Seducing the Accomplice

by Jennifer Morey

  Why shouldn’t she explore her painting talent? She’d never know how far she could go unless she tried. Really tried. She hadn’t given her art her full effort. She could do more. And she didn’t need approval from anyone.

  If she got nothing more from her father’s abandonment than that liberating realization, she’d be happy. Because her father had abandoned her by leaving her in Albania. And now that she thought of it, he’d abandoned her long before this. He’d abandoned her as soon as she showed a tendency toward the arts rather than math and science in grade school. He wanted a businessperson for a child. Sometimes she wondered if he wished she had been born a boy. Her mother had been unable to have more children. It amazed her that he’d stuck by her all these years. In public they never showed signs of affection. Sadie never saw them interact that way at home, either. Maybe a few times, but it was forced and seemed as though they’d both fallen out of a role.

  A sound from beyond the far end of the balcony made her stiffen and jump. When she saw a shadow move beyond the railing, she managed to smother a loud yell.

  One strong arm hooked her waist and a warm whisper came against her ear.

  “Don’t move.”

  Calan. He’d come through the door off the dining area, not her bedroom. She relaxed but only enough to stop from kicking him and fighting to escape.

  He let her go and went to the far side of the balcony in his underwear, a gun drawn. She frantically looked around, panicked that perhaps whoever was lurking in the night might sneak up on her.

  Rubbing her arms, she ignored Calan’s directive not to move and went inside the villa. Standing in the dining room, she peered through the glass door, trying to catch sight of him through the darkness.

  “I told you not to move.”

  She all but jumped out of her skin. Turning, she saw Calan standing there. He must have come through the balcony door off her room. Catching her breath, she looked through the glass door again. “Is he gone?”

  “Are you sure it was a man you saw?” he asked. “Did you get a good look at him?”

  “No.” She began to grow aware of him in only his underwear. He’d put his gun away, though. Must have done that before coming back into the dining area.

  “It was probably someone just walking by. There’s a trail that goes between this building and the one next to it.”

  “I saw it, too.”

  He looked at her as if he appreciated her observation of that detail. His gaze touched her mouth and then met her eyes again. He didn’t move and neither did she. She felt the energy shift, a living thing in the silence of the villa, so late at night.

  “We should go to bed,” she said before thinking.

  He stepped closer.

  “I mean, I didn’t mean, I—I…”

  He reached his hand behind her head and sank it into her hair.

  Oh, God.

  “I know what you meant.” With that, he kissed her.

  While a frenzy of arousing sensations mounted in her, she wondered if she’d be an idiot to explore this. He’d lost two women he loved to tragedy, and the second one hadn’t been very long ago. He hadn’t had enough time to heal.

  Ending the kiss, she pushed his chest.

  He released her with prowling eyes. He wanted her, that was clear. No man had ever looked at her like that. It kept her pulse going strong.

  Get away from him.

  Tripping over her own feet, she started to leave the kitchen. “I’m going to…I’m just gonna…”

  She bumped into a kitchen chair and stubbed her toe. “Ouch!”

  Limping around the chair, she made it into the living room.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Hardly. Her toe was minor compared to the temptation blazing inside her.

  At the hall, she looked back. He saw her hesitation and fire renewed in his eyes. Temptation circled stronger. She couldn’t fight it and the sight of that bare chest didn’t help. He started toward her. She took one step backward, her body clamoring for something sinful.

  He reached her. When she felt his heat, she parted her lips for more air and tipped her head back a little. He put his fingers through her hair again, holding her head as he had before and kissing her as he had before. She melted into the play of their mouths. Sensation assuaged a burning need. She didn’t want to end it.

  Breaking away, she stepped back again. He radiated sexual hunger. The sight of him swept her further from reason.

  They stood frozen for a few seconds, powerful energy electrifying a physical connection. That same chemistry she felt when she’d met him exploded now.

  She moved at the same time he did. She landed against him, throwing her arms over his shoulders while his arms went around her and his mouth crushed hers for a deep, needy melding.

  She whimpered and he groaned. When he began to walk, she wrapped her legs around him until he reached the bed in her room. He dropped her on the mattress and followed her down, kissing her more and tugging her T-shirt up over her head. He tossing it to the floor.

  She slid his underwear over his hips and he finished removing them. When she opened her legs, he kneeled between them. The tip of him pressed against her and in the next instant he slid deliciously inside her. He didn’t spend any time touching her anywhere else. He didn’t kiss her. He just began thrusting. Deep and hard, reaching a sweet spot with each one that made her dizzy with passion. She pressed her hands against the wall, which made his thrusts more forceful. The friction and the full, hammering penetration drew up a cry from her. Her orgasm made her writhe with pleasure. She wasn’t even aware of his, but as she floated back to coherency, she felt his weight on top of her and he was spent and catching his breath along with her.

