She was more like him than he realized, wasn’t she? He’d been doing his best not to be like his father, but he never stopped to consider the possibility he was like his mom. How could he have ever known, though?
“I don’t understand.” His dad fell back onto the couch as if he’d been pushed.
“I’d been recruited to the CIA during college. My cover story was that I worked for the State Department,” she explained, her voice soft. “But in the mid-seventies, the government decided to put together a unique team of agents for specific black ops missions. We were a team of five—a small group, less chance of leaks. Not many in the government knew about us.”
He knew a thing or two about that, but it was still too hard to believe the words black ops came from her mouth.
“What happened in Iran?” Knox asked, his question almost an accusation. “In seventy-nine. Three weeks before the hostage crisis.”
Her lashes fluttered, and she looked up at him with sorrow in her eyes. “At first, my assignment was to identify American agents who were double-crossing us by handing intel to the Russians and Iranians. But we quickly realized it’d be more beneficial to keep those men and women in their positions without them knowing we were onto them, and then purposely feed them the wrong information.”
Knox crossed his arms but shifted his attention to his father.
His dad’s elbows were on his thighs, his head in his palms.
Broken.
Lied to by the woman he loved.
“Our plan had been working, but then—”
“Someone died, right?” That’s what always happens.
“One of the men at the embassy who we believed to be selling intel . . . well, as it turns out, he wasn’t. His wife had been stealing information from him, turning it over to the Russians. The Russians probably thought she was working with us since she’d provided them the wrong information so many times. We assumed they staged her death. Faked an overdose.”
So Nina’s dad wasn’t CIA. “But not before murdering her husband as retaliation first, right?”
She nodded. “We were instructed to clean up the mess, hide what happened, and never talk about it again. And then the hostage crisis took place, and we were ordered back to the U.S.”
“How could you lie to me all these years? Do I even know who you are?” his father finally spoke up, bringing his eyes to her.
“You’re the reason I quit, Isaiah. Please,” she said as her eyes became glossy. “I met you, and I realized I’d never be able to be with you and lie about my job, and since I was sworn to secrecy, I quit.” Genuine tears cut down her cheeks. “I chose you over the job.”
Knox couldn’t move. He could barely think straight as he witnessed the parallels between her life and his own.
“You still lied,” his dad said bitterly.
“I did it to protect you, too. If anyone ever tried to get information out of you about me—”
“Don’t. You were protecting yourself.” He stood.
“I promise I was planning on telling you. I was afraid you’d look at me differently, and if the press found out, I didn’t want it to hurt your chances in the election.”
God, he had to tell Adriana the truth. He couldn’t hide from reality anymore. Damn the consequences.
“Jefferson Lyle’s people will have a field day with this if they find out you were part of some sort of black ops group gone wrong,” his dad seethed in a bone-chilling voice.
His father’s words were like a stab in the heart. No way would his dad accept Knox’s true line of work after such a shocking discovery.
And he wasn’t sure if he could blame his father, but that didn’t reduce the pain in his chest.
“I need some air.” He hurried past Knox, and his mom’s shoulders flinched when the door slammed shut.
She stood, ready to go after him, but Knox blocked her. “Don’t.”
“I need him to understand. I didn’t have a choice.” More tears hit her cheeks. He hadn’t remembered her crying like this since his grandfather died ten years ago.
“You need to give him time, but right now, I need names of everyone who would’ve known what happened in Iran in seventy-nine. One of them might be behind the attempted assassination.”
“What? No.” Her brows flew together, and she stumbled back a step. She cleared the tears from her face with the backs of her hands.
His heart hammered in his chest. Angry vibrations. “I—” His words died at the realization of something his mom had said, but he’d nearly missed it. “You said ‘they’ mentioned it’d come out—the truth, right? Who told you this? When?”
She blinked a few times. “My old team. We got together three months ago. Glenn said someone knew about us, and we needed to handle the situation.”
“Glenn?” His stomach dropped, and he gathered a breath.
Her shoulders sagged. “Glenn Sterling.”
“Your close friend, and now the man in charge of the investigation, was on your team in seventy-nine?” He kept his voice even despite the disbelief at what he was saying.
She nodded. “Paul. Charlie. Greg. All close family friends. The five of us. They’d never hurt your father, though.”
He stepped back, his mind spinning. “What exactly did Glenn say to you? You need to tell me everything.”
“Only that someone came to him with evidence that could expose us.”
“And what’d you say?”
“I didn’t believe someone would turn up with information after forty years, so I told him not to worry, but then—”
He reached for her arm, frantic. “What?”
“I said we should go ahead and tell Isaiah the truth. Maybe even the media. We could be in charge of how the story unfolded, and hopefully, Isaiah would walk away unscathed.”
“And?”
She closed her eyes. “Everyone was adamant that I keep my mouth shut. They said we could lose the trust of the people. Paul’s a governor. Glenn’s with DHS.” Her lids lifted, and her blue eyes shimmered. “Glenn said he’d handle it.”
