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Riley looked at Pierce. Her eyes, this unearthly pale blue, seemed to look straight into him. “Emma told me what you and Raul did. It was incredibly brave. I don’t know if I would have had the courage.”
Yeah, it had taken balls. They bucked the entire military apparatus to report the guy, who got a hard-on from killing civilians on mission. Particularly female civilians. Particularly pregnant female civilians.
In any other circumstance, they would have had to face headwinds, but would have prevailed, because one of the scenes was secretly filmed. But their fuckhead commander’s uncle was the head of the Armed Services Committee and they were threatened with court martial and Leavenworth.
There had been a minor revolt among their fellow SEALs, and the compromise was that they’d be allowed to leave the service quietly with an ‘other than honorable’ discharge. The one people got when caught with drugs. John Huntington and Douglas Kowalski, the heads of Alpha Security International, one of the best security firms in the country, had been waiting at the gates as they left their base for the last time.
“I wanted the two of you,” Black said and gave a wintry smile. “But your buddies all worked at ASI, and Midnight said back off, so I had to step back.”
“But working for the Sommers Group…” Riley’s voice tapered off.
“Was out of the question,” Pierce said harshly. Particularly now that he saw what they were capable of. And particularly now that he knew they had threatened Riley’s life.
“The company is made up almost exclusively of men who rang the bell,” Black said.
“Sorry? Is that a metaphor?” Riley asked, frowning.
“No,” Black answered. “It’s quite literal. Every SEAL who ever was has had to go through Hell Week, and it’s called that for a reason. It’s brutal. If you can’t make it, for whatever reason, you ring a bell that is positioned right on the grinder, this concrete area where the candidates do their workouts. The workouts were hard, and the bell was right there. Sommers recruited from the men who rang the bell.”
“Who quit,” Riley said. She got it.
“Yeah. They have decent skills, most of them almost made the grade, but didn’t. So Adrian Sommers thinks he’s found a magic formula. Getting men who almost made it as SEALs, but didn’t. But who still have skills.”
“But, presumably, work cheaply.”
“There you go. And they are fanatically loyal to Sommers because he pretends they are the real deal. And Sommers cuts corners and doesn’t turn any work down because of pesky illegalities. He’ll do anything if the price is right. Works mainly abroad, where there’s not much he won’t do.”
Riley pointed to the screen. “Clearly.”
The final stripping away of the layers that made up the deep fake showed Sommers operators gunning down American scientists with incredible ferocity. The Sommers Group logo was clearly visible on all the operators.
Nikolai couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. “That’s a degree of ferocity that’s uncalled for. They look out of control. This was a slaughter, not a pitched battle to the death. And they were fighting unarmed scientists, anyway. They look … deranged.”
“Or hopped up on something,” Riley mused.
“Some incredible stimulant.” Pierce was thinking it through. “Some drug. Something powerful.”
“There’s something else,” Riley said. Black cocked his head.
Pierce was amazed at how Black reacted to Riley.
Black was immensely powerful. He spoke to heads of state and they listened. He had an overwhelming command presence and intimidated most people. But he was leaning forward, completely open to what she was going to say.
He didn’t intimidate Riley. She looked calm and serene.
It was Pierce who had problems with her. He was here to protect her. He’d been on close protection duty before and should have slipped right into bodyguard mode. Bodyguard mode was intense focus, 24/7, allowing for no distractions at all. Even a second’s lack of attention could prove fatal. This was a young woman with important intel and dangerous enemies. A ruthless security company full of guys with guns perfectly willing to use them. Not to mention law enforcement. So he had to be fully focused.
Notconstantly distracted by her beauty.
Damn.She was possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He knew she was attractive. The IT department back at ASI had corkboards with photos of the four of them – Felicity, Hope, Emma and Riley—from their days at the NSA. Felicity, Hope and Emma were attractive women butman, Riley really stood out, as if the photo was in 3D for her. But in person? She was like walking hormones, reaching out to grab him by the balls. Without doing anything overt. No coy glances, no flipping her hair, no side-eyes to see what effect she was having on three alpha males.
Nope. She was all business.
This thing he was feeling, this massive distraction, was all on him. He was usually all business too, professionally. He was never distracted, and yet, here he was. Wondering what that perfect ivory skin felt like, what that lithe, slender body would feel like in his arms. What…
“Okay,” Riley said and for a second, crazy in his own head, Pierce was ready to stand up and go to her because she’d said okay.As if she’d heard the insanity in his head and agreed to what he was thinking.
Sex.
