True Deceptions (True Lies)

by Veronica Forand

  She laughed. “No. I’m fine.”

  “You’re acting like something’s wrong. As your boss, I need to be informed of everything that concerns me and the assignment.”

  “My issue has more to do with you than the assignment.” She was no longer laughing.

  “Am I too much for you in bed?”

  “Not enough.” She pulled on his arm so he was seated next to her on the couch. A smile emerged, but didn’t engage all her facial muscles.

  He placed his drink on the table and then nuzzled her neck until she purred. His hand dropped to her chest, and he paused at the intensity of her breathing. Too deep and erratic. Her heart was also beating at a speed much faster than it ought to be while snogging. Something more was going on. He sat up, pulled his hands off her, and took a swig of the vodka to prepare for whatever she needed to say. “Spill it, Watson. I hate puzzles and games.”

  “I’m pregnant.” The hesitancy in her voice explained everything.

  Pregnant? He could handle a lot of crap thrown at him, and anticipated all sorts of obstacles preventing him from completing missions, but he wasn’t expecting that. Did she realize what this meant? He didn’t.

  Could he marry her? Should he marry her? Was the baby okay? Was she okay? No wonder she was so sick. Her body held an additional occupant. He’d be sick as hell if he had another being living within him, too. His brain spun around at a million miles an hour. Then he looked at her.

  A deer in the headlights, waiting to see his response. He held his breath a moment, said a quick thank you to God for bringing Cassie into his life, and then smiled. He’d found his match, and she was more amazing than he’d ever imagined. And now she was carrying his child.

  “You’re good with this?” she asked. Tears streamed down her face, perhaps in relief.

  “We’re going to have the tallest child ever. I hope she has blonde hair and blue eyes like her mother.”

  “A girl?”

  “I’ll take a boy, but he has to promise to become a professor like his uncle.”

  She stared at him, and then her eyes lit up, “Henry’s your brother.”

  “Half brother, on our father’s side. So Alex’s baby will have a cousin.”

  “I’m an only child, so I think that’s wonderful.” She sniffled.

  He held her in his arms and listened to her heart beating slow and steady, as it should. Plans had to be changed, the assignment modified. The most important thing now was to keep her away from the crazy bastards who had just purchased the drones. She had no idea how ruthless these men could be. They wanted success at all costs and would throw anyone under the bus to prevent their exposure to their government. Too bad he might lose the heart of the woman he loved in the process of keeping her, and their child, safe.

  Cassie enjoyed the afternoon at the spa at Simon’s insistence, while he tried to needle Dane into freeing up the drones sooner rather than later. He’d told her about Dane’s involvement in the CIA and most of the pieces of their friendly rivalry came into focus. No wonder Dane had tried to steal her away. They’d played this game over the course of the many assignments they’d shared. The outcome didn’t matter because the women were willing and the men were horn dogs. The fact that Simon never stopped her from going to Dane’s office to obtain the codes meant he trusted her to outfox a CIA operative, and she had. She smiled to herself. Simon did trust her as a field agent.

  Nice.

  When she arrived back at the room, a huge bouquet of red roses and a small wrapped box sat in the middle of the round glass table in the foyer of their suite. His true colors were revealed. He was a romantic. She opened the card next to the gift.

  Cassie (that’s your name from now to the end of time, because I don’t want our child being confused if someone calls you anything else),

  I may seem heartless and cold at times, but I promise I will always protect you and take care of you and the little person you’re carrying. Nothing is more important to me than your health and safety. When this assignment is over, I’d love it if you would become my wife. I’ll understand if right now you refuse me, but the offer stands for as long as I’m alive.

  With love and an apology,

  Simon

  An apology? Why would he have to apologize?

  She opened the box and pulled out a ring. A huge square-cut aquamarine in a platinum setting. Her favorite stone. She slid the ring onto her finger. Of course she’d marry him. Why wouldn’t she marry the man who made her feel beautiful and loved and intelligent and alive?

  The flowers also contained a small note. She opened it.

  Stay in the hotel until I return from Korea. I should be back in a week. I’ve paid for your room and anything else you may need. Take care of yourself, angel.

  Love, Simon

  He just kicked her off the assignment? That controlling jerk. He couldn’t do that. She was essential. She grabbed her cell phone.

  Simon answered and spoke in a straight-business voice. Not the best voice for a proposal, but perfect for an abandonment. “Cassie. How are you feeling after your spa day?”

  “Where are you?”

  “At the airport.”

  “No. Don’t leave me. I need to be there.” She ran back to the bedroom and noticed Simon’s things were no longer there. She grabbed her bag. Her heart thudded into a gallop as she raced to get to him.

  “It’s my call. This is the last thing I want to do, but tensions are running high with all parties. If the businessmen suspect that I, or the team, are prepared to rat them out to their government, they could cut ties and try to eliminate the evidence. You’ve completed your job and can wait there safely until I return.”

  He sounded calm. He had no idea how much she hated being abandoned like this in a strange country. She needed to be with him. Pregnancy was not a disability. She could still use her mind. How dare he make that decision for her?

