Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was well past sunrise, and the tent-chalet was bathed in the soft, early morning light. Finn slowly shifted to his side and propped his head on his hand to observe Julia as she slept.
His gaze snared on the necklace he’d given her, lying on the small nightstand by the bed, and he wondered why he hadn’t noticed she’d taken it off last night.
Because you ravished her body, you idiot. Had the best sex of your life, too.
The sheet slipped from her body when he shifted a little on the bed, revealing her ass to him since she was also on her side, her face the other direction.
He bit down on his back teeth at the sight and resisted the urge to grab hold of her and press his growing erection against her firm body, which was also soft in all of the right places.
“Beautiful,” he whispered to himself.
“What is?”
“You’re awake,” he said in surprise, and she slowly turned to face him, now giving him another view. Two perfect breasts with rosebud nipples he remembered swirling his tongue over last night. And in the middle of the night.
She covered her mouth while yawning. “I am. What time is it?”
Her sleepy, morning voice was hot as hell. He was about to respond in military time, sometimes forgetting the rest of the world didn’t operate that way. “Eight.”
“Breakfast is soon, and then we head back to the villa,” Julia said, a note of regret in her voice.
“And to meet with your brother shortly after.”
Her face blanched. Had she forgotten that small detail? Her brother had arrived while they were on their “adventure” yesterday, and surely, he’d demand a meeting. They had plenty of time before the party tonight, but facing Michael Maddox wasn’t high on his to-do list.
“We should, um, meet him in a public space,” Julia suggested. The way she scrunched up her nose was cute as hell and made him smile.
“So he can’t clock me?”
Before Julia could answer, the sound of a horse neighing somewhere outside hit Finn like a crack of thunder, propelling him to roll to his back and squeeze his eyes closed.
Why had Jaden appeared on a horse in his dream? The closest to a horse Jaden had come was riding a pony at a neighbor's birthday party when they were kids.
“Where are you? I’ve lost you.” Julia’s soft voice coaxed his eyes open, and at the feel of her lacing their hands together on top of his chest, he peeked over at her. Worried blue eyes met his, and his stomach knotted. “The horse?”
“It’s not about the horse. It’s about my brother.
” Was he going to do this? Tell her about Jaden?
There’d be no coming back from that for him if he did.
“I’ve been off since the night I was shot out in the desert, and not because of the close call,” he slowly revealed.
He remained on his back, his gaze moving to the ceiling of the tent, which was pitched at the top with a circle of red silk.
“We expected to find weapons, but instead, we found coffins full of pills.” He tensed at what he was about to share next. “Captagon, to be exact.”
Her hand went lax in his. “Like the kind they found in Oliver’s place? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to.” No, that’s a lie. You didn’t want to talk about the damn pills. “But it’s um, classified,” he added a moment later, hoping she hadn’t noticed his thoughts had derailed.
“And it’s still classified, so why are you telling me now?”
He rolled his head to the side to peer at her again.
“Because I care about you, and yes, I am . . . who you think I am.” This was also not something he’d expected to share.
He was violating his oath to the job. To the President.
But the woman was intelligent, and hadn’t she called him on it already?
Why fight telling her the truth? Because telling her changes everything. Shit.
Revealing everything to Julia was the same as declaring that diamond ring on her finger the real thing.
None of the guys on the teams had told anyone about their real work without winding up in a together-forever situation afterward.
And by revealing the truth to Julia, was he hoping that’d keep her in his life until he punched out in the time card of life?
“So, you’re, um, still active duty?” she whispered as if processing those words like she was walking across broken glass to get to him on the other side of the room, and she was worried she might bleed out before making it.
Why did her reaction hurt so much?
Fuck.
“I am.” The two words pinged around in his head a few times as he waited for her to say something. As he waited for her to declare last night was a mistake.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m—”
“Disappointed?” He swallowed.
Her mouth softened into an O-shape as if prepping herself to say the right thing. “Not disappointed in you. Not at all.”
The art of the dodge.
Her eyes fell closed for one moment before a pair of stunning blue irises met his gaze. “Tell me about your brother. And the dream.”
Ah, on to part two of the reveals that’d probably wind up with him getting his heart broken, but he’d already taken the plunge from the cliff and was free-falling. At this point, he had no idea if she was interested in being his parachute to save him from hitting the ground. He could only hope.
