Chapter 32
“Would you stop fucking pacing?” Max grumbled.
“They’re late,” I reminded him.
“And you wearing a hole in the floor gonna change that?”
I flipped him the bird and continued walking back and forth, stopping in front of the window every few seconds to look out and see if they were back.
Tatiana and Declan had patrol tonight. They’d made the half-mile walk to the small town near the Raqa’i border crossing. They should’ve been home already. I was unusually on edge. My gut in knots. Something was wrong. I could taste the sour mix of dread and apprehension.
“It’s only been ten minutes,” he spoke again.
Only? Shit could slide from normal to fucked in less than ten minutes.
I thought back over the last week we’d been in Saudi Arabia.
I’d had seven magnificent days with Tatiana.
We’d had our recon date, it had been the single best date of my life.
Guns, NVGs, a hot chick, and adrenaline.
What more could a man want? During the assignment, she’d been the perfect partner.
She may have questioned her instincts but I didn’t.
She was thoughtful in her movements and mindful of our limitations.
She was smart. I had to keep reminding myself that she knew what she was doing.
Twelve minutes, now. Fuck.
Declan was with her. He’d protect her if shit went south.
He was one of the best in the business. Unless he was taken out first. Goddamn it, why didn’t I stop her when she pushed to be on rotation for patrol?
Because she would’ve had your balls, you idiot.
I could live the rest of my life castrated if it meant Tatiana’s fine ass was sitting at home safe.
Every second that ticked by was like a blow to my heart.
If I’d thought I was in deep last week when I admitted I was falling for her, I was dead wrong.
I hadn’t known there was such a thing as abysmal.
The depth of my feelings for her were boundless, endless, incalculable.
I knew more about her than any other person in my life.
Seven nights lying in bed after we’d made love talking about everything and anything.
I knew every detail of her life and she knew mine.
I hadn’t held back anything. She knew all my secrets, my deepest fears, ugly shit I never thought I’d admit to another human being.
I’d spilled my guts between learning her favorite food was chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and her favorite movie was A Walk to Remember .
I wasn’t falling for her, I was in love with her.
And now she was fifteen minutes late coming home from patrol and a goddamn dragon was breathing fire in my belly.
Serious as shit, what had I been thinking?
The man who’d had her captured and tortured was six-fucking-miles from us.
He’d find nothing but pleasure in carving her up again.
I was getting ready to grab my gear and go in search of them when they walked through the door. I took her in from top to toe and nothing looked out of place.
“Hey.” She was beaming and I felt like an asshole. She obviously enjoyed working and there I was thinking about chaining her ass to the bed so she couldn’t leave the house. Shit. I was no better than James-fuckstick-Monroe.
“Hey, Doll. How was patrol?”
Max chuckled from the couch and I cut my gaze to him. He’d find my size twelve boot up his ass if he told her I’d been pacing like an animal.
“Boring. Sorry we’re late.” Declan was giving her the evil eye and I wondered what that was all about. “But I had to make a small detour.”
“What kinda detour?”
“The kind that could’ve gotten us in trouble,” Declan mumbled.
“You’re a drama queen. No one was going to get into any trouble.” She shook her head at Declan and made her way across the room. “I saw a vending machine but I couldn’t carry this around the whole night, so we had to go back and get it. It was kinda out of the way. That’s why we’re late.”
“You fuckin’ kidding me?” I smiled and took the can of Orange Fanta from her hand. “You went back to get me a can of soda?”
“Not any soda. Your favorite. Can you believe there’s a vending machine all the way out here in the middle of nowhere that has Orange Fanta?”
She was amazing. Guilt washed over me. I’d been thinking about how much I hated her on patrol and she was doing something kind and fucking awesome for me. Man, I was a dick.
I tagged her around her waist and hauled her close. “Thank you, Doll.”
“You’re welcome.”
Her smile damn near knocked me on my ass. So beautiful and bright.
“Let’s get you to bed, I’m sure you’re tired.”
Max barked a laugh. “Tired. Right.”
“Hold up, Zane’s calling.” Declan stopped me before I could drag her back to the bedroom and show her some naked appreciation.
After a few clipped one-word answers, he handed Tatiana the phone.
