Chapter Six
Trinity sighed in contentment as she leaned back in the lounge chair on the deck of her suite, propping her feet up on another chair as she enjoyed the view of the setting sun. As the fiery ball began to disappear into the sparkling water, it cast a brilliant display of vibrant colors shooting across the sky.
Despite the relaxing setting, troubling thoughts invaded her mind. It had been three days since she’d last seen Jackson. Though she had just met him, she’d felt an inextricable connection with him. She had thought they had started something exciting and special, but apparently, she’d been wrong since she hadn’t heard from him since she’d walked out of that alley.
Three days equaled three strikes in her book.
So, clearly, they were done.
She had driven back to the resort after leaving him behind in the alley and had taken a hot shower, cleansing his scent and seed from her body. She only wished it was that easy to simply wipe him from her mind. Before crawling into bed, she’d left the light in the bathroom on so she wouldn’t wake in the dark.
That was something she’d started doing ever since her last mission. At first, she’d had to leave every light in her bedroom on just to be able to close her eyes without panicking, but she had gradually reduced it to a nightlight. It was a weakness she was working on completely breaking a habit of, but she wasn’t sure if or when that would actually happen.
When she’d woken the morning after her interlude with Jackson, her shitty mood from the night before had followed her into the daylight. Determined to shake it off, she had put on her bikini and made her way down to the beach where she had spent most of the day soaking in the rays and turning her skin an eye-catching deep, golden bronze.
The resort catered to the wealthy and famous, so she wasn’t surprised to see a few well-known actors and other celebrities enjoying the beach along with her. She had garnered her share of attention from men of all ages, both single and married. She had been asked out for drinks by a beautiful woman with striking red hair and had even gotten a dinner invitation from a lesser member of the Saudi Arabian royal family.
Alas, none of them had interested her, so she’d had to pass. Amusing herself with a little light flirting at the hotel bar had helped pass the time, but she had gone back to her suite alone.
When she arrived back in her room, she’d taken a hot shower, then indulged in a nap. After she’d woken, she checked her secured email to find that Tara had sent all the files on the original construction of the Palace Resort and Spa along with all the updated files on the new construction site that she’d requested. She had rolled her eyes when she noted that Tara had also attached a file on Jackson Stone.
Leave it to T-rex. She was better than a Google search.
Unable to help herself, Trinity had read the file on Jackson first. He had grown up on the island in an alternative household with his mother and two fathers, then he’d joined the army once he had turned eighteen.
The file included information on his time in the military and about his years on the Crescent Island Police Force. What she’d surmised from the information in his file was that he was a good cop with an almost spotless record. Normally, that would have made her suspicious, but since he was such a tight ass about the rules, she figured that was simply due to his dedication to his work.
He had an eye for detail and a meticulous nature that ensured he closed cases and saw that justice was served.
She noted that the men and women under his command seemed to slightly fear him, even though they deeply respected him. From everything she read about him, she surmised that Jackson was a decent man, a dedicated cop, and had very little personal life. It didn’t surprise her, since he seemed to suck at relationships.
Not that she was an expert.
When she was done reading the file, she closed it and moved on to look at the information on the two different construction projects. Halfway through the information, she took a quick break and ordered room service from the resort’s main restaurant, Sinful, and was unsurprised when the food had been excellent. After several more hours of work, she decided to sleep on the data she had gathered to see if the puzzle pieces of information fit themselves together overnight.
The next day, she continued studying all of the construction materials. To help her sort out her thoughts, she connected her laptop to the printer in the office located in the suite and printed out several key documents. Back in the living room, she had taped up several papers so she could compare them side by side.
She’d gone to bed with sorrow in her heart when she hadn’t heard from Jackson. Determined to forget about him, she had gone to sleep early. She’d tossed and turned for a few hours then gotten up to take a swim in her private pool to work off the annoyance she was feeling. She swam laps until she was completely exhausted, took another shower, then fell into bed.
But thoughts of Jackson had followed her into her dreams.
When she woke, she was shocked that half the day was already gone. Once again, she ordered room service and got back to work. After several more hours, she finally found what she was looking for. Now, she had a basic idea of what was going on with the new construction site, but she would need to take a closer look to make sure she was right.
If she was right, it was going to take some more digging to figure out exactly what the problem was and who was involved. Deciding that could wait until tomorrow, she took a swim in the pool, then placed another order with room service. She promised herself that she would quit hiding out in her hotel room and go enjoy herself on the island the following day.
