by Lexi Blake
Damon moved beside her, his hips touching hers. “Are you sure you want to do this? There’s no reason for you to be here.”
“I want her,” Candice said with a frown in the rearview mirror. “I trust her. I’m not sure I trust you. Operatives like you aren’t exactly known for giving a damn who gets taken out in the line of fire. I think you’ll be a bit more careful if your girlfriend is around.”
Penny had to stop the smile that threatened. She’d known the minute they found Candice that Damon would attempt to find a way to cut her out. He’d sent her off to make the call to Nigel like she was his glorified secretary. That had been a mistake on his part. She’d used the time to convince Candice that she was her best bet on getting out of this alive. It hadn’t been hard. The reporter was already the tiniest bit paranoid.
“You talked to my boss,” Damon said, sliding his arm over the back of her seat. The car wasn’t really big enough for all of them, but neither Damon nor Ian thought it would be a good idea to split them up. So she was stuck with too-big Damon invading her space.
“I talked to someone who said he was your boss,” Candice replied.
Damon sighed. “But you believe her. You understand how utterly insane that sounds. You believe that Penelope is an undercover agent but you question me.”
“I think you’re probably a really good liar,” Candice said primly. “And you won’t give me an exclusive.”
Penny forced herself not to lean into him. He was so strong and warm against her. She’d woken up plastered against his body this morning despite the fact that she’d hugged the side of the bed before falling asleep. She’d woken up and just for a minute, she’d forgotten about what had happened the night before. She’d started to lift her face up for her morning kiss. Damon had sighed as though he’d been relieved, his hand stroked her hair back and then…
She’d rolled out of bed and gotten into the shower before she could make a complete fool of herself.
“Candice, I’m sure you’ll be allowed some access since you’re involved and cooperating. I’ll make sure to give you any information I possibly can.”
Damon leaned over, his mouth close to her ear. “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.”
It seemed a warning, or perhaps he was simply reinforcing his lesson. She’d promised herself she could fix him but he didn’t want to be fixed, very likely didn’t even see himself as broken in the first place. “How do you know Baz won’t have men waiting in the church?”
The last thing she wanted to talk about with Damon was broken promises. He hadn’t made her any so why did she feel so betrayed?
“We don’t,” Taggart said from the driver’s seat.
Damon sighed, a frustrated sound. “Baz struggles to work with anyone. He prefers to work alone, but more than that, he really is paranoid. He didn’t even trust me. Most of the time he went off on his own and tried to one-up me. If he had a team with him, he wouldn’t have needed a distraction. He would have swooped in and taken the prize. The group he works with has more than enough resources, but I suspect Baz is attempting to make an impression. His group might not even realize he’s got the target in his sights. Baz would be afraid they’ll send someone else in and then he would get cut out. It happened to him more than once during his time with SIS.”
“But don’t worry.” Penny felt it was her job to keep the reporter calm. No one else seemed to want to do it. Damon just pointed out how bad the situation was and Taggart growled at everyone. It was only through her efforts that the woman had remained calm and somewhat helpful. “You’ll be perfectly safe. You were smart to choose a tourist location. I think even Mr. Champion would likely think twice about opening fire there. He needs to stay under the radar. We all do.”
The car had come equipped with their handguns, thanks to Simon. She’d checked hers and watched as Damon had strapped weapons onto his body, her eyes greedy for any hint of skin.
After today, it would be over and she wouldn’t have to fight her urges. Being close to him and not being able to touch him was making her crazy. She didn’t trust herself to not give in. There was an ongoing argument in her head about simply accepting who he was and never disobeying him. She could do it.
She would come to hate herself and him.
“Do you think he’s already there? Waiting for Mr. Bennett?” Penny asked.
Damon nodded. “I think he’s certainly got eyes on the place. We have to be very careful. We need to stay with a tourist group. I’m going to stay close to Candice. I have the cap Robert is supposed to wear.”
“But Baz knows you.”
“And I know how to keep my head down. It will be fine.”
Penny wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t leave her with a choice.
Ian turned down the street. Helsinki was laid out in front of her, clean and neat. As he stopped at a light, bikers lined up in the lane beside them. A green and yellow train barreled by.
They drove in silence, Penny lost in her own world. She knew she should be thinking about the upcoming operation, but she couldn’t seem to forget the fact that Damon would be out of her life soon and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. How she could watch him every day?
It was time to think about changing her career.
Long before she was ready, Ian pulled into a small underground parking garage. Everything had been arranged, likely by Nigel or someone from Taggart’s organization. Simon was standing by a van with the cruise line’s logo on it. She hadn’t seen him leaving the boat, but knew it was his shift off and he and Jake were supposedly going sight-seeing while Jake was helping pick up supplies for the kitchens.
At least they had backup.
Simon stepped forward, his big body in a jacket that likely concealed the weapons he was carrying. “It’s a clusterfuck of a situation. I don’t like it at all. Is Jesse off all right?”
