Chapter 21
Morning sex, the honeymoon cottage, who cares what time
Gabby knew she was dreaming. She kept her eyes shut so as not to burst the bubble.
Markus rolled over and draped an arm over her rib cage, a comforting, solid weight.
A dependable weight. Last night, she’d broken into a cult leader’s office and copied his hard drive and slept with her hot handler.
Gabby Greene had unlocked the secret to happiness and success, and the rest of her life was going to be nothing but sliding down rainbows into pots of gold.
Markus murmured and kissed the back of her neck. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” The sound of her own voice brought her to full consciousness. She wasn’t lucid dreaming. She was in bed with Markus, his arm draped over her, and an erection pressed firmly into her backside. Reality was damn good.
He kissed behind her ear and whispered, “Good morning, Mrs. Alexander.”
“Who?” she said before recalling that was his fake last name. “Did I agree to take your fake name?”
“I thought so,” he said. “Didn’t we discuss this?”
“Gia might want to stay Glanville,” she teased.
“Glanville. Don’t joke. We both know you don’t like that name.”
The alarm went off and interrupted their flirtation. Markus turned it off with zero hesitation. “Let’s not get up.”
“Oh, really?” she said, not the least bit opposed.
“Yes. I have some important undercover work to do,” he said, rolling her onto her back and straddling her in a fluid motion. He pulled a sheet over them. They were in their own private tent.
Gabby didn’t even laugh at his joke. She was too turned on. “Your undercover work is quite good, Agent Parks. I think we can make time for that.”
“What did you like about it?”
“Hmm. Strong observational skills and adaptability. Your mission last night was a success. Your between-the-sheets work is A plu—”
He pressed his lips to hers, cutting off her sentence.
“Maybe I could demonstrate some of my against-the-wall work.”
“What is this, Magic Mike?”
For some reason, that made him laugh. “It might be.”
He got out of the bed, all the while she was telling him, “Markus, let’s just stay lying down. Or I could scoot down to the edge.” What if he threw out his back lifting her up? No thank you. “I just don’t want you—”
Before she could finish her sentence, he had her in the air.
“Markus!”
With her legs wrapped around his waist, he started walking to the shower with no sign of strain.
“What is all that working out for, if not this?”
“So this is what you’ve been training for?” she teased.
“Definitely.”
Then the phone rang.
“Damn it,” he said. “Every time.”
Maybe, as his ex-wife, Valentina had some kind of psychic connection. She could feel it when he was about to get laid.
Reluctantly, Markus took a few steps and picked up the phone. Gabby was still wrapped around him, her breasts pressed against his chest.
“Just set me down, Markus,” Gabby said.
Instead, he pressed her against the wall and set the phone right on top of her boobs like they were a table. Looking pretty satisfied with himself, he managed to answer the phone.
“Agent Parks here,” he answered in a serious tone while securing his grip.
Gabby suppressed a “Put me down, Markus!” but she silently gestured with her head to the floor.
Markus smiled like he thought the whole thing was funny.
“Morning, Agent Parks.” In an all-business tone, Valentina said, “Is Agent Greene available? I’d like to talk to both of you.”
“Agent Greene!” Markus called, as if she wasn’t wrapped around his waist.
Gabby waited a second to pretend like she had to walk across the room. “Yes, I’m here.”
“Oh, that was quick.”
Markus gave up on sexy times and set Gabby down gently. Before letting go, he squeezed her cheeks in a way that said, “This is mine.”
“Any updates?” Valentina asked.
“I have a report,” Markus said. While talking, he made eye contact with Gabby. “Agent Greene, this will be news to you too. I didn’t get a chance to debrief you fully.”
Maybe not this morning.
“Last night, Agent Greene overheard someone use the phrase ‘I moan.’ I knew I’d heard it before somewhere, and now I remember where. IMoan is an online disruptor. They’ve taken credit for several leaked stories. I spent a few hours last night trying to chase down anyone associated with IMoan.”
All while she’d been sleeping.
“I traced the group to Kalkofnsvegur two in Reykjavik.”
“Nice work, Agent Parks,” Valentina said emphatically. “Do you have any idea who’s behind it?”
Gabby tied a robe on. It’s not like Valentina could see her naked, but still, it felt wrong.
“Unfortunately, the address is a dead end. A shell named Privacy Withheld is sheltering hundreds of illicit companies using this address.” A smile quirked his lips.
