Elite Metal-ARE-epub (95 page)

Heart still racing from her brief encounter with Silver, Poppy peered through the binoculars to see how he would react to finding his motorcycle waiting for him. When the orders had hit her desk to take him down and bring him in, nothing had been said about his bike, but after reading through his file, she had suspected he might be more amenable to this new arrangement if she located and serviced it for him. Judging by the way he caressed the seat, she had been right.

Watching him run his hands over his favorite possession sent a warm shiver of something dark and needful right down to her core. She had no problem imaging him running those big, strong hands over a woman’s body. He moved like a sculptor working his clay into something beautiful, his swiping motions smooth and easy.

Never in her life had a man affected her like this! One sinful smile from him, and a low, throbbing heat had rolled through her lower belly. The photos attached to his file hadn’t prepared her for the devilishly handsome and incredibly charismatic man she had met.

He made me laugh.

It was such a simple thing, laughter, but it had thrown her for a loop. Men didn’t make her laugh. Men didn’t make her smile. More often than not, they made her frown. Silver had frustrated her, but he’d also teased and unsettled her.

He’s dangerous.

She didn’t mean dangerous in the usual sense. Oh, he was a highly-skilled and deadly operator, all right. But he was more dangerous to her in a way that had nothing to do with covert ops.

He’s tempting.

“I think he’ll be easier to control once we figure out what he wants.” Lowering her binoculars, Poppy glanced away from the shrinking image of Silver tearing down the road on his bike. “Every person you’ve asked to join the team has wanted something—a home, a family, a purpose, revenge. We just have to figure out what Silver craves above all things.”

Warbucks stared in her direction in that cool, penetrating way she had learned to read at such an early age. Even though his sight had been destroyed, he still managed to unsettle her with one look of silent warning. “And what happens if the one thing he craves is the one thing we can’t buy or provide?”

Poppy shot her longtime mentor and the only man she had ever trusted a disbelieving look. “We’ve yet to find one thing we couldn’t acquire.”

“There’s a first time for everything, kid.” Warbucks leaned back in his seat. With a little wince, he stretched out his legs. The trim fitting chinos he wore deftly camouflaged the prosthetics that had been painstakingly measured and altered and designed to provide him with near-perfect mobility.

A warm feeling invaded her chest. She smiled at the man who had been her guardian and protector since childhood. “It’s been a long time since you’ve called me kid.”

He remained facing forward but cocked an eyebrow. “I’m really starting to hate all this goddamned secrecy, you know? When I started this project, when I brought you onboard to help me run Elite Metal, I laid out all those rules to keep you and the rest of the team safe. I never thought we’d have to live under this veil for so long.”

“Maybe it’s time to yank it back,” she suggested gently. “Maybe it’s time we tell them the truth about you…and all the rest.”

Warbucks shook his head. “Too soon.”

Knowing there was no changing his mind once it was made, Poppy let it go. Instead, she turned her attention back to Silver. “We’ll keep him on a short leash while he takes these solo assignments. In a couple of months, we’ll bring him fully onboard and give him a spot at the headquarters so he—”

“No,” Warbucks cut in unexpectedly. “That’s not going to happen.”

“What?” Dumbfounded, she twisted in her seat to face him. “Why not? I thought that was the whole point of this exercise? I brought him in and offered him a spot on the team. He proves he can be trusted by taking on a few jobs. Then we bring him onto the base, give him a home and fold him into the team.”

“The plan has changed.”

Poppy didn’t like this development at all. “That is not what I just promised him.”

“Chrome doesn’t trust him. If the team as a whole doesn’t trust him, they won’t work with him. Bad blood between the members is an easy way to get someone killed. It leaves them open to hesitation and manipulation. We can’t risk it. Not now.” He slashed his hand through the air. “The team needs more time to jell, and Silver needs to prove himself.”

“You realize that you’re asking this man to take on some of our hardest and most dangerous jobs—alone—without the promise of a team and a home in return?”

“I know exactly what I’m asking,” Warbucks shot back tightly. “Of the two of us sitting in this Range Rover, I’m the one with real-life black op experience, remember?”

“And I’m the one who interacts with these men and women every day,” she snapped right back at him. “I’m the one who fields their complaints. I’m the one who sends them out on dangerous ops. I’m the one who has to answer to the loved ones when missions go south. You’re the one who hides in the shadows, remember? I’m the one that’s held accountable as the face of Elite Metal.”

Warbucks seemed surprised by her response. “Hell, Poppy! I never meant to put all of that on your shoulders.”

“I don’t mind it usually,” she answered honestly. “I enjoy the work we do. I
believe
in the work we do.” She swept her fingers along the wisps of hair that had escaped her neatly coiled bun. “But we are supposed to be working together. Together. You should have told me that you had changed your mind about Silver’s position on the team before I walked into that warehouse.”

“We’ll invite him to the headquarters when it’s time,” Warbucks promised. “But the horizon on that eventuality has extended to fifteen months…or more.”

Guilt needled Poppy. She didn’t like the way Warbucks yanked strings like a puppet master behind that curtain of secrecy he had demanded, but this was his show. He gave the orders, and she followed them the same way his ghosts did.

