Hard Target

by Pamela Clare

  “I smile when we’re in bed, don’t I?”

  “Smile. Scream. Claw me. But that doesn’t count.”

  It was true that Jenna hadn’t felt like herself lately. The news about her father had shaken her more than she would have imagined, and her entire life was up in the air. She had no home, no job, no idea where she would live. Worse, every time she closed her eyes, images from the day she’d been abducted filled her mind, following her into sleep.

  Derek had been incredibly understanding about it all, especially considering that his injuries were a consequence of her father’s deplorable actions. He’d listened to her while she’d raged about her father, woken her at night when she’d had nightmares, and held her when she hadn’t been able to hold back her tears.

  “You’re grieving,” he’d said last night. “Your father betrayed you, Jenna. If you weren’t hurt, if you weren’t upset, I’d think something was wrong.”

  His words had struck the source of her misery head-on.

  What her father had done had left her feeling inescapably sad.

  But she didn’t want to think about that now, not standing in a Christmas wonderland with Derek still beside her.

  They ate sausages in fresh-baked buns, then walked around to look at the vendors, their fingers twined. Jenna bought some gingerbread cookies for later, while Derek bought her a purple cashmere scarf.

  He pressed a kiss to her nose. “To keep you warm.”

  She snuggled into it, brushed her cheeks against the softness. “Thank you.”

  The affection in his blue eyes gave her hope, lifted her spirits.

  They stayed out until the night grew truly cold. Then Derek called for the car—a bulletproof limo—and they returned to the Cobra complex.

  “How many of these does Cobra own?”

  “Limos?”

  “Limos, compounds, all of it.”

  Derek got a thoughtful frown on his face. “We have eight complexes—one in Uganda, one in Mazar-e-Sharif, one in Iraq, one in Israel, one in Australia, one in D.C., plus our main headquarters and a training facility in Denver, and this one—and probably twelve limos, plus Land Cruisers, a dozen or so helicopters, and a few jets.”

  “Wow. I guess it pays to be in the private military business.”

  He chuckled. “The pay is commensurate with the risk.”

  “I believe that.”

  When they got back to their room, they each ate a gingerbread cookie, Derek licking powdered sugar off her upper lip. Which led to kissing. And more kissing.

  Jenna helped him undress, stripped off her clothes.

  “I like where you’re going with this, but you’re on top again,” he said.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Hey, leave the scarf on.”

  Scarf wrapped around her neck, Jenna straddled him, took his hard cock inside her, the two of them moaning almost in unison. She ground herself against him while he cupped and teased her breasts, plucking and pinching her nipples, rubbing their aching tips with soft cashmere, abrading them with his callused palm.

  It felt so good, too good. Panting, sweating, her body burning, melting inside, needing, needing more of him. Derek. Only Derek.

  She came hard and fast, then rode him, his hips thrusting to meet her, the fingers of his right hand digging into her hip.

  “Fuck, yes. Jenna.” His head went back as he came, his eyes squeezed shut, breath rushing from his lungs.

  God, she loved him. She hadn’t said it again, had kept her feelings to herself. She didn’t want to ruin what they had now by putting him on the spot.

  He lay there for a moment, his body relaxed.

  Then his eyes opened. “Damn, woman. Sex with you just keeps getting better.”

  Body languid, she kissed the big bruise on his chest, then snuggled against his right side, careful not to hurt him.

  “When we get back to D.C., you’re going to confront my father, aren’t you?”

  Derek was quiet for a moment as if he wasn’t entirely sure what he could tell her. “Yes. Corbray is preparing a report for the Secretary of Defense, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Joint Chiefs.”

  “Wow.” Still, she knew how this would end.

  “He’ll get away with it. You know that, don’t you? He always does.”

  Nothing her father had done had ever stuck to him—not the campaign finance violations, not the allegations of sexual harassment, not his lies and many abuses of privilege and power.

  “He won’t get away with it, Jenna, not this time. His actions almost led to the deaths of four decorated US veterans—

  “Five. You, too, remember?”

  “Okay, five. And he cost Cobra at least a million in damages. We have more allies than he realizes—and he has more enemies. When the press gets a hold of this…”

  Her father was in such deep shit.

  “I want to go with you.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Some of what we have to discuss is potentially classified. It’s likely to become confrontational.”

  “Good.”

  Jenna had things she wanted to say to her father, too.

  Derek sat in the back of the limo wearing a suit, Jenna beside him in the designer outfit she’d bought for the occasion, looking like a million bucks, her beautiful hair hanging free. He could tell she was nervous. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She nodded but said nothing, her fingers rubbing the bumpy surface of her brother’s dog tags, which she still wore around her neck.

  While Jenna had been off shopping, Derek and Corbray had met with the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense, and members of the Armed Services Committee behind closed doors, presenting their damning evidence, including their drone footage and phone and bank records, as well as a recording Corbray had made of Kazi’s almost-confession.

  No one had taken it well. Hamilton’s allies had quickly distanced themselves from him as the tide turned. They’d proposed a congressional investigation but had granted Derek the favor of letting Jenna confront her father before announcing anything.