“Get this, though. It’s the same address that houses the Icelandic Phallological Museum, the home of 320 mammalian penises, and an H&M. They’re thumbing their nose at us.”
“Fucking Iceland.”
“The penis museum is Switzerland for anyone being a dick on the internet,” Markus reported.
“That’s not funny,” Valentina said.
“It’s a little funny.”
It was funny. Gabby was now imagining a trip to Iceland. The penis museum sounded fascinating.
“The person using IMoan to generate temporary scandal could very well be the same person looking to escalate things with the leaked photo of the president and Amanda Duvall. It’s at least worth looking into.”
“Who’s our ambassador to Iceland?” Valentina asked. “Probably some small fry. We’ll have to see if they can do anything.”
“You can track that down on your end,” Markus said.
“We will. Is that all you have for me?” She didn’t sound too impressed.
“Yes,” Markus said. “But Agent Greene is getting in close with the inner circle. As usual, she’s making friends with everyone, and no one suspects a thing.”
Valentina said, “Good job with the hard drive last night. We’re not finished sorting through everything, but a fifty-thousand-dollar payment hit one of G’s accounts from what appears to be a dummy account shortly after the picture with Amanda Duvall and the president was leaked.”
“That’s suspicious.”
“I agree. And it confirms my decision to evacuate Sheridan. She’s coming home today.”
Gabby tightened the belt on her robe. “If we let her stay for another day, we might figure out who she’s communicating with. It’s an opportunity that won’t re-create itself.”
“This is not a conversation. President Simon wants Sheridan’s cosmic advice on how to deal with the scandal, so she’s coming home.”
“But—”
“What aren’t you understanding, Agent Greene? I’ve given you a direct order. The president of the United States wants his psychic back. Do your job and nothing more.
“Sheridan’s evac is a go for this morning,” Valentina said. “You two stay and chase the money trail for the rest of the week. See where it leads.”
When they hung up with Val, Markus slipped on some running shorts and a pair of tennis shoes. The sun was just coming up over the ocean. It looked like another perfect day in paradise.
“I’m going to run down and talk to Sheridan, explain the situation. Why don’t you go to yoga so you don’t raise suspicion.” When she gave a nod of confirmation, he said, “Let’s meet back here in an hour.”
In his best impersonation of David Hasselhoff, Markus Baywatched himself down the beach in a pair of shorts, no shirt.
Gabby, with a glass of water, sat down on a chair on their private patio for a moment.
Just one moment to collect herself before she dove back into the insanity.
Before she even managed a second sip, she noticed Markus’s phone sitting on the chair opposite from her.
Gabby grabbed it and hurried in the direction he’d gone.
“George!” she called. He might need the phone for evidence gathering or, god forbid, to call for help.
No response. He was already out of hearing range, trotting down the sand in… where was he going? Sheridan’s cottage was in the opposite direction from where he was headed.
Damn it. If he was up to something, she was going to have to actually spy on him. And after last night! But her doubt blossomed into a suspicion she couldn’t ignore as he cut up the path toward the wave pool.
Gabby knew what she had to do. She grabbed the Crocs that Kyle had slipped in with her things.
When she tried to slide her foot in, her toes bumped up against something jammed in the toebox.
A quick inspection revealed the offending object to be a silicone sunflower keychain.
It was attached, so Gabby squeezed it through a hole in the Croc, leaving it to dangle on the outside of the shoe.
Her heart squeezed at the sight of the flower from Kyle, but she tightened her monogrammed G robe and took the shortcut to the G’s personal wave pool.
It was probably nothing, but she had a job to do.
Just walk up there and make sure everything was cool.
The wooded path was so pretty with lush tropical plants and smooth gray stones that would go for twenty dollars apiece at the garden store by her house.
The scenery did nothing to help with her feelings.
With each step, her stomach sank further.
Now that they’d slept together, this little tattling on Markus’s side quest was even worse.
Before she got to the wave pool, she heard Genesis’s voice. “Lil’ G!” he called out in greeting. Gabby tucked herself behind a bush on the side of the path.
“Big G,” Markus responded.
They were so dumb. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were just a couple of bros. Markus was covering something up.
The Big G said, “I’ve got an idea of how to make this really special.”
“What do you mean?”
“You want it to be natural, but also a little extra. A surprise.”
They were planning something, probably no big deal, but…
“When are you thinking?” Markus asked.
