She should have known better . . . they weren’t the Secret Service for nothing.
“They’ve been ordered to keep all intel privileged,” Rodriguez explained. “No one outside Secret Service.”
She touched her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen. Calloway. The rest of the guys. She trusted them.
“But you now have my full attention,” Rodriguez said.
“We believe Nina’s really calling the shots at the compound. She flew to D.C. thirteen weeks ago and checked in to a hotel there,” Jessica shared what they’d learned. “I’m working on getting eyes on where she went and who she met up with, but my money is on Glenn. And then, after she left D.C., a plan to kill Knox’s mother—not his father—was put into place.”
Rodriguez held a palm in the air. “Say that again.”
“We think Glenn orchestrated it to look like someone was gunning for my dad, but it would, in fact, be my mom who got accidentally killed in the crossfire,” Knox explained.
“And why would Glenn want her dead?” Rodriquez jerked his head back in surprise. “Aren’t they friends? Hell, they’ve known each other for forever from what I read.”
“When Nina’s uncle passed away, she inherited his ranch as his only living heir. At the time of her mother’s death years prior, her brother, Nina’s uncle, was the only living relative, so he received her belongings.” She paused. “It’s possible Nina recently stumbled upon something that’d give her a reason to have a grudge against Kathleen Bennett, Glenn Sterling, and the other names on that list,” Jessica said, keeping her voice even. “We believe Glenn didn’t want the truth to come out, though, and he was willing to do anything to prevent it from happening.”
“This is insane,” Rodriguez snapped out.
“That’s all we can tell you for now,” Jessica responded. “The rest is classified.”
“You’re really going to pull the classified card with me?” Rodriguez’s arms fell lax at his sides. “You’re civilians.”
“Nina made multiple calls to the same phone number after she made contact with Glenn. To an untraceable burner,” Knox went on, ignoring Rodriguez’s words. “Her last call indicates she’s gonna go off-script, and she has evidence of some kind that could prove damning for the deputy secretary.”
“And how the hell do you know this?” he asked.
“Because we have a man inside her compound,” Jessica spoke up. “We’re civilians, we can do things you can’t.”
Since the world thought they were civilians, they could get away with things that wouldn’t fly with the U.S. flag on their arms. But the flag was still there—an invisible one.
“You mean illegal activities,” Rodriguez said with a shake of the head, and Adriana could feel his eyes on her. He was trying to figure out why she’d gone along with such tactics.
She couldn’t look him in the eyes, though. She wasn’t in the room as Secret Service right now, she was there as Knox’s best friend.
“Quinn’s calling,” Jessica announced, offering Adriana an escape from Rodriguez’s heated stare. “Maybe she has news.”
“I’ve got teams on their way to Abilene and San Angelo, and they’ll be on standby awaiting orders,” Quinn said once Jessica answered.
“You planning on going after Nina?” Rodriguez asked. “We can’t arrest her without more to go on.”
“We’re working on a plan for Nina,” Knox interrupted. “But like you said, we’re civilians. We don’t have to play by the same rules.”
“Like hell.” Rodriguez closed in on the desk to face Knox as he stood alongside where Jessica worked. “I’m not losing my job over this.”
“You mean to tell me you’ll take a bullet for my dad, but you won’t ensure the bullet is never fired in the first place?” Knox shifted his focus to the computer a moment later. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m still trying to see who else Glenn’s been meeting with since Nina’s first approach,” Jessica said.
“Can you pause there and zoom in?” Knox leaned forward. “She looks familiar.”
“What do you see?” Adriana circled the desk to get a look.
Knox’s brow scrunched. “Is that who I think it is?”
“What’s going on?” Quinn asked, and Adriana had nearly forgotten she was still on the phone.
“We’re looking at footage we caught on a bank camera across the street from a hotel where the VP pick Leslie Renaldo was staying in D.C. three months ago,” Jessica said. “She’s getting into the back of a town car.”
Oh, God. Is Lyle’s VP candidate part of this?
“And why is that relevant?” Quinn asked.
“Because I’ve been tracing Glenn’s whereabouts, and the town car she’s getting into is his,” she answered.
Knox pointed to the screen. “Look at the time and date.”
“A day after Nina showed up in D.C., Leslie met with Glenn,” Adriana whispered. “What the hell is going on?”
Jessica worked quickly at the keys and popped up flight information a few minutes later. “I’m thinking their meeting can’t be a coincidence.”
“Does that mean Nina went to Glenn or did Nina go to Leslie Renaldo first?” Adriana asked, not sure what to think.
Knox peered her way. “I don’t know.” Confusion touched his words, an echo of how she felt.
“Keep me posted,” Quinn said after a few seconds had passed, allowing everyone to digest the intel. “I’ve got agents I trust watching Glenn and the other names on that list you provided me. If they make any suspicious moves, I’ll know about it. Do I need to assign someone to Leslie Renaldo as well?”
Rodriguez hung his head.
“If possible, yes,” Knox answered.
“Thank you,” Jessica replied. “We appreciate you trusting us on this. I know it can’t be easy, but—”
“I’m after justice,” Quinn interrupted. “I’ll take all the help I can get to do that. Let me know when you’re ready for my agents to roll.” And then she ended the call.
