CHAPTER 6
TWO HOURS AFTER Caitlyn managed to refrain from tackling Kurt into her bed, they sat at her small table eating a platter of cut fruit. God, the look he’d given her when they discussed sleeping arrangements… She’d been tempted to stick her head in the freezer by the time she left the room.
He’d always been tempting, but she’d somehow managed to keep those feelings under lock and key around him. Well, except for that ill-advised kiss that ruined everything. But now, it was as if he’d taken a sledgehammer to the vault where she’d sequestered her desire and everything came pouring out, exciting and messy and unwelcome.
Kurt tapped her hand and she jumped. “Hey,” he said. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just thinking about Rose.” As she should have been.
He covered her fingers with his warm hand. “We’ll get her.”
Caitlyn nodded and reluctantly slid her hand free.
“You know, if you’re going to be this jumpy around me at the party, no one will believe we’re really a couple.”
“Sorry. I’ll focus.” She couldn’t risk Glenn or Treavor Lambert seeing through their ruse. Rose’s life depended on it. Somehow she needed to relax and enjoy being with Kurt without losing herself to him.
“You shouldn’t have to. Being together needs to be easy. Second nature.”
She nodded.
“Maybe we should practice.” His suggestive grin had her swallowing hard.
“Practice, huh?” She slid her hand up his wrist, the hair on his muscular forearms soft against her fingertips. “Like this?”
His dark eyes gleamed as his smiled faded. “That’s a good start.” Raising his free hand, he stroked his thumb across her cheekbone.
It took all of her willpower to hold his gaze as his fingers slid behind her ear and down the sensitive skin of her neck. A shiver ran through her as he glanced at her lips and cupped the back of her head. Why couldn’t she just give in? For Rose. Maybe even for herself.
Kurt watched her, color rising in his cheeks as he leaned infinitesimally closer. She inhaled his subtle masculine scent and closed her eyes, narrowing the gap between them until her mouth unerringly found his, as inevitable and unavoidable as the nearby waves caressing the shore. His hot, soft lips pressed to hers, soothing, seeking, capturing.
He licked the outline of her upper lip and she gasped at the sparks that skated through her stomach. Rather than take advantage, he waited, pressing soft kisses to her mouth, tasting her lips until she finally broke and sought his tongue with her own. First contact sent a jolt through her body, and the room was suddenly sweltering. He tasted like pineapple and sex and something inexplicable and addictive. She wanted to crawl into his lap and—
Kurt broke the kiss, his breath coming fast and his dark eyes sparkling as he smiled. “That’s more like it.” He planted a quick kiss on her nose and straightened, releasing her and pulling free. “Act more like that and we’ll be fine tonight.”
What?
Pulling free of her grip, Kurt excused himself from the tiny cafe table and carried his plate into the kitchen with Rockley on his heels, as if they hadn’t just shared the hottest kiss she’d had since she gave in to her curiosity twelve years ago.
Caitlyn forced herself to stop staring. How did he go from devouring her one minute to acting like they’d shared nothing but polite conversation the next?
“I should probably change if we’re going to leave soon,” he said, looking good enough to eat in a black T-shirt and tan cargo shorts.
In Caitlyn’s memories, Kurt had muscled thighs and calves covered in dark hair, so the sight of his artificial legs was momentarily jarring. But women were probably as attracted to him now as they had been when she, Kurt, and Terrell had gone barhopping in OKC. Maybe more. His youthful arrogance had been replaced with a solemn confidence born of hardships and horrors she could only imagine.
“Will this interfere with our flight?” he asked, jerking his chin at the ceiling. Rain beat a steady rhythm overhead, dripping from the sloped roof and splattering the windows.
Shaking her head to clear the fog in her brain, she said, “I doubt it. Showers rarely last long around here.”
“Mm.” He almost sounded disappointed.
The muscles in his forearms rippled as he dried his plate, and she had to look away. Good grief. She needed to get a grip. She could not get involved with Kurt. On the rare occasions she got laid, she sought out a man she could guarantee she’d never see or do business with again. One who wouldn’t try to lay claim to her or start a relationship.
