Unwrapped by The Billionaire

by Joanna Nicholson

  “We were just talking about you. I must admit, I didn’t think that you were going to be the cab driver. Is there a reason why you are wearing a fake tan, though?” she asked, motioning toward Gerard with a slight inclination of her hand. “Look, Gerard, it’s Charlie.”

  “Ah, so it is,” Gerard said after a moment, reclining into his seat and pulling his seatbelt into place. “I guess when you speak of the devil, he really does appear,” he said playfully, crossing his arms gently.

  “I’m sorry that I couldn’t let you two come back on your own, but I have urgent need of you to take care of something. It was simply easier for me to collect you myself and redirect you onto a new flight. I’m afraid you won’t be returning to London just yet,” he said, adjusting the rear-view mirror so that he could look at the two of them. “Duty calls you to action once more, agents.”

  The two agents sighed gently, offering one another sheepish smiles as Charlie pulled the taxi away from the hotel and merged into the leaving traffic. “I guess there is really no reason for us to refuse after you went through all of the trouble to come find us,” Elena said gently, her hand reaching over to squeeze Gerard’s gently.

  “If you have somewhere that we need to be, all you have to do is send us there. You are the boss,” Gerard said passively, returning Elena’s squeeze of the hand while he offered her a small smile.

  “I was hoping that you would say that,” Charlie said, his eyes twinkling in that mischievous way they did when he was about to send them on a new mission. “I knew I could count on the two of you.”

  Chapter Thirteen: Gerard

  It wasn’t exactly the greatest thing to have to cancel a ticket at the last minute, but Charlie assured us that he would make sure that things were taken care of with the airport. He seemed anxious to have them on their way, something that Gerard had noticed but decided not to bring up. It was frustrating to see the look of confusion on Elena’s face, but he assumed that Charlie was going to fill them in soon. When he finally pulled the cab into one of the side streets and put it into park, Gerard prepared himself for whatever was about to happen.

  “We’ve received a request for another mission, as I mentioned before. It involves the retrieval of treasure thought to be long abandoned. The only catch is that it is not in a place that will prove easy to get to,” he said, handing back a large manila folder to Gerard.

  “Why is it going to be hard to get to?” Elena piped up, grabbing the folder from Gerard and flipping it open, revealing a large amount of paperwork that was contained within.

  “It seems that while the treasure was being unearthed, a traveling band of mercenaries attacked the crew that was searching for the treasure and commandeered their equipment. Now they are being forced to unearth the treasure for the mercenaries, and I’ve heard that the mercenaries have been killing off hostages that don’t work fast enough,” Charlie continued as Gerard read through the documents he had provided them.

  “Does it matter if I state for the record that I really don’t like the sound of this job,” Elena muttered, shaking her head as she stroked a hand through her hair nervously.

  “Yeah, I can’t say that this really sounds like the kind of job we are prepared for,” Gerard said hesitantly. “Is it really a good idea for us to face off against an entire group of trained mercenaries with only the two of us?”

  “I think the two of you aren’t giving yourselves enough credit,” the older man said from the front seat. “How many times have you guys gone off to do stuff like this before?”

  “Too many times, if you ask me,” Elena replied, sighing as she looked out the window. “I feel like we keep pushing our luck with these kinds of missions. What happens if something goes wrong? Are you going to make sure that we have backup in case something doesn’t go as planned?”

  “Of course. I would never leave the two of you on the lamb with something like this. You will be going in with seven other agents, and I am thinking that with the nine of you working together you should be able to finish whatever mission I throw at you. I will let you know right off the bat that you would receive a sizable sum from the profits of the treasure once it is retrieved. Money like that could probably even allow you guys to retire from the business. You could live the lives you’ve always wanted to live without worrying about money ever again,” he said enthusiastically, gesturing wildly with his hand.

  Elena turned her head to look at Gerard, biting her bottom lip gently as she considered the offer. Gerard couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t worthwhile, but he knew that Elena wasn’t in the same position as he was. That much money would be enough to help her start a new life, and what guarantee did he have that she would want to stay with him the whole time. What the hell am I thinking? She hasn’t given any indication that she isn’t happy with me.

  “Do you think we should do it?” Elena asked softly, her blue eyes looking at Gerard with obvious uncertainty.

  “I honestly don’t know, Elena. I feel like this is a really big decision that we need time in order to make,” he said, casting a look at Charlie in the front seat, noticing that the older man had been quiet for a while now. “I don’t suppose time is a luxury we have at this point, though, is it?”

  “I’m afraid not. The fact that I came to get you here in Barcelona rather than allowing you to waste precious time on a flight back to London should give you some indication as to the timely nature of this mission. We must be willing to act right now if we are going to even hope to have a chance of walking away from this in a satisfactory way. Tonight is the night that we will have the best chance to pull this off, so haste is required. I’m afraid this is one of those times where you are just going to have to take the plunge,” Charlie added apologetically, his hands gripping the wheel tightly.

  Gerard stayed silent for a while before finally sighing, nodding gently. “Alright, I will agree to do this,” he said softly.

  “You will?” Elena and Charlie asked together in unison, their voices equally incredulous.

