by Kaylea Cross
“Can’t.” She snuggled closer, making his chest constrict, and gave an exhausted sigh. “I don’t think I’ve cried since my mom died,” she murmured almost absently.
His hand stilled on her back. Was she serious? “How old were you?”
“Six.”
Whoa. That couldn’t be healthy. “What happened?”
“Bone cancer. I was too young to remember much, but I know it was awful. She was in terrible pain at the end. She would cry because the medicine couldn’t take it away.”
God, that must have been hell to watch. Even worse than what his own mother had gone through. “And you didn’t have any family to take you in?”
“No. She was a single mom. Got pregnant in eleventh grade and her mom kicked her out. My dad took off, denied any responsibility, and my mom was too proud to fight him. So we moved to a different town.”
So they’d both grown up without a father.
She was quiet a moment. “I’m glad she left all that behind and raised me on her own. I wouldn’t have wanted to be part of a family like that anyway.”
He didn’t blame her. “Ty said you went into foster care. Did they take good care of you?”
“Yes. But I was hurting about my mom. My foster parents were good people and they tried to make me feel safe and cared about. It just wasn’t going to work. I was put into another foster home, and that’s when I landed on someone’s radar involved with the Valkyrie Program.”
It was still hard to wrap his mind around the whole thing. “But you didn’t have a choice.”
“No. I was proud, though. Less than thirty-percent of us made it through the selection process. Of course, we didn’t know what the program was called until the final training phase, after we’d been put into our specialties.”
“What happened to the ones who washed out?”
She shrugged. “They were funneled into other programs. Intelligence work, investigative work. At least, that’s what we were told. None of us know for sure what happened to them.”
It boggled the mind. What other top-secret programs was the U.S. government hiding from the world?
“So how long’s your contract in Syria?”
“Three months.” Too damn long. “I can’t pull out now. The guys there need me. I can’t let them down.”
“I get it.” Then her expression turned pensive. “Hmmm.”
“Hmmm? What’s that mean?”
“Nothing. Just thinking ahead.”
As in, she was contemplating them being together after his contract was up? “To what?”
“Wondering if you’ll still remember me then.”
He snorted. “You gotta be kidding. Like I’d ever forget you, firecracker.”
She was silent a moment. “What will you do after the contract’s done?”
He’d planned to go home and spend some much-needed time with his family, then join a couple PJ buddies for a rock-climbing trip. But he’d planned all that before he’d met Chloe. Now everything was different, and the idea of going home or rock climbing wasn’t half as tempting anymore. “Ty wants me to join the team permanently.”
“You’re considering it?”
“Yeah.” He resumed running his fingertips along her spine, wondering how in hell it would ever work between them. Even if she was willing to try a relationship, could they make it work long-distance? “What about you?”
“I’m going to finish what I started.”
“And then?”
“If I make it that far, I’ll worry about it after. But I’d like to help Megan and the others.”
It chilled him to hear her say she didn’t expect to survive going after Dubois. “Don’t talk like that.”
“Like I might die?” She gave a humorless laugh. “Chances are, I will. Just how it is.”
God dammit. He crushed her to him. “No. I couldn’t take that.”
She pushed against his chest gently and tipped her head back to look into his face. “You can’t save me, Heath. But it’s so incredibly sweet that you want to.” She laid her palm against his cheek, her expression turning serious. “I never expected to meet anyone like you. I’ve spent most of my life staying distant and detached. But a few days with you, and look at me—I’m a wreck.”
“It’s okay to fall apart every now and again.” He stroked her hair. “Just like a taco.”
She blinked at him. “Huh?”
“Tacos. You like them?”
“Yeah, of course. Everyone does.”
“There you go. They fall apart all the time, and yet you still love them. And so do I.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
She let out a startled laugh, then groaned and closed her eyes. “Oh, man. And now you decide to show me you’ve got a sense of humor, too.”
He hugged her tighter, unable to keep his feelings buried a moment longer. “What if I wanted to see you after this is over?”
She grunted. “How would that work? You’re going to Syria, and my life is…uncertain at best. I’m not exactly relationship material.”
“Yeah you are.” If she wanted to be.
Now her smile was tender and sweet, piercing him. “You’re a dangerous man, Heath. You make me want to stay when I should be running in the opposite direction, for both our sakes. You make me wish for…”
“For what?”
“Things that can never happen,” she whispered back.
It was far from the no he’d been fearing. “They can if we both want them bad enough.”
She laid her fingertips on his lips to stop him from speaking, her eyes haunted by doubts and fears she wouldn’t voice aloud. “Being with you is an unexpected gift. Let’s not complicate things any more than they already are. Let’s just enjoy each other while we can, and let that be enough.”
Frustration pulsed through him, an instant denial forming on his tongue. But he sensed if he pushed her right now, she’d shut down and turn away. That was the last thing he wanted. “I’ll be there for you if you ever need me,” he finally said. “I want you to know that.”
She groaned and leaned forward to rest her forehead on his chin. “You’re killing me, Heath.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I wanted you to know.”
