Betrayed (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 9) (3 page)

Briar was dead still beside him, eyes on target. After a long moment, she squeezed the trigger. Matt watched through the binos as the round punched through the target, this time damn near dead center. “Good hit,” he murmured, filled with pride at this incredible woman.

“Gimme another.”

That was another thing he loved about her—her work ethic. Briar drove herself hard, expected more of herself than anyone he’d ever met.

After another forty-five minutes of shooting she propped up on her elbows and looked over at him with a smile that told him she was no longer in shooter mode. “I needed that, thanks.”

“Anytime.”

That dark gaze roved over his face and lingered on his lips before darting back up to his eyes. “I’m hungry. You hungry?” The heat in her gaze made it clear she didn’t mean for food.

He was so on board with that. “Starving.”

In the parking lot Matt caught her up against the passenger door of his truck, pinning her there with his weight, and took her face between his hands. She gave him a heated smile and threaded her fingers into his hair, going pliant as he brought his mouth down on hers.

The way she melted into him set him on fire. He didn’t feel the rain or the wind, all he felt was her heat and the desire humming between them. She tasted of honey, her tongue twining with his as a soft hum of enjoyment issued from her throat.

Hard and throbbing for her, he rolled his hips against her once before lifting his head. They were both breathing faster and her eyes were dilated.

Truck. Now.

Suppressing a growl of frustration, he opened her door, leaned in for one more blistering kiss before rounding the hood and climbing behind the wheel. He was glad she’d gotten a ride here; he couldn’t wait to drive her home to their place.

Briar immediately reached for his hand, linked their fingers together over the cushioned center console. The gesture pleased him not only because it showed just how comfortable she’d become in expressing affection, but because the move rang with possessiveness. He squeezed her hand, rubbed his thumb over the back of hers, impatient to get home so he could get her naked and underneath him.

Or on top of him, he wasn’t fussy.

Rain pattered against the windshield as he drove through the light traffic. “So the work thing I told you I have tonight,” she began with a slight edge of hesitance that pinged his internal radar. “It’s not exactly a meeting.”

Frowning, he glanced over at her. “So what is it?”

She was looking straight at him but he could sense her reluctance about answering. “It’s an op.” A beat passed before she continued. “With Bautista.”

At the mention of that name, every muscle in Matt’s body pulled tight. His fingers clenched around the wheel. “What?” he asked in a low voice that sounded strained even to his own ears.

She pushed out a sigh. “Rycroft and I got him to agree to a deal. He’s going to help us bring Georgia in.”

The hell he was. More like he’d bide his time until the moment was right, then try to kill her and Rycroft before escaping.

Matt bit back the words, tried to calm his thudding heart. Bautista had earned his reputation as the cartel’s most dangerous enforcer for good reason. He was a killer, and wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate anyone who got in his way. Hell, he’d even used one of Matt’s agent’s better half as a human shield to avoid being killed or captured in Miami.

And Georgia had been right there with him. She’d had no problem letting an innocent woman get hurt if it served her purposes.

“The op’s a go for tonight.”

Matt had to consciously relax his jaw in order to respond. “Not him,” he grated out, unable to stop the impulsive words.

She turned to stare out the windshield and shook her head, her expression exasperated. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

That stung, but it didn’t change his reaction or opinion. “He’s a stone cold killer, Briar. You can’t trust him.”

She swung her head around, her glare as sharp as a blade. “Really? And here I thought that because he signed the agreement, it meant he’d suddenly turned into a nice guy.”

Her sarcasm scraped over his suddenly raw nerve endings. “It’s too dangerous.”

Her jaw flexed once. “
Not
my first op.”

He goddamn knew it wasn’t. That wasn’t the point. What the hell was Rycroft thinking, asking her to take this on?

Matt realized she was a well-trained operative, but he didn’t give a shit about that right now. All he cared about was her safety. He knew how men like Bautista operated. “He’ll turn on you. And he’ll do it when you least expect it.”

