Madrid, Spain

1930 CET

Violence. It wasn’t something he shied away from. As he’d said, it was who he was.

“Is that why the cut didn’t bother you?” she asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck, wanting to get out of this room with her, but at the same time…he wanted to stay. Talk to her. He liked her voice and the cadence of her words. It was almost melodic. She was an intriguing mix of soft and stubborn. Nothing seemed to deter her. Normally, just the mention of brutality sent most people running. But then, she was the daughter of one of the most wanted men in the world. She got it.

“It really was barely a scratch,” he said.

“Fair enough,” she said. “Thank you for fixing this old bag. I know it’s beyond keeping, but I just can’t make myself get rid of it.”

“Have you tried?” he asked. All the “gifts” he had from his father were scars on his body, so he had no choice but to carry them wherever he went. But they served as a reminder of who he truly was.

“Yeah. When I first started working for Grimaldi, I thought, this is it. My new life, no more ties to the past. I mean I’m legit now,” she said. “I took it to the dumpster behind my building and tossed it in. Walked away without looking back.

“About midnight, I couldn’t stand it anymore. All I could think about was that I would probably never see my dad again, and that bag…that stupid, beat-up old canvas bag is probably all I’d have of him. And despite the fact that the world sees him as a criminal…he wasn’t all that bad as a dad.”

Mick heard the sadness and anger in her voice. She’d resigned herself to leaving her father in the past where he belonged, but there was a part of her that still loved him. He thought about that for a few moments. He’d never loved his old man. And he still got into situations where he could hear the old man’s voice in his head, though he’d been dead for almost ten years now.

“Nothing wrong with that. Or with holding onto the bag,” he said.

“Thanks. So how long are we going to be staying here?” she asked.

“Not much longer. I want to make sure that if we were tailed to the apartment that no one follows us out of the city. And if someone does, we want to be ready for them.”

“Seems like confrontation is more your M. O. than subterfuge.”

He laughed. “Yeah, it is. But the director was clear this was a pick up and deliver mission, not a flush out the bastards and apprehend them mission.”

She smiled. “Even as you say it, I know that’s what you want to do.”

“It is,” he said. “But Sam sounded like…whatever intel you have it isn’t run of the mill. There was something in his tone that made it clear I need to follow orders on this one.”

“Are there times when you don’t?” she asked, moving closer to him.

She was shorter than he’d realized. Part of it was her spirit and feisty attitude made her seem bigger than she was. But as she stood close to him, he couldn’t help noticing that she only reached his shoulder. And of course, the scent of wildflowers surrounded him again. Her perfume or shampoo or whatever it was smelled good.

He wanted to…

Get away from her, he thought. He needed to back away. She was a mission and not someone he could hook up with for a quickie. He knew that, but he still wanted her.

He reached out and she didn’t flinch. She’d seen him fight and heard him talking about violence, but she wasn’t afraid of him. He was afraid for her. She was too brave.

He touched her cheek with his finger, her skin was soft and her hair brushed the back of his hand and he wished he was a different a man. Something he rarely did. But he knew that this woman with her rough past needed someone who could spoil her. Not someone who was as rough as he was.

He stepped back but she stepped forward, taking his wrist in her hand.

“Why did you touch me?” she asked.

He shrugged. The reasons were a mystery even to him. She just…stirred something in him. “Stupidity.”

He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Linc wasn’t in the boardroom and Mick went in there to check the map and noticed that Linc had taken it with him. He started to leave, but noticed Kaylee standing in the doorway.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked.

“Yeah. I want you to talk to me.”

“I thought I did that,” he said.

“You did and you didn’t. And what’s with the one-word answers that raise more questions?” she asked. “What was so stupid about touching me?”

He knew he should just stay stoic. Not let her bait him. He was beginning to suspect that there was more than a little baiting going on with her. She pushed to see what he was going to do and he got it. He had kept his answers short to see how far she’d go with her questioning but this… He had walked away because he felt dangerous. And violence was one thing he was always in control of. He’d learned that after making a serious mistake, and the military had helped to hone his self-control.

But for some reason Kaylee was rattling his control. Making him…dangerous.

“Because I want to do more than touch,” he said, stalking toward her, not stopping until his hands were on the door behind her head and his body caged her. “And I think we both know that is about the dumbest thing I could act on,” he said.

She tilted her head to the side, her clear gray gaze meeting his with some undefined emotion in them. Then he felt the touch of her hand against the side of his neck.

“I’m not so sure about that,” she said, leaning up and brushing her lips over his.

