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)
He always had it with him. It was locked in the safe when he was at the hotel, and he was a pretty light sleeper. He tended to wake up when she got out of bed. She couldn’t risk him walking in on her in the middle of the night. That would have blown her cover.
“Sorry, mate. That was me,” Nate admitted.
His bodyguard. Of course. That made sense. They’d worked hard to get Nate Carter into position. “Which one of you shot me up with a tranquilizer dart so you could bring in Nate?”
He hadn’t been living in reality since the minute he’d met her. He’d been playing a part in whatever drama Tasha needed to keep him close to her. He’d met her, fucked her, and then been so happy to keep fucking her he’d let her steamroll his life. When he was in danger, he’d let her make the decisions so she would feel comfortable.
She was excellent at her job.
“That wasn’t us.” Cooper stood next to Kara, both of them grim.
Brian was going to be so upset the woman he’d been pursuing turned out to be a spy. “Sure it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t.” Lou still had an arm around her soldier. “We have no idea who tried to take you. I can even show you the video of the attack. It’s interesting, to say the least.”
“Dare, you have to believe me. Everything I’ve done has been to protect you,” Tasha said, each word a plea.
“Sure.” He wasn’t giving her anything. “I’d like to be on my way. I need to find my friend. I suspect you have the data you need, so there’s no further requirements from me.”
He wasn’t sure he believed them about the CIA crap. This could be one long con from a rival investment firm. Now they had his data and could outbid the Nash Group on all their open projects, and his father would punish his siblings.
He would have to marry whoever his father chose. If he wasn’t cast out after this.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave, Mr. Nash,” the big guy who seemed to be named Ian said. “Tasha is right. We do need to have a private meeting where I can speak freely and we decide how to move forward.”
A groan came from Kara.
Ian ignored her and continued. “We’ll regroup and figure out what we’re doing. What you see here is two different Agency teams working at cross purposes. My group was on a simple surveillance meeting.”
“And my group is on a search and retrieve,” the other guy said. The guy who looked at Tasha like he owned her.
Thought you didn’t screw for intel.
That’s what had happened. She’d targeted him, and he’d given it all up. He was probably the easiest target in her whole career. Ian had called it something else. A honey pot. Yes, he’d fallen right into that honey pot and given up everything like the idiot he was. It was time to stop playing her games.
“I don’t care what you’re doing. I want out. You have the data from my laptop. I assume your spy has been keeping notes of all the things I’ve told her about my business and my family.” He wouldn’t look her way. It was easier to engage her boss. “You’ve gotten everything out of me you’re going to get so I suggest you take the win and let me go.”
“Dare, you can’t go. You’re still in danger,” Tasha insisted. She reached out.
If she touched him again, he might break. His calm was so close to being blown, and he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He moved his arm, shoving her hand away. “Don’t you touch me.”
He actually heard a growl from the boss, and most of the men stepped up.
“Prekrati, pozhaluysta,” Tasha said and then shook her head. “I’m sorry. When I get emotional, I sometimes revert to Russian. I asked them to stand down.”
“I’m sorry as well. I shouldn’t have been so rough.” Politeness was a refuge he could hide behind. He needed his calm to get through the next few minutes without falling apart utterly. “But I don’t want you to touch me. Please stop trying to touch me. I understand what you’ve done, and I would like to be through with all of this nonsense. You say you’re CIA but you speak Russian?”
“I was born there,” Tasha began.
“If you think that’s bad, you should hear my Mandarin,” Kara said with a yawn as though the world and all its drama bored her. “Dude, we wouldn’t be good spies if we had to ask the enemies for a translation. There’s a whole school and everything. Nate, can you watch the prisoner so we can have a much-needed private talk with our…friends. Also, is that one dead? I did not sign up for cleanup duty. Chet, you made the mess. You can clean it up.”