Slaying the Dragon (Deception Duet #2) (25 page)

“No. It’s girls’ night.” Returning to me, he grabbed my hand in his. “You need time to catch up and you can’t do that with me around.”

“When am I going to see you again?”

“Why? Missing me already?”

“No.” I rolled my eyes in fake irritation.
 

Brushing a wayward curl behind my ear, he caressed my face.

“Okay, maybe a little,” I admitted.

“Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?”

“On a date?” I asked coyly.

He nodded. “Yes. A proper date. No expectations for anything more. Just two people getting to know each other.”

“I’d like that.”

“Does seven work for you?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yes.”

He grinned. Bringing my hand to his lips, he murmured, “Until tomorrow,
mi cariño
.” With that, he hopped in his car, leaving me completely satisfied and feeling as if things were going to be okay.

“You were totally eye-fucking him,” Jenna commented as she pulled me into the restaurant, Brayden right on our heels.

“It’s not eye-fucking if she already knows what the goods look like,” Brayden countered when we all took our normal seats at the bar.

“Says who?” Jenna retorted. “I still eye-fuck Richard and we’ve been married for a year!”

“Speaking of which,” I said, sipping my sparkling water once more, trying to get the focus of the conversation off me. “How’s everything going with you two?”

“Good. Better than good.” She swirled the liquid in her wine glass that the bartender had just poured for her. “I took your and Brayden’s advice and talked to him. He explained everything.”

“What did he say about the lack of any record of his previous marriage?”

“Well, it was like you said. He agreed to give his ex-wife a very hefty settlement, but a contingent of doing so was her agreeing to have all records of their marriage and subsequent divorce completely expunged. I had always just assumed she served him with divorce papers, not the other way around.”

“Why did he want that?” Brayden interjected.

“He said he didn’t want one of the biggest mistakes of his life to always follow him around. He wanted a fresh start, a new beginning, and he didn’t think he’d have that if his previous marriage and subsequent divorce were always lurking in the background. It was really kind of sad, listening to him talk about her. I was always hesitant to bring her up because I know all about wanting a fresh start, but…”

“Yeah?” I popped an olive in my mouth. “What is it?”

“I actually felt bad for him. He was more or less conned into marrying her. He was in his early forties when they met. She was in college.”

“He’s got a thing for younger girls, doesn’t he?” Brayden commented, winking.

Jenna smiled, a small laugh leaving her lips. “Yeah, I guess he does. Anyway, they dated, but it wasn’t anything serious. He said they were better off as friends, and that’s what they remained for a few years. He was tapped to take over the entire hotel chain, and she continued with college. One day, he got a phone call from her and she was sobbing. He said he had never heard her so frightened.”

“What happened?”

“She found out she was pregnant. When she confronted her boyfriend at the time, he split, disappearing into nowhere.”

I glanced down, placing my hand over my stomach. I could certainly sympathize with how she must have felt. Although the circumstances were different, I knew what it felt like to think you were alone.

“She came from a very strict Irish Catholic family and she couldn’t go home as she was unless…”

“She was married,” I finished.

Jenna nodded. “And Richard, being who he is, agreed to the marriage. They had a small ceremony a few weeks later. He called it a blessing in disguise. He had been so busy with the hotels and building the brand, he never took a minute for himself or his personal life.”

“Sound familiar?” Brayden mumbled under his breath, looking at me.

I shot my eyes to him and slapped him playfully.

“So he settled down with his new bride and began buying baby clothes. He couldn’t wait to be a father. He didn’t care that the kid wasn’t technically his. He said that’s not what makes someone a father… It’s being there, supporting them, putting their needs above your own. And he was ready and willing to do that.”

“But…”

Jenna took a deep breath. “About a month later, she came home from her doctor’s appointment and told him she lost the baby. She was upset, but he told her if she wanted to be a mother, they could try to have a kid themselves. They had trouble conceiving, and Richard became increasingly busy with the hotel. They would argue and Richard would suggest just stopping the whole charade, considering the only reason they married in the first place was because she had gotten pregnant and was worried about telling her parents. She didn’t have that problem anymore. However, each time he was ready to walk away, she would tell him she was pregnant, but she kept losing the baby. Finally, after the fourth or fifth time, Richard grew suspicious and called her doctor, then a private investigator. He soon found out there was never a pregnancy, not even at the beginning. He realized this woman, Ariana, was simply after his fortune that was slowly growing as his hotel brand became more and more popular.”

“That’s why he was able to convince her to sign off on wiping the slate clean,” Brayden interjected.

Jenna nodded. “Yes. Instead of facing a very public divorce based on who he was and everyone learning what she had done, he offered her a way out and she took it.”

“Well,” Brayden said, raising his own wine glass. We both followed suit. “Here’s to both my girls being happy with the men they love once again.”

“Here, here!” Jenna said.

“I’ll drink to that.”

Tyler

E
ARLY
S
ATURDAY
MORNING
, I parked my Bronco at the back of the club. I had been back on South Padre for less than forty-eight hours, but it was time to finally get back to work. There were still more questions than answers, even more so now that the CIA handler who had reached out and asked for our help with this case had been missing for several months. Was it connected? I didn’t know, but it was a bit too suspicious.

Walking through the back door, I heard voices echoing down the hallway. I headed toward my office and entered, eight men and one woman immediately ceasing their conversation when they saw me. Scanning the room, I made mental notes of who everyone was. I had reviewed their files earlier that morning as I determined who I should keep and who I should send back. Apart from Eli and Martin, they were mostly new faces to me, except one…

Rage washing over me, I stalked toward a tall, muscular man of similar build. “You asshole!” I bellowed out, surprising everyone, Benson included, as I landed a harsh blow to his face.