* * *

Kaylee put her hands on Mick’s jaw and leaned up to kiss him. He tangled his hand in her hair and tipped her head back, his mouth moving over hers with determination and need. He caged her between his body and the wall, but she didn’t feel threatened.

Shivers ran through her as he rested his forehead against hers, sexual intent in his eyes. They were in a stranger’s house and Diavolos was out there probably plotting to kill her. Yet she was here with this complicated and intense man.

Her nerves were a mess and she was afraid she wasn’t going to feel safe like this again. Not for a long time.

Diavolos hadn’t escaped capture for as long as he had by being easy to find, and though she’d unearthed his location—or rather, the location of his servers—she knew that the clock was ticking. And the man at the train station, the thief who’d tried to take her bag, reinforced that. She was scared but also angry. Edgy. She need something but didn’t know what. Right now, Mick would do.

She looked up into Mick’s hazel eyes. Feeling the heat from his body, she realized he made all of those emotions disappear. Kaylee wasn’t sure what she was going to do next. Stopping him wasn’t it, that was for sure. She took his jaw back into in her hands and pulled his face down to hers. His pupils were dilated and she felt him, hot and hard, between her legs.

His growled deep in his throat and lowered his head to hers again. This time there was no gentle seduction, but a full-out plundering of her mouth. He didn’t mask what he wanted—he took. And she let him. She needed to forget for a moment the look in that guy’s eyes when he’d shoved his way past Mick to get to her. For a second after she’d seen the knife, she’d thought he was going to stab her.

But she was with Mick now. His mouth was hot and hard, driving away fear with passion. One of his hands left her waist and cupped her butt, pulling her closer, until her mound rested against his hardness. She ceased thinking.

His mouth slid down her neck, suckling at the base. Her breasts felt so full and achingly tight. She leaned into his chest, trying to alleviate the pressure, but it only heightened with each pull of his mouth on her neck.

He moaned and she felt the sound throughout her body. His hands rubbed slowly up and down her back. She looked up at him. His face was flushed, his breathing rapid.

“Mick.”

He shook his head. “That isn’t going to happen again,” he said.

“Don’t I have a say?”

“No,” he said, putting his hands on her waist and lifting her out of the way, then opening the door, and walking out of the room.

She let him leave, but stayed where she was, touching her fingers to her lips. Then she shook her head. Obviously, the stress of the day was getting to her. She didn’t kiss men she’d just met. Not strangers. Not guys like Mick.

That was such a girl move.

She was disgusted with herself, but at the same time mad that the embrace didn’t go further. If she was going to have regrets she wished they were for something more than a kiss.

She opened her bag and took out her laptop, but then shoved it back in. Looking at the code again wasn’t going to give her the magic answer. Either her father was working for Diavolos or he wasn’t. Until she was back in Virginia at Grimaldi Global’s headquarters and working in a secure room, she couldn’t really take the time to analyze what she’d seen.

“Kaylee, you in here?”

“Yeah,” she said as Ramona poked her head around the corner. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just needed to get away from all the testosterone in the other room,” Ramona said. She had her Coach bag over her arm. “I can’t believe they scanned our gear for trackers. That’s like basic IT stuff. Do you think they don’t trust us?”

“Yes,” Kaylee said. “All they know is that they were supposed to pick us up and clearly someone else knew about the top-secret pick-up.”

“It is unnerving. I was a little freaked about the way that guy came at you,” Ramona said. “Then you took off while I was digging in my bag for my mace.”

“I don’t know what that was about,” Kaylee said. “I’m not normally that kind of person. I think this entire mission has me spooked.”

“Me too. I honestly never thought we’d find a location. I thought…he was smarter than that,” Ramona said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I knew we’d find it. We’re all very good at puzzles, and in the end, there are only so many rabbit holes and false trails he could lead us down,” Kaylee said.

“So now can you tell me where he is?” Ramona asked.

“No,” Kaylee said. “Stop asking.”

Ramona put her hands up. “Okay, I will. Just can’t stand not knowing something.”

Kaylee laughed. “I know.”

“Girls,” Jeff said, showing up in the room.

“I know you didn’t just call us that,” Ramona said.

“Sorry,” Jeff apologized. “I meant ladies. They need us all back in the other room. I think we’re fixing to move out.”

“Move out?”

Jeff grinned at her. “Yeah, sorry, that’s what Linc said. Makes me feel like G.I. Joe. This is something else.”

“It is,” Kaylee said, as she led her team back into the main living area where Mick waited. He gave her a hard look as they entered, but then turned his attention to the tablet on the table in front of him as Linc gestured for them to join the group.

