Madrid, Spain

2130 CET

Mick drew them all together, explaining how they would leave in small groups. Frank and Cory would lead the first group with Ramona. Frank was the sniper and would be taking up a high position, and Cory was going to operate the drone with Ramona’s help. Next was Linc with Cade—who would be the driver on this leg—and Jeff. Leaving herself and Mick in the back.

Staggering their group would enable them to take different routes as well as allowing for Mick to watch the back trail.

“Do any of you know how to handle a weapon?” Mick asked. “I think I read that you were in ROTC, Jeff?”

“I was,” he said, stepping up. “I have a basic marksman rating, but I’m not really sure I could shoot anyone.”

“If they’re shooting at you, it becomes very easy,” Cory said with a laugh.

“Truth,” Linc added. “Come with me, Jeff. I’ll get you a weapon that you’ll feel comfortable with.”

Linc and Jeff left the room.

“Girls?”

“Women, I think you mean,” Ramona said. “I’m pretty bad-ass with my mace, and I can use my stiletto if I have to.”

Kaylee smiled at her friend. She was very good with her stiletto, as Kaylee knew firsthand after Ramona fought off a mugger after they’d first arrived in Madrid and had gone out for drinks.

“Trust me, she’s good,” Kaylee said to Mick.

“I am. No one messes with me,” Ramona said.

“I believe that,” Cade said.

“What about you?” Mick asked.

“I know some street fighting moves. Mainly a few punches and martial arts kicks.”

Mick turned to Ramona. “Have you seen her in action?”

“Nope. I mean, she’s got some quick fingers on the keyboard when she’s coding, but that’s about all I’ve seen,” Ramona said. “But I wouldn’t mess with Kaylee. Something tells me she’s a fighter.”

Ramona had no idea. Kaylee’s first instinct was self-preservation, so that meant running and hiding. She was quick and agile, but she could fight if she had to. Like Jeff, she didn’t like it, and avoided it whenever possible.

“Show me,” Mick said into the silence that had grown around them.

She shook her head. She felt silly. But she remembered something the director had said to her when she’d told him she felt silly suggesting that Diavolos might be tied to someone with a very high profile. He’d said better silly than dead.

She stepped away from the group and looked over at Mick. “How?”

He came at her before she had a chance to think. There was a look of menace on his face and intent in his eyes that had panic grabbing her by the throat.

She’d trusted him.

But she shoved that aside and dropped into the fighter’s stance that she’d learned from Paulo, one of the guys she’d met when she was living on the streets. She used a quick upward jab toward Mick’s throat and he dodged it and kept coming.

She realized she didn’t want to hurt him, and then mentally slapped herself. Chances were, he’d do more harm to her than she did to him. All the fear and anger she’d been carrying around since she realized that she’d found Diavolos, and that her father was likely a party to that asshole’s business, coalesced and she attacked. Kicking, jabbing, punching. She moved around Mick.

“That’s not too bad. Just attack and get free.”

She nodded. Adrenaline surged through her and she realized that just playacting wasn’t enough. She wanted to punch someone. Hit someone. The person responsible for doing this. For tracking them like they were animals and acting like their life was worth more than hers and her friends.

Her hands trembled as she rejoined the group, and she knew she needed a few minutes to herself or she was going to do something reckless. Something wild. Impulses were running through her and none of them were sensible.

She prided herself on being smart. So she knew she had to get herself together.

“Be right back,” she said, not waiting for a response as she turned on her heel and walked down the long hallway past the boardroom where Linc and Jeff were talking and into the bedroom that Mick had taken her to earlier to fix her bag.

She walked in and closed the door behind her and then realized she wasn’t far enough away for them not to hear her if she screamed or kicked something the way she wanted to.

And that just added to her frustration. Her skin felt too tight as her mind went into hyperdrive. Odds were, her dad was once again in a mess that he probably only saw as a big payday, and even if he knew she was the one who’d found Diavolos, he wouldn’t walk away from the money. She knew that. Had known her entire life that money mattered to him more than she did.

She was teamed up with a man who was interesting…fascinating, really. But she couldn’t trust him, because he’d just turned on her with such menace that she knew it had to come from his core. And she didn’t know if it had been directed at her, or at any enemy he fixated on.

And her teammates were in danger. Not because of anything they’d done, but because she’d chosen them to be on her team and to come with her to Madrid. They were fun, smart and clever, and when she’d put her team together her gut had drawn her to them. Now they might be in physical danger. And she was to blame.