She wanted to see Kurt again after this week, and sex would complicate things. Not worth it. Hell, she didn’t even know the extent of his injuries. Maybe he couldn’t…
But damn if he didn’t smell delicious.
She cleared her throat. “You want the bathroom or the bedroom first?”
“Before I get cleaned up, do you have any pictures of Rose? I’d like to know who to look for.”
He came around to the table as she thumbed through photos on her phone and then held it out to him, trying to keep enough distance between them to avoid his magnetic pull.
“Is that her natural hair color?” he asked about her sister’s mass of tight, coppery curls.
“Yeah. She gets that a lot.” Rose’s hair was as dark red as Caitlyn’s, despite her golden brown skin. “Her dad must carry the recessive redhead gene, which my mom obviously has too. It’s not common, but there’s a photographer who’s documenting mixed-race redheads from all over the world. Rose was amazed to see other people like her with red hair and brown skin. My brother, on the other hand, takes after his dad, brown hair, brown eyes, no freckles, maybe a shade lighter.”
Caitlyn shared several more photos of Rose, but she was pretty easy to spot in a crowd. “I was three years ahead of her in school, but we bonded over being freckled redheads. Especially when some of the kids started bullying her for her appearance. Strawberry Shortcake, etc. She had it far worse than I did—like kids asking, ‘What are you?’—but she seemed to handle it better.”
Kurt frowned. “Kids suck sometimes.” He returned the phone. “Actually, so do some adults.”
Caitlyn could only nod as a deep ache invaded her chest. Why had she let her relationship with her sister languish? What if she and Kurt couldn’t save Rose? Caitlyn pressed a hand to her knotted stomach, now wishing she hadn’t eaten.
“You okay?” Kurt asked, touching her shoulder lightly and far too briefly.
Shoving aside the fear and regret, she straightened and pushed away from the table. “I’m fine. Thanks.” There was no room, no time, for emotions.
Within an hour, the skies had cleared, and they were on their way to St. Isidore in her Piper Navajo. She rarely wore her hair down, and she was already regretting it as sweat formed on the back of her neck and strands of hair caught in the headset, tugging at her scalp.
“Do you get airsick?” she asked through the microphone.
Kurt sat pale and silent next to her in a charcoal suit and gray button-down shirt with the collar open. “No. I just don’t enjoy flying much these days.”
“Since Afghanistan?” Since his helicopter had crashed and he’d nearly died.
“Yeah.”
Shit. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he didn’t like to fly. She’d had no idea how much she was asking when she begged him to come here. “Why didn’t you say something? We could have rented a boat.”
He glanced at her. “I’m fine. Better to face it down.”
And that was so like him. Not fearless—because who really was?—but brave. Always pushing his limits. Testing himself. Never giving himself an inch of leeway when it came to the hard stuff. She’d allowed herself to forget some of his best qualities after their friendship had fallen apart.
They flew over the crystal turquoise waters of the Caribbean in relative silence, the only sound the purr of the propellers. Caitlyn lived for this. The sky was freedom. Freedom from the expectations and limitations put on her by society, from the pressure to be “feminine,” to get married and have children, to measure her self-worth by her appearance or pedigree.
Not to mention, it was flat-out exhilarating to cheat gravity. Her little Piper might not be an F-16, but it got her in the air. Up here, the world was small. Insignificant. Nothing mattered but staying aloft.
All too quickly, they were skirting St. Isidore’s southern coastline. Less than thirty miles long, the island had a rough arrowhead shape, with a mountain and rainforest on the southwestern end of the wide base, and dense jungle covering the rural areas. Lambert’s plantation sat on the coast, in a valley just north of Montagne de St. Pierre, a mountain that rose straight out of the Caribbean Sea.
“That’s it?” Kurt asked, his gaze out the window.
“Uh-huh.”
“The guys weren’t exaggerating when they said it was beautiful. Too bad it’s such a shit show.”
“Yeah. Things are getting better, but there’s a lot of work to do. Your team has had a positive impact here. You can be proud of that.”