“I don’t know if I can do this.” Rodriguez turned his back to the room.
Adriana rounded the desk to stand before him. “You trust me, right?” She reached for his arm, and she could feel Knox’s eyes on her back as she spoke to her boss.
“Of course I do. But you’re also friends with the Bennetts, which means your judgment has been compromised.”
Before she had a chance to refuse Rodriguez’s statement, she overheard Knox talking to Jessica in a low voice.
“I need to get to Texas,” he said.
Adriana whipped around to face him. “I thought you were going to stay here.”
Knox leaving wasn’t part of the plan, and like hell she’d let him go without her.
His knuckles bore down on the edge of the desk. “We still need to find a way to get my man out of that compound and take Nina into custody.” He peered Rodriguez’s way. “Can I count on Secret Service to watch over my parents while I’m gone?”
“You should know the answer to that,” Rodriguez said in a near whisper.
“Could you keep an eye on Jessica and Adriana as well?”
Her stomach twisted at Knox’s words. “No,” she sputtered, her cheeks heating. “No more protecting me. You’re not going to run off to Texas and leave me here. If you go, I go.”
She blew out a frustrated breath. She was ready to go head-to-head with him, but maybe not in front of Jessica and her boss.
“No damn way.” Knox looked at Jessica next. “And before you say you’re coming—”
“I’m not.” Jessica’s hand settled over her abdomen, and Knox’s jaw locked tight as he nodded.
There’d be no stopping him from going, and Adriana knew it. Once he made up his mind, it was set.
If there were even the slightest chance his team needed him, he wouldn’t back down, because that was the kind of man he was. She’d witnessed his grief last night. Heard his words earlier.
“How
fast can my dad’s private jet get me there?”
Chapter Thirty
So help her, if he took off before she made it, she’d . . .
At the sight of Isaiah Bennett’s jet still on the tarmac with the stairs open, Adriana halted in place and bent forward.
She had friends in high places with the Atlanta Police Department, and she’d secured an escort straight to the airport.
She flicked her hand over her shoulder in thanks to her mother’s old partner who’d driven her, then she started for the steps with her one small bag in hand.
At the sound of movement above, she flinched on the third step and dragged her gaze north.
“What in God’s name do you think you’re doing here?” Knox fumed from the doorway of his dad’s jet. “I asked you to stay with Jessica. Hell, I begged.” His tone bordered the fine line between angry and hurt. “You made me beg, Addy.”
Yeah, and she’d begged, too. They were even. And she never actually agreed to stay behind.
“And then you kissed me in front of everyone like it’d be the last time I ever saw you alive, and you left before I could give you a firm I’m coming!” She finished her climb and stood on the small platform near the entrance, but his frame filled the tight space, blocking her.
“I can’t get the job done if I’m worried something will happen to you.” He cocked his head to the side.
“And you need to stop worrying about me.” She poked his muscular chest.
“I’ll never stop worrying,” he barked out.
“Then I call ditto!” she snapped back.
His tone softened when he replied, “Don’t you pull Ghost on me.”
Ghost had been one of her favorite Patrick Swayze movies, right up there with Dirty Dancing. She used to make him watch it with her. They ate ice cream, popcorn, peanut butter from a jar—and they watched it. And she’d sob each time. And she used to claim if she ever died like in the movie, she’d haunt him forever.
But no one was dying. Not today or anytime soon.
“You don’t get to tell me it’s okay for you to put your life on the line, but I can’t put mine!”
“It’s not the same,” he said, his voice part groan, probably out of frustration.
She dropped her bag, and her hands went to her hips. “You have two women on your team. You’re okay with them sacrificing themselves but not me?”
“No one is sacrificing anything!”
“Then it’s agreed. I can come.” She tried to shove past him, but nope. He was a wall of steel.
“Please.” There was that plea again in his voice. He knew how to use it on her, but she wouldn’t give in.
“You told me the truth, and I accepted it. I accepted you for you. You have to do the same, it’s only fair.” The corners of her mouth flipped as she contemplated flashing him a smile to try and win him over because they were short on time.
His shoulders sagged. “Your dad has been grieving your mom for twenty years.” He braced her biceps and held her eyes with his. “But I’m not him, because if something happened to you, I’d never survive that.”
“But you’re asking me to?” Tears filled her eyes. Their conversation from earlier wasn't done. It’d been delayed by orgasms and then work. “My mom wore the badge, not my dad.”
“And she died,” he said, his voice straining. “Fuck,” he hissed and turned toward the inside of the plane.
She braced a palm to the exterior of the plane and took a minute to gather herself, then she grabbed her bag and followed him inside.
“What about Rodriguez?” he asked in a low voice, gripping the top of a chair in the cabin, his back to her. “How’d you convince him to let you come?”
She let go of her bag as someone from the flight crew closed the door. There’d be no turning back now.
“I handed over my commission book,” she admitted once the woman brushed past her down the aisle, heading for the cockpit, giving them space to talk.
