Glitter and Gunfire (9 page)

Cale’s hold on her hardened even more as he gritted out her name. His hips pushed down, he thrust deeper and she knew that he’d found his own release.

Their panting breath filled the air. She didn’t move. Didn’t want to. Cassidy wanted to go on holding Cale and feeling the pleasure pulse through her body in sweet aftershocks of release.

Killers. Dangers. She wasn’t ready to face the threats around her.

So she just wrapped her arms around Cale. She closed her eyes, and she let everything else vanish.

* * *

S
YDNEY
S
LOAN
—
no, now Sydney Sloan-Ortez—knew the minute when her husband entered her office. She just felt him. The air shifted, and every nerve in her body went on high alert. That was generally her body’s instinctive response to Gunner.

Sydney looked up, her breath catching. And, sure enough, Gunner stood in the doorway.

Some people were afraid when they saw Gunner. He appeared hard and dangerous, and he’d sure gazed into hell more than his fair share of times.

But when Sydney looked at him, she never felt fear.

Happiness bloomed inside her as she leaped to her feet. Three seconds later, she was in his arms—her favorite spot in the world.

Gunner held her in a grip of steel, his body trembling lightly against hers. “I missed you,” he whispered. For Gunner, those words were the same as a declaration of love. As far as she knew, Gunner didn’t miss anyone but her.

He eased back, and his hand rose to gently caress the curve of her stomach.

Her and the twins.

“How are my sweethearts?” His normally hard-as-nails voice had dropped to a croon.

Sydney couldn’t help but smile. Gunner was convinced they were having girls. While he’d been on the last mission, she’d found out that the he was right. She was just waiting for the perfect moment to reveal that news to him.

“We’re all just fine,” she told him, unable to stop her smile.
Now that you’re home.
In the past, she would have gone on the mission with him, working easily in the field.

Dodging bullets was almost as natural to her as breathing.

But with babies on board and her doctor emphasizing the risks of a twin pregnancy, she hadn’t been about to jeopardize the safety of her children.

And Mercer had also recently offered her a promotion. Director of Information Retrieval. With a substantial pay raise like the one he’d been tossing around, she couldn’t refuse. With the new job, she’d still do some occasional fieldwork, but she’d also have a lot more time to spend at home.

With
her
sweethearts.

She pulled Gunner fully into her office and shut the door. She’d missed him so badly, ached for him every night. His eyes were sliding over her now, and she could all but feel the caress on her skin.

To think...she’d almost lost Gunner. Almost let her own past take him away from her.

No one will ever take him away now.

Because she’d do anything necessary to protect him.

Just as he would her. She knew Gunner would lie for her, fight for her, even kill for her if necessary.

A man like Gunner didn’t love easily, but when he
did
love, it was consuming.

“I heard that your team took out the Executioner,” Sydney said as her gaze drifted quickly over him, making sure there weren’t any new injuries on her man. Taking out the international killer sure hadn’t been his original mission, but word had leaked quickly through the EOD once the Executioner had been eliminated.

Instead of answering, Gunner brushed his lips against hers, stealing her breath. Giving her his.

She kissed him back, and finally—finally—some of the fear she’d felt since he’d left for the mission to Rio vanished.

Gunner was used to putting his life on the line. She was used to risking her own life. But now...

Everything was different. And they both had to adjust to their new world.

His fingers tunneled lightly through her hair. His right hand was still over her stomach, and when one of the twins kicked, Gunner jerked in a startled reaction.

Then he laughed.

Most folks didn’t even think Gunner knew how to laugh.

They were wrong.

His laugh was rusty, rough, but perfect to her ears.

“Tell me what happened,” Sydney whispered. She’d heard about the attack outside of the EOD, too. Because of that shooting, the whole building was on lockdown. She had her tech team scanning the traffic videos of a ten-mile radius, hoping to catch sight of the shooter.

So far, they were turning up empty.

So far.

She wasn’t about to give up. She’d expand the search parameters and she wouldn’t stop looking until she found a clue that the EOD could use.

“He’s dead.” Gunner’s head tilted to the right. “The Executioner is gone.”