“Hey, Z,” she greeted. “What?” Her back went ramrod straight and she said, “Let me put you on speaker so I don’t have to repeat everything you say…
Yes, I’m sure. Whatever it is you need to tell me, my team has the right to know.
I don’t have any secrets from them.” She rolled her eyes and smirked.
“Yeah, you’d like to know the answer to that. But I said, my team, not my boss.”
Her boss? Her team? Had she made the decision to stay with Z Corps? Had Zane made her a job offer? She had told me she was not going back to The Company no matter what, but she’d never told me she’d talked to Zane.
“Leon Brown is MIA,” she told the room as she put the phone on speaker. “Go ahead, Z.”
“Leon Brown hasn’t been heard from for seven days,” Zane said.
“Seven? So the day after he set up Tatiana?”
“Yes. And that was exactly what that was. Brown ordered the firing pin be removed.”
“Why?” Tatiana asked.
Her question gutted me, there was so much pain in her voice. She started to pull away from me, but I held her closer and refused to let her go.
“Tex and Garrett are still working on the why. I’m gonna owe Tex a kidney by the time this mission is over. Do you know how much he charges? A whack, that’s how much.”
Tatiana went rigid and I wanted to kick Zane’s ass. She had no idea he was joking. No doubt Tex’s services were expensive but I also knew Tex had never charged Zane full price. As a matter of fact, he often times didn’t charge Zane at all.
“What do you think?” Declan asked Zane.
“I think Tatiana was marked the minute you guys walked into the UN annex. I think he had eyes and ears on her at all times. I think he was worried she was getting too close to something and he needed to take her out.”
“You think he’s dirty? Part of the Omni?” Max was now standing next to Declan.
“I think he’s dirty, yes. Part of the Omni, doubtful. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have his hand in Falcon Holdings.”
“But I was investigating Lucre on Leon’s orders,” she reminded Zane.
“Lucre. Not Falcon Holdings. I don’t think you were supposed to stumble on that bit of fuckery.
Listen, I hate to continuously slam the CIA.
Okay, I don’t really, but I think the CIA wants Falcon up and running.
From a tactical standpoint it makes sense.
The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.
They knew about Falcon, they can watch the money flow.
Leon knew our objective was to sweep up Falcon in our takedown of Lucre.
As we dismantle Omni, we’re gonna hit as many of their subsidiaries as possible. ”
“Who do you think took out Leon?” Declan inquired before I could.
This was more of the same bullshit games the CIA played.
It always played out like a bad movie. At least they were predictable if nothing else.
Though they rarely got it right, always needing someone else to clean up their mess.
I understood their main objective was information gathering, however they were quick to tuck tail and run when shit hit the fan.
I was happy Zane refused to take contracts from them, he’d been burned and didn’t believe in second chances.
Not to say we still didn’t get caught up in their games, case in point our current situation.
“No one. I think he’s gone to ground. Someone’s not happy Tatiana’s still breathing. Not to mention, the rest of you. He underestimated her, and my team. He’s fucked and my guess is on the run.”
“Perfect,” Tatiana muttered.
“Leon Brown is a pissant. We’ll worry about him after you take down Prince Douchebag Al Issa.
Your mission’s been approved for tomorrow night.
Tex is taking the lead on intel. He’ll guide you in.
Tatiana was right. After the shipment of goods was transferred, only four guards remained. Zero-dark-thirty you’re a go.”
I waited for Tatiana to perk up a little at confirmation she’d called the play correctly, but it never came. She was folding into herself, arms crossed in a protective gesture, a frown marred her pretty face. The only good sign I saw was she looked pissed. Steely determination shone in her eyes.
“Copy that. We’ll be ready,” Declan said, not taking his eyes off Tatiana.
“I’ll be in touch. Out.”
Zane disconnected and no one spoke. I think we were all waiting to see what Tatiana would say or do, but when she remained silent, Max stepped in front of her.
“You should be happy,” he told her.
“Happy? A man I trusted tried to have me killed.”
“Yep. He sure did. And he would have if you weren’t good at your job.
Better than he’d thought, which makes you dangerous.
In this line of work, dangerous is the best thing you can be.
It also means fucktards like Brown are gonna be gunnin’ for you.
