Tuesday. Smuggler's Ship, Mediterranean Sea.CARLA LEANED AGAINST Vaughn's shoulder and watched the frothy water churned up by the boat's motor. The wind whipped across the boat, taking her hair and anything not tied down with it. The Beirut coast was a shrinking lump on the horizon.They hadn't yet said much of anything since leaving the SUV.She glanced over her shoulder at the guy manning the wheel, but a door and glass separated them. The blaring radio pretty much insured he couldn't hear anything they said.Brenden and Jamie were below deck with the man they'd called Ethan.Carla still didn't understand it all. But she wanted to.She lifted her head and prodded Vaughn's arm.He glanced down at her, brows lifted."Is it okay to talk?" She kept her voice as low as she could.Vaughn nodded."What happened?" She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together."When?""At the park?"Vaughn blew out a breath and rubbed his chin. "We saw him-Ethan-comi
Tuesday. Yialos Hotel, Meneou, Cypress."YOU HAVE REACHED your destination."Vaughn stared up at the white hotel in front of them. It was out of the way and with any luck they'd look like a group of tourists who'd partied a bit too much. He parked their rental in the small lot adjacent to the building and together they got out.The keys to two adjoining rooms had been waiting for them along with the car.Vaughn didn't know how the guys back home did this stuff, but he appreciated it. They were all on their last leg, too tired to think beyond making it to the next stop to figure out what that stop was.He got out of the van and stretched, his legs wobbling a bit. An hour after they'd disembarked from the smuggler's small ship Vaughn still felt the ground moving beneath him. It was the same thing every time he got on the water. His body just clicked with it and didn't want to let it go.Maybe the next chance he got he should take a vacation. Bring Mom and Santiago if he wa
Wednesday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Cairo, Egypt.CARLA KEPT HER hands folded on her lap as the SUV rolled past the large gate leading into the Aegis Group Cairo headquarters. It felt like she'd been here ages ago. Was it really only a week? Not even a week. Six days.God, it felt so much longer.She wasn't ready for this.Vaughn had effectively terminated their relationship. Maybe he was right and one more night together would have made today harder. They'd never know.The SUV came to a gentle stop, the dust swirling around them from a gusty breeze.The nightmare was over so why was she dreading this place? Was it the return to reality? To an existence that was slowly strangling the life out of her?She glanced at Vaughn in the driver's seat.He didn't look in the mirror at her. He barely acknowledged her, and somehow that hurt worse than the gashes on her feet or the bruises on her head.A man she didn't recognize opened her door."Ms. White?" He offered her a
Strong arms scooped Carla up and then she was sitting nestled up against a warm wall of man she'd come to care for. She buried her face against his neck and stopped pretending as though it was going to be fine."What the fuck did you do?" Vaughn snarled.Jared sputtered, "Nothing!""Carla?" Ashton's stern voice made her flinch and hold tighter to Vaughn."Give us the room?" Vaughn twisted, becoming the wall between her and the guys.Carla cried uncontrollable tears. Years of loneliness and want poured out of her in those moments, wringing her emotions dry until there was nothing left. It was a purging of everything she'd stored up, all the times she'd told herself just a little longer, it all came out and straight onto Vaughn's shirt.She didn't know how long she cried only that she gradually became aware of an awkward silence surrounding her spectacular display of waterworks. Vaughn rubbed her back while his other hand kept her cradled tightly to him.No one spoke.Wer
VAUGHN NEEDED THE climb to the third floor to let the facts settle. He was vaguely aware of the guys watching him and some looks, but holy hell, a lot just got unpacked. This-him and Carla-wasn't over, which was an important fact to remember.Neither he nor Carla spoke all the way to the master suite. It was still untouched though a few luggage pieces had been stowed by the door. He set Carla down on the big, platform bed then stepped out of reach before she could pull him in. He knew her, all action, that brilliant head of hers snapping out ideas and solutions while he was still sorting things out.Carla gripped the comforter in both hands and leaned forward. Her black T-shirt and yoga pants had seen far better days. Her face was red from crying and her hair had partially fallen out of the bun she'd secured it in that morning.In a word she was beautiful.But that wasn't the only thing he saw when he looked at her.He licked his lips. "Please tell me you aren't doing this fo
Six Weeks Later. Private Beach, Miami, Florida.CARLA WAS A WRECK.In one hand she had the leather-bound notebook containing everything she'd have to say, the documents-all of it. And in her other hand she had the rings. Two of them.The sea breeze carried the cry of gulls toward her."All done," Vaughn announced.She turned from the calming ocean view to the sandy shore.A lump of emotion clogged her throat at the sight of Vaughn standing under the canopy with candles, lanterns and flowers surrounding him. He chuckled and padded toward her, barefoot in the sand."You're beautiful," he whispered before kissing her lips ever so gently so as to not smudge her lipstick."I'm going to throw up.""No, you aren't. You've practiced.""Who gets ordained for a wedding online? Shouldn't there be a class for this? What if I do it all wrong?" She leaned on Vaughn's strong arm, soaking up his presence. She'd half wondered if he'd even make it today. He'd surprised her early t
Volume 4: Dangerously BrokenWednesday. In the air.BRENDEN TAYLOR COULD COUNT the number of hours he'd slept on one hand. He eased back in the plush leather seat of the private plane taking Lepta Team to God-only-knew-where and prayed they were in the air long enough for him to get some shuteye. He always did sleep better on planes. Probably because it was impossible to not know where he was. There was something about the cramped space and recycled air that couldn't be mistaken. And to a passed out him, that meant his subconscious couldn't put him back in the four by four box he'd lived in for weeks of his life.His ears popped and the voices of his teammates rushed in, filling the previously hollow space."Hey." Vaughn Fernandez twisted to look back at their Team Leader and Team Liaison sitting across from Brenden at the four-person table."Yeah?" Grant Anderson replied in a cool, calculated tone."Do we have any word about...?" Vaughn's voice trailed off.No one
Wednesday. Unknown, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.PRISCILLA YILMAZ HOOKED HER fingers in the chain link that made up the three sides of her cell and stared at the bastard taunting the American family opposite her with a bottle of water. The mother cradled her child, who wailed and stretched out his little arm toward the liquid.If Priscilla could just get out of this cage, she'd rip that man's arms off and beat him with his own dick. No, scratch that, it was probably too small. She'd-A door clanged open somewhere outside her field of vision.Gooseflesh broke out along her arms and she tensed.It was only a matter of time before they came at her another way. So far they'd tried to intimidate her, scare her knock her around a little. She could handle all of that. She'd been through it before only now she had the tools to persevere.All she had to do was hang on until someone came for her.She was going to be in so much trouble when she got home. If these thugs had only wanted