“Ian Gagnon.” He’d been the man given the deadly moniker of the Executioner, and she’d been the one to determine his real identity. The Executioner had once been a young boy, tossed onto the streets of Paris. No family, no one to ever step forward and claim him, the five-year-old had eventually been adopted...and given the name Ian by his new parents.

When he’d turned eighteen, Ian had vanished from his adoptive parents’ home. They’d never seen him again.

Now that he was dead, they never would.

“His men—the few that survived—were taken into custody by the authorities in Rio,” Gunner continued. “The hostage he’d taken...Genevieve Chevalier... We got her out in time.”

They’d gotten Genevieve to safety, and they’d gotten Cassidy Sherridan back to the U.S. Cassidy Sherridan interested Sydney. Cassidy’s file was classified, but not by any normal standards. As far as Sydney could tell, only Mercer had clearance to view Cassidy’s records.

It would seem that the woman was a very important asset.

“The hit tonight...” She exhaled slowly. “Was it on Cassidy or Cale?” It wouldn’t be the first time that an EOD agent had been targeted.

Not the first time.

Not the last.

“The bullet was meant for her.” Gunner sounded absolutely certain. He should be. No one knew bullets and sniper attacks quite like her Gunner. “The trajectory, the angle...if Cale hadn’t gotten her out of the way, Cassidy Sherridan would be dead.”

But Cale had saved her, and, based on the video footage she’d seen, the man had been enraged as he’d turned back to search for the killer.

Not such a cool, calm response for an agent.

“We need to find out who’s after her,” Gunner said. “That woman has secrets, and I don’t want those secrets causing an agent to get killed.”

Gunner didn’t trust Cassidy. She wanted to help him, but, well, this was the tricky part.

“Her files have a block on them in the system.”

Gunner arched a brow. His lips twitched the faintest bit. “Like you can’t get past that block.”

She could—in her sleep. But blocks were usually put up for a reason. “Maybe there’s something we shouldn’t know about her.” The last thing she wanted to do was draw any additional risk or attention to Gunner or herself.

Her hand slid over her stomach. When she felt the kick, Sydney didn’t jerk.

She smiled.

Gunner leaned forward to kiss her once more. But when he pulled away, a furrow appeared between his brows. “Cassidy Sherridan is under EOD protection. How can we keep her safe if we don’t know her secrets?”

Secrets could be a very dangerous thing, as they’d both learned.

And no matter how hard you tried, some secrets just couldn’t stay buried. “Maybe I should talk to Mercer.” He needed to know that she’d be tapping around in his system.

Or, rather, blowing his little security blocks to hell and back.

“Cale took her to the safe house.”

There was a darker note in Gunner’s voice. She raised her brows. “What is it?”

His lips tightened. “I don’t like this setup.”

Because he didn’t trust Cassidy.

“Cale is a part of our group,” Gunner said. “I don’t want him in danger because he’s falling for a pretty face. I want to know everything about Cassidy that I can.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that a well-trained agent was misled because emotions got involved in a case. Sydney liked Cale. She didn’t want him at risk, either. She didn’t want
any
of the EOD agents put in additional jeopardy. Their jobs were dangerous enough without any intimate betrayals.

She knew that from personal experience.

“I’ll find out exactly who she is,” Sydney promised. And she would. Either with Mercer’s help...

Or on her own.

Gunner laced his fingers with hers. “I missed you.”

And her heart had been breaking without him.

* * *

C
ASSIDY
WAS
ASLEEP
in his arms. He’d known the exact instant that she’d slipped away, but he hadn’t tried to wake her up. He’d held her and enjoyed the feel of her body against his.

He wasn’t the type to just hold a woman in bed. That wasn’t him. His sexual encounters were usually fast, hot, with no strings attached.

He wasn’t looking for strings.

But Cassidy Sherridan came with miles and miles of strings attached.

Cale turned his head on the pillow, moving so that he could see her as the light of dawn spilled into the room.

No makeup, her hair a beautiful tangle, the woman was so gorgeous that she made him ache.

He’d taken her two more times during the night. Wanted more but he’d known she needed to rest. So when she’d fallen asleep, he hadn’t woken her.

