When two spies reunite, sparks fly in the most dangerous of circumstances...

Go undercover one final time to bring down a drug lord. That’s all Finn Carter wants from his ex, Alex “Hyde” Flores. But the sexy spy never counted on his feelings for her roaring back to life! Hyde’s made it clear she’s looking for forever while he’s committed to staying in the field. Things change when their mission goes awry...

Hyde wants out of the black ops game, yet she can’t resist one more assignment. If she lays her life and her love down one last time, she demands nothing less from Finn. As the risky takedown spirals out of control, both spies must use all their wiles to stay alive...and have a future together!

“It’s hard for me to imagine this life without you,” Finn said.

This life or his life? For her, it was both. He couldn’t make the same leap. “I am ready to move on from this.” But not ready to move on from him. She couldn’t think of a way to keep him in her life and walk away from being a spy.

Finn’s arms tightened around her. “I wish I could change your mind. The times I’ve spent with you were some of the best of my life. Even in this mission, having you with me has been great.”

Sentimentality pulled at her heartstrings. Some of her most fun adventures had been with him at her side. He was the bright spot in her days. She had deliberately shut him out of her life during a time of enormous need, and that had been a mistake.

Hyde lifted her face. Finn brushed his nose lightly against hers and then lowered his mouth and kissed her softly.

* * *

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Dear Reader,

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend vacation time in beautiful tropical locations. The soft sand, the light breeze, the gentle (or sometimes not so gentle) waves, a cold bottle of water and a great book are a relaxing way to pass an afternoon. When I started writing Finn and Hyde’s romance, I knew those locations and experiences would play a role in the story.

I’ve been receiving emails about Finn and Hyde since Traitorous Attraction was published in May 2014. Finn was part of a rescue team that pulled Hyde from one of the most dangerous prisons in South America. After meeting, both returned to their work as special operatives for the West Company and remained involved with each other in a steamy affair.

Keep your emails coming! Readers have a lot of influence over what I write, and I appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to let me know what you’d enjoy reading. If you’re interested in reading more about the West Company, check out Delta Force Desire (June 2016). There’s another West Company book coming in June 2017, so stay tuned.

Best,

C.J. Miller

cj-miller.com

Special Forces Seduction

C.J. Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

C.J. MILLER loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted through her website, cj-miller.com. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children. C.J. believes in first loves, second chances and happily-ever-after.

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To Charlie (Char-Char), who shows me every day the meaning of family, hard work and dedication.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Alexandra “Hyde” Flores caught a glimpse of undercover operative Finn Carter in her peripheral vision. But as she turned her head, she saw that he’d vanished. The orange candles and strings of white lights inside the wedding tent created shadows and apparitions. Hyde’s life was haunted by ghosts of her past.

Her oldest sister Victoria was glowing and stunning in a thirty-thousand dollar, diamond-white couture wedding dress. Hyde knew part of her glow was that she was three months pregnant, and Hyde’s niece Thea would soon have a cousin. For the first time in Hyde’s life, seeing someone with the classic American dream made her envious.

She had been involved in complicated and dangerous missions for the last ten years and up until the end, she had loved it. Her psyche was changing and craving normal. Normal was good and safe.

Hyde claimed a spot for herself at a high-topped table in the corner of the white tent with a great view of the dance floor. It gave her pleasure to watch her parents, her sisters, her new brother-in-law and her niece dancing with the extended family. She had been on the fringes of the family for so long that her absence wasn’t noticed.

A twinge of sadness nipped at her, but not enough to force her to mingle. Relearning social protocol in Bearcreek, Montana, was a throwback to her youth. Her job had trained her to read between the lines and to look for hidden agendas. She anticipated backstabbing and lies from the people she worked with. Her family, on the other hand, spoke plain and their only agenda tonight was to celebrate Victoria and Thomas.

Sensing someone watching her, Hyde turned and reached to where her gun was usually holstered. Her fingers came up empty and a mild panic threaded through her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It was a slim chance, but possible that she’d been found by an enemy looking for revenge.

Instead of an enemy, Hyde’s gaze connected with Finn’s. She closed her eyes, waited until her thoughts cleared and her heart slowed to a normal rate. Thinking of him got her going, a shot of adrenaline to her heart. She blamed the weekends they had spent together. Quick, steamy rendezvous and abbreviated goodbyes were their trademarks. She and Finn had carried on their affair for three years without any commitment, without anniversary celebrations or promises of a future.

It had been great while it had lasted. It was no longer what she wanted.

When Hyde opened her eyes, he was gone. Or rather, her imagination had stopped playing tricks on her. Finn wasn’t in Bearcreek, Montana. He was on his latest mission somewhere in the world. Hyde would never see him again. She was out of the spy game, and a life of secrets and lies was behind her. The pang of sadness that struck her had everything to do with her desire to have a normal, stable life and nothing to do with missing her former life—or Finn.

A masculine, strong arm slipped around her waist and though her instincts were to react defensively, she froze when Finn’s familiar scent wafted over her, the smell of soap and sandalwood. Memories of him naked, in the shower, in her bed, flickered through her mind. Her heartbeat faltered, skipped, and her breath backed up in her lungs.

His voice cemented his identity. That deep, slow drawl that replayed in her dreams for months after she saw him. He appealed to her as no one had before or had since.

“You have never looked more beautiful than you do tonight.”

Hyde whirled and came face-to-face with the man she had fallen for hard. A man she couldn’t have a serious relationship with, a man who was almost as daring and wild as she had been. He embodied everything she had wanted in a man. Strength, cunning and excitement had been at the top of her list and now she wanted to add stable, honest and calm.

Despite not having been invited, Finn was dressed for the occasion. Black suit and gray button-down with a silver and black tie. Understated elegance. His tie clip and cuff links matched, small green gems adorning them. His dark hair was slicked back, every hair in place. He looked positively dashing.

Her heart overreacted, like it always did. “The most beautiful? You have a thing for canary-yellow and carrot-stick-orange dresses?” Her bridesmaid dress was bright and fun and in colors Hyde rarely wore.

“If you’re the one wearing it,” Finn said.

“What are you doing here?” She hoped she had pulled off sounding casual.

Finn could be working an operation. An op in rural Montana would be unusual, but spies worked in every corner of the globe. Hard to imagine terrorist plots afoot in this part of the United States, but Hyde was justifiably paranoid. She had been lied to and double-crossed far too many times.

“I’m looking for you.” His hands slipped down to her hips and pulled her against his body. A mewling sound she recognized as hers escaped her lips. Their attraction was the one steady part of their relationship. Not a strong aspect to hinge a future on.

Hyde hadn’t met a man who held a candle to Finn. Tall and muscled, his dark hair had a touch of gray at his temples. He looked good clean-shaven and with facial hair. He had about a day’s worth of a beard.

“This is my sister’s wedding.” Even with the table between her and the throng of guests, someone would notice him. Finn was impossible to overlook. He hadn’t been invited to the wedding and if Victoria spotted him, she would know it and ask questions. Hyde didn’t want to answer questions about Finn. She had too many of her own. When it came to Finn, her emotions were a tangled mess.

Finn was an accomplished liar, but he wouldn’t know the details of the cover story she had told her family about her career. Her family believed she was a sales rep for a luxury car company and having become road weary, had made a career change. Believable, except when evidence to the contrary, like her former lover and world renowned spy, showed up out of the blue at a family function.

“This is a big day for your family, and I don’t want to intrude. I’ve missed you,” he said. He took her hand and led her away from the table and out of the wedding tent and into the open fields of her family’s farm.

The farm spread over fifty acres, and her sister’s wedding was being held in one of the most scenic areas. Hyde used to lay a blanket out under the stars in this exact spot and stare at the sky. The longer she gazed, the more stars she could see, and as a child, she had believed she could see outside the galaxy if she watched long enough.

“I can’t leave my sister’s wedding. It’s not over,” she said.

“I can’t wait another minute to be with you. If you miss the bouquet toss, does that matter? Did you want to be the next to be married?” he asked.

For the first time in her life, Hyde did want to be married. She hungered for family gatherings and going to the gym and appointments at the salon. “I could catch it.” She was the oldest unmarried woman in her family. Well, the oldest unmarried woman who had never been married.

“I had to see you. Kate West was right,” Finn said, referring to the wife of the man who ran a black ops company they contracted with periodically. The West Company was a first-rate special operations firm that hired experts as the situation called for them. The West Company made it their business to handle problems quickly, efficiently and quietly. Hyde and Finn liked working for the West Company. They had professional and personal connections with the firm.

Hyde focused on what Finn was saying. “Kate was right about what?”

“You’re not part of this life anymore,” Finn said. “I see it on your face. I see it in the way you look at me.”

Finn must know her better than she had believed. “I am retired from my former career.” Hyde had a good relationship with the West Company and because she and Kate had formed a friendship, Hyde had wanted to do more than disappear and ignore phone calls. An explanation had been in order.

