Mighty Men with Weapons (5 page)

“I feel like I’m on a fucking rollercoaster whenever I’m around you! What the hell are you suggesting?”

Colby jerked. It was a slight but visible gesture and so quick Karen almost didn’t see his arm and jaw twitch with the involuntary movement. Nate was still able to get inside Colby’s head, just like their files read. Nate was an alpha male, and he dominated wherever he trod.

Nate’s left eye twitched, and Colby’s brows raised. He pointed the gun then and aimed it at Nate’s head. Nate quickly moved the jagged edge to Colby’s throat. Karen backed completely away.

“What the fuck is this about, Miss Whitaker?” Nate asked, out of the corner of his mouth.

She didn’t say a word.

“Whitaker!” Colby shouted. “Tell him!”

“Tell me what, damn you!” Nate screamed, sweat beads bubbling at a steadier rate straight across his wrinkled brow.

“Tell him what the mission entails.”

Karen smiled, realizing with complete certainty then that she had, indeed, been right all along. Nate Francisco didn’t know why he was called upon for a special operation in the middle of the South Pacific.

Colby Carrington, on the other hand, had been well prepared from the very beginning. His paranoia guided him into thinking and believing the worst.

Nate pressed the tip of his blade against Colby’s throat, and Colby mashed the gun a little firmer against Nate’s head.

“Damn it!” Nate released the knife with an angst-ridden cry, never flinching when the weapon fell to the white gritty ground.

Shocked, Karen stared at him in disbelief. She saw defeat in his eyes, something she’d never witnessed in any of the operatives. Nate Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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Mighty Men With Weapons

37

Francisco had one vulnerable soft spot, a true weakness—his name was Colby Carrington.

Colby ground his molars until it sounded like he broke off a back tooth. Karen had seen bloodshed many times. She’d watched grown men, friends in fact, murder their partners in cold blood on an ordered hit. She’d witnessed fast kills, slow torture, and sudden death when least expected.

No one was going to die here today. No one in the next few minutes or even the next hour, but someone would explain. When Colby dropped his weapon, too, and then grabbed her arm, she sensed that
someone
was her.

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38

Addison Avery

Karen closed her eyes and listened to the soft swishing sound of the water. The hot temperatures made the ocean feel like a warm sea bath. Her knees made small indentions in the sand, and she reveled in the gritty grime of the grain-like texture as moist puddles formed around her. She felt like she was sinking in quicksand, and nature provided a constant reminder. The men in front of her were her only lifelines.

“Sit down,” Nate said sharply.

“What about my dress?”

“It’s already ruined,” Colby promised, pointing to the tear she caused when she knelt down in the first place.

Nate twirled his forefinger downward, insisting on her compliance.

She sat on her bottom like an obedient dog ready to serve her master. Only, she wasn’t a Dom’s pet or an ISO’s companion.

Trained in firearms just like the men standing nearby, Karen was experienced behind the gun and could hurl a knife with the deadliest of operatives.

“Start talking,” Colby ordered.

That’s when she felt the grin spread across her lips. “Colby, if anyone has this mission figured out, it’s you. Maybe you should fill in the blanks for Nate.”

Nate glanced over his shoulder. “What’s she talking about?”

Colby addressed her. “You couldn’t possibly know what I suspect.”

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Mighty Men With Weapons

39

“Actually, I do,” she said. “You arrived here two days before Nate and Donovan. You checked everyone out and always returned to the cabana reserved in Nate’s name.”

“Meaningless. I’m thorough. That’s all.”

“Then,” she continued, drawing out the one syllable, “You watched as Donovan and Nate enjoyed an island dinner. You were tempted to take your shot, something you wouldn’t have done unless you were one hundred percent certain of your target. But you were, weren’t you, Colby? You suspected you were the hunter and the hunted, yet you still couldn’t take your shot, could you?”

Nate shouted, “What the hell is she babbling about?”

“Tell him,” she encouraged in a diabolical fashion, her tone changing at once. “Tell him how your finger twitched on the trigger.

Explain how you tossed those field glasses to the wayside, picked up your weapon and loaded it. Tell him about the sights you adjusted and how you gripped your gun only to throw your weapon to the ground and ignore the signs. Everything was in place. The orders hand-written on the wall. You had a target. A mission to complete, but you chose to ignore the orders you hadn’t fully received. Why? Tell him why!”

Colby charged forward and yanked her up. “What the hell are you talking about?” He shook her.

“You’re the target, damn it! He’s the target. All of you, even Donovan, were sent here to destroy one another.” She leaned back and watched the way her revelation was received. Then she laughed, an absurd finish to the information she provided. “Ah, but you weren’t sure, were you?”

Nate’s breathing never changed, but those damn cold eyes of his blinked back fury. She saw the red rims of anger outline his pupils.

The mark of rage staining his cheeks was precisely what she wanted to see.

“What’s Donovan got to do with this?” Colby asked.

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40

Addison Avery

“I imagine you’ve been asking yourself that since the beginning.

A good-looking gay man placed here on a mission with you and Nate sort of complicates things, doesn’t it?”

“His sexual orientation means nothing to me,” Colby said.

Karen shook off Colby’s grip. “I don’t have to tell you anything.

Everything you’ve had to go on—whether it was a gut feeling or something else, a tip perhaps—has been right.”

“I’d work on the attitude if I were in your shoes,” Colby advised, clasping his hand around her forearm once more. “I don’t play games, Miss Whitaker. I expect answers when the questions asked directly affect my life.”

“Self-preservation,” she hummed. “I know all about safeguarding one’s own life. In fact, I’m willing to tell you everything you need to know. But first, you’re going to promise me something in return.”

