Mission, p.10
Mission, page 10
Sten’s impression of Izzy as a smart, badass woman grew exponentially. She had calculated her enemy’s weaknesses and planned to exploit them. But for her, this was a logic exercise, not the reality of how she would feel or act when she came face to face with her ex-lover.
“He won’t want you as competition, so he’s going to offer you some sort of deal while he scrambles to make plans to get rid of you. You’ll tell him you’ll cut him into your deal on Dean’s drone security where you’ve been working if he does the same with the buyers he planned to sell your AI work to. But you must be adamant that you are in on the negotiation with the buyers to make sure your interests are protected.”
“Worthy will set Izzy up to meet with the buyers and then plan to take Izzy out.” Sten didn’t hide his hostility.
“Worthy can’t double-cross her. She has the code he needs for the sale. And you’ll be her bodyguard with your brothers and Dean’s security backing you up.”
“And you don’t think he’ll have means of getting the code from Izzy?” Sten didn’t want to alarm Izzy but what the hell was the general thinking? All Worthy had to do was abduct Izzy and then torture her for the code. And then he’d kill her.
“You and your brothers need to do your damn best to protect Benson. You’re trained for the worst scenarios. And this is one of them.” And with that little tidbit, the general nodded to them both.
“Good luck, Benson. You can do this. And never doubt Jenkins’s ability. You need to trust him, young lady. Do I make myself clear?”
Izzy gulped before she nodded at the screen where the general’s face had been.
15
While Sten and Nick cleared the Bellagio’s penthouse, Izzy waited with Lars who positioned himself with his back to her to scan the hallway for possible threats. His hand was on his gun tucked into the back of his jeans. All the Jenkins brothers were armed and treating the trip to Defcon like a combat mission.
Since the phone conference with General Harkness, Izzy felt like she had stepped into a Mission: Impossible movie. Her problem was not knowing her role. Sten had called her a badass woman. Was she supposed to be the ass-kicking woman who always came to Cruise’s rescue? Not going to happen if anyone needed Izzy Benson to save them. Her skills were on a keyboard, not in hand-to-hand combat.
On the flight to Las Vegas, Sten and his team spent the entire time bent over the blueprints of the Bellagio and the Paris Hotel where Defcon was being held, not giving her time to talk to Sten. Not that he seemed to want to be private with her.
Reeves, at another table, spent the flight hacking into the Paris Hotel’s server where she would be speaking. The new plan to trap Charles was to build her street creds was a speaking gig at Defcon on AI. One minute she wasn’t going to Defcon, and now she was a speaker sharing her wares.
All the men spoke in soft voice impossible for Izzy to hear above the noise of the jets. She could have helped Reeves, but it appeared she was no longer considered part of the IT team. Watching Sten in action, Izzy could see the determined soldier. And although the youngest brother, he was in command, and had their respect.
Sten would periodically turn to check on Izzy as if she might disappear. His mood was somber, serious, and silent, as if their intimate night had never happened. Her feelings careened all over the place. She felt isolated and alone with no one to confide in about her deep terror in confronting Charles and her ability to avenge Tina McGuire.
After what seemed like forever but in reality was only several minutes, Lars opened the door for Izzy to enter ahead of him. Since he was wearing an earpiece, she assumed that the room was free of danger or Lars would have gone in first with his gun drawn—as they did on all the TV shows and movies.
Izzy halted and stared at a gorgeous tall blond woman in a black bustier, a very short leather skirt, and black knee-high boots standing in the center of the room. Her hair, the color of wheat, hung straight down her back. She stood with her hands on her hips.
“What is this?” Lars shouted at Sten, who was busy setting up a large monitor and several computers on a massive glass table. Nick must be in a bedroom since Sten and the woman were the only ones in the spacious room with cathedral ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass windows that looked down on the Strip.
“Someday, Lars Jenkins, you’ll stop referring to me in the third person. Don’t you agree it’s a sign of fear to refer to someone in the third person, Izzy?”
