Until Death Do We Part (Sex and Vows #1) (12 page)

“Don’t thank me yet,” I warned “I haven’t figured it all out yet, and I’m not going to do so during the course of this mission. I still have orders, and I’m going to follow them through to the best of my ability. Once this is over and the dust settles, then I’ll talk to my boss about making a change.”

He opened his mouth, and I slapped my palm over it. “In the future. When I’m ready, which very well could be months or even years from now if it takes us awhile to get pregnant.”

His lips moved underneath my hand, making me glare down at him until he stopped trying to talk.

“I’m not saying I’m going to walk away from this world completely. I’ve carved my place in it with blood, sweat, and tears—earning my place. But I’m willing to consider making some changes, if my boss will allow it. Only time will tell I guess, but he did let me alter my mission parameters a few years ago when I told him I couldn’t take anymore up close kills after a mission where I ran into some issues, and you noticed the bruises which hadn’t healed entirely by the time I got home..”

His eyes bugged out, and I pulled my hand away from his mouth. “You told me it was a car accident! That the taxi you were riding in had been in a minor fender bender and you bumped your head because you weren’t wearing a seat belt.”

“It’s not like I could have told you the truth,” I reminded him, kissing his cheek before climbing off his lap. “I said what needed to be said so you didn’t worry about me.”

“No more secrets,” he growled.

“I need food,” I blurted out, unwilling to touch that verbal grenade. We were spies, the both of us. Secrets came with the job. With us working for different divisions, and me in a position where the agency couldn’t even acknowledge my existence, it was what it was, even if it sucked. “And so do you. That might just be a graze, but you need some protein to help speed along the healing process.”

I felt his stare on my back as I grabbed my clothes from the floor and tossed them on. I glanced over my shoulder when I neared the door and found him glaring at me, spread out on the sheets in all his naked glory. His cock was semi-erect, lengthening farther under my gaze.

“Or maybe I’m the one who needs protein to keep up with you,” I joked. Striding into the hallway, I heard his laughter through door after it shut behind me.

“If only I were kidding,” I muttered to myself, slumping against the wall for a moment. Between the adrenalin crash, hot sex, and opening myself up to him the way I had, I was exhausted. My stomach growled, reminding me I needed food before I could sleep. We only had another eighteen hours or so before we hit the Port de Barcelona. While it might sound like a lot of time, we couldn’t just eat, sleep, and fuck our way across the Tyrrhenian and Balearic Seas. The ferry had an internet cafe, which meant we could get some research done before we arrived in Barcelona. I hadn’t ever run an op there before, and I needed to get a lay of the land before I’d feel comfortable. Luckily, the language wouldn’t be an issue, although the locals might snub their nose at my Latin American dialect.

Weaving my way upstairs to the deck with the a la carte restaurant, I sweet talked the host into letting me place a carry-out order. Twenty minutes later, my hands were full. He’d packaged the boxes into a bag to make it easier for me to carry back to our room, which allowed me to carry the bottle of Ferrari Perlè sparkling wine he’d talked me into purchasing, along with two flutes. Wandering past the swimming pool, casino, and disco on my way back to our room, I couldn’t help but wish this trip was for pleasure instead of business. Alex and I had taken many vacations in our years together, but we’d never done a cruise. Probably because neither of us wanted to run the risk of being caught at sea if something went wrong while the other was unaware of our career as a spy. Maybe now that the secret was out, we could consider taking one in the future—after I figured out what to do about my job. And before he managed to knock me up. The last thing I needed was to combine morning sickness with being at sea.

Chuckling to myself at the thought, I bumped my hip against our door, and it only took a moment for Alex to open it and let me in. He took the bag out of my hand, pulling the boxes out and setting them on top of a towel he’d laid on the bed. When he glanced at the wine and glasses in my hand, he quirked his head and raised an eyebrow at me.

“The host did me a favor getting our carry out order ready so quickly, I couldn’t say no when he recommended the wine.”

He peered at the label and chuckled. “If I had to go out on a limb here, I’d say you didn’t argue too hard since it’s a spumante.”

