Circle of Deception (32 page)

“Hey, Rex.” Jack’s voice brought him to a stop.

“You better stay away from me. You almost got Abby killed.” When they had started working together, Rex had hoped they would be able to act like brothers. But when Jack once again led Abby into danger, he knew it was never meant to be.

“I know. I’ve really screwed up the last few days. I wouldn’t listen to anyone and well . . . I’m giving up command of the OS Sector.” Jack came around and stared at Abby. “She okay?”

“She’s none of your business. And what I heard was Ryker suspended you.”

“Well, that remains to be seen. He’s set up a committee to investigate the mission. Someone leaked our whereabouts, especially the time we were in the cavern, and though we stopped most of the shipments, two got out. They’ll need to track them down. The Inferno has them hidden somewhere. Brody should be helpful.”

Rex shook his head. “I can’t believe Ryker brought that sick asshole into The Circle.”

“We were all surprised, but you have to admit the man must be a genius to design something so futuristic. He’d come in handy. His knowledge might be the only bright spot in that mission.”

“Yeah, the assignment was royally fucked up. At least we stopped the manufacturing. I heard the Ericksons got away.”

“Yeah. We found a tunnel beneath the warehouse that came out two streets over,” Jack said.

Rex didn’t give a damn about the rich bored couple who dabbled in ammunitions.

“When are they burying Nic?” He found it hard to wrap his mind around the knowledge he’d never talk with her again. She’d wanted him to love her so bad but he couldn’t love her back. Not the way she wanted.

Abby wiggled in his arms. When he looked down at the compassion and kindness shining from her chocolate eyes, he wanted to strip her and kiss every inch of her soft, sweet body. They needed to hurry and get to the hotel. Others would have to trace the shipments and hunt the Ericksons down; he and Abby needed a break. A long one.

“Ryker had her cremated and her ashes flown to her grandmother in Kansas.”

Damn. He didn’t know she had any family left or where her hometown was. He needed to pay more attention to those he cared for. He glanced down at Abby again. And those who he loved. Yep, time for a change.

Rex started moving again.

“Where’re you going?” Jack asked.

“Abby and I need to recuperate, and the best way is for us to fly out to Las Vegas and really get married.”

Pushing back a little to look him in the eye, she raised her eyebrows. “We are?”

“Uh, about that . . . ,” Jack started to answer.

No!
Rex recognized that tone from his brother. Jack always acted so sorry whenever he screwed him over.

“You better not tell me that you two got married and never divorced. I swear, Jack, if you tell me that, I’ll make sure Abby won’t have to file for one, because you’ll be dead.” Red, he saw red. Maybe he was about to have an aneurysm.

“No, no, no. Actually, the papers you and Abby signed at the Elvis wedding, they were real.”

“I signed my cover name. Signing as Rurik doesn’t make it valid.”

“You know the insurance papers I got you to sign before the wedding? Remember I was in a hurry and there were about ten sheets?”

“Yeah.” His jaw hurt from clenching his teeth.

“The last sheet was a marriage certificate. I slipped that one in at the bottom of the stack when Abby signed.”

Rex looked down at Abby. Her eyes were as wide and round as his. He liked the idea that they had actually been married for over a week. Only, he wanted a real honeymoon without dealing with a perverted high school crush of Abby’s or her crazy family.

Turning his back to his brother, he asked Abby, “What do you think?”

“About us being married?”

He nodded. Words refused to come out. Would she say no? Would she want to divorce him? That didn’t feel fair. He hadn’t had a chance to be a real husband. But when had life been fair to him?

“It’s all I ever wanted.” Her hand cupped his cheek as her thumb caressed the scar. For once in his life, it didn’t bother him. “What about you?”

“I’ve loved you for so long, Abby. You’re my breath, my soul, my dream of all that’s good about the world.”

“You love
me
?” Her voice cracked.

How could the woman in his arms believe she was unlovable?

“Yeah, I do.”

“I love you too.” Tears streamed down her face.

He released her legs, pressed her against the side of a building, and kissed her. He didn’t give a damn who saw them. The woman deserved so much better, but he wanted a soul-deep kiss. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his cock, with only a layer of cotton material between them. “Let’s get out of here before I take you against the wall.”