Izzy, frozen in the entryway, shifted the backpack and caught herself from looking behind her. “I’m sorry. Have we met?”
“No, honey. I’m Danni, and I’ve come to save you from these brutes. You wouldn’t believe it, but these Neanderthal men have the sweetest mother.”
This was the Danni who had Lars punching Sten in the stomach? With Danni’s breathtaking beauty and her provocative stance, it was understandable why the swaggering Jenkins sex-god was reeling. Lars had met his match in looks and attitude. And by the fiery expression on his face, Danni had him in a tailspin.
Lars, his neck and jaw rigid, stomped around Izzy to get to Danni. “When did you meet my mother?”
“At the hospital while you were in surgery. She and I had a long and most interesting conversation.”
Lars ran his hand through his disheveled sandy-brown hair that hung over one eye. The Jenkins brothers didn’t go for high-end grooming like Charles, but they managed to always look like Calvin Klein underwear models—a little scruffy and a lot sexy.
“What the hell, Sten? Why didn’t you put a stop to our mother meeting this she-devil?”
Sten hunched over the screen, typing away, ignoring the drama. Izzy assumed Sten was connecting their suite to Reeves who was down the hall at “Command Center.” And, most likely, hacking into the hotel’s server and cameras and setting up electronic surveillance. It was what she had planned to do when she thought she would be taking Charles down on her own.
Without pausing in his typing, Sten said, “And when have you gotten our mother to do anything you tell her?”
Danni shifted her weight to the other hip in a challenging sexy pose. “I like ‘she-devil.’ No one has called me that before.”
“It wasn’t a compliment, Danni. And why are you here?” Lars’s eyes narrowed, and his dark brows slashed together exactly like Sten’s.
Turning to Izzy, Danni grinned. “The poor woman confessed that she wants grandchildren, but she’s not sure it will ever happen. She said her sons have a problem committing. Their own mother admitted that her sons are mansluts.” Danni’s laugh was husky and in contrast to her slim body. “Or should it be mensluts?”
Sten jerked up from his work. “Damn it, Danni. Our mother said no such thing. Stop giving Izzy the wrong impression.”
Danni’s deep vermillion lips, like something a 1940’s movie star would wear, puckered into an “O” as her eyes darted between Sten and Izzy.
“Say it isn’t so, Izzy.”
Izzy felt the flush move up her neck to her face while she shifted her backpack from one side to the other.
“Danni,” Lars growled. “Go back to your…rock star and get the hell away from here. We’re actually working, not pursuing—”
“Pleasure? Is that what you were going to say, Lars?” Her voice and her body oozed sultry sex as she inched closer to Lars. “Alex has a concert tonight. I could get you front row seats.”
“I bet you could.” The energy arcing between the couple could power a generator for the entire hotel.
Danni took Izzy’s arm to pull her into the living room, and then she shook her long hair, the way she shook off giant muscular Lars like a pesky bug. “I’m here as Izzy’s fashion consultant to help her get ready for Defcon.”
“You’re not staying here.” Lars tracked Danni’s movement to the center of the room decorated with heavy gilded furniture, fern-filled urns, and dark Italian Renaissance paintings.
Danni turned toward Lars but kept a strong grip on Izzy’s arm. “General Harkness gives the orders. Not you, Lars.”
“Cut the bullshit. General Harkness didn’t send you. Jordan did.” Lars now had his legs in a wide stance with his arms crossed over his chest. The same challenging pose as Sten’s.
“The general and Dean both want her here,” Sten said. “I’m sure it was Jordan’s idea to have a woman to…” Sten stopped typing and gestured into the air at a loss for words.
“What the fuck? And you’re just now telling me? I wouldn’t…” Lars stopped mid-sentence.
“Hey, I didn’t know Danni was helping out until the drive over to the hotel. And we’ve got bigger things to focus on.”
Danni did a mock curtsy, bending over to give Lars and Izzy a revealing view down her bustier. Izzy was sure Danni had done it on purpose. “I’m here to help. You won’t even notice me.”
