Sworn to Secrecy (Special Ops)

by Montgomery, Capri

  By way of their rescue missions he would say that his, though complicated, was a success. Thanks to his friends for being his backup otherwise things could have gone differently. He would have gotten her out and back to the states, but she could have still ended up dead had they not gone the extra mile to ensure her safety as well. He loved his job, especially on days like today when the package arrived home safe and the bad guys didn’t get away.

  He had already heard that the Feds were raiding offices of men and women who were implicated in the files Carissa had given them. The news media was all over it thanks to the leak of information, and for the most part it would seem that OTG had received a substantial blow. He knew it wouldn’t shut them down forever, but it would set them back.

  He turned off the shower and pulled the oversized white towel off the towel rack to dry himself. He had just about finished when the phone started ringing. He wrapped the towel around his waist, strolled into the bedroom and answered the line.

  “How are you holding up? Do you need to talk about what happened?”

  He chuckled. “You worry about me too much, Natalia. I’m fine. We got the package back and she’s safe. That’s a good thing.”

  She sighed a very audible sigh. “How are you, Alex?”

  “I’m fine. Now stop worrying so much. Don’t you have something you could be doing right now? Maybe you can spend some quality time with Micah.” He laughed. He loved that she cared enough to check on him. After every mission he had taken since his first one she always called him after he returned home to check up on him and make sure he was okay. He didn’t think she did it for any of the others, in fact he knew she didn’t because they were all shocked the one time he mentioned she had called him for a psychology check. He had told them it wasn’t necessary because he thought she did it at their request, but Preston had assured him they hadn’t asked her to. He had assured him that unless he came forward and let them know there was an issue they wouldn’t be worried about post operations stress for him. “After all, we get the breakdown inside of your post op reports and the meetings that follow. We don’t have Natalia call to check up on you, or any of us,” Preston had said. That’s when Alex realized she had done it just for him and at that moment he was worried that he may have gotten her in some trouble. But all these years later she still made the calls. He had the best friends. He would honestly admit that and feel sure that he was one hundred percent accurate in his assessment.

  “Well, Micah is hovering over me right now. He wants to talk with you anyway, but I wanted to just check on you and make sure you’re okay. This mission was different for you.”

  She meant it was different because he came back with the package who happened to now be his girlfriend—at least he thought that’s where they were headed, but they hadn’t really fully discussed it since getting back into Texas. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine. I am a little worried about Carissa, though. I hope the Feds aren’t too rough on her.”

  “Oh I think she’s fine. Micah and Preston just got off the phone. I guess Preston had tried to call you, but you didn’t answer.”

  “I was in the shower.”

  “Oh,” she laughed. “But you answered for me so that means you’re out the shower now and we can talk.”

  “I just got out, Natalia. I need to get dressed.”

  “Are you talking to me without your clothes on?”

  “I could take this so many places, but I won’t.” He shook his head. They were way too comfortable with each other.

  “Well as I was saying, Preston and Micah—”

  “Would you give me the phone and let me talk to him?” He heard Micah in the background.

  “I called him first. If you want to talk to him then you call him on your own.”

  Alex laughed. “Natalia, I’m fine. I promise, but I am curious about Carissa so may I please speak with Micah? I promise we can talk after if you want.”

  “Oh, all right,” she sounded as if she were reluctantly admitting defeat. “But after you finish with him I want details.”

  He knew she wanted him to find somebody he could be happy with and love just as she had finally gotten the man she loved to commit to her.

  “Sorry to break up the ritual,” Micah’s tone was one filled with humor and not jealousy this time. Finally, the man was secure in knowing that Natalia didn’t have eyes for any other man. “I talked with Preston. He says Carissa is going to be fine. They’re giving Ronald immunity in exchange for testimony, but father and daughter have both refused the Witness Protection Program. They’re putting agents on him and a couple on her just in case anybody thinks they’ll grab her to make him change his mind. Mostly they’re not worried about it because that evidence that’s out there is so damming that making a move on either of them would be a huge mistake and could expose the members that weren’t exposed in the information they already have. Basically, she’s in the safe zone. They’re taking her home in the morning so you’ll probably hear from her the moment she gets there.”

  “Thanks. I was hoping things would work out for them. Do you know if she and her father are on good terms?”

  “Sorry; that’s not part of my knowledge base on this one. You’ll have to ask her when you talk with her. Honey,” he paused and Alex was starting to wonder if he called himself talking to him until he spoke again. “I just got the phone from you, stop trying to take it back.”

  Alex laughed hard and Micah chastised him for encouraging her.

  “You’ve said all you have to say. Give me the phone back.”

