Chapter 17
Gabby’s mind was swimming with all the information she’d learned today. Even if she wasn’t undercover, this was one of the least relaxing places she’d ever been. Had these people ever heard of downtime?
After she got back to the cottage, she sent a quick email to Valentina. She figured that if she sent the preemptive update early, then she wouldn’t get a call while she was in the bathtub.
SUSPECTS:
Genesis: Abducted Sheridan, supposedly as a gift for Jasmine. Overheard argument with Jasmine about the resort’s money problems (motive for sales).
Naomi: Former news correspondent with connections in media. Not sure about motive, but she had opportunity.
Sheridan: Openly stated that she wished to influence political decision-making as a psychic. Doesn’t seem to trust the president or any government, including EOD agents.
Jasmine: Very worried about money problems. Wants a divorce.
Inner-G: Collects secrets through ritualized “purges” into a conch shell outfitted with a recording device.
Doesn’t allow contact with outside world while on the island except through a landline that I haven’t seen.
No alcohol (suspicious). Everyone is too nice, and there is too much yoga. Why is everything so vague? Very culty.
Wildcard: Amanda Duvall has been to this resort. Everyone knew her. If the president was involved in her death, someone might want justice and or revenge.
She hit send.
Now, bath time! There was a luxury bathtub and a buffet of free products to enjoy.
Gabby had never turned down a Costco sample or a free hotel shampoo, and she wasn’t about to let anything at Inner-G go to waste.
She dumped about a gallon of Inner Beauty products into the bath and turned the water to hot.
A tiny refrigerator on the counter was filled with fresh produce for facials, which seemed like overkill. Gabby barely ever sliced produce to put on the dinner table, let alone put on her face. There were cucumbers and avocados, a jar of manuka honey, coconut oil, and the ever-present G-shots.
The hair guacamole directions were in a gilded frame on the counter. Hello beautiful. Mix the avocado and honey, work through hair, and let sit for 10–20 minutes for soft, shiny mermaid tresses.
Achieving inner beauty was going to be a mess.
But if there was ever a time to invest in her appearance, it was her pretend wedding week.
Would Markus run his fingers through her hair if she conditioned it?
The look on his face when he saw her in yoga pants—she wanted to see that look all the time.
She cut the avocado in half and squeezed it into a bowl with the honey and mashed it.
Funny considering she never even made guacamole at home.
It was always an extra step that she just didn’t have the energy for.
Add cayenne pepper to boost the shine and activate other products. Capsaicin is an aphrodisiac.
Maybe Jasmine was just messing with her, but maybe not.
While she was fighting one hard chunk of avocado that kept sliding up the sides of the bowl instead of submitting to its fate, an avocado pit rolled onto the floor and did its lopsided roll to the other side of the room.
Green slime and peels all over the counter reminded her why she never made this stuff on a weeknight.
Markus knocked on the door.
“Umm.” Gabby assessed the situation. “I’ve made a mess in here.”
Concern in his voice. “Are you telling me you blew up the toilet?”
“No!” She laughed. “I was trying to use Jasmine’s products and… Do you have any chips?”
“Chips?” Markus opened the door hesitantly to find Gabby crisscross applesauce on the floor of the bathroom, wearing a fluffy bathrobe and slathered in green tea face mask.
Like she’d just invited him to a party, she held the bowl out and said, “I made guacamole.”
“Great, but…” She could hear the question in his voice.
“It’s supposed to be a hair masque, but I haven’t had anything but vegetables and juice today, and matcha, oh, and one bite of our wedding cake.” Matter-of-factly, she reported, “We’re having chocolate strawberry.”
“Sounds delicious.” He rubbed his stomach. “I’m hungry too.”
It was hard going straight from the babushka diet to mostly raw food.
“Wait here,” he said. Less than a minute later, Markus returned with four bags of airplane pretzels.
“Markus,” Gabby said. “I have never been so turned on in my life.”
He dangled them from an extended arm. “You want?”
“Oh yes. Truce?” she asked.
“Are we fighting?” he asked.
That was the most male thing she’d ever heard. “We’re not fighting, but we’re not entirely cool either, are we? I mean…”
He sat down next to her and leaned against the wall. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
She nodded. “It’s been—”
“Weird,” he finished.
She pushed the bowl of guacamole between them. “It’s technically a hair masque, but it’s just avocados and there is a little honey in it.”
“I’m game, if you are.”
“Did you ever play truth or dare as a kid?” She dipped a pretzel in the hair guacamole and closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
“I bet you always picked dare.”
“Guilty.”
Why did this hair guacamole and pretzel taste better than anything she’d ever made?
“I went camping once with Kyle’s Girl Scout troop,” she paused to look up.
“Never again, but anyway, the oatmeal tasted so good that I didn’t even really need to put sugar on it.
When I got home, I was like, ‘Everyone, you need to try oatmeal. It’s amazing,’ but when I made it, it was just oatmeal. ”
“That’s happened to me before too. I was on this survival expedition, and I ate a squirrel. It might as well have been Kobe beef.”
Gabby held up her pretzel. “This is my oatmeal. It’s the most delicious food I’ve ever had. And we’ve only been here for a day.”
“Sometimes everything’s more delicious because of the company. If you’re sharing it with a special person, everything is special.” The way he was looking at her made her believe it.
