“I don’t like any of my options,” she whispered.
“Neither do I, but I’m not going to keep fighting this.”
“Even if it’s complicated?”
“What’s one more complication in life? Huh?”
She chuckled. Her body softened against him and he knew she’d made up her mind. She reached up and traced his jaw, her fingernails blazing a path to his chin.
“Tomorrow morning are you going to change your mind?” she asked.
“No.”
“What I want and my terms haven’t changed. I can’t deal with this back and forth from you, Vaughn. You have to decide—”
“And I did.”
“How do I trust you on that?”
“Because I’m telling you, and I’m the kind of guy who keeps his word.”
“Are you?”
He opened his mouth, but what could he say that would make her believe him? He’d broken her trust once. It was up to him to fix that, and that might take time.
“Then I guess we wait and see.” He kissed the tip of her nose then eased his grip on her.
She clenched a fistful of his shirt in her hand, keeping him close. “No.”
Carla went up on tip-toe and kissed his mouth. Her arms wound around his shoulders. He wished he wasn’t wearing his Kevlar vest right now. He wanted the feel of her soft curves against him.
He sank into the kiss, all too eager to indulge in it.
This attraction didn’t follow any rhyme or reason. He simply wanted her with a desire that defied logic and he wasn’t going to fight it anymore. Whatever it meant, however long it lasted, he was in it.
Her fingers curled in his hair, pulling his head down farther.
If they were alone, and he had time, he’d get lost in her luscious body.
“Vaughn?”
“Hm?” He nuzzled her cheek.
She groaned. “I should go back to bed, pretend I’m that girl. But I’m not. I want you.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Because that’s where his mind was, too.
“You might get ideas about me...”
He leaned in and whispered, “I have all kinds of ideas about you. You’re a movie star in my head.”
She shivered and damn what he wouldn’t have given for a private room and a few hours. Except he had a job to do.
“Fuck.” He squeezed his eyes shut.
“What?”
“I’m not doing my job.” He cupped her shoulders and took a step back. “I want nothing more than to explore all of your wants.”
Vaughn glanced at the laptop.
The various camera feeds showed the same empty halls, stairs and an elevator that hadn’t budged in hours. No danger creeping up on them, no bad guys on the hunt, nothing nefarious at all.
He glanced back at Carla. “Having you can’t mean risking you.”
“You sure you can’t have your cake and eat it?” She stepped past him to the table and turned the laptop screen.
He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant until she leaned forward and planted her hands on the table. One glance over her shoulder and the mental image unfolded.
The screen bathing her skin in light. The feeds up and running. Her robe and whatever else she wore hiked up around her waist, panties gone.
He groaned. “You have no idea how tempting that is. But we can’t.”
She pivoted, one hand on her hip.
Before she could form that emotional storm brewing into a weapon he closed the distance between them and cupped her face.
“What if I’m distracted and the kidnappers attack? What if someone else wants Ashton? What if I’m too focused on how damn good you feel and don’t see any of that until it’s too late? Your safety has to come first.”
“I wish you didn’t make so much sense.”
“Me, too.” He pulled her in and kissed her brow.
“I guess I’ll take my distracting ass back upstairs.”
“I’ll enjoy watching it go.”
That got a chuckle out of her. She leaned back and looked up at him. “I don’t have a reason to trust you a second time. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I’m making a list of ideas for later.” He trailed his finger up her thigh, toying with the hem of her robe.
“Not the time to tease me.” She planted her hands on his chest and pushed.
He backed up, giving her space.
“Good night, Vaughn. Hope you stay awake.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep or a while.” Not with the fodder she’d give him.
She padded back inside the condo. He spared a few glances for the monitor, but mostly he watched her.
Vaughn didn’t know what he was doing, but the stolen moments with her felt right.
9.
Sunday. The Spice Way, Beirut, Lebanon.
Hani peered through the darkened windows of Farez’s old shop. The landlord had shut the place down if the old man was to be believed. Right about now Hani needed a break.
He’d gone to check on his friends. Of the three who’d joined him on the kidnapping job, one was dead and the other two had gone to visit family. He didn’t have to guess who was behind that. There were only two options.
Their boss.
Or the man in the suit.
Hani was willing to bet their boss was behind this. Promising a quick payday with no proof or results hadn’t been enough to gain them a reprieve. The suit guy had been forthright with Hani.
The only reason he was still alive was because the suits had their own targets. Ashton Khoury and the other Americans. If Hani was going to keep his head, he had to stay close to Farez.
“What are you doing here young man?”
Hani turned toward the elderly woman. She had a bulging bag in hand and stood on the sidewalk peering at him.
“Looking for Farez,” he replied.
“They had to move. Come this way.” She waved for him to follow her.
Had Hani met her before?