“Your sister is married. Is that what this is about?” Finn looked at her intensely and she had to catch her breath. She and Finn had always created fireworks when they were together: in the bedroom and when they fought.

Hyde linked her hands behind her. She didn’t want to touch Finn or reach for him. They wanted different things and her new life would bore him. “I have decided I don’t want to be in that line of work anymore.” Her sister’s wedding reinforced her decision had been the right one, but it hadn’t been the initiating factor.

Finn folded his arms, and the bunched muscles in his biceps reminded her of how it felt to be held by him. A shimmer of desire piped through her. In Finn’s arms, she had never felt safer and she could let down her guard for a few hours with him watching her back. He was a fighter. He was strong. He was passionate about everything he did, including his affair with her.

“I need to talk you out of this,” Finn said.

“I’m not changing my mind,” Hyde said. If he intended to rope her into taking another job as a spy, he would be disappointed.

Finn inclined his head. “What are you planning to do? Get a job in an office?”

Office work was on the list of possible jobs to investigate. She could work forty hours per week, clock out and spend the weekend binge-watching television and running errands and doing chores. “I have marketable job skills.”

“I know you have job skills. I’m questioning if they apply to any jobs in this small town.”

She hadn’t had enough time to explore her options. She didn’t want to think about her decision again or justify it. If anyone could talk her out of this course of action, it was Finn. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for checking on me. Burn my address. I don’t want anyone following me here.” She had made enemies and some held grudges.

Finn drew her against him. “No one followed me here. Whatever happened, tell me and I’ll fix it.”

The pleading in his voice nearly felled her. He couldn’t fix what had happened. She could not name the emotion that passed through her, but her heart clenched. “I don’t want to be a spy anymore.” Speaking the words was a relief. She realized she had worried about what Finn would think and she waited for the disappointment or an argument.

Finn’s face remained frustratingly neutral. He blinked at her. “I’m going after Reed Barnett and I need you.”

Reed Barnett, international drug kingpin, murderer and all-around bad man. Hyde agreed he needed to be taken down, but she had no intention of getting involved. A Reed Barnett operation was far too dangerous and complex. After what had happened during her last mission, Hyde was staying on the safe side of the street.

“I can’t be involved,” Hyde said. She wouldn’t consider it and she didn’t want the details. Tracking and hunting Reed Barnett was a suicide mission. The man had money and a private army and arms en masse. It was rumored he owned a private island.

“I need someone I can trust at my back,” Finn said.

Temporary loyalty on a mission could be bought. “I’m the wrong woman for the job.” Questions about the mission swirled in her head. She wouldn’t voice them. If she spoke them, she would get pulled into Finn’s plans.

His jaw was tight. “Barnett killed Simon.”

A spear of hurt struck her in the gut at the reminder. “I know he killed Simon.” Simon had been a dear friend. He had once saved her life on an operation. He deserved better than what had happened to him.

“We can avenge his death. For Thea,” Finn said.

Thea. With her name came a searing hot flash of regret and pain. Finn was one of the few people who knew that Simon was Hyde’s niece, Thea’s, father.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Finn said.

Hyde wrestled with her guilt. She didn’t want to step back into this life. The adrenaline rush, the excitement and the danger were highs she would chase for the rest of her life. But to avenge Simon... “I don’t know if seeking revenge against Barnett is right. I have thought about killing the man on many occasions, but the logistics and the reality is that I’d end up dead, not Barnett.”

Finn took her hand in his. “This isn’t an impulsive plan. We have the West Company backing the mission. We can take Barnett down. We can stop his drug ring. Protect more families from going through what Lydia and Thea are going through,” Finn said.

He’d known the right angle to play with her. Hyde loved her sister and would do anything for her and Thea. To finally tell Lydia about Simon and what had happened to him, to give her a sense of peace and closure, would mean so much. Hyde was afraid to tell Lydia the whole truth about Simon. Her sister would dig around and land in Barnett’s crosshairs. Or Hyde would reveal a piece of her life that was classified and open a can of worms. Could Hyde safely give Lydia the truth about Simon if Reed Barnett was dead?

Her mind was churning through her contacts, looking for an in with Barnett’s crew and coming up short. Barnett was notorious for keeping his inner circle limited and forcing business associates to prove their loyalty in incriminating ways. “You make it sound easy. How will you get close enough to Barnett to strike?”

“I’ve laid the groundwork. I have a meeting with Barnett in a couple of days. Come with me. We’ll destroy him and his enterprise.”

A mission with Finn? Being together on vacation was different from being together on a complex mission in the field. She could scarcely draw a full breath thinking of being alone with Finn, of imagining days or weeks together. Emotionally complicated and fraught with problems.

Compounded with a face-to-face meeting with Barnett, it was unimaginable. What would stop her or Finn from killing him on the spot? Her heart thundered and warnings screamed in her head.

Finn was a passionate man and she was a fiery woman. Could they work together and get the job done?

Her hands itched to hold a gun. That quickly, she was ready to jump back in the game.

“If you were one of my operatives telling me you wanted revenge on Barnett, I wouldn’t assign you to this op,” Hyde said. Too many emotion-fueled decisions would lead to a mistake.

Finn ran his hand down her arm, letting their fingers linger together. “Does that mean you want me to take someone else?” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles. The fire in his eyes seared her to the core.

Finn didn’t work well with others. He followed orders, but he preferred to be in command. This mission had a personal element and that would require extra vigilance. “I’m going. But you know we’ll make more mistakes because this is deeply personal. Revenge is heavy baggage and I prefer to be light and nimble on operations.”

Finn pulled her against him and she braced her hands on his chest. “I knew I wasn’t wasting my time coming out here,” he said.

“How’d you find me?” she asked.

He lifted a brow. “Former Army Special Forces.”

“Right.” His training as a Green Beret was exhaustive and had left him with an impressive list of skills.

She had been careful to cover her tracks when she’d returned to Bearcreek. If Finn had found her, then her enemies could, as well. Hyde wanted to protect her family. “I need more than that.”

“Small details I pieced together over the time I’ve known you. And begging Kate West for intel on you,” Finn said.

Surprise struck her. “Kate gave me up?”

Finn winked. “Only because I told her I was in love with you and needed to tell you in person.”

Hyde gasped. In love with her? They hadn’t spoken of love, not once during their relationship. Standing in the warm circle of his arms, her heart overreacted.

Finn traced the strap of her yellow dress with his finger. “I told her what she needed to hear to give me your location.”

It was like a hammer slamming down on a delicate flower, smashing it to pieces. Hyde shook off the disappointment that pressed on her. Finn, love and she didn’t belong grouped together in the same sentence. It wasn’t love she felt for him. It was desire, plain and simple. She would be smart to keep her eyes on the prize, which in this case, was the mission. “You think we have a chance of taking Reed Barnett down?”

“I do. Now stop talking about Reed Barnett and let’s talk about something else. Like how we’ll spend this beautiful evening.”

She couldn’t leave her sister’s wedding. She wouldn’t hear the end of it. “I’m staying at the wedding. My date will take me home.”

Finn appeared a mix of hurt and surprised. “You have a date to this wedding?”

Her sister had fixed her up with George, a coworker of Thomas’s. After suffering through fifteen minutes of awkward conversation, George had ignored her for the rest of the night. Stepping outside with Finn would have gone unnoticed by George. “I have a date.” It was nice for Finn to believe she had moved on and wasn’t still carrying a torch for him. A torch she was trying to extinguish. Finn was part of her spy life and after this mission, she was finished with that.

“Are you dating? Is your date the reason you’re retiring?” Finn sounded indifferent, but he had dropped her hands and had taken a step away from her.

“George has nothing to do with my career plans.” She had met him two days before the wedding at the rehearsal dinner.

“Is he taking you home?” Finn asked, folding his arms over his chest.

He wasn’t. Hyde had driven herself to the wedding. That wasn’t Finn’s business. Hyde held up her hand. “Don’t pretend to care what I do when we’re not together, and don’t act jealous. Territorial doesn’t suit you.”

Finn was perpetually confident and rarely questioned himself. He leaned back away from her. “That’s an unfair statement. I care about you. I want to know what’s going on in your life.”

Hyde scratched at her head where a bobby pin was pressing into her scalp. “I can’t get into it with you here and now.”

“But I want to get into it.” Finn lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the inside of her wrist.

The caress of his lips nearly broke her defenses. “If we’re working an operation together, we need to keep our relationship chill.” They needed the reminder.

“Chill? What does that mean?” Finn asked.

It meant the opposite of what their relationship had been. No hot sex, no making out, no sleeping together. “It means we’re working together professionally. Nothing else except the mission.”

Lines formed around Finn’s eyes. “I will respect your wishes.” He released her hand.

Hyde was startled by Finn’s acceptance of her statement. Disappointment pinged in her chest. He had let her go easily and it spoke volumes. “I should get back to my family. Are you planning to stick around or do you want to meet at the airport?” She wanted him to say airport. Being around Finn left her feeling like she needed to catch her breath and clear her head.

