The night before filtered through my head. Having Sophie under me was amazing. The thought of her climaxing to my touch had me hard. I reached over to the side of the bed to pull Sophie into me and noticed the bed was empty. I felt the sheets, and they were cold. She had left hours ago.

I reached for the pair of gray sweatpants lying on the floor and went to figure out where my redheaded angel had escaped to. She had another thing coming if she thought she could avoid me this easily.

The guest room door was closed. I opened the door, ready to give Sophie a piece of my mind for leaving the bed in the middle of the night. The sight I saw took my breath away. Sophie was sound asleep, with her red hair spread across the pillow. It looked so inviting. Just when I had decided to climb into bed with her, my phone rang.

I swore I would kill the person on the other side of that phone. It was too fucking early to be calling and bothering me. Leaving Sophie to sleep after the day we had yesterday, I walked out into the hall and closed the door.

“What?” Whoever was calling needed to get to the point.

“Is that any way to talk to your boss?” How did the director get my burner number? Sophie and I needed to leave the safe house. Our location was compromised.

“I told you I would take the case. When we find anything out, I will send you the intel.” Like hell. I wouldn’t send him anything. I thought he was up to his nose in bad dealings, and if it was the last thing I did, I would bring this man to his knees.

I overheard a shuffling on the other end of the line. “I need you to take Yermushin out. Bring Sophie back, and I will take care of her. I don’t think she will be much help to you in the field. I will send another agent out to help you.”

“Nope. I’m good.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion. I want Sophie back here today, or I will have your ass.”

I walked back into the guest room and shook Sophie. When her dark green eyes landed on me, it was enough to take my breath away. I motioned that it was time to go. She seemed to understand and kick into high gear.

“I will report back when I have something.” Not waiting to hear his reply, I clicked the phone off and stomped on it.

My go-bag was sitting on the bench next to the front door. I was ready to go. Sophie rounded the corner wearing a pair of my sweats and a T-shirt. I wanted to peel them off her body and head back to the bedroom. But, we needed to leave before any agents showed up. There was something we were missing in Sophie’s tie to Sanchez.

“What’s going on?” There was a slight shake to Sophie’s voice.

“The director called. We need to get out of here in case he’s figured out our location.”

Sophie seemed to understand the urgency and followed me out to the garage. The garage was lined with high-end sports cars. I hadn't made it out here since we arrived at the cabin. The garage was three times the size of the house.

“Are these all yours?”

I’ve grown up with money. Sometimes it was hard to see what others see. I only saw a bunch of cars that went fast.

“Yes,” I said tersely, not wanting to talk about my family’s money. I unlocked a luxury SUV. Sophie headed toward it. There was a very slim chance someone had made it into the garage. I didn't want to take any chances, so I pulled out a mirror to check under the cars for trackers or bombs. Once Sophie was inside the SUV, I did a quick check. The car was clean.

A few miles down the road, I pulled out a new burner phone and called Antonio. It rang once before his gruff voice came through the phone.

“Do you know how fucking early it is?” Antonio sounded as excited as I was when I got the call from the director bright and early. I glanced at the dashboard clock. It was 6:35 AM. It was fucking early.

I clicked the phone over to speaker, so I could concentrate on the road. “Sorry to wake you, Sleeping Beauty. Sophie and I left the safe house.”

“What happened?” It seemed that once Antonio realized we had an issue, he perked up and forgot how god-awful early it was.

Sophie shifted in the seat next to me. She had been quiet since we got the call from the director.

“Sanchez called me this morning. He wants me to bring Sophie in and take on a partner for the rest of the op.”

Antonio grunted on the other end of the line. “Do not take her in. Hold on a second.”

I had no plans to take Sophie in. I would help her find her sister and then tackle the chemistry between us. After a couple minutes, Antonio clicked back over.

“Do you know how early it is?” Brock grumbled through the phone.

“What did you find out last night? Sophie and I need to find a new location to lie low.” Brock and Antonio’s complaining was rubbing my nerves.

