Intense - Aspen Drake & Emily Cain

by Special Forces - Operation Alpha

  “I think you can probably understand why this is my favorite place in the world.” He sipped his hot cocoa and watched me from across the table.

  “I do.”

  “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been everywhere.”

  “You have?” I asked, wondering if he meant that literally or figuratively.

  “Well, I haven’t been to North Korea.” He gave me a playful smile.

  “If you had, I’d want to know the tale.”

  “I’d doubt I’d have survived to tell it.”

  I gripped the warm mug in my hands and watched the marshmallows melt. “So…how did you become a hired killer?”

  “I’m not.” He eyed the people around us and deemed them too far away to overhear our conversation.

  I wasn’t following his logic. “So, you’ve gone rogue?”

  “Not exactly.” He sipped his cocoa again before he leaned over the table. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but let’s wait until we get home.” His face was just inches from mine, and I couldn’t help but glance at his lips. Even when I was afraid of him, I still liked kissing him.

  At least he agreed to share some real information with me. “Okay.”

  While we walked back to his chalet, it started to snow.

  I stopped and looked up at that overcast sky, watching white patches fall down to earth. Instinctively, I opened my mouth to catch a few snowflakes.

  Parker watched me with an amused expression.

  “I love snow.” I held up my palms and tried to catch it.

  Just a block from his home, we came across several large piles of snow. I pointed at a flat spot on the ground. “You want to make a snow angel?”

  “Not really.” He scoffed like I was kidding.

  “Come on.” I nudged his shoulder. “It’ll be fun.”

  “We’re going to get soaking wet. Then you’ll catch a cold. If that happens, you’ll be useless to me.”

  “I already am useless to you.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not true at all.”

  I scooped up some snow with my glove and balled it up. “At least make a snowman with me.”

  “You had snow back at home. Why do you want to do this now?” He stood beside me and watched me dig my hands deeper into the powder.

  “Because now I have someone to build a snowman with.”

  His smile dropped and emotion filled his eyes. Without saying another word, he crouched down and began to help me. “I’ve never made a snowman before.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “Nope.”

  “Did you grow up under a rock?”

  He made the bottom part of the snowman without answering my question.

  I didn’t press him on it as I kept working. Together, we made the two top pieces. We both admired our handiwork then realized what we were missing.

  “Is he supposed to have a face?” Parker asked.

  “Yeah.” I held my hands on my hips and looked around for a branch or rocks but there weren’t any in sight.

  Parker shrugged. “Well, you can still tell he’s a snowman.”

  “Maybe he’s just facing the opposite way.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, maybe.”

  We headed up the road to his chalet, passing a few others on the way. The wind picked up, and I pulled my jacket tighter around me.

  “You want my jacket?” he asked.

  “No.” I wasn’t going to let him freeze just so I could be warmer. “We’re almost there anyway.”

  We walked inside the house and wiped our boots on the mat. Our jackets were shed, and I was grateful to be indoors after being outside all day. A fire burned in the hearth, and I immediately stood in front of it to warm my hands. “Such a cute little town.”

  He hung his jacket on the coat rack. “It feels like an undiscovered part of the world, pure and unaffected by corruption.”

  I sat on the bricks and let the fire warm my back. “Yeah, probably the last place like it in the world.”

  He went into the kitchen and poured a couple glasses of whiskey before he sat beside me. The fire burned just feet away, and it made the living room glow. He held a glass out to me in offering.

  I stared at the three large ice cubes before I took it.

  “It’s straight.”

  I held my breath and downed half the glass. There wasn’t a burn because it was so smooth, the smoothest whiskey I’d ever had. I moved my tongue around in my mouth, savoring the after taste. Then I handed it back.

  Parker didn’t smile, but there was a look of amusement in his eyes. Those dark orbs always seemed to give him away. They were his weakness, the one thing he couldn’t control. “You hold your liquor well.”

  “I like booze.” I shrugged. “What can I say?”

  “What’s your go-to drink?”

  “Depends on my mood.”

  He sipped from his glass, his eyes still trained on me.

  “When I’m depressed, whiskey. When I’m in my party girl mode, Patron.”

  “Party girl mode?” Now he was grinning. “I want to see that side of you.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said quickly. “It’s the loud and obnoxious side of me.”

  “So, it’s the same,” he deadpanned.

  My eyes narrowed to slits, threatening him with my silence.

  A quiet chuckle escaped his lips and he took another drink, not the least bit intimidated by me.

  Annoyed, I snatched his drink away, not intending to return it. I finished the contents with a look of defiance, then I shoved it back into his chest.

  He was impressed, even if he didn’t admit it. “I’m waiting for you to strip and dance on my table.”

  “I said I was a party girl—not a whore.”

  “Aren’t they the same thing?”

  “No.” I crossed my legs and watched the fire in the hearth. My thoughts drifted back to my home. I’d never walk through those halls again. My room had all my things, but I couldn’t reach them. Classmates would wonder why I stopped showing up to school. I wasn’t student of the month by any means, but I wasn’t the type to ditch either.