“I have nowhere else to be and we need to talk more about Barnett.”

“We’ll talk on the journey there,” Hyde said. Finn’s eyes didn’t leave her. His gaze heated her from her head to her toes.

“We should talk now,” Finn said.

“I can’t now.” The urge to cry struck her, which was ridiculous. Spies didn’t cry when they were with their colleagues. Finn had churned up emotions she had worked hard to lock away. She needed time. “Goodbye, Finn.”

As she walked away, she felt him watching her.

Finn remained at the table on the far side of the tent. He had unbuttoned his suit jacket and looked relaxed, as if he hadn’t requested she go with him on a dangerous and complicated mission.

Hyde pretended the wedding held her full attention. She was thinking of Finn and Simon and taking down Reed Barnett. Guests talked and laughed and danced. Hyde worked to put a pleasant expression on her face. She strolled into the crowd and made small talk with her family. When she glanced at the corner table, Finn had disappeared. Regret speared her. She hadn’t invited him to stay at the wedding. Perhaps she should have.

Finn was as much of an outsider as she was. She and her family were pretending that she was part of it, but her absence had taken a toll on her personal relationships.

Hyde caught a glimpse of Finn across the room. He was speaking to a distant cousin, who was laughing and touching his jacket sleeve. Jealousy nipped at her and Hyde suppressed the urge to stake a claim. Hyde turned away and searched for George. The DJ was playing a popular song that had filled the dance floor.

George was speaking to people she didn’t recognize. Hyde looked around for Lydia or Thea. She needed a distraction. Possessiveness and jealousy didn’t work in her relationship with Finn. She and Finn hadn’t discussed their relationship in terms of commitment and exclusivity. This wasn’t the time to make those demands. If they were working together, their personal relationship needed to cool off.

The song changed from a snappy pop tune to a slow love ballad.

“Dance with me,” Finn said, coming up behind her. He slipped his arms around her waist and spun her to face him.

She leaned into him, chest to chest, and his cheek brushed hers. Lust hit her low and hard and she gripped his hands more tightly. Letting go seemed impossible. She had wanted to make a clean break from her spy life and that had included Finn. Now, in his arms, she couldn’t imagine not seeing him again, not having him in her life.

She had been trying to build a new life in Bearcreek, feeling like an outsider. Five minutes with Finn, and she felt at home.

Chapter 2

Finn had imagined a number of scenarios on his way to Montana to see Hyde. The entire trip he’d questioned if he’d made the right decision. But worrying about Hyde had taken over his thoughts to an obsessive point, and if he didn’t see her and talk to her, it wouldn’t stop. Coming to Bearcreek was about more than her being the right spy to help with Reed Barnett. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was doing well.

Hyde was in his arms and that made the trip worth it. At least physically, she was fine. No overt injuries, obvious scars, limping or GSWs. He sensed something was bothering her and he would find out what it was.

“Alexandra, will you introduce me to your friend?” A woman’s voice from behind him.

Hyde flinched in his arms and Finn tensed. Hyde broke away from him and he missed the sensation of her soft body against his. He turned. Standing in front of them was a woman with Hyde’s same dark hair, though the other woman’s was cut short. Similar facial features, but hers were softer. The other woman’s expression was also friendlier, her mouth drawn up in an unreserved smile. Hyde carried around the stress of her job and didn’t smile often.

“Lydia, this is my friend Finn,” Hyde said. She folded her hands in front of her and said nothing more.

Lydia looked between him and Hyde. “It’s nice to meet you. Did you and Alexandra work together?”

Finn caught Hyde’s subtle nod. “Yes, we did.” He’d follow her lead about her cover story relating to where she had been the last decade. From what he knew of Hyde, unlike him, she maintained a cozy relationship with her family.

“What brings you to town? I hope you don’t want Hyde to come back to work with you.” Lydia slid her arm around her sister’s waist and hugged her. “We’re grateful to have Alexandra back with us. For the longest time, I felt like I only had one sister.”

The guilty look on Hyde’s face could have been about her frequent travel or it could have been because she had introduced Simon to Lydia.

Finn slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m passing through on business. I have a big job I’d like Alexandra to help me with. A short job. It will only take a few weeks.”

Lydia looked at her sister. “I don’t like the sound of that. Alexandra gets pulled into things. A short job turns into another and then another. She’ll go missing for another ten years.”

“It’s the one job and nothing else,” Hyde said. She pressed a hand over her stomach.

“That’s right,” Finn said, picking up on Hyde’s anxiety and wanting to reassure her.

“I’m sure you have other associates who can assist you. Alexandra needs to be here,” Lydia said. Anger colored the edges of her words.

Hyde tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Lydia, I’ll talk with you about it later.”

Lydia pinned her sister with a harsh stare. “Okay, Alex. Whatever you say.” She looked over her shoulder. “Excuse me. My daughter is awake and fussing.”

Lydia rushed off and Finn captured Hyde in the circle of his arms. He resumed dancing with her. She moved on the dance floor like she did in the field, sleek and smooth.

“She seems protective,” Finn said.

Hyde swallowed hard. “They all are. They want me around. They were excited when I told them I planned to stay.”

“Then your family is the reason you quit.” He wouldn’t stop pressing until he had the details. He needed to know what was going on in her life. She was logical and rational, and quitting abruptly didn’t fit with what he knew of her. But then again, he might not know her as well as he thought he did. Spies lied. It had crossed his mind that he would arrive in Bearcreek and discover she had a husband and family of her own she had never told him about. Learning that wasn’t the case, he was relieved.

“Part of the reason. I want to help Lydia. She deserves better than she’s been handed. Thea is great, but being a single parent has been hard on Lydia. She’s asked me about Simon on more than one occasion and I wrestle with what to tell her.”

“What did you tell her happened?” Finn asked.

Hyde’s shoulders tensed. “I told her that he quit and he stopped coming to work.”

Finn saw the flaw in that explanation. “Not much closure for her.”

“I should have thought it through. When she asked me about him, I was still reeling from the news of Simon’s death and I wasn’t sure what I was allowed to tell her. I couldn’t believe he had been taken out. He was one of the best. He was careful. How did Barnett get him?”

Finn had been told parts of the story. He hadn’t been directly involved with Simon’s mission, and the details were classified. “I’ve asked questions and I didn’t receive any answers.”

Hyde looked over at her sister. “That’s the main reason I’ll do this. For her. For Thea. To give them answers and a way to move forward without being haunted.”

* * *

Boots hit Hyde’s second-story balcony. Finn was outside her sliding glass doors. No surprise, really. She had expected him, and Finn intended for her to hear his approach. Sneaking up on a spy was a quick way to catch a bullet in the head and the chest. Hyde still slept with a gun in her bedside table. And in her kitchen. And her living room. A woman couldn’t be too careful about protecting herself.

She’d rented this place because of the many exit points. One day she would select a house because it made her feel at home. She would hang pictures on the walls and decorate it. It would take longer than a few months for her to stop thinking like a spy and return to being a civilian.

Hyde counted to five. The lock clicked open. Finn was fast with a lock pick. She was faster. She hadn’t laid the jimmy bar in the door, anticipating his visit. He entered her room, closing the door behind him. Her heart raced and her fingers itched to reach for him. She counted his footsteps as he approached the bed. He dropped his suit jacket on the floor and loosened his tie from around his neck. Desire fluttered in her belly. Finn sat on the mattress, removed his shoes and lifted the sheet, sliding into the bed beside her. Heat spiraled through her. He gathered her against him. He smelled of laundry detergent and soap. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were here alone. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed holding you in my arms.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and she curled her body against his. The tenderness he showed her was gentler than she had experienced with any another man. It struck her as odd because he was also one of the most brutal men she had met. “How did you know I was alone?”

His arm was slung over her waist. “I know you and I knew your date to the wedding meant nothing to you. You wouldn’t take him home no matter how lonely you were. But you seemed sad. I couldn’t leave you that way. I want you to tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

She was sad. Hurting. Lost. Confused. Now that she knew about Reed Barnett, she felt pulled back into the world she swore was dead to her, but she also felt good having a purpose and a meaningful task. Given her skill set, fulfilling work had been hard to come by in Bearcreek. “I have a lot on my mind.”

She couldn’t tell Finn that she wanted a husband and a family and a life that involved footed pajamas, car pools and little league. A year ago Hyde believed a life of children and domestic duties was a prison sentence. She felt sorry for friends who organized playdates and spent their days playing cars and dolls. Now she wished she had considered her options sooner.

Telling Finn she wanted those things would be ice water on his libido and his feelings for her. And while it would have been a quick way to end the relationship, she wanted him to think fondly of her and remember her in a certain way.

Finn nuzzled the back of her neck. “I didn’t believe Connor when he told me you weren’t available for hire.”