“Either the night before or during.”
Gabby leaned in, and her hair caught in some branches. She couldn’t make heads or tails of this conversation.
Suddenly, the Big G turned on the music. Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” came on, and she heard him call out over the music, “This is a classic.”
What the what? This was so confusing. It didn’t make any sense.
Last night, he’d gone down on one knee and given her a taser.
Admittedly, a little weird, but also a gesture of trust. And then later.
Her toes curled in her Crocs as images from last night flashed across her mind—Markus had been so gentle and sweet, and so-o-o-o much more.
She wanted to stay and suss out what was going on, but footsteps started down the path her direction.
Markus could not find out she had followed him!
Gabby disentangled herself from the bush and hurried back down the path as fast as she could, catching just a line of the Big G belting out, “Still I can’t let go.
” And then in a goofy voice, “Don’t leave me, Markus. ”
“See you in a bit, man. Gotta get back to my lady.”
Was G into Markus? This was so confusing.
Not a minute too soon, Gabby crashed out of the wooded path onto their patio and flopped into one of the patio chairs like she’d been doing nothing but chilling. She reached for her coffee only to realize it was green tea. Not enough caffeine and no Starbucks carbs. She was not built for this.
When Markus wandered onto the patio, she looked up from her cup like she had been staring into space, relaxing for the last twenty minutes. “Hi, how was your run?”
The EOD was worse than Grey’s Anatomy. She’d been recruited into a den of hotness where everyone had dated everyone else, but despite being up in each other’s business, they were all still harboring secrets. Spying was nothing but a soap opera.
“Good.” Markus started stretching in nothing but a pair of low-slung shorts and shades. No shirt, no shoes—but this man would get service. The sun was glinting off his warm brown skin. He was glowing, probably from all the lying.
“Did you find out anything at Sheridan’s?” she asked, all innocence.
“She wasn’t home,” he said, no mention of G. “I’ll have some green tea and try again in a minute.”
Fuck. Her spirits sank. Changing plans was one thing, lying about it was another.
Then he said, “I’ve got something special planned.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.”
He smiled. “You’ll find out.”
“Markus,” she said, “this is not the week for surprises.”
He just smiled. “I have one surprise you’ll like,” he said. “I ran into Geeves and ordered some pancakes on the sly.”
Her mouth started watering. Maybe she didn’t care if he was double-crossing her.
As promised, Geeves brought out a stack of vibrant pinkish purple pancakes with a butter pat, dripping in syrup. He set a plate in front of each of them, explaining, “Ube is a purple potato rich in antioxidants. It’s a staple in Okinawa, which is one of the Blue Zones.”
“Is that why you were allowed to serve this?”
He nodded. “Just don’t tell anyone I gave you syrup.” He shook his head. “They wouldn’t understand.”
After Geeves left, Markus said, “I know Val dumped a lot of pressure on us this morning.”
“We got it, as long as we’re working together,” she said with intentionally direct eye contact.
Markus parried. “No leaving me tranquilized and tied up this time.” As if she was the problem.
She smiled without meaning it. “Don’t worry. I would need Justin’s help to pull that off again. I think you’re even bigger than the last time I had to haul your unconscious butt into a storage room.”
“Thwarted by the laws of physics, I guess.”
She trailed her bite of pancake through as much syrup as possible without meeting his eyes, because she would definitely haul his butt into a storage room if he kept sneaking around behind her back.
Halfway through her stack of pancakes, Gabby knew that she was addicted to sugar, and not in a casual way, but in the I-will-sell-my-firstborn-for-my-next-hit way.
Before finishing, she felt the energy hit her system, and she was ready to tackle the day, running through a field of daisies picking flowers and singing.
She might even be able to write music. It was the kind of high she normally associated with hard drugs.
“I know not everything’s perfect between us…” He looked into her eyes like he really meant what he was about to say. “I’m just so glad that I can trust you.”
Could he, and should she trust him?
Before they left for the morning activities, he picked up the pale pink conch, football-sized with its weirdly feminine slit, or maybe she was the only one with a dirty mind.
Markus feigned licking the conch, and she laughed. Nope. She wasn’t the only one.
“I am the luckiest man in the world,” he said to the conch, “I have no secrets from my beautiful fiancée.”
But then, what was Markus talking to Genesis about, and why was he lying about it? Gabby might be sleeping with the enemy.