The door opened and she pivoted around ready to attack. It was Mick.

Of course.

He closed the door behind him, leaning against it and crossing his arms over his chest. If he had looked smug or menacing she would have just attacked him, but she saw concern and that…well, that was one thing she didn’t know how to react to.

* * *

Mick knew that look, and a part of him, the wiser part, knew he should have left her alone. But the other part had urged him to follow her. He’d left Cade to watch over Ramona and teach her a few extra moves that would help if she was attacked, and then he had gone down the hall.

Of course, she’d choose the bedroom. The place where he’d been unable to stop thinking about her mouth and those lips. Now he knew just how right they felt pressed to his.

He wanted to help her, that was what his mind said.

He wanted her.

His gut was overruling his mind. He knew she needed an outlet to express the pent-up emotions of the day. He knew that. He didn’t even mind letting her use him however she had to, in order to get her back to some semblance of normal. He could justify it by saying that she’d function better if she blew off steam.

But he knew he didn’t care about later. His only concern was now. And Kaylee.

She looked up at him with those silver-gray eyes that saw right to his soul. He doubted she realized how deeply she’d affected him, but she had. There was no denying it. Not that he was even going to try.

He flicked the lock on the door and took two steps into the room, stopping so that he could let her decide what she wanted.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Damn, his voice was guttural and deeper than normal. But need rode him hard, and if he sensed at all that she wasn’t feeling the same thing he would turn and walk away.

But she just narrowed her eyes and stalked over to him. Each step she took was purposeful. “No. I’m not okay. I feel like I’m going to explode. I want to punch someone…to do something to get rid of these feelings.”

He closed the gap between them and took her clenched fist in his hand and lifted it up. She was small, but rage was a powerful motivator to anyone, and he knew she could hurt him. Not too badly, but she’d leave bruises.

“Punch me,” he said. “Use me to get rid of it.”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t punch you.”

“Why not?” he asked, bringing her fist to his chest and then putting his other hand on her waist.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But punching you isn’t going to help me.”

He lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers. He looked into her eyes, saw her thick black eyelashes and the tiny scar on her left eyebrow that he hadn’t noticed earlier. “What will help?” he asked.

She exhaled and he felt the warmth against his lips as he inhaled the minty scent of her breath. He wouldn’t have to do more than lean the smallest bit forward and their lips would touch. But he needed it to be her idea. Needed her to want him too.

He wasn’t about to take advantage.

Yeah, right, his conscience jeered. What is this, if not taking advantage?

He started to pull back when her fist opened on his chest and he felt her other hand on his shoulder and then his neck.

She didn’t say anything, just went up on tiptoe, and then he felt it. The brush of her lips over his. Tentative at first, and then more thorough. She bit at his lower lip and sucked it between her own before her tongue pushed into his mouth.

He wanted to let her set the pace. He’d meant it when he said he wanted her to get whatever she needed from him. But this was Kaylee. The first person in a long time to look past his scars and rough exterior and see him.

He flexed his hand on her hip and drew her closer. She tightened her hand on his neck and he felt the brush of her jacket, and underneath it the softness of her breasts.

Rubbing his hand over her wrist, he tipped his head and thrust his tongue into her mouth, slowly. This didn’t have to be rushed. But he was kidding himself. His erection was rock-hard, and each time she shifted to get closer to him, to kiss him deeper, her hips brushed against him, sending shivers of fire though his veins.

He spread his fingers on her hip and slid his hand over her back, cupping her butt and drawing her more fully into him.

She moaned and pulled her head back, looking up at him. He saw her need and he knew that he could have her now. That it would take next to nothing to make her get naked with him. He was so tempted to ignore the fear and sadness he also saw in her eyes.

He closed his own, battling against his needs and his instincts, which said to carry her the short distance to that big four-poster bed and take her. Give her an outlet to get rid some of that tension. But he didn’t.

Because he knew that sometimes that wasn’t enough. Even for him, who liked a good fistfight to get rid of his emotions, he still felt a bit battered inside. And he wanted more for Kaylee.

He wasn’t sure why he felt so protective of her. Didn’t really want to know why. He only knew her father hadn’t exactly been dad of the year, just like his. And he would do anything to help her. Like he wished someone had helped him.

“Mick?”

“Kaylee?” he answered. Honestly, that was about all he was capable of at this moment.

“Don’t you want me?”

“More than you know,” he said. But he wanted more than this. And that was why he took both of her hands in his and drew them down to her sides, and then, because he was human and couldn’t resist her, he kissed her again—this time with all the longing and desire he felt—and then he stepped back.

