Twisted Secrets
Page 19
Jaxon offered to hang with her on the island until I was able to get back. That helped some, but I wanted to be the one spending time with her.
I had my answer—I wasn’t reenlisting. It had been a torturous decision until Riley’s life was at stake. When my contract was up, I was out.
I contacted Jack Davis with Gray Ghost Securities, and as soon as I was cleared of active duty, I would be on their payroll for missions. Our family had wealth, but we weren’t used to being idle. Yet getting the surfboard business up and running and going out on rescue-and-recovery missions, we would have enough to stay busy.
“Hey.” Ty leaned a hip against the counter in the break room. I was getting another coffee, something I shouldn’t drink with so much aggravation seething below the surface.
“Meeting starts in two minutes. I tagged Mark. He’ll be in here in a second.” Ty’s head notched up. “Correction—make that now.”
I turned toward the door when Mark walked in. He wore a white button-down and black pants. As a government employee and an analyst, Mark didn’t answer to the military regarding dress code or hair length.
“Have you found anything?” We’d agreed to elicit Mark’s help but had kept it quiet, as there were too many unknowns. Somehow, the enemy was getting intel prior to our missions, and we were losing good men because of it. We needed to find the leak.
Mark ran his hand through his thick dark hair. “No. So far, everything is as usual. Ty said you pulled up some pictures.”
We didn’t have much time. I had them up as soon as I’d arrived and thought I found something. While blurry, the image was clear enough. Whoever it was had looked to the sky, maybe due to the Black Hawk’s sound in the distance. The timing would’ve matched when we were airborne, flying overhead and sending imaging back. We crowded my desk, and I brought the picture back up. “Can you do anything to enhance this?” I pointed to the area we were scrutinizing.
“I should be able to,” Mark answered.
It was difficult to tell, but the person didn’t look like a member of the cartel. The Los Elegido members all had small skulls crossed with snakes tattooed on their faces. The person in the photo didn’t have any visible ink. It was possible that a rebel group was involved, most likely from Venezuela.
Mark wasn’t the only one we would enlist to help. Jaxon had placed a call to Liam, another contact with the Gray Ghost Security team. Through Liam’s wife, they’d encountered and dealt with Colombian cartels and might have been able to fill in the missing pieces. With the clock ticking down to the next mission, we needed answers quickly.
Joe stuck his head in. “Meeting’s starting.”
We left Mark and headed into the conference room, where we took our seats at the long rectangular table. The meeting was about a new mission, not a recap of what had gone wrong a month before.
I glanced at the clock again, counting down the minutes until I could return to Riley.
Silence settled over us as the meeting began. Daryl was at the head of the table. We exchanged greetings. Then an image filled the large smart screen at the end of the room. Everyone’s attention shifted to the building Daryl circled in San Antonio del Táchira, Venezuela.
“We’ve been monitoring the port where the Iranian ship docked. Not a lot of activity until last night. Several crates were unloaded and taken to another location. More came in to the dock, but our interest is on the ones that are left. As the deceased informant was a dead end, this is the next thing we’ll be pursuing. We’ve established contact with a new informant, who provided proof of missiles and what could be nukes stacked together but have since been moved. Those weapons are out there. We leave in five days.” Daryl turned to me with a shuttered expression. “A smaller contingent of men will carry out these orders. You’ll remain on leave until they return.”
Son of a bitch! Dread filled me, and for a few seconds, I couldn’t move. With two weeks until my contract was up for renewal, he was benching me. I got it—Ty was still assigned to our unit through temporary addition orders, which would make it impossible for me to go on this one, as we were family. The last few missions had gone to hell. I didn’t want my brother out there before we revealed the threat—possibly an internal one—especially when several members of our team had died on the last three missions.
Riley sat between my legs in the sand, her back against my chest. The surf broke at our toes, and she rocked her heels, digging a little trench for them. Wispy clouds dotted the sky, and the sun chased away the slight chill from the recent rain.
I didn’t want to go into details about the meeting, so the three of us had lunch then Jaxon took off, which was what I wanted—to be alone with Riley. “We need to talk about your apartment, about getting your stuff out.”
She shuddered in my arms, and I nuzzled her neck. “I’m never going back there. Too many bad memories.”
“Jaxon and I can pack it up for you. The lease is up in a week, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She rested her head on me. “I haven’t given any thought to where I want to go next.”
