Page 7 of Gunner

Chapter 5

He’d always knownhe was a bastard but sleeping with Lacey without using protection was a new low, even for him. Gunner had left her in bed, knowing that if he stayed, he’d make love to her again. The attraction between them was too strong, and after his confession about his sister, he’d been too raw to resist what she was offering.

Even now as he watched her from afar, he didn’t know why he’d told her about Milla when he’d never told another living soul about her. Ever since yesterday morning when he’d walked away, leaving her with just a note to say he’d be in touch, he’d been watching.

Part of it was he needed to know she was safe; the other part was because he just couldn’t seem to help himself. He was up to his neck in danger, with threats around every corner and coming from multiple directions, and yet, all he’d done all day was observe her every move to make sure she was safe.

Now he watched her go through the gate to board the flight to the UK where Nate would make sure she was safe. He felt the knot in his belly ease that she was away from the menace of his life even as his chest ached with the thought of her so far away from him.

Shaking his head, he spun on his heel and jogged to his own gate to catch the short flight to Nuremberg. He had a job to do, and if he had any hope of surviving it, he had to get his head in the game. He would be meeting Deputy Director Osbourne to provide security for a meeting with his partner, whose identity he was still unsure of. This partner was facilitating an introduction to a contact called Samir al-Sadir.

Sadir had just turned twenty-one and was a sick son of bitch who was taking over the reins from his dead father, Miqdaad al-Sadir. Sadir was a drug lord, embedded in the foothills of Parwan Province in Afghanistan.

Eidolon had taken out Miqdaad and his network on one of their very first missions, and until recently he hadn’t known why, happy to know that there was one less asshole out there selling drugs and weapons.

Now he knew the real reason Miqdaad had to die, and it had been one of the reasons he’d chosen to betray Eidolon. Every second of that betrayal tasted like bile in his mouth as he thought of the things he’d done, not only to protect Milla but also to protect the man who’d been like a brother to him from a truth that would break him.

Eidolon and the men who’d become family to him were so much more than a Ghost Ops team. They protected the very fabric of the British Monarchy, handling missions straight from the hand of the Queen. A woman who was fair and kind and loved her people and her country unreservedly. Gunner had come to love his home country more than the wild beauty of his birth one—the memories of that hostile allure too painful for him.

Slipping headphones on his head, he settled back in his seat for the four-hour flight and closed his eyes. But he didn’t sleep, his mind playing over every moment he’d spent with Lacey both now and at Nate and Skye’s wedding. She’d changed since her attack, grown stronger but also more reserved. Yet with him, she’d been the woman he’d first met, comfortable to smile, confident and sure. Yet, as he pictured her even then, he knew she’d been hiding pain.

If he could go back and hurt Carmine Russo for what he’d done to Lacey, he would in a heartbeat. He didn’t give a shit about turning the other cheek or being the better man; he’d pummel the snot out of him.

As he disembarked, he grabbed the hand luggage from the overhead locker. Gunner kept his eyes peeled for Bás who should be there already and picking him up. Making his way outside, he felt the man who was even now a mystery to him, step up beside him, appearing from nowhere.

“Heard you had a spot of bother at the hotel in Düsseldorf.”

Gunner climbed in the back seat of the car and glanced at Bás who settled beside him. The guy in the front was one of the usual drivers who was more brawn than brain, but Gunner kept his answer vague anyway.

“Not really, just a damsel in distress.”

“You sure about that?”

Gunner knew what he was asking. If Gunner lost focus on this mission because of a woman, a body bag would be the only way he went home, and that was if there was enough of a body to bury. The thought hadn’t bothered him before, but now with the chance, however slight, that Lacey could be carrying his child, he had the desire to live more than ever before. He wouldn’t divulge that to the man beside him though, that was his to know, and his trust in the man only went so far. He knew more than anyone you couldn’t trust anyone.

“What is the plan for the meet?”

Bás cocked his head but let whatever was on his mind go and focused on the task at hand. Gunner had no clue what his end game was, but currently, it aligned with his own, and that was all he cared about.

“Osbourne is at the hotel. You’ll pick him up at two am and escort him to this address.” Bás handed him a slip of paper with an address on it. “I’ll be in place with the other parties.”

“We expecting any trouble?”

“We always expect trouble but no more than usual if that’s what you’re asking me.”

The car drew to a stop, and he and Bás stepped out and headed inside and straight for the elevator. Osbourne wanted to see him before the exchange, probably to issue a few more threats. Gunner had taken their beating to prove himself, but that didn’t mean Osbourne trusted him.

He felt his lip curl in disgust. The man was only out for himself, putting his own men inside the Palace as personal protection was perfectly legal but knowing what he did, Gunner had serious concerns about the safety of the Royal Family but who could he tell? Jack and Eidolon knew the score already, and without any proof, they couldn’t move in and take over without bringing the Palace in on this. With unknowns still at play, Jack would never show his hand.

He got off the elevator on the sixth-floor of the Imperial hotel and saw two men, obviously armed, standing outside the door to the only suite on this floor. They were wearing black suit jackets that only just hid the weapons they were carrying. As he approached the larger man, who he knew mostly spoke Latvian, stepped forward with a wand to make sure Gunner wasn’t recording. Next, he held out his hand and Gunner placed his weapon in the man’s hand.

It was laughable to him that these men believed he needed a weapon to harm Osbourne. If he wanted the man dead, he only needed his hands to accomplish that. Lucky for him, Gunner needed him alive for now.

Now satisfied that he was ‘safe’, Gunner stepped through the open door and saw Osbourne sitting in an armchair, leg crossed as he read some documents. He glanced up as Gunner entered and slowly moved to stand, placing the papers on the small coffee table beside him.

Osbourne was ex-military and still had the rigid bearing of a soldier. His shoulders straight, head high, eyes missing nothing. It’s what made him good at seeing threats and had allowed him to climb the ranks to where he was now. He was tall, over six feet with grey hair cut short and a bulky build that had most likely been muscle once upon a time. Now it was mainly blubber from too much beer and fine dining and not enough time in the gym.

“Mr Ramberg, thank you for coming. I trust you have fully recovered from your mishap a few weeks ago?”