Thursday. Emiliano Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.PRISCILLA RETREATED TO THE back of the elevator. She braced her hand on the rail and watched Brenden's broad shoulders glistening with sweat. He hadn't put his shirt on and she hoped he didn't.The urge to fidget or do something to use up the nervous energy bubbling inside of her was nearly overpowering. She bit her lip and gripped the railing on her other side.The elevator doors shut and Brenden turned to face her.The moment his eyes locked on her, she stilled. Hell, she could hardly breathe.Who was this woman she'd become?Priscilla was not the initiator when it came to men. Flirting wasn't her strength. More often than not she was surprised to learn a man was putting the moves on her. But with Brenden? It was different. She wanted him regardless of what her norm was.Did he know she had no idea what she was doing?She was in over her head, as evidence by the full-body burn when he'd touched her. His hand on her si
"You-what?" Brenden lifted his head and looked at Priscilla, those dark brown eyes of his burning molten hot."I'm allergic to latex. Makes things really uncomfortable for me." She took his hand and lifted it to her bicep. "Feel that little bump? That's my birth control implant."He slid his palm up and down her arm, staring at the spot."Anything I should know?" she asked. Babies weren't the only thing she didn't want to catch right now."No. I mean, are you sure?" He still held onto her pants, though now the hold seemed more like a lifeline for him."Am I sure I want to know about your sexual health? Or am I sure I want you enough to ask?" She slid her arms up and around his neck."I don't have anything," he said looking back into her eyes. "Are you sure about this?""Oh, yes. I'm sure. Are you?" She licked her lips and briefly considered telling him, but the truth was she didn't want to get sidetracked thinking about lesser men when a prime example of the best the gend
BRENDEN ROLLED THE ROOM service cart toward the bed. Exhaustion had finally hit Priscilla, and she lay sprawled on his bed wearing the white, fluffy robe from the closet, but it didn't cover near enough for his liking to allow a strange man into the room at almost three in the morning. He paused, taking her in.One arm was thrown over her face. Her hair was up in a messy bun thing. The robe gaped open, exposing her sternum and lower ribs, but nothing more. One thigh peaked from between the folds of fabric, her long, lean legs caught in a frozen dance against the bedspread."Is that food I smell?" she mumbled."Think you can sit up to eat?" He picked up her tray. He'd managed to get her a nice, steak dinner with simple sides. Given what she'd gone through, he wouldn't doubt that her stomach was all kinds of knotted up from stress."Yup." She levered up into a sitting position then pushed up to the headboard. "Your phone went off again."Brenden wasn't particularly keen on look
Friday. Arturo Lobo's Home, Ju醨ez, Mexico.ARTURO PRIED HIS EYES open. His phone clamored away, the screen lighting up the room.What now?He pushed up and groped blindly for the device. He tapped the answer button to shut it up then took a moment to inhale and ease back against the headboard.He didn't recognize the number. "What?""The weather is bad. Real bad. Hurricane level bad."Arturo frowned and looked at the number again. "Where are you calling me from?""I bought a burner phone, like we talked about?" The man's voice trembled and shook.He closed his eyes. "Then you should have called my burner. What's going on? What disaster is striking us?""There was a break in at one of your facilities in Rio."Arturo bit his tongue to keep from saying, not mine. No, the South American expansion was after his time leading DDM. But that was a minor detail that didn't matter right now."When?" He threw the covers back."You know why this is bad, don't you?" The ma
Priscilla took her seat, choosing the one nearest the aisle and Brenden."Sleep well?" His voice was the same as before, deep and rough, only now it was the sound of safety. He didn't look at her. In fact, with his eyes shut he appeared to be on the verge of sleep himself."Not really." She turned her head.He opened his eyes and looked at her. "I find I sleep very well on planes."Priscilla chewed her lip. Was she being a conspiracy theorist?"What's wrong?" Brenden asked.She got up, tucked the paper under her arm, and gestured to the window seat on his other side. "May I?"He stood by way of an answer, allowing her to take the seat next to him. She spread the paper out over her knees and gestured at it."Did you know the warehouse burned down? Melody said the cops aren't looking into the kidnapping.""I saw the news." He grimaced and buckled his seatbelt."You don't think it's a coincidence either, do you?" She didn't want to be alone in this."I could see one
Friday. El Paso, Texas.DAMIAN NARAUJO WATCHED THE black and white security feed. For a job he'd thrown together in a handful of hours, things were going better than he'd hoped.He still had no idea how the man who'd woken him up got his number. All Damian really cared about was getting paid. Once the cash hit his account, there was no question about doing the job.It wasn't the first time he'd crashed a plane."Does he know what he's doing?" Victoria leaned over his shoulder, her gaze narrowed.Damian ran his hand up and down her forearm. "Relax.""We shouldn't have taken this job," she whispered."It's easy money." He turned his head and kissed her elbow."What if the plane doesn't go down? What then?""It will work." He nodded at his laptop. A connection pop-up appeared, the little green bar sliding across the window. "See?""D, we have no back-up plan. Fuck. We're supposed to be lying low, not crashing a plane."Damian wrapped his arm around Victoria's wais
Friday. Friday. El Paso, Texas.DAMIAN STARED AT THE tracking data on his screen."Fuck," he snarled.The plane had begun its malfunction half an hour ago, right on schedule. By then the auto-pilot had swerved off path. The pilot's communications were cut off, rerouted to Damian who had a series of prerecorded loops to play."What?" Victoria sat from where she'd been lounging on the sofa.Damian tapped through the readings.This had to be wrong.Only, it wasn't."What is it?" she demanded.His body went cold, his emotions numb. It was time to work. "Load up. We're heading out.""You fucked it up, didn't you? God, Damian, I told you-"He whirled to face her and grabbed her by the throat, forcing her back down on the cushions. Her wide, fearful eyes were all he saw."Do what I tell you," he snarled. "Do you understand?"She gripped his arm, her sharp little nails digging in even as her face began turning red.He let go and turned back to the computer."Fu
They finally reached the cluster of crew and Lepta Team members near the front of the plane. Someone had found a pair of battery operated lanterns and set them up on a piece of what looked to be the tail."Hey, how are you doing?" Melody appeared at Priscilla's side, resting a hand on her shoulder."I feel like someone rung my bell." If Priscilla was to self-diagnose based only on what she could feel, she had a concussion and bruising. Otherwise she was fine. Her limbs worked. There were no other signs of injury. "How's everyone else?""Shaken, but okay. You were the worst.""How?" Priscilla frowned at Melody.The light cast a bit of light on Melody's face. Her mouth was screwed up to one side. A bit of dried blood stuck to her forehead. "Brenden said he elbowed you in the head.""That would explain it." Priscilla lifted her hand to the side of her head."Circle up, people," Grant said.A few of the flight staff shuffled closer."Best we can tell, ever since we left M