Gabby glowed with warmth from the compliment. “Is that a truth?”
“Yes.” He chuckled softly. “I guess I’m evolving. Not just dares anymore.”
“I’m the opposite. My entire life has gone from truth to lies to one big dare.”
A surge of boldness overcame her. She was that woman, a woman who dared to go after what she wanted, who took risks.
Her thirty-eight-year-old body, which had only recently been exercised, had borne two children.
Everything society told her about beauty, everything that she had believed about her own body and its desirability—had it been wrong?
Markus wanted her, and for the first time in her life, she was drunk on her own sexual power. The world wasn’t like she’d always assumed it was, a place where sex and pleasure were for the pretty girls at the mall. Middle-aged moms could have their share too.
She and Markus leaned into each other over the bowl of hair guac. It was like the scene in Sixteen Candles but with guacamole instead of cake. And Molly Ringwald and the hot guy were slightly over the hill, like if they made the movie today. Molly Ringwald was a national treasure.
Fuck it. Gabby was in paradise.
After years of dormancy, the need had returned. Her breasts ached to be touched. The mission—so what. She loosened her robe and pushed it open.
Markus went bedroom-eyed and laser-focused on her like she was the only woman in the world. He whispered huskily, “Do you know what you’re doing to me?”
“Tell me,” she breathed.
He traced the line of her leg from her thigh down to her ankle. She dropped her head back and shut her eyes, savoring his touch, aching for more.
He pushed the guacamole and pretzels out of the way.
They clattered across the tile floor, and the bowl almost tipped but righted itself.
Markus firmly gripped her thighs and pulled her in close.
In the quiet of the bathroom, the noise of her scooting across the carpet was amplified.
Their breath and the water dripping into the tub she wasn’t going to make it into—every noise was a yes, a deeper slide into this moment.
Heat pooled between her legs as she straddled him. Markus’s eyes were dark with desire.
She was on his lap, her décolletage exposed. Markus gripped her firmly by the ass and kissed the top part of her chest, where she’d just started putting lotion because TikTok reminded her it was about to wrinkle. He didn’t seem to notice, exhaling into the tender skin of her neck.
Gabby shut her eyes and leaned into the pleasure.
He started to slip the robe off her shoulders when—
Briiing.
Not now, Valentina.
Briing.
The phone was ringing. His hand stopped moving, and her breath hitched while they silently agreed not to answer.
When the ringing stopped, Markus said, “Where were we?” He nibbled at her collarbone. Gabby gave in to the sensation, the tingles running through her body, the feeling of his skin on hers sending her into the stratosphere. How had she lived without this?
The phone rang again.
This time, the mood was broken. She couldn’t sink into the pleasure anymore. “We have to answer. She’s not going to give up.”
Markus groaned in frustration and threw on a fluffy white hotel robe monogrammed with the letter G. “Give me a minute. I’ll be back.”
Gabby started to say something, and he shook his head. “Don’t talk. I’m trying to focus on not sexy thoughts.” When he had won the war against his erection, he picked up and put Valentina on speakerphone.
“I was about to send in backup.”
Markus sighed. “I was in the shower.”
“There are two of you. Were you both in the shower?” After Valentina said it out loud, she seemed to realize that was probably what happened and admonished, “Jesus, you two. This is a work trip, not a honeymoon!”
Markus didn’t answer. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“The president is freaking out. He wants Sheridan evacuated from the resort immediately.”
“I think you should give us a day,” Markus said. “We haven’t pinpointed the leak. If someone is trying to get information from Sheridan, they’ll likely do it again. Let’s leave the bait out and find them.”
That sounded smart. Also, Gabby wasn’t ready to leave yet. She glanced at Markus, replaying the scene in the bathroom, a scene she’d like to finish.
“Gabby, I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but we were invited to an exclusive dinner for the Inner-G higher-ups. It’s in forty-five minutes. It’s a good opportunity to get closer to anyone who might be selling intel.”
“Where is it?” Valentina asked.
“Genesis and Jasmine’s house.”
“Depending on security, we could break into his office,” Gabby said.
Last time she’d broken into an office, the security had been intense. A whole team of agents had spent all night preparing.
“Can we plan an op on such short notice?” Gabby asked.
Markus nodded. “Let’s do it. His private computer is in his office. We can look for any financial trails.”
Before she hung up, Valentina said, “And don’t forget what we talked about, Agent Greene.” Gabby froze at Valentina’s last line, which was clearly a reminder to keep an eye on Markus, stated right in front of Markus. The audacity.
“Your ex-wife sure has some timing,” said Gabby.
“You mean your boss?” Markus countered.
She gave a half-hearted laugh, but the truth was, Valentina belonged to both of them at this point.
“Truth or dare?” said Markus, suddenly.
For once, she was going with dare. For a spy, she was not a good liar. “Dare.”
He raised a brow. “Okay, I guess you’re breaking into his office while I cause a distraction.”
“Deal.” Adrenaline shot through her veins and lit her body up like the Vegas Strip.
While they were getting ready, Markus asked, “What was that cryptic ‘what we talked about’ stuff?”
Gabby improvised, “Just that she wants me to stay on task and not get distracted by romance.”
“Oh.” He snorted in derision. “Tell her to politely fuck off. With all due respect.”
To hammer home the point, he leaned in for a kiss. “We’ll just have to save this for later. Duty calls.”