Connor, the leader of the West Company, had contacted her about a job while she was in Munich. She had impulsively told him she was retired, and after speaking the words, she knew they were what she needed. Thinking over the experiences she had lived through as a spy, she counted herself lucky she was alive and relatively unscathed. Running, hiding and lying were exhausting, but losing her baby had broken her. “I spoke to his wife about it.” She could trust Connor and Kate not to spread it around. It was better for her enemies to believe she was in the game and not sitting around with her feet up, like a target with a big red bull’s-eye on her chest.

Finn touched her hip, rolling her to face him. “You should have called me when things changed. You should have called me when you decided you didn’t want to work as an agent anymore.”

Her skin prickled where his hand rested. She couldn’t get enough of him, but her desire was at war with her heart. “You would have pressed me for reasons why.”

He shifted close, sliding his hips against her. “You’re one of the best in the business. Why quit?”

She’d give the simple answer and leave out the stuff about love and marriage and a baby. “This isn’t the life I want.”

He tapped his finger against her leg. “Are you planning to stay in Montana and raise cattle with your family?”

He sounded sincere and she appreciated that he was trying to understand. He wouldn’t understand this. What she wanted now was so over the invisible line of where their relationship ended, she couldn’t voice it without feeling silly.

“I haven’t decided what I will do.” She had saved enough money to grant her the luxury of time to decide.

“What about your operatives and contacts?” Finn asked.

Hyde had turned away jobs over the last several months. She didn’t have employees who relied on her, not in the traditional sense. She had referred operatives with special skills to jobs that warranted them and vetted agents in the field. When she’d quit, she’d washed her hands of it and had been comfortable with that decision.

Finn was the one open item on the past. She couldn’t have Finn and a family. “Operatives I’ve worked with will work for someone else.” It was how the game was played. The network she had painstakingly built from influential contacts now felt unfulfilling. She had made herself a warrior for the cause, any cause she believed in, and most important, causes where a woman was in danger. Those were the ones closest to her heart. She was walking away from those women who had needed her, often in crisis, but she would find other ways to give back.

He brushed at the hair at her temple. “When we last met, you loved your job.”

When she had last seen Finn, they had spent three days in the Maldives Islands. She’d been fresh off an assignment, relaxed and excited. Stress relief, great conversation and mind-blowing sex wrapped up in one person were how she’d rejuvenated herself between missions. What he’d offered was everything she had needed, and for that, she was grateful. “I’m tired of this job. I want a simpler life.”

Finn ran his index finger down her cheek. He was pure temptation. “You’ll be bored.”

Not if she found the right career or hobby. Plenty of people lived in the same town, drove to the same job each day and collected a paycheck every two weeks. She could do the same and she would be happy doing it. A husband and family could be in the cards for her. “I’ll be busy.”

“Busy isn’t happy. I don’t understand why anyone would want a house that breaks and a job that goes nowhere.”

Hyde’s brain spun. It wasn’t as if she was thinking about marrying Finn, but to hear him describe the life she wanted in disparaging terms, Hyde was hurt. She needed more than Finn could give her. Though she had known Finn wouldn’t settle down with her, or anyone, hearing him speak the words felt like the death toll on their relationship.

Finn closed his eyes, oblivious to how she felt. That was one downside of subconsciously masking her emotions out of habit. No one could read her. “I don’t see it that way. My new job will be exciting because it will be different. I’ll have time off. I’ll have friends I see more than once every few months or years.”

“You are the most complicated woman I have ever known.”

A compliment? Why the groan? “I don’t think I’m complicated.”

He shifted in the bed, moving the pillows. “The secrets you keep would make the average person insane. You hide them like you hide everything. But I have no room to criticize.”

If he knew her biggest, most painful secret, how would he feel? He may blame her. He might be angry. If he was relieved, she wasn’t sure she could handle that. She would interpret his relief as happiness not to be tied to a baby who would have been an inconvenience to him and his work. It wasn’t fair to leap to that conclusion, but right now the only acceptable emotions surrounding her baby were grief, loss and sadness. Thinking of her baby, sorrow crashed around her. She put distance between her and Finn. “I can’t be up late. I have a wedding brunch tomorrow morning.”

“Isn’t that what the reception was for?” Finn asked.

“Victoria and Thomas want to spend time with family, especially those who traveled a long distance, while they have the opportunity,” Hyde said. She and Finn hadn’t spoken much about their families. Did he get along with his?

In the last three months, she had been to a bridal shower, a bachelorette party, a rehearsal dinner, three dress fittings and a craft show. She had looped orange ribbons on bells and tied bows on bottles of bubbles while drinking wine with her sisters and mother. A different experience for her and she had enjoyed each. “Don’t you want to spend time with your family?”

“Family is overrated,” Finn said. Indifference emanated from his voice.

Red flags went up. Much about this conversation was telling. She hadn’t realized how focused he was on his job. “I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

“Too much drama.”

Hyde didn’t press him. If family was unimportant to him, she couldn’t change that with a conversation.

Finn shifted and adjusted the blankets. Though Finn rarely emoted, she sensed he was upset.

“Tell me what’s on your mind.” She set her hand on his arm and Finn covered it with his own.

“I was thinking about Simon. About his plans for the future. He wanted a wedding and a family. He met your sister and he fell hard. She and their life together were taken from him. Thea has Simon’s eyes. Haunting.”

She and Finn harbored guilt about Simon and Lydia’s relationship. Hyde, for not warning Lydia to keep her distance from Simon, and Finn, because Finn believed he could have saved Simon from his untimely death.

Hyde didn’t think any action on Finn’s part would have altered the outcome. She had voiced that sentiment before and he’d blown her off.

Death was a reality they faced daily. Spies accepted dangerous assignments in unstable places. Hyde had been close to death a few times. She had been shot. She had broken her leg and been left for dead. She had been imprisoned. She had defied the odds and felt blessed to be alive.

“Lydia will like to know that Simon cared deeply for her. I’ll be happy when I can tell her the truth,” Hyde said.

From what Lydia had shared, she and Simon had talked about a future. They’d discussed marriage. Lydia also believed that Simon had manipulated her, promising a life together as a line to get her into bed. Hyde had wanted to spill the truth. Simon’s intentions had been genuine.

“She deserves at least that,” Finn said. “When she tells Thea about her father, it shouldn’t be to explain he was a loser who abandoned them.”

They lapsed into silence, lost in their thoughts.

“Are you planning to be a spy forever?” Hyde asked.

Finn propped his head on his hand. “I’m good at it. I don’t know if there’s anything else that would make me as happy as this work.”

She’d had similar thoughts in the past. “You might see it differently one day.”

“You sound like my mother,” he said, and he sounded exhausted.

Interesting that he’d mentioned his family again. “Does your mom know you’re a spy?”

“She thinks I work as a contractor for a defense firm. She doesn’t know specifics,” Finn said. “That’s something I like about you. You know what I do. I don’t have to hide much from you.”

“We have secrets,” Hyde said.

“When I’m with you, I can relax. You know the ground rules. You don’t pry.”

Prying was exactly what she wanted to do except she had no interest in pressing him for details about his missions, past or future. She wanted to know more about him, his life, his childhood. They had spent time together, and she felt like she had barely scratched the surface learning what made him tick. It may not change anything. Finn was against having a family, and having a family was her new dream. If she had an explanation, would that make parting easier?

Finn rolled and slung his thigh on top of hers, his leg between hers. “You smell good.”

Whether his desire was taking over or he was avoiding delving into a deeper conversation with her, she couldn’t tell. Sex was often on Finn’s mind. “What you smell is soap and shampoo. I showered when I got home. My hair was sprayed into place and it was too stiff to sleep in and it was giving me a headache.”

“I would have liked to help you,” Finn said.

“Shower?” she asked.

He ran his nose along her jawline. “That and take the clips from your hair. Alexandra?”

He almost never used her real full name and it shook her and stirred her desire. Her stomach fluttered. “Yes?” She met his gaze. The fire in his eyes matched the heat in his voice.

“I want to kiss you.”

Could she let him kiss her? Would one kiss change anything? A kiss wouldn’t make her permanently decide to return to her life as a spy. A kiss couldn’t change her feelings about the future. But a kiss could feel good and comforting. Comfort was something she was missing. No one knew how much she was hurting. No one had sensed her sadness and reached out to comfort her.

Finn was offering physical comfort and Hyde reached for him, drawing him close. His arousal pressed at the apex of her thighs. She ignored that and focused on his lips. His perfectly kissable, sexy lips. When their mouths touched, a hundred sparks lit in the air around them. His lips were soft and pliant. Unhurried and seductive, his tongue danced with hers. Heat smoldered inside her and she wished she knew how to cool it.

They had fantastic chemistry, and getting naked with him held a great deal of appeal. But that appeal was lost when she thought of the last several months. How lonely she had been in Bearcreek and how the time alone had affected her. Time to think was good, except when it brought to light unsettling questions. Her extensive traveling over the last decade had prevented her from being close with anyone, from forging close relationships or letting anyone inside. She wanted those things, and Finn wasn’t the man who could give them to her.

