Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“Why the hell aren’t you arresting that man if he’s known for funding terrorists?”
Finn’s jaw nearly unhinged in surprise at Julia’s question. The instant they were alone in their hotel room, she went off like an IED. Every inch of her body appeared to be vibrating with anger, and it looked like she wanted to slap him across the face.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” he asked, watching in amazement as she chucked the “death statue” onto the bed and tossed her purse to the floor. “Who do you think I am? Do I look like the FBI?”
Finn clenched his teeth. He should have been meeting with the team and handing off the Nikon so Harper could double-check an ID from the photos.
But instead, he felt compelled to try and rope the truth out of this woman who drove him crazy six ways to Sunday.
One minute he wanted to put her over his knee for being a brat, and the next minute he wanted to put her over his knee for an entirely different reason.
Less than an hour ago, Julia had looked every bit a goddess in that blue dress, her hair shining as she stood beneath the harsh rays of the unforgiving sun while he snapped photos, his pulse increasing with each click of the shutter.
Finn should kick his own ass for having been so distracted by her he’d nearly lost track of the fact Tariq, a Saudi who bankrolled terrorists for shits and fucking giggles, had entered his team’s hotel.
“Maybe we’re both out of our minds.” Her voice was softer but no less intense as she went for the clasp at the back of her neck. Was she planning to fling the necklace clear across their room, too? And why exactly was she angry?
He should have been the one in need of blowing off some steam. She was keeping a pretty big secret if her date from the other night was meeting with Tariq and she’d followed him across the Atlantic to . . . do what? Finn couldn’t imagine, but with Julia, anything was possible.
“You’re going to break it, damn it.” He huffed and strode toward her, twirling his finger, demanding she spin and lift her hair.
“I need to shower,” she said in a breathy voice as he managed to undo the clasp much quicker than he’d secured it earlier.
He handed her the necklace, expecting her to throw it, but she kept it curled inside her palm.
When her gaze slowly lifted to his face, he had to remind himself he was frustrated with her.
That soulful, haunted look in her blue eyes was spellbinding, though.
It was the very same look she’d given him when she’d told him she didn’t care much for superhero movies.
Real heroes aren’t without vulnerabilities.
Real heroes. She’d lost someone, hadn’t she?
Someone who served, maybe. And she hated that he or she hadn’t been invulnerable.
Finn had read it in her eyes, recognized the look of loss.
The kind of loss that kept a grip around your heart, always squeezing and never letting go.
He felt it himself every moment of every day his heart continued to beat while so many others’ had stopped.
“I’m sorry.” She’d dragged out the words as if they were hard to say.
“Sorry for lying to me? Or for going all hurricane mode on me for no apparent reason?” He wanted to reach for her and pull her in for a hug, but that’d be absolutely insane.
So, he folded his arms across his chest and took two steps back to maintain a safe distance and keep himself from touching her.
“Sorry for yelling at you. I was nervous and scared, and I wanted to divert the conversation away from me, I guess.”
It took him a second to absorb the fact she’d just been honest.
Julia had turned away and was now standing at the window looking out. The sunlight pierced through the thin material of her dress, which was clinging to her curves like it’d been glued to her silhouette. Finn had to use every ounce of willpower to keep his eyes off her ass.
Maybe he should reply with a little bit of truth since she’d finally opened up? Build some trust between them.
“I would take that man down if I could, you know. He’s off-limits at the moment.
Believe me, if we ever get the go-ahead from .
. .” Wow, was I about to say POTUS? “I did a background check on your date, Lorenzo”—Finn pivoted back to the issue at hand—“but I didn’t look too deep into his boss, or I assume I would have found a reason to prevent you from going out with Lorenzo. ”
This was more proof he was a poor excuse for a bodyguard, but in his defense, he hadn’t expected Julia to date someone with ties to terrorists. Why would he?
Julia faced him again, still holding the pendant. “There is more to my story. To why I’m here. And I feel like an eight-year-old saying this, but I have to keep this to myself because if my brother finds out, he’ll put a stop to what I’m trying to do.”
He erased those two steps he’d placed between them. “And you won’t tell me what you’re trying to do?”