He fell into step with her, unsure about what he should say. The last time he’d faced off with Farez he’d more or less ensured they were at odds. Now he either had to take control of the situation. By himself that would be next to impossible. Or, he could suck it up and try to make amends in the hopes that he’d stay close to the action.
His guide showed him through the warren of alleys and small streets before pushing a door pen. Hani stepped into a bright room with a dozen or so people packed inside. His guide ambled forward to a table and laid her offering out with all the other food.
“What are you doing here?” Farez stood on the other side of the room, staring at Hani.
“Looking for you.” Hani studied the room. The same collection of aging faces looked back at him, only now they were more concerned.
“What do you want?” Farez crossed his arms over his chest.
“What happened here?” Hani had missed something.
“Americans.” The youngest woman in the bunch stared at him with wide eyes. She was still older than his mother. “They tried to break into Farez’s home.”
And get the hostage back.
Shit
What were the chances those Americans were the same ones the suits wanted?
And Hani had missed his opportunity.
“Do you still have him? Is he here?” Hani glanced around.
“It’s no concern of yours,” Farez said.
“He’s in the cellar,” the same woman responded.
Hani turned toward her. “What else happened? How can I help?”
“Those men. They’re going to come back. Then what will we do?”
Others around her muttered. There was an air of dissent.
Hani could use this. He turned toward Farez. “What’s your plan, old man?”
Farez glared at Hani.
“Have you made your demands? Set a meet? What?” he asked.
“Ashton Khoury wasn’t willing to pay the price I set,” Farez said.
“But he was willing to pay?”
Farez’s face went pale.
“A bird in hand is better than two in the bush.” Hani had to restrain himself from smiling. He had an opening.
SUNDAY. SAFE HOUSE, Beirut, Lebanon.
Carla’s skin tingled with awareness. Though she kept her eyes on her laptop, she was acutely aware of Vaughn moving around the condo. The coffee pot gurgled from when he’d made a brief trip inside to start the machine. If she’d understood the half of his phone conversation earlier, food was on its way up. He was sitting back at the patio table now, and if she looked at the top of her monitor, she could admire—
Focus, she chanted to herself.
She had important shit to do.
Melody crossed the condo and returned to her seat at the table, focused on her laptop.
It was early still.
The others would soon be awake and then she’d have to play her part, all the while anxiously waiting for word from the kidnappers on her cell phone.
She’d sent a zip folder of files and links to the man who’d returned her call, but she needed more proof. More everything. She understood these people in a way Ashton never would. He’d always had money. He didn’t know the kind of fear that came from not knowing where his next meal was coming from and how vulnerable that made a person. Ashton was a convenient antagonist for those who thought an oil deal would be their key to an easier future.
She didn’t doubt that oil would bring some new jobs to the economy, but not in the number these people were hoping for. The question she could only speculate answers to was, at the cost of what industry? And without a clear breakdown of who was getting the benefit of this deal, she was relying heavily on other scenarios like theirs.
Then there was the question of how did they turn this ship around?
Grant was dug in when it came to how they were approaching the situation. He and his team were highly regarded as the best at what they did. But the team was a hammer when what they really needed was a screwdriver. Same results, different approach. She feared that when these three new guys got here things were going to escalate.
“Melody?” Carla glanced up from her laptop.
“Yes?” The petite woman shifted in her chair, giving Carla her full attention.
“What’s the plan for today?”
“The additions to our team should arrive early afternoon. We’re sending scouting teams out so we can locate where they are keeping Jared. Once we know that we can make a better plan.”
“I see. Thank you.” Carla picked up her cell. That wasn’t a lot of time.
No missed calls, texts or emails.
She tapped her texts and fired off one to Ashton to see if he was awake. A moment later she got an emoji reply that made her chuckle.
Time for an update.
She spared Vaughn a glance. He was still set up out on the terrace in the same spot she’d seen him at last night.
He really was serious about his job.
Carla poured a cup of coffee then tucked her laptop under her arm and climbed upstairs to Ashton’s room and let herself in. The window shade was still down, plunging the room into darkness.
“How long are you going to stay in bed?” She picked her way across the room, mindful to not trip over his mess.
“Until you give me that coffee.” Ashton’s voice was a low rumble from the mound of blankets.
“Well, good morning to you, too.” She found the dresser by feel and set the laptop and her phone down.
That done, she turned toward the bed. Her eyesight was more or less adjusted. She slid her feet out of her flats and crawled up to brace her back against the headboard.
A hand groped her knee then her thigh.
She laughed and guided him to the cup and released it into his hold.
Ashton sat up and gulped the coffee greedily.
On a normal day, she was up early, tidied up from the night before, made coffee and got breakfast going. At some point, usually Jared, would ping her that they were awake. She’d bring them coffee, and they’d sit in bed, watch the news and for half an hour just be.
“How long have you been up?” he asked.
“Almost two hours. I was able to adjust your schedule and make room for you to be fake-sick so there’s less to do.”
