPS for a pick-up to ship and the buyer would never show personally. ”
“You could be right,” Declan conceded.
“Also, if a pick-up was scheduled, Al Issa would have extra guards on the compound. I looked at the historical imagery, it seems when Al Issa visits the compound there are only four outside guards. Tex’s intel showed ten perimeter, three in the courtyard, and five on the roof.
That’s overkill. His compound is literally in the middle of the desert. One rooftop spotter would suffice.”
“But if he had millions of dollars of goods to be transferred, he’d up his security,” I added, agreeing with her assessment.
“Exactly. He’s a pompous prick. He believes he’s untouchable. He doesn’t even have personal protection for any of his wives.”
Tatiana had abandoned her laptop and was pointing to a topographical map that was spread out on a coffee table in front of her. She scooted to the edge of the couch so she could mark points of interest. As much of an ass as it made me, I was happy she was no longer touching Thad.
“He built this compound, though he calls it a palace, of course. Tactically it is perfect. Nothing but miles and miles of bare earth. A spotter would see dust rollin’ from a vehicle before the palace walls even came into the driver’s view.
Less than a mile from the Iraqi border. Easy smuggling, easy day. ”
I couldn’t help the smile that formed. “Now you’re getting’ it, Doll.”
Once the humor of her statement had worn off, something hit me—just how much she’d changed.
She’d gone from offended woman to team member.
She’d once bitched about alpha males and SEAL lingo and now she was spouting it off herself.
She’d thrown a hissy fit over me offering to help her with her bag, accusing me of being sexist, to not uttering a word when last night I brought her stuff into the house for her.
Then there was her public display of affection.
Not to mention, thus far every kiss we’d shared, I initiated.
That was what had taken me by surprise, not that she’d necessarily done it in front of the guys, but that she’d done it at all.
“I think Zane’s right. We need to wait this out. After the transfer he’ll send away some of the guards,” she finished.
“You and Brooks are still on recon tomorrow night,” Declan stated. “Let’s hope the tablets aren’t what’s being transported out.”
“They're not.”
“How do you know?” Max asked.
“I just do. I feel it. As long as he has those tablets, he knows I’m coming for him. And he wants me dead more than he wants the money from the sale.”
“Wonderful,” Dec mumbled. “I don’t want any hero shit, Tatiana. I even catch a whiff of you thinkin’ about going rogue, I’ll yank your ass from this op.”
She held her hands up in front of her like she was warning off an attack. “Just stating the facts. He’s got a hard-on for me. My gut’s telling me, he wants to dangle the tablets in front of me thinking he can get me to come to him.”
“And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” I pointed out.
“The difference is, now I have you at my back.”
There it was. She trusted me, trusted all of us to help keep her safe.
I didn’t believe for a second that if the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t go kamikaze on Al Issa.
Not that I could blame her. But personal vendettas clouded one’s judgement.
I understood her need for retribution, but I wouldn’t allow her to die in the process.