INTO DANGER (Secret Assassins (S.A.S.S.) Book 1) (45 page)

It was another concession. He was telling Steve he trusted him now to go to him if he needed to get or pass information. Even Marlena got the point. She noticeably relaxed and unfolded her arms.

“If it works out,” Steve said. “I don’t know yet. I’m still feeling the ropes.”

Harden nodded. “You’ll do well. The job needs someone who can take an active part in an operation and then disperse both military and intel matters to relevant contacts. These past months, you’ve shown you can handle intel work, and with your SEAL training you’ll be perfect for this, making good use of both your skills. Not every military man can handle intel, and not every intel operative can do fieldwork.”

It was ironic to get a compliment from the man now. “Thanks, Harden,” Steve said.

“We’ll talk later. I have to start gathering evidence on a number of people connected with Gorman, maybe find a couple who will supply more on him.”

“Check out the operative I replaced when I first came,” Steve suggested. “Something tells me his death wasn’t an accident.”

Harden frowned. “Sorvino? Maybe so. I’ll look into it. If you need to know what we find, just give me a call.” He jerked his chin toward where he’d just come from. “Good luck in there. Diamond asks some tough questions. Just a warning. Nice seeing you again, Miss Maxwell.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, and Marlena murmured something polite. He gave her a warning glance as she stood up. From the little he had managed to get out of her, Alex and T were an item, just as he suspected, and she thought Alex needed a lesson because of something that had nothing to do with her. Blue eyes glinting, lips set in a stubborn line, she looked ready for battle.

Steve opened the door and she brushed past, giving him a wink. He quirked his lips. Something told him he was going to be liaising his ass off.

––––––––

A
rrogant bastard. Cold-hearted SOB. Relentless devil.

The man at whom she was silently hurling those insults looked at her with those piercing eyes, a glimmer of impatient humor in them as she dodged and evaded his questions. She knew what kind of operative he was and that his training would get through her act of resistance without any problems, but he appeared quite willing to wait it out. He didn’t demand what he wanted to know. He didn’t ask nicely, either. He just made it clear they weren’t leaving his sight until he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was T.

The overhead light glinted off his sun-kissed hair, but that was the only thing about him that was fair. “She came to D.C. at your request,” he said in that silky voice that emanated danger, “so I know you can communicate with her easily. According to your own words, she showed up and rescued you twice, once at the function and this last time, when you were kidnapped. Don’t you think that as chief of operations of her last mission, I should track her down and debrief her on this follow-up operation? And if so, are you willing to follow me back to Center and report to Jed yourself about your conclusions of what I need or don’t need to do?”

Marlena tried not to glare at Alex. As she had just been thinking, he didn’t fight fair at all. She knew without asking he was very aware that she hated team stuff, that going back to Center would mean playing by the rules there. And knowing Jed and his reputation, he would leave her playing footsie at Center for months before he let her meet with him. Because that was what Center was. They subjected their operatives to tests there.

Alex was Number One to Jed’s Number Nine in that special team of commandos. One couldn’t go higher than Jed. She was being subtly told she could fight the whole group of men that T had been with for two years, or she could give up the information now. Or later. It didn’t matter.

What bothered her was why Jed wouldn’t just tell Alex where T was. So she made one final attempt to escape. “Protocol says you should refer to the personnel files and see who signed and approved T’s request for transfer. That kind of approval comes from way up, and I can’t just override them,” she pointed out, somewhat smugly. “It must be Jed who gave the final say-so.”

Marlena noticed a muscle ticking along Alex’s jaw line, but his light blue eyes were hard and fathomless. His lips barely moved as he replied, “I gave the final approval.”

She raised a brow in surprise. “What’s the matter? Changed your mind?”

He’d been sitting there so still that when he leaned back in his chair, she actually caught her breath because her first impulse was to step back from a possible attack. That was how much animal magnetism the man had. And she wasn’t the one he was after, either; she couldn’t help wondering how T ever escaped him.

He subjected her to the kind of scrutiny that would make most people talk just to break the tension, but she wasn’t T’s student for nothing. She kept her expression blank.