“I wouldn’t mind that, but I’m with you. I’d rather do that in privacy. Making love in front of everyone is a little more than I can handle.” She stroked his cock through his pants. “And this is more than any woman can handle.”

He chuckled and picked her up, heading to any vehicle he could commandeer, then to Birmingham and their hotel.

Chapter Thirty-Two

A
BBY OPTED FOR
a long champagne-colored lace gown. The little chapel in Las Vegas was what everyone expected, and it certainly delivered with lots of doves and white bows. It reminded her of her first wedding to Rex, but this time, they knew they were in love.

After a week of sensual bliss in the Birmingham hotel, Rex had insisted they go on to Las Vegas and make certain Jack couldn’t come back later and claim once again that the wedding was a hoax and they really weren’t married.

They were officially married thirty minutes ago. The only witnesses were Collin, Olivia, and Charlie.

Her husband chatted with Lewis Johnson, aka Elvis, the same man who officiated their first wedding. Apparently, he was a real ordained minister and associated with several churches in at least six different states, including Alabama and Nevada.

“Hello, beautiful.” Rex leaned over and kissed her, thoroughly.

Her face heated up. “Mercy, you do know how to greet a gal.” She’d gone to repair her hair after Rex had speared his fingers into it when they’d kissed at the altar.

The minister discreetly moved away.

“Are you sure you’re okay with us moving to Seattle?”

She smiled, as she didn’t care where they lived or what they did as long as they could remain together.

He’d decided to give up his position in The Circle. After Ryker refused to help save the two of them, he said he couldn’t trust the man. She knew he also wanted to be as far away from Jack as possible. Collin and Olivia had started arranging adoptions for children from the Pacific countries and Far East. The Seattle office would need people to handle investigations and security for moving the children to the States. All done legally, of course.

She and Rex were as good as orphans themselves. Her mother refused to talk to her anymore. She blamed Abby for her brother’s death. Others tried to explain she had nothing to do with it, but she refused to listen. To protect Suzie and Tommy’s only source of income, the official report was that Edward had died in the line of duty. A hero’s death. So her mother believed he died trying to pull her butt out of the fire.

And Rex refused to return Jack’s calls. He claimed his older brother had used up all the chances he had to redeem the past.

“Olivia said Jack has been assigned to the Birmingham Sector and is stationed in the little town of Sand City. Ironic, isn’t it?” She suspected he asked for it, as he felt such guilt over Nic’s death.

“I heard the suite we’re booked in has a balcony. I want to see what it looks like at night too.” The grin he gave her warned she would be holding on to the railing for dear life while he brought her to climax over and over again.

She accepted his abrupt change of subject to avoid talking about his brother.

“There is something romantic about balconies.” The flare of heat in his eyes nearly satisfied her need to give as good as he dealt.

With a crook of her finger, she grinned as he leaned down for her to whisper in his ear, “I don’t have any panties on.”

He jerked his head back to look her in the eyes. “Damn, you don’t play fair at all.”

“Not when it comes to you. I want you hard and ready to go when we reach the hotel room.”

His arms scooped her up and he threw her over his shoulder.

“What about our guests?”

“They’ll understand.”

As soon as the limousine door closed behind them, Rex said something to the driver in a low tone, and the driver closed the privacy window as he pulled away from the curb.

“What are you up to, Mr. Drago?”

“Well, Mrs. Drago, there’s no way in hell I’m waiting to reach that balcony. I’ve never made love in a limo before, and there’s nothing like the present to see how it feels. Having you waiting for me all naked and ready for my touch . . . I may kill someone if they get in the way.”

“Oh, Mr. Drago. You read my mind.”

Can’t get enough of Carla Swafford’s sexy, exhilarating Circle series?

Read on to find out how it all began with a special excerpt from

CIRCLE OF DESIRE

and

CIRCLE OF DANGER

available now from Avon Books

An Excerpt from

CIRCLE OF DESIRE

O
LIVIA
S
T.
V
INCENT
typed the ammunition data into the keypad on the sniper rifle and then nestled her cheek against the stock’s custom-fit pad. She waited for the information to be processed and her target to come into view.