“I guess so.” They rounded the lush mountain and dropped altitude. “Other than Tara, I’m the only one who’s never been here. Hell, even Mick was here as a PJ on a humanitarian mission.”
“Mick?”
Kurt glanced at her. “One of my old teammates. The one who kept me alive after the crash.”
Thank you, Mick, whoever you are.
“I thought he was going to join me at Steele,” Kurt said, “but he got married. To Tara’s best friend actually, which is how I met her. Mick and Jenna moved to South Carolina a few years ago, and now they have a little boy. Robby’s two.”
Something in his voice made her ask, “Do you want kids?”
“I love my nephew, and I think having my own children would be great, but finding the right woman is more important. Kids would be a bonus, but I’m not exactly getting younger.”
Her chest tightened at the wistful look on his face. He’d be a great dad. Solid, steady, playful, fair. Present. “What are you talking about? You have plenty of time. Men can make babies into their seventies. Just look at that actor…James whatever. The one in that new movie about World War II.”
“Rockaway?”
“Right.”
“Sure, it’s possible, but if I have kids, I don’t want to be too old to play with them. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but I’d like to be around to see them grow up, maybe to be a grandpa.”
Her heart twisted. Even if she let herself be with Kurt, she couldn’t give him the family he really wanted. “I can see it now, Papa Steele. You’d spoil those kids rotten.”
“Absolutely.” He laughed. “It’s in the job description.”
For his sake, she hoped he got the job.
For the first time since his crash, flying wasn’t so bad. Being stuck next to Caitlyn in close quarters helped. She smelled fresh as sunshine and rain, and shone bright as a jewel in a green dress that showcased her athletic shoulders and shapely legs. And an endless landscape of fascinating freckles.
He hadn’t meant for things to go as far as they had this afternoon. He was trying to move slowly, trying not to scare her away. He’d thought maybe a few caresses, maybe a gentle kiss, would remind her how good they were together. Get her thinking about the possibilities. And be more comfortable for their mission. But holy combustion, she had lit him up. He’d had to pull away before he let things go too far and sent her running for the hills.
Now, Caitlyn had stopped talking as she prepared for landing, and Kurt turned his attention to the beauty outside his window. The plane turned away from the evening sun and descended toward St. Isidore, where Dan and Mick had once spent three weeks providing medical care and aid to earthquake victims. Where Dan had first met his wife Alyssa, a nurse for a non-profit, six years ago, and reconnected with her again three years later.
At least now Kurt could put a place to their stories.
He managed not to bruise the armrests as Caitlyn brought the plane in low along a wide valley nestled in the foothills of the mountain that towered over the lush island.
She took a long arc around a sprawling home ringed by grass, thick bushes, and palms. Rows of banana plants and trees with fat leaves filled several acres surrounding the paved runway that seemed to appear at the last minute.
The touchdown was so smooth, they might as well have been riding a feather onto a pillow. A perfect, three-point landing. “Wow. Dan wasn’t kidding.”
“About what?” she asked, slowing the plane on the short runway.
“Your skills as a pilot.”
“Thanks.” She grinned. “Why do you think I get the big bucks?” Her pink cheeks belied her flippant response, but he didn’t doubt that clients appreciated her expertise. Or her smile.
Once the plane stopped and she had shut down the engines, several men approached the plane, armed with AKs.
“We’re expected, right?”
She unfastened her harness and removed her headset, shaking out her silky hair. “Yes. And I know these guys.”
God, she was even more of a distraction than usual. Not good now that he needed to keep his wits about him. “I know you said they’d check for weapons, but I don’t like going unarmed.” The only “insurance” they’d brought was a wad of cash. He freed himself from his seat and ran a hand through his hair to remove any marks left by the headset.
“It’ll be fine. Trust me.” Easing her way to the back, she opened the hatch.
“It’s not you I have issues with.”
“Hey, guys,” she said to the guards with a wave. “Would you mind putting the chocks down? I don’t want to get anything on my dress.”
