Whoa.
The tide turned fast. Nic was on top. Her left hook struck hard, not flinching when her knuckles landed on a cheekbone. The man reached his hands around Nicola’s neck. Enough of that shit.
A glance to Roman, and the plan was set without words. Roman slide-tackled the standing woman and disarmed her. The lady hit the ground hard, and the Glock skittered out of reach.
One gun down.
Who knew where Nic’s .22 was during this melee. Who knew what dude-about-to-die packed. All Cash knew was he would kill him for punching Nic’s pretty face.
The man made a swift move, flipping on top of Nic. Cash threw himself on the man, spearing him away. He heard Nicola breathing hard. Panting. Saw Rocco out of the corner of his eye pulling her to safety. She fought him, trying to jump back into the fight. Too fucking bad, this asshole was Cash’s to take out.
He straddled the man, raining punches on his dome. Right fist. Left fist. Over and over, on repeat. Cash was in the zone, wanting blood. This wasn’t a fight anymore, just Cash on a mission of destruction. Sweat poured off of him, biceps and knuckles screaming for a reprieve.
Reality came back. Arms wrapped around him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t focus on anything but the broken nose and bloodied mouth in front of him.
“Cash.”
The sounds of his name pulled him out of his trance. He shook. Someone was shaking him. He didn’t want to get vertical, but someone pulled him upright. Rocco slammed him against the black Explorer. “Get your ass in gear. We gotta roll.”
Cash looked around. He’d fucking gone nuts. “Is he dead?”
“Almost, dude. Almost.”
Cash lunged forward, but slingshotted back against the Explorer, thanks to Rocco. “Chill.”
“I’m cool man. I’m good.” Cash nudged out of Rocco’s grip, rolling his shoulders.
“Walk it off. Get in the car. Nic’s in our Rover. She’ll drive you back to the house. These two fuckers—” He pointed to the KO’d dude and the none-too-fazed woman. “—will go with us in their car. Move. Now.”
Roman pushed the lady into the backseat and did a once over of Nicola, making sure she was okay. They did some brother-sister nod that made his gut twist in what could be labeled a jealous swell, but was really more a pang of nostalgia. A connection had been severed that he missed in a way that tightened his airway and clouded his judgment.
Rocco could’ve used a spatula to scoop the dude off the street, but used his hands instead, then hopped back to the driver’s seat. He pulled a U-turn, leaving Cash standing alone in the middle of Mayberry-frickin’-Avenue.
“Cash. Let’s go.” Nicola was in their Range Rover, waving him in, as cool as if it was just another day for her to man the getaway vehicle.
He snapped to attention and jumped into the SUV. God, he’d lost control in a bad way, and he didn’t need to be near that dude for a while. His white-hot temper was so far past boiling that he was surprised the guy was still breathing.
Nicola hit the gas. Their tires spun. They’d been on scene for five minutes, tops. Nicola had been gone a short while prior to the bam, bam. The whole thing had gone down in less than twenty minutes.
Stupid suburbia.
“You okay?” Nicola asked, driving past identical black mailboxes with little red flags.
“Fine.”
“Yeah, totally looked like it.”
“Back off,” he snarled and immediately hated himself. “Sorry. I flipped. I just… lost it.” No reason to go into why, though his motives were clear.
“Yeah, you did.”
They were three driveways from the safe house. “I need a minute. Keep going. I’ll kill that dude if I see him right now.” He saw the red welted handprints around her neck. “Fuck that. Turn around. I’m going to kill him.”
“Cash.”
“Turn around. No, I’ll get out.”
“Cash.
“Pull—”
“Cash, look at me!”
The welts on her neck hurt him. Damn, he couldn’t breathe. He needed to catch his breath.
She pulled her shirt up, unsuccessful in her attempt to cover the red marks. “I’m fine. Promise.”
Bullshit. She was hurt. Dude left marks on her. “You’re not—”
She slapped the center console. “Yes, I am. I’ve got a problem, and you killing him isn’t going to help.”
