Dangerously Deceived

by Sidney Bristol

  “Shit,” Vaughn muttered.

  Carla pivoted away from the guys, one hand pressed to her brow.

  “Put your comm in.” Grant glared at Vaughn. “We’ll talk later.”

  Yeah, Vaughn was not looking forward to that chat.

  “Ashton’s phone got ditched. Jamie is en route to recover the phone and see what he can find out.” Grant glanced around the room. “Nolan, Brenden? Take Ms. White back to the condo and secure her.”

  “Sir?” Vaughn braced himself for his Team Leader’s glare. “Farez and Jared are in the area.”

  “Good. You, Riley, Harper and Tucker team up. Search the area. Find that guy and our asset.”

  Vaughn nodded and caught Riley’s eye. The team’s second jerked his head toward the front of the building. Vaughn followed, but not without a backward glance at Carla standing between Nolan and Brenden.

  What the hell had Vaughn been thinking?

  Getting involved with her was a mistake. He’d known it, and yet his dick still made all the calls.

  “What the hell, man?” Riley glanced at him.

  Vaughn clenched his teeth together. Because of the fucking NDA he couldn’t say anything. Not a God damn word. From now on he’d have to live with this mark on his soul, the one that said he’d fucked another man’s girl. Even if that wasn’t technically correct that was how everyone else would look at him.

  He’d like to say he didn’t have an option, that Carla was an addiction he couldn’t say no to. But that was a lie. Wasn’t it?

  SUNDAY. SAFE HOUSE, Beirut, Lebanon.

  Carla squeezed the straps of her purse tight to keep them from shaking. The elevator was far too cramped with the three hulking men surrounding her.

  No one had spoken since they’d left the toy shop.

  Not a word.

  It was safe to assume everyone had heard her admit to having sex with Vaughn.

  She knew how that must look to them. Ashton’s girlfriend and their team mate. It was awkward for her, but what about Vaughn? What would happen to him?

  The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.

  The big, silent scary dude stepped off first then waved her to follow him.

  Brenden. That was Vaughn had called him.

  There was something about Brenden’s eyes, a darkness that sucked up all the light. He’d seen things, likely done things, that haunted him.

  The men escorted her down the hall and into the condo.

  Melody stood inside waiting for them.

  “I need someone on surveillance.” Melody’s gaze landed on Carla. “We need to talk.”

  “Not right now.” Carla turned toward the stairs. “Give me a minute.”

  “This can’t wait.” Melody turned, but didn’t follow her.

  “It can.”

  Carla climbed to the second floor. The tremors shaking her were getting worse. The fear threatened to choke her. Her vision was blurry by the time she reached Ashton’s room. She dashed inside and shut the door as if the hounds of hell were after her. The flimsy lock wouldn’t really keep anyone out, but it felt good to jab the button and feel safely alone where she could fall apart in peace.

  She leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

  The first tears fell, hot and full of shame.

  This was her fault. She’d been right, but they’d gone about it all wrong. Because she’d talked Ashton into it. Or had he gone along with her the whole time?

  It was jumbled in her head.

  What about Jared?

  Had Vaughn found him or Farez?

  Did she still have her phone?

  Carla dug into her purse, and sure enough, her cell was at the bottom still powered off. She snatched it out and dropped the bag. It took forever for the device to turn on so she paced the room, praying for one good bit of news.

  The moment the screen blipped to life she hit dial and called the number Farez had used to contact her.

  “Pick up. Come on,” she chanted.

  The line rang. And rang. And rang.

  The beep and flip to voicemail stabbed at her heart.

  “No, no, no.” She ended the call and tried again.

  Still no answer.

  She hit dial a third time and listened to the rings.

  The line beeped to voicemail again.

  Carla ended the call and sat on the edge of the bed.

  Ashton was gone, and she had no idea if Farez had gotten to Jared in time. And if he had, what were the chances he was willing to give Jared up on the merit of a promise alone?

  She set her phone down and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and covered her face with her hands.

  Was this all her fault?

  She’d been right, but had she gone about resolving the situation wrong?

  Tears leaked between her fingers. She couldn’t fix this.

  Carla didn’t know how long she sat there feeling afraid and sorry for herself. Eventually her neck ached and her knees protested her body elbows. She straightened and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her smudge proof eyeliner was running and her waterproof mascara had clumped her lashes.

  If Jared saw her now, he’d have a fit.

  She sputtered a laugh.

  What had they done before Jared?

  She pushed to her feet and tip-toed out of the room.

  Men’s voices drifted up to her, more than just two or three. It sounded like the whole team was back, and that meant facing Vaughn and the others.

  She didn’t want to do that with runny make-up.

  Carla stepped into her room and glanced around, ensuring she was alone, then engaged the lock. She changed into sweatpants and a tank top, then piled her hair onto her head and tidied up her face.

  They’d get Ashton and Jared back. She had to believe in that. But until then, she had to be all three of them. She couldn’t fall apart. And she had to be the picture perfect girlfriend.

  Carla spent a few moments throwing all of her things back in her suitcase. There were too many of the Aegis Guys for her to take up two rooms. Given what she’d admitted, from here on out she’d have to be conscious of appearances. And that meant no more speaking to Vaughn.

