An hour before dawn, Nick woke up, instinctively, thinking he heard something.

Then, he realized it was Nicole’s light snore, which made him smile.

He also couldn’t believe he’d actually slept. Only a few hours, but still, it was more than he usually did and he could only chalk it up to being with Nicole.

He reached over and swept a few strands of hair off her cheek so he could stare at her face, so gorgeous, peaceful, and serene in sleep. Free from the stress that fueled her right now. He memorized the shape of her mouth and the way her eyelashes—as long as they were—sat almost on the top of her cheeks as she slept.

There was an actual pang of ache in his chest as he watched over her. Dammit, she’d gotten in. Into the soul of Nick Taylor who didn’t give a shit about anything or care about anyone.

He wrapped his arm tighter around her and encompassed her breast in his hand. Just to hold her and feel her. She was exhausted from all their intrigues, as well as the power work out they’d had through the night.

Just as he closed his eyes again, he heard the noise again. No mistaking.

It wasn’t woodland creatures, as far as he could tell. The sound was something more.

Slipping out of bed, he carefully eased over to the window and peered outside without shifting the curtain. Sure enough, he saw movement. More than that. He knew in that instant that they weren’t alone. Squinting harder, he could see them. Operatives in black positioning themselves for a morning surprise. They’d be the astonished ones if he could get in motion fast.

Dammit, though. The house was completely surrounded.

How? How could this have happened? No one could possibly know they were here at his safe house, let alone that he even had a safe house.

His mouth tightened and his fists balled up at his side.

He stormed into the bedroom and woke up Nicole, not caring that he was rough and rude. Anger seethed through him. It was one thing for her to give herself up, but he wasn’t going down with her.

“Nick… what’s wrong?” she asked sleepily.

He didn’t give her the opportunity to wake up fully, but held on to her shoulders and glared right into her eyes.

“Who did you tell we were here?”

“No one,” she said meekly.

“You had to. I didn’t, so who did you tell and how did you do it?”

He released her, and she sat up clutching the covers to her. “I didn’t tell anyone!”

“Liar!

He stormed out of the bedroom and was about to start tearing his own house apart when he remembered the new purse she’d cobbled together with items from the stolen suitcase. As he flipped the purse upside down, Nicole ran out of the bedroom wrapped in the sheet.

“Nick, don’t!”

Too late. Out tumbled some cosmetic items, a few bills of money, and a phone.

The ashen look on her face told him all he needed to know. Well, almost.

He bent to pick up the phone. “One of mine. You used one of my own phones against me.”

“It’s not like that.” She rushed forward, but he shifted sideways, avoiding her. Nicole held her hands up and admitted, “I sent a message to my father. No one else, I swear. I needed to let him know I was okay.”

Nearly frothing with anger, Nick knew he had to think fast. He could yell at her later, but first, he needed her to understand what she’d done. She’d given them up. “You betrayed me,” he said.

“No, I didn’t. It was just my dad. He’s military, just like you. He taught me to—”

Fully exasperated now, he grabbed his hair. “It’s not about what your father used to do, Nicole. It’s about who he shared your information with, either through his former chain of command or with whoever he spoke to while I got to safety. I’m not sure how. It could be purely by accident, but your father led those men out there here today.”

Nicole started shaking her head. Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t believe that. This can’t be happening. Not again.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by “not again,” nor did he have time to find out right now.

“Those guys are armed to the teeth. You can bet they’re not here to gather intel or do reconnaissance. They’re here to finish the job I was sent to do.”

Shock registered on her face. “And, what was that?”

“It was to tail you at first, but I won’t lie. Once I realized how complex this was…what was at stake, I knew their plan included more. I was sent to kill you, Nicole. That’s not happening. Not anymore. Yeah, I’m mad as fuck about what you did, but right now, we need to leave.”

Horror and fear were beginning to overtake her, he could tell. “How can we, when we’re surrounded?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said honestly. “But we’re going to fucking try.”

This was a far cry from lounging in bed with a warm, sexy woman and hoping for another blow job.

No such luck.

How the hell had Nicole found his burner phones? When had she had the chance to contact her father? Probably when he showered. It didn’t really matter now, though.

What was done was done.

The men outside were doing the work he was supposed to do. He’d never wanted to admit that was why he was sent. The “gather intel” was a decoy and a cover for the real mission. Search out and destroy. Just like he’d done in China. Only, this time, he couldn’t pull the trigger. Literally.

Nicole had redressed in her clothes from the previous day they’d washed and dried overnight. Fear resonated in her dark eyes, and he was certain she hadn’t intentionally tried to get them both killed.

This was life and death now.

No doubt about it.

Those men were here to finish what he couldn’t do. Even though he was highly-skilled and thorough, he and Nicole were clearly outnumbered by at least six or seven men. There was no way he could fight them all off on his own. The only option was for him to leverage the remaining cover of darkness and his knowledge of his property to get Nicole to safety.

He knew for a fact that the men outside had already disabled his Mustang in some manner. That was what he would have done. That left Nicole and him no other option other than to flee on foot before the sun rose fully.

Nick retrieved a small lock box from under the sofa and removed a wad of cash, a stack of passports, a handgun with ammunition and a fixed-blade survival knife. He also reached in and took out a picture which he folded and then eased into the breast pocket of the windbreaker he was wearing.

“Do you have everything?” he asked her.

Without speaking, she nodded.

“Good. Come with me. Don’t fight me. Don't ask questions, just do. Got it?”

She nodded and then added, “I’ve got it.”

Nick allowed himself a final, long, look around the place, and then told Nicole to follow him out the smaller back door. Tugging on a cord, he shouted out, “Run for the bushes and dive down!”

Before they got there, a loud, powerful explosion propelled them both into the brush, and debris began to rain down all around them. Nick rolled on top of her, covering her from the scorching hot rubble of what was the house. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a second explosion bathing the property in orange flames with a billowy, thick, black cloud rising up from it.

It wasn’t what he’d preferred, but he did what he had to do.

“Fuck!” Nicole exclaimed, crouching to avoid the ashes and sparks. “What just happened?”

“I did it to buy us some time. But now it’s time to get the fuck out of here.”