He stumbled back, attempting to maintain his balance.

“We were on the same training team! We were
friends
!” I spat. “And this is how you repay me? You agree to fuck with her memory? I thought you were better than that!”

Straightening his spine, he wiped at his lip, smearing the bit of blood that was visible. “I did it for you, Tyler. Do you think I
liked
having to do that? I
hated
it. I knew you’d never forgive me for betraying you like that, but it was all about keeping her safe. From day one, everything we’ve done on this island has been to keep her out of harm’s way.”

“How?!” I shouted. “Please tell me how you staying at my house and telling her you’ve lived there for years could possibly keep her safe? If anything, it just confused her more!” I pulled back, about to take another swing when I was swiftly disabled and pushed against the wall.

“No plan is without its faults,” Martin growled, restraining me. His eyes met mine as if he was trying to tell me there was no other way.

“My brother said the reason he gave the go-ahead on gaslighting her was to protect the integrity of the mission, to make her think she never met me, to protect
my
ass. He didn’t mention anything about trying to protect Mackenzie.”

“That was one of the reasons. We had to go through every possible scenario,” he explained, releasing his hold on me once he grew confident I was no longer going to do Benson any more harm. “I was the only one who had been made aware of some of the details of the mission and I had to act quickly. My biggest concern was her safety and protecting her true identity. What was one way of putting her on the radar?” Martin asked.

“A police report,” I mumbled under my breath. I had done my fair share of interfering with a few police investigations while working the case in order to keep her true identity hidden. I understood all too well.

“Precisely. What if she went to the police with everything? I knew it was a long shot, but I had to consider the possibility. ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ I had to do everything within my power to ensure her true identity never made it into a public record of any kind. That could have been disastrous. What if, as you believe, her father’s
not
behind all of this and someone else is trying to silence anyone and everyone who could prove his innocence? What if they found Mackenzie? I couldn’t stand aside and do nothing. The best way for me to protect her was for her to doubt whether any of it happened, that she never met you. So don’t blame your brother or Benson. Blame me,” he said adamantly, straightening the lines of his dark suit. “He was simply following orders, just like you when you took this assignment.”

I stood in place, absorbing Martin’s words, as several pairs of eyes stared in nervous anticipation. If I could listen to and trust anyone in this room, other than Eli, it was Martin. He was practically family. He had been my father’s right-hand man when he was still alive and running the company. Growing up, I couldn’t really remember a day when I didn’t see him at my father’s side. After my father was killed on an assignment, Martin temporarily ran the company while we figured out what to do. When Alexander requested an honorable discharge and left his SEAL team to come run the company, we were all surprised. Suffice it to say, Martin knew what he was talking about. Despite not wanting to believe there could have been any valid reason to gaslight Mackenzie, maybe there was.

Taking a breath, I ran my hands over my face as I considered his words. He was right. Following orders and chain of command was all we had to make our missions and operations successful. Without it, there would be disorder, chaos. I knew I would do anything to protect Mackenzie. And Martin would, too, despite the effect it had.

“We okay?” Benson asked, slowly approaching me and extending his hand.

Eyeing him, I nodded, shaking it. “Yeah. We’re okay.”

“Well, good,” Eli’s voice cut through. “We’re all ready to start if you are.”

“Right.” I took a seat at a large round table, everyone following my lead. “I know you have all been answering to Martin over the past several months.” The agents surrounding me nodded. “Not anymore,” I said, my voice firm and demanding, trying to demonstrate that I was in a position of authority. This was the first time I was leading a team this size. I had been part of protection teams in the past, but now that I was calling the shots, it was nerve-wracking. I was no longer following my brother’s orders. The success or failure fell on my shoulders, and mine alone.

“Eli will be running point here. Everything goes through him. He has been working this assignment with me since day one and is the only one, other than me, who is fully aware of all the intricacies of this case. He’ll bring you all up-to-date with what we know, so pay attention.” I nodded to him.

Raising himself, Eli stood in front of the assembled team. Pressing a button on his laptop, an image of Mackenzie’s father from his army days appeared on the large television monitor on the far wall. “This is Colonel Francis Mackenzie Galloway. He was our original target in this operation.”

“Original?” Benson interjected.

Nodding, Eli said, “Yes. Galloway was thought to have been the mastermind behind hundreds of acts of treason against the United States, including selling military arms and secrets to known terror organizations, drug cartels, anyone who would pay top dollar. Allegedly, his defining act was the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Liberia almost seventeen years ago.” A still of a charred building with dozens of bodies covered with dark blankets appeared on the screen.

“But you no longer think he’s responsible?” Maxwell, an agent with blond hair and medium build, asked. It was apparent he was rather intrigued by what he was learning.

Glancing at me, Eli hesitated briefly, waiting for my permission to proceed. I nodded.

“We’re not one hundred percent certain but, based on many suspicious events, we’re exploring the possibility that Galloway wasn’t the man behind any of these acts and was simply a scapegoat.”

“But if he was accused of all those acts in the first place, why is this the first we’re hearing about this guy?” Maxwell asked.

“We’re not sure of the details, but we
do
know Galloway was presumed to have died in the embassy fire he was accused of setting. A subsequent investigation, led by the team at Army Counterintelligence he had previously commanded, found evidence of his misdeeds. Communications with foreign terror organizations and drug cartels. Wire transfers into off-shore accounts, which they were able to link to Galloway. However, someone issued a gag order. With many unanswered questions still lingering, the case was sealed and all agents who had been working on it were ordered not to discuss what they had found with anyone.”