by Maddie Wade
Her name was on his silent lips as he came all over his flat, muscled abs. He should feel guilty for whacking off when she was two doors away, but he didn’t. He just felt an empty release he knew would never compare to the real thing. Luckily Jake had lent him a go-bag with a full supply kit inside, thank fuck they were roughly the same size.
He had no intention of going back to his room at the hotel and risking his family getting caught in the crossfire of all this. Daniel had told Ash’s mom he was shacked up with Mari, and because his mother had taken a massive shine to her at the wedding and wanted grandbabies, she’d been happy with the explanation.
Daniel and Meg were flying home the next day, even though Daniel had offered to stay. Ash agreed with Mustique on this one though, and he wouldn’t put his family in danger.
Slipping into sweats, he left the jeans for tomorrow and set up a makeshift bed on the couch. It was reasonably comfortable, but that didn’t stop him from tossing and turning. His shoulder ached a little from throwing his body around, but it was a good ache, not the dull pain that’d plagued him a few months back.
Tonight could have ended so differently if Mustique hadn’t thrown herself at his body knocking him to the ground. Just the thought of her putting herself in front of a bullet for him made him feel ill. His brothers, yes, but not her. Yes, she was an operator, but not like he was. He shaded outside the lines sometimes, Mari colored on a blank page of her own making.
He thought about all the close calls he’d had over the years, bullets hitting his body armor, explosions that had knocked him out, and the hand-to-hand fights he’d had been involved in. His job was dangerous but being a SEAL was his life, and he knew he could never give that up for someone, had never loved anyone enough to even try. Yet here he lay, wondering for the first time if maybe he could do it for the right woman.
Mustique had never hinted she wanted anything from him, not even a quick fuck, and here he was contemplating his long-term life because of something she’d said. She wanted to trust him and that meant something to him. She had Roz and her friends at Zenobi, he guessed. She also had Meg and Daniel and friends at Fortis, but she’d said she would choose him.
What did that mean? Could they find some middle ground somewhere and could he convince her he was a safe place for her secrets? He didn’t know, but he was going to try, and the best way to do that was by showing her he had her back no matter what.
7
Mustique turned off the alarm and let Jake and Nick into the house at 6:00 in the morning the next day. She’d slept poorly after the deep emotional conversation with Ash the previous night. Realizing her feelings for him were becoming so complex had been a surprise to her. She’d never had trouble hiding part of herself away from people, but now found herself in a position where she wanted him to know the real her, warts and all. It was a terrifying thought because then she might lose him—not that she had him, really—but whatever they had meant something to her, and she didn’t know if she wanted to risk it. Jake and Nick arriving was at least a buffer to any uncomfortable conversations they might have.
“Morning,” Jake said as he and Nick shouldered past her.
She assessed the two obviously pissed off retired SEALs in front of her. “You look worse than I feel. Ash is in the kitchen making coffee.” She gestured for them to proceed her.
Ash was pulling four mugs from a cabinet as they entered the room. “Hey, I thought we were coming to you.”
“You were, but we have information and didn’t want to wait.”
“Oh.” The trio sat at the kitchen table as Ash served them fresh coffee—strong and black.
“We found the shooter from last night,” Nick started.
“Wow, that was fast. Who is it?” This was moving way faster than she expected, but something about the look on their faces told her she wasn’t going to like the answer to her question.
Nick and Jake both frowned at Ash. “It was Clint Moody,” the latter said.
Ash reared back as if someone had struck him. “No way. No fucking way Moody is the shooter. Are you fucking kidding me? That boy bleeds red, white, and blue. He would never get into bed with a man like Hanley and betray his team, especially not men he’d served with.”
“We thought the same, but the evidence is saying differently.”
“What evidence?” Ash paced, hands-on-hips, his face a mask of anger. Mustique wanted to go to him, to offer comfort in some way, but she knew he wouldn’t want it right now.
Nick leaned back in his chair. “Brody was checking the CCTV around the hotel just before and just after the shooting. The footage shows Moody walking away from where the shot was taken carrying a long case back to his rental car.”
“Circumstantial,” Ash defended, and she knew he wasn’t going to accept this without solid proof. She didn’t blame him; if it were one of the girls from Zenobi, she would be responding the same way.
“Agreed, which is why we thought we could all go and talk to him and find out what the hell is going on. We don’t want to believe a team guy is responsible either, but he’s the lead we have, and we have to follow it and remain level-headed. Can you do that?” Jake raised an eyebrow at Ash.
He glared at his friend. “I’m not some little pissant, straight out the water at Dam Neck, Jake. I’m Echo One, and you fucking know it. I can keep my cool and act like a fucking adult.”
“Good, how about you start then, so we can get going?”
Ash stomped out of the room, and Mustique eyed the other two men. “He’s just upset,” she said, defending him.
“I know he is, but he needs to snap out of it and treat this like any other mission,” Jake replied.
“I know, but this just got personal.”
“If you ask me, it was personal from the beginning.”
Ash marched back in. “You ready?” He was dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket, and biker boots.