  Sadie stared up at the ceiling, stunned by the power of their joining. But she was afraid of what it meant to him. He’d lost two women he loved, the second not very long ago. How could this mean more than what it appeared—just a plain ole hankering for sex. She wasn’t even sure she expected it to mean more than that. The only thing she was sure of was that she didn’t want to feel more for him than he felt for her. That was a guaranteed path to a broken heart.

  So what was this, then? She’d never had a just-sex relation ship before and she didn’t want to start one now.

  Feeling cheap and sleazy, she pushed against him. “Get off.”

  Calan lifted his head and looked at her, confused. “What’s the matter?”

  She shook her head, rolling it on the pillow.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” A stifled sob escaped. “This doesn’t mean anything to you.”

  “What?”

  “It was sex.”

  Silence answered her.

  It was enough. Sadness and self-disgust consumed her. She sniffled, fighting a fresh and much more earnest wave of tears.

  “Sadie.”

  She didn’t want to look at him.

  He cupped her face and made her. Her vision blurred with tears, but she saw raw sincerity in his gorgeous eyes.

  “I can’t promise you anything right now, but this was more than sex to me,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

  So this wasn’t a one-time thing. That didn’t reassure her. It still didn’t mean enough to him. It couldn’t. They’d have a fling for a while and then it’d be over when it came to the point when he couldn’t give her what she needed. She’d made the wrong decision again, a mistake, a bad choice. Like she always did. She was always misjudging people, giving everything when they weren’t in a place to give as much in return. She had believed in others and they had turned their backs on her. There would come a day when he’d do the same.

  When was she going to learn?

  “Sadie.”

  She opened her eyes, only just then realizing she’d closed them. Her heart broke looking at his handsome face.

  “This wasn’t a mistake.” He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “It means more than that.”

  There w
as no point in discussing it. His losses were too great. Talking about them and how they measured up to this would be futile. This didn’t measure up to that. But she kissed him to make him believe she was fine. He hesitated but then relaxed.

  When he rolled off her, she curled next to him, moving her head to see his face without alerting him. Seeing him staring at the ceiling, she knew he’d only been trying to make her feel better. He wasn’t sure where this would lead. He could make no promises. He’d said as much, hadn’t he? This might not be a mistake for him, but it was for her. She shouldn’t have allowed this to get as far as it had. He might be able to walk away from something casual, but she didn’t do casual. Not with him. Not with the way she felt for him.

  Calan woke to his cell phone ringing. Half sitting up, he glanced over and saw Sadie beside him and the rush of memory staggered him for a second. Arousal collided with uneasiness. When his phone rang again, he picked it up and answered, pushing covers aside and getting off the bed.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

  “What is it, nine there?” Odie goaded.

  “About that.”

  “You sound like you just got up.”

  He had a feeling he was about to suffer one of Odie’s infamous episodes of probing into personal matters that were better left alone. “What have you got for me?” When he’d called to ask her to find them this villa, he’d also asked her to look again into Murati’s background, as well as that of Arber Andoni, the owner of the airport who may have had ties to Dharr.

  “Late night, huh?”

  “Just tell me what you have.”

  She laughed lightly. “I shouldn’t do this…having been on that end of things, but…I can’t resist…you slept with her, didn’t you?”

  He sighed and looked at Sadie, whose eyes had opened and, though drowsy, weren’t happy. When her gaze dropped to his nakedness, apprehension gripped him. He should have never allowed this to happen. A brief affair was fine by him, but the woman he shared that with had to be looking for the same thing. Sadie wasn’t, and that made him feel as if he’d crossed a line he couldn’t revoke. He didn’t understand how it could have been so easy to fall into bed with her. Why hadn’t he thought about the morning after? About how Sadie would feel. Maybe he thought—or hoped—she knew what she was getting into. Maybe she had, but like him, it hadn’t mattered. But it did now.

  “What is it with you guys?” Odie brought him back. “It seems like you find a damsel on every mission. Is it part of the job description?”

  He turned his back to Sadie. “When you’re finished entertaining yourself, will you let me know what you found out?”

  “You’re no fun, are you? All right, I’ll go easy on you. I found nothing new, that’s what I found.”

  Calan put on his underwear, holding the phone between his head and his shoulder. They’d bribed Murati to arrange for them to fly into Andoni International Airport. They’d paid a lot of money to avoid identifying the company that employed them and their reason for coming to Albania.

  “Arber Andoni and Armend Murati both still check out, beyond what we already know about them. Whoever they’re working with is real good at staying under the radar.”

  Either that or they hadn’t recognized the connection yet. Andoni allowed illicit transport through his airport for a price but he wasn’t dealing himself, and Murati took bribes. But either one of them, or both, was working with someone who’d intended to do business with Dharr.

  “Murati could have told Andoni about you,” Odie said. “And if Andoni knew Dharr…”

  “Yeah. I’ll find out as soon as I talk to Murati.”

  “You going to take your baggage with you?”