“Jaden was riding the horse in my sandstorm dream, and he was about to shoot me. But my brother has been dead for over twenty years. He died in 2000. A drug overdose. A combination of pills.”
He gave her a moment to process his reality. More doses of truth.
“I think he was always a little depressed, taking after my mother. She managed anxiety and depression her whole life. Not long after we moved to LA, I caught him sneaking some of her pills.” He sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady his pulse and get through this, then freed the air from his lungs and looked at Julia, finding tears remaining captive in her blue eyes.
Tucker died due to alcohol abuse.
Jaden died from drug abuse.
They’d both lost people they cared about, and Finn knew she understood his pain. His struggles. His guilt. Not that she should have felt guilty about Tucker, but he also knew he’d never be able to talk her out of that guilt since no one had talked him out of his.
“Jaden made me promise not to tell anyone. He said it was a one-time thing. But there were more times after that. More promises to remain quiet.” He kept his voice steady as best he could.
“The stress from the music industry got to him. The pressure. The popularity that came with it. He couldn’t handle it.
I-I should have done something. Told someone. ”
Julia applied more pressure to their linked hands in support.
“Before you remind me I was only a teenager, well, I know . . . but a broken promise to my older brother who I’d idolized would’ve—”
“I understand,” she whispered. “I get it.”
Why did that feel so much better to hear than an It’s not your fault?
“After he died, I broke down and told my parents I knew about his problem. Even the night before, um . . .” He went stiff at the memory. “My mom blamed me. She said she couldn’t look at me again,” he confessed, his voice hoarse, and were there tears in his own eyes?
“You don’t think your parents knew? His manager or agent? You really think you were the only one?”
Finn closed his eyes and felt a touch of warmth on his cheek. Shit, he was crying. “They said they had no idea.”
“If he was taking pills from her bottle . . .” Julia let her words trail off, allowing him to draw his own conclusions. “I think it was easier for her to blame you instead of herself,” she added softly.
Finn had never considered his mom had known. The way she’d treated him the last twenty-plus years, placing all of the blame on his shoulders—she wouldn’t do that if she’d had a clue her son had abused pills, right? A mom wouldn’t do that.
“I’m so sorry you lost him,” Julia whispered, and when he opened his eyes, his gaze was obstructed by more tears threatening to fall.
“I—”
“Guys, you awake?” A.J. called from outside.
Shit timing or perfect, Finn wasn’t so sure. He sat up and swiped the backs of his hands over his cheeks. “We’re up.”
“Are you decent, though?” Finn heard the smile in A.J.’s tone, and he looked over for a last glimpse of Julia’s naked body before she covered herself with the sheet.
Why hide the fact they’d slept together from A.J.? He was the one who’d saved him with a just-in-case condom last night.
Finn drew the blanket over his naked body as well. “Come on in.” He watched as the zipper moved to part the “door” so A.J. could enter.
A.J.’s cheeks were a touch red, and Finn doubted it was from the desert heat.
He remained just inside the tent and crossed his arms. “Tariq slipped away last night. I followed him. No cell service here, so it looks like Tariq kept on the move until he got a signal. Not sure who he was calling, but after that, he returned to the campsite. I called Asher while I was there, and he had eyes on both of us from his position as well.”
“And?” Finn prompted.
“Jessica got word two law enforcement facilities, which happened to house major seizures of Captagon pills, were simultaneously hit last night. One location in Turkey, and the other Italy.”
Finn’s spine straightened at the news, and Julia sat upright. He noticed her clinging to the sheet out of his peripheral view.
“A hell of a lot more Captagon at those two sites than, um . . .”
“She knows about the mummy coffins,” Finn told him, knowing the truth would soon come out that he’d revealed that intel to Julia anyway. “What the hell is Tariq going to do with all of those pills?”
“And we’re still assuming Tariq is responsible?” Julia asked, and A.J. turned his focus her way.
“The timing of Tariq’s call matches up as if he knew at around zero two hundred that something big was going down, and he needed to verify it was mission success,” A.J.
said. “CIA intercepted the intel in real time when the facilities were hit. A clean in-and-out job with no witnesses left behind. Surveillance cams went offline at both places in Turkey and Italy around zero two hundred as well.”
Finn felt Julia reach for his hand beneath the blanket with her free one, and he welcomed her touch. His heart rate was out of control.
“I don’t know what this fucker has planned,” A.J. began in a grim tone, “but Tariq now has enough pills to make it rain.”