A tear slipped from her eye. Finn pulled away, questions in his eyes, and then wiped at the tear with his thumb.

“I won’t hound you to tell me what this is about. I know spies keep secrets close to the vest. But I’m here if you want to talk. I don’t need to say anything. I can listen.”

Hyde wanted to confess everything and bare her soul to him. But making herself vulnerable scared her. She kept her mouth shut.

Chapter 3

Hyde clasped Victoria’s hands before she climbed into the limo with Thomas. “Promise me you’ll be careful,” Hyde said.

Victoria laughed and looked over her shoulder. “I will be fine. This will be the first vacation I’ve had in years. Don’t worry so much.”

Hyde shouldn’t worry, but Victoria had never traveled outside Montana and now she was flying halfway around the world with her new husband. Hyde’s paranoia pinged. She had learned to be suspicious of everyone. That suspicion was misplaced with Thomas. He was a good man and could be trusted.

Lydia was standing close by with Thea. Thea was sleeping in her arms, likely tired from the night before. Lydia had dark circles under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair knotted in a messy bun.

As Hyde waved goodbye to her sister and Thomas, Finn strolled toward her. He had skipped the family brunch, choosing instead to sleep for two more hours. No details had been mentioned about his last mission, and Hyde hadn’t reviewed the details for their upcoming one.

“Ready to leave?” Finn asked.

Hyde had assembled a bag that morning. She hadn’t forgotten how to slip undercover and pack the essentials quickly. “Yes.” Speaking the word held weight and evoked sadness. Leaving her family was harder than she’d anticipated. Staying away had been easier, jumping from one assignment to the next. Reconnecting had touched her more deeply than she’d expected.

She had felt a shift between her and Finn, as well. They were embarking on a mission together. Their career and relationship were colliding.

Hyde’s father approached and Hyde braced for impact. She didn’t want to lie to her family, but she didn’t have a good, clear way to explain Finn’s sudden presence in Bearcreek or why she was leaving.

“Alexandra, are you coming by for dinner tonight? The caterer dropped off the leftover food from the wedding. There’s plenty for everyone. Even for your friend.” Her father gestured at Finn.

No chance of avoiding an introduction. Hyde pointed to Finn. “Dad, this is Finn. We used to work together.” Not a lie and didn’t give away anything about the past.

Her father extended his hand. “Nice to meet you. Are you in town on business?”

Finn opened his mouth to answer.

Hyde jumped in. “Finn needs me to go with him on another job.”

Her father stiffened and annoyance crossed his face. “Why? I thought you quit that job and were planning to stick around for a while. We’ve liked having you.”

Finn looked from her to her father, his gaze assessing. Her stomach was coiled with tension. She didn’t want her father to get the wrong idea about them. Having had a happy, forty-year-long marriage, her father wanted his three daughters to have the same. Hyde suspected he worried more about Lydia’s happiness since she was under so much stress, but Hyde concerned him.

“I did quit. This is one last job. It requires my expertise. Big client and it’s important.”

Her father appeared resolved. He indicated behind him. “Make sure you say goodbye to your mother. This time, call from the road so we know you’re safe. I don’t like this. I think you’ll get pulled back in by him.” Her father looked at Finn. “I thought my daughter might have been involved in a relationship and that kept her away. She came home, quiet and lost and I figured she had her heart broken. You show up and it pretty much confirms it.”

“Dad, Finn didn’t—”

“Come on, Alexandra. I wasn’t born yesterday. I have eyes and I have father instincts.” Her dad looked at Finn up and down. “You’re the type she’d go after.”

Guilt ballooned inside her. How could she reassure her father that wasn’t the case? She wasn’t leaving Bearcreek to chase after a relationship with Finn. This was about taking Reed Barnett down and helping Lydia. “It’s just work.”

“It’s never just work,” her dad said.

Hyde looked away from her father, sure she would spill the entire truth if she met his gaze. “I’ll be fine, Dad. I’ll be home soon.”

Her dad wrapped her in a hug. “Don’t stay away too long.”

Hyde left Bearcreek with a heavy heart, but hopeful about the mission. She was doing this for the right reasons and for her family. Making Lydia happy would make this worth it. Being a spy for the last ten years, Hyde had learned to bury her emotions and when it came to Finn, she would do just that.

* * *

If she weren’t working an op, Hyde would have enjoyed Reed Barnett’s remote, private island, one of the nicest islands she had visited in the last ten years. Accessible only by private transportation via air or sea, it was the perfect getaway for two people who were harried, stressed and in need of some rest and relaxation.

What waited for them on the island was none of those things. The West Company had briefed them on the operation, and Hyde was in the zone. The sooner she could nail Barnett and bring down his enterprise, the sooner she could return home. Her father’s words had stuck with her. He had seen something between her and Finn. Her feelings for Finn had delved deeper than she had realized if they were apparent to others. Keeping those in check would be part of the mission.

She had promised her parents she would call. She’d have to remember to do that and make sure she had a safe way to communicate without dragging them into this operation. Barnett was crafty. He could trace phone calls to and from his island. He could have her and Finn under surveillance. Hyde was prepared for anything.

The sea surrounding the island was crystal blue, the sky was dotted with white clouds and the weather warm without being humid. The island was ringed by white sandy beaches, blending into a picturesque foliage of palm, casuarina and prince wood trees. Nestled among the greenery at the tallest point on the island was Barnett’s compound, the light tan of the walls and red of the roof gleaming in the sun.

Barnett was the king of his own private island. Though the island was officially part of a nearby chain, Barnett maintained its independence by paying off the authorities. On this island, Barnett was the law.

Barnett was staying on the island and cooling his heels. The heat needed to die down after his last big score. The sale and transfer of thousands of pounds of cocaine into Miami, Florida, had netted Reed Barnett millions. If he chose to set foot in the United States, the government would arrest him and try to make charges stick. Barnett let others take the fall for his crimes and he was slippery, sliding into hidey-holes whenever he needed to disappear.

Hyde exited the private villa where she and Finn were staying while on Barnett’s island. The villa was located on the beach about half a mile from the main compound. The little house was spacious and well furnished with high-end finishes and an open floor plan. Bamboo reeds covered the exterior of the hut and blended with the sand.

She strode to a wooden lounge chair facing the ocean and adjusted the angle of the chair. Assuming her role as Finn’s jet-setting lover, she mentally prepared herself to meet Reed Barnett.

Under other circumstances, taking him out quickly might have been her preferred course of action. They wanted to get off the island alive, and it was better to conclude the operation with evidence against Barnett and his cohorts to bring them to justice. When the opportunity presented itself to nail Barnett for his crimes, she would take it.

Closing her eyes, she stretched out on the lounge chair and lowered her sunglasses onto her face.

Finn whistled from behind her, and his shadow fell over her as he approached. “You can wear that bikini the entire time we’re here.”

Hyde rolled her eyes. She was wearing next to nothing. The bikini was light-colored, strips of fabric and string, and left no place to conceal her weapon. She felt feminine and pretty for the first time in months. Though it had taken an extra twenty minutes, she’d dried and styled her hair, smoothing it into soft curls.

She needed this op as a final farewell to this life, a successful mission to give Lydia closure and to say goodbye to Finn. Giving her sister peace of mind would ease Hyde’s guilt. Losing Finn in her life would be devastating. She hadn’t known a man as smart and brave as he was. Their relationship was intense and exciting. Back home in Montana, she wouldn’t find a man to replace him. Finn was one of a kind. “If you like this, I have some equally fabric-challenged clothes packed.” The West Company had provided her a suitcase containing everything she needed to behave like Alexandra Morgan, the dim-witted girlfriend of a major drug cartel leader operating on the East Coast in the United States.

The West Company had provided Finn a solid background, identity and large bank account as Finn Moore, as well. His persona would hold water as long as Reed Barnett didn’t press or dig too hard. The experts at the West Company were good, but nothing was perfect.

Hyde lolled her head in Finn’s direction. He was wearing a pair of red swim trunks and a navy T-shirt and he looked delicious. Her libido kicked up a notch. Flirting with him, touching him and being close was playing the part, but it was close to reality and what she wanted to do with him. She looked away, wishing she could confess the truth. The most intimate and passionate moments in her life had been spent with Finn. Her attempts to keep boundaries were challenged by how devastatingly handsome she found him. He walked into a room and he turned heads.

Hyde wasn’t in her twenties anymore. She wasn’t supposed to chase the handsome bad boy and hold on to the mistaken belief that dating him would lead to love and marriage and a family. She knew better, and every conversation with Finn cemented it.

How many more years would Hyde make a suitable mother? If her biological clock stopped ticking, would someone be crazy enough to let her adopt a child when she had no partner, no stable job and no home?

If she wanted a family, she had to make changes. A change in her career and a change in her personal life were in order.

Finn folded his arms over his chest. “Feel like going for a swim?” He tensed and glanced down the beach. They were no longer alone.