Keeping her attention on the boardwalk outside the open window, she caressed the silencer attachment and sighed. Powerful and lightweight compared to others, the rifle was her favorite and the only one of its kind. She wasn’t sure how The Circle got their hands on the prototype, and she knew better than to ask. She’d used it twice in the last eleven months and had no complaints.

She inhaled the fresh salt air coming in and watched the few early joggers trotting along the boardwalk next to Elliot Bay. Almost the whole length was visible from the empty fourth-story apartment. A strong wind picked up and splattered water off the windowsill onto her hands and the rifle, even though she sat a good three feet from the opening. She grabbed a soft cotton cloth and stroked off the liquid. It had rained for ten days straight since she’d arrived in Seattle, and only twenty minutes ago had it stopped. To the north, a break in the clouds showed deep blue sky. A miracle. Good grief, she couldn’t wait to get back home to Atlanta.

One moment she was running her fingers across black metal, enjoying the bumpy finish. In the next, she was aiming at her target, taking a deep breath and then releasing it, relaxing, holding her trigger finger steady. He’d crossed the street and started down the boardwalk. Five foot eleven with a well-proportioned torso, he always wore the same dingy sneakers with orange Day-Glo stripes.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds and inhaled. Time to concentrate on the job. The Circle had given her orders to eliminate him, and she was programmed to follow. Later she’d hear he was a child molester or a killer like herself. Why she should care one way or the other, she wasn’t sure. Maybe knowing helped her sleep at night. Not that it would matter otherwise; she was a killer and good at what she did. She never really had a choice.

She waited as he’d jogged a little past the half-mile mark. His feet pounded in a steady rhythm as the early morning light glistened on shifting muscles. Like clockwork every day, he hit the pavement at sunrise, jogging down the same area. Only thing about predictability, it could be deadly.

The area around him was clear, no one nearby. He turned down a short pier. Only a few feet more and he would be at the mark. She cleared her mind and inhaled, holding her breath for the fraction of a second. She squeezed the trigger. The jogger’s body continued straight ahead, propelled by the bullet’s trajectory, and then he toppled off the edge of the pier and splashed into the water as his god-awful shoes tumbled across the boardwalk. Perfect shot. That was why they sent her.

Once she pressed a couple buttons on the gun’s microcomputer, she scooted away from the tripod and stretched with arms up, bending her back, getting the kinks out. Her back popped. After an hour in one position, it was no wonder her body protested, no matter how much she worked out. She shook her head when the image of the body landing in the water tried to resurface. Think of the good she carried out. Her job eliminated those who preyed on the weak. She performed as a tool for the greater good.

Yes. That was it. She was a tool.

Thinking of tools, she smirked at the gun. The usual brutal recoil dampened by the hydraulic system always surprised her. The rifle worked like it should with little firing signature, a thump of air and only a small amount of flash at the end of the barrel. The suppresser did its job. Unless someone stared directly at her open window and caught the small flare, nothing gave away her location.

Damn! If she’d been a man, she would have a hard-on now. She loved her gun. Objects she could control. People were a different factor.

As she closed the window, a warm breeze caressed the fine hairs on her arm. She shivered. Yeah, she was ready to relieve the pressure that had been building up inside. Playing the waiting game and finishing the job always sent her seeking the only outlet from all the tension. Others used alcohol or drugs to forget for a little while what they’d done. Sex with an anonymous handsome stranger was her drug of choice. Someone clueless about what she did for a living. Someone who held her as she used them for release.

She looked out the window at the crowd gathering at the end of the pier. She jerked her gaze away. Concentrate on anything but the finished job. Think of the gun she loved to control. Think of the power she held. Think about sex. A strong, hard, hot male body always helped. Think about getting away and planning the next job.

She reached out and caressed the two marks she’d made on the butt of the rifle.
Time for a third
. Her fingers shook; tears threatened her composure. Drawing her hand into a fist, she took a few deep breaths and then with well-practiced precision broke down the rifle and placed the sections into her luggage. Another tremor started at her hand and vibrated down her torso, before she knew it her whole body shook. Why couldn’t her body cooperate? She’d done worse, been worse. Taking several more deep breaths, she closed her eyes and imagined a swing on a long porch, pushing against the wooden floor with a bare toe. Back and forth. Finally, the shaking stopped, and she swiped at her forehead, surprised by the sweat she found there.