“And what’d you say?”
“That if the truth came out, then it was meant to be. I’d stand by my actions. I was protecting my country.”
“And you didn’t think it’d be relevant to tell me any of this when Glenn showed up in Charlotte the day of the shooting?” He let her go and turned his back.
“I never thought he’d try and kill your father. It’d been months since we talked, and I believed everything had been swept back under the rug.”
“Mom,” he hissed and faced her again. “Don’t you get it?”
“What?”
“The shooter wasn’t aiming at dad. The Bennett he wants dead is you.”
* * *
“I can’t believe it,” Luke said over the phone.
“I’m still wrapping my head around it, too.” Knox stood in the parking lot away from the hotel, ensuring no one was around so he could talk in private.
“Would the deputy secretary really rather your mother die than risk the truth going public?”
He squeezed his eyes closed. “It was the Cold War. They were protecting American secrets from getting into the wrong hands. They weren’t ruthless killers.”
“But they were operating without the knowledge of Congress and . . .” Luke let his words go even though they were on a secure line, but Knox got his point. It was the same reason why they stayed in the shadows now.
“Every name on the list has a lot to lose if they were ever connected to that team,” he said when opening his eyes.
A governor. A senator. Congressman. And, of course, the deputy secretary now in charge of the investigation.
“You’re thinking Glenn didn’t act alone?” Luke asked.
“It’s possible. The five of them got together not too long before Chelsea moved to Charlotte when the assassination plot began, so Jessica’s trying to see if any of them were ever together after that but without my mom present.”
> “What about Nina?”
“Jessica’s checking her whereabouts three months ago, too,” he replied. “If she flew to D.C., we’ll try and track her movements to confirm she confronted Glenn.”
“Since he didn’t kill her on sight to keep his past a secret, she must’ve been smart enough to have a plan to get out of there,” Luke said.
“But he also managed to manipulate her into blaming my mom and no one else for her parents’ death. A smart fucker,” he said through gritted teeth. “He probably wrote out the plan for her, too. Told her to frame someone. Helped out with the cameras. Gave her the details of the event—he’d know more because he’s friends with my mom and with DHS.”
“Nina may have something on him, but Glenn had no intention of letting her live after the assassination. He’d make the militia the fall guy for everything.”
“Which means he has a plan to get whatever evidence she has from her before then,” Knox replied. “But why’d Nina wait so long to approach Glenn if she suspected someone murdered her parents?” He’d discussed theories with Jessica and Adriana before calling Luke after confronting his mother, but he wanted Bravo One’s opinion on it, too.
“She couldn’t have been sitting on that information all her life, which means she only recently found out, but as to how—damned if I know, but I’d stake my life on Jessica figuring it out.”
He leaned against the Suburban, his eyes on the hotel. “I assume when Harper traced the call Nina made last night, it went to a burner?”
“Yeah, and it’s been turned off so we couldn’t ping a location, but if it gets flipped on, we’ll try and get a signal.” He was quiet for a moment. “You really think you can convince Quinn and Rodriguez to withhold intel from Glenn until we know more, especially without bringing your mom’s past into it?”
“I’m sure as hell gonna try, but I hate to do it, even if we get all of this figured out and my dad wins the election, I don’t know if he’ll keep the teams going. He might compare me to my mom and—”
“You’re not like her,” he quickly responded. “What you do and what she once did are very different.”
“This could be our last operation,” Knox admitted, his voice grim. His entire body tensing.
“I know,” Luke said. “But I’ll be damned if we go out without a win.” He paused. “Tell Adriana. Don’t wait, okay? I know it’s eating at you, and if you need to hear me say it, I’m doing that now. I’m giving you permission.”
He cleared his throat, unable to answer without his voice breaking. “I, uh, what’s the plan for you guys next?” he asked instead.
“So far, Roman’s told us to stand by. He doesn’t want to leave yet. He’s trying to find out more, but we flew the drone over the compound to get a better visual from above.”
Their drone was small and would be well-hidden from view with its camouflage panels, but it wasn’t completely invisible. It was much better than what they had up until last year, though. Jessica and Harper had borrowed the latest tech the SEAL Teams used on aircraft, and they used it to upgrade their drones so they could be, for the most part, unseen.
It was nice to finally have a bird’s-eye view of a location before they dropped in. As long as no one looked too closely in the sky, they’d be fine.
“Any place for the boys to get into position for overwatch?” Knox asked. They couldn’t leave the drone up in the sky for more than thirty-seven minutes, which meant they’d need eyes on the militia.
“Not really any high ground, but it is heavily wooded. Before the Hiltons took over the property it’d been a hunting site, so the tree stands have come in handy. The boys have a decent look inside at the north side of the compound. Liam’s working on trying to get a better view of the south side. He might need to use a tree saddle to get up high for the vantage point we need.”
“Anyone tell Owen yet what’s going on?”
“Honestly, I don’t want him to know about Roman,” Luke said. “He has a newborn, and I’m afraid he’ll steal a plane to get to us if he has to.”