The sun had almost faded into the horizon when she heard her phone signal. From the specific tone, she knew that it was the alarm she had rigged on the entrance to her suite. It was too soon for room service, and they wouldn’t come in without knocking anyway.
No, this was someone entering without permission.
Unconcerned that she was sitting there naked, she picked up the gun she’d left on the patio table, swiveled around in her chair, and trained her weapon at the front door of the suite through the opened balcony door. She silently watched as a man in a suit walked through the door. Since he was cast in shadows, she couldn’t see him very clearly. Chastising herself for not leaving the entrance hallway light on, she made a mental note to do so in the future.
“You might as well come out here,” Trinity called out conversationally.
He froze as soon as she’d spoken. His gaze shot toward the balcony as the front door closed quietly behind him so he was trapped inside the suite with her.
That was his mistake.
“If you try to run now, I’m just going to shoot you in the leg.”
His face had turned to stone at the threat, but his expression shifted again and he blinked in surprise when he noticed that she was sitting there naked. She could feel the heat of his gaze moving over her body. Obviously, he wasn’t an operator or an assassin. Or at least he wasn’t a very good one if he let himself be distracted by a pair of naked tits instead of focusing on the weapon trained on him.
He released the handle of his large suitcase and cautiously moved forward, crossing the room as he made his way toward the balcony door. He held his hands out, arms spread to show he wasn’t holding anything, but that didn’t change the fact that he had trespassed into her domain.
He’d better have a damn good reason for it before she let him go unscathed.
“I’m unarmed.”
She could hear the slight British accent coloring his deep voice. Boy, did she love a good accent. As he stepped out onto the balcony, she got her first good look at him. His handsome face bathed in the light from the setting sun was truly a spectacular view…and familiar.
So, this was Maxwell King, her friend Julian’s little brother.
Only, he wasn’t so little.
Around six-one with short, stylish, dark-blond hair and the thick build of a man with some serious muscle, Maxwell was gorgeous. There was no doubt about that, but he knew it, too. She assumed at first glance that he was around her age, give or take a few years. He looked slightly different than the pictures she’d seen of him, but there was no mistaking those brilliant sapphire blue eyes.
She had read up on the entire King family on her way to the island. IAD had comprehensive files on them from previous dealings and since Tara had gotten engaged to Julian. Maxwell King’s main home was in London, but he spent a lot of time traveling between all the European hotels within the Palace Hotel network as well as several of their US properties on the East Coast.
The epitome of the corporate shark, he was handsome, wealthy, and pretty damn ruthless. While he was known as a popular playboy who was often photographed at events with models, singers, and other female celebrities, the actual details about his life were mostly kept private. She’d spent some time scrolling through his feeds during the flight to the island to get a better sense of him, but all of his posts were work-related and crafted to draw attention toward the Palace Hotel brand.
Dressed in a bespoke suit, Maxwell did not look like a man on vacation. He seemed like a man on a mission. From the information she had read earlier, Trinity knew that the Palace Resort and Spa on Crescent Island was his personal pet project, and he was obviously there to find out what the hell was going on with the build.
She felt her nipples tighten as his gaze strayed down to her bare breasts, then lower to her crossed legs. It was a shame she hadn’t met him before she had bumped into Jackson. Already burned once during her little pseudo-vacation, she wasn’t about to jump back into the fire. And certainly not with someone like Maxwell King, no matter how his heated gaze stirred her blood.
Talk about an awkward first meeting.
“What are you doing in my suite?”
He raised an arrogant brow. “Actually, this is my suite. Of course, I’m not going to complain about having a beautiful woman greet me naked upon my arrival. However, I would be a whole lot happier without having a gun pointed at me.”
She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. Gesturing toward a chair with her gun, she said, “Have a seat, Max.”
Those sapphire eyes frosted over as he slowly sat down across the table from her, his backbone ramrod straight. “So, you know who I am,” he said, his voice clipped with controlled fury. “The name is Maxwell, not Max. What do you want? Money?”
“Actually, I’m here doing you a favor, Max,” she said, stressing the nickname just to piss him off again. “So, get over yourself, hotshot. You know Tara Toshi, right?”
If it was possible, Maxwell’s body tensed even more. “If you’re here looking for information on my sister, you can bugger off. I won’t tell you anything.”