“He attacked you.”
“You don’t know that.”
He turned in his seat to glare at her. “What?”
“I’ve got a problem, and I don’t know who I can trust other than Roman, who’s seeing me as his kid sister. I want to trust you, Cash.”
“You can trust me.”
“Can I?”
Good question. He’d about murdered a man in the middle of the street for the operative equivalent of picking on an ex-girlfriend. He was a flippin’ loose bazooka. “I’m sorry about saying all that to Roman last night.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“I know.”
“I’m in it, earrings deep. I need to talk this out.”
He took a breath and ran a hand around the nape of his neck. “’Kay. You keep driving, and I’ll shut my trap.” At least I’ll try.
“The man you just beat within a hair of his life was the butler at Smooth’s estate. After you bagged and tagged Antilla, he found me, said he had extraction instructions that superseded my handler’s. But he turned me over to the men I avoided with my flying window trick. My handler made arrangements for me this morning. Voila! Hello, butler.”
“So you’re thinking… ”
“He’s doing double duty.”
“He’s CIA, and he’s… on the clock for Smooth?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged.
It seemed possible. “Why not take you out long rifle style?”
“They want to know what I got first. My job was intel. Map out Antilla Smooth’s network, his high rollers and big players.”
“You debriefed yet?”
“Nope.”
“What’s your handler know?”
“Little to nothing.”
“You seriously think this dude is stupid enough to fuck with you CIA folks?”
“It’s been done before. He must’ve thought I was weak.”
“Well, you schooled him, didn’t you? I saw that left hook. Killer, woman. Killer job. For real.”
Nicola looked at him with a half-cocked smile. The most honest look he’d seen on her since she stumbled in front of their car. “I’ve got a few tricks. But truth is my right arm is too sore to use.”
How different their lives could have been. She could’ve been at home, or at least at a job that didn’t require knowing any tricks, though the woman could take a punch. Nicola, all schooled in hand to hand. Never saw that coming. Too bad it had almost killed him. This CIA bullshit was damn hard for him to understand. He needed a subject change and quick.
“You got a boyfriend or something at the Farm?” Not exactly a subject change that would lessen my urge to kill.
She laughed. “Um, that’s a big no. You?”
Thank fuck.
He cracked a grin, which hurt his busted face. “Got a boyfriend? No.”
“I missed your smile.”
And I miss your laugh. Shit. Nothing warm and fuzzy should be tingling anywhere in his body, but he was all loosey-goosey at the moment.
“Nah. No girl for me.”
“Why not?”
“Really, Nic? This is the convo you wanted to have after I just went all WWE on your colleague back there?”
“You started the let’s-talk-about-our-love-life chat, and he wasn’t my partner. He— Never mind. Can I use your phone? I’ve got to call my handler.”
Cash shrugged, handed her his phone, and thought about the guys back at the house who probably wondered where he was, but knew it was better for him to cool down.
Nicola finished dialing numbers, t
hen entered more numbers. She waited with the phone next to her ear.
“Hey. Yeah, didn’t make my pick-up. We’ve got dirty laundry to deal with.”
She nodded her head. Gave a few uh-huhs, and nodded some more as if her handler could see her.
“No. I’m coming in on my own. I’ll have my Bonnie and Clyde extraction team brought—”
More uh-huhs. Then one nu-uh.
She rolled through a stop sign. “If he’s still breathing when we get there, he’s all yours. I’ve got a theory or two.”
More nodding. Hello, Nicola. Only I can see the head nods.
“Yes, when we debrief. See ya. Oh, wait—”
She looked at Cash, paused, then looked back to the road, making turn. “What do you know about Titan Group involved with Antilla?”
Son of a bitch.
More uh-huhs.
She clicked off the phone and looked at him with those warm, chocolate eyes. “I need a favor.”
Oh boy. Here it comes. “Depends.”
“I’m headed back to Langley on my terms. Bringing the other two with me. You know who hired Titan on this project?”
