Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“What’s the endgame?” Simone asked softly.
She was beside him in bed, her body curled against his, while his hand stroked along the graceful line of her back.
The endgame. “Catch the bad guys. Lock them away.” Marry you. Spend the rest of my life watching your smile and falling in love with you again every single time that it flashes.
“What’s Konstantin done that made him get so much focus from the CIA and MI6?”
His head turned toward her. It was dark in his bedroom, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness.
“Terrorism. Human trafficking. Worldwide weapons distribution. Right now, he’s getting involved in drugs.
That’s why he’s working with Frederick. He wants to use the old textile business and distribution sites as a cover.
There is no new surveillance company in the works—that was a lie.
The whole setup is designed to get Konstantin’s drug shipped to as many locations as possible.
” Konstantin’s new drug had raised plenty of alarms. “His drug is a real nasty new addiction that will either kill you on the first hit or have you hooked for the rest of your days.” Hooked and willing to do anything in order to get the next rush.
He heard her sharp inhale. “Sounds like a real charmer.”
“He’s normally insulated. The chip was his mistake. Years ago, he stole the Fabergé egg from a museum because he wanted to send a fuck-you to certain individuals in Russia.”
“Konstantin does seem like a fuck-you type of guy. But I have to say, hiding the chip in the Fabergé egg feels over the top.”
“Who would ever think to look inside for it?” Ryan asked.
“Most people would only focus on the egg itself. The chip contains all kinds of details about Konstantin’s criminal enterprises and his international ties.
The egg and the chip weren’t going to be in Frederick’s gallery for long.
He was supposed to transfer the chip, and after the transfer was complete, he could keep the egg. ”
“Services rendered. Down payment. Whatever you want to call it,” Simone concluded.
“Yes. But I made the interception in time to stop the big delivery from happening.”
“With some fantastic assistance from me,” she murmured.
His fingers pressed to the warmth of her skin. “I never intended for you to get hurt. Having a bounty put on your head was not on my agenda.”
“Having you jump in on my kidnapping was not on my agenda, either,” she returned softly. “But then again, getting kidnapped in the first place was not on my to-do list. So much for those best-laid plans, huh?”
He had so many questions about her. Ryan had discovered that when it came to Simone, he wanted to know everything. “Why do you do it?” he asked her. “Why…retrieve?” That was the word she liked. Retrieve. Not…steal.
“Because people shouldn’t lose the things that matter to them.”
I don’t want to lose you.
“I lost everything when I was a kid.”
He hated her pain.
“Not just my parents, my family, but the life I’d had. The house. Even the damn cat.”
Yeah, okay, at the first opportunity, he was finding the black cat that she’d liked in London. The cat would be going home with her.
“My toys. My clothes. Everything that was me, everything that was mine, it was all gone in an instant. Guess you could just call what I do now some serious overcompensation. I return things to others because I lost everything myself.” A yawn.
“Or maybe I’ve just got some seriously sticky fingers, who knows?
Not gonna lie and say there is no thrill involved. I get a rush.”
“Adrenaline.” Oh, yes, he could certainly understand that.
“I was afraid to feel anything for years. Afraid of more pain coming. So the adrenaline surges I got from my retrieval missions made me feel alive again.”
“What’s the first thing you retrieved?”
A sliver of laughter. “My buddy Logan lost a baseball card when we were kids.”
Logan. The name slid through his mind and an alarm bell rang. A loud one.
“We were both in foster care back in those days.” Slightly slurred, as sleep pulled at her.
He shouldn’t be questioning her when she was so tired. She was revealing things that she might not normally say. “You don’t have to tell me more,” Ryan heard himself say.
“I want to tell you everything.”
His heart ached.
“You get little bags when you’re in foster care.
” Not so tired. Not so slurred. “Your whole life fits in those bags. My bag was mostly donated clothes. A scarf. A photo of my parents.” Her hand slid over his chest. “Logan had this old baseball card. It wasn’t valuable.
Not like it was from some famous player.
It was a card he’d gotten at a minor league game.
He’d gone with his dad before his whole world imploded, too.
The thing was dog-eared to hell and back.
Wrinkled and bent from the times he’d carried it everywhere with him. ”
He knew where this story was going. “Someone took the card. It wasn’t lost. It was stolen, wasn’t it?”
“Logan was sad. Couldn’t have that.” Her fingers began to make small circles on his chest. “So I got it back for him. Don’t know what was better at the time, the rush I got from actually snagging the card and slipping away unnoticed or the way I felt when Logan smiled.”
Logan. Another piece of her puzzle. A piece that could prove highly dangerous to the mission. “You and this Logan sound like you were close.” Sure, yes, jealousy would claw at him. But he held it back.
“I guess he’s the only family I have. Don’t worry…” A sigh. “We never fucked.”
His hold on her tightened. “Fantastic to know.”
“Like I said, he’s family so that would have just been…gross.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “Logan is gross. Got it.”
Sleepy laughter. “Family isn’t just blood.”
Her words pierced through him. Ryan found that he had to swallow—twice—before he could speak. “I know. Couldn’t agree more.” His lips brushed against her temple. “My brother Nash is adopted, and I don’t care what anyone else says—he is family. To his core. I’d kill for that guy in a heartbeat.”
“Knew you’d understand.” Simone snuggled closer. “You understand a lot about me, don’t you?”