I blinked up at him, trying to look as innocent as possible. “What can I say? I was lucky he suggested something I knew I’d love. In my defense, I did choose some of your favorite foods.”

I flipped open the lids on the boxes filled with a mushroom and crispy bacon risotto, sliced black Angus steak, an Italian cheese platter, and fresh pineapple.

“Pineapple?”

The contents of that box did look a little out of place with the rest of the food, but I hadn’t been able to resist. Being on a mission with Alex had apparently sent my hormones into overdrive. “I thought maybe later we could test to see if it changes the taste of your come.”

He popped the cork on the bottle of wine and filled both glasses, handing me one while he dove into the pile of pineapple. After eating, sleeping, and completing all the prep work we could before we made it to Barcelona, I had the chance to test the pineapple theory. In case you were wondering, by the time he blew down my throat, the last thing on my mind was the way it tasted. I was too far gone to pay attention to anything other than my next orgasm.

“H
ave you been here before?” Evie asked curiously, obviously noticing I’d driven straight from the ferry to a parking garage in the city, without any direction.

“I was here for work a couple of years ago.”

Her forehead wrinkled in concentration as she thought hard about something. “Wait”—her jaw dropped for a second before she continued—“two summers ago when we had to put off our anniversary trip because we both had to go out of town for work?”

I nodded distractedly as I took a ticket and pulled into a parking spot.

“Alex.” The odd tone of Evie’s voice had me turning in her direction. “You
told
me you were going to Barcelona.”

I suddenly realized what had her confused, and I laughed. “I was here for my other job, if you can believe it. International Contracts Attorney, Alex Shaw.”

Evie started giggling and soon we were both bent over with laughter. It felt wonderful. For a moment, we were simply Alex and Evie Shaw, a young couple in love who had so much fun together, their life was filled with laughter.

I couldn’t help staring at her, awed by how free and open she looked, so beautiful. My Evie.

She looked at me quizzically as her chuckles subsided. “What?”

I told her the absolute truth. “I love you, baby.”

Her face lit up and she smiled wide. “I love you too, stud.”

I picked up one of her hands and brought it to my lips, kissing it softly before giving it a little squeeze. “Let’s get going, baby.”

We gathered our bags and weapon cases, leaving the car with the keys in a compartment under the wheel well. It was time to ditch that one. Barcelona was a pretty pedestrian city anyway, mostly people used public transit. Another agent would take care of this car, and should we need to drive somewhere, we’d get another.

“We have a flat by the Parc de la Ciutadella,” I mentioned as we exited the structure.

“Do you think it’s wise for us to stay somewhere together?”

My jaw hardened at her question. I’d taken her hand and my grip tightened, as though I was afraid she would run away. “No. I want you with me.”

“Alex—” she began, her tone admonishing.

“No!” I barked. “I don’t give a fuck about protocol or being seen together. You stay with me.” I spared her a glance to see if she would continue to argue with me. But, she smiled and her grip on my hand squeezed.

“Okay, stud. We stay together. Lead the way.”

I dared anyone to find a woman as perfect as my Evie. It would be a pointless challenge because they would always fail. When we arrived at the building housing the safe house, I punched in a code and the front door unlocked. Then I rapped my knuckles on the door with a gold letter A and the number 1.

When the door swung open, a rough looking, middle-aged man stepped out. Despite his salt and pepper hair, he was fit and didn’t look like someone who would be easily handled. His eyes landed on Evie and lit with appreciation. I quickly pushed her behind me and leveled him with a deadly look in my stare. He smirked at me, but kept his attention on me after that. We conversed in Spanish for a minute, then he handed me a key.

I led Evie to an elevator and we rode up to the second floor, stopping at the first apartment. I unlocked the door and held it open for her to enter. She walked to the living room and set down her backpack while I took our other bags into the bedroom.

Returning to the front, I walked over to a black, cheap-looking desk with a small laptop on it. The piece of furniture was probably made of particle board and would collapse if I put any extra weight on it. I grabbed the computer with a sigh, cursing budget cuts, and went to the couch. Setting the laptop on the low, wood-like coffee table, I hunched over and booted it up.