“Yes, ma’am.” A thick arm reached for the blocks and disappeared.
Caitlyn kicked off the running shoes and socks she’d worn for flying and slipped on short, strappy, black heels that would bring her nearly eye-to-eye with him. “Ready?” she asked, waving him closer.
“As I’ll ever be.” He descended the narrow stairs slowly, following her into the soft air.
“We need to check the plane, Ms. Brevard,” said a barrel-chested white man with a permanently sunburned nose and an Aussie accent.
“Standard procedure,” she murmured to Kurt as she waved the man inside. “Go ahead, Jack.”
He returned a minute later. “All clear.”
The men gave Kurt and Caitlyn a cursory pat down and checked her purse, and finally waved them on. It looked like they weren’t taking any chances with security after the attempt on Lambert’s life a few weeks back. Even with the woman who’d saved him.
When the guards returned to their posts around the perimeter of the airfield, Caitlyn closed the hatch. She took Kurt’s hand and they strolled toward the plantation’s back gate. Golden sun backlit the house, making it impossible to make out the home’s features, and casting the runway in shadow.
A cool breeze made the warm, sticky air nearly bearable in his jacket. Thank God he didn’t have to wear a tie too.
Leaning toward Caitlyn, he got a lungful of her enticing scent. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips that left him reeling.
Up ahead, the wrought-iron-and-wood gate swung open and a man in his late twenties with light brown hair and a smug smile blocked their path. “Caitlyn.” His lecherous gaze traveled down her body and back up again. “Wow. You look fabulous.”
Who the hell was this punk? They’d just arrived, but was it too soon to punch someone?
“Thanks.” Caitlyn squeezed Kurt’s hand. She probably wanted to sock the asshole too. “I’d like you to meet my fiancé Kurt Steele.” She turned to Kurt. “This is Glenn Lambert. Treavor Lambert’s son.”
“Hi, there,” Kurt said as he stuck out his right hand. He couldn’t bring himself to tell the man he was pleased to meet him.
He was prepared for some kind of power play, but Glenn gave him a quick, firm handshake and stepped out of their way with his arm out toward the house. “Enjoy the party. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“Okay.” Caitlyn shivered and tugged Kurt up the brick path. When they were out of earshot, she said, “He makes my skin crawl.”
Kurt rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb and glanced back to see Glenn watching them. “You have good instincts.”
Lambert’s house had been transformed. Small star-shaped lights hung in clusters from the wood beams that ran the length of the ceiling in a magical display. Dozens of round tables filled the great room, covered with turquoise or salmon tablecloths and large centerpieces of tropical flowers arrayed in a flat circle.
One would think this was the wedding reception.
Too bad Caitlyn couldn’t enjoy it, even with the sexy man on her arm, though she liked having Kurt by her side far more than she’d expected. The look in Glenn’s eyes when he greeted them at the back gate had been more predatory than usual. Darker somehow.
She shouldn’t chafe at wanting backup. It wasn’t a sign of weakness. Even special ops guys worked in teams.
“Any sign of her?” Kurt asked, his breath tickling her neck and raising goosebumps on her skin as he casually scanned the room.
Caterers filled the chafing dishes at the buffet, and servers circled the room with trays of drinks and appetizers. Reini, the woman of formidable size she’d met two weeks ago in the kitchen, stood in a corner dispatching a crew to clear tables and clean up mishaps.
None of them were Rose. For all Caitlyn knew, these were outside catering or legitimate hired help.
“No. Not yet.”
He squeezed her hand. “We’ll find her.”
They played the happily engaged couple as the real engaged couple sat at one end of the room, flanked by their families. After dinner and a round of speeches from the fathers of the bride and groom, Lambert revealed a dance floor on the back lawn overlooking the beach. A string quartet played music, and couples filtered outside where another bar had been staged.
As she and Kurt rose from the table, Treavor Lambert approached.
“That’s Lambert,” she said under her breath.
“Ms. Brevard!” The man beamed at her so genuinely, she could almost forget he was a devil under the charming facade. “I’m so glad you made it. And this must be your lucky man.”