* * *

Cade and Frank had finally gotten off the packed motorway and were headed toward the apartment. Cory had gone downstairs to meet them and was on surveillance. Mick wanted to keep Kaylee’s team abreast of what was going on, but in the back of his mind was the fact that someone had leaked the location of the pick-up. He knew it wasn’t any of his guys. Not only because they were loyal to a one, but also because they’d been with him on the plane from the moment the info had been distributed until he’d bailed on the vehicle and ran toward the train station.

Linc didn’t like it either. Mick could tell from the set of his friend’s shoulders. He was pretty sure something else was bothering Linc, but the other man wasn’t being forthcoming. For now, Mick was operating on trusting Kaylee’s team only when he could see them.

“We’re going to leave the flat in about ten minutes. We’ll go to the airport and then head back to Virginia. Cory told me that your devices are secure. And until we’re back on the plane I’m going to need them all in the rucksack over there. It’s a safer way for us to move the equipment.”

He gestured to the largish military-grade backpack that Linc had unearthed from his supply room. It would easily accommodate all the bags those three had with them, and with Linc humping it out of the city, he knew no one was going to try to grab the gear.

“I think I can handle my bag,” Ramona said.

“Me too,” Kaylee added.

“Too bad. I need you ready to move, and move quickly. You’re used to working in an office and tracking down bad guys from behind your monitor. That snatch and grab with Kaylee’s bag earlier was to test our mettle and see what they were up against. If someone comes at us for real, you need to be able to move, follow orders. Usually people with bags to keep up with get distracted,” Mick said.

“You’ll get your bags back as soon as we’re on the plane,” Linc said. “I’ll oversee hauling it along with us.”

“I don’t think—”

“This isn’t a discussion,” Mick interrupted Kaylee. “This is what we are doing. Put your stuff in there now.”

Kaylee looked like she was going to argue, but then just shrugged and walked over to put her messenger bag in the bottom of the sack. Jeff and Ramona followed her and did the same. They all came back to the table, and Ramona had one hand on her hip and Jeff crossed his arms over his chest.

He could see they weren’t happy taking orders, but until he knew what they were up against and they were all safely back in Virginia, Mick was going to be giving a lot of them. “When we get the call from Cade, we’re going to go down the emergency stairs and exit out onto the alleyway,” Mick said.

“Why are we taking the stairs?” Jeff asked. “Did someone follow us back from the train station?”

“It’s a possibility. Cory was with me, but Linc was with you two, and though he’s good at not being followed, we can’t confirm he wasn’t,” Mick said. “We’ll go down the stairs in this order: Linc first, Ramona, Jeff, Kaylee, and then me.

“This means stop,” he said, holding his hand up and making a closed fist. “This means go,” he said, gesturing two fingers forward.

He looked at their faces and noticed they were all watching him. Good. “If you hear anything like a gunshot or someone on the stairs, we will give you concise orders on what to do. There is no time to argue. Just do what your told. The commands will be short like run or drop.” He turned to Linc. “Linc, show them drop,” Mick said.

Linc dropped to the ground, making himself flat.

“I don’t know if I can do it as easily as all that,” Ramona said.

“Me either, but we’ll try,” Kaylee said, moving between her team and putting her hand on their shoulders. “Just remember, the director sent these guys to protect us.”

“I’m glad he did,” Jeff said.

“Me too,” Ramona added.

“Once we’re outside, the vehicle will be waiting. Linc will open the door and you’ll get in one at a time and move all the way to the third-row seating. Buckle up so we can move out immediately once we’re all in the vehicle.”

Mick looked at his watch and then at Linc, who was securing the rucksack. They were all armed now. Linc’s apartment had .45s and combat knives that Cory, Linc and Mick had all armed themselves with. He was pretty sure they weren’t going to encounter any problems getting to the vehicle, but he didn’t want to take chances.

“Any questions?” Mick asked.

They all shook their head.

“Good. Have a seat on the couch, and we should be ready to go in less than five minutes.”

Kaylee led her team to the couch and they all sat down. They didn’t talk, just sat there tensely, waiting for his order to move out. And while he knew they were nervous and maybe even scared, he felt better for having them all corralled and ready to move.

Linc got the pack on as Cory came over the earpiece.

“Vehicle is in position.”

“Ready to move out,” Mick said.

Kaylee and her team all got up and walked to the door behind Linc.

“We’re on our way,” Mick said.

Linc opened the door and looked out into the hallway. His hand raised with the signal for stop. Then he gestured them to move and they all walked quickly toward the emergency stairwell. Linc opened the fire door and Mick moved up to hold it until everyone went through, careful to close the door softly behind him. There was a sudden soft clicking sound that reverberated through the stairwell as Linc raised his hand to stop their group and Mick knew they had company.