Putting the SUV in drive, Poppy guided the vehicle through the maze of empty buildings on the abandoned manufacturing site and onto the nearest road. She purposely went in the opposite direction of Silver, even if it meant taking them an hour or two out of their way.

As she navigated the long stretch of open highway, she tried not to think about Silver or the way her body had betrayed her. Standing over him, staring down at him tied and bound and completely at her mercy, had awakened a dark need within her that she had never dared to imagine existed.

But there was no denying the rush of slick heat that had pooled between her thighs when he gazed up at her with those mischievous eyes.

Warbucks was dead right. This one
was
going to be big trouble.

Chapter One

Thurs., May 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Still clipped to the end of your very short leash.

New orders incoming.

Stay in contact.

So. What are you doing this weekend?

Excuse me?

This weekend?

Going on a hot date?

Staying at home?

Watching a movie?

No.

No.

No.

You’re free. I’m free.

Let me wow you with my BBQ skills.

Let’s keep this professional, shall we?

You’ve seen my dossier, right?

Professional ain’t a word in my vocab, sugar.

Clearly.

Mission details soon.

Waiting on baited breath…

Sun., Jun. 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Hungover.

You cannot be serious.

Next time pick a fixer here in Minsk

who isn’t a booze hound maybe?

I’ll take it under advisement.

My kingdom for an aspirin!

Tues., July 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Sweatin’ my ass off on this stakeout!

It’s 80 degrees already!

Y’all don’t pay me enough for this shit.

Maybe you should see if INTERPOL is hiring?

Oh. Wait.

Touche, PJ. Touche.

Hey, PJ?

Yes?

You wanna come rub suntan lotion on my back?

No.

Aug. 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Alive.

Recovering.

Montana.

How is the wound?

It’s just a scratch.

They pulled a screwdriver out

of your thigh!

OK. A big scratch.

Sep. 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

North Dakota.

There’s plenty of room for you

on the back of my bike, PJ.

Not the motorcycle type. Sorry.

Ouch. Right to the heart, huh?

Enjoy your ride.

I’ll be in touch soon.

Honey, you can touch me right now.

We just had reports about a

suspicious group in Changtang.

Perhaps you’d like to check them

out for us?

Hey! No need to go nuclear on me.

Apologies for the come-on.

Forgiven.

Wed., Oct 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Not even a pretty please, PJ?

Status Update. Pretty Please.

Alive and kickin’ in Wyoming.

Beartooth Pass.

Thank you.

You gonna send me a snapshot of your Halloween costume?

You first.

Just remember you asked for it…

Fri., Oct. 31, 10:05 PM

Happy Halloween, PJ.

Attached Image

Sat., Nov 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Is it the first already, PJ?

Status Update?

Colorado.

Drive is beautiful.

Thank you.

Hey, you hurt my feelings.

What? How?

My costume pic!

Not even one tiny comment?

I worked hard finding that

cowboy hat and leather chaps!

You are incorrigible.

Is that a synonym for sexy?

Because…

Good day, Silver.

PJ! Come on!

You can’t leave me hanging!

I showed you mine.

Now you show me yours.

Not. Happening.

Spoilsport.

Mon., Dec 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Alive.

Hurting.

But alive.

Safe house?

Left it last night.

Silver!

I can heal up in some

fleabag motel.

Can’t stand those fucking

ghosts staring at me 24/7.

If you need anything…

I know, PJ. I know.

But I’m good.

It’ll take more than a couple of bullets

and a stab wound to end my stubborn ass.

Let’s not test that theory. Please.

Don’t get all soft on me.

The Ice Queen routine turns

me on something fierce.

Sigh….

Thur., Dec. 25, 06:15 AM

Merry Christmas, Silver.

Merry Christmas, Poppy.

Thur., Jan. 1, 06:15 AM

Status Update?

Toronto.

Freezing my balls off.

Happy Fucking New Year.

Happy New Year, Silver.

Sun., Feb. 1, 06:20 AM

No status update?

Sun., Feb. 1, 06:25 AM

You sleeping in, PJ?

Sun., Feb. 1, 07:00 AM

PJ?

Sun., Feb. 1, 07:30 AM

Poppy? You okay?

Sun., Feb. 1, 07:46 AM

Apologies. I have the flu.

Hell, sugar! Get back in bed.

I am in bed.

Because you’re feeling poorly,

I’m going to let this golden opportunity pass.

You’re so kind.

You need anything?

Meds?

Soup?

Sponge bath?

No.

No.

Definitely no.

You don’t know what you’re missing.

Rest. Heal up.

I will.

Enjoy your down time.

You’ve earned it.

* * * * *

Leaning against the brick wall, Silver scrolled through the ten months of text messages he had shared with Poppy. His mouth curved with a slow grin as he read some of the playful back and forth banter. He enjoyed pushing right up against that invisible line that existed between them, even if he was breaking every damned rule in the book.

Strictly speaking, he never should have deviated from simple yes or no answers.

Strictly speaking, he should have deleted the messages.

Strictly speaking, he was straight-up fucked when it came to Poppy Jones.

He had tried to shake his infatuation with the no-nonsense blonde who had kidnapped and recruited him for Elite Metal. He reminded himself again and again that a woman like Poppy wanted nothing to do with a man like him. With his checkered past marked by fuckups and failures and bad choices, he had nothing to offer her.