AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can read you like a book,” she said. “I know every expression on your face. I might not know exactly what the circumstances are, but I know when something is wrong. I’ve always known,” she said, referring to their past. “You don’t have to protect me. I can take whatever it is.”
He drew her closer until their bodies bumped together, and he took her face gently between his hands. Grace’s breath caught at the look in his eyes—a mixture of longing and want and need. And love.
“You still love me,” he said softly.
She didn’t have the power to deny him. His gaze captivated her, and her eyes fluttered closed as he brought his mouth to hers and whispered the softest kiss across her lips. He pulled back, a look of regret that he couldn’t finish what he started, and he ran his hand affectionately down the length of her braid before releasing her completely.
“I’ll tell you about Kimball when we get back to our room,” he said. “I promise.”
“Our room?” Grace asked with a raised brow.
“You don’t think you’re sleeping alone tonight, do you?”
“No, I suppose not.” Grace took her SIG from her shoulder holster and checked the magazine. “You take point, and I’ll be cleanup.”
“I never argue with a lady.”
They both turned their earpieces back on and checked in with Ethan before seeing to their task. The building was modern, a gray-bricked structure of five stories that was used for various businesses but was for the most part unoccupied. Gabe made quick work of the back door lock, and they slipped inside quietly. They took the stairs instead of the elevator to the top floor, their footsteps silent on the concrete steps.
They spoke to each other with their eyes and hand signals only as they reached the door for the top floor. They knew there was a man on the roof, but they weren’t a hundred percent sure how many others they’d find. From what Jack had said about the men who attacked him, they were professional thugs, not professional killers. There was a world of difference between the two.
They went in hard and fast, Grace taking the low stance while Gabe took the high. There was no one in the long, narrow hallway. The walls were painted a stark white that was so bright it hurt the eyes, and the carpet was industrial-strength burgundy. The overhead lights were fluorescent, and the one at the far end flickered on and off.
They hurried down the hallway, guns pointed at the floor, and flanked the lone door that divided the long walkway. Gabe knocked, and they listened as feet shuffled across the room and came to a stop in front of the door. The very distinct sound of someone chambering a round in a shotgun echoed from inside the room.
Gabe didn’t wait. He fired twice through the door and once into the deadbolt and kicked it open. Grace moved in fast, stepping over the body, and a man by the window reached for his gun on the table just as she took her shot. They hurried through the room, pocketing the men’s cell phones and searching for anything else that might lead them to Kimball. There was a laptop on the couch they’d send Ethan over to collect later.
“Everybody okay over there?” Ethan asked.
“We’re good. Heading to the roof,” Gabe said.
The rest of the floor was clear, so they headed back into the hallway and to the stairwell that led to the roof. Grace opened the heavy gray door and went through quickly and quietly. She knew where the man had his equipment set up, and the door faced away from his line of sight.
He was right where she thought he’d be, looking through the scope on his camera, looking for them. There wasn’t a weapon in sight. They’d decided shots fired on a roof in the middle of London wasn’t a great idea, so Grace motioned to Gabe, and he snuck up behind the man like a bandit, snapping his neck cleanly with a twist of his hands.
“Clear,” he called out to Jack through the mic.
Gabe picked up all the surveillance equipment and left Grace with her hands free for her weapon in case they met anyone else on the way down.
They reached street level when they heard Jack through their earpieces. “Clear on my end,” he said. “My new friend is already on his way to give Kimball our message.”
“Good,” Gabe said. “You and Logan are staggered to leave for Iran within the next twelve hours under your aliases. Grace and I will stagger our leave with yours in the next sixteen hours. We’ll meet you at the rendezvous point at 3 p.m.” Gabe clicked his earpiece off before Jack or Ethan could comment. “Let’s go.”
Grace laughed as Gabe grabbed hold of her hand, and they traced their steps back the way they came. “You’re in an odd mood.”
“We’re about to start the most important mission of our careers, and I’m about to make love to a beautiful woman. That’s pretty much all I’ve ever wanted out of life.”
“Oh, really? So any beautiful woman would do?”
Gabe kissed her deeply, and when he broke away, they were both gasping for breath. “Only you, Grace.”
* * *
Gabe was acting different. Grace couldn’t put her finger on when it started exactly, but she had to get things back under her control. She wasn’t ready to face what would happen if she ever did lose control, and as good as it felt to be with Gabe again, she wasn’t really ready to face that either.
The grief boiled inside her, threatening to spill over the edges with every passing day. She’d been able to keep it under control since Maddie’s death because she had a goal to focus on. She could grieve after Tussad was dead.
But Gabe’s unspoken compassion and his need to share the burden with her made her want to break down before the right time—before her plan was complete. She couldn’t let him get past her defenses like that. As long as she called the shots during whatever was going on between them—she didn’t want to call it a relationship—then things would be okay.