“Everyone will be ready by now,” he said, forcing himself to focus on the mission. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“Let’s go?”

What the heck. He was just kissing her like he wanted to rip her clothes off, and now he was back to “everyone’s waiting.”

She didn’t even want to consider the fact that he was being sensible. She was so tired of sensible. She knew she’d be embarrassed if they had sex in this room and then walked back out to the others. She knew it.

But she was still angry that he’d stopped.

She needed to feel like she had control over something. And right now she didn’t.

She was flying blind and angry. She knew she had to get herself under control.

“The offer to punch me is still there,” he said.

“I’m ticked at you right now, but I still don’t want to punch you,” she said, tugging her hands free and walking away from him. As she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the look on his face.

It was filled with longing as he watched her go, and it made her feel better. Whatever the reason he had called a halt to their hook up, it clearly meant something to him. He wasn’t playing with her. At least she hoped he wasn’t.

Damn.

He was a stranger.

Sure, he’d shared some things from his past with her, but at the end of the day she’d only known him for three hours. Three of the craziest hours of her life.

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m ready.”

He nodded and then walked to the door and went out into the hall. She followed him and saw that Linc was walking toward them.

“Good. I was just coming to get you. We have the go-ahead from the director to use whatever force is necessary to make it to the plane,” Linc said.

“The airfield is secure, and we want to be wheels up as soon as possible. Let’s move out,” Mick said.

She followed the other two men into the main room and saw everyone was gathering their stuff and getting ready to move out.

Ramona came over to her with Jeff. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. Fighting like that rattled me,” Kaylee said.

“I totally get that,” Jeff said. “Linc made me point the gun at him and told me where to aim my shot. I’m so not ready to do that.”

“I now know how to get out of a close combat situation,” Ramona said. “This is crazy. We’re in danger and Jeff and I don’t even have information that anyone can use. You’re the only one who has it.”

Kaylee knew that. But having the information wouldn’t save either Jeff or Ramona. She knew that. Whoever wanted it would take it, kill the person who gave it to them, and then move on. It was safer for her to keep it to herself. That was what the director had told her to do, and she wasn’t about to change the plan. Not now.

“I know. But there’s no way you could use the information to bargain for your life. You know that.”

“I don’t want it,” Jeff said. “I thought about it while I was refreshing my gun skills. I just want to get to Virginia and hopefully never have to do anything like this again.”

“Agreed,” Kaylee said.

Ramona nodded, but it seemed reluctant to Kaylee. She was worried about her. Maybe the woman was like Kaylee and needed some sort of outlet to get rid of the frustration she felt.

“I know it seems like it could be a potential bargaining chip, but really it would be worth your life, and I can’t take that chance. If we get separated and they demand the location, give them a fake one and use Hackers Haven to keep in touch, if you’re able,” Kaylee said.

“Good idea,” Ramona said.

She hugged Ramona close and then turned to hug Jeff too. They weren’t normally a huggy group, but today wasn’t normal. She was scared, and though she trusted the Ares Team to protect them, it wasn’t every day they faced down an enemy who was willing to kill to keep the information they had from reaching Virginia.

“You guys ready?” Mick asked.

“Yes, sir,” Jeff said.

“Good. Put this in your ear,” Cory said, coming over and giving them each a small earbud that was clear with some wiring visible beneath the surface. “This will let you hear the team. We never use names. Mick is one, Linc, two, I’m three, Frank is four and Cade is five. Kaylee, you’re six, Ramona, seven and Jeff, eight. Can you remember that?”

“Yes,” they all said at the same time.

“Good. Now the earbuds are equipped with a mic as well, so if you are asked something, just speak and it will pick up the sound. You don’t have to talk loudly—it can detect even a low whisper. If you’re confronted by someone, just say churros and we’ll be alerted. Frank will be on watch, he’s a sniper so you’ll always be covered. Each of these buds has a GPS tracker, so we will know your location at all times.”

“Okay,” Kaylee said. She glanced at Jeff and Ramona and they looked as overwhelmed as she felt.

“Don’t sweat it,” Cory said. “These precautions are so that we don’t encounter any surprises in the field. We’re good.”

“Yeah,” Cade said laconically. “We have an eighty-five percent success rate and the other fifteen aren’t around to complain.”

Frank laughed and Mick just shook his head. “Don’t listen to him. Let’s get ready to move out. Two, three and eight will go first, then four, seven and five. Six, you’re with me.”