Throughout their exchange, Stash had been quietly taking it all in. That didn’t surprise Marlena at all. That was how he approached any new situation—watch first, attack later. He was probably enjoying watching her squirm.

“Let’s talk about the laptop. Who has it?”

“T,” she replied truthfully.

“And the initial merger of Steve McMillan’s assignment under the admiral with ours. Who was the mediating operative?”

Marlena paused. She had a bad feeling about this new tactic. “T,” she acknowledged reluctantly.

“I see. How about your backup, if there was any chance of danger? Who would take over the sale to Maximilian Shoggi?”

She paused. Glared. “T.”

“Lastly, with your record of not making reports to Center, who in GEM debriefs you first before making the reports to Jed personally?”

She gritted her teeth. “T.” She heard Stash shifting in his seat and didn’t turn his way to see what he was up to. She just knew he was trying not to smile. She could feel his amusement.

Alex continued gazing at her in that calm, expectant manner. “Since T is deep underground, and you know so much about T’s activities and you are GEM, I think it’d be useful to have you assist me in the coming months. I need a report of the big picture of all the operations from the last two years that focused on Maximilian Shoggi. Your expertise in arms dealing, especially in the diplomatic and social circles, is what T was really good at, and we can use you to gain insight on how to get at them from GEM’s angle. When can you be ready?”

No way. She wouldn’t go near that group of commandos if they all looked like walking advertisements for outdoor life. Their reputation was legendary. She would never escape their team analysis stuff. She wasn’t like T, couldn’t function in a team. She was having problems trying to think of Stash and her together, let alone nine of these guys hovering over her shoulder, watching every little thing she did. Ugh.

“On the other hand,” Alex continued when she didn’t reply, “you can’t speak Russian, which is a bit difficult, since part of T’s job was to go on assignment with me when I travel as Sasha Barinsky. Perhaps we can enroll you in a course at Center, but I don’t know whether you’re a quick study or not.”

“We are GEM, contract agents,” Marlena countered, using sarcasm to cover the panic growing in her.

Alex arched his brows. His eyes were calmly assessing. “GEM will send its best available operative to us. You’re T’s special student. Are you saying you aren’t the next best?”

She was cornered and knew it. The man was one hundred times better than Harden when it came to information extraction, but then Harden wasn’t one of the nine from—

She blinked in surprise when Steve interrupted. “This traveling to Russia, is it with this other team T worked for, or just with you?”

Marlena finally darted a sideways glance at Stash. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he looked relaxed.

Alex’s attention diverted to Steve. “With me alone, of course. You don’t go around brokering arms sales with a whole team of operatives, Agent McMillan. Just as it didn’t take a whole task force to go after Marlena Maxwell. They sent you in alone.”

His words were loaded with meaning, suggesting things Marlena knew were meant to unsettle Stash. Yet she could only admire that smooth façade Alex presented, as if he were just making polite conversation of very little consequence to him. Ha. Just like T.

“Maximilian Shoggi will recognize Marlena,” Steve pointed out.

“Yes, we’ll have to restrategize some plans. There is plastic surgery, of course.”

“And T would go under the knife for this team of yours?” Steve asked curiously.

Alex’s lips lifted into a ghost of a smile. “You’ve met my T, McMillan. She’s a woman of many faces, as you know. The face she showed you is probably not even the one I know.”

There was a short pause, then Steve said, “I don’t think I would want Marlena to have to make such a difficult decision when I can offer some information.”

“Steve—” Marlena tried to cut in, but he gave her a warning glance.

“I’m listening,” Alex said.

“As liaison to all the parties involved, I have the power to broker deals that protocol prevents each side from sharing, isn’t that so?”

“Yes.”

“I will hand over a beeper that T has used to contact Marlena and me. You can use it any way you like technologically to find out where she called me from. This way Marlena didn’t betray her GEM protocol, and you don’t have to waste any more time with us.”

“Agent McMillan, I think you’ll make an excellent liaison.”

Marlena pursed her lips. She hated men.

***

“W
hat are you mad about now? I saved your cute little ass again. I’m losing count.”