“Yeah.”
“The CIA?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not my place. You know their section chiefs don’t talk. All that one-upmanship bull crap.”
“I know their games well, but I try not to play.”
“So what’s the favor?”
“Bring Bonnie and Clyde in with me?” she asked with a face she certainly knew he couldn’t say no to. He needed reinforcements around her, ASAP.
“That’s not a decision I can make on my own. Despite my protocol-ignoring ass last night, I can’t just fly by night to Virginia.”
“Where are you based out of?”
He laughed. “Virginia.”
“Well—”
His phone rang, cutting her off, and she handed it back to him. How long would that drive take? Hours in a car with her. He might not live through it without doing some serious, pansy, emo outtakes. Whatever. He looked at the caller ID. Jared. His boss. Not necessarily what he needed right now.
“Yeah-ello,” Cash answered, slowly and intentionally, just to screw with Jared.
“What in God’s name did you three do up there?”
Well, hello to you too, dick. “The job.”
“Why’s the CIA burning up the wires, trying to nail a commitment out of me? For something I know nothing about?”
“Last night… we had an unexpected complication.”
“Last night, you three stumbled upon a compromised female operative and wanted to play hero? That’s not a complication. That’s you boys getting ready to fucking sword fight over some pussy.”
“Watch yourself, boss man.”
“You—”
“She’s Roman’s dead sister. My dead… ex. But the girl ain’t dead. So, like I said. Complicated.”
Mark this one down in the record books. Crystal clear phone clarity and Mister Big Bad Balls was radio silent.
Which lasted less time than it took to order a Big Mac, but it was still a record. “Fine. Complicated. I need updates on all complications.” He paused, clearly working something out in his head. “CIA knows about you two?”
He looked at Nicola. “Does your handler know about me and Roman?”
She shook her head. Cash went back to Jared. “Nope.”
“And where’s her extraction team?”
“Near dead at our safe house with Roman and Rocco.”
“Because?”
“We may or may not be dealing with a double agent.”
“Goddamn it, Cash. I’ll hit you back.” And the line went dead.
As convos with Jared go, that was smooth and productive. Nicola was driving laps around the sprawling upper-middle class neighborhood. Cash needed to make sure he saw the forest, away from the one big tree in the driver’s seat he kept focusing on.
Before he could say anything to her, his phone rang. Jared. Again. That was fast.
“Yeah?” Cash said.
“Private airstrip about an hour from your safe house. A Titan jet will be there in three hours. You boys are headed to Langley with your three friends.”
“Not exactly going to be a friendly ride back with two of my three friends.”
“If you’ve got what you think you’ve got, I don’t care if they ride home in black hoods and hog tied. As long as they make it back alive. The Farm will handle their own. Have no doubt.”
He didn’t either. They water boarded the way some offices doled out demerit write-ups.
“Got ya.” Cash clicked off the phone, and looked at Nicola. “Looks like your favor is granted. Titan style. We’re jetting it back, babe. All six of us.”
“Great. Two guys I can’t take my eyes off of in one plane.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
If Cash hadn’t been seated in the passenger seat of the Range Rover, he’d have fallen on his derrière. His face must have read like a billboard. Either that, or she could see that his stomach jumped into his throat, and he’d lost his breath for the teeniest of seconds.
“Sorry. Just messing with you,” she said.
She’d said sorry, but she didn’t look repentant as she maneuvered around another turn. Nah, not sorry by an inch. Can’t keep her eyes off me? He mumbled something incoherent, trying to mask that she was under his skin.
“Look, I need to get some clothes. Do we have time before we’re wheels up?”
Why was it endearing when she said ‘wheels up’ like one of the guys instead of some boring civilian verbiage like take off? No, her jargon slinging shouldn’t be endearing. It was a warning with bright flashing lights. She’d seen too much, done too much, and didn’t have someone like him or Roman to tell her to keep her butt safe.