  “Do you miss home?” Parker always seemed to know what I was thinking even if I didn’t say a word. I thought I was learning how to read him, but he’d been doing the same to me. And I had to admit, he was much better at it than I was.

  “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

  He gripped his glass in his fingertips. “Your face gives you away. Your lips automatically press together when you’re thinking about something particularly sad. Your eyes glaze over, like you’re dissociating from your body. And the subject of your thoughts… Well, that’s just a good guess.” He rubbed the side of his face where his scruff had started to come in again.

  The flames crackled and popped, drawing my attention. My eyes didn’t move to his face because I didn’t like admitting he was right. I thought I was skilled at outsmarting people. Guess not.

  “So, do you?”

  I didn’t have a definitive answer. I missed the life I thought I had, but that life was gone now. “I don’t know.”

  He lowered his hand, his dark eyes still trained on me.

  “I didn’t like school, so I don’t miss that in the least. I felt like I was doing it just to do it. There was no passion or motivation there. Everyone else was in college, so I decided to go too so I wouldn’t get left behind. But most of my friends moved away to other colleges, so we’ve lost touch. And if my dad is really what you say he is…then there’s no home left for me.”

  Parker moved his gaze to the hardwood floor at our feet.

  “I guess my answer is no.”

  “Then you enjoy being here? With me?” His tone was different when he asked the question—softer.

  “I don’t hate it. But I don’t love it either.”

  I wanted to look at him but I didn’t want to admit my interest.

  “This place is so beautiful it’s imposs
ible not to appreciate it, even if my freedom has been stripped away. But I’d be naïve to say things are great. I have no idea who you are or what you stand for. I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into. You claim you’re one of the good guys, but wouldn’t a bad guy say the same thing?”

  “You have freedom.” His quiet words cut through the silence. “You can leave the house, you can buy anything you want, and you can do whatever you want without fear of physical retribution. You just can’t break the rules while you do it.”

  “Then I don’t have freedom.”

  “Yes, you do. You just also have rules—like everyone else.”

  I wanted to know why he really agreed to the exchange. He released my father, his original target, for an ordinary girl. I thought he wanted me for a physical purpose, possibly to sell me into sex-trafficking, but he didn’t seem interested in that. But then why did he want me? “So, what exactly do you do?”

  He set the empty glass on the bricks beside him. “I can’t tell you everything, but I can tell you a few things.”

  “Why do you need to still keep secrets?” I asked. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Some things are classified—for your own good.”

  “Then what can you tell me?”

  He stared into his living room like he was trying to figure out where to begin. He rubbed the side of his face again. It wasn’t a nervous habit, but a stalling technique. “A former Army buddy of mine has a body guard company. He opened a branch of his uncle’s company, but he added a secret intelligence arm. He brought me on board a few years ago.”

  “How does a civilian get involved in intelligence?” Wasn’t that supposed to be private to governments?

  “We have access to resources most civilians don’t even know about. Chase sought me out because of our time together in the field. He needed someone to do the international projects the married guys didn’t want to pursue. Since I’m very good at what I do, word has gotten around that we can take on jobs other companies can’t. But I’m picky. I only accept jobs I’m specifically interested in.”

  My brain was too tired to understand any of that. “So, bad guys pay you to take care of dangerous and illegal stuff for them? Then they don’t have to get their hands dirty?”

  “Not just bad guys.” He shook his head like I hadn’t heard a word he’d said. “I work for people I want to help. But you have the basic gist of it.”

  “Do you kill people? Assassinate them?” My throat went dry at the words. I wasn’t particularly sentimental, but I wasn’t sure I could take a life. I would do it to survive, but I wouldn’t do it for a paycheck. The knowledge made me look at him differently. Parker was two separate men. The man who built a snowman with me and kissed me in that grocery store was one person, the man I was weak for. And then there was the other version of him, the killer.

  “Yes.” There was no remorse in his voice. He flat-lined. “When I need to.”

  “You’re okay with that?” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice.

  He wasn’t offended in the least. He shrugged. “I sleep like a baby every night.”

  My eyes fell to the floor, and my body suddenly became tense around him.

  “I would never hurt you.” He read my mind again, like always. “Don’t be scared of me.”

  “How can I not be? The second someone puts a bounty on my head, I’ll be gone.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. We don’t take just any job. Like I said, we only help people who deserve to be helped.” He turned my way, and his eyes were hardened shells just like they were in that parking garage. He’d closed himself off from me, becoming strictly professional the second emotions were breached.

  Just like in the van, I couldn’t hold his gaze. I looked away. There was so much to take in. “I don’t understand how you consider yourself to be a good guy but then you call my father a criminal. If he’s a criminal, so are you.”