“I do know it.” She wound her arms around him and hugged him. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“A rock-climbing former PJ?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Well, okay, yeah. But I meant someone with your level of character. Like the way you tried to save Fleur yesterday. You dived into the water without hesitation and put yourself at risk by staying even when the cops were on the way.”
So had she. “I was just—”
“Being you. I know. And I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.” She swallowed. “I’m glad you were with her until she lost consciousness.”
Him too. “When did you two meet?”
“About a year ago. But when we were in contact working the shipments together, I felt like she understood me better than anyone. She was the most authentic person I ever knew—until I met you. And that’s why I’m going to rescue those women and get Dubois, to honor her.”
Heath didn’t like it. At all. But he understood it. “I know,” he said on a grudging sigh.
“Thank you.” She lifted her head to brush a soft, tender kiss across his lips. It eased him to see the shadows mostly gone from her eyes. And if he wasn’t mistaken, that was a distinctly mischievous glint in them now. “Can I see your butt tat?”
He let out a startled laugh. “What?”
“Your green feet. Come on, you said you have ‘em.” She reached down to smack his ass. “Lemme see.”
Chuckling, he eased away and rolled onto his stomach. “Have at ‘er.”
“Oh, I will.” She sat up, pushing her long, thick braid out of the way as she settled on her knees beside him, giving him a gorgeous view of her body. Her hands smoothed down his back, over his hip, and paused on his right ass cheek. “Hmmm, nice,” she murmured, bend
ing to nip at the tat of the two green feet. “Very nice.”
Yeah, there was no way they were leaving this bed to go have dinner with the others.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Still nothing on the women. Sorry. I’m as frustrated as you,” Amber said to Chloe on the phone late that evening.
After spending most of the night wrapped up in Heath’s arms, first sleeping and then losing herself to more pleasurable things, Chloe had been hungry for something else—justice. She still hurt inside, but not nearly as much as she had been, and actively working on this with the others helped lessen the burden. She didn’t feel so alone anymore.
“It’s not your fault,” she told Amber. Dubois had moved the women when he suspected Chloe might come for them. “You’ll keep us updated if you find anything?” Amber was working on various things simultaneously. Locating the women—Dubois could have sold them already—finding Dubois, and looking for any possible signs of the missing Valkyries.
“Of course.”
Chloe had learned from Megan, and in her few dealings with Amber over the past few days, that Amber was the quieter, more serious of the sisters. Harder, more remote. “Thanks. Here’s Megan.”
Megan took the phone, talked for another minute, then ended the call. “Okay, so all dead ends so far. What’s the plan now?” She grabbed a piece of cheese from the platter on the table between them and popped it into her mouth.
“We need to find Dubois,” Heath said, nursing a beer in one of the easy chairs pulled up to the small coffee table in the center of their group.
Her chest hitched just looking at him, remembering what they’d shared together, the things he’d said to her. It was going to hurt like hell when he left, but she would never regret their time together. “Exactly.” She searched the platter of cheese, crackers, fruit and veggies for something that might tempt her. It was all so…healthy, and the only caffeine was the carafe of hot coffee. Making a face, she picked a cracker, put a piece of pickle on it and put it in her mouth.
“Way better than Pop Tarts, am I right?” Heath said with a knowing gleam in his eyes.
“Nope, not even a little. So. Dubois.” She would hunt him down and kill him. But with the trafficked women still unaccounted for, the focus of Chloe’s mission had changed. She wasn’t willing to kill him at the cost of losing those defenseless women. It would make Fleur’s death twice as meaningless.
No. Chloe would locate him, capture and interrogate him to find out what she needed to know. As soon as he’d given her what she needed, he would die.
Megan’s phone beeped. She checked it, smiled. “She’s here.”
A minute later, Chloe was face to face with the legendary Trinity Durant. The former Valkyrie was maybe five or six years older than Chloe, and gorgeous. Straight, shiny black hair cut into a sleek, chin-length bob, elegant makeup that emphasized her deep blue eyes, and clothes that hugged her curvy, knockout figure.
“Chloe,” Trinity said after hugging Megan. “So nice to finally meet you.”
“Same.” She offered her hand, got a firm shake in reply. The woman oozed sex appeal and confidence. And a lethal vibe Chloe recognized instantly.
“All right, what’s the latest on Dubois?” She headed straight for the table and helped herself to the food.
“Best we can guess right now is that he might be at his country estate not far from the Normandy landing beaches,” Chloe said.
Trinity nodded and sank into the chair Heath had vacated for her—what else would you expect from a Boy Scout, after all? “Do you know it?”
“Yes. I’ve been there. I know the layout, have a basic idea of what kind of security he has. That was a few months ago, though. Given everything that’s happened since, he might have upgraded everything.”
“Oh, God, I hope so,” Megan said, with a grin. “And Amber can’t wait to hack into everything and disable his system.”
Chloe glanced at Heath. One shoulder braced against the wall, he watched her with such admiration and desire that she wished things could be different, that she could have the chance at something normal with him. Which made no sense. On paper they were a disaster. But together in person, they worked. In a mere matter of days, Heath had ruined her for anyone else.