“Shit, he looks as hot as you in that get-up.” Nick smirked at Jake.
Jake’s gaze whipped to his husband, his eyes narrowing. “That’s gonna cost you, Junior…later.” His voice was low and sexy, and Mustique felt the sexual tension spiral in the room. It was H-O-T, hot.
“Time to go,” she said instead.
The four of them decided to take two cars, so they could split up after and start their previous objectives if they got nothing from Moody.
“You okay?” she asked as Ash drove the black Jeep back toward the hotel. He’d been quiet, and she wanted to hear what was on his mind.
“I guess.” He glanced at her, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “I just… I noticed Moody seemed off the other night, and I should have asked him why, but I got distracted. I won’t forgive myself if I missed this.”
“This, whatever this is, is not your fault, Ash. Everyone makes their own choices in life, and they have to live by them, even if they don’t want to.”
His gaze flittered over to her again. “What choices do you regret?”
Mustique sat back in her seat and pondered how to answer that. “There are too many to count.” She saw the disappointment cross his face and hated it. “My mother was half Indian, half Spanish, and my father was Dutch.” She felt his eyes on her and looked out the passenger window as she let memories of her family flood her.
“I was ten years old when we moved to Cape Town in South Africa. I was attending the local school and not happy about it. I missed my friends back in the Netherlands, so I ran away from school.”
“Shit,” Ash interjected, and she could hear the smile in his voice; the fact she’d put it there made her continue.
“Yeah, shit. My father went nuts. I only made it as far as the park before they found me, but he’d lost his mind. He was very protective, and I was his baby girl, their only child. So he switched me to a private school with better security.”
“I don’t blame him, but surely it all worked out?”
Mustique didn’t know how to answer that without
telling him more. Thankfully, she didn’t have to as they arrived at Moody’s motel. “We’re here.”
Ash peered at her for a breath and then nodded, but she could see sharing even that small detail with him had been a good thing.
Exiting the vehicle, she made sure her weapons were tucked away but within reach. They knew Moody was in room 317, so they moved that way. It was on the third floor, and Jake and Nick had taken the stairs while she and Ash rode up in the elevator.
“You wanna try calling him?” she asked.
Ash shook his head. “Nah, if he is guilty, it might tip him off.”
They stepped off the lift as Jake and Nick came through the door to the stairs. She surveyed their surroundings and noticed the wires to the security cameras had been cut. Instantly, her guard went up as she motioned toward them. Everyone reached for a weapon as they approached the door numbered 317.
Nick stood to the side of the door as he knocked, in case Moody fired a shot at them through the door. “Moody, it’s Ash, I need to speak to you.”
They were met with silence, and Mustique felt the cold hand of unease grip her stomach. Something wasn’t right, and she could see they were all thinking the same thing. Ash nodded at Jake, stepped forward, and kicked out his leg, breaching the door in seconds. The cheap hinges had no defense against a 190-pound mass of muscle. Mustique followed Ash, with her .45 at the ready, into the small entry leading to a bedroom that was in disarray.
“Clear,” Ash called as she moved toward the open bathroom door.
“Shit.” Mustique holstered her weapon and fell to her knees, feeling for a pulse on the man covered in blood on the floor.
“Moody.” Ash dropped awkwardly next to her in the tight space, and his hands went to the bullet wound in Moody’s chest that was still pumping blood.
“He needs an ambulance and fast, his pulse is weak but there,” Mustique shouted to Nick who was already on the phone with 9-1-1.
“Go see if you can find the shooter, we must have just missed him,” Ash said to Jake and Nick, who were already moving to do just that.
“Come on, brother, don’t give up on me now.”
“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Mustique felt she should somehow warn Ash as his friend became paler with each beat of his heart.
“He’ll make it.”
Jake and Nick re-entered the hotel room. “No sign of anyone. We’ll have a better look around after, but one thing is clear, they’re not a professional. A pro wouldn’t have missed at this close range and would’ve double-tapped him to make sure.” Jake’s tone said it all.
What Jake said made sense to her, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it all. This didn’t feel like a professional job to her either.
“You two should go; the cops will be here soon, and we don’t want eyes on you. We can say we arranged to go fishing with Moody and when he didn’t show we got worried. Ian will fix it; he always does.” Nick said.
Mustique gave Ash the once over. He was covered in Moody’s blood from attempting to stop it from pouring from his friend’s body. “Ash, he’s right. We need to go.”
“Fine.” He blew out a breath as Jake switched places with him and took over compressing the wound. “Call me as soon as you know anything.”
“Copy that.”
They were back in the car and driving away from the scene, by the time the cops and ambulance came screaming into the parking lot.
“He’ll make it, he’s strong.” She tried to sound upbeat.
“I hope so. We need to figure out how this fits in with the kidnapping plot.”
“Yeah, him getting shot could play either way. Either he’s the shooter, in which case there should be a gun in that room or in his car, and someone is tying up loose ends, or he’s being set up.”
“What makes you think he’s being set up?” Ash asked as he drove.
“The room reeked of perfume and sex. Would he shoot at us and then go back to his room and shag all night?”