“Damn straight he would, and I’d be with you, too, if—”
“Don’t,” he cut him off. “You’re where you should be. End of story. Besides, someone needs to watch out for my stubborn sister, or we’ll have to answer to Asher, and I swear her pregnancy hormones are rubbing off on him.”
He also wasn’t ready to leave Adriana, but if this was truly Bravo Team’s last operation, how could he not be with his people?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Knox: What are you wearing tonight?
Adriana: Oh, I thought clothing was optional.
Knox: Your humor is lost on me right now.
Adriana: Shouldn’t you be working on the case with Jessica while I play dress-up?
Knox: Yes, but I’m thinking about you and what is under that dress.
He was deflecting. He had to be. The man had learned his mother had once been part of some secret black ops group, and a close family friend may have been behind the assassination attempt to cover it all up.
So yeah, he had to be reeling. And he was dealing in the way he knew best by making jokes.
They still didn’t even know if his dad would show up tonight.
Would he drop out of the race altogether?
Adriana: Maybe I’m wearing a pantsuit.
Knox: No way. This is your first ball, and you love Disney films. You’re in some fancy gown. Am I right?
Adriana: Maybe I’m in something pretty, but I did put panties on since you won’t be the one taking me.
She stood in front of the mirror and smoothed a hand over the layered black fabric, which had a slit going up one leg. A halter style for a top and a low-cut back.
She’d done her makeup, too, which was a rarity.
Dark eyeshadow, black liner, and mascara. A touch of blush on her cheeks and a semi-nude lipstick with gloss. She’d left her hair down in soft waves over her shoulders since her mother had always loved it that way.
Knox: . . .
Knox: . . .
Adriana: What?
Knox: And I’m now imagining twenty different ways I’ll be making you scream my name after we have that second date.
Adriana: One for each year, huh? And I see you’ve given in to my 2-date request.
Knox: Everything will be okay. You know that, right? You have my word.
And he was protecting her again. Always.
Adriana: I know.
And there were so many other things she wanted to say to him, but not over text and not with so many lives on the line.
But could she go to a ball and give a speech in the meantime?
She looked at her phone, not sure what else to say, when there was a knock at the door. Her dad lived only twenty minutes away, so he’d be escorting her to the ball tonight.
Adriana: My dad’s here. I won’t be long. I’ll meet you back up in the suite soon.
“Coming,” she called out, tucking her phone in her black clutch.
When she swung the door open, she nearly tripped backward in her tall heels at the sight before her.
“You’re not my dad.”
She observed Knox in his tux. Black slacks, a crisp white shirt beneath the jacket. Broad shoulders. A bow tie to boot. He’d also shaved, and he was a man who looked hot with or without the scruff.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?” She looked left and right in the hall. He reached for her hips and pulled her tight to his body, and she surrendered to him in every possible way.
“I asked your father if I could take you instead,” he said. The rich huskiness of his voice had her thighs squeezing. “I was hoping for a redo.”
“A redo?” She slung her arms over his shoulders, hating how much she actually loved he’d shown up, even though he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Senior prom.”
“But you brought me to prom.”
“And you know I screwed that night up,” he said as he mo
ved his mouth near hers but didn’t yet kiss her. “I wanted to be there as more than your friend, but you were only seventeen and too young for the things I wanted to do to you, and I also never thought—”
She kissed away his words. Apologies and remorse for the should’ve-could’ve-would’ve no longer needed.
“What was that for?” he asked with a smile after she pulled back.
“For being you. For always being you.”
She could see the conflict in his eyes.
He thought there were two sides of him. The Teamguy and the man he was with her. And maybe he’d done his best to keep it that way, but he didn’t need to do it anymore. No more barriers between them.
“You talk to Rodriguez?” he asked after letting go of a breath, and she turned from his grasp to retrieve her clutch from the room.
“Yeah, and he’s not sure how he feels about keeping Glenn out of the loop, especially since I provided him with spotty details.” She frowned when facing him where he stood inside the room. “I hate lying. He’s the agent in charge and has your father’s best interests at heart.”
“I can’t risk the truth coming out about my mom or tip Glenn off we’re onto him.” Stress cut lines across his forehead as he observed her.
“You do realize people may find out anyway, right? I mean, from the sounds of it, Glenn’s willing to kill to keep it a secret, too.” She tucked her clutch under her arm and stood before him. “And whatever Nina knows may be all we’ve got to prove Glenn’s behind this.”
“I know.” His eyes dropped to his black shoes. “And we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” His broad shoulders shifted back as he found her eyes once again. “I’m not used to trusting people not on my team, though, so this is all a bit of an adjustment.”
“No?” She stepped closer. “What are you used to?” She swallowed when his eyes seemed to gleam with the overhead light shining above.
“Not this. Not having you right here with me, that’s for sure.” The deep timbre of his voice cut through to her belly and produced the battery of wings to flap and flutter. “Not having you within my reach when I need you.”
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