Thursday. Ashton Khoury's Home, New York City, NY.CARLA HADN'T SLEPT. HOW could she?Jared was family. And now he was gone.Ashton had cried himself to sleep in her lap, too scared of what might happen. He'd been a complete mess since the call from the foreman on site at the resort. Everything was on Carla's shoulders to figure out, like usual.She loved Ashton, but he was shitty in emergencies. That's why he needed her and Jared to manage him. They kept him going, remembered all the details, cleared the way so he could be this powerhouse of energy and ideas. It was a team effort, and one third of their team was now missing.Carla sprayed the mirror and swiped the surface in time to the music.She should be getting ready, primping, something. But she needed this.The moment Ashton saw her he was going to chew her out about how he hired people to do this, blah blah blah, and she'd tell him what she always told him: He should have picked someone that wasn't the maid's d

CARLA BIT HER LIP.Ashton was freezing up, totally in his head. It killed her to see this confident, commanding man reduced to this. One way or another, they had to get Jared back."Give me your phone," she whispered.Ashton dug it out of his pocket and handed it over.If they could get through this quietly, maybe no one would ask why Ashton was willing to jump through so many hoops for an assistant."Did something happen?" An Asian woman stepped forward. She had a no-nonsense air about her Carla liked immediately.It was time for Carla to be the strong one. These things went in waves. Sometimes Ashton had to be strong for her, but now it was her turn to let him lean on her. Only this time the stakes were so much higher."I'm sorry, you are?" Carla glanced around the room.One woman. Five men. These were the ones who'd get Jared back? Didn't they need more people?"You must be Carla. I'm Melody. I'm the team liaison." The woman held out her hand. "This is Grant, he's

Thursday. Private Plane, Somewhere over the Atlantic.CARLA WAS GOING to murder Ashton. Preferably after they got Jared back. She wasn't cruel. Unlike Ashton who probably thought he was being funny offering her up to Mr. Sexy Ass like some kind of hors d'oeuvre.She'd rushed through Vaughn's paperwork and had even given him the additional NDA to shut Ashton up, all the while dying on the inside. Since then she'd avoided direct contact while loading everything up and riding in a different vehicle to the airport.If Jared were here, he'd be laughing his ass off to the point he'd be crying. He'd also offer to get her booze until her liquid courage kicked in.She sank farther down in her seat.This just sucked.Instead of joining the others in the general seating area, she'd sequestered herself in one of the small bunk rooms, each comprised of two plush chairs that made down into two beds or one depending on preference and how much trouble it was worth. The curtains were dra

CARLA WISHED SHE'D finished that last drink. Ashton was a heavy pour, but it took a whole lot more vodka for her to claim the alcohol made her do it. No, this moment, her lips on Vaughn's and their bodies pressed against each other, it was all her trying to feed this deep, yearning void inside of her.She wanted what Ashton and Jared had. Love. But for the time being, unless she met the most understanding man in the world, the best she'd get was sex. And she was fairly certain sex with Vaughn would be life changing. Her weak arguments against this fling were crumbling. She had Ashton's blessing and judging by the erection pressing against her, Vaughn was willing.There was no denying they both felt the chemistry. It was powerful. Magnetic. And she wanted to just give in. But was Vaughn willing?She broke the kiss and stared down into his dark, lust filled gaze. His stubble rasped against her fingers as she slid her hand along his jaw. He was aroused. Because of her. What were the

VAUGHN WAS SATISFIED THEIR Cairo site security was as up to date as it was going to get. In the very near future someone needed to spend a week here swapping out equipment. With the instability in the region, they never knew when the Cairo site would become inaccessible.Hell, he'd recommended twice now that they dump the site and set up somewhere else. Cypress was a hop, skip and jump away from a lot of places and the island much safer. But the people in charge all had other ideas.What did he know?He was the surveillance guy.It wasn't like Zain or the big boss would send him here to do the job.Vaughn strode down the hall toward the situation room. In the large home's former years, it had served as the dining room. When Aegis took the house over and made it their Cairo facility, they'd transformed the corner room into their one-room headquarters.He entered the room and was struck by the unusual sight of Brenden and Melody sitting with their heads together."What are