Penny pulled her sweater around her. Despite the fact that it was summer, there was an overcast sky looming across Helsinki.

She sat next to Damon in the car that had been waiting for them when they got off the boat. Chelsea and Jesse had gotten on the bus she and Damon were scheduled to be on. Chelsea had seemed calm, but Jesse had been treated to what looked like a long lecture from Simon Weston likely on what would happen if Chelsea didn’t come back in one piece.

Of course, she’d heard the same lecture from Damon, though she didn’t credit it with any deep affection. He simply didn’t want more guilt on his hands, most likely. Or he didn’t want Baz to have the satisfaction of winning.

Taggart was driving with Candice in the front with him.

She’d tried to get in next to Charlotte, hoping Ian would take the other seat in the back, but Damon had tossed him the keys. He’d crowded in beside her, leaving her no choice but to move to the center and allow him to sit next to her.

She stared out the window on Charlotte’s side, watching the shipyards go by. Massive cranes were moving parts into place for what looked like an enormous icebreaker.

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 really 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.

Candice moved toward the front of the church. The altar was simple but he was caught with how the light flowed in from above. The church’s copper ceiling was surrounded by wood and glass that allowed the sunlight to stream in and light the sanctuary up.

They sat down, pretending to study a guidebook.

It was only a moment before someone settled in behind him.

“Baz is here.” Jake Dean’s voice was very quiet.

Damon couldn’t reply so he simply nodded his head.

“Penny talked to a couple of the docents. She convinced them she was looking for her brother. They said he’d been in more than once and they’d seen him hanging around today.” Jake got back up and joined Penelope at the right wall where the faithful were lighting candles.

The sanctuary was filling up, but there was still a hushed atmosphere. People who shouted outside spoke in whispers in the church.

“I don’t think he’s a terrorist.” Candice’s words were barely audible.

“We’ll figure that out.” It didn’t matter in the end. He needed to complete this operation so he could focus his attention on figuring out Penelope because he knew damn well he couldn’t let her go.

“He told me he was trying to help.”

Because terrorists always told the truth. He had no idea whether this Bennett bloke was a terrorist or just looking to sell something nasty for cash.

Or if he was something else entirely.

Once it wouldn’t have mattered. He would have brought the fucker in and not looked back because at the end of the day, he was a weapon, nothing more. He was a tool that SIS used. They primed him and pulled the trigger.

But he didn’t feel that way anymore. Maybe it was the time he’d spent recovering with the McKay-Taggart crew. More than likely it was the time he’d spent inside Penelope, but he was different now. The man he’d been before Baz had pulled the trigger was dead and gone and someone new had taken his place.

He needed to figure out who this man was. It did matter. What he did mattered because it affected her. The man he was affected her.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“You won’t just shoot him?” Candice asked.

He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

There was a moment of silence. “Thank you.”

Someone moved in behind them. This wasn’t Jake, though he moved quietly. Damon heard the way the pew creaked under his weight. He closed his eyes as he listened. Male. He wasn’t sure why he thought the person behind them was male, but his instincts said it was so. He was breathing in a calm manner, but it was audible. He leaned back against the bench, making it bend against his weight.

“Candice? Is that you?”

Aussie. No mistaking that accent. Damn it. Unless Walter Bennett had put on a whole lot of weight and developed a really authentic accent, then they were in a bit of trouble.

Walter had hired some muscle. It was the only explanation. Smart boy. It’s exactly what Damon would have done. If he was on the run and knew damn well several people wanted his head on a silver platter, he would have hired some muscle to make sure his head stayed on his body.

Walter likely wasn’t actually here.

Slippery motherfucker.

Candice stiffened and started to turn around. Damon put a hand on her thigh to stay her. She stilled. “Yes. It’s me. I mean Candice. I’m Candice.”

There was a low chuckle. “Hello, Candice. I’m Brody Carter. I’m representing Walter Bennett. You need to understand that he has to know you haven’t been compromised. There are a lot of people looking for him.”

“From The Collective?” Candice asked.

It took everything Damon had not to curse.

Brody went quiet for a moment and then, “You know about them? Well, Walter heard you were smart. Is this Robert? Do you have all the papers we need to get Walter on board? I’ve got Robert’s plane tickets here.”

“Yes.”

Damon wouldn’t have believed her. Her answer was too quick. There had been a breathy gasp that accompanied it.

“Brilliant.”

Shit. The new guy’s voice had gone from relaxed to tense in a word. He’d heard the same thing in Candice’s voice, but he was too professional to give it away by questioning her.