“What?” Nate asked, seemingly uninterested.

“She wants us to guarantee her safety,” Colby enlightened Nate.

“And if we keep her neck from snapping, it will be one of the biggest mistakes of our lives.”

* * * *

“Donovan Collier?”

Admiral Shoemaker recognized the young man’s voice. He still had the excitement and energy. Donovan most likely anticipated his orders long before now. He probably couldn’t wait to start the pending mission. Little did he know, he was already in the combat zone.

“This is Donovan.”

Shoemaker spoke with authority. “Your assignment is to dispose of the men working with you as quickly as possible. Once the mission is complete, leave Rarotonga and head to Aitutaki. There, you’ll check in at the Aitutaki Beach Villas and wait for further instructions.”

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Mighty Men With Weapons

41

He’d never make it that far.

Nate and Colby wouldn’t let an inexperienced ISO deliver death sentences without pulling a pin or detonating a bomb before they took their last breaths. They were trained to kill even if it meant taking their own lives in the process.

Donovan might take the last shot, or possibly even stab his victims to an unexpected death, but they would avenge their own demise on their way out. They wouldn’t go down as mere causalities.

Men like Nate and Colby never found eternal rest unless they guaranteed their extinction wasn’t completely in vain. An eye for an eye took on new meaning when killers lingered behind the sights.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“The hell you don’t,” Shoemaker barked. “Your orders are clear.

Take out the two ISOs sharing a cabana with you. They’re both fully trained, independent special operatives who have been released from duty pending quietus. You’ll receive further orders in Aitutaki.”

“Yes, sir.”

The line disconnected. Admiral Shoemaker hit the speaker option and pressed one for his secretary. When she came on the line, he said,

“Marg, get my son on the line. I have some news I can’t wait to share with him.”

* * * *

Donovan sat on the edge of the sofa. He stared at the floor, the precise place where Nate pinned him the first day they met. He remembered the arousal, the way he grew hard under Nate’s touch.

God in heaven help him, he never imagined an assignment like this one. How in the hell was he supposed to take out someone who had been the source of his fantasies for several days? Better still, how did he snuff out two fires when the smoldering remains of one lost love prohibited him from feeling anything at all for nearly three years?

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42

Addison Avery

He took a deep breath and caught a hint of the wild musk scent Colby Carrington wore. The fragrance was masculine and almost natural, but the real appeal was in the knowledge. The person behind the cologne made him hard with crazy lust despite their differences.

The hired gun in a mix of supreme artillery talent, Donovan was the most inexperienced of the lot. Why did Shoemaker think he was the man for the job?

Then, the truth slapped him in the face. The disposal of two ISOs potentially meant the demise of many. Was he next?

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Mighty Men With Weapons

43

Nate didn’t like swapping secrets or protecting skin. Other than saving his own hide, he never worried about covering anyone else.

Even when he traveled to desolate places, Nate knew his life held more value than those he was hired to save. An invaluable member of a highly selective force, hundreds of thousands of dollars went into his training. He was an investment, or he should’ve been.

“I don’t believe you,” he blurted out.

Colby shrugged. “It’s true. I suspected what this mission entailed when I came here. Then I saw Donovan Collier seated across from you, and everything made sense. Collier pissed off the wrong man in charge. I heard about him in the field and suspected he would. The higher ups aren’t particularly crazy about a young gun with attitude, and Donovan has plenty.

“Then, on the other hand, we have you to consider. You have an enemy collection none of us want. I imagine you wear several targets on your back.”

“And I guess you’re more like Goldilocks trapped inside a deep dark forest with nowhere left to run and hide,” Nate said.

Colby chuckled. “I’ve been in plenty of beds since I last saw you, Nate. I can disappear under a warm blanket where no one will ever think to look. You know me. I get around.”

Nate flinched, the truth unraveling before his very eyes. He didn’t want to hear about Colby’s past lovers or future duty calls. He wanted the kind of things only one man understood how to give him, the precious experiences he had no right to think about then. What he needed was another chance to hold Colby in his arms.

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44

Addison Avery

He’d fuck the life out of him given the chance. If he didn’t remember the mutual feelings they once shared—regardless of how short-lived—then he really didn’t give a damn if Colby wanted to go ahead and take him out. After seeing him again, Nate reached a decision. Life wasn’t worth living if he couldn’t remember what they’d meant to one another and experience those same feelings once more.

Nate concentrated on Karen. She was scared. No doubt about it, the woman knew fear, and tremendous anxiety stained its pretty mark on her rosy cheeks. He liked to see the evidence of weakness, but he sure as hell didn’t like it when others considered him a weak link, one easily disposed of when the time was convenient.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he said. “What the hell is Shoemaker thinking?”

Colby gripped Karen’s shoulders. “You’d better start talking.”

They didn’t have to persuade or ask her twice. “Donovan Collier was on a mission with Admiral Shoemaker’s son.”

Nate narrowed his gaze. “Darby Winslow?”

“Yes,” she said. “Winslow is—”

“Shoemaker’s illegitimate son,” Nate finished.

“How’d you know?” She seemed surprised.

Dumb bitch probably thought he’d sit down and start a campfire so they could share war stories. Conversation wasn’t his forte. “What about him?” he barked.

“Winslow and Donovan Collier were lovers.”

Colby found Karen’s statement interesting enough to laugh outright. “Damn. I see why Shoemaker is pissed.”

“No, you don’t understand what this means,” Karen assured.

“Sure, I do,” Colby replied. “If Winslow’s file is opened, then Shoemaker will be exposed for the two-timing bastard he’s always been.”

“Exactly,” Karen said. “In fact, his file has been opened.

Shoemaker suspects there’s an investigation pending.”

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