Needless to say, there are about 50,000 ways things can go wrong. When something does, we’ll need to deal with it and surge ahead with the plan. As long as one of us makes it back to the boat and the child is unhurt, the mission will be deemed a success. Not one of us is as important as Edward’s son. He’s all that matters. Each one of us is ready to put his life on the line to accomplish that goal.
I’m triple checking my weapons one last time when Brianna drifts into the stateroom we’ve been sharing. “I want to go with you.”
“No.”
“I can help.”
I secure the weapon into my thigh holster, busy myself with checking every piece of gear vital to the mission. “Not happening.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t have military training. You’d slow down the team. And, worst of all, you could get hurt. Big Mac has his orders. If we don’t make it back in two hours, he’s to leave and get you back to Sao Paulo where the Storm Industries’ jet will be waiting to fly you to England.”
“Why didn’t the jet fly into Rio? It’s closer.”
“Whoever kidnapped Edward’s son probably has people at the airport. If they’d seen the Storm Industries’ jet land there, they would have reported it to the kidnappers. Instead, the jet will land in Sao Paulo. By the time it does, we’ll be back here with Edward’s son.”
“Jake—” She clutches my upper arms. “I don’t want you hurt.”
The thought I may never see her again streaks through me. The time’s all wrong. We only have twenty minutes before we head out. But right now, I don’t give a damn. I grab her and push her against the door. No time to do anything except in the most primal of ways. I kiss her hard before I yank down her shorts, free my cock, lift her up and drive into her. I pound hard and heavy, hoping I’ll imprint myself in her body, in her mind. So she’ll never forget me. The conclusion is quick and inevitable. It’s only when I pour my seed into her, I realize the colossal mistake I made. No condom.
“Fuck. I’m sorry.” I brush my hand across my forehead, deeply regretting my carelessness.
She drops her head on my shoulder as her legs slide to the ground. “What for?”
“Condom. One night of unprotected sex was bad enough.”
She bats the tears away from her face. “You think I give a damn about that?”
“You should. What if—?” The thought I could have impregnated her, either tonight or the time before, troubles me. Not because I wouldn’t welcome her child, but because— “What if I got you pregnant and I don’t come back?”
“You didn’t. I’m on the pill.”
My mouth twists into a rueful grin. “That worked out really well for your sister-in-law.”
“That was different.” She protests.
How so? I want to ask, but I don’t want to spend the little time we have left fighting with her. “I don’t want to argue. What’s done is done.” I capture her face in my hand. Kiss her hard. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
“Be careful.” She captures my face in her hands and kisses me.
The salt in her tears stings the bite on my lips from the night before. Good. I’ll carry that memory into the mission and hope to God I live to have her do it again. “It will be fine. I will be fine.”
She nods, even though it’s nothing but wishful thinking.
After one last taste of her mouth, she moves to the side and I step through the door, knowing damn well I might not make it back.
The drive up to the Case do Touro—the House of The Bull—takes twenty minutes tops. Named after the leader of a drug cartel who owns it. We’re not sure who’s responsible for the kidnapping of Edward’s child. But once he’s secure I intend to find out. We’ll need to neutralize the threat to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Chapter 19
______________
Brianna
THE WAIT ON THE BOAT is interminable. Big Mac greets me topside, his usual wisecracks missing. “Orders are to shove off at 0400 hours, whether or not they’re back.”
“I know.” We’re anchored in Guanabara Bay, one of the most beautiful spots on earth with its breathtaking view of Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado and its striking statue of Christ the Redeemer. But I can’t enjoy any of it, given the current state of events.
“You might want to go below and catch forty winks.” He points to the stairway that leads below deck.
I rub my arms from the chill of the air. “I don’t think I could.”
“You can’t stay on deck pacing. You’ll alert suspicion unless you want to go at it for the next hour and a half.”
“Who’d notice?”
“Look around.”
A couple of boats are moored close to us. The sounds of moans and grunts carry over the water from a craft nearby. No doubt what they’re doing. With witnesses nearby, my standing on deck glancing toward the shore could raise suspicion. And we have no clue if anyone on those boats is spying on us. “I see what you mean.”
He nods. “Go below. I’ll just sit here and pretend to get drunk.”
Even though the last thing I want is obey him, I do. I climb down to the stateroom I shared with Jake and busy myself packing our things. Only when everything’s neatly stowed away do I lie down on the bed and close my eyes, just to rest them for a second.
What seems like moments later, the engines come alive. I roll out of bed, barely gain my feet before hitting the deck and start to run up the stairway, only to run into a woman carrying a boy. He looks so much like Edward there’s no doubt in my mind who he is. I step back to allow her to step all the way down with the child clinging to her, his small arms wrapped around her neck. Behind them, Riley clambers down the stairs. But not Jake. Something inside me howls.
“Where’s Jake?”
“Topside.” Riley gestures toward the bridge deck.
“What happened?”
The boat comes alive and we grab the handholds so we don’t fall down. I guide the woman with the child still clinging to her to the salon and the sofa. “Please sit.”
Wide-eyed, she nods. “Gracias, senora.”