She cocked her head to the side as she studied his handsome face. He looked at her with cold indifference now, but there was no mistaking the seething fury in his tone or the anger lighting his eyes to blue flames. Damn, that simple statement made her like him a whole lot. Loyalty. He had it in spades. She believed if she’d been here for nefarious reasons, Maxwell would have protected her friend, even if it meant his death.
“She’s not your sister…yet.”
“Semantics.”
She finally smiled at him, lowering her weapon. “Damn good answer. But what I meant was Tara and Julian asked me to come here.”
“You could have bloody well said that to begin with,” he said blandly, but there was relief in his gaze.
“True, but this was more fun, and you kind of deserved it after walking in on me.”
She set the gun down on the table out of his reach and leaned over to pick up her robe from where it was draped over the back of another chair.
“You don’t have to put on that robe on my account.” His voice lowered to a seductive murmur. “I am thoroughly appreciating the view.”
“You’re a funny guy, Max,” she said as she put the robe on without getting up. She was all right with flashing a little boob to a stranger, but she’d rather not give him full frontal if she could help it. “My initial question is still valid, though. What are you doing in my suite?”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, more relaxed now. “It’s the owner’s suite. Being the owner and all, this is still my suite, love.”
She shrugged. “This is where Julian and Tara put me for the duration of my stay. I’m Katrina Cross, by the way. You can call me Trinity. I work with Tara, so you can contact her to verify. You’re welcome to the other bedroom, or you can find somewhere else to stay, but I’m not moving. I’m having a love affair with this place, and I’m not giving it up.”
His brows furrowed in surprise “You…don’t mind if I stay here with you?”
Sexual hunger fired to life in his eyes, causing a responding flutter to stir in her belly that she ruthlessly ignored. Damn it, had something in the water down there turned her into a sex-starved maniac? Or was this simply a sign that she needed to date more? Either way, she needed to get her hormones in check.
“Not at all,” she told him. “I’m offering you a room to sleep in, not a blow job. As long as you remember I sleep with a gun next to my bed, we’re all good. Besides, this might make more sense since I think I’m here for the same reason you are.”
“And that would be?”
“You’re totally getting screwed on your new renovation.”
“Bloody hell, I knew it!” He slapped his hand down on the table, rattling her gun and phone.
“Relax. I’m here to help you figure out what’s going on.” She paused as the doorbell to the suite sounded. “That should be room service.”
Maxwell frowned as he stood and gestured for her to stay where she was. “You are not answering the door wearing a robe. I’ll get it.”
After issuing the command, he strode back into the suite, missing the way she rolled her eyes at him. She approved when he stopped to check the monitor by the door before opening it. When her cell phone rang, she glanced at the display and smiled when she saw a name pop up on screen that she hadn’t seen in a while.
Nikita “Flame” Nuria had been one of the best agents Trinity had ever worked with, but even she had started to worry that her friend had become too desensitized to everything. Sure, every agent had to learn how to compartmentalize. Seeing what they did and doing the things that they were required to do meant they couldn’t get emotional over things like normal people, but retaining some humanity was essential.
However, Nikita had been different.
Trinity had jokingly called her friend a sociopath a few times in the past, but she understood that in reality she really wasn’t too far off the mark. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. At least, not to her. She found Nikita’s blunt way of speaking refreshing, though not everyone could handle that kind of brutal honesty.
Since Nikita had officially retired, she was now on the periphery of the agency, but Trinity knew that no IAD agent ever truly left the life completely. The only way to do that was if they stopped breathing.
She answered the call, but before she could say anything, Nikita said, “You got shot again. What are you, a fucking bullet magnet?”
“It was only a graze this time,” Trinity clarified. “But I did get stabbed a few times, and that definitely fucking sucked.”
“At least they didn’t hit anything vital, or you wouldn’t be answering my call.”
She wanted to chuckle at her friend’s casual tone but held it in. Leave it to Nikita to make getting stabbed sound trivial. “So, I heard hell froze over. Did you really get married?”
“Yeah, that happened.”
Trinity laughed at her impassive tone. “Congrats and all that. I’ll send a gift soon since I didn’t get to attend the wedding.”
“I only found out about the damn wedding right before it happened,” Nikita explained. “I think Ash figured there was a better chance I’d say yes if he rushed me into it.”
As the owner of Rough & Tough Sports Apparel and Equipment, Ashton Marks was known for being a smart, innovative businessman. Running a corporate empire was undoubtedly notable, but it was even more impressive that he’d managed to convince Nikita to marry him.
“I’d say your new hubby must be a very astute man.”