He did. Just as she understood him. “You’re not nearly as bad as you’d have the world think.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I get a finder’s fee for most of my work. Not like I always do things out of the goodness of my heart.”
“But you are on this case.” Careful words. “You retrieved the broach and earrings for free.”
“Yes. This case is personal.”
Very personal. Because he’d just realized this case was about family to her. Before he’d gone to Simone’s room, he’d gotten the security footage from Jezebel. He’d been damn surprised to see a face that he recognized.
Not from this mission.
From another time.
A case in the US.
A case that had nearly ended with Nash being killed.
A case that had occurred beneath the bright lights of Vegas and had brought Ryan and his team into contact with a very dangerous individual who happened to be named Logan Sterling. A shifty sonofabitch with extremely suspect criminal ties.
Logan Sterling should have been an ocean away. He wasn’t. He was in London. More specifically, Logan was in their hotel. Because he’d come for Simone. A dangerous addition to a powder keg situation that could blow at any moment.
“My first retrieval was for Logan. And this case—my most recent retrieval—it’s for him, too.”
I know, baby. But what he didn’t know was why the broach and earrings were so important. Why she was risking her life for them. “Logan shouldn’t send you off on such a dangerous retrieval.”
“The broach and the earrings actually belong to his grandmother. The woman who pulled us in. Who brought me into her home when I needed her the most.” Emotion strained through her voice.
“She…forgets things these days. Logan and I first started noticing the spells about five years ago. We took her to so many doctors, but the progression couldn’t be stopped.
” Her sadness pulsed in the air. “Frederick found out about Nana. He learned where she’d been living, and he thought it would be so easy to strike at her.
She’s vulnerable. Easy pickings. He took the broach and the earrings that her husband had given to her so long ago.
Maybe he thought no one would notice. But when I went to see her, I noticed.
Many of her memories were stolen from her, but she loved to look at her broach.
She’d look at the broach and the earrings, and she’d smile.
” A pause. “Frederick took her smile away. I couldn’t let that happen.
She deserves to smile as much as she can. We all deserve to smile, don’t we?”
Frederick was a sonofabitch. “He targeted your friend’s grandmother because—”
“Because Logan told Frederick to fuck off. He didn’t want to get into business with Frederick.
My friend has hotels and casinos all over the world.
His ties might sometimes be a little shady, but he’s not one of the monsters out there.
” Absolute certainty. “He’s not. No matter what stories your CIA buddies may dig up on him in the future. ”
Oh, Logan Sterling was definitely on the CIA’s radar. And they already had plenty of stories about the man. “He sent you to retrieve the stolen jewelry.” The bastard should have come and gotten it his own damn self.
“No. He had no idea what I was doing. He would have been pissed as hell if he’d figured it out. He doesn’t exactly approve of my jobs.”
Something we have in common.
“He’s here,” Ryan said. No point in dancing around this particular truth.
She didn’t speak.
“He needs to stand the hell back,” Ryan added. “Things are going to be extremely volatile in the morning.” Actually, it was already far too close to morning.
“Oh, just in the morning? Considering the two hits so far, I’m pretty sure things are already volatile.” A yawn. “Unfortunately, Logan is not good at standing back.”
Neither am I. “I’ll protect you.”
“I’ll protect you, too,” she vowed.
He realized that she had been doing that, all along. Protecting him. Again and again, and, honestly, he needed that shit to stop. He needed her removed from the equation. Jezebel thought that Simone’s presence was necessary at the upcoming meeting with Frederick.
As for Ryan…
He wanted her safely out of harm’s way.
And he thought he knew just how to accomplish that goal. With the hand that was not currently stroking her back, he reached for his phone and fired out a quick text. Then he shifted a bit in the bed, he stared up at the ceiling, and he waited for the attack that he knew was coming.
It was the faint rustle in the hallway that alerted him. Two hours had passed. Two hours of holding Simone, enjoying the feel of her body against his, of trying to memorize everything about her.
The softness of her skin.
The sweet scent that clung to her.
Even the gentle sound of her breathing.
He’d wanted to remember everything because he knew that he’d be losing her.
Ryan’s hand slid under the pillow that rested beneath his head.
He’d shut the bedroom door earlier and made sure that the heavy curtains covered the windows.
He waited, body deliberately at ease, one leg shoved from beneath the covers, his right hand still around Simone, as the door slowly opened.
No sound. His gaze pierced through the darkness, and he saw the figure coming into the room.
A shadow that moved swiftly, that edged toward the bed and…
Put a gun to Ryan’s head.
So expected. “Hello, Logan,” Ryan said softly. “It took you longer to make an appearance in here than I anticipated. Even after I told the guards to be sure and let you pass by with minimal fuss…”
“What the hell…?” Logan Sterling began. He eased the weapon back.
“Ryan?” Simone’s sleepy voice. “What’s happening?”
Ryan yanked his gun from beneath the pillow and aimed it at their intruder. “I believe your family decided to stop by for a little visit, sweetheart.”
She started to roll away from Ryan, but he stopped her with a soft, “You’re naked.”
“Shit.” Simone yanked the covers around herself. Then she rolled away from Ryan, hit the button on the nearby lamp, and then let out a hard shriek. “Logan! Logan, you’re pointing a gun at Ryan!” Then, in the next heartbeat, “Ryan, you’re pointing a gun at Logan!”
Indeed, they were pointing weapons at one another. “Ready to start firing?” Ryan asked, keeping his tone polite with an extreme effort. “Or do you want to talk?”