  Packed up, she hauled her things to Ashton’s room and spent a few moments putting the room in order. Ashton’s clothes were picked up, folded and placed in the closet. Her things went into drawers. Everything had a place.

  She wound up back in the closet staring at Jared’s bags with Ashton’s clothes hanging around it them.

  Carla missed them both.

  Her moment to fall apart was over. Now she had to face the music and do her part in getting them back.

  She slipped on her black flats, pocketed her phone and headed toward the stairs.

  Sure enough, all of the guys were clustered around the table.

  Her gaze went to the top of Vaughn’s head. The light gleamed off his dark hair. It was surprisingly soft and silky, begging to be touched.

  This was going to be painful.

  Carla padded down the stairs conscious of the voices tapering off.

  “Carla. There you are,” Melody said. There was no judgment in her voice, no condemnation. She had a job to do, and that was her focus.

  “You wanted to speak to me?” She focused on Melody’s face. It was her lifeline to keep from glancing at Vaughn.

  “We need to chat about the events leading up to tonight and what the hell happened.” Grant crossed his arms and stared at her. He was Melody’s total opposite. Condemnation was written into the lines of his face. He blamed her.

  Well, she blamed him.

  “Where would you like to begin?” She reached the floor and slowed until she stood between the sofa and the dining table.

  Ashton had coached her through hostile meetings. Working for him meant facing off against people who wanted to get their way or didn’t see her as an equal because of her gender or background. It was up to her how to conduct herself and out maneuver people with words
alone.

  Grant was a hostile partner. She would not yield ground to him because that would only make him devalue her input. He wasn’t reasonable.

  “I think it would be best if we sat,” Melody said and braced her hands on the table.

  “Start when how and when you made contact with the kidnapper.” Grant made no move toward the table.

  “Thank you, Melody, but I’ll stand.” Carla never took her eyes off Grant. “I reached out to Farez last night when you refused to listen to my evaluation of the situation. Your brute force approach didn’t work. It was time to try something else.”

  “And you thought—what? You could do this job better than us?”

  Carla made herself take a deep breath. Grant was hostile. Thanks to Vaughn, she understood the tension. Grant wanted to do their job to the best of his ability, and he saw her as thwarting that. No one wanted to see anyone kidnapped out from under them, and here it had happened again.

  “I tried to explain my theory to you and you refused to listen. Your answer was to bring more people here.” She gestured at the unfamiliar faces she still couldn’t name. “And you wouldn’t even look into my ideas.”

  “Let’s focus on Farez?” Melody said from her seated position at the far end of the table. “He is a native of Beirut, owns a spice shop and has an extended family in the region.”

  Carla continued to stare at Grant. She wasn’t about to blink. “He kidnapped Jared, not because of the money, but because he’s scared. It was a community effort. They want their jobs back, but they don’t understand what’s going on behind the scenes or what Ashton’s plans are. That’s on us. We acknowledged that when we met with Farez earlier.”

  “And he was amenable to a resolution?” Melody asked.

  “Yeah. I think we were almost there when the younger guys busted in.” Carla’s heart ached. “We offered Farez a way out that would help him save face. Take a ransom, split it between the families in the area, then help us find someone to be our community liaison. Someone we’d work with during the project.”

  “And now we have no idea who has Ashton or where Jared is because you wanted to go meet with the kidnappers. What if this was all staged? What if Farez and those guys were working together? You played right into their hand.” Grant glared at her, the fury radiating off him.

  Carla never wavered nor did she answer anger for anger. “You didn’t sit there and look into Farez’s eyes like I did. He wasn’t working with the people who took Ashton.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter now.” Grant waved his hand. “We’re going to finish this and I don’t want to see or hear you until it’s done, got it?”

  Carla opened and closed her mouth, her own anger rising.

  Who the hell did he think he was?

  “Hey, man. That’s enough.” Vaughn stepped into her line of sight, but his focus was on Grant.

  A lump of emotion lodged in her throat. She shouldn’t get choked up at him coming to her defense, but she was. It didn’t look good, but it made her poor, battered heart flutter.

  “What did Melody just tell you to do, soldier?” Grant bristled and took a step toward Vaughn.

  He held up his hands and backed toward the terrace door. His gaze slid toward her and for the briefest moment they locked eyes, then he turned and headed to his nightly post.

  An angry man was going to tear this team apart and possibly get Ashton and Jared killed.

  “Are you aware that I read and revised our contract with Aegis Group?” Carla straightened her spine and stared at Grant.

  He frowned, but didn’t respond.

  “In the event that Ashton is rendered unable to perform his duties, all power is transferred to me. So no, Grant, I won’t shut up and sit down. You don’t get to call the shots. That’s why we’re in this mess. Ashton agreed with me that you were single minded in your focus and couldn’t be reasoned with. I was right, and you were wrong. Suck it up, deal with it, and get on board. Because I expect to get Ashton and Jared back the right way.”

  Grant’s face went red and his lips white.

