“I’ve got a bit of news.”
Kyle jumped in, “Let me guess, it’s about work.”
“Are you certain they don’t need to wire your jaw shut?” Sam quipped back. “Anyway, okay, it is about work. But it’s phenomenal news if you ask me.”
“All right, well spill it,” Jack said.
Sam explained, “I had a talk with Mary Hartsfield, whom you are all aware is the director of the CIA.”
Marvin walked in at that moment, and everyone gave him a happy hello.
After everyone finished their hellos and thank-yous, Sam said, “Good timing actually, Marv, this concerns you as well. Director Hartsfield was so impressed with how we all have worked together over the last couple of weeks that she wants to continue on with a good thing.”
“Okay,” Kyle said. “What exactly does that mean?”
“Well, if everyone wants to remain involved, she has discussed it with the higher-ups, including the President of the United States, and she wants to make an unprecedented move and give us a special unit of our own within the CIA. To operate however we see fit when we are tasked with a mission. It’s the first time something like this has happened in the program’s history. Free reign.”
Everyone was shocked to hear the news, and it was something everyone was excited to hear, because none of the ragtag group had any allegiance outside of the group. Staying together was the best-case scenario for them. Everyone was happy to hear the news except Xander, that is. And Sam could see it all over his face.
“Xander, I know you don’t want to be encumbered by the government. But this is the only way they will let us work together in this capacity going forward. Mary said we get to choose the name and all. And the way she explained it, you and I will truly work independently to set the rules of engagement. We’ll answer to no one.”
Xander nodded, but his mood didn’t change. “That’s great, Sam. It really is.”
“But?” Kyle asked.
Xander nodded to his friend. “But . . . I’m just going to come right out and say it. I’m done.”
Everyone was silent for a moment; then Viktor let out a laugh. “Boss, that is good one. You almost had Viktor. You really are funny guy. That is like fat man saying he is done eating forever. Ha-ha. Boss could never quit taking out bad guy. That is good one!”
Everyone else remained silent, including Xander.
Sam broke the silence. “I don’t think he is joking, Viktor.”
Xander crossed his arms. “I’m not. I’m finished. This entire thing, the last few weeks, I am so proud to have fought beside you all. But none of it should ever have happened. All of this has been because of my inability to just let things go. And I have put every single one of you in danger, which you should never have been in.”
“You know we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else,” Jack said.
“I know, Jack,” Xander said. “But that doesn’t change anything. This last twenty-four hours just happened to end up that no one died. But there sits my best friend . . .” Xander had to stop; emotion overwhelmed him. Sam stepped over and put her hand on his shoulder. Xander took a moment, then pointed to Kyle. “There sits my best friend in the world, broken, and he is lucky that it wasn’t worse.”
“Xander, I’ll be fine, brother. This shit will heal.” Kyle tried to soften the mood.
“I know it will. This time. But Natalie is right. One of these times when I go playing hero, someone else, if not me, is going to end up like Sean back in Syria, dead. And I can’t go through that again.”
Everyone was silent. That was a point that was hard to argue.
“But that doesn’t mean you all can’t go on and be a part of this special unit. It just won’t involve me.”
Zhanna said, “Well, then, unit would not be so special.”
“Thank you, Zhanna. You’re sweet. But this is the way it is. I have too many wonderful things to live for. I have you guys, my sister and my niece, and hopefully a shot at that woman in the other room. Time will tell. But I need to get back to the other things I love in life. My budding bourbon company, my horses that are training hard every day. I want to be a part of those things. If I throw myself into that, it will be easier not to answer that call when it comes.”
Jack cleared his throat. “If I may?”
Xander nodded.
“Son, that all sounds real good. And I believe you really mean it when you say it. But a shark kills his prey to live. It’s just his nature. Same as you and going after the enemy. It’s just the man you’ve become. I support you no matter what you decide, but just don’t lie to yourself.”
Marv said, “I agree with Jack. I’ve known you for a long time, can’t see you hanging it up so young, X. The country needs you.”
“Understood, Jack, Marv. But I’m sorry, guys, I can’t do it anymore. But I am certain if it’s the life you all still want, the CIA will absolutely find a place for you.”
“Well, that was a buzz kill.” Kyle winked. “But I hear you. I’m glad you said it. I want you around for a long time. Let’s get back home and sell some bourbon! Sam, you can scare off the drunks at the parties.”
Sam went more literal. “More like actually put some decent security in place. No more villains sneaking into the stables.”
Xander gave Sam a squeeze. The six of them hung around for a while, filling each other in on just how crazy the last twenty-four hours had been. All the while sharing some laughs and signing Kyle’s casts.
53
Time Will Tell
After a couple more days in Paris waiting for doctors to okay the flight home for Kyle, Xander was chomping at the bit to get out of that city. Natalie had already gone back to work. Xander was stunned by her bravery. However, he did make sure Marv pulled a few of the best bodyguards in town and wouldn’t take no from Natalie about them being around. He and Natalie saw each other a couple more times before he and the team boarded Xander’s plane, but they never really spoke about their conversation in the hospital bed. All Natalie said was that she would see him back in the States once she wrapped the filming of her movie in Paris. He didn’t know exactly what that meant for them as a couple, but at least it meant he would see her again. And Xander had decided that a little bit of Natalie was better than none at all.