“He’s certainly something,” Nikita muttered. “Anyway, getting to the point of my call. Sin contacted me a few days ago about possibly running a training facility here in Breakers. Since I heard you are considering retirement, I wanted to talk to you about possibly coming down here to help me run things. That is, if I decide to do it.”
Sinclair “Sin” Hamilton was one of the commanders in charge of coordinating all of the different IAD agency branches around the world. He was mainly responsible for the divisions in America, though he seemed to pop up everywhere, especially if there was trouble brewing in the area.
Normally, if Sin wanted something, he wouldn’t stop until he got it. However, that kind of pressure didn’t work on someone like Nikita. Still, if she was reaching out to Trinity, her friend was most likely already planning on moving ahead with the plan to run the new IAD training facility.
“I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”
“There isn’t much to tell since I’m still floating the idea around.”
She was glad her friend couldn’t see her roll her eyes at that. “You’ve already decided to do it, whether you want to admit it or not. I think it’s a solid idea. Even if I don’t retire, I still want in. I can travel to Breakers between assignments, or plan to be there for a few months here or there whenever I can clear my schedule.”
Trinity watched Maxwell lock the door after retrieving the cart of food from room service. He’d spent a few minutes talking and laughing with the delivery person, making it clear that he knew whoever had come to the door. Since she had also ordered several bottles of water, beer, soda, and other drinks to replenish what she’d used from the stocked fridge over the last few days, they’d brought a loaded cart instead of a simple tray.
Pushing the cart through the living room, he left it near the open kitchen. He lifted a large tray with a covered plate, an ice bucket, and two stemless flutes on it from the top of the cart and carried it out to the balcony.
“Why the bloody hell did you—?”
He stopped talking when he noticed that she was on the phone. Setting the tray down on the table, he silently began to open the bottle of champagne she’d ordered.
“Actually, that might work better. Have a bunch of different agents come down on rotation to teach their own specialties. Although, I told Sin I don’t want to deal with new recruits since I might kill one of them if they get on my nerves.”
“The new recruits are the ones who need the training the most,” Trinity pointed out.
“Fucking hell,” Nikita muttered, then she let out a resigned sigh. “I guess you’re right. Anyway, I was considering making this sort of a retreat for active agents as well as a training facility. You know, somewhere quiet and secure people can come to if they need to get away for a little while. A friend of mine runs a boarding house for veterans and people doing rehab here in town, which gave me the idea.”
“I like it. It’s a good location since it’s almost in the middle of nowhere. No offense.”
Chuckling, Nikita said, “It’s all right. It is pretty off the grid which is one of the reasons why I live here. I think it would be ideal for anyone needing a little peace and quiet. It would also come in handy to have a location down here with an official stockpile of weapons and other equipment agents in the area might need.”
“That’s an excellent point. Speaking of, I know you probably already have a shit ton of weapons stashed away because, well, you’re you. I might need to make a quick trip over to borrow some things since I’m close by.”
That earned a sharp-eyed look from Maxwell that she chose to ignore. She gifted him with a grateful smile when he offered her a flute of bubbly liquid, and she lifted the glass in a silent toast before taking a sip.
“Where the hell are you? Aren’t you still on medical leave? Don’t you have an off button?”
“I’m on an island off the coast of Florida called Crescent Island.”
“Fantasy Island would be a more accurate name for that place,” Nikita said with a snort of laughter. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard enough crazy shit about that place to be curious. It doesn’t sound like you’re down there for fun, though.”
Trinity considered how much to share, then simply said, “I’m doing T-rex a favor.”
“Aw, hell. Those can get you killed.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Don’t I know it.”
“You need backup?”
That simple offer made Trinity’s heart swell with pride. It was one of the reasons she loved being an IAD agent so much. They might have been a hardcore group of badass that were scary as fuck, but they were also damn loyal and would do anything to help one another.
“I think I’ve got it for now. It’s not an official mission, but I will let you know if I need anything.”
“Send me the details just in case.”
Before she could respond, Nikita ended the call.
While that amused Trinity, it wasn’t unexpected. Now, she just hoped she wouldn’t actually have to call in for help because the last time she and Nikita had worked together, a lot of shit had blown up and they’d almost died. Luckily, they had survived so it had been worth a little destruction of property.
Thinking it over, she decided it might actually be good if Nikita decided to join her on the island. It would be fun for her, and a nightmare for everyone else.
And that would definitely be entertaining as hell.