But he had wanted her.

With her, he was wondering if he’d always want more.

A slow beeping reached him, and Cale frowned. That beeping was coming from their discarded pile of clothes.

Carefully, because he still didn’t want to wake her, Cale climbed from the bed and headed for the clothes. He reached down. Found Cassidy’s phone. The photo flashing on the screen was of Genevieve Chevalier.

“Cale?”

Cassidy’s voice. Sleepy, husky, sexy.

Damn.
Those strings were wrapping around him, tighter and tighter, with every second that passed.

The phone had stopped beeping.

He turned toward her. Cassidy pushed up in bed and smiled at him. “You look good in the morning,” she murmured as her eyes slid over him.

Not nearly as good as she did.

But then she frowned. “Was that my phone?” She clutched a sheet to her chest. She didn’t need to cover up on his account. “Has something happened?” A thread of fear leaked through the words.

Nothing new had happened. At least, nothing that he was aware of. Cale cleared his throat. “Your friend...Genevieve. She was calling.”

Her hand reached toward him, grabbing quickly for the phone. “I didn’t even get a chance to tell her goodbye!” Her fingers flew over the phone’s surface. “We raced away so quickly that I—”

His fingers closed over hers. “Don’t tell her where you are.” That was the agent talking, not her lover.

Cassidy stilled. Her lashes rose as she gazed up at him. “Why not? Genevieve is my
friend.
She isn’t a threat to me.”

Until he could learn more about the attack on her, Cale was viewing everyone as a potential threat. “You were targeted just hours ago. Right now, I’m not willing to risk your safety with anyone. Even your
friend.
” Actually, he didn’t even want her calling Genevieve back right then. What if the call was tracked? What if—

“Stop it.” Her voice came out low and cold. The ice—that had been the way Cassidy talked to him before. Back in the beginning. When he’d just thought she was a society queen and she’d thought he was an overprotective agent.

Only they were long past that.

Weren’t they? They’d spent a night burning up the sheets. They damn well
should
have been past it.

“Genevieve is my friend—the oldest friend I’ve got, and I’m calling her back. Something could be wrong. I
have
to check in with her.” She put the phone to her ear, and, a few seconds later, the call connected. “Genevieve?” A false brightness rang in Cassidy’s voice.

Genevieve might be her friend, or Cassidy might call the other woman that, but it was obvious to Cale that Cassidy wore a mask for the Frenchwoman. She was pretending—and that telling hitch was back in her voice.

Cale wasn’t interested in any false fronts. He wanted the real Cassidy in his bed.

“Genevieve, how are you?” Cassidy asked, still with that too-perfect and happy tone.

He leaned toward her and heard a quick smattering of French in response.

Cassidy laughed. “Yes, I know... I was glad to get out of that hell, too. It was a nightmare.” Her voice roughened a bit as she said, “I’m so glad that you got out of there. I was afraid they’d kill you, Gen.” True emotion was in those words. The real Cassidy, peeking out.

The real Cassidy was a hell of a lot sexier than the fake debutante.

He wanted to touch Cassidy then, but she pulled away, shifting toward the headboard.

He wanted her back.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more before I left Rio. The—the agents whisked me away.”

His eyes narrowed. Had Genevieve heard that little hitch in Cassidy’s voice?

“Since I’m an American citizen, the rescue team had orders to bring me back to the U.S.” Another laugh, one with a brittle edge. “So, of course, I’m back in—”

Cassidy broke off because Cale had touched her. He had to. The agent in him demanded that he stop her. Cale put his index finger over Cassidy’s soft lips.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide in the faint light.

Cale shook his head.

Her breath whispered out against his finger. Then she gave a little nod.

Slowly, his finger slid away from her mouth.

“Where are you, Gen?” Cassidy’s voice was huskier now. “Are you going back to France?”

A beat of silence.

“The U.S.?” Cassidy repeated, sounding shocked. “You’re in D.C.?”

Cale was already reaching for his phone. If Genevieve was in the city, then the EOD needed to know about that situation. Genevieve had been targeted down in Rio, Cassidy had been targeted...and now someone was after Cassidy once more.