“Yessir. Hi.” Somehow, she managed to smile. “This is Kurt Steele,” she said as the men shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Kurt said.
Lambert winked at him and gave them both a genial grin. “It’s good to meet you. I was beginning to think the little lady here was blowing smoke just to keep Glenn away from her.”
Caitlyn managed a breathy laugh.
Kurt slid his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tight to his side. The possessive move sent a little thrill clear to her toes. She might like her independence, but some part of her enjoyed a man who took charge. As long as he didn’t take too much.
“We’re still trying to sort out the logistics,” Kurt said, “but we won’t let a couple thousand miles keep us apart.”
The older man’s eyes twinkled. Unlike his son, Lambert’s depravity didn’t leak out from beneath his navy suit like a bitter fog. “She’s definitely worth hanging onto, this one. But I’m hoping you don’t steal her away too soon. Not only is she the best pilot I’ve ever flown with, this little woman saved my life. Did she tell you that?”
Little woman? Caitlyn managed not to wrinkle her nose. Amazing how he could be so condescending and complimentary in the same sentence. And, of course, he assumed she’d be the one giving up her life when they married.
“Yes, sir, she did.” Kurt’s big, warm hand squeezed her shoulder. “I gotta say, I’m not too excited about her getting shot at. I thought we left that behind in the Air Force.” There was no mistaking the irritation in his voice. If she didn’t know better she’d fully believe he was an aggrieved fiancé.
“You’ll be glad to know, then, that I have doubled my security, especially patrols in the jungle and plantation.”
Shit. Doubled?
Lambert shrugged and shook his head. “The more successful you become, the more people want to take you down.” He said it like a man with nothing to hide. Like a man who didn’t mislead desperate people and use blackmail or threats to force them to work under horrible conditions.
She found it increasingly difficult to hide her distaste for the entire Lambert family in the weeks since she’d discovered Rose. And now she and Kurt had only a couple of hours to locate her sister and the others and get them out to the van waiting several streets over for her call. Sadly, not all of them would be willing to leave.
Fear was a powerful yoke.
“I can only imagine,” Kurt said to Lambert, pulling Caitlyn’s attention back to the conversation. “I guess everyone struggles.”
“Indeed,” Lambert said, with no trace of irony.
“I hope you don’t mind if I whisk my date away for a dance in the moonlight. Your home is too beautiful not to take advantage of the moment.”
“Not at all, young man.” Lambert turned to her. “Ms. Brevard, thank you for joining my family for this happy occasion.”
“Of course. Thank you for inviting us. We’re honored to be here.” She wanted to rinse out her mouth with bleach. If only she could go back to believing he was a wealthy-but-benign man who greased a few palms to get his business done. All the money she’d taken from him—was still taking, but now with a purpose—had been earned not just illegally, but immorally. “Enjoy your evening, and my congratulations again to your daughter and your family.”
“Thank you.”
Kurt whisked her through the back doors and carefully descended the steps to a large brick patio ringed by columns that stood like good soldiers ready for drill. “What an ass,” he murmured.
Gauzy fabric had been draped around the perimeter, lit with small white lights and paper lanterns. Beyond the far columns, the lawn sloped down toward the sand, jungle on either side framing a view of the Caribbean Sea with a broad swatch of silver moonlight painting a path across the water.
Kurt gave a low whistle. “This place is incredible.” The cool breeze ruffled his dark hair as he took her into his arms for a slow dance. His touch burned right through her dress.
“Built on the backs of slaves in the heyday of sugar plantations, and now maintained with the labor of modern-day slaves.” She kept her voice low and her smile firmly in place. “Now that my blinders are off, I can hardly stand to be here.”
He distracted her with small circles on her lower back. Only pride kept her from melting into his arms completely. “You’re doing great,” he said. “I had no idea what an accomplished actor you are.”
She met his gaze, and it darkened when she combed her fingers into the short hair on the back of his neck. Was he acting now? Was she? In spite of their mission, the magical location combined with Kurt’s arms around her waist made her feel a bit reckless. “I’m not that good,” she said, tightness building in her chest.