Thank God she speaks Spanish. My Spanish might be rusty but it’s better than my Portuguese. First things first. I ask her name.“Como se llama?”
“Teresa.”
I point to the boy. “Y el nino?”
“Richard.”
Richard? The babe who died in his mother’s womb? How can that be? We’ll need to sort it out, but not right now.
I wrap a blanket around both of them since they’re trembling, Poor things must be suffering from shock.
“What happened?”
I ask Riley who’s been watching the whole thing.
“We tripped an alarm up the mountain. Some sort of electronic equipment out in the woods. We managed to take out the outside guard before he could react. But the ones inside were ready for us. Jake burst through first, took a hit.”
God, no. “Is he okay?”
“Flesh wound. Big Mac’s patching him up topside.”
I start for the stairway, but he blocks my way. “I have to see how badly he’s hurt.”
“Trust me, you don’t. He doesn’t want to see you right now and you don’t want to see him.”
“I do if he’s hurt! Get out of my way.”
“We got bigger problems, Ms. Storm. Need to figure out what to do about her.” He nods toward the woman clutching Richard in her arms.
We’d managed to obtain a passport for the boy, contraband to be sure, but we hadn’t anticipated the woman. “I don’t suppose she has a passport on her.”
He snorts. “No.”
“Who is she?” I ask.
“Didn’t have time to find out. We just grabbed her and the child and ran.”
Jake climbs down the stairs. Riley takes a look at me and Jake and heads on up. Just as well. Not enough room for the five of us down below. Blood stains Jake’s shirt. “You got hurt.”
“Flesh wound. Mack patched me up.�
� His right arm’s in a sling.
Jake’s much more fluent in Spanish than I, but the woman’s clearly terrified of him. No wonder. If he came in blazing with guns. “She wouldn’t talk to us. Did you get anything out of her?”
“Her name’s Teresa and the boy’s name is Richard.”
“The son he fathered with Maria. How can—”
“Maria’s mi hermana. Era mi hermana,” Teresa says.
Maria was her sister. She’s the boy’s aunt.
“Que paso?” Jake asks.
Teresa fires off Spanish too rapid for me to follow but I get the gist of it. She’d been with her sister at the marketplace when the guerillas opened fire. Her sister had been badly hurt. She’d been rushed to the hospital where she died. But the babe had been saved. The guerillas insisted on taking the child and threatened to kill the doctor and the nurse if they breathed a word that he lived. Teresa insisted they take her with them. She would take care of the baby.
“So she’s lived in captivity with the child all these years?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“But why did they take him in the first place?”
“To use him as blackmail or as ransom, I imagine. Edward didn’t have any money while he lived in Mexico but they may have known who he is. They probably decided to wait until he returned to England to make their demands. In the meantime, the Brazilian Storm Industries project came up. Someone must have known who Richard is and made a deal. Money was probably exchanged along with the child. Once they had him, they blackmailed you.”
“But who’d have that kind of power and money?”
“We might never know. The important thing is to get them out of Brazil. We have a false passport for the boy.”
“We can’t sit around while we have him do another one for Teresa. It took him three days to do the one for the boy.”
“We don’t need one.”
“By the time we get to England, Gabriel and Edward will have moved heaven and earth to clear her entry into the country. And I imagine, they’ll have the British Government on their side.”
Chapter 20
______________
Jake
THE TRANSFER FROM THE MOTOR YACHT to the Sao Paulo airport goes off without a hitch. We’ve arranged for a car and a driver to meet us at the docks. Teresa, the child, Brianna and I pile into it. At the airport terminal, we say goodbye to the team. Brianna gives everyone a hug and a kiss, thanking them for their efforts. If I know Storm, and I do, they’ll be well reimbursed for their services. They enjoyed the challenge of the mission, but they took their lives in their hands.
After we’re safely aboard the Storm Industries plane and jetting for Miami, where we will refuel, we eat a hastily-prepared meal consisting of crackers, cheese and fruit. Nothing fancy, but it’s enough to satisfy everyone’s hunger. I encourage Richard and his aunt to lie down for a nap on the bed located on the back of the plane. God knows they’ve earned it.
Going by the shadows under her eyes, Brianna’s exhausted but there’s one thing she must do before she gets some sleep. She must call Storm and tell him about Richard. He knows nothing about the rescue mission. The team decided the less in the know, the better its chance for success.
Brianna takes a deep breath and dials Storm’s number on the satellite flight phone. The conversation is fast and furious. By the end, Storm has a British government official on his other line. By the time we land, I have no doubt everything will be smoothed out. He’s an Earl and a billionaire. The British government is not about to rock that particular boat.
The flight to Miami lasts eight hours. We’ll stop only long enough to refuel and get a fresh crew on the plane before we take off for London. Storm will have roughly sixteen hours to square things with the authorities. Good thing’s he’s in Washington, D.C., close to the British Embassy. When we land in Miami, he’s waiting for us at the private terminal.
After he climbs aboard and hugs Brianna, he approaches the child who clings to his aunt. Storm knows no Spanish so I translate. When I mention the word ‘tio,’ Richard’s face lights up. The word uncle, he understands. Storm thought ahead and brought a toy that turns from a car into a robot. Needless to say, Richard’s fascinated with the plaything.