Hyde didn’t break character. “A swim? Maybe later. Why don’t you come here and help me put on sunscreen?” She leaned forward in her chair to get a better look at who was approaching. Finn didn’t seem alarmed, but she was curious.

Reed Barnett appeared, walking with two bodyguards. He was wearing a khaki-colored suit and pale green linen shirt. It was the first time she had seen the drug lord in person. His hands were tucked in his pants pockets as he strolled, talking to his guards and pointing at something in the ocean. Regardless of his casual behavior, he would not disarm her.

“Mr. Moore,” Barnett said, coming close and extending his hand to Finn. “I was alerted you and your beautiful lady had arrived on my island. Welcome to both of you.”

If he was rattled at Barnett’s appearance, Finn didn’t let it show. “I had planned to take advantage of your hospitality and enjoy the beach before our meeting tonight.”

Barnett looked out across the water. “It’s an incredible place. I don’t get out here as much as I’d like. Work keeps me busy. You know how that can be.”

Finn had made contact with Barnett through an operative from the West Company who was deep undercover in Barnett’s drug ring. Finn was masquerading as a drug lord with extensive ties along the East Coast. Their communication had been indirect through the West Company’s channels and their contact had indicated Barnett had a new drug he wanted distributed through Finn’s networks to gain greater reach.

“New business is worth it. I like taking time off between big projects,” Finn said.

Barnett asked a few more leading questions, trying to pry information from Finn. His answers were vague. The less they gave away, the easier it was. Barnett was assessing Finn and her, looking for a crack in their armor.

“Thank you for inviting us to your island. A couple of days out of the country is great,” Finn said.

Hyde rose to her feet and walked toward Barnett, hating that he looked at her chest first before meeting her eyes. Wasn’t even her best asset.

“Finn’s right.” Hyde came close to him and slipped her arms around Finn’s waist. His arm went over her shoulders and the movement was so natural and unplanned, pleasure swirled through her. “This place is great. Even better than when you took me to Fiji. It was quieter, but this is so private.” They had never been to Fiji, but it was on her list of places to visit.

Barnett studied them. He wouldn’t find any reason to doubt their story or their carefully crafted backgrounds. She and Finn were the best, and their attraction to each other played well into the characters they were pretending to be. The surge of desire was real and strong enough that it caught her off guard.

“Please alert my staff if you need anything. I’ll see you at dinner. It’s formal, but she can wear that,” Barnett said, pointing to Hyde’s bikini and smirking.

She smiled like an empty-headed twit who took his words as a compliment. Hyde was careful to do nothing to put Barnett on the defensive or to raise his suspicions.

The closer she got to Barnett, the easier it would be to take him down.

* * *

Barnett sauntered down the beach away from Finn and Hyde with his guards on either side of him.

“I could shoot him in the back and he’d never be the wiser,” Hyde said.

Finn’s arm was still draped across her shoulders. He was enjoying the sensation of her soft skin against his. She had been cagey since he’d arrived in Montana, and she hadn’t explained what had changed between them. Every other time they’d met, they’d had red-hot sex. She hadn’t seemed interested. He didn’t suspect she was involved with anyone else. Hyde would have been up front about that.

Hyde was internationally well-known and had a good reputation in their field. The number of successful missions she was rumored to have completed and her skill set was unmatched for someone her age. It didn’t make sense to retire without a good reason. No one seemed to know why the legendary Hyde was unreachable. He’d heard a few rumors she was dead and others that she was undercover for a government agency.

Since they’d met, Finn had kept tabs on Hyde. He liked knowing she was safe. Her well-being was important to him and he needed her in his life. Accepting that she was a spy, as she had been from the first day they’d met, had become harder over time. When he’d heard whispers about a female spy being injured and he couldn’t reach Hyde, he’d worried. He hadn’t confessed that information to her. It would offend her, like his worry implied she couldn’t take care of herself.

The last time they had been together, she had said nothing about quitting the business. It was a huge decision and Hyde wasn’t impulsive. Why hadn’t she mentioned it to him? Closeness and sharing personal details weren’t central to their arrangement, but Finn thought of them as more than lovers. They were friends, too.

Hyde shrugged out of his touch. He didn’t care for that, but let her go. He’d learned to hold his desire for her in check.

“Feel like a swim?” he asked again. The dark throb of need pulsed in his blood. Exercise would take the edge off.

Hyde pulled an elastic band from her wrist and wrapped it in her hair. “Sure.”

She moved toward the water, not looking at him, saying nothing more, and Finn caught her around the waist. He brought his mouth close to her ear. “Don’t be in such a hurry to get away from me. Someone could be watching.”

Hyde met his gaze. Holding her this close and looking into her eyes, anyone watching would think they were lovers. She was holding her back rigid and arching away from him, her hands braced on his chest.

“You can’t use that as an excuse every time you want to touch me,” Hyde said.

“Why are you against me touching you?” Finn asked. He released her, but she didn’t move away. Her chest was inches from his.

“If I were against it, it wouldn’t be happening at all,” Hyde said. She ran her hand down the side of his face and cupped his chin.

He loved her strength and her confidence. She had never played the damsel in distress. “You’re right about that.”

“Did you see someone?” Hyde asked. “Surveillance inside our villa?”

“The jungle behind the villa provides places to hide and watch. I didn’t see any cameras or microphones in the villa, but I need to check more thoroughly.” He had been unpacking and when he’d seen Hyde out on the beach, he’d wanted to be with her. That had felt more important.

She slid her hand down his chest and let it rest on his abs. He was already turned on and the gesture excited him more. “I wish this swimsuit gave me a place to tuck a weapon. Can I assume you have a weapon somewhere on you?” she asked.

“I have a covered blade in my pocket,” he said.

She reached to his hip and smiled. Though it was a warm smile, the heat didn’t race into her eyes. She was playing the part now, not flirting with him. “I could be the only woman in the world who finds it hot that you’re armed.”

“Then you’ll love the holster I brought for you. Fits your inner thigh, so it can’t be seen under a dress.”

She smirked. “I already have one of those.”

He drew her closer. Her breasts were pressed to his chest and her flat stomach against his. Every tiny movement brought sensation to his core and amplified his lust. “This one has a quick release on the snap and room for an extra round.”

She made a sound of delight. “How did you get one of those?”

They weren’t available on the open market. “The West Company’s R and D department.”

She smiled, and this time, the smile reached her eyes. “If I could get Connor or his wife to owe me a favor, I would request a tour of their weapons closet.”

Finn had seen the R and D department at the West Company headquarters. He had participated in a field test for them and had been given a tour. “At this point, it’s not a closet. It’s an entire floor of one of their secret facilities.”

Hyde’s eyes grew wide. “You’re toying with me.”

He shook his head. “I am not. I’ve seen it.” He loved her passion for her job. Walking away from it didn’t fit. He was missing something key.

Hyde pressed her hands together in front of her. “I know you can’t tell me what you saw, but wow.”

“Connor West had you in mind for a few upcoming ops. You could have asked for something new to accompany you on those ops.”

Hyde pushed against his chest and walked closer to the water line. The waves were gentle and low. “I know. He called me. But awesome toys aside, I had to say no.”

That fast, she was distant again. He had pressed her too hard.

They waded into the water. It was warm and felt great on his feet. “You might change your mind,” Finn said.

“I doubt that. When my clearance comes up for renewal in a couple of months, I’m letting it lapse.”

Not renewing her security clearance was a quick way to scratch her name off the United States’ black ops-for-hire list. Finn had never seen the list and he didn’t know who had access to it except likely the president of the United States, the vice president, a couple of senators and Connor West. Some of the best and the brightest were rumored to be on the list. Experts in absolutely everything at the government’s beck and call.

If Hyde’s clearance expired, acquiring another at the same level would take months, if it was granted at all. She wouldn’t be eligible for special projects.

“After working for years to get where you are, you’re letting it go.” He couldn’t get his head around it and he believed she would regret this decision.

“There are more important things than work.”

Suspicion crept over him. Though he would never accuse her of being a turncoat, getting off the list and quitting the spy game made her a free agent. “Are you planning to go mercenary?”

She made a face of disgust. He was off the mark.

“I would never do that. What I have in mind entails Saturdays and Sundays off work, nights and holidays to myself and a steady paycheck. Reading the news about attacks and bombings and knowing someone else is handling it. No more calls at midnight to go wheels up.”

“A small paycheck for boring work,” he said.

“The paycheck doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll embrace the mundane.”

When they were ribs deep in the water, Hyde dove under. She surfaced ten feet out. Finn chased her. He slid his hand around her hips and lifted her against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He tread water for them. “Do you remember when we rented a room at the resort in Palm Springs and pretended to be spring-breakers?” They had stayed in the penthouse of a popular hotel. He and Hyde had loved being in the middle of that chaos. They had been close enough to hear the music, the lingo and the craziness, and far enough away to escape when they’d wanted privacy.