Damon nodded. The information from Baz had come through not an hour before. “He’ll be fine. He has all the information Baz sent. He and Chelsea are taking a train to someplace called Porvoo. They’re supposed to be meeting with Baz in a coffee shop there. I suspect Jesse will get to try some Finnish coffee and have a very boring sight-seeing expedition. They’re supposed to wait in town until Baz contacts us with the exact meet time.”
Jake nodded. “I think you’re right. We showed a picture of Baz to one of the local shopkeepers and he seemed to know him. He doesn’t speak a ton of English so I’m struggling with getting him to tell me if he was with anyone, but I think the trip to Porvoo is likely a distraction. He’s counting on the threat being so terrifying you can’t call his bluff.”
“Yeah, well, if it isn’t a bluff, we just screwed a bunch of undercover operatives,” Taggart pointed out.
Penny shook her head. This very scenario had kept her up most of the night. “I don’t think so. The last thing The Collective wants is to have the SIS and the CIA coming after them. They want to stay clandestine. No product or bump in stock prices can be worth having the government turn their attention on them. It doesn’t make sense that The Collective approves this method. The minute they cause the death of an undercover operative, they become the enemy. Right now, no one actually believes they exist. They can’t want that to change.”
“I don’t know that Baz will care.” Damon checked the clip on his SIG and holstered the weapon. He pulled the cap low on his head.
He wasn’t wearing a vest. There was nothing to stop a bullet from taking him out except his wits and speed, and she’d seen that his speed wasn’t what it used to be.
“He’ll care when his employers decide he isn’t worth the trouble. Somehow I don’t think The Collective’s layoff package is going to include job retraining,” Charlotte Taggart said.
Damon held out a hand, helping her out of the car. “We’re not going to argue about this anymore. There’s no point.”
“The Collective sounds awesome. I mean, that’s a story. You know?” Candice shook out her light brown hair. “I could reall
y break out with that.”
“Or you could find yourself beheaded and tossed into the Thames.”
She was going to kill Damon. “He’s joking.”
Damon frowned. “No, I’m not. They won’t take kindly to some reporter sniffing around. Besides, she works for one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. How do we know her newspaper chain isn’t a part of The Collective?”
Candice froze. “Oh my god. I hadn’t thought about that. What if I’m working for the enemy? Do you think they already know? They’re probably watching me.”
He seemed to almost delight in baiting the reporter. Or did Damon know he was actually getting to her? Penny put a hand on Candice. “Stop. You can’t think that way. It’s very unlikely or they would have picked you up and they would be the ones forcing you to bring Bennett in. So stop worrying about it. Stay calm. It’s all going to be over in less than an hour.”
Candice nodded, taking a deep breath. “All right. And I’ll have a hell of a story. Yes. I’ll be fine.”
Penny left Candice with Charlotte and stepped away, gesturing for Damon to follow her. The minute they were out of earshot, she rounded on him. “Stop trying to scare her.”
He stood far too close to her. “I’m trying to keep her alive.”
“By terrifying her? She won’t be able to stay calm if you don’t stop telling her all the ways she could die.”
A single brow swept up his forehead. “She doesn’t seem to have your fortitude. I’ve told you all the ways you can die and you’re still here.”
She wished he wouldn’t stand so close, but she couldn’t back down now. “I have a job to do. She isn’t trained and she didn’t take an oath to protect her country. You can’t compare us.”
“I compare everyone to you.” His expression didn’t change at all though his voice went deeper. “Why won’t you sleep with me?”
She stared for a moment, utterly taken aback. All she could manage was a quick shake of her head as she spoke. “This isn’t the time or the place.”
He crowded her again, taking a step toward her, forcing her back against the concrete. “It’s the only place. It’s the only time you’ve been alone with me since last night. You pretended to be asleep when I came to bed. You locked me out of the bathroom. By the time you came out, the Taggarts had invaded. Did you text her to come over? I noticed you grabbed your phone during your escape.”
She had texted Charlotte. She’d done it before she’d stepped into the shower because she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t end up right back in bed with the same man who threatened to share her with all-comers. “I thought we all should talk before breakfast.”
“You thought you could avoid talking to me at all.”
Well, he’d fooled her. She certainly hadn’t expected him to corner her when they had a mission to perform. He was right. She was trying to avoid him and she still wanted to. “Damon, we need to get to the church.”
His mobile trilled and he bit back a curse as he pulled it from his slacks. A grim look came into his eyes as he read whatever was there.
“Who is it?” Penny asked, though she feared she knew the answer. The question was whether or not their game was up.
“It’s Baz. He says the meet is at three.”
A weird sense of relief hit her. “You were right.”
“Yes. And he’s waiting in that church. He’s not where he tried to send us. He wanted us as far from this church as he could get us.” His eyes pinned her as surely as if he’d put his hands on her. “Don’t forget what I said. You stay close to Tag or Jake or I’ll punish you.”
An ache went through her heart at his words. At least he was holding his ground. He’d meant what he’d said the night before. It made it easy to let herself go cold. “Of course. I assure you, I won’t give you any reason to lay hands on me ever again, Mr. Knight.”
His eyes tightened and it was easy to see he had questions. She regretted her choice of words because it looked like he was willing to have it out right in the garage.