  “You can’t think that way.” He continued to watch my face, analyzing my expressions. “The world isn’t black and white like some people assume. It’s complex and complicated. People made laws and rules. They aren’t absolute like some people believe. And sometimes, you do things you may not want to for the greater good. You can call me a criminal if you want, but I help people. If it weren’t for me, a lot of innocent people wouldn’t have the freedom they have now.”

  Was that true? Or was he just crazy?

  He turned away and broke our gaze. “You’ll understand someday. But not today.”

  No. I would never understand.

  Chapter 8

  I woke to the sound of voices.

  “Parker, be careful.” Jana’s voice drifted up the stairs.

  “I will.” There was a rustling of keys. “Grab my bag.”

  My eyes opened at the seriousness of their voices. Jana sounded scared, which I’d never heard before. Her voice was always cheery and happy, so hearing her sound terrified was startling enough to wake me from my dreams.

  Jana’s voice filtered back up to me. “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know.” He paused and I wished I could see his face. “You know the protocol if I don’t return.”

  I got out of bed and crept to the door. Cracking it open just far enough to peek out, I looked down to get a view of them.

  Parker somehow heard me with his supernatural senses, and his eyes immediately moved to my position on the landing.

  I stood absolutely still, frightened because I got caught eavesdropping.

  He watched me with an unreadable expression. His battle mask was on, and the man I cared about was gone.

  Jana turned her gaze to me but held her silence.

  Parker finally spoke, his tone hard. “Go back to bed.”

  Instead of turning around and doing as he asked, I stepped out into the hallway. He told me what he did for a living, but I was still worried about him. I wanted him to come back. There was something seriously wrong with me for feeling that way, but I felt it nonetheless. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes.” His voice was ice-cold, leaving no room for negotiation. “Jana will look after you.” He shouldered his bag, and a gun hung on his hip. He glanced at his watch with a sigh then headed for the door. He didn’t say goodbye to either of us.

  “Wait.” I jogged down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  Parker stopped in his tracks and slowly turned toward me.

  I walked up to him, unsure what I was doing. “When will you be back?”

  He watched my face with narrow eyes. It was difficult to tell if he was angry or just irritated. “I don’t know. But I don’t have time for questions, Sierra. Goodbye.” He turned to the door, and at that exact moment, a helicopter descended from the dark sky.

  “Are you going to be working?” I blurted.

  He turned around again. “Yes.”

  The helicopter landed, but the pilot didn’t get out as he waited for Parker.

  I stood there on restless feet. Emotion burned inside me, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Something kept me there, and I didn’t want to step away. I needed something from Parker before he left.

  “Goodbye.” He opened the door.

  “Wait.” I ran to him and hugged him tightly. I’d never hugged him before and it felt…good. His body was rock-hard under my touch as I clung to his neck. “Be careful.”

  His arms returned the embrace and he tightened his hold on me. One hand moved up my neck and into my hair. He gripped it gently, like he’d wanted to do it for a long time. He pulled away slightly and looked down into my face. “I’ll be back, Sierra.”

  Why did I want him to come back at all? Why did I care what happened to him? He was going to kill someone, and I was supporting that. It went against everything I believed in, but my heart still cared for him. “Promise me.” I searched his gaze and waited for the vow.

  “I never make promises I’m not sure I can keep,” he said. “But I’ll do everything I can to make it back.”


  Five days came and went, and I heard nothing from Parker.

  With every passing day, I grew more restless. There was no news on his whereabouts, and I constantly checked the sky, searching for a helicopter in the hope he had returned.

  But he hadn’t.

  “Have you heard from him?” I asked Jana at dinner.

  She shook her head and held her silence.

  “Will he call?”

  “No. He never calls.”

  How could she be so calm about this? I was a nervous wreck. He could be hurt or worse.

  Jana looked at me from across the table. “Parker is the best at what he does. Don’t worry about him. He’s strong, smart, and powerful. There’s nothing that can stop him.”

  “Does he do this often?”

  She nodded.

  “Has he ever gotten hurt?”

  “There’s always collateral damage, but never anything life-threatening.”

  I tried to find solace in that but was struggling. Just because something hadn’t happened in the past didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen in the future.

  “Just try to relax,” she said quietly. “He’ll come back. He always does.”

  I was asleep in the coziest bed in the world. The chalet was warm, and the fire still burned in the hearth. It was down to embers but continued to glow. My eyes were closed, but something disturbed my dreams. There was someone in the room. I don’t know how I knew that—but I did.

  I opened my eyes and spotted the silhouette at the edge of my bed. I sat up because I knew exactly who it was. “Parker?”

  He turned to me, his face visible in the glow from the fireplace. “I came in here to tell you I was back. But when I saw you sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

  “You didn’t. I just…knew you were here.” I examined his body and didn’t notice any injuries. He looked exactly the same way he did when he left. He was whole and unbroken. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” He scooted closer to me then moved his hand to my shoulder. He rubbed the muscle gently, like he was trying to comfort me. “Everything went well. You can relax now.”

  “Did you kill anyone?”