  She threw her things from the closet into the suitcase in a huge pile of unfolded chaos. “I’m packing my things and meeting you at the airport. You have no right to leave me behind. You need me. If there’s a malfunction, I can fix it on the spot.”

  “My flight leaves in ten minutes, you won’t make it.”

  “I’ll take the next one.” She grabbed her toiletries and shoes with shaking hands.

  “Not without your passport.”

  She paused. “You took my passport? Seriously.”

  “I’m dead serious. There’s a problem. Nothing to do with you, but I don’t want you to be here if this whole thing implodes. Something’s not right. I can feel it, and I can’t be worried about you and effectively perform my job.”

  “This is ridiculous. You can’t hold me here against my will.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. Heat rising through her body. “Someone needs to train the troops so they don’t blow themselves up when using the drones. You don’t understand the program well enough to keep people safe.”

  “I’m not as worried about them as I am about you. You’re my responsibility, and now Junior is as well.”

  This is about the baby. He couldn’t help being an overprotective jerk. It was part of his nature. But she wouldn’t let him do this.

  “What about the people who could die if something goes wrong? Don’t they matter?” she yelled into the phone. Her hand shook at the realization that she couldn’t help anyone if she was locked away. Simon would accept a certain amount of casualties—casualties that she could prevent.

  “It’s my mission, my call.”

  “Don’t do this. I can help you,” she pleaded.

  “No.”

  “I hate you.”

  “That’s okay. I love you enough to make up for that.”

  “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She hit the wall and shuddered as pain shot through her palm. “Don’t expect to come back and have everything good between us, because I don’t take abandonment lightly.”

  “I’ll wait.”

  “You’ll be wait
ing forever.” And forever after that as well.

  “I have more patience than you do. Look, the doors are closing now. Stay safe. I love you.”

  “No, you don’t,” she screamed into the phone. “Don’t do this.”

  “Goodbye, angel.”

  The call ended, and Cassie burst into tears.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Cassie fell asleep on the couch and awoke several hours later. Now that the panic and anger had cleared from her mind, she could think rationally, so she called Tucker. He put her on this mission. He’d want her to complete it.

  “Cassie Watson. You’re not dead yet, so I assume you’re faring well with your boy toy.”

  She tried to release the image of him pointing a gun at her in the flat and spoke with as much calm as could muster. “Simon left me in Hong Kong. I can’t get out.”

  “Did he tie you down?”

  “No. He took my passport.”

  “Stupid girl. Either you’re having a lovers’ quarrel, or Simon doesn’t think you have what it takes to be on his team.”

  She held back what Simon had told her about Tucker’s botched fieldwork.

  “Where are you on the assignment? Were the drones armed successfully?” he continued.

  She hesitated before answering. Simon didn’t want her to contact the main office without his permission, but what choice did he leave her?

  “Yes. Everything’s set.”

  “Are they still going through Yonchon?”

  “He only mentioned Daecheong Island.”

  “Excellent. I assume he’s set up safeguards to prevent the detonation of the devices in the home villages of the soldiers.”

  “What do you mean villages?” Her voice climbed three octaves.

  He laughed as though innocent children blown to smithereens was hysterical. “From what my sources tell me, the soldiers are taking the drones home at night for safekeeping. They don’t want to risk losing the bunch in a mass explosion.”

  “Oh my God. They said that, but I didn’t think they were taking them home.”

  “You met with the businessmen?”

  “Yes. We can’t let them harm those families. I need to disarm the drones.”

  His voice sobered. “I’m afraid I have no ability to get you out of the country. If only you knew an American with contacts.”

  “I think I know someone who could help.”

  “Do I know him or her?”

  She paused again, a terrible habit when trying to conceal something. “No. I’ll contact him and see if he can assist me.”

  He hung up before she could say good-bye. Tucker offered no help, as expected.

  Her anger and shattered nerves decreased after an hour of pacing back and forth. Should she contact Dane? Would he add a new level of issues into this already complicated assignment? He didn’t help her out of jail, so why would he tick off Simon and assist her in following him? She needed Dane. Now that she knew his actual job, she understood how she left jail so quickly, without press or an international incident.

  He’d programmed his cell phone number into her phone before they left Jordan, in case she needed anything. She did now. With a deep breath and false sense of bravado, she pushed the button. The phone rang several times before he answered. She heard a giggle in the background. This would have been her replacement if she’d decided to stay with him instead of Simon.

  “Hi, gorgeous. Simon finally bore you in bed?” The giggles increased in the background. Were there two women with him?

  “I need to speak with you…in private.”

  He paused. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in Hong Kong.”

  “Good. Give me five minutes.” He hung up the phone.

  She placed the phone on the coffee table and poured herself some water while she waited for him to call back.

  A few minutes later, someone knocked at the door. She looked through the hole in the door. Dane?

  Why was he in Hong Kong? Did Simon know? She opened the door and backed up to let him in. His eyes roamed over her outfit, and he grinned. Not the best choice of clothes to keep Dane away.