Steve reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Marlena’s ear. He couldn’t help it. He loved touching her. Loved teasing her. And she was prime for teasing right now. The woman obviously didn’t like the way she was being handled at the moment.

He had to admire that man, though. Smooth and tough at the same time. And totally focused on the kill. He had a feeling that Alex Diamond fought that way physically, too. His whole body language betrayed training and a mental alertness he recognized in his SEAL brothers. It was that trait that made him decide if he didn’t interrupt soon his darling mermaid was going to be spending a lot of time with Diamond. Right now he wasn’t getting the gratitude he deserved, that was for sure, since Marlena was glaring back at him.

“You just gave him what he wanted! And you didn’t consult me.”

“Sweetheart, you were digging yourself deeper every time you opened your mouth. I’ve never seen you lose so badly. He’s damn good. What’s this group he’s in?”

Marlena waved away his question impatiently. “I wouldn’t have told him anything.”

“That’s right,” Steve agreed with resigned tolerance. He was hoping for more Venus whatever time, but that appeared unlikely in the near future. “That’s why I did what I did.”

“T doesn’t want to see him!”

“How do you know?”

“Because she told me he dumped her!”

“Lena, if he dumped her, why’s he looking for her?”

“Because she doesn’t want to see him!”

Steve sighed. He really couldn’t understand female logic. “Let’s start again,” he said. “You said Alex dumped her. Since he’s looking for her, maybe he wants to undump her. Maybe that’s what T wants.”

Marlena snorted. “T obviously didn’t want anything to do with him again or she wouldn’t have snuck in a transfer on him.”

“So she dumped him?”

Marlena frowned. “No, he dumped her. I’m pretty sure he dumped her.”

“Before or after she dumped him with a sneak transfer?” Marlena punched his arm.

Steve shrugged. “I was just trying to help.”

“Well, Mr. Helpful, what am I going to say to T when I call her for debriefing? She helped you out and what did you do? Tell the guy who dumped her where to find her.”

“I didn’t tell him a damn thing and you and she know it.” Steve felt his own impatience rising. “Lena, I didn’t want you leaving with him to God knows where. I didn’t want you with him in some hotel room pretending to be Mrs. Barinsky, or whatever fake name he uses, okay? I know you and hotel rooms, and I don’t want you sharing room service with him.”

Marlena studied him for a few seconds, then sighed and drawled, “You’re right. If I see him naked, T will kill me.”

Just like that, jealousy swarmed him. The gleam in her eyes told him she was just exacting punishment, but it still unsettled him how possessive he was with her, and hell, he had never been possessive about anything or anybody in his life. Man, he sounded like Alex with his T.

“Then I’ll have to kill him,” he told her half seriously.

She shook her head, a smile curving that sexy mouth. “A vicious cycle, darling. Then T will come after you, and then I’ll have to kill T.” She stood on her toes and gave him a soft kiss, the tip of her tongue teasing the corner of his lips. It sent a jolt through him, and he leaned down for a more satisfying one, but she eluded him. “Think about that till later.”

“Where are you going?”

“Shopping.”

“Shopping?” Dread replaced lust like a snap of the fingers. “What for?”

She laughed. “Darling, remember your payoff to Cam? We need new clothes to go to the opera. You, me, and all your sea mammal buddies. Pierre sent comp tickets to cover us all.”

Oh no. No, no, no. He wasn’t going to go and tell Hawk and his men they had to go shopping. He opened his mouth. She gave him a sultry look that promised him all kinds of things Hawk and his men couldn’t do. They might just kill him, but they couldn’t do what she could. He shut his mouth.

As he watched her saunter off, her hips swaying suggestively, he thought about Alex and his single-minded pursuit of T. His T, he’d called her.

Steve plucked his lower lip. My M. Mine. He kind of liked the way that sounded.

***

M
arlena decided to let T handle her own problem. She was sure if T wanted to, she could disappear from Alex again. So she gave her report, omitting Alex’s name, and told her mentor that Steve was shaping up as an excellent liaison. T had immediately assumed it was Jed who had interviewed Steve and her, and had replied with her usual tart humor.