“We are too old for that now. I can’t chug a beer from a funnel without getting reflux.”

“It was two years ago.”

“A lifetime,” she said. She pushed off his chest and swam backward away from him.

If he could remind her of the closeness they’d shared, she may confide in him. They were friends first. He had told her things he hadn’t told another human being. “What did you do with the bracelet I gave you?”

“I have it. In my pack. It fits my cover.”

Was that all it was? Or did it still mean something to her? He had surprised her with the bracelet in Bora Bora, a diamond tennis bracelet in a platinum setting. “It was my grandmother’s.” He had been given it after his grandmother had passed away. She was the one person in his family who had understood what he did for a living and approved. The rest of his family wanted him to quit and go into politics, like his father and brother. The bracelet had a high sentimental value to him.

Hyde pushed her wet hair off her face. “The bracelet is a family heirloom?”

He nodded.

Hyde’s brows were furrowed in confusion. “I thought it was a piece you picked up at the local market.”

He had let her believe that. She wouldn’t have accepted it otherwise. “I wanted you to have it. You’re strong and brave like my grandmother was. If she had met you, she would have liked you and wanted you to have it.”

“Finn, I can’t keep a precious item like that.”

It was important to him that Hyde have it. He didn’t look too deeply into that thought. “You already accepted it. I would like if you wore it tonight.”

Hyde touched her bare wrist as if considering it. “I could do that. But I want you to think about it. If you change your mind and want it back, please ask.”

He wouldn’t want it back. It looked great on Hyde and it belonged with her.

* * *

Hyde and Finn drove a sand buggy to Reed’s house. It was huge and opulent, the four-story building boasting numerous balconies and dozens of gleaming windows. Storm shutters carved with elaborate scrollwork were pinned to the sides of the windows, and the front of the house was adorned with Roman-style columns and graceful archways. It must have taken an army of engineers to safely place such a large building this close to the water.

Inviting them to his home and this island, Barnett had an agenda. He had numerous politicians, police chiefs and judges on his payroll. He blackmailed people he couldn’t pay off. Everyone had something to hide. Dig deep enough, and anyone looking would hit pay dirt. He’d want to know Finn’s weakness.

Barnett was the master of getting dirty, getting the people around him dirty and then slaughtering anyone who threatened to expose him. His list of friends was long, but his list of enemies was longer. Many people would like to see him dead.

But many people would also line up to step into his shoes. Finn wanted Barnett and his organization torn to the ground and the roots ripped up. He wanted Barnett to pay dearly for killing Simon.

They were escorted to the dining room. The walls and ceiling were painted with images of Victorian angels in the clouds, and the white floor tile was blinding. The room wasn’t what Finn had expected.

Hyde squeezed Finn’s hand. She was wearing a light blue dress, which looked painted on. Cut low in the front, it clung to her hips and thighs. The bottom of the dress was uneven, drawing attention to her strong calves. She was playing her part, and it was distracting to have her so close and know she wasn’t available. The one thing he and Hyde had always done well was sex.

Why was it off the table? Hyde was different, but Finn couldn’t figure out why. They were frequently apart and Finn missed much from her life. She had seemed to enjoy being close to her family. Had they convinced her to quit her life on the road?

“Don’t frown, you look pissed off,” Hyde said. She set her free hand on the crook of his elbow. Every muscle in his body flexed in awareness, and his lust elevated to nearly unmanageable proportions.

He leaned to kiss her cheek and they stared into each other’s eyes. Heat snapped between them and Finn wouldn’t buy this was an act. She played hell with his libido and it wasn’t a one-way street.

Barnett was seated at the head of the table, no one at the other end. The brunette to his right had her body on display in a barely there orange gown. She was staring adoringly at Barnett. She looked like she was ready for a pageant, her hair curled and styled and makeup coating her face. Barnett was ignoring her, but she seemed unperturbed by it.

She had to be his latest fling. Finn didn’t understand why women flocked to Barnett. His face was slim and his nose curved at the tip. He was wealthy and dressed well, but beneath his sophisticated demeanor hummed a quiet rage. Didn’t women sense that and want to avoid him? Barnett had an explosive temper. He could turn on a dime. Anyone who had spent time with him would see it and rightfully fear it.

Barnett wasn’t a man to be trifled with. Acquaintances and companions who displeased him disappeared.

Barnett stood in greeting. He gestured to the seats next to him. “Mr. Moore and the lovely Alexandra. Thank you for joining me tonight. This is my girlfriend, Ruby.”

Finn held out Hyde’s chair for her and she took her seat. Finn then sat next to her and between her and Barnett. Drinks were brought and after an exchange of pleasantries, Barnett took over the conversation.

“I am embarking on an exciting new opportunity. There are fortunes to be made. Before I share my grand plan, I need something from you.”

Finn didn’t like where this was leading.

Waiters in white gloves and black ties served appetizers. The longer Finn sat with Barnett, the dirtier he felt. And not dirty in a good way. Dirty as in, “my soul is being corrupted by the second.” If he was the average of the five people he spent the most time with, with the exception of Hyde, Finn was being dragged into the depths of immorality.

“How about a show of your skill?” Barnett said.

“What did you have in mind?” Finn asked.

“Your reputation speaks to your skills as a marksman and as an explosives expert.”

He was both, though he would rather Hyde handle explosives. Hyde was remarkable with them, having a sixth sense about timing and control.

Barnett stood and picked up a plate. “Shoot this.”

Barnett pulled his arm back and let the plate spin like a disc. Finn withdrew his gun and shot the plate before it hit the wall. It shattered, pieces striking the floor.

Barnett’s brows were lifted and the corners of his mouth turned up in amusement. Ruby’s hand was over her mouth, staring at Finn.

“Good reflexes and it answers my question that you traveled armed,” Barnett said.

“Safer to assume every person I meet is armed,” Finn said.

“Even your beautiful lady?” Barnett said.

Finn touched Hyde’s shoulder, as if she’d need his protection and reassurance. “Alexandra knows how to protect herself.” Finn wouldn’t let on how skilled a spy Hyde was.

Barnett snapped his fingers and pointed to the mess on the floor. Two waiters rushed to clean it up.

At the sound of breaking glass, Finn scanned for the source. Another test?

Ruby was on her feet apologizing.

Barnett pointed at her. “You clumsy cow! That’s a five-thousand-dollar wineglass. How will you pay for it?”

Barnett was a moron if he paid five thousand dollars for a piece of glass. Finn hid his disgust at Barnett’s reaction to what was probably a slip of her hand. Barnett had thrown a plate and had Finn destroy it for no reason. He had lodged a bullet in the ceiling, an expensive repair. Barnett wasn’t a man who cared about wasting money. But he obviously enjoyed humiliating his girlfriend.

Ruby brought her hands to her mouth, and her body trembled. Hyde moved as if she planned to go to the woman’s side, but Finn clamped a hand on her forearm. If Hyde interfered, she could get Ruby killed. It had to be killing Hyde to see this. Since he had known her, Hyde had harbored a passion for protecting women who could not protect themselves. Rumors had swirled about Hyde’s actions to protect others, and Finn had witnessed it himself over the last several years.

Humiliation was survivable. As long as Barnett didn’t throw a punch, Finn would let it play out.

“I suggest you go to our room. You can make this up to me tonight.” His grin was lascivious and Ruby looked at Finn and Hyde, her face red, and then fled the room in tears.

Barnett appeared composed. This was the hair-trigger temper Finn had read about. One moment Barnett was relaxed and jovial, and the next he was tearing someone to shreds.

Hyde was seething, twisting her linen napkin in her lap and tapping the gun at her thigh, but she was keeping her facial expression in check. The rest of the meal passed without incident. Ruby did not return to the table and Finn didn’t blame her. He hoped she had found a boat and was hightailing it away from Barnett.

When dinner was over, Barnett invited Finn to his private office for drinks and cigars.

“Are you okay on your own?” Finn asked, turning to Hyde at the table. It would be like Hyde to use the time to look around the house under the guise of admiring the decor and artwork. He ran his hand down the side of her face and she leaned into the touch. Their eyes connected and heat and anticipation arced between them.

She gripped her clutch in her hands. “If our generous host agrees, I’ll enjoy some wine on the portico.”

Barnett nodded. “I like a woman who can entertain herself.”

Hyde must want to stab Barnett. Everything the man said to her sounded like a slight or an innuendo to sex. Finn credited her with staying calm. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her lightly. She allowed the kiss, but she didn’t return it. He sensed she wanted to and was overthinking this. Finn would break through her walls and find out what was bothering her. It was a matter of time.

“Mr. Moore? Are you coming?” Barnett asked.

Though he hated splitting up from her, Finn followed Barnett into his office.

* * *

Hyde had worked as a spy long enough to have seen every type of relationship and had learned to categorize them quickly. Some were good, some were awful and most were somewhere in between. She placed Reed Barnett and every woman he dated in the awful category. He had humiliated and verbally abused Ruby. The idea made Hyde’s blood run red-hot with rage. If there was anything that elicited a reaction from her, it was a woman in trouble.