“You would leave Hawaii?” I froze, waiting for her response. We’d told each other how we felt, but that wasn’t a guarantee that she would stay after all she’d been through.
I was ready to plan our lives together and take the next step, but I wasn’t sure what she was thinking. We hadn’t known each other all that long. For me, it didn’t matter. I could have met her three days ago, and my life would have been forever changed.
“No.” She shifted in my arms, and I loosened them so she could turn and look at me. “I just found you. I’m not ready to let you go. I’ll have to look for another place to stay.”
I’d never lived with any of my past girlfriends, but Riley was different. Then another thought doused my hope, and my arms locked around her. “Are there too many bad memories here?”
I grasped her waist and lifted her to sit astride my lap so I could see the emotions playing over her face. The last thing I wanted to do was push her into something she wasn’t ready for, even if I was.
A brilliant smile transformed her from beautiful to stunning. “That’s not it at all. The encounter with Ava was horrifying and still upsets me. But we’ve created some amazing memories—and, well, you’re here. I want to be with you because I love you.”
My arms tightened around her, drawing her closer so I could kiss her senseless. “I love you too.” Our lips met, and I teased hers open, deepening the kiss. Hunger for her buzzed in my head, making it difficult to pull back, but we had more to talk about before I took her to bed, which we wouldn’t leave for a very long time. “I have a few more weeks until my contract is up for the Navy. I’m not re-upping.”
“Okay.” Confusion swirled in her pretty whiskey-colored eyes. “That’s not a deal breaker for me. If you want to sign up for another term, I support you.”
“It’s time. I’m ready for something else.” I tugged on her high ponytail. “I was hoping that you’d move here with me.”
“Are you sure?” At my nod, she laughed, her face lit with a mesmerizing inner glow. “Then yes.”
“That’s not all.” With the pad of my thumb, I caressed her plump lower lip. “I want to spend a lifetime with you. Will you marry me, Riley?”
“You’re all I ever dreamed about, Xander. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I took her mouth in a soul-searing kiss. While we kissed, I got to my feet, and her legs automatically wrapped around my waist as I carried her back to the cabin. The woman had changed my life. I would do everything to make her happy because, in my heart, it was clear that she was the one.
Despite the joy of having Riley here and with me, a bad feeling still lingered. No matter what, I couldn’t shake the ominous sense that clung to me about my younger brother’s imminent departure to Venezuela.
The End
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Acknowledgments
Each book comes with its own set of challenges. This entire series was written during 2020—which is enough to foretell the struggles from concept to creation. I’m fortunate to have the incredible team of authors and editors behind me, especially this year.
With heartfelt thanks to my amazing critique partners and fellow authors, Taylor Anhalt, Emily Albright, Kristin Kisska, and Candace Irving for providing insight, candor, and camaraderie from the first draft to the final edit.
To Kate B. and Taylor A., two incredible editors at Red Adept Editing, who did a fantastic job and made this story so much better. To T.E. Black for chatting at all hours and creating so many gorgeous covers for me.
Big thanks to Itsy Bitsy Book Bits Promotions for going above and beyond. To all the readers, bloggers, and reviewers who went out of their way to help and support this release—you’re all so very generous and kind. Your support and encouragement continue to inspire me.
And last, but in no way least, to my husband, two daughters, and two sons, for supporting and believing in me while I follow my dreams. For their patience and understanding when the house is messy and general chaos reigns. I can’t imagine life without them.
About the Author
Amy McKinley is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the romantic suspense thriller Gray Ghost Novels, Deadly Isles Special Ops, Covert Recruits, Moonlit Destination Series, the Five Fates paranormal romance books, and several standalone titles. Her edge-of-your-seat books are filled with surprising twists and just the right amount of heat and danger. She lives in Illinois with her husband, two daughters, two sons, and three mischievous cats.
Also by Amy McKinley
Gray Ghost Novels
Moments That Define Us
Broken Circle
Eye of the Storm
Beneath the Surface
Vantage Point
Covert Threat
Marked for Death
Deadly Isles Special Ops
Hidden Secrets
Twisted Secrets
Bound by Secrets
Forged by Secrets
Covert Recruits (coming soon)
Irina
Sasha
Zena
Nadia
Katya
Standalone Titles
Shattered Melody
Siren’s Call: Cursed Seas
Fake Fiancé (A Second Chance Office Romance)
Moonlit Destination Series
Moonlit Whisper
Moonlit Kiss
Moonlit Mirage
Five Fates Series
Hidden
Taken