  “I have been having a pretty good time playing spy, but at the end of the day, this career is a lot more dangerous than I like. If I want to think about having the possibility of settling down, I have to take better steps to preserve my life and the lives of those few people that I consider close to me,” he replied, giving Elena a knowing look as he did. “I will finish this mission and use it as my final goodbye to the world of espionage. After that, I am going to fall off the grid and make my living the totally legitimate way. You can trust my silence on what happened during our partnership, but I ask that this be the final mission for Elena and me.”

  “What brought this about all of a sudden? I only gave you guys a week off, yet you guys seem to have convinced yourselves that it is time for you to quit. What happened in the time that I let you guys take off?” he inquired, gazing intently at the two of them through the rearview mirror.

  Elena began to blush brightly, suddenly looking out the window to prevent herself from having to meet Charlie’s gaze. Gerard tugged gently on the collar of his shirt, averting his eyes good-naturedly as he smiled. He didn’t know if it was the time for Elena and him to reveal the fact that they had started a relationship with one another, and in all honesty, he didn’t think it was any of Charlie’s business to begin with. “Let’s just say that the two of us have had the chance to spend a lot more time together, and we are starting to think that maybe this isn’t the right line of work for us anymore. At least not for what we were discussing doing in our future, anyway.”

  Charlie shrugged gently at that, his head shaking back and forth. “It’s a darn shame, but I don’t suppose there is anything I can say to change your minds, so I won’t even bother trying. Let’s just focus on getting this mission finished and then we will see where you guys are at afterward,” he said, clearing his throat as he lifted up a tablet from the front seat and typed his password in quickly before handing it back to them. On the screen, a picture of a rugged looking man with obs
idian colored skin glared out at them. He wore an eyepatch that covered his left eye, and he seemed to be missing many of his teeth, resulting in his clenched teeth in the picture having many gaps that detracted from how intimidating he would have normally been.

  “This is Randall “Alligator” Dubois. He started out as a small-time punk, but I have reason to believe that lately he has been recruited by someone willing to put him on a much higher payroll. I’m not sure who it is that is pulling his strings right now, but I do know that he is a very dangerous man that has never had a problem with taking drastic measures in order to get what he wants. I would recommend utilizing the utmost caution if you find yourself confronted by him,” Charlie said quickly, sounding just as anxious as Gerard was beginning to feel about the whole situation.

  “Man, way to make me feel like we aren’t quite so out of our league,” Gerard said with a laugh, feeling slightly better despite himself. “I feel like we can probably manage it if we have this team that you are talking about. What do you think, Elena?” he asked, his hand still not having left hers this entire time.

  “If you think that we can do it, then I will follow you,” she said eventually, doing her best to offer him a weak smile. “Just promise me you will have my back.”

  “Always,” Gerard said without hesitation, leaning over to plant a gentle kiss on her lips.

  “Well, if that is settled, how about I get you guys on your plane and you can get acquainted with your other teammates,” Charlie said, pointing in the direction of the airport as he pulled out of the alley and made his way toward the airport.

  “So, how did you guys enjoy your week off?” Charlie asked conversationally as he weaved the car in and out of traffic. “Did it give you plenty of time to relax?”

  “I can’t say that I got a lot of time to relax. Someone seemed to insist on riding me the whole time that we were here. I couldn’t seem to keep her off me,” Gerard said, immediately letting out a soft grunt as Elena elbowed him in the ribs.

  “I was not!” she exclaimed heatedly, her cheeks blushing a furious red from her embarrassment.

  “Now, now. No need to fight back there, you two,” Charlie said patronizingly from the front seat, pulling two plane tickets from the glove box and handing them back to Gerard. “Here are your tickets. I’ll meet up with you guys in the plane; I just need to park this taxi someplace first. I don’t imagine the man I took it from would be too happy if I damaged the vehicle or let it get towed,” Charlie said with a chuckle, making it very hard to tell whether he was joking or not.

  “You stole this car?” Elena asked incredulously, her eyebrow arching in surprise.

  “Time to get a move on,” Charlie deflected, flashing a smile.

  Chapter Fourteen: Elena

  Finding herself riding on an airplane surrounded by eight men would normally be an uncomfortable experience for Elena, but with Gerard there she knew that she didn’t have anything to worry about. Besides, she knew one of the guys from a previous mission that she and Gerard had done in Italy, and it was honestly refreshing for her to see him again. “Armando, how have you been?” she asked sociably, offering the middle-aged Italian man a gentle smile from where she sat across from him.

  “Just fine, thank you for asking,” he said with a grin, his hands moving to straighten the crimson necktie that he was wearing. “I see that you have managed to remain as beautiful as ever, mi amore.”

  “Oh, always the flatterer, aren’t you, Armando?” Elena asked, making sure she didn’t allow herself to get too flirtatious with him. She didn’t need to make Gerard jealous by putting him in a situation where he would be able to misconstrue her words. She didn’t need to flirt with any of the other guys; Gerard was more than enough man for her.

  “If you two are done with the formalities, we have something rather pressing that we should be focusing our attention on,” Gerard cut in, the manila folder that he had been handed earlier now spread open on the collapsible table that one of the other agents had brought with them. They had just finished going over their plan for how to deal with the mercenaries, yet Elena still wasn’t entirely sure about whether she felt too good about their chances.

