Saturday. Beirut, Lebanon.FAREZ'S HANDS SHOOK, and the gun felt as though it weighed a ton.That was a close call. Far closer than he'd have liked. If it weren't for the others looking out for him, those men would have gotten the only leverage Farez had to make this deal.The cellar smelled of earth and spices. The small lantern didn't reach the far corners of the room.Maier straightened. "I don't hear anything.""Your wife might have saved us," Farez muttered.Maier chuckled. "She saves me every day."Jared Moss sat down on the hard packed floor, speaking in English, "I am never going to complain about a hotel ever again."Farez glanced at Maier. The other man didn't speak English. Farez had learned it as a young man working on sail boats, doing tours on cruise ships when he was younger. It was a skill he'd used to land him decent jobs through the years before doing what he'd always wanted-opening up a spice shop with his wife. A shop he no longer owned, and that
Neither spoke a word all the way up to Ashton's room. Carla shut the door, and he paced across to the windows. She leaned her back against the door and watched him.What was he going through in his head? How much was he holding in?"They're never going to find him, are they?" Ashton turned to look at her, the light at his back casting his face into shadow. She didn't need to see him to feel the heartache."I think they will. You had me read their reviews and vet them, remember?" She pushed off the door and took a few steps forward. "I just-I still think we're coming at this from the wrong angle.""What would you have me do?" He sat down on the edge of the bed and propped his elbows on his knees. His jacket was long gone, and he'd rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. He really was a handsome man.Carla picked up clothes Ashton had left on the floor. She smoothed them and folded the garments without consciously thinking about what she was doing. "We should at least try my
Saturday. Safe House, Beirut, Lebanon.VAUGHN STARED AT the door to the condo and briefly considered chopping off an appendage to avoid the shit storm that was about to go down.Grant and the others had no idea how badly this failed op was going to go over because they didn't know how important Jared was to their client. But Vaughn did.Here went nothing.He dragged the suitcase forward and used his keycard to open the door.A wall of noise hit him so hard he took a step back.Yeah, it had hit the fan alright.He waded into the room, picking out the voices.Ashton and Grant were the loudest. Melody struggled to be heard.Vaughn placed the last bags down just past the entry then edged closer to the dining table where everyone had gathered. Sure enough, Grant and Melody were on one side with Ashton on the other. Despite Grant's volume, he was presenting a calm face. Then there was Ashton; red faced, veins bulging, he wasn't taking the news well.Where was Carla?
VAUGHN SAT ON the terrace, the evening breeze bordering on the edge of chilly. Darkness had long since descended on the city. The city noise from below was even quieter at this hour. Being this far above the ground with an uninterrupted view of the water, it was like being on an island.He could go for that right about now.Today was a cluster fuck and the more he thought about it the more frustrated he got.Who'd blown cover first?Him.Their additional manpower should arrive first thing in the morning. That really rubbed him the wrong way. It was like Grant didn't have faith that they could pull this job off or something. Deep down Vaughn knew it was more about needing to keep their assets protected. A couple months back they'd had assets kidnapped out from under them during a job because they'd split manpower. Twice. Vaughn's rational mind knew this was Grant overcompensating. He'd been different since that job. No one wanted to lose a high profile person like Ashton in a
Vaughn needed to get a grip on something. Maybe his dick. Releasing a little pent up energy might help, but he doubted it."I guess I should go back to bed." She placed her hands on the table. "Thanks for the talk."Vaughn had a dozen thoughts in his head, things he wanted to say to her, tell her, but all he could do was sit there in silence as she pushed to her feet. She turned, dragging her fingers along the table then the back of his hand.He was letting her walk away from him.This woman was unique. She was special. Her touch permeated his limb, all the way to his bones.If he let her walk away, would he regret it for the rest of his life?Her hand slid up his arm to his shoulder.He grasped her wrist, pressing her palm to him.What was he doing? Wasn't this what he'd said he wouldn't do?Little zips of electricity shot through his body and in that moment he saw the world clearer than ever before.Regrets were opportunities not taken.Carla might not ask for m
Sunday. The Spice Way, Beirut, Lebanon.HANI PEERED THROUGH the darkened windows of Farez's old shop. The landlord had shut the place down if the old man was to be believed. Right about now Hani needed a break.He'd gone to check on his friends. Of the three who'd joined him on the kidnapping job, one was dead and the other two had gone to visit family. He didn't have to guess who was behind that. There were only two options.Their boss.Or the man in the suit.Hani was willing to bet their boss was behind this. Promising a quick payday with no proof or results hadn't been enough to gain them a reprieve. The suit guy had been forthright with Hani.The only reason he was still alive was because the suits had their own targets. Ashton Khoury and the other Americans. If Hani was going to keep his head, he had to stay close to Farez."What are you doing here young man?"Hani turned toward the elderly woman. She had a bulging bag in hand and stood on the sidewalk peering
Carla poured a cup of coffee then tucked her laptop under her arm and climbed upstairs to Ashton's room and let herself in. The window shade was still down, plunging the room into darkness."How long are you going to stay in bed?" She picked her way across the room, mindful to not trip over his mess."Until you give me that coffee." Ashton's voice was a low rumble from the mound of blankets."Well, good morning to you, too." She found the dresser by feel and set the laptop and her phone down.That done, she turned toward the bed. Her eyesight was more or less adjusted. She slid her feet out of her flats and crawled up to brace her back against the headboard.A hand groped her knee then her thigh.She laughed and guided him to the cup and released it into his hold.Ashton sat up and gulped the coffee greedily.On a normal day, she was up early, tidied up from the night before, made coffee and got breakfast going. At some point, usually Jared, would ping her that they wer
VAUGHN TILTED HIS head listened for movement or voices, but heard nothing. What did he think he was going to hear through a wall with the shower running?Carla was next door.This was technically her room.Her things were in all the drawers, hanging in the closet and lined up on the vanity. Her stamp was everywhere. He was beginning to see her touch where others weren't. It was in the absolute cleanliness, the smoothed comforter, the picture perfect arrangement of toiletries. Even in the shower she'd positioned her bottles of shampoo and soap so they were visually appealing.And he was supposed to sleep in here?Not fucking likely.He'd had a hard enough time ignoring her this morning while in the company of Melody. Just Carla's nearness distracted him. It was frustrating, sexually and professionally. He'd worked around women he was in an intimate relationship with before with no problem. He'd always been able to get his job done and keep it work and pleasure separate. But