She opened her palm and eyed the necklace. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but my brother is overprotective. The man is paranoid. Bulletproof-glass kind of paranoid. And that was before what he went through with his wife. If he knew I was chasing leads in Egypt, he’d lose his mind.”
Chasing leads? What had she gotten herself into? “As any big brother should,” he finally said around a tight swallow, shoving thoughts about his own big brother aside. “And what leads? Who is this surgeon to you?”
Her lips pursed for a moment, her gaze seeming to snag on his tee melding to his frame from the heat. “If you promise not to involve Michael or try and stop me—”
“I can’t make that promise unless I know what’s going on.” He cupped the side of her arm, drawing her a bit closer.
She quickly pulled free of his grasp. “Then I’m going to take a quick shower. I’m dripping with sweat from this heat. And you need to talk to your colleagues, teammates, or whatever y’all call each other, right?”
Shit, she was right. “Don’t leave,” he ordered, pointing toward the hall as a reminder of the camera directed at the door, then pulled out his phone and opened the app to monitor the hall for when he left the room.
“You don’t have a surveillance camera in here as well, do you?”
Oh, this woman was ready to go again. Round two? Had she forgotten she’d apologized for her behavior less than a minute ago?
It was hotter than Hades outside, but that wasn’t the only reason the air felt hot and soupy.
Things between them had been tense since day one in her office two weeks ago, but he’d swear when he pinned her to the wall and whispered in her ear he’d felt something shift between them.
Something he didn’t know how to identify.
He wasn’t sure if she was even aware she’d arched into him in the lobby as though urging him to press his body against hers.
He blinked, forcing away the memory so he could focus on the current issue. Tornado Julia. He’d decided she was less hurricane and more tornado because there was no warning when she was about to change direction.
“You didn’t really ask me if I put a camera in here, did you?”
Her cheeks, already flushed from their hour-long walk, deepened a touch pinker. “I think the heat is getting to me.”
Annnd nice Julia is back. Or was this just the calm before another storm? He closed one eye, half-expecting another mood shift, or at least some category-three winds.
“What?”
“Just not sure what to expect from you minute to minute.” He grinned, attempting to lighten the moment.
He watched Julia’s expression grow dark when her gaze cut to the statue on the bed. Whether or not there was any truth to the words spoken by the woman on the dock, it was a reminder Julia was potentially in danger.
“Don’t be bullheaded,” he found himself blurting.
“You’re in over your head. It’s obvious.
And you’re scared.” His worry for this woman had him feeling the need to pull out his deep, military and authoritative tone in hopes she’d bend to this command, one that kept her alive.
He’d witnessed too many die, and he’d be damned if he lost her.
“I may be scared, but like you, I’ll walk through the fires of hell for a friend.” She ripped her focus away from the statue and turned to Finn. “What did that woman say to you?”
He considered playing dumb, but he knew she’d never buy it. His stomach tightened as he found himself whispering words he’d hoped not to repeat. “She said you’re going to die.”
Finn entered Harper and Roman’s suite and handed off the Nikon to Harper. His blood pressure was probably sky high after spending time with Julia, and he needed a second to breathe before he dropped the news on the team. News he should’ve delivered ten minutes ago.
Roman and Wyatt were in the room, but A.J.
and Chris hadn’t returned yet. The cell service was garbage in the city, but they’d managed to get a text through.
They’d found the target and were moving on with part two of the plan, which was to plant a tracking device on his vehicle in order to pin down the exact location for the weapons sale that Bravo had learned would go down tomorrow night.
Once they found where the arms dealer was storing the weapons, Echo Team would move in before the exchange could happen.
The guys would pose as a local rebel group looking to hijack the arms, then make it look like a botched robbery before escaping.
The real mission was to tag the weapons and trace them to their final destination to learn the identity of the new group hoping to become the next regional threat to the Western world.
“I think I know who’s behind the weapons sale,” Finn finally shared. “Tariq.” He pointed to the camera now in Harper’s hands as she removed the chip. “Just need to confirm I’m right.”
“The Tariq?” Wyatt asked in surprise, and Finn nodded.