However Ruby had come to be involved with Barnett, she had to regret it. She could feel trapped or know she couldn’t leave with her life. Perhaps she was waiting for the right opportunity to escape to safety. Or she had been someone’s victim for so long, she didn’t know how to be anything but one. Though it wasn’t the mission’s primary objective, Hyde wanted to get Ruby safely out of her entanglement with Barnett when she was ready to take that step.

In her field, Hyde was often underestimated and men tried to push her around. She had pushed back and struggled for every scrap of respect she had. She’d had examples of strong women in her life. Her father treated her mother with respect, and Hyde expected nothing less from the men in her life. After a decade of missions, her reputation preceded her. Now, when a man learned her name, they reacted with the right amount of awe.

Barnett’s butler led Hyde out of the main house to a large patio overlooking the ocean. Citronella candles surrounded her.

Ruby appeared, having changed from the orange evening gown into pink yoga pants and a matching zip-up sweatshirt. Her hair was long and loose around her shoulders. She folded her hands in front of her and lifted her head. Hyde read her discomfort in the tightness of her shoulders, but Hyde also saw strength in her eyes.

Hyde would break the ice first and let Ruby know that she was a friend. “I’m glad you came out tonight. Who knows how long the men will be talking? It’s nice to make a friend on the island.”

Ruby touched the ends of her hair. “I’m embarrassed by what happened at dinner.”

It must be her first event of this nature, or she was playing a carefully scripted part to gain empathy. Hyde didn’t let her guard down until she was sure of someone and it was rare for her to be sure of anyone.

Hyde’s plan was to be as kind as possible to get close to Ruby without giving away anything about herself or Finn. “He overreacted. I’m sure he’ll be over it by tomorrow.”

Ruby touched her bare left ring finger. “He was pretty mad.”

“He seemed fine at the end of dinner,” Hyde said.

“Whenever he gets mad like that...” She let her voice trail off.

If she finished that statement with “he hits me” or any variation of those words, Hyde would kill Barnett. She and Finn would have to come up with a Plan B to destroy the rest of his network. Her retribution for Barnett was ready to be taken off its leash with the slimmest notice.

“He what?” Hyde prompted.

Ruby pressed her hands to her sides. “It’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Not what she’d expected, but Hyde rolled with it. She could be a friend to Ruby and leverage her for information. Allies came in handy. When the time came, she would help her escape Barnett’s network.

Hyde giggled. “They get worked up, don’t they?”

Ruby relaxed and Barnett’s staff brought a bottle of wine and glasses out to them.

Hyde accepted a glass of wine, but didn’t drink it. She brought it to her lips, but she was listening, gathering every detail Ruby was willing to share.

She needed to figure out if Ruby could help them or hurt them and if she could be trusted.

* * *

After several hours of speaking with Ruby about everything from music to travel to books they enjoyed, Hyde pretended to be drunk. She had dumped a fair amount of wine into the bushes around the patio. It was almost one in the morning, and Finn was still talking with Barnett. When Ruby begged off to get some sleep, Hyde couldn’t think of a reason to linger without raising suspicions.

One of Barnett’s guards drove her wordlessly to the villa on the beach. Hyde thanked Barnett’s guard and stumbled into the house, closing and locking the door behind her. Her feet crunched over the gritty sand that seemed to coat the brown tile floor.

Hyde swept for bugs. Thinking of Ruby, she hoped Barnett’s anger would disappear before bed. If their villa was closer to the main house, she could have kept a better eye on Ruby.

Hyde hit the shower. Ten minutes in, the sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted her thoughts. Finn was home. Hyde shut off the water. She wrapped a plush white lavender-scented towel around her.

Her time with Finn was the closest thing she’d had to a vacation in the last ten years. Finn had once needed to cancel plans with her when his mission went sideways, and Hyde had been utterly disappointed. That lingering displeasure had been an eye-opening experience. She needed Finn after a mission. It was how she bounced back from the soul-wrecking events that were her job.

When this was over, Hyde wouldn’t have Finn. Instead, she would take a vacation. A weeklong getaway to somewhere warm where she could relax without fearing for her life.

Keeping her towel around her, Hyde met Finn in the main room of the house. Achy, needy and unexpected desire swelled inside her.

He was removing his tie and it was one of the sexiest things she had seen in months. Finn in dress pants, his shirt rumpled and the sleeves rolled to his elbows, his hair askew and now the tie loose around his neck.

His brown eyes blinked at her. “I won’t be presumptuous, so I’ll ask. Were you waiting for me?”

Her clothes were hanging in the closet. “Just getting pajamas.”

“Can I watch you change?”

Seeing her naked wasn’t a novelty for him. “That’s unfair since I have no intention of letting you touch me.” The words were a boundary she needed. If she followed her impulses, she would be in his arms in minutes.

A playful expression crossed his face. He removed his tie and shirt. Buff and muscled only began to describe him. A tiger was tattooed across his side. The tattoo covered a scar he’d gotten on one of his first missions when a poacher had shot at him.

Though his appearance wasn’t the sole reason she liked Finn, it was impossible to ignore. Finn’s dark and brooding, bad-boy-meets-secret-agent, tough-guy image appealed to her.

Broad across the shoulders, tanned skin from hours spent in the sun and lean muscles that she liked to touch, beckoned to her. To feel his body tighten beneath her hands and to lie against him, his arms around her, was the safest she had felt in her life.

When she had been in the worst emotional pain in her life, she had thought about being with Finn, his arms offering comfort and security she desperately needed to fill the gaping hole in her heart and emptiness in her soul.

Her excitement slowed when she thought of Munich. Her stomach clenched and she touched her midsection, feeling like she was less than she had been before, like something important was missing. Finn was the same man she’d been attracted to six months ago. She had changed. What she wanted from him and for her life was different.

Falling into bed with Finn would be easy. If she crossed that line with him, at the end of the mission she was still alone and without a family of her own. That dream was far out of reach, but not lost to her.

Hyde was beyond the point where she could have sex with Finn for recreation and pretend it meant nothing. She couldn’t put her finger on the precise moment it had happened, but sleeping with him had become about more than sex. She cared for him and he couldn’t—wouldn’t—give her what she wanted.

She took her pajamas to the bathroom and dressed. He joined her after several minutes, changing and brushing his teeth at the sink across the bathroom. She was momentarily thrown by the simplicity. They weren’t a couple in their home getting ready for bed. They were operatives on a mission where people would die to achieve their goal and even more people would die if she and Finn failed. Hyde wouldn’t let herself get caught in a fantasy. They were working. This was not real life.

Hyde left the bathroom and tossed a bed pillow onto the settee.

“That’s where you’re sleeping?” Finn asked, turning off the light in the bathroom.

It was late, the end of a long day, and she didn’t want to have a lengthy conversation about it. “Yes.”

He sighed. “Get in the bed.”

“I’d rather have some space.”

“We slept in the same room in Montana,” he said.

“I know.” She had liked it. Too much. It had been too tempting to cross the limits she had set.

He put one hand on his hip and rubbed his forehead with the other. “When are you planning to tell me what’s going on with you? Why are you acting like this?”

“I’ve told you. I want a life with words that scare you. Words like husband and wedding and babies and mortgage.” No point in dancing around it and pretending she was okay with sex with no strings, at least not when it came to Finn.

Finn straightened. “Those words don’t scare me. They just aren’t in the cards for me.”

He sounded certain. Case closed. Not even a hint that in the future, the distant future, he may want those things. She lay on the settee and closed her eyes. She couldn’t have this conversation with him. The intense longing swallowing her to hear him say those words clarified that she needed more from him. She wanted him to say he would give her a life and home together, if not now, in time. That he was capable of being the man she needed.

“Did you see Ruby?” Finn asked. The worry in his voice prevented her from ignoring him.

A change in the subject and she let go of her foolish hope about Finn changing his mind. “I did. We shared a few glasses of wine. She was shaken, but okay. This wasn’t the first time Barnett lost his temper with her, and she seemed fine.”

Finn made a sound of disgust. “Until Barnett takes it to the next level and he gets violent with her.”

She’d had similar thoughts. “He is a wretched human being. I can’t imagine anything he does making up for how he humiliated Ruby or why she would forgive him and stay.”

Finn flopped on the bed. “If you change your mind, I’m here. I know you want to sleep next to me. I can feel it.”

Hyde shifted on the settee and stared at the ceiling. “If I get in bed with you, will you stop questioning me?”

“For now. But Hyde, I know there’s something going on and I want to understand. I want you to let me in.”

She looked over at him. He lifted the blanket and patted the bed.

She crossed the room, the floor cold under her feet. She slid under the covers with him. He didn’t reach for her and she didn’t move closer. Sharing the same bed was close enough. They had an invisible wall as a barrier and neither was ready to tear it down.

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