As he sat on his G6, thirty-five thousand feet in the air, sipping on some King’s Ransom bourbon, he was content with what he had told the people who were sitting all around him now. He wanted to see if he really could live life without the fight. The thought of slowing down and playing a bigger role in his businesses sounded like a breath of fresh air. And some fun times with his friends, old and new, sounded even better.
He already spoke with Director Hartsfield. And while she was disappointed to hear Xander say he was hanging it up, including the vigilante stuff, she was happy to take in the rest of the team, who all wanted a role in helping the United States. She said Zhanna and Jack would fit in nicely. However, she told Xander that Viktor would be best suited for a straitjacket. Xander couldn’t disagree, but he had grown to love that crazy son of a bitch. In small doses, at least. And he told Viktor he could find a place for him if he wanted. Viktor actually did a cartwheel at the prospect. Director Hartsfield ended the call with an open invitation for Xander to return if he ever so desired.
As he took another sip of bourbon, he tried to have an honest moment with himself. He realized that the last twelve years of his life had been dedicated to one mission: become the greatest killer he could and use what he learned to avenge his parents’ death. Now that all of that was behind him, he didn’t know how he would feel in the weeks and months to come. Could he find satisfaction in civilian life after all the years of adrenaline-pumping battle? He couldn’t say for sure. Couldn’t say for certain if that itch would ever creep back under his skin or not. He just knew he hoped it wouldn’t.
As he looked around at his friends, especially Sam and Kyle, he truly wanted to be done with that side of himself. He pray
ed he could stay away so he could prove to Natalie he was really finished. But Xander had always been a realistic man, and he knew that sooner or later that phone was going to ring. All he could hope for was that when that time came, he could call on that inner strength, tap into that mental toughness that made him the legendary soldier that he was, and not scratch that itch.
As cliché as it sounded, he knew that only time would tell.
Xander is back in the 4th thriller, KING’S REIGN. Tap here to download your copy today!
King’s Reign Sample
(Sample Chapter)
Chapter 1
The Itch
The slow dance between day and night had begun its twirl out over the Pacific Ocean. As the waves rolled gently ashore, the tangerine sky above Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, continued its fight against the black of night. A warm breeze whispered through the palm trees, rustling the leaves: a tropical lullaby. Out in the distance, storm clouds gathered, the threat of a tropical storm looming.
The Resort at Pedregal looked out over that ocean, many of its rooms embedded in the side of a cliff. It had a large patio area with sweeping views of the Pacific, and the lagoon-style infinity pool looked as if it emptied right out into it. A circular tiki bar—thatch roof and all—was half swim-up from the pool and half bar stools on the other side. Xander King sat at one of those stools, taking in the view. As he was considering which of the views to be more breathtaking, the auburn sky or the woman relaxing at the pool’s infinity edge, he struck a match, lighting a Davidoff 702 Reserve cigar. After a couple of puffs, the clouds of smoke scented the air with cocoa, almonds, and cream. Xander sat back in his chair, and with a deep, relaxing breath, the woman who was now stepping out of the pool made the decision easy for him.
It was her.
If he didn’t know better, he’d swear it was J.Lo who stood toweling off just twenty feet from him. Xander took a sip of his Don Julio Blanco tequila—on the rocks with a lime—and wasn’t at all shy about letting his eyes linger. When the woman noticed him noticing her, she wasn’t shy about flashing him a smile, acknowledging their mutual attraction. Xander moved his attention back toward the ocean. Every time he saw a breathtaking woman, he thought of Natalie Rockwell. And every time he thought of Natalie, it nearly ruined his evening. While it wasn’t that he hadn’t been with another woman since he last saw her in Paris almost five months ago in June, because sexually he had, but his heart still belonged to Natalie. They’d spoken several times on the phone and chatted briefly via text messages, but it was clear Natalie still didn’t believe that Xander could stay away from the fight. She kept saying it was just a matter of time before he couldn’t resist scratching that itch. “You can’t fight who you really are, Xander,” she would say. But he had resisted the itch over the last five months. The CIA had called for him several times, and several times he declined. The only question he kept asking himself was whether he was declining because he wanted to, or if it was for her.
Bob Marley kept telling him not to worry about a thing over the speakers fixed to the underside of the bar’s thatch roof. He said don’t worry, because every little thing was gonna be all right. But it wasn’t. Things were very different. His best friend, Kyle, had taken over the day-to-day operations of Xander’s company, King’s Ransom Bourbon. And Sam, Xander’s longtime partner in the fight to find his parents’ killer, well, she’d grown bored of watching Xander, in her words, “deny his true calling.” His “calling” to her was defined as continuing to rid the world of bad guys. But after all that happened in Syria, Moscow, and Paris, it seemed to Xander that he had lost his motivation to give a damn about the bad guys and what they were doing. His giving such a damn about them had lost him the chance of a life with Natalie. Sam said he was moping around like a little bitch. Her version of tough love. So while Xander “moped” around, she had been consulting for the director of the CIA, Mary Hartsfield, in her spare time.