Time and fate were working against them, however, and trying to continue a relationship after this was done wouldn’t be safe, for either of them. Even if she killed Dubois, she would still have a target on her back. She didn’t want to put Heath in constant danger. He deserved better.
“Show us,” Trinity said, sliding Chloe’s tablet across the table to her.
She found pictures of the house online. “All right, here we go. Guillaume Dubois’ stupid extravagant country estate.” Eighteen of the most gorgeous acres money could buy, with a stone, chateau-style mansion set in the front third.
She pointed out all the features on the property, and the layout of both floors. “His office is on the lower floor, looking out over the gardens.”
“Looks a bit like the one at Laidlaw Hall,” Megan said, leaning closer. “I feel right at home already.”
It felt so damn good to go over intel and plan an op with such a qualified team. Such a relief that it wasn’t all on just her shoulders.
“We’ll need a staging area. Far away from the target in case things don’t go smoothly,” Trinity murmured, her eyes on the map.
“Where’s Dubois going to send the ship?” Ty asked, scooting closer to study it.
“Somewhere on the northern coast,” Chloe said. “Opposite of where we are, and close enough to England to smuggle the cargo across the Channel. Fleur said something about this next shipment of women possibly being destined for Britain, and I heard rumors about that too.”
“Calais?” Ty said.
“Too obvious,” Chloe answered. Guillaume never went with the obvious, but he’d want a port close to the UK.
“A smaller port, maybe?” Heath asked.
She shook her head and went with her gut. “A major one. He’s going to try and slip the women in somewhere busy enough that they go unnoticed.” No easy feat, with the security available now, but Dubois’ money greased a lot of wheels and made things a lot easier for him. The team couldn’t rely on any help from the port authorities or cops.
She weighed her options, looking at the coastline available. Not Paris. That was too risky, even for him. Her gaze tracked southwest down the coastline, mentally marking the location of his country estate. “I’m betting the Normandy coast, but away from Calais,” she said, her gut confirming it.
Everyone looked at her. “You sure?” Trinity asked.
“As sure as I can be. It’s near the English Coast, and from there he can funnel the women either to Paris or across the Channel and get top dollar in Britain.” It made her angry and ill.
Trinity nodded. “It’s as good a place as any to start with.”
It was. Energized and resolved, Chloe shoved to her feet. “Okay, so we’re off to the Normandy Coast then,” she said, hopeful for the first time since Fleur had died. She couldn’t bring her friend back, but she could see this mission through, then deal with Dubois. That was all she would allow herself to focus on right now, and it would have to be enough.
As the others started chatting, Megan grabbed her arm and towed her through the connecting door into the other room. Shutting it, she faced Chloe and widened her eyes. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
Her friend groaned. “Come on. You and Heath. What happened?”
For about two seconds Chloe considered lying to cover it up. But why should she? She had nothing to hide and wasn’t ashamed of her actions. “Everything,” she admitted.
Megan squealed and clapped her hands, bouncing up and down. “I knew it! I called it, too. Told Ty there was something brewing between you guys.”
“I can see why he’s Ty’s best friend.” She shook her head, her happiness fading beneath the heavy ache forming in her chest. “He’s…an amazing
guy.”
Megan’s eyebrows rose. “Amazing? Wow.”
“I know.” There was no other way to describe him. Of course he’d have his flaws, everyone did. So far, everything that mattered was evident in his actions, and to her they spoke a million times louder than words.
Her friend frowned. “But? I feel like there’s a but.”
“But it’s just temporary. And you know why.”
Megan’s hazel eyes were thoughtful. “A few months ago, I might have agreed with that. But not now, because I’ve learned that sometimes things have a way of working out.”
Chloe shook her head and pushed out an exhalation. “Hoping for any of that right now is just too much.”
“I understand. But how about I’ll keep hoping for you, then?”
Chloe smiled through the ache. “Thanks, Itch.”
“Anytime, Twitch.”
God, it was good to have Megan back in her life. She closed the distance between them in two strides and pulled her friend into a hard hug. “I missed you, dammit. Thought about you all the time.” She understood why the Valkyrie instructors had taken such pains to sever bonds of friendship and make them into autonomous operatives. Still, it had been a long, lonely life of solitary service to her country.
Megan seemed startled for a moment, then returned the embrace just as fiercely. “Me too.”
****
Heath closed his hotel room door behind Megan and Ty a few minutes later and turned to face Chloe.
She was watching Heath from the adjoining doorway, and arched an eyebrow. “Up for another road trip?” She held up the keys. “I’ll even let you drive.”
Rather than answer, he crossed to her, hungry for another taste of her. “You like it when I drive,” he reminded her, making her grin as he took the keys and kissed her.
The long drive to the coast gave them a much-needed breather. Chloe slept for most of it, waking a few minutes before they arrived at their rental unit in a village fifteen minutes from the water. Everyone else was staying in the near vicinity, but spaced far enough apart to avoid possible detection. “We’ve got just over two-and-a-half hours until we meet again to go over the final plan for the Dubois op tonight,” he told her.