Special Forces Seduction. C.J. Miller
together: in the bedroom and when they fought.
Hyde linked her hands behind her. She didn’t want to touch Finn or reach for him. They wanted different things and her new life would bore him. “I have decided I don’t want to be in that line of work anymore.” Her sister’s wedding reinforced her decision had been the right one, but it hadn’t been the initiating factor.
Finn folded his arms, and the bunched muscles in his biceps reminded her of how it felt to be held by him. A shimmer of desire piped through her. In Finn’s arms, she had never felt safer and she could let down her guard for a few hours with him watching her back. He was a fighter. He was strong. He was passionate about everything he did, including his affair with her.
“I need to talk you out of this,” Finn said.
“I’m not changing my mind,” Hyde said. If he intended to rope her into taking another job as a spy, he would be disappointed.
Finn inclined his head. “What are you planning to do? Get a job in an office?”
Office work was on the list of possible jobs to investigate. She could work forty hours per week, clock out and spend the weekend binge-watching television and running errands and doing chores. “I have marketable job skills.”
“I know you have job skills. I’m questioning if they apply to any jobs in this small town.”
She hadn’t had enough time to explore her options. She didn’t want to think about her decision again or justify it. If anyone could talk her out of this course of action, it was Finn. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for checking on me. Burn my address. I don’t want anyone following me here.” She had made enemies and some held grudges.
Finn drew her against him. “No one followed me here. Whatever happened, tell me and I’ll fix it.”
The pleading in his voice nearly felled her. He couldn’t fix what had happened. She could not name the emotion that passed through her, but her heart clenched. “I don’t want to be a spy anymore.” Speaking the words was a relief. She realized she had worried about what Finn would think and she waited for the disappointment or an argument.
Finn’s face remained frustratingly neutral. He blinked at her. “I’m going after Reed Barnett and I need you.”
Reed Barnett, international drug kingpin, murderer and all-around bad man. Hyde agreed he needed to be taken down, but she had no intention of getting involved. A Reed Barnett operation was far too dangerous and complex. After what had happened during her last mission, Hyde was staying on the safe side of the street.
“I can’t be involved,” Hyde said. She wouldn’t consider it and she didn’t want the details. Tracking and hunting Reed Barnett was a suicide mission. The man had money and a private army and arms en masse. It was rumored he owned a private island.
“I need someone I can trust at my back,” Finn said.
Temporary loyalty on a mission could be bought. “I’m the wrong woman for the job.” Questions about the mission swirled in her head. She wouldn’t voice them. If she spoke them, she would get pulled into Finn’s plans.
His jaw was tight. “Barnett killed Simon.”
A spear of hurt struck her in the gut at the reminder. “I know he killed Simon.” Simon had been a dear friend. He had once saved her life on an operation. He deserved better than what had happened to him.
“We can avenge his death. For Thea,” Finn said.
Thea. With her name came a searing hot flash of regret and pain. Finn was one of the few people who knew that Simon was Hyde’s niece, Thea’s, father.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Finn said.
Hyde wrestled with her guilt. She didn’t want to step back into this life. The adrenaline rush, the excitement and the danger were highs she would chase for the rest of her life. But to avenge Simon... “I don’t know if seeking revenge against Barnett is right. I have thought about killing the man on many occasions, but the logistics and the reality is that I’d end up dead, not Barnett.”
Finn took her hand in his. “This isn’t an impulsive plan. We have the West Company backing the mission. We can take Barnett down. We can stop his drug ring. Protect more families from going through what Lydia and Thea are going through,” Finn said.
He’d known the right angle to play with her. Hyde loved her sister and would do anything for her and Thea. To finally tell Lydia about Simon and what had happened to him, to give her a sense of peace and closure, would mean so much. Hyde was afraid to tell Lydia the whole truth about Simon. Her sister would dig around and land in Barnett’s crosshairs. Or Hyde would reveal a piece of her life that was classified and open a can of worms. Could Hyde safely give Lydia the truth about Simon if Reed Barnett was dead?
Her mind was churning through her contacts, looking for an in with Barnett’s crew and coming up short. Barnett was notorious for keeping his inner circle limited and forcing business associates to prove their loyalty in incriminating ways. “You make it sound easy. How will you get close enough to Barnett to strike?”
“I’ve laid the groundwork. I have a meeting with Barnett in a couple of days. Come with me. We’ll destroy him and his enterprise.”
A mission with Finn? Being together on vacation was different from being together on a complex mission in the field. She could scarcely draw a full breath thinking of being alone with Finn, of imagining days or weeks together. Emotionally complicated and fraught with problems.
Compounded with a face-to-face meeting with Barnett, it was unimaginable. What would stop her or Finn from killing him on the spot? Her heart thundered and warnings screamed in her head.
Finn was a passionate man and she was a fiery woman. Could they work together and get the job done?
Her hands itched to hold a gun. That quickly, she was ready to jump back in the game.
“If you were one of my operatives telling me you wanted revenge on Barnett, I wouldn’t assign you to this op,” Hyde said. Too many emotion-fueled decisions would lead to a mistake.
Finn ran his hand down her arm, letting their fingers linger together. “Does that mean you want me to take someone else?” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles. The fire in his eyes seared her to the core.
Finn didn’t work well with others. He followed orders, but he preferred to be in command. This mission had a personal element and that would require extra vigilance. “I’m going. But you know we’ll make more mistakes because this is deeply personal. Revenge is heavy baggage and I prefer to be light and nimble on operations.”
Finn pulled her against him and she braced her hands on his chest. “I knew I wasn’t wasting my time coming out here,” he said.
“How’d you find me?” she asked.
He lifted a brow. “Former Army Special Forces.”
“Right.” His training as a Green Beret was exhaustive and had left him with an impressive list of skills.
She had been careful to cover her tracks when she’d returned to Bearcreek. If Finn had found her, then her enemies could, as well. Hyde wanted to protect her family. “I need more than that.”
“Small details I pieced together over the time I’ve known you. And begging Kate West for intel on you,” Finn said.
Surprise struck her. “Kate gave me up?”
Finn winked. “Only because I told her I was in love with you and needed to tell you in person.”
Hyde gasped. In love with her? They hadn’t spoken of love, not once during their relationship. Standing in the warm circle of his arms, her heart overreacted.
Finn traced the strap of her yellow dress with his finger. “I told her what she needed to hear to give me your location.”
It was