And then he heard something that made his blood go cold. It was a laugh that held not an ounce of humor. “Oh, that’s not Robert Tilman. But then you’re not Walter Boy, are you?”

Damon turned. Baz was sitting two rows away, directly behind the massive man taking up the fourth pew. The Aussie had close-cropped blond hair and a square jawline that might have been hewn from the same granite as the church. He had to weigh eighteen stone, and every bit of it was pure muscle. He was built like a brick shit-house, and Damon was slightly intimidated at the thought of having to take the bloke down.

Maybe reason would work. He was their only connection to Walter Bennett. He had just become deeply important, so important that Damon couldn’t allow him to fall into Baz’s hands.

“Didn’t buy my play, eh? Well, I can’t win them all. I can, however, murder anyone who could possibly help you out.” Baz gave him a wicked smile. “Did I mention you look really good, Damon? Also, I have a high-caliber weapon pointed at this bloke’s spinal column.”

“Fuck,” the Aussie cursed under his breath.

“Hey, stay calm. I’m going to get you out of this. He’s with The Collective. I’m not. I’m the good guy in this scenario.” Damon didn’t look around. He didn’t want to tip off Baz if he didn’t know how many people he had inside the church.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could already see Jake moving in. He could see Penelope was walking toward the exit, very likely trying to get to the Taggarts.

Baz seemed to be focused solely on his target. “Now, big guy, we’re going to stand up. I don’t want to cause a fuss, but I will if I have to. Stand up now or I’ll fire directly into your back. How do you feel about being a paraplegic?”

Brody Carter’s whole body stiffened, but he stood. His face went cold, blank, as he stared forward and Baz leaned in.

“Don’t move too fast or I’ll fire. Let’s walk outside. I’ve got a car waiting. I have a couple of questions for you. We’ll see how long it takes for you to give our mutual friend up,” Baz said.

Damon had zero intention of giving up his prize. “You’re surrounded, Baz.”

Jake was walking down the aisle. Ian was in a sniper position. He didn’t need to do anything. His team would handle the problem.

Baz put a hand on Brody Carter’s shoulder, his other hand in his jacket pocket. A nasty smile lit his face. “I might be surrounded, but I’m not alone. I figured you might decide to roll the dice. I hired a friend who had one job and one job only.”

Cold fear snaked along Damon’s spine. He looked toward the front of the church, his eyes seeking Penelope’s form, praying he couldn’t find her.

She moved into the sanctuary, her body stiff, her pretty face tight. Someone was walking behind her. Damon’s eyes focused on his target. A man, roughly mid-forties. He walked close to Penelope, more than likely because he had a gun pressed to her delicate spine.

That body he’d held, found such pleasure in, was in danger. He’d known he shouldn’t let her get close. He’d known it would all end badly.

“Step back, Jake.” He couldn’t allow that man to send a bullet into her.

He was a man who had sacrificed his body for a mission, sacrificed pawns, given up anything to complete his operation. Nothing came between him and the completion of his task.

Nothing except Penelope Cash.

She was his weakness, the one thing he couldn’t give up.

Jake’s jaw tightened and he stepped back, allowing the Aussie and Baz to enter the aisle. He held his hands at his sides, letting Baz see they were empty.

Baz gave him a wink. “It’s not the prize I was after, but it will have to do. We’re going to walk out of here very carefully. If I even get a hint of trouble from you, I’ll make sure you never walk again. We’re going someplace private, and you’re going to contact Walter for me. It’s time he understood there’s nowhere to run. I think I should take the reporter, too.”

Candice shook her head. “No.”

Baz gave her his best smirk. “Oh, darling, you don’t get to say no to me.”

Damon went completely still because Baz had never known when to be satisfied. He just always had to overreach.

Tension slid across Damon as he realized Candice was going to panic. He caught the Aussie’s eyes. The massive block of muscle stared at him as though reading his mind. Damon noticed that he wasn’t wearing a jacket. His big biceps were on display and there was no way to miss the tattoo on his left arm. A sword with golden wings and the Australian Special Forces motto written in script—Who Dares Wins.

Carter was SASR. A commando or a former one at least.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he cocked his head to the left. He was going to do something, very likely throw a punch over his left shoulder, and Damon would have to be ready when Candice finally broke. Because she was definitely going to break and then all hell would bust loose.

Candice took off, rushing down the pew, screaming for help.

Damon was left staring his greatest enemy down, praying he wouldn’t give the call to end Penelope’s life.