Xander didn’t consider what he was doing to be “moping,” however. He considered it healing. Taking time away from everything—healing his body, and his mind. It was something he needed to do. And just because the last few weeks he’d been having dreams of running down gunmen, jumping out of planes, and pulling the trigger on his Glock 19 didn’t mean he was missing it. And just because he had started back doing the highly intense Murph workout every morning again didn’t mean he was preparing himself to jump back into the fray.
Did it?
Xander took a drag from his cigar and followed it with a sip of tequila.
He heard a woman’s voice beside him: “I’ll have what he’s having.” Her voice. She was even more beautiful now that she was closer. Her skin was the color of caramel; her long, wet dark hair fell down the back of her white tight-fitting, gauze-like cover-up dress.
Yum.
Xander smiled. “Aren’t you going to buy me a drink? I saw the way you were ogling me from the pool.”
She turned from the bartender toward him and smiled back. Wow, what a smile.
“I don’t think my boyfriend would like that.”
Xander made a point to search all around the bar, comically exaggerating the turn of his head and body; then when he turned back to her, he shrugged his shoulders and gave a considering look. “I don’t see any boyfriends.”
She held up two fingers to the bartender as she laughed at Xander’s playful remark. When she turned to him, he noticed the most beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. They seemed kind, with a heavy side portion of sexy. “And I don’t see any girlfriends.” She looked him up and down. “What’s a tall, dark, and handsome man such as yourself doing out here in paradise, drinking alone?”
“Waiting on nature to take its course.” Xander didn’t hesitate.
The bartender handed the woman two drinks, and she slid Xander’s over to him.
“And he’s charming.”
“Just wait till you see what I can do in the kitchen.”
Xander didn’t cook, but it sounded good.
She held out her hand. “Well, Mister Perfect, I’m Gabriela Cisneros.”
He took her hand. “Alexander King, my friends call me Xander. You have a beautiful name . . . is it Spanish?”
“Si, señor.” She took a sip of her drink. As she did, Xander pulled out a bar stool for her. “A southern gentleman, I see?” She took the seat.
“Si, hermosa.”
Xander didn’t know Spanish, but he’d heard a man at the airport say that word about Xander’s G6 private jet. His pilot Bob told him it meant beautiful.
“Lexington, Kentucky.”
“Ah,” she said, “home of the beautiful horses.”
“You got it.”
Xander reached his glass toward hers, and she clanked her glass against it.
“Salud.”
“Salud,” Xander said. “How ’bout you?”
“Scottsdale originally. LA now, well, when I’m not in Mexico with Antonio.”
“So there really is a boyfriend.”
Gabriela gave a faltering smile. “There really is. And I should really go before he gets back.”
Xander shifted in his seat and set his cigar down on the ashtray. “I don’t like the sound of that. Jealous type, is he?”
“You have no idea.”
“Hmm.” Xander contemplated.
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
Gabriela shifted toward him and recrossed her legs. The long, tan legs that were on another level.
“It’s nothing. You just don’t seem like the type of woman who would let a man tell her who she can and can’t talk to.”
“Yeah? What type do I seem like?”
“Unicorn.”
Gabriela laughed. “Don’t hold back now.”
Xander smiled. “You really are a beautiful woman.”
She sipped her drink. “Those blue eyes of yours are trouble. I bet there is a trail of broken hearts left in your wake, Alexander.”
Hearing her call him by his full name sent a
zing through him. That was Natalie’s thing.
“You’re safe with me.”
“He says with such confidence.” She brushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear. “Listen, this has been fun, but I really do have to get going—”
“Gabriela?” a man called from somewhere behind the two of them.
Immediately, Xander could see a shift in Gabriela. So much so that he became concerned. She was clearly afraid of whoever just called her name.
“Shit,” she said in a panicked whisper as she stepped down from her bar stool. “Whatever you do, please don’t antagonize him.”
Now Xander was really worried about her. This could get interesting really quickly. Xander hadn’t even seen this man, but he knew he already didn’t like him. And just the slightest trickle of anticipatory adrenaline leaked into his nervous system. He hadn’t had that feeling in a while. Xander had no idea what it was like to be hooked on drugs, but he felt as if that little shot of adrenaline had to be what it was like when a junkie got his fix.
“What the hell are you doing, Gabriela?”
Xander turned to find a man walking toward them. A man who was every drug-dealing cliché in the book. He was a Mexican man with a thick accent. White blazer with a white dress shirt underneath, tucked into white pants, finishing with some of the tackiest white patent leather loafers on the planet. If all of that weren’t bad enough, his jet-black hair was slicked back, Pat Riley style, and he was wearing enough gold chains and bracelets to make Mr. T jealous. He wasn’t very tall, but he was in good shape, and he stood like a peacock, chest jutted out in front of him.
Xander answered for Gabriela. “I was trying to buy the pretty lady a drink, but she said her boyfriend wouldn’t much like that. Can’t win ’em all, I guess.”
He could see the appreciation in Gabriela’s eyes when she glanced at him.
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