He nodded, not ready to jump into that argument. “We got time. Not a lot. But enough.”
“Good. Fire up that GPS, and show me the closest Walmart.”
“Can do.” He paged through the list of shopping centers and saw Midland Galleria. Anything galleria had to be nice, right? “Let’s go here.” He selected their destination, and the direction-wielding lady in the GPS scolded them to make a U-turn at the nearest intersection.
“That’s not Walmart. I need quick, cheap, throwaway clothes.”
“Come on. We have some time. Let’s explore.”
“We should shop and get back to the safe house.”
“You turn in your woman card or something? You don’t want to shop?”
“I don’t want to—”
“Look at it this way: I still need time to cool down. You don’t want me to pop your buddy, do you?”
“You’re calm, Cash. Cool-collected-Cash. It took you about fifteen seconds to power down to lazy cowboy.”
“Lazy?” Nothing about this morning had been lazy.
She laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. It looked as soft as he remembered. Her laugh warmed him from the inside, as if they were sitting fireside under the covers.
“You know what I mean. Chilled out, nothing’s ever wrong,” she said. “But seriously, we need to head back soon.”
“Relax, Nic. Dude will be there when we get back, and if we’re running late, well, they can’t leave without us.”
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up at the Galleria. It was everything he wanted, though he didn’t know why he cared. Signing up for a shopping trip would be classified as out of character. Hell, maybe he did know why. Taking care of her wasn’t out of character, even if he was years out of practice. It once topped his list of favorite activities, and what a list that was…
She parked and waltzed in, not noticing anyone noticing her. She rocked his sweatpants and gym shirt, making them the sexiest things he’d ever seen. Even barefoot with a limp, the woman carried her head high, walking straight into the hoity-toity store.
Catching the raised eyebrows of sales clerks as he followed Nic
ola in, Cash gave them I-see-you-watching-me waves of his hand. No doubt, he was a sight to see. Black eyes. Swollen lip. Gun holstered on his hip. Sure as Kathy Lee and Hoda were about their Wednesday wine selections, he knew they flavored the water cooler gossip with a shot of, “oh my god, did you see that?”
Nicola bee-lined it for the shoe department, and he trailed behind, watching the tsunami effect of her presence. Nicola grabbed a pair of overstuffed, pink bunny slippers, walked over to the clerk and said, “I need these now. I’ll be back for different shoes in a minute.” She looked over her shoulder, pointed, and smiled. “And that beauty of a man over there plans on paying.”
That he did. He smiled his split lip. It stung as the fresh scab ripped open. She could have called him a lot worse than a beauty.
***
Decent shoes and a well-fitting outfit did more for Nicola’s mental state than she cared to admit. Cash glancing sideways a couple times to check her out was even more of a boost. Problem was, giggling like a school girl didn’t fit the persona she’d created at the CIA. Nope. Those who knew Nicola thought she was married to the job and needed to get out more. At least she assumed that’s what they thought.
Leaving the mall and heading to the airport was easy. Overthinking what Cash and Roman would say and do—that was a headache.
Not a lot of women did the whole intel operative routine, and fewer did it out in the field. Men assumed she played the game for a rush and that they’d swoop in to save the day just like Cash did, though, true enough, she had needed a hand in the Main Street rumble. Barroom brawls, even in broad daylight, weren’t her forte. She might be tall and strong, but she wasn’t oblivious to her physical limitations. There was a difference between knowing what might bring you down and being strong enough to say, “Fuck it. Let’s try anyway.”
Cash wasn’t keen on her doing field work. She could tell. He hadn’t said it word for word, but she got the gist. Every time his eyebrows hit his hair line, she translated it to, “Nicola, go home and watch Jeopardy!” Roman would be even worse. He didn’t like her to take out the trash at night. Well, ten years ago, he didn’t.
They breezed onto the private airstrip, sidled up to the plane, then Cash gave her a look. She foresaw an intervention in her future.
The Titan Series 1-3 Boxed Set Page 32