“Thanks.” He sighed heavily, the sound laced with exhaustion brought on by fear and worry. “You and Vaughn?”
“That’s what you want to talk about right now?” She turned her head. With the light seeping in around the sun shade she could make out his profile and the darker shadows of his eyes and hair.
“Distract me?” He reached over and wrapped his hand around hers.
“It’s not a very good distraction.” Now it was her turn to sigh.
“I woke up to pee, and you weren’t here last night.”
Carla nodded. Of course he’d catch her. “We talked.”
“And?”
“And it’s confusing, okay?”
“What’d he say?”
Carla rolled her eyes. Ashton had this switch. He’d be the dudest-dude-that-ever-duded one moment then want to talk feelings and crap. On a good day he gave her whiplash.
She reached over and took his mug, sipping the flavorful brew as she considered how to answer. Ashton was used to people doing what he said. He’d try and fix this for her and she didn’t want that. He’d already meddled enough.
“He doesn’t want to sneak around with someone. He doesn’t like how this looks if anyone finds out. And you can’t blame him for either.” She passed the coffee back to Ashton.
“I could hire him,” Ashton said.
“No.” She groaned, aware that he meant the offer as a kind gesture. “Don’t do that.”
“You like him.”
“I also like cake, but you don’t give me one every day.”
“It’s not good for you.”
“Spoil sport.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “My point is you need to stop meddling. Either something will happen or it won’t. You can’t force it along.”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Ashton’s voice dropped, and the sorrow shone through.
She reached over and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “You can go over the information I put together and help me find more evidence. Ideally stuff that’s in Arabic and not English.”
“I can do that. Have we heard anything?”
“Nothing. But it would take someone a long time to go through what I sent. Especially if English is a second language.” She kept her worries about the day to herself. “Maybe you could get in touch with your conservationist friends?”
“Sure.” He let go of her and flipped on the bedside lamp then turned to face her. “One more Vaughn question.”
Carla cringed.
“What do you think about him? Do you like him? Because it’s not just about him.” Ashton sipped the coffee.
She had half a mind to upend the cup on his lap, but she didn’t. Instead she blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know him. How can I like him? I mean, I do. And I’m crazy attracted to him. But is that everything? Does it really matter? It’s not like we’re going to become anything to each other.”
Ashton wagged his finger at her. “You are only limited by your imagination.”
“Thanks, oh wise fortune cookie.”
“You’ve got that worry line going on.” Ashton tapped the skin between his eyebrows. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Our talk last night was cold then hot. I just don’t know what to think. First, he’s telling me he can’t do this. Then we’re making out and if he wasn’t working...” She shrugged. “We left it there with nothing really resolved or decided.”
“And?”
“And I’m waiting for a casual moment to talk to him and feel out where he’s at right now. Why I’m not sure. We have enough going on and I am going behind his back to try talking to Jared’s kidnappers.” She shrugged. “Fo
r all I know, Vaughn’s gone back to thinking no way again.”
Ashton squinted at her. “You sure you don’t want me to...?”
“No.” She shoved at his shoulder.
“Hey, careful.” He held his coffee cup over the side of the bed. “You say the word and I’ll do my best to get him for you.”
“That’s both sweet and creepy, you know that, right?”
“Anything for you.” He saluted her with the mug.
“Jesus,” she muttered.
“You wearing that today.” Ashton stared pointedly at her clothes from yesterday she was still wearing.
“All my stuff is hung up next door.” She gestured at the wall separating the two rooms.
“Okay, well, I’m going to shower and get down to work. It’s time I did something besides stare into space and wonder how we got here.” He drained the mug then thumped it down on the night stand. “We should be ready to go whenever something happens.”
“Agreed.” Carla swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her instincts said to stay put and tidy up after Ashton, but she needed to dress for the day. “I’ll be next door.”
With Melody awake the room should be vacant.
Carla left the laptop on Ashton’s desk, lid open and her documents arranged for him to look through. She had a feeling today would be a lot more waiting around for something to happen, but when things went down, it was going to happen fast.
She let herself out of the room and padded barefoot down to the room she’d given up for Melody. Carla slipped inside.
The lights were on and the air humid. A pile of clothing was scattered from the door and around the corner.
Clothes that looked like they’d swallow Melody.
Carla’s stomach tensed and the hair on her arms rose.
It wasn’t...
She tip toed forward and peered around the corner into the bathroom along the shared wall between this room and Ashton’s. The door was cracked, and she heard the pounding of water along with a scent she’d begun to crave. Clean man, woodsy, a bit of bite.
Vaughn.
Her mouth dried up, and she stood frozen to the spot.
The logical part of her brain said it made sense for him to come up to the one unoccupied room to shower and rest after working all night. The rest of her was on high alert that the man with the moves was in here and they were alone.
Dangerously Deceived (Aegis Group Lepta Team, #3) Page 11