  When Cassie had arrived back from the spa, she’d been dressed to kill in a short red skirt, a low cut white blouse, and candy-apple-red heels that took her height to six feet five inches. Simon’s height. Ready to seduce him. Now she was a wrinkled mess. All of her other clothes sat in a ball in her suitcase, ready to go nowhere except to the cleaners for some ironing.

  “Hey there, beautiful. Don’t I get a hug for old times sake?” He opened his arms for her, but she stood staring, still not understanding why he was in this particular part of the world.

  Never one to be put off, he stepped closer. “You caught me at a bad time. Perhaps you can make it up to me.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I know who you are.”

  “No loss. Simon shares everything with his partners. He always has. I also know a lot about you, Catherine Wallace.”

  Hearing her real name melted her brave facade. She wasn’t sure how much he knew, or what she should tell him, but she needed to reprogram those drones before innocent children died.

  His eyes narrowed in a predatory manner, and he moved beside her before she could get out of the way.

  “Now that I know you’re his partner and not his lover, we can make up for lost time.”

  She shook her head. “That’s off the table. First, you have another woman’s perfume all over you. Not the way to my heart. And second, I’m not a toy. You and Simon will just need to find something else to compete over in the future.”

  He shrugged. “How can I help you, beautiful?”

  “Simon and I had a fight, and he left me here.”

  “You’re a big girl. Go back to London.”

  “I can’t. He took my passport.”

  Dane laughed. “He’s good. So what can I do for you? Hong Kong has closer ties to the U.K. than to the U.S.”

  “I’m still an American. And Tucker refuses to help me. And I can’t go to the embassy. Not after Jordan.”

  “Tucker?” His expression changed to something dangerous. She shouldn’t have mentioned his name. It tended to make the men around her angry. There were so many things about her new position that she still didn’t understand.

  She stayed silent for a second too long. He lifted her chin so her face was within an inch of his. The tension now showing in his neck caused her stomach to tighten.

  “I need to know what Tucker’s doing on this transaction, or I’m walking out of here.”

  The needs of the children in North Korea trumped Tucker’s need to be anonymous. “He’s the MI6 contact on this.”

  “Simon never told me Tucker worked this assignment. Who wanted you working with the drones? Simon or Tucker?”

  “Tucker handpicked me for this assignment.” Although she had no idea why Tucker had chosen her over a handful of others just as competent.

  “Does Simon know this?”

  “I think so.”

  His expression softened a tiny bit. “If Simon wants you in Hong Kong, I’d trust him. He has great instincts.”

  “I have to fix the drones. When I called Tucker about Simon leaving me here, he told me about the possibility of the drones detonating while they’re being stored with families. Simon doesn’t know that, but I’m sure he’ll let me render them all useless to save lives.”

  Dane nodded, his focus fractured. “I’ll help you on one condition.”

  She looked in those dark eyes. Devil or angel, it didn’t matter. She’d do whatever he asked. She nodded her head.

  “Good. I want all the drones back in my possession. If you can’t do that, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself. Do you understand?” He placed his arm around and kissed her on the lips as though sealing their bargain. She didn’t kiss him back. Instead, her body remained stone-cold and motionless.

  Dane directed her to the couch and sat next to her. He pulled out his phone and placed
one of his fingers over Cassie’s lips to keep her silent while he spoke to whomever he’d called.

  “Greetings, my friend. I seem to have something you want.”

  She could hear Simon’s voice in the background.

  “Yes, she’s a beauty. Very compliant too. Apparently, someone stranded her in Hong Kong without her passport. No problem. I can assist in getting her a temporary card to travel with me. We were thinking about taking a vacation to Daecheong Island. I hear it’s very romantic.”

  Simon answered at such a high volume, Cassie could understand most of his words, which involved twisting off Dane’s body parts and feeding them to wild dogs.

  Dane snickered and pulled Cassie closer to him. “Here, he wants to say something you.”

  “Simon?”

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I gave you an order, and you need to follow it. Do not get on a plane.”

  She should have enabled full access to the drones from a distance. Instead, she’d left herself vulnerable. That wouldn’t happen again if she could help it. “I have to. The drones are going to be stored in villagers’ huts. Innocent families will be murdered—by us. I can’t let that happen. I need access to them one more time. Please let me reprogram the drones and try to find a way to stop the massacre.”

  The curse Simon roared caused her body to flinch. Dane took the phone back.

  “Don’t bother, Simon. She’s quite stubborn when she has a mind to be. We’ll contact you when we arrive.” He ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.

  Cassie’s phone rang. She tried to get up to answer it, but Dane shook his head.

  “Another condition is you forego contact with Simon until we arrive. I have no doubt he’ll wait for you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Simon hung up the phone and punched a wall in the house he’d rented. His fist went through and came back out with blood seeping from his knuckles. How could Cassie have contacted Dane? He didn’t have her safety in mind, all he wanted was a bigger role in what Simon was doing.

  He walked out of the small cottage to get the materials ready for the short boat ride from the South Korean island to the North Korean coastline. The businessmen would send someone to meet them and the transfer would take place just inside the border. He didn’t like the information Cassie had relayed to him. If someone detonated the drones while they were in the villagers’ houses, nothing would be able to roll back such an international disaster.