Her gaze strayed to his lips.
He kissed her. A jolt of energy shot through her veins and she kissed back. Hard. The depth of her lust left her stunned. He was everything she feared.
She pulled away slowly with a shaky laugh. “Don’t get too carried away, we’re still in public.”
His hold on her tightened, pressing her breasts to his solid chest. “I thought that was the whole point,” he said, his deep, intimate voice a soft caress gliding over her skin.
She struggled to catch her breath with him looking at her like she was the next course in his favorite meal. And then she noticed Glenn on the dance floor with a beautiful blond woman.
Caitlyn’s heart turned cold. She needed to find Rose and convince her to get out of this place before they lost their chance. Before she had to spend another hour here. “One more kiss and then we’re going to wander away from here to be alone.”
Kurt nodded. She touched her lips to his, and unable to resist, took a quick taste with her tongue. He moaned and deepened the kiss. In another life, under different circumstances, she’d maneuver him into the shadow of the trees and kiss him senseless.
With a sigh, she forced herself to disengage and glanced around. It wasn’t wise to make a scene. But, luckily, nobody else was paying any attention to them.
Except Glenn. The slimy bastard stared daggers at her from ten yards away.
She blinked and let her gaze roam as if she hadn’t noticed. Kurt loosened his hold, so she backed out of his arms and took his hand. “Care to take a stroll through the garden?” she asked.
“I’d love to.”
They walked hand-in-hand at a leisurely pace through the expertly sculpted topiary, a contrast to the wild growth at the edge of the manicured grounds. As they rounded the corner to the south side of the villa, she checked to see if anyone was following them. Glenn was still on the brightly lit dance floor with his partner, but another couple talked quietly next to a column on the porch, and a guard with an AK-47 set a leisurely pace along the edge of the dark wilderness.
Keeping her voice low, Caitlyn said, “That should be the place.” According to Shaylee’s intel, the workers slept in the house to their right. The two-story servants’ quarters mirrored the style of the great house with a much smaller footprint, maybe twenty-five hundred square feet total.
“Why don’t we check out that fountain?” Kurt said in a normal tone, nudging her toward a vine-covered pergola that led to a stone fountain, partially hidden from the main house.
Caitlyn swung their joined hands and faced him. “A less trusting girl would think you were trying to get me alone so you could compromise me,” she said, with what she hoped was a flirty smile that wasn’t as hard to fake as it should have been.
“A less trusting girl would be right.”
Oh my. She passed through the pergola and into the circular space created by trees that ringed the dry fountain. Kurt followed and sat on a cement bench, immediately tugging her sideways onto his lap. The hard frames of his prosthetic limbs caught her by surprise and she jolted. “Oh.”
“Too uncomfortable?” he asked.
“No. I just…forgot.”
“It’s okay. I still do too, sometimes,” he said, his weak smile barely visible in the shadows.
Unsure how to respond, she pressed her hands to his freshly shaved cheeks, holding his dark gaze as she pulled him in for a soft kiss. He held the back of her head and tattooed her mouth with whisper-light, breathy kisses that made her heart race.
“The guard went around the corner, and the couple moved inside,” he said before gently sucking her lower lip into his mouth.
She ran her tongue across his upper lip.
With a groan, he took the kiss deeper, their tongues gliding sensuously as his warm hands slid up her ribcage. He kissed his way across her jaw and down the sensitive skin of her neck.
Oh, God. She pressed her aching breasts to his muscular chest, helpless under the soft, wet press of his lips and the gentle scrape of his teeth. He’d reduced her to an incendiary bundle of nerves ready to explode at his lightest touch.
What the hell were they doing? She dragged her fingers across the short, silky hair at the base of his neck and urged his head up. To soften her sudden withdrawal, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and scanned the garden. “Looks safe now,” she whispered, as if it had all been for show.