The anger in her gaze suddenly turned icy. “I’m not stupid, Matt.”

Then why do this?
He barely kept from blurting it out, fought to curb his own anger.

“Is she worth dying for?” he demanded instead. “For chrissake, until she came
hunting
you last year, you hadn’t even seen or heard from her in two decades, and since then she’s dropped out of your life completely. She disappeared after that op in Miami for a reason. She doesn’t want to be found and she’s sure as hell not worth you risking your life over.”

He knew he wasn’t acting rationally, but he couldn’t make himself care about that or the fact that he was being a colossal hypocrite at the moment. He’d risked his life on a daily basis, for complete strangers, for
years
, yet knowing Briar was about to take this on triggered an innate protectiveness he couldn’t contain.

An icy silence enveloped the interior for a long moment before Briar spoke again, her voice quiet but cold. “She and Trinity were the closest thing I ever had to family, aside from Janaia.”

Her former handler, who had been murdered in cold blood last year.

“We were roommates during our initial training in the program. There’s a bond between us that I can’t ignore.” She shook her head. “Georgia risked her life to help me bring down a dirty CIA officer, and I can’t turn my back on her now that she’s got enemies gunning for her. I
won’t
.”

She paused to pull in a steadying breath. “And she still thinks Bautista is dead. Once she finds out he’s not and that he’s looking for her, she’ll come out of hiding. When she does, I need to be there to bring her in safely.”

Matt didn’t answer, knowing that whatever came out of his mouth right now would be the equivalent of gas on a fire. The idea of Briar going on this op, trying to find and bring in Georgia while other killers were targeting her, was bad enough. But to add Bautista’s volatility into the mix? It twisted his guts into a giant knot of fear.

Neither of them spoke for the remainder of the drive, the tension between them mounting with every minute. When he parked in the garage she got out and stormed into the house without a backward glance.

Matt turned off the engine and sat alone for a few minutes, until the worst of his temper had burned itself out, leaving only that gnawing fear in its place. Once Briar cooled off a little he would talk to her again, try to get her to see reason.

This was insane, and though he’d liked and respected Rycroft up until now, the man was a fucking bastard for asking this of her. And all for the sake of recruiting another agent for the NSA.

When he entered the quiet kitchen he heard Briar moving around upstairs in their bedroom. He found her in their walk-in closet, angrily shoving things into a duffel on the floor. He knew she was fully aware that he was standing ten feet behind her, but she refused to acknowledge him in any way.

A trickle of guilt slid through him. He hadn’t meant to start a fight, he’d simply been reacting out of concern for her welfare. And he didn’t want to leave things like this between them right before she walked out the door to go on an op like this.

But the dread had taken root inside him and it wasn’t easing up. Throughout his service in the Corps and with the FBI, he’d routinely gone into harm’s way over and over again. He realized it was a double standard, but knowing Briar was about to do the same triggered something primal inside him that he had no control over.

It didn’t matter that he’d just been reminded of how skilled she was with a rifle. It didn’t matter that he’d seen her in action and knew how capable an operator she was. She was still the woman he loved, the woman who held his heart in her hands. The protective part of him couldn’t handle the thought of anything happening to her.

If he lost her, he didn’t know if he’d survive it. To have her walk away from him like this, with this anger and resentment between them…

No.
He’d learned once already how fleeting and fragile life was. It was a lesson he’d never forget. But that same lesson placed him in direct conflict with Briar now. To him, it didn’t matter that he’d understood from day one that she was an operator. Didn’t matter that he respected it, even supported it as best he could. In the time they’d been together he’d never once tried to interfere or dissuade her from anything to do with her job.

Until now.

Because his gut was screaming at him that this time was different. That something terrible would happen to her if she did this, and he couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how hard he tried. His reaction had nothing to do with him not trusting her ability on the job. It was about watching the woman he loved jeopardizing her life by placing her trust in the wrong people.

Briar continued to ignore him as she packed, each movement rigid, the silence thick enough to cut. He hated the silent treatment more than anything, which she knew.