  By the end of the day, Hamilton’s empire of dirt would crumble.

  They pulled up to the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Constitution, the driver stopping to let them out. Derek walked with Jenna up the stairs and through the front door. “Derek Tower, CEO of Cobra International Security, here to see Senator Hamilton. I am armed.”

  He surrendered his firearm and showed the man his ID then passed through the metal detector and signed in.

  “Jenna Hamilton, daughter of Senator Hamilton.” She gave them her ID and her handbag and passed through the metal detector.

  “Is the senator expecting you?”

  Jenna smiled. “I just got back from overseas. It’s a surprise.”

  The security guard didn’t look happy about surprises, but he let them through.

  They rode the elevator to the top floor, Jenna growing visibly more nervous.

  Derek wished he could make this easier for her. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I need him out of my life.”

  Okay, that made sense.

  They reached the top floor and walked down a hallway crowded with lobbyists and sycophants to Hamilton’s offices and stepped inside.

  The administrative assistant looked up from her desk. “Can I help you?”

  “I’m Jenna, Senator Hamilton’s daughter, here to see my father.”

  “I’m sorry, but he’s with someone right now.”

  “That’s too bad.” Jenna walked to the closed office door and let herself in, Derek following her inside.

  “Jenna?” Hamilton stared at his daughter, his gaze shifting from Jenna to Derek, his expression turning wary.

  So, the bastard hadn’t known Jenna was back.

  Kazi, as part of his penance, had promised not to warn Hamilton, and he’d apparently kept his word—about that, at least.

  “We need to talk.”

  �
��As you can see, I’m in the middle of—”

  “Now.”

  “You know what, I’ll go. We can finish this later.” A man in a business suit got up from one of the plush leather chairs and hurried out the door, briefcase in hand.

  Hamilton stood, his gaze meeting Derek’s, his upper lip curling. “What are you doing here? I fired you. If you’ve come for money—”

  Jenna cut him off. “I know what you did. Do you know what happened as a result of your actions?”

  Hamilton’s pupils dilated. Fear. “What are you going on about now? You just interrupted a very important—”

  “You sent Derek to bring me home and told him to use force if necessary. When he wouldn’t do that, you bribed Governor Kazi with five hundred thousand dollars to rescind my permission to work in Balkh Province.”

  The bastard’s face flushed red. “Don’t take that tone with me, little girl.”

  Derek’s right fist clenched.

  Oh, the fucker was treading on thin ice now.

  Jenna wasn’t cowed. “Do you know what happened next? Kazi sent one of his men to abduct me. He wanted—

  “I told you it wasn’t safe there, but you didn’t listen. I told you to stay home, find a husband, and not waste your life—”

  “I was safe and happy there until you started interfering! Kazi wanted ransom money from you. He thought he’d play both sides—the hero and the villain—and come away a few million richer. His men set off a car bomb outside of Cobra’s compound. One person died, and I was injured. See this? Stitches.”

  “You should have stayed home.”

  “I was abducted, threatened with rape. I watched men die because of you.”

  Hamilton was getting flustered. “I don’t even know this Kazi person.”

  “Liar! There are phone records and bank records. We know what you did, and so do the Joint Chiefs and half of Congress by now.”

  Hamilton had begun to sweat, beads of perspiration popping up on his forehead. He stepped around his desk, getting closer to Jenna. “You met with them?”

  Derek moved closer, too.

  “Five Cobra operatives were shot trying to protect me from Kazi’s hired killers, including Derek. One of those men is still in the hospital.”

  “This is the first I’ve heard of any of this. You can’t blame me. I had nothing to do with it. If you had stayed home like I told you to—”

  “Shut up! Just shut up! You made James’ life hell. You’re the reason he went into the army. He wanted to get away from you. You made my life hell, too, interfering in every decision I’ve ever tried to make. You probably drove Mom to suicide!”

  Hamilton drew back his hand as if to strike Jenna.

  Derek caught his wrist in mid-air. “Touch her, and I will end you.”

  “That’s a threat.”

  “You damned well better believe it is.” Derek released him.

  But Jenna wasn’t finished. “As of today, you are out of my life. I disown you. You’re not my father. You’re just another corrupt politician who plays with other people’s lives. I don’t want to hear from you again for any reason.”

  “You won’t get a dime of my estate.”

  “I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you.”

  Now it was Derek’s turn. “We’ve handed all the evidence we collected over to Congressional investigators. They’ll be in touch this afternoon. You’ll be getting a bill from Cobra for damages later today as well.”

  “I’m not paying for anything Kazi did.”

  “Oh, I think you will.” Derek took Jenna’s hand in his, and the two left Hamilton’s office, passing his stunned assistant, Hamilton’s shouted threats following them down the hallway.

  Jenna climbed into the limo, Derek sliding in beside her. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to waste a single tear on her father, but her heart was in tatters. “He didn’t even ask me how I was. I told him I’d been injured, abducted, and threatened with rape, and all he could think about was himself.”