His chest rose and fell in time with hers. “Right.” He sounded a little dazed as he loosened his hold and let her slide from his lap. While she straightened her dress, he sat motionless on the bench with his eyes closed, taking deep, measured breaths.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Never better.” He slowly stood, rubbing his palm across his mouth, his amazing mouth that made her system go haywire. With a quick glance around, he stood and clasped her hand in his. “Let’s do it.”
Kurt released Caitlyn’s hand and followed her along the narrow, shrub-lined path that led to the servant quarters. The only light came from the tree-filtered moon and a dim bulb over the front door of the two-story outbuilding with plantation shutters on every window.
Why the hell had he agreed to Caitlyn’s scheme again? He could still taste her sweet, salty skin on his lips, still feel her soft curves under his palms and her breasts crushed against him. And, God help him, if he could, he’d stash her away and pick up where they’d left off.
Real life was far better than his dreams. How the hell was he supposed to go home and forget about her now? Only a fool would think he could be part of this ploy without getting hurt.
But then, he knew a little about surviving pain.
You’ll live. Just get your head back in the game.
A fat raindrop splashed onto his nose, and within seconds, the sky opened up.
Caitlyn’s pace picked up, but they were already drenched. His dress shoes slipped on the wet tiles, forcing him to tread carefully. The last thing he needed was to end up on his ass.
When they reached the narrow shelter of the porch, Kurt used his dripping-wet body to block her from view of the main house while she tried the door handle.
“It’s locked,” she mouthed. Her wet hair stuck to her face and lay in clumps on her shoulders. Water droplets fell from her nose. She was beautiful, even soaked and bedraggled, her dress glued to her body.
Dragging away his gaze, he examined the lock, then pulled a slim set of picks from his wallet. The guards hadn’t thought to look there. “Keep an eye out.”
With a nod, she turned her back on him. His hands were slippery, he hadn’t practiced in months, and Caitlyn stood too close for him to ignore, but he managed to conquer the lock in under a minute.
“We’re in,” he said, dropping the tools into his pocket and pushing open the wooden door.
“All clear out here.” She slid past him into the dimly lit foyer, waiting for him to close the door behind them before advancing down the hall.
They dripped and squished, leaving behind a trail of water on the carpet runner that muffled their approach to the central staircase. A quick circuit of the lower floor revealed a kitchen, a lounge, and a large dining room.
The rain pounded on the roof overhead, drowning out all other noise as they circled back to the foyer.
“Don’t move.” Glenn stepped into the anteroom holding a Glock, his wet hair dripping onto the floor.
Kurt froze, shielding Caitlyn with his body. Why hadn’t he found a way to sneak in a weapon?
“Glenn, put the gun down,” the damn foolish woman said, stepping out of his shadow and into the line of fire. “It’s just us.”
A black man dressed in a T-shirt and jeans stood behind Glenn, pointing a Sig Sauer at Kurt’s chest.
“I can see that,” Glenn said. “What are you doing in here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” Caitlyn stepped closer, pushing Kurt’s blood pressure up another notch. “We were looking for shelter from the downpour and this was closer than the main house. You?”
Richie Rich looked skeptical. “Shelter? Or a bed?”
Even if he was insanely jealous, the guns seemed like overkill. What had they walked into?
She made a face. “Don’t be crude. We just wanted someplace warm and dry to wait out the rain.”
“So you broke in? You must think I’m an idiot.”
Hands on hips, she said, “No, but I thought you trusted me by now. Your dad does. I saved his life, remember?”
Glenn’s gaze raked her body from head to toe. “That was unfortunate.”
She stared, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Patience has never been my strong suit.”
What the fuck? Had the guy really admitted to an attempt on his father’s life? Christ, they were so screwed.
“Glenn, we can—”
“Enough bullshit.” He cut her off with a wave of his gun. “I know you’re the pilot.”
Oh, fuck.
Her brow wrinkled in an Oscar-deserving pantomime of confused innocence. “Right. I’ve been flying your family for more than a year now.” She raised her hand, palm out. “Are you feeling okay?”
“No, no, you beautiful, devious bitch.” Glenn held his weapon inches from Caitlyn’s forehead. “You’re the rescue pilot.”