  Melody had stood and come around the table at some point and was now poised at Grant’s elbow to intervene. Judging by the way she wouldn’t meet Carla’s gaze, she was fairly certain Melody knew the terms of their contract.

  “I need some air,” Carla announced and stalked out onto the terrace.

  She wasn’t blinking first, but they all needed a moment to regroup. She’d played her hand and now they had to work with each other.

  The cool breeze slapped her in the face, causing her to shiver. She braced her forearms on the railing and stared out at the city. Behind her voices came and went, patio chairs scraped. She ignored it in favor of communing with the void, the yawning, empty space in the universe.

  If Ashton and Jared didn’t come back—no. She couldn’t think about that.

  Carla turned and caught sight of Vaughn. He was back at the patio table, the laptop in front of him while two of the new guys stood at the railing chatting. They’d been there earlier. They knew.

  Was she supposed to pretend nothing had been said? Or did she handle this?

  Carla was in charge now. She had to act like it. And that meant dealing with every problem head on. It was what Ashton did.

  “Gentlemen?” She directed her attention at the two men at the rail. “Would you give us a moment?”

  Vaughn stopped typing on the laptop.

  “Sure thing, ma’am,” one of the two men said.

  They pushed off the railing and left her on the terrace alone with Vaughn.

  Those inside had a front-row seat to this conversation. There was no privacy to speak of. She couldn’t fall apart. This had to be done.

  Carla crossed to the table and braced her hands on the back of the seat she’d occupied last night.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said. “All of it. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to make you choose who had your loyalty. I thought, we’d be gone and back in no time. It was arrogant of me to not plan for the worst.”

  Vaughn kept looking at the laptop, but his hands were in his lap.

  She tried to pretend that his silence didn’t sting. “And I’m sorry for blurting out...what I said. I was angry and scared. I hope you don’t get in trouble.”

  “Grant’s going to send me to Egypt tomorrow. It won’t matter after tonight.” He shifted to lean on the arm rest and rubbed a hand across his jaw.

  “Oh...” Carla didn’t like that development.

  “I haven’t said anything, in case that’s why you came out here.”

  “It wasn’t, but—thanks.” That wasn’t something she’d thought of, but it made sense. He couldn’t very well clear his name if he was going to honor the piece of paper he signed.

  Vaughn finally lifted his gaze to meet hers. It was a flat, hard look. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do and it’s probably for the best if we aren’t seen together.”

  Carla nodded. She got it. Their actions had consequences and for him it might cost him more than he’d bargained for. She took a deep breath and pushed the surge of emotions away.

  She didn’t have the luxury of indulging in her feelings. Right now she had to figure out how they were getting Ashton and Jared back.

  12.

  Sunday. Sodeco Auto Repair, Beirut, Lebanon.

  Hani shuddered. He could still feel the hooks of the stun gun in his chest and every few minutes it felt as though he were being shocked all over again, albeit with a much lower voltage.

  “Put them in the cage.” He gestured at the chain-link fence at the back of the garage. On normal days they stowed things like bikes or expensive parts there, things that could be easily stolen.

  Tonight it was a cell.

  He lowered onto a rolling stool and watched the others secure the hostages. They’d done a lot of shit in their time working for the boss. Normally smaller stuff. Guys like Hani and his friends hadn’t proven themselves to be trusted with the impor
tant jobs.

  They were going to prove themselves now.

  Not only were they going to follow through for the suits and hand-deliver the Americans to them, but they were going to manage to get paid, too.

  Someone would pay for the first hostage, the one the suits didn’t care about. All Hani had to do was prove that they were nothing like Farez. Hani was serious about his money, and he was willing to shed blood for it.

  He pushed to his feet and crossed the garage. “Check their pockets again.”

  “We took everything out earlier.” Eessa glanced up at Hani.

  “Check them again. In case.” He hooked his fingers in the chain link.

  “You’re making a mistake.” Ashton Khoury stared at him.

  “No, you made the mistake.” Hani needed to make a call. He was going to cash in on this and his life would forever be different. The suits would no doubt have their plans, but so did Hani. Maybe they’d all win.

  SUNDAY. SAFE HOUSE, Beirut, Lebanon.

  Vaughn was fairly certain the security feeds were going to be burned into his eyelids. He had a more meaningful relationship with the guy in the lobby than anyone else at this point.

  Nothing ever changed.

  It was the most boring, secure building he’d ever been in.

  The condo was quiet. All the guys had bunked down for the night after hours of hunting leads that led nowhere. Even the van’s license plate was a bust.

  They were back to square one. Grant was blaming Carla for that, but Vaughn wasn’t so sure. The young guns had to see the opportunity for a cash grab they didn’t have to share.

  Carla.

  He glanced at the clock.

  Five minutes?

  That was it?

  All of his thoughts kept coming back to her. The way she smiled, how she cared about her chosen family, then there was the way she’d faced off against Grant with the whole team at his back. Carla was a force of nature. He had no doubt she’d take them on if it came to it. Physically it wasn’t a contest, but the woman had a sharp mind.

  Stop thinking about her.

  Vaughn shook his head and pushed to his feet.

  He glanced inside.