He spun around and faced her, his brows lifting in surprise. “You did what?”
“And does your dad know you’ve hijacked his jet?” She crossed her arms, trying to deflect.
“Yeah, I told him I was going to end this thing once and for all.” He closed the space between them but didn’t reach out for her.
“And he handed over the keys, huh?”
“More like his pilot.” A smile she hadn’t expected tugged at his mouth, and he lowered his head and cursed under his breath for it. “Damn you, woman.”
“Sir, if you want to make the time, we need to go.” It was the captain this time. “You need to buckle up.” He glanced at Adriana. “Good to see you again, Ms. Foster.” His eyes briefly roamed over her body, to her tight-fitting khakis before his gaze lingered at her cleavage in the pale yellow tee she was wearing.
“Thank you,” Knox said in a clipped tone, clearly noticing the captain’s focus.
“I’m staying.” She sat in one of the seats off to her left.
“Why in the hell would you quit your job?” He shook his head.
“Because a Secret Service agent can’t go into a compound with a nonexistent black ops group.” Her hands settled in her lap as she looked up at him, fearful of the hard line his lips would become at her words.
“You think you’re going inside?” He faked a laugh and held both palms in the air between them.
Maybe this was the wrong time to bring that up. But with Knox, would there ever be a right time? “You said I’m capable of handling myself, remember? After the car chase with the truck driver.”
“I didn’t mean you should drop into a compound with fifty armed guys.” His hand came down like a hammer onto the top of the seat off to his left. “You can’t do this to me, Addy. Please. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
She stood and faced him, ready to throw down, but her palms landed on his chest for support when the plane started to roll forward.
He caught her hips and held her upright, and his throat moved with a hard swallow. “You drive me nuts,” he said as the captain came over the intercom.
“Prepare for take-off.”
“You have to let go of me now,” she murmured.
“Don’t ask me to do the impossible,” he said in a gritty voice and brought his mouth to hers.
* * *
His hand tracked down her back, wandering over the slopes of her ass cheeks as she lay flat on her stomach on the bed in the bedroom of the jet. She did her best to relish the moment, knowing they’d be facing a shit storm of problems when the wheels touched the ground.
She turned on her side to face him, her nipples grazing his pecs in the process.
His rigid arousal pressed against her—he was ready again, and so was she.
It’d be four in the morning when they arrived, and they had maybe thirty minutes before they needed to buckle up for landing, so the timing sucked, but she couldn’t seem to care.
She was still pissed at him for his reaction to her presence, but this was Knox . . . he’d always been the man who eliminated threats to her safety, so she knew it’d be hard for him to willingly put her in danger.
“I can’t believe we had sex in my parents’ bed. I feel like a teenager again.”
“I don’t want to know about your wild sexual years as a teen when you could’ve been with me instead,” she teased.
“I can promise you I’ve never had sex in my parents’ bed before. You have my word. And I gotta be honest, it’ll probably be my last.” He covered his face with his palms and fell to his back, his length remaining hard, resting against his right thigh.
“You sure?” She dropped her legs off to the side of the bed and stood. She purposefully wriggled her hips, and he reached out and slapped his palm around her hip and pulled her back down.
“Danger does turn you on, huh?” he asked once she straddled him.
“Life does,” she said in all honesty. “Taking advantage of the moment we have because—”
“
Nope,” he cut her off. “Don’t tell me it could all end in a blink of an eye. You’re living forever. You hear me? And we’re going to have a lifetime of making love to look forward to. I’ve waited twenty years to be with you.” He leveled her with a heated look. “You’re trying to use sex to distract me so I won’t turn this plane around and send your cute little ass home, aren’t you?” He shifted up a touch, resting on his elbows, but she remained on his lap.
Okay, so maybe he was partially right. But only partly. Sex was way more than a distraction.
They were best friends who finally stepped out of the friend zone and connected on another level.
He palmed her breast and cupped the swell of her flesh, causing her sex to tighten at the jump of his cock, the head almost touching her center. “De-flec-tion. I know a thing or two about it, babe.”
“Does that mean you want me to get off you?” she murmured.
Knox slipped his hands to her waist and held her firmly in place. “I do want you off me.” He flipped her to the side and on her back before climbing over her in one swift holy-shit movement. “But only so I can spread your legs and bury my face between your thighs.”
His strong hands traced lines down the sides of her body, and he buried his fingertips into her hips, holding her to his mouth. The pad of his thumb moved in tandem with his tongue.
She slipped to the edge of tomorrow, her head rolling back, as he sucked and kissed. “Knox, that mouth of yours is going to be my undoing.” She bucked against him and came hard, not even a full minute later. She was putty in his hands—well, more like she became a puddle from his tongue.
Her whimpers were silenced with his mouth the moment he shifted atop her and buried himself deep, while she rode the crest of her orgasm.
Their lips disconnected as he pounded into her hard at first, as if unable to hold back, losing control. A frenzied need to be one, and it turned her on even more.
High in the air over the country—a hot and heavy scream of pure bliss tore from her lungs, and she didn’t give a damn if the pilot with wandering eyes heard her.
No shame. Never. Not with this man.
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