While he takes the toy apart and puts it together again, Storm explains what’s happened so far. The British government has promised a passport for Richard as soon we land in Heathrow. The one for the aunt will take a bit of wrangling with the Mexican embassy in London. They’re not ready to issue one until they’ve talked to Teresa and verified her identity. I explain the situation to Teresa who talks to the child. He seems to be fine. As long as he’s not separated from his aunt, there shouldn’t be any trouble.
We arrive at Heathrow to find Edward waiting for us along with officials from the British and Mexican government. As soon as the stairs are lowered, Edward climbs aboard. The two brothers embrace, exchange a few words, and Storm clambers down the stairs ready to take on whoever he has to in order to make things right.
The boy’s standing in the center of the plane, leaning against his aunt, sucking his thumb. Teresa nods toward Edward. He nods back.
“Este es tu Papa, Richard,” Teresa says.
“Mi Papa?” My father?
“Si.”
“I brought you a gift. Una pelota.”
Richard’s eyes light up when he sees the soccer ball. “Mia?” Mine?
“Si,” Edward answers.
Richard shyly walks up to Edward and takes the ball from his father. “Gracias.”
Edward drops to his knees. His arms tremble as he embraces his son. Over his head, he glances at Brianna and mouths “Thank you.”
She smiles shakily as tears rain down her face. All I can say is thank God everything came out right.
The wrangling between government officials and Gabriel outside the plane takes more than an hour, but nobody seems to mind the wait, not while they can sit inside the plane and witness the meeting of father and son. Slowly, Edward manages to ease Richard’s fears. His fluency in Spanish helps. By the time, passports are issued and permission is given to disembark, they’re well on their way to becoming a family.
Brianna and I are the last to get off the plane. Oddly enough, she’s tense.
“Will you join us?” she asks.
They’re driving to the London mansion where they’ll stay for a few days. While in London, Edward plans to buy clothes and whatever Richard and Teresa need before heading to Winterleagh.
“No. I need to stop off at my flat, get my mail, take care of things.” I point to my arm.
“Of course. You’ll need a doctor to take a look at that. You’ll join us after you get it seen to?” Her gaze is oddly hopeful, but I can’t go down that road. Not again.
“The mission’s done. Brianna. We’ve extracted Richard. Look at all the security surrounding him now. He’s safe.”
“Is that all it was to you? A mission?”
I hesitate but a second before I respond. “What else would it be?”
“Just like I was?”
“You’ve always been my mission, to get you back home in one piece.”
“The only one dented is you.”
I shrug my uninjured shoulder. “It’s a graze, nothing more.” I’m telling the truth. The pain I’m feeling doesn’t come from my arm but my heart because chances are we’ll never be this close again.
Chapter 21
______________
Brianna
ON LEADEN FEET, I walk to the car where Gabe waits for me. Edward, his son, and Teresa are already headed toward London in a separate car. So, for the moment, he and I are alone.
“Jake’s not coming?”
“No. He ... needs his arm seen to and has things to take care of.”
“But then he’ll join us at The Brighton?” By right, Gabe should take up residency in the family’s London townhouse, but he will never do so. While in London, he and his family inhabit the penthouse suite of The B
righton, a building we inherited from an ancestor, and which Royce, Gabe and I are glad to call home. He associates the townhouse mansion with his mother, the Countess, whom he, with good reason, abhors. So he’ll never, ever live there. Instead, he’s ceded possession of the townhouse to our brother, Edward, who’ll live there while in town and at Winterleagh the rest of the time.
I gaze in the direction of where Jake stands ready to climb into a third car, one driven by a member of the security team. “I don’t think so.”
Gabe steps toward Jake, but I grab his arm. “Don’t.”
His brows draw together; confusion reigns in his eyes. “He risked his life in the service of our family. I have to thank him, offer some compensation for what he’s gone through.”
I shake my head. “He’s not looking for payment for services rendered, Gabe. If you want to help him, find a way to finance this new business of his.”
“What business?”
“Cooper Security. He’s starting a new company that will provide protection and assess threats for private individuals and families. Companies as well. He’s gathering quite a team, including some of the ones who helped rescue Richard.”
“I’ll need to get their names. They won’t object to compensation, will they?”
“No. They’ll welcome the money, I’m sure.” From the conversations I held with the team members, I believe they would be glad to be paid.
“How many were on the team?”
“Including Jake? Four. I’ll email you their names and locations. One thing. Mac Taylor? He’s older and more experienced than the rest. He would make a great security chief at one of our projects.”
“Such as Brazil?”
“Yes. You’ll need to replace Terrence. He’s not suited for the job.”
“Was already planning on it. I put it off hoping I could talk Jake into returning.”
“He won’t.” I gaze off into the distance where the car carrying Jake is speeding up and will soon disappear from sight. And probably from my life as well. He’ll be too busy setting up Cooper Security to spare a thought for me.
My brother shakes his head. “I don’t understand you two. You’d think—”
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