Franklin paled a smidge but held his ground.“Anything happens to me, my account of what went down tonight goes to leadership.And since the only other witnesses were freelancers I hired and paid for, they’ll back up my version of events.Then, your retirement agreement goes bye-bye.You’ll end up in that pit in Guantanamo after all.”Then, he added dryly, “Problem solved.”
OK, this was getting ridiculous.These two idiots were a few insults away from whipping their dicks out on the table for a measuring contest.And she wasnotgoing to hold the tape measure forthatnonsense.“I’ll do it.”
“It’d be worth it,” Cole muttered darkly.
“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Franklin scoffed.“It’s one fucking job.Get in, get out.It’s simple.”
“It’sneverthat simple.I’m not going to?—”
Hadley swung her leg up and kicked the bottom of the table, making both men startle.Good.They deserved the jump scare.“IsaidI’ll do it.Jesus, you two talk a lot.”She turned her attention to Cole.“Look, you’ve saved me twice now.I’m not going to let you end up in Guantanamo.So, I’ll do this job.Whatever it takes, OK?”
“That’s the spirit!”Franklin said, crossing his arms over his chest.“At least one of you has some sense.”
Cole caught her eye again, and…phew.The way he was looking at her—all flashing eyes and clenched jaw—was unbearably hot.Pretending to be his wife wouldnotbe a hardship.
Unless there were rules about fraternization among spies.Shit.She probably should’ve asked that.But thiswasan off-the-books operation.And she was a novice.She could plausibly claim ignorance if she just so happened to trip and fall over the line between fake husband and real husband, right?
Inwardly, she snorted.She should be so lucky.The last time she thought she was having a moment with this man, he’d run away from her.Literally.
“You don’t have to.I’ll get you out of this.I promise,” he said.
She believed him.Truly, she did.She’d never had anyone promise her anything as sincerely as he just had.And she’d seen him kill, for her, with her own two eyes.The real question at this point was…did shewanthim to get her out of this?
The answer wasnoas it turned out.Because she barely paused to take a breath before she said, “I want to help.”
He looked horrified and relieved and something she couldn’t quite identify all at the same time.The first two made sense.The third, though, was a little puzzling.What else could he possibly be feeling about this?
She kept her mouth shut.Partly because she wasn’t sure what to say.But mostly because she was terrified of embarrassing herself.Again.Which brought another question to mind.
If she couldn’t make it through this conversation without embarrassing herself, how in the name of Lucifer’s bouncing balls was she going to survivelivingwith him and pretending to be his wife in front of strangers who may or may not be international criminals?
Guess there was only one way to find out…
Chapter11
The government moved at a glacial pace on almost everything.Red tape tookyearsto slice through.But for off-the-books missions?
Hammer down, full throttle ahead.
After Hadley said she’d participate in the mission willingly and Cole stopped threatening to kill him, Franklin suddenly became all kinds of agreeable.He didn’t argue when Cole said he would not be reporting to Franklin unless there was something to report (because he didn’t think he could stand seeing that fucker’s face for regular check-ins), or when he said he’d personally set up video surveillance inside the safe house they’d be moving into rather than letting Franklin install any of his own (because the thought of that fucker watching Hadley over the cameras made Cole want to punch a wall).
Securing and setting up said safe house in their target’s neighborhood would only take a day and a half.Hadley and Cole would stay in a hotel until it was ready and spend some time memorizing their cover stories and getting acquainted with their new false identities.
But Cole had refused to goanywhereuntil Hadley had been checked out by a doctor.After much grumbling, Franklin had called in a friend of his and Hadley had been pronounced healthy enough to start their mission.
Physically, anyway.
Cole had no idea how the events of the evening would impact her emotional state in the coming days, weeks, and years.Trauma could pop up and smack you across the face at any time.So could shock.He hadwaymore experience with that than he’d like.
But for now, outwardly, anyway, she seemed…fine.Excited, almost.
What a mystery his neighbor was turning out to be.A sweet, sexy, weird little mystery that he needed to remind himself (hourly)notto unwrap.
He’d had contact with her for less than two days and he’d already killed two men in front of her and dragged her into an off-books government operation to root out a foreign asset.The only thing that could make everything worse would be getting involved with her romantically.
Nowthatcould destroy her in epic fashion.
He had a couple of ex-girlfriends who’d probably bethrilledto testify to the fact that he was a lousy, emotionally constipated partner.One had even called him a robot.After that, he figured he was better off alone.No chance of anyone getting hurt that way.
