Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
COSENZA, ITALY
Rory eyed Luke and Chris talking to their teammates.
Their backs were to her, attention set on Cutter’s location off in the distance.
They were preparing to infiltrate the site that was a few hundred meters away.
It was on the outskirts of Cosenza, which was to their north.
Villa Vecchia, the large public park, was not too far to their west.
A clash of ancient and modern surrounded them.
Ruins—fragments of ancient walls, some that looked to be at least six feet high—were scattered all around the area.
And in their midst, as though they’d been carefully placed there by a giant who was building a toy city, were two windowless concrete structures.
The two-story buildings were their target. Cutter’s location.
The thermal imaging software that Jessica had brought suggested twelve people were inside the two structures, in addition to the four armed guards patrolling the property. A fence topped with razor wire closed off the space, which was about the size of two football fields.
Rory had a feeling the site was also used for smuggling given their location near a major highway and proximity to the sea. And based on the other heat signatures, there were animals inside. That only enraged Rory even more. This would also be a rescue mission.
Chris had changed into full combat wear, courtesy of Knox when Bravo Team arrived twenty minutes ago, and he was now decked out in all the garb she assumed he’d wear if out fighting the Taliban. Rory had changed again as well on the yacht before they’d met up with Adam.
Chris and Rory had been spotted as they had descended the hilltop by way of rope back in Sicily, but then a sniper (probably Wyatt) took out whoever had started firing at them. Chris had nearly lost his mind when bullets had flown a few inches by Rory’s head.
But they’d made it, so thank God for that.
Rory turned to see Adam McGregor striding toward her.
He must not have been Sean’s identical twin since he had dark hair and a few other noticeably different features.
But he was tall and broad-shouldered and carried himself with the same self-assured stride as his brother.
Instead of wearing a suit like Sean, Adam was in sweatpants and a white tee that revealed what looked like Celtic ink on the inside of his forearm.
Hands in his pockets, Adam’s gaze was directed over Rory’s shoulder to where Carter stood talking to his team. A smaller group than he would have liked to bring, but they’d been short on time, and flying overseas at the last minute posed its own problems.
“Any word from your brother or Sebastian?” she asked Adam.
“This gobshite,” Adam began while tipping his head in the direction of Cutter’s hideout, “keeps sending people to Emilia’s home. They fall back for an hour or so, regroup, then come again. Good news is we’re taking out a lot of bad guys in one night.”
What time is it, anyway? She’d lost track of time.
“The world will be better for it.” Adam gave her a closed-mouth smile. “My brother is new to all of this, and I guess I am, too, but Sebastian and Emilia . . . they’re pros.” Adam’s brogue was much thicker than Sebastian’s.
“And may I ask why you’re in this, um, League?” Maybe it wasn’t her place to ask, but she was curious, especially after what she’d witnessed Sebastian and the others do back at Emilia’s estate in Sicily.
“A large faction known as The Alliance controls almost all criminal activity on this side of the world, perhaps a bit on yours as well. We’ve been dealing with them and trying to take them down for quite some time.”
“Yeah, but there’s a deeper reason why, right?
” She folded her arms, a gentle breeze floating across her skin, chilling her body when her nerves had already done such a bang-up job of setting her on edge to begin with.
And for someone who didn’t usually get nervous, she’d been swimming in a boatload of it lately.
Adam produced his phone and pulled up a photo to show her. “Then I guess you could say I do it for them.”
Rory peered at a stunning strawberry blonde with a dark-haired baby cradled in her arms. “Beautiful family.”
“Anna and Braden. They’re my ‘why.’ Make the world safer for them.
Kids change everything. Make you paranoid and more cautious than you ever thought you’d be,” Adam explained while pocketing his phone.
“I have money, and I guess being part of The League, I have some power, but none of it really protects them as much as I want it to. You could be driving down the street and get sideswiped by a truck. You can’t protect your loved ones from everything. ”
“But you try,” Rory said. “As hard as humanly possible,” she added as she viewed Chris, knowing he’d spent years doing his best to protect and serve. Thinking back to his Nietzsche quotes, she was fairly certain she understood Chris’s “why.”
“I promised Sebastian you wouldn’t die,” Chris said on approach, eyes connecting with Adam. “Maybe sit this operation out?”