Stay sharp, stay one step ahead, and stay dangerous.
Good news for you is, you have the rest of us at your back and a new boss who won’t try and kill you. ”
Max was correct on all accounts and I was happy he’d been the one to point them out to her. Though she didn’t seem to believe him.
“Go get some rest. We have shit to do in the morning and it’s gonna be a long night tomorrow.
” Declan slapped Max on the back as he passed.
“Max is right, Tatiana. Leon Brown wouldn’t have tried to kill you if he hadn’t thought you were a threat.
The hit proves you’re a damn good investigator and a good operator.
You should sleep well tonight knowing your instincts are spot on. Let all the other bullshit roll off.”
With a chin lift to Max, I tugged Tatiana toward the hall.
He’d stay up and take watch until Kyle got up to relieve him.
I closed the door behind us and knelt in front of Tatiana, untying her boots and pulling them off.
When I stood, she still looked like she was lost in her head.
She let me take off her tac vest, her shirt, her pants, and lead her to the bed.
Once she was situated under the sheet, I quickly divested my clothes and climbed in next to Tatiana.
“Doll?” I opened my arms and waited.
Without hesitation she curled into my side and rested her arm across my stomach. Damn, she felt good wrapped around me.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Just sucks I was so wrong about Leon.” There was nothing to say to that, so I just held her and waited.
“Something feels off. I can’t put my finger on it, and it’s driving me crazy.
The connection between Lucre and Falcon wasn’t hard to find.
It took me all of an hour to discover it. It was easy.”
“Maybe easy for you. He might’ve thought it was buried deep enough that the connection wouldn’t be found.”
“No. I’m telling you it was right there. Payments from Lucre to different warehouses that Falcon Holdings own. It wasn’t hidden, anyone could’ve found it.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Doll. But say it was too easy why would Leon want you to find it?”
“That’s what’s bothering me. I don’t think it’s the Lucre and Falcon connection that Leon’s worried about. I think it’s Ashaki Maloof.”
“The agent posing as Matek’s daughter?”
“Yeah. I mean, all of that was fucked. Nothing makes sense about why he’d pretend she was his daughter. And did he ever really have a daughter?”
“Do you think Leon was protecting Ashaki?”
“Yes. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me. I got the kill order as soon as we got back from Nazari’s. Zane’s right, he had eyes and ears on me. He knew what we saw and we’d figured out the woman was not his daughter.”
“One problem with that, Doll. The man you shot mentioned the prince.”
“Not if Leon sold us out completely and told Al Issa we were in the area. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Why not let Al Issa do his dirty work?”
Fuck. That made sense. Especially the part about Leon Brown selling us out to Al Issa.
“Doll, as much as I want to lie you out and make love to you, I think we need to wake the guys and tell them what you just told me. If Al Issa knows we’re coming for him, we need to shift our mission.”
“I know.”
She started to roll away but I held her tight. “One more thing. You make a decision about staying with the team?”
“I wanna stay. Are you okay with that?”
“Fuck, yeah. I was trying to come up with ways to make you not wanna leave.”
“Will Zane be okay with…um…”
“Us?”
“Yeah.”
I let my eyes drift closed for a second, ridiculously happy there was an “us.”
“He’ll be fine. Jasmin and Linc are on the same team.”
“But they’re married.”
“And? Where is it you think we’re headed?”
“You wanna marry me?” Her words came out rushed.
“This keeps going like it has been, then yeah, Doll, I wanna marry you.”
“I’ve only known you like a minute.”
A minute, a day, a year, I knew she was the one. The day I’d walked into the UN annex and met this prickly, smart, beautiful, sexy woman, my life had changed. I’d known it then and wasn’t stupid enough to let her go now.
“And?”
“You’re crazy.” She laughed.
“Crazy about you.”
Her body continued to shake with laughter, and as much as I was enjoying her warm body pressed against my side and her happy, we had to get up.
The rock that had been tumbling around in my gut was now a boulder.
Tatiana was right, something was off, and nothing about Leon made sense.
When all of this was over, we were going someplace tropical, with a beach, fruity drinks, and peace.
I wanted her all to myself where we could stay in bed all day without the threat of someone trying to kill her.
Right after I convinced her to say, I do.