Evie came to stand next to me and tapped my shoulder, chuckling at my uncomfortable position. “Scoot, stud.” I immediately moved over and she plopped down on the ground in front of the computer. I slid back over and swung a leg around her so she was caged between my legs. She started tapping away, and I watched, idly playing with her hair.

“You don’t speak with a Latin accent,” she commented. I leaned closer, both of us reading through the information her tech had forwarded.

I almost missed the question, absorbed in the files we were sifting through. “What? Oh, no, I learned French, Russian, German, and Italian first. I spent a month on assignment in Madrid early in my career and picked up the language. Then I learned Farsi, Arabic, and a few others”—I pointed at the computer screen—“does that file say Pájaro Negro?”

When Evie didn’t answer right away, I tore my eyes from the computer screen and saw her staring up at me with a bit of wonder. “What?”

“How many languages do you speak?”

I thought about it for a minute. “Eleven, I think. I can passably speak Japanese, but most people there look pretty insulted when I do,” I finished with a grin.

“I had no idea,” she murmured.

“Hey, hey, Baby,” I said softly, lifting her chin so I could look directly in her beautiful, chocolate brown eyes. “We’ll learn all of these things about each other. No more secrets remember?”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I tried to lighten the mood a little. “How many languages do you speak, smarty pants?” I’m rewarded with a slightly brighter smile and a snicker.

“Twelve,” she informed me smugly.

I laughed, “Too fucking adorable.” Shaking my head, I nudged her to turn back to the computer screen. “Look, I’m pretty sure that says Black Bird. Last I heard that was the code name for a major arms dealer based in Marseille.”

She looked through the next couple of paragraphs. “Maybe he’s expanded his operation down the coast,” she hypothesized.

I shook my head. “I think he’s moved his epicenter to Port de Barcelona.”

“Check this out.” Evie highlighted the text of a cable sent to Pájaro Negro, but there was no indication who it’s from.

“Print out the whole communiqué, baby,” I requested as I went back to the desk and rummaged around the drawers until I found a little silver cell phone.

Opening the phone, I dialed a number and entered an extension as I waited for the printer on the table next to the desk to finish printing.

“Dude,” Martin said in greeting.

“Can you look into Black Bird and find out if we have any locations for his warehouses? Possibly one in Port de Barcelona?”

“No problem. His operation has been mobile lately, I don’t think I’ll have anything for you until tomorrow.”

I grunted in frustration, I wanted this shit over and done with. After hanging up, I filled Evie in and despite our lack of location, we spent most of the night working through possible scenarios.

My phone rang again at six in the morning.

“Are you aware of the awesome that is me?” Martin said by way of greeting.

“Yeah, Martin, you certainly tell me enough,” I replied drolly.

I could practically hear his eye roll through the phone. I heard a litany of taps, Martin’s fingers probably flying across his keyboard. “Justice, I’ve been picking up chatter. Please tell me I’m out of my fucking gourd and you are not working with Scarlett?”

I stiffened. “What makes you think that?” I asked cagily. Grabbing the papers off the printer, I took them back over to Evie.

“Like I said, chatter.” The clattering stopped abruptly. “I’m emailing you four addresses, try one of those. But, back to what I was saying, man.” He was silent for a moment, and then I heard the click of a door closing. “There’s random talk of a two person team after Heron. The thing is...” Martin trailed off, clearly not happy with the information he was about to impart. “They only talk about taking out the female. The male is supposed to remain alive and his mission uncompromised.”

I sucked in a breath, as pain tore through my chest. I tried calming myself by remembering what Scarlett and I are both capable of. Nothing would happen to her. I almost believed it.

“This is coming from Heron’s network?” I clarified.

Martin was silent for too long, which meant he was about to drop a fucking bomb on me.

“I’m not supposed to be monitoring these people, but I got bored.”

“Who?” I growled.

“I have a contact who roams in the CI network.”

“Okay.” I didn’t understand what was so unusual about that. “So, they brought the information to us, what about it?”

“No, Justice. They were spreading the information the other way. As though... as though they were getting it from someone here.”