Steeling himself, he stepped up close behind her and settled his hands on her hips. She stilled instantly, her entire body rigid before she twisted out of his grip with a tight, angry motion.

Matt ignored it and slid his arms around her waist, drew her back firmly against his chest. Again she stilled, and he could feel her irritation in every taut line of her delectable body. He understood why she was so angry, and some part of him acknowledged that he would react the same way if their roles in this situation had been reversed. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from trying to protect her.

Fighting the apprehension beating inside him, he pressed his face into the curve of her neck, his lips against her soft skin. Her pulse beat just beneath the surface, steady but so damn vulnerable despite her strength and all her training.

“Don’t go,” he whispered finally, not knowing what else to do to make her listen, how to reach her. He was irrationally afraid that if she went through with this, he’d never see her again.

He sensed her surprise, and an instant later she relaxed in his embrace. “I have to.”

“You don’t,” he insisted, squeezing her tighter to him. His instincts demanded that he not let her go, that he should do whatever it took to keep her safe here with him. Except he knew that was impossible, just as he knew that if he pushed this too far she’d never forgive him.

“I
do
,” she countered. “And if you’d drop the alpha male protective routine for two seconds, you’d see that.”

He would never apologize for wanting to keep her safe. Ever. Even if he knew it was crazy to ask her to stand down for this one. “It’s too risky with him.”

She turned in his embrace, stared up at him with that pissed off black gaze. “I know what I’m doing. I’m good at what I do.”

“I
know
that,” he answered, frustration pulsing through him. “It’s him I don’t trust.” Not as far as he could pick Bautista up and fucking throw him. And he didn’t trust Georgia much more than that either.

“I’ll have Rycroft with me. And Bautista is not only emotionally invested in Georgia, he needs us to help him bring her in safely. He’s no threat to me.”

He stared at her for a taut moment. “He will be if killing you gets him what he wants.”

She shook her head, lips pressed into a thin line of frustration. “You haven’t read the psych evals on him. He’s not a monster.”

Could’ve fooled Matt. He knew what the asshole had done to his victims. He’d also watched his men shoot the bastard twice, then one of the guys pound the shit out of him afterward, and still Bautista had somehow pulled through.

“I don’t need to read them to know he’s unhinged and unpredictable. He’s a walking time bomb and I don’t want you anywhere near him, let alone risking your life by working with him on an op like this.” Yeah, he knew he sounded like a possessive asshole right now, but he couldn’t help it.

Her eyes chilled, but this time there was something else there besides anger. Disappointment. And the sight of it made him feel like someone had just kicked him in the stomach. “I can handle it.” She broke eye contact and gave a sharp push to his shoulder.

Matt refused to let her go.

He took hold of her face, forced her to meet his gaze. She didn’t understand. She was insulted because she thought he doubted her ability as an operator. That wasn’t it. Not at all.

He felt frantic inside, on the verge of losing it. “Do you know what it would do to me if anything happened to you?” he demanded in a rough voice. “Do you know what it’s like to lose someone you can’t live without? Because I do.”

At that her expression softened and the anger faded from her eyes.

He shook her once gently, desperate to get through to her. “I can’t go through that again, Briar. Not with you. It would fucking kill me.” When he’d lost Lisa he’d been shattered, mentally and emotionally. He couldn’t go through it a second time. Wouldn’t, and everything in him told him he risked just that if Briar went on this op.

He swallowed as his throat closed up, old fears and the pain he thought he’d buried rushing to the surface, stabbing at him like red-hot needles.

Her gaze softened. She shook her head and reached up to cup his cheeks, her eyes searching his. “You’re not going to lose me. Promise.”

The fear clawed relentlessly at his insides, tearing him wide open. Her mind was made up. She was going to walk out that door and go on this op no matter what he said, no matter what the risk, or the cost.

“I couldn’t take it,” he rasped out, feeling like his heart was being shredded all over again.