  “She’s right. That’s all my information. If I don’t give her the phone back she’s probably going to try to take it from me—again. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, Alex.” Alex had barely gotten a reply in when he heard Natalia’s voice on the other end of the line.

  “So, tell me about Carissa.” He could hear the excitement in her voice. He couldn’t deny her request. He loved talking with her about things because he was able to get an intelligent woman’s viewpoint on things and so far she hadn’t let him down. She was always a good listener. So with thoughts of getting dressed on hold, he dropped the wet towel, got comfortable on the bed and told her all about Carissa. He left out some details. There were just some things that he wouldn’t talk about, not even with Natalia, but he could tell she knew he and Carissa had been intimate from the words she spoke to him. Natalia was respectful of his privacy and supported his “budding” relationship with Carissa. Her parting advice was, “take it slow. Don’t think all women are like either of your ex-girlfriends because they aren’t. If she’s the right one for you then the two of you will last. Don’t settle,” she had said. “You deserve a world of happiness with a woman who deserves to be the holder of your heart.”

  Her parting words had meant a lot to him. She could never really understand how much, but she had been his guiding light when the hour seemed darkest over the years and her words now were just as special to his needs as they always were.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hey you;” Carissa beamed as Alex’s voice came from the other end of the line. “I just wanted to let you know that all is right in my world…as right as it can be anyway.”

  “Where are you? I hear commotion in the background.”

  “Oh, I’m at work checking on how the line and the stores have been doing while I was away. Business is booming after all that press I have been receiving over the list that we leaked. You all still have your anonymity and I am receiving calls from news stations. I told them I’m not at liberty to discuss it. That’s not a lie. I’m not able to really talk about it. But the press hasn’t hurt my sells at all.”

  “I see,” he mumbled. “So you thought work was the best place to be today? Shouldn’t you be home dealing with everything that happened to you? What about your father?”

  She laughed. “I am a person who needs to work, Alex. This is how I deal.” She signed off on some papers before dismissing her assistant with a warm smil
e and going back to her conversation with Alex. “My dad is okay. We talked. I know he didn’t send those men after me to kill me so I don’t hate him. And he’s doing the right thing so I think we’ll be fine in the end, but you know…it takes time and right now he is busy with depositions and talking to the Feds. He’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine together. Now, it’s you that I want to discuss. Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

  Well she certainly did sound all right, he thought. “Sure. Where did you have in mind?”

  “Well since I’m stuck with a personal bodyguard, a.k.a. a federal agent,” she chuckled; “how about your place or mine?”

  “Yours,” he admitted because he didn’t take women back to his place. He had taken Natalia there, but that was completely different.

  “Great, so my place at six o’clock. I’ll buy the steaks and you can grill them on the back patio.”

  “Oh I can; can I?”

  She laughed. “Of course. I don’t know how to grill.”

  “Why did you buy one then?”

  “On the off chance that any guy I dated knew how to do it. I can make a mean thrice-baked broccoli and onion potato though.”

  “Then I’ll see you tomorrow night, but I think I should come by about five to get the grill going.”

  “Five is fine,” she said softly. “And if you bring clothes you can stay all night.”

  Staying all night sounded like a fine plan to him. “Carissa Jones,” he cooed. “You have a deal.” Natalia’s words were on his mind. She had told him to take his time and he planned to do just that. When he did completely give his heart there would be no mistaking his willingness for rushed desperation. When he gave it she would know he came freely, he came completely, and he came for her. Tonight was just the start of what he hoped to be many more nights with her, getting to know her, falling in love with her. Tomorrow night he was going to embark on that journey with her and see just where the path carried them. If he were lucky, the path would carry them to someplace that looked a lot like forever. Their first real date was going to be the start of something worth holding onto; that’s how he saw it anyway.

  “Carissa Jones, you are so going to be mine,” he said. “And I’m going to be yours.” If they both wanted it he knew they could make it work. He never shied away from a challenge before and he wasn’t about to start now. Tomorrow night he was going to put the steaks on the grill and their relationship on the table. Tomorrow night they were going to talk about where they saw this going, where they wanted it to go, and what it would take to get there. They had time; they both just had to be willing to take it. “Mission accepted,” he told himself because he was opening his mind to the possibility of falling in love again and when he did he was sure it would be for the right woman.

  About the Author

  Capri Montgomery is the bestselling author of books including Ride A Cowboy, Across the Lake, The Thirteenth Floor, 1965, The Admiral’s Daughter, and The Geneva Project. She enjoys nature—unless the insects are biting her, traveling, old movies, art, photography and music.

  Find more books by Capri Montgomery at: www.lulu.com/haremnights

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