“We need to move.” Taggart’s voice echoed through the space. “We still have a half an hour. I’d like Penny to try talking to the shopkeeper to see if we can figure out if Baz is alone and where he might be coming from.”
A sigh split Damon’s mouth. “All right.” He stared down at her for a second more. “This isn’t over, Penelope.”
But it was for now. She watched him walk away. When they caught Bennett, she would get on the first plane back home.
Safe from him. Safe from herself.
* * * *
Damon moved toward the entrance of the Temppeliaukio Kirkko otherwise known to tourists as the Rock Church. The odd building sat in the middle of the Töölö neighborhood in Helsinki. He turned back briefly, looking down the long street that led to the Lutheran church. The shop Jake Dean had found was on the corner. Penelope had stood inside. Speaking in perfect Finnish to the owner, she’d learned that Baz had been in Helsinki for at least four days. He seemed to be staying in the neighborhood and hadn’t been spotted with anyone else.
Damon knew he was right. Baz was up to his old tricks, but he could be deadly when he was trying to get ahead. Just because he didn’t have backup didn’t mean he was any less lethal.
He’d stared at Penelope as she’d easily charmed the shopkeeper. The man had gone from suspicious to smiling and laughing within a few moments of talking with her. That was who she was. Damon could charm a woman into his bed, but he couldn’t make people light up the way Penelope could. She was a bit of sunshine walking through the gloom.
He almost wished he’d never gone to bed with her. For years he’d been able to watch her, want her in a general way. Now he craved her.
He forced his thoughts away from his misery.
The church looked like a bunker set into the earth. Concrete marked the outside, the entryway a simple row of glass doors under the long overhang. Just above, a wall of rock looked incongruously ancient in contrast to the postmodern simplicity of the entry. To his left, the wall was covered in green vines, the only spark of color to be seen on the building. The rest seemed a bit bland, all shades of brown or gray.
Simon Weston sat on the bench in front of the vined wall, his big body slumped over as he seemed to study a map. Damon couldn’t see his face. He had to admit the man blended in well.
To his right, Ian Taggart hoisted himself up the natural rock stairs formed by the side of the hill the church was built into. He moved up and past the small cross that denoted the building. From his vantage, he would be able to see 360 degrees around the building.
He also made a huge target, but he wasn’t alone up there. Tourists were everywhere. It was exactly the kind of spot Baz despised. He preferred to work under the cover of darkness, in the shadows.
Baz was likely already in the church.
The reporter beside him stopped.
“It’s going to be all right.” He’d been a bit of a bastard to her. He tried to think of what Penelope would say but then he would likely sound like an idiot. “I won’t let you die.”
Surely that was somewhat reassuring.
She sniffled. “I just wanted a story.”
“Well, you’re about to get one.”
“I think I’m going to switch to fiction after this.”
He opened the door for her. “Well, you can write about this.”
They moved into the odd gloom of the lobby. Up ahead, he could see the sanctuary and how light filtered in from the roof, but the lobby felt still, like the calm before the storm.
He glanced to his left where some stairs led to the lower part of the church. There was only a small velvet rope keeping the tourists out. Baz could come from there. Or the hallway beyond it.
He caught a glimpse of a man with dark hair walking the circular length of the sanctuary, his head close to the woman he walked hand in hand with.
God, he’d threatened her again with something he could never do. He hated the fact that Jake Dean’s
fingers were entwined with hers even though he knew damn well the man was in love with his wife, had just had a baby with her. He still wanted to rip Penelope away from him.
“Do you see him?” He kept his head down, turned away from the security cameras.
Candice shook her head. “No.” She leaned over, speaking quietly. “I’m supposed to let him find me. We need to go sit on the third row opposite the organ. Apparently this whole place was built to house this organ thing.”
He forced himself to sling an arm around her shoulders. How the hell was he going to do his job when even touching a woman like this felt like he was cheating? He wasn’t, damn it. He wasn’t Penelope’s boyfriend, certainly wasn’t her Dom. She’d made that clear by rejecting everything he was.
“Is it always this scary?” Candice whispered.
He glanced over at Penelope and Jake. He thought about ignoring the girl. She’d made her bed. She should have to lie in it so she didn’t put herself in the same position again. She’d been brutally stupid and let her ambition cloud her judgment. He should leave her to hang, but Penelope chose that moment to put her face up to the sun that had finally come out from behind the clouds, lighting up the sanctuary.
Or maybe it was just her.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s going to be all right. You’re surrounded by professionals who have zero interest in letting you die.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them because Penelope would want him to be kind.
Was he going to spend the rest of his life thinking about what Penelope would want him to do? He was finding it difficult to do his job because she seemed to have taken up residence in his brain.
Candice glanced up at him. “Thanks. We should sit down. I don’t want him to think we didn’t show up.”
He stepped into the light toward the left of the church where the side was dominated by massive organ pipes that seemed to be set into the rocks of the wall. It was as though the church emerged from the rock it was built on. The place might have been a bit nondescript on the outside, but it was spectacular on the inside.