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“Wait!”
Something in his voice stopped me and made me turn around. “What is it now?”
The seconds ticked by. Hands fisted, he worked his jaw. I fathomed I heard his teeth grinding. He looked lost, but also angry. I was so confused. What did he want from me?
He had a few false starts, as if caught in some sort of internal struggle, but in the end, nothing came out.
“Javi?” I softened my voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” His voice was tinged with a mix of sadness and resignation and his eyes darkened. “You’re right. You deserve to have fun. I’ll stay out of your way.”
Chapter Seventeen
Javier
From my place stretched out on a lounger overlooking the lake, I pretended to read a sports magazine. Wearing my swimsuit and a rash guard, I tried to play the part of tourist, making an effort to look relaxed and aloof. Instead, all my senses were homed in on Missy, who sat on the other side of the stone deck at the edge of one of the resort’s natural thermal pools talking to her new “friends.”
Turning a page I hadn’t read, I inhaled a calming breath and let it out. I’d pretty much lost my wits yesterday when Pedro had texted me to report she had company. I stalked into the main pool like an entitled caveman and discovered she was having fun with the Frenchmen. The latter only ramped up my fury. The way I’d acted had been impulsive, compulsive, and out of line.
I’d paid for my mistake.
All day yesterday, last night, and this morning, I’d suffered Missy’s silence. I couldn’t blame her. I was having a hard time sticking to my self-imposed hard limits. Peeking over the magazine, I surveyed the woman yet again. If I hadn’t been charged with her protection, I might’ve labeled myself a stalker. I had security all around her, but since my mission was her, my presence here was legit.
At least that’s what I kept telling myself.
Sporting a smile that lit up her whole face, she swirled her feet in the warm waters, wearing the same minuscule bikini that drove me fucking insane. She looked so goddamn sexy that, anytime now, my blue balls were gonna burst. The gods gave me a break when my cell vibrated, interrupting my most recent list of all the things I was gonna do to and with Missy if I ever got myhands on her body again.
I forced my eyes away from Missy, slid the burner out of my front pocket, and glanced at it. King’s alias flashed on the screen. An encrypted text popped up.
Intel incoming, the message said.Secure channel. Ten mikes.
With a little luck, good news was coming my way, just in time to save me—and Missy—from… well… me.
My gaze returned to her. Engaged in animated conversation with her friends, she looked like she was having fun. Her friends were immersed in the water to their armpits, adoring her with their eyes and fully invested in making her laugh. I wished we could trade places. I wanted to be the one making her giggle like that.
Missy’s new hairstyle gave her a chic vibe that added to her natural beauty. Steam rose from the thermal spring and wafted from her skin in mellow clouds that reminded me how hot she was. The sight turned up the sexual burner that kept my dick on call and my blood at a constant simmer.
Yeah, King better have good news for me.
I’d taken a thorough second look into the Frenchmen, digging into their lives until they had no secrets from me. I’d scoured their backgrounds, looking for anything that could potentially—even distantly—flag them as threats to Missy so I could justify removing them from her life and getting them out of the resort. But no such luck. The fuckers were squeaky clean.
When blond Pierre casually settled his hand on her bare thigh, the pressure at the top of my skull spiked so hard I wondered if steam gushed out of my ears. This wasn’t a mellow kind of steam. It was violence in its raw form. It oozed from my pores and curled my hands into fists.
Fucking douche.
The sight was more than I could bear and it ignited myalready short fuse. I ground my jaw and repressed an urge to march out to the hot spring, smash the men’s faces, throw Missy over my shoulders, and lock her in the suite. But I’d promised her I wouldn’t spoil her fun. I had to live by that promise.
Trapping a growl in my throat, I stalked out of my overwatch position. With a yank, I straightened the casual, touristy backpack I carried around the resort to hide my laptop and weapons. The magazine crumpled in my grip. I found Pedro standing at the top of the stone stairs leading to the thermal pool.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told the man. “Keep your eye on her at all times. Text me if anything changes. Text me also if those two get grabby again.”
“Sí, señor,” the guard replied and then, “Sorry,señor.”
Fuck. Even the guard could tell I was fucking miserable.
I marched to Allen’s office and requested to use his space for a few minutes. It had the best reception in the hotel and the privacy I needed. The resort’s chief of security understood my request and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
I pulled out my laptop, set it up on Allen’s desk, and logged into a secure website. King must’ve found a way to secure his end of the comms. While I activated my encryption program, I dared hope he had good news for me. Maybe we were a go on our exfil. Perhaps today would be the last day I’d spend following Missy around the resort, lusting for her like an elk bull in rut.