“Shag?” Ash laughed, despite the situation.
“Oh, shut up, your British family are rubbing off on me.”
“No, I like it, but go on. Why would he not be having sex after shooting at us? Having sex is well known after an adrenaline rush, and shooting people is one for sure.”
“Maybe, but that wasn’t cheap perfume; it was the good stuff like Jessica’s best friend was wearing yesterday.”
“You noticed her perfume?”
Mustique shrugged. “It’s my job to notice everything. There was also a flower on the floor that matched the ones from the bouquets.” Ash arched a brow, and it pleased her that she’d impressed him. It made her feel proud, and she felt a blush creep over her cheeks. What was this man doing to her? She didn’t blush, and she never acted like a lovesick schoolgirl.
“So, you think he was screwing Lois?”
“Maybe.”
“Then we need to find Lois and see if she can give him an alibi for the shooting and then visit Craven.”
Mustique hid the fact her hand was shaking at the mention of Craven and nodded before staring out the window. It was getting harder and harder to hide this from him, and she was beginning to think she was too tired to try.
8
Ash’s mind raced through the information he had so far. Hanley, Hashemi, the German contact, and now Moody. His gut screamed Moody was innocent, but he was trying to keep an open mind and not assume anything because that was the right thing to do.
His thoughts flipped to the woman beside him. Mari had been different today somehow. Softer, more open with him. Her sharing some of her past with him earlier had meant a lot. Even if it had ended with her clamming up again. Even now as she searched for Lois Richards’ address, he felt as if they were in this together, rather than him helping her out.
“Got it,” she squealed a few minutes later.
“Where?”
After heading back to the safe house to clean up and change, they’d stopped at a food truck to grab some breakfast burritos. While she typed information into a very high-tech looking tablet, Jake had called to say that Moody was alive and in surgery at Mercy Hospital, but it was going to be touch and go. Thankfully, his wallet had been in his inside jacket pocket, and the bullet had hit it, deflecting off course just enough that the slug had entered his chest between his heart and his collar bone. There was some damage to the upper lobe of the left lung, and he was in surgery now.
Ash had wanted to be kept in the loop, and Nick had promised he would. Trident had been a godsend. The way they’d stepped up for him shouldn’t have been a shock. Men like the ones on the Trident team were as loyal as it came and would always help a friend out if they could. Ash also had a feeling they had their fingers in some very confidential, very influential pies.
“Ten minutes from the hotel on Interbay Boulevard.”
“Let’s go.” He threw the wrapper in the trash and jogged back to the Jeep.
“So how do you want to handle this?” Mustique asked. “You know her better than I do.”
“Lois is pretty level-headed, from what I’ve seen, but I don’t know her that well. She and Jessie are five years younger than me, so we never really hung out together. Maybe being straight with her is the best option. We’ll just ask if she was with Moody last night and go from there based on her response.”
Mari nodded and rolled her lips between her teeth. He had the urge to pull over and have a taste for himself.
“What?” he asked when she continued to study him.
“Nothing, I just can’t picture you as a kid.”
“Why not?”
“Not sure, you just seem so wise and masculine, it’s hard to compute the two.”
Ash chuckled. “I was definitely not those things as a kid. I was skinny and nerdy. I devoured books, especially science books. I was fascinated by anything like that.”
“How come you never went into a science field?”
She seemed genuinely interested, and it felt stran
ge to talk about himself. He’d spent years not being able to tell even those close to him what he did, so he’d gotten used to being flippant. But she didn’t seem to want that; she was searching for the real answer. “I nearly did, but then a recruiter for the Navy came into school and I was hooked. From that moment on all, I wanted was to be a SEAL.”
“And now you are.”
“And now I am.” Ash was struggling to keep his eyes on the road and hated that he couldn’t give her his full attention.
“It must be wonderful to know what you want to be in life and have a passion. I never really knew what I wanted to do, and this life kind of happened to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, at least most of it, but it wouldn’t have been a choice.” He heard the wistful tone in her voice and his chest tightened.
“Why don’t you make a change then?”
“I can’t do that. Roz needs me, and, anyway, I’m good at what I do.” Her smile as she looked at him was both sexy and innocent a lethal combination.
“What exactly do you do? What’s your specialty?” Ash saw her face tighten at his question as she dropped her head, her eyes suddenly intent on her hand in her lap. He wanted to lift her face to his so he could really see her.
“I’m afraid to tell you. You’ll look at me differently.”
“Have I so far?”
“No, but that’s because you haven’t seen my work. The fantasy is very different from reality.” Her voice was small and full of regret.
“I get that—being a SEAL isn’t how the TV portrays it either.”
“So, earlier Jake mentioned a club, and you hinted he was a Dom. Were they at a BDSM club when you called them last night?”
Ash angled his head to her, not sure how to answer. The guys were incredibly private about that part of their lives, but then they’d been the ones to mention it, and it wasn’t like they hid the fact they were in the lifestyle. “Ian, his brother, Devon, and their cousin own a BDSM club between them called The Covenant, and yes, Jake and Nick are members.”