  “I’m so sorry, angel.” Derek wrapped his good arm around her and drew her against him. “It’s okay to cry.”

  “You never cry.” She’d never seen him in tears.

  “I’m fucked up.”

  That made Jenna laugh. “You are not fucked up.”

  “How about we get our stuff and check in at the Four Seasons? You’ve had enough of living in private military compounds, haven’t you?”

  “I don’t mind. Isn’t the Four Seasons super expensive?”

  “I can afford it. You’ve had a rough day. Let me do something to pamper you.”

  Jenna sniffed, not caring where they stayed. “Okay.”

  They went back to the Cobra building, packed their bags, and took the limo to the Four Seasons, Derek calling ahead on his cell phone to reserve a room. “Is the Royal Suite available?”

  Royal suite?

  Derek gave his credit card number over the phone. “Thanks.”

  She stared at him. “Are you nuts?”

  He seemed to consider her question. “Fucked up, but not nuts.”

  “You’ve done enough for me, Derek. If not for you, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

  “Let me spoil you—just a little.”

  If he was trying to distract her, it was working. The Royal Suite had twice the square footage of her old condo with high-end Art Deco décor, a huge sunken tub, and every luxury a hotel could offer. They ate room service in the dining room, stood for a time on the balcony overlooking the city lights, made love on the king-sized bed, soaked in the enormous tub.

  “Am I hurting you?” Jenna leaned back, rested her head carefully against the right side of his chest.

  “No.” He kissed her temple. “How are you feeling?”

  “There’s going to be a media storm, isn’t there?” It hadn’t dawned on her until she’d caught a glimpse of her ex-father holding a press conference on CNN that reporters would probably show up on her doorstep.

  “I imagine so. We can provide security.”

  “You’ve done enough for me—more than enough. You were fired, remember?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t follow orders well. I won’t leave you alone with this.”

  His words put a lump in her throat. “I don’t know where to go from here. I need to find a job somewhere, buy a home, get my stuff out of storage.”

  “Do you know where you want to live?”

  “Not in D.C.” She was done with this place.

  “Why don’t you stay with me for a while? I’ve got a place in Denver not far from downtown. Until this shoulder heals, I won’t be going overseas. You can take your time, figure out exactly what you want to do, get back on your feet. I can show you around Colorado.”

  “Are you serious? Won’t I be invading your man space?”

  He chuckled. “Invade all you want. There’s a gym in the building. I think there’s a big tub in my bathroom, too, but I can’t remember.”

  “You can’t remember?”

  “I’m not home much.”

  She believed that. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure, Jenna. I … care about you.”

  Jenna’s heart lifted to hear those words. No, it wasn’t I love you, but he’d just invited her to stay with him, giving them more time together. “Thank you. And, Derek, for the record, I care about you, too.”

  21

  After arranging to have Jenna’s belongings shipped to Derek’s condo in Denver, they flew by private jet to Denver International Airport and took a limo through the city.

  She craned her head. “Where are the mountains?”

  He pointed to the west. “You’ll see them from my balcony.”

  As they drew close to his building, Derek saw a group of reporters gathered on the sidewalk. Shit. He pushed the button to speak with their driver. “Let’s go in through the garage.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The reporters were ther
e for Derek, not Jenna, but the moment they recognized Jenna, they would go after her, and his relationship with her—however one might label it—would become part of the press surrounding her father’s downfall.

  They drove around back and passed through a security checkpoint, the driver stopping near the elevators.

  Derek thanked him. “Can you park and bring up our bags?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Derek would ordinarily handle that himself. But, although he was no longer wearing the sling, his shoulder and ribs made carrying anything difficult. He’d also rather focus on Jenna.

  They rode the elevator to the eleventh floor.

  Jenna glanced around the hallway outside his door. “This is chic.”

  “You like it?”

  Derek would be a liar if he said he wasn’t nervous. He’d brought women back to his place for sex, but he’d never had a woman move in with him, even temporarily. Some part of him was afraid that he was going too far, that crossing this threshold would only end with Jenna getting hurt. Even so, he couldn’t find the strength to let her go.

  He punched in his access code, opened the door, and moved aside to let her enter.

  She stepped inside, looked up at the chandelier in the entryway. “Wow!”

  Apart from the view of the mountains, he’d never thought much about the condo himself. It was just where he came to shower, sleep, and eat between jobs.

  “Did you decorate this place? It’s all so tasteful.”

  “Hell, no. I hired someone for that. If it had been left to me, it would probably look more like a gun locker or a gym.”

  He found himself smiling as she moved through the space, seeming to love what she saw. The kitchen with its aluminum appliances, marble countertops, and glass-walled, walk-in wine refrigerator. The living room, which had a fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked west toward the mountains. The master bedroom with its twin walk-in closets and enormous bathroom.

  “You do have a huge tub—right in front of the windows. How could you forget that? Look how big this shower is! You could have four people in there.”

  He only wanted one—her.

  He followed her to the second bedroom, which served as a storage area for gear.