Adam held his palms up and nodded. “I’m a hell of a fighter, but I use my fists instead of guns. I’ll stay on the sidelines.” He reached for Rory’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Be safe out there.” Adam smiled, then left at the sight of Luke and Carter heading toward them.
“My people are ready to move in,” Carter announced once he’d met up with Rory and Chris. He was now in black pants, boots, and a black, long-sleeved top. A ball cap on backward like Luke and Chris, and it was a different look than she’d grown accustomed to on Carter.
“We’re up against a lot of unknowns.” Luke drew his hands to his hips. “And I know you’re anxious to make your move, but we need to secure the perimeter before we breach.”
“We have one of the world’s two best snipers here with us,” Chris said, and now Rory knew he was referring to Liam since Wyatt, their other sniper, was taking care of business at Emilia’s place.
“Liam will head to high ground and take out the four guards on patrol. Then Asher, our best breacher, will get us through the gates.”
“We all need to be on comms and in each other’s ears, so we don’t accidentally kill one another,” Luke said to Carter, still not sounding all that happy about working with him.
Apparently, since there were only sixteen enemy tangos in total, he felt Bravo Team and Chris were enough to handle the job, but Carter refused to sit out.
Rory spotted Jessica walking toward them with Bear at her side. She had a few items of Cutter’s she’d grabbed from his salvage vessel off the coast of Puerto Rico in case Bear needed to test out his search skills and find the prick.
I had sex with that man. Trusted him. She was going to puke.
She had to focus on Chris. The man in her life she knew she’d be able to trust no matter what. She vowed never to let the bad taste left in her mouth by Cutter’s betrayal ruin the future she wanted with Chris.
This ends now.
She stroked Bear on the head, happy to see him again. He’d slobbered all over her and Chris as soon as he saw them. Rory knew Bear wasn’t even close to being operation-ready, but she did trust his super sniffer.
“Owen’s handing our wireless comms to your guys now,” Jessica said to Carter, who followed her gaze to where Owen and Carter’s men were together, prepping.
Luke gave a command over his comm and sent Liam, Knox, and Asher into position. Asher strode their way before moving to his post, though. He gave his wife a long, lingering kiss—not giving a damn about onlookers—then hurried off.
Well, that was hot.
“Rory, you’ll stay back with Jessica,” Luke instructed.
What? No! “I need to be there. I have to be included.” She wouldn’t back down. “And if there are animals in there, I can help.”
“And we have no idea if we’re going up against tigers or puppy dogs,” Luke reminded her.
“Based on the heat signatures, we’re dealing with animals much smaller than lions,” Rory remarked.
“If we need to use someone to draw out Cutter, you can use me,” Carter offered.
“He won’t be satisfied with only you,” Rory said with a shake of her head.
“He’s still in love with me in his weird, stalker-like way.
” He’s been watching me for years, she thought in revulsion.
Hide me in a hole to keep like a pet? “I’m trained in martial arts and weapons.
I’ve infiltrated seventeen compounds in the last three years. And then before that—”
“She can handle it.” Jessica set a hand on Luke’s arm. “Give her a comm and a gun.” She looked at Rory. “And a vest.”
“Jessica,” Luke admonished. He may have been team leader, but the only person Rory truly needed to convince was Chris. If he were on her side, then surely, Luke would come around.
“One second.” Chris tipped his head, motioning for her to follow him.
“Please don’t ask me to stand down,” Rory said when he grasped her hands in his. “I need to be in there.”
“Do you really want to take the kill shot?” Chris looked down at the grass beneath his boots. “Sebastian may be right.”
“I don’t need to kill him myself, but I do need to face him. That door, or window, whatever I thought I needed to shut . . .” How could she articulate what she was feeling?
“Okay,” he said with a nod, not forcing her to find the words, and that meant more than she could possibly express to him. His faith and trust in her spoke volumes.
“Thank you.” She flung her arms around him for a tight hug. “This is poor timing to tell you, and I promise I’m not saying it because I’m worried I’ll die, but you should know I’m really, really falling for you,” she said around happy tears. More than just falling. I fell.
He brought both palms to her cheeks and swiped the few stray tears that escaped her eyes, and he returned her smile.
“I know this isn’t a goodbye thing. And I fell for you, too.
” He kissed her, surprising her by slipping his tongue into her mouth in a more erotic kiss than she’d anticipated.
“Now,” he said when their lips parted, their mouths still drawn close like magnets, “let’s go take this fucker down. ”