Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Kala wouldn’t love Dare.
She loved Dare. The feeling was right there, a warmth she couldn’t deny. And she could lose it all.
“I was acting on instinct,” Zach admitted. “Honestly, I didn’t know what would happen, but I wanted Nash to get a look at Kara and remember her when he saw her again at the conference. That was all. If you’d asked me what would happen that night, I suspected Kala would drink too much. Lou would end up mooning after TJ, and Tash would meet a guy and then get scared off, and all three of you would come back to base having accomplished none of your goals.”
Kala cleared her throat.
“Except Kala, of course,” Zach allowed. “I never dreamed you would sleep with Nash, and when it happened I thought we could pivot. I’m not trying to be the bad guy here. No one thinks this team can work. They think the Agency is indulging Taggart, which is why we get surveillance assignments when he isn’t around. The bigwigs don’t trust us, and fucking this op up isn’t going to help.”
“So what do we do?” Tristan asked. “I can promise you I’ll have the data from Nash’s laptop in a couple of hours. We can cover for this asshole’s absence until morning, but Nash will want some answers after that. Can we use the intel from the laptop to get Langley to give us a longer rope?”
“To hang ourselves with?” Cooper sighed and sank back into his chair. “The only reason they haven’t recalled us is they don’t know what we’ve done.”
“They know the target changed, but they don’t know the twins aren’t the ones working him,” Zach explained. “They’ve been informed everything is going to plan, and I sent Tasha’s first report on Huisman under the team name, not her own.”
“What are they going to do if he’s a legit intelligence agent?” Lou asked.
“He is.” Kenzie’s eyes were steady on the mirror, watching Brian.
“We don’t know that,” her twin argued.
“The question is what happens if he is and we’ve got an allied foreign intelligence agent strapped down on a sex bench,” Tristan said with a sigh. “That’s gotta be against some kind of regulation. At the very least we’re in for a ‘dumbass’ lecture, and I’ve had so fucking many of those. I can tell you everything Big Tag is going to say to me verbatim at this point. Could I get sent on an op where I get shot? I’m ready for that. I think I’m cool with the sweet release of death at this point.”
Tasha’s cell buzzed. She looked down, and it was Nate texting them that they were approaching. Another text followed right after. Dare.
I expect my sweet sub to present herself to me in precisely twenty minutes. Any later and punishment will be harsh. Missed you.
Her heart squeezed.
“They’re here. I have twenty minutes,” she said quietly. “Kala, what are you going to say about Brian?”
“That we had a lovely afternoon and he got pissed when I wouldn’t bring him with us and I suspect he’s sulking,” she replied. “He’s about to meet Coop, so he’s going to realize things are more complex than they seemed. Brian’s off processing that.”
That would have to work.
“Magenta.” Brian’s head had come up, and he was staring at the mirror. “I’m talking to the woman known as Ms. Magenta. I know you’re in there, and I know you’ve listened to everything I’ve said. I’m going to call you Maggie from now on. That sounds better to me. Maggie, you should understand that this isn’t over. Not by a long shot. I’m going to get out of these restraints, and then you and I are going to have a talk. No matter what happens between our teams, we’re not through.”
Zach cursed under his breath, and Kala rolled her eyes.
But Kenzie’s lips curled up ever so slightly.
Tasha pushed through the door and out into the hall that would lead her to the club.
She had a job to do, and it started now. Tomorrow, she would tell Dare everything and likely lose her job and have her whole family angry with her.
For tonight, she would play her role.
* * * *
It felt damn good to be back in leathers. He’d had them delivered straight to the club and worried a bit about the fit. He didn’t care about clothes. Normally. He wanted to look good in these. He wanted Tasha to be proud of her Dom.
“You must be Dare,” a deep voice said.
He turned and a tall, muscular man stood at the end of the row of lockers Dare had been assigned to. “I am. Are you my guide? You sound American. I thought the owner was Australian.”
“Oh, I’m not Master Colin,” the man said, holding a hand out. “I’m Cooper. I’m a friend of Kara’s and a member of the club. Kara asked if I would show you around tonight.”