“Yermushin will be at the charity fundraiser tomorrow night in New York. Kat will be there with him.”

“Can you get Sophie and me on the guest list?” It wouldn’t be hard to get on the list. I could always pull the Zack card.

Brock complained about people underestimating him. “We were planning on calling you around nine to tell you the plan. You and Sophie head to Charlottesville airstrip. A plane will be waiting for you. Antonio and John, one of operatives that works for Blackwood Security, will meet you at White Manor Hotel and Spa in downtown New York. Once everyone is at the hotel, we will reconvene.”

I needed Brock to do more digging. Things were not adding up. “Brock, I need you to look deeper into Sanchez and his connection to Sophie. I think he knew her before her parents died.”

* * *

Sophie

The thought I might be in the same room as my sister brought butterflies to my stomach. For the past twenty years, I’ve been looking for her, and now I was days away from seeing her. The problem I was having was that my thoughts kept going back to last night.

It was one of the most mind-blowing nights I’ve ever had, and it could not happen again. The previous night was nothing more than a one-night stand. I had no future with any man. That was taken from me years ago. What happened with Zane couldn’t happen again.

When I glanced in Zane’s direction, I noticed that he kept looking in the review mirror. A black sedan had been a couple car lengths behind us for the past twenty miles.

“Why do you keep looking back?” I wish there was a Spy Book for Dummies. Even CliffsNotes would be helpful. 

Zane pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. “I need you to reach into the glove box and pull out a gun.”

When I opened the glove box, I was shocked by its contents. It had everything an assassin would need. “Umm… which one do you want?”

“Hand me a Glock. Also, grab a grenade. We might need it.”

Who the hell keeps grenades in their glove box? I reached in and grabbed what I assumed was a Glock. It was black, and it looked similar to the one he had been carrying on his side for the past three days. I opened the clamp holding the grenade and pulled it out. Zane reached over and grabbed the weapon from my hand.

“You ready to tell me what is going on?”

Zane glanced in the review mirror. “The car behind us has been following us for the past twenty miles.”

How do we know someone is following us for sure? “Maybe they are heading the same way we are. Ever think of that?”

“I’ve made three turns, causing us to completely change directions. There would be no reason for them to do the same.”

“How about we outrun them or lose them?” That seems like something a CIA agent would do. Don’t they teach that in spy 101?

Zane gave me a cocky smile. “We will stop and chat and see what they want. You will stay in the car, and if it turns bad, you will take off.”

This fieldwork shit was getting old. I wanted to sit behind the computer and delete these men's identities, not go into a shootout. “Can you explain the plan?”

Zane veered off the side of the road. The car following us almost didn’t see where we went, but they made a U-turn and came back at us. “I will talk to them. You stay here.”

The black sedan came to a stop a few feet from us. Two men in black suits stepped out of the car. They were definitely CIA agents. Zane checked the magazine of his gun before he exited the vehicle.

I could hear murmurs from them talking. It sounded like they wanted to bring me in. When Zane responded, the agents looked upset with his reply. One of the agents reached for his side arm. Zane raised his gun, and squeezed the trigger. Two gunshots echoed through the air, both men dropped to the ground. Zane aimed at the car firing off two more shots taking out the front tires of the car.

Zane jumped back into the SUV, and we were on our way. He peeled out, leaving two agents and a car behind. I think it took a couple miles for me to get my voice to speak.

“You left two dead people back there.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

Zane gave me a puzzled look and tapped his fingers on the leather steering wheel. “I didn’t kill them. I merely made it harder for them to follow. They will both make a full recovery. It’s their fault for thinking they could take me on. Both agents knew who I was and what I would do to keep you safe.”

That made me feel a little easier, knowing we didn’t leave two dead bodies on the side of the road. It also made me feel better that Zane was still trying to protect me and get me back to my sister. He had no reason to defend me. His mission from his brother was to figure out what Director Sanchez was doing.

“Okay, how long before we make it to the airstrip?”

“It will be a little longer than I planned, since the car behind us has a grenade launcher pointed in our direction.”