  “It is just a bunch of modern day pirates that have managed to unwittingly stumble upon a big score. They couldn’t possibly be thinking that someone is going to try and take their treasure away right beneath their noses. I think you guys are worrying too much,” piped up one of the other agents; a Frenchman by the name of Germain Lebatoui.

  “The line between stupidity and recklessness is a fine line, Germain. We need to make absolutely sure that we have planned for every situation. I have never had a mission fail because of lack of planning before, and I refuse to allow that to get placed on my record now,” Gerard said, shooting the Frenchman a somewhat dirty look.

  “Alright, alright. No need to get your panties all in a bundle,” Germain said patronizingly, holding his hands up in front of him defensively. “I just think that we are psyching ourselves out for something that we can take care of relatively easily.”

  “Where do you get this level of confidence from?” asked one of the other agents, a short Asian man who went by the name of Tao Pei. “This is the first time we’ve dealt with rogue mercenaries acting as pirates. The unfamiliar scenario means that we would be wise to use extra caution while we proceed.”

  “In my experience, you can plan things out as much as you want, but life is rarely kind enough to allow everything to go exactly like you plan. I’ve gotten where I am today by trusting my gut and my training, and I suggest you guys start doing the same. Beaurocracy can only get you so far in this world, and the people who are able to adapt to situations on the fly are the ones who always make out the best,” Germain said insistently, his hand reaching down to pull his revolver out of its holster so that he could load six bullets into it.

  “This is supposed to be a stealth operation. The whole point is that we are supposed to try and get the treasure without them knowing we are here. Only when it seems like contact is unavoidable are we to switch to an offensive plan of action,” a deep voice said, causing Gerard and Elena to turn their heads toward the source of the voice.

  A tall black man with a pair of black Terminator-style sunglasses was leaning against his seat, a glass of wine held gently in his right hand, his palm cradling the bottom of the glass due to the stem being held between his fingers. Elena shot a curious look over to Gerard, neither of them being acquainted with the speaker. “I have to agree. Getting ourselves pumped full of lead isn’t going to do anybody any favors.”

  “You guys are no fun at all,” Germain complained, clicking the safety into place before returning his revolver to its holster.

  “You won’t be complaining so much when we manage to make it out of this alive,” Gerard replied dismissively, his attention moving to pause temporarily on each of the other occupants of the plane. “We’ll be approaching the ship that the pirates have commandeered in a few minutes. Does everyone know what their jobs are?”

  There was a gentle murmuring of assent from the other agents, Germain looking slightly cowed from having been chided by Gerard. Elena let out a gentle sigh of relief as she sat back in her chair, doing her best to calm the myriad of thoughts that were currently racing through her mind. Despite her confidence in the abilities of the men that she was surrounded by, it was hard for her to shake off her feelings of hesitation entirely. There was just something about the situation that seemed strange to her, and the nagging suspicion she had felt ever since Charlie had come to get them had not dissipated in the slightest. She stood up to head toward the back of the plane, voicing aloud her desire to use the restroom. Gerard rose from his chair and followed her, the two of them slipping into the bathroom together before locking the door behind them.

  “I know that look,” Gerard said quietly, looking down at Elena with a small frown. “You think that something is wrong, don’t you?”

  “Nothing ever gets past you, does
it?” she asked, letting out a gentle sigh as she sat on the lid of the toilet, looking up at him. “I just can’t shake the feeling that this might be a setup. We have never really worked with any of these other agents before, yet Charlie was insistent that we be placed together in a group. Then we are supposed to fight a whole gang of mercenaries with just the nine of us while not having any information about our enemies aside from what Charlie was willing to put in the briefing file? That just smells like a trap to me.”

  “I admit, the circumstances behind this mission are slightly questionable, but why would Charlie betray us? We are two of his best agents, not to mention the fact that I consistently funnel money into his operations. That alone should be good enough for us to get a free pass with Charlie. And while he might be disappointed that we are considering leaving the organization, I don’t think that would be enough for him to send us on a death mission. He recruited us for this before he even knew we were considering leaving,” he said neutrally, his hand reaching out to stroke gently over Elena’s cheek.

  “I just don’t want anything happening to us. Especially you, Gerard,” she added quietly, a faint pink blush spreading across her cheeks.

  “I appreciate the sentiment. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you either, sweetheart,” he said softly, smiling as he leaned down to kiss her forehead gently. “So long as we make sure to watch each other’s backs out there, I’m sure we’ll be able to come out of this just fine.”

  “I wish I could be so confident about everything all the time,” Elena muttered, shaking her head in wonder. “How can you be so sure that things are going to work out?”

  She gasped as she felt his arms suddenly move to wrap around her, her face suddenly being pressed gently against his chest. She blushed a little more but didn’t try to pull away, her own arms moving to wrap gently around his waist in reply. “It’s because I am willing to fight to protect the things that are dearest to me,” Gerard replied softly. “So long as I continue to draw breath, I will not let any harm befall you. That is my solemn oath to you.”