  Baggage. There was a word. He heard Sadie move on the bed behind him. He looked back at her. She sat up on the mattress, holding the sheet up over her chest. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  “You could send her home. We could have someone meet her.”

  “I took the equivalent of three million dollars, Odie.”

  “Yeah, you did. She didn’t.”

  “You know how these things work.”

  “Yes, and I also know why you don’t want her out of your sight. We could protect her on this end, and you know it.”

  “I’ll get back to you when I know more.” He wasn’t going to get into that discussion with her. Before she could say more, he disconnected and turned around.

  “Get dressed,” he told Sadie, irritated. Whether Odie was right or wrong, he wasn’t going to risk another woman’s life.

  Her brow furrowed. “Good morning to you, too.”

  Last night when she’d started crying, he’d been as honest as he could have been. The only thing left unsaid was that he’d loved twice in his life and didn’t think he had it in him to love a third time, nor did he believe he’d get that lucky again. Not with the memory of Kate still so fresh in his heart and soul…

  Leaving the room, he went to shower in the other bathroom.

  Odie’s subtle reminder that everyone at TES knew why he’d joined the team pulled his mood down. It made him think of Kate. He missed her witty intelligence. Her big smile and the sound of her laugh. She was always positive. And yet, she had a hard side, the CIA side of her. When push came to shove, she was a formidable opponent. But when it came to matters of the heart, he’d never met anyone capable of so much warmth and selfless love.

  She hadn’t deserved to die the way she had. Finding her had nearly killed him. He’d left after a fight they’d had over details surrounding Dharr and had come home to find her with her throat slit. He should have never left her. He should have believed her, too. And not argued. One thing Kate had been really good at was deciphering the information she gathered.

  A lead had been planted to throw them off and he hadn’t believed her when she’d figured it out. She’d been right. He’d been wrong. Now she was dead and he’d never be able to apologize.

  The look on Calan’s face when he’d left for his shower was still putting a crushing weight on her chest. Sadie stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Last night he hadn’t misled her over where this was headed. He’d confessed he couldn’t make promises. But he’d also said what happened meant something. It did. She believed that. But it didn’t mean enough. Physical attraction wasn’t the only ingredient in a relationship.

  “You have to stop being so stupid,” she told her sad reflection.

  Once again, she was glad her dad was never going to find out about this.

  Disgusted, she got in the shower and let the spray hit her back. The morning after their magical night, Calan woke up thinking about the women he’d been with who’d died. It was plain on his face. She didn’t have to be telepathic to know that. There was regret in his eyes. Regret and deep, gouging pain that comes with the loss of a loved one. His heart belonged to another. When it came time to go home, she’d never see him again.

  She stomped her foot with a splashy thump.

  Getting out of the shower, she dried off. Now she’d have to go and face Calan. What if another situation arose that led to a repeat of last night? Would he want her to accommodate him again before this adventure was over? Would she have the wherewithal to stop him?

  The more she ruminated over it, the angrier she became. After dressing, she went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

  A loud crash made her jump. Glass shattering. She spun around in time to see two men with guns rush into her room. She screamed. Both were big men wearing black. One wore a hat. He hung back as the other man approached the bathroom, pointing a gun at her.

  Sadie backed up against the bathroom vanity, frantically searching for an escape. Where could she go? What could she do? She was trapped.

  The man charged forward, grabbing her by her elbow and yanking her out of the bathroom. She struggled to wrench free, but he jerked her toward him and looped his arm around her waist. She searched for some kind of weapon. Nothing was in reach. Then the man pressed his
gun to her head. She stopped breathing and went still.

  He hissed something in a language she didn’t understand and then in English, “Do not move.”

  She didn’t fight him, too aware of the hard, cold metal of the gun against her temple. That’s when she saw Calan standing in the threshold of the room, aiming his gun at the man in the hat. His eyes shifted from her and the man who held her to the man in the hat.

  She didn’t want to die. Not yet. And not like this.

  Calan walked toward them.

  “Stop,” the man in the hat said, his voice heavily accented.

  Taking two more steps closer, Calan stopped, meeting Sadie’s eyes. Was he gauging her, measuring her fear? She hoped he could tell that it was soaring. Or was he sending her some kind of message? What was he going to do? He had to know she was no good at this.

  “Drop your weapon,” the man in the hat said.

  Calan looked at him. “Who are you?”

  “Drop it, Mr. Friese.”

  They knew his name. His ties to Dharr had given that away. Calan didn’t respond. His aim remained steady. If he fired his gun, the man in the hat would be shot. But the man holding her would get a shot off, too.

  “I don’t think I need to explain to you the consequences if you don’t,” the man in the hat added.

  “Who are you? How did you find us?”

  The man in the hat smiled without humor. He didn’t have to answer, but he did. “It pays to have business acquaintances. We know many in the area. You were seen at the Afrodita Boutique. From there, it was easy.”

  It was already obvious that they were well-connected, but all the way into Montenegro? Just how far did their tentacles go?