Lars snorted. “You? Help?”
Danni released Izzy’s arm, stepped right in front of Lars, and poked her finger into his chest. “I’m here to help Izzy. Got it?”
Bright red spots formed across Lars’s cheeks, and his body went rigid. He held himself still. His breathing came out in harsh bursts.
“Does it hurt?” Danni’s eyes travelled down Lars’s body, pausing briefly at the very noticeable erection bulging in his jeans.
Izzy scooted around Danni feeling like a voyeur to the sex vibes between them. They obviously had been an item in the past.
Sten looked up from the screen to Izzy who now stood across from him. “I’m almost finished here. Reeves and I have been setting up electronic surveillance. You should be able to sign on to the dark net to keep the chatter going about the sales in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Izzy bent over the table to avoid being heard. “Is she really here to help me with my clothes?”
Sten stood and came around to Izzy. “I don’t like the whole damn idea, but it was the general’s call.” His eyes darkened, and his voice roughened. “This is the strategy you came up with…to flaunt yourself to convince Charles you developed a taste for the dangerous game.”
He made it sound like her plan was to seduce Charles, not convince him to give her access to his buyers. And what was he upset about? She was the one terrified at the prospect of seeing Charles and convincing him that her skills were for sale to the highest bidder. Sten could take Charles down with one bulging bicep.
“And as you can see, Danni knows how to get a man’s attention. She’ll be perfect to teach you how to distract a man.”
Izzy looked over her shoulder to see Lars grab Danni and pull her hard against him. “What’s going on between those two?” Izzy couldn’t look away from Lars’s intense hunger—his blatant need to devour Danni.
Sten shook his head. “Danni is a sweet, funny woman when Lars isn’t around. It really is embarrassing to see Lars acting like a whipped idiot.”
Danni pushed against Lars’s broad chest. “You ass. I meant your leg.”
“He can’t see past his di—”
“Why haven’t you told him?” Izzy asked.
“He needs to figure it out for himself…if she’s worth all the game-playing.” Sten’s voice took on a challenging edge. Izzy was never good at subtext in relationships, but she felt there was a message for her.
Sten backed away, keeping his distance from her. “I never though Lars could act so pathetic over a woman.”
Lars pushed Danni away from him as if she were a poisonous snake. “My leg is fine.”
And for a moment, Danni’s voice softened. “I’m really sorry. I know you’re missing your team.”
Lars ran his hand through his sandy-brown hair. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Ignoring Lars, Danni ambled toward Izzy. “Izzy, while Robert and I get you ready for tonight, I’ve ordered pineapple anchovy pizza, pinot grigio, and peanut M&Ms.”
“Robert?” Izzy asked.
“Sophie’s stylist.” Danni’s graceful hands fluttered in the air. “He’s amazing, and he’ll get your hair back to its original color. He should be here soon.” She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her skirt to check the time. “I’ve also ordered The Princess Bride and Clueless.”
Izzy looked at the floor, trying to hide the tears burning in her eyes. “They’re all my favorites.”
Danni’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. “You’ve had a rough time of it, haven’t you? Let Auntie Danni take care of you. I’d like to kill the asshole myself.”
Izzy was aware of Sten’s interest in her and Danni’s interaction. Why didn’t he get that she wanted his arm around her, offering her comfort? Was the man so dense? Didn’t he get that she wasn’t a super-spy and needed a bit of encouragement and support? Sure, she could act all tough for the general because she didn’t have a choice, but the inner Izzy was freaking.
The closeness she felt from the tender lover was gone. Izzy needed to focus on her job and not the crap-storm of feelings running rampant inside her for this one man. Because last night was a one-night deal…or was it?
Did he mean it when said he wanted more nights with her? Did he really feel as she did? Because she wanted more of everything with the protective and caring Sten Jenkins. She had been alone for so long, and for the first time, he made her believe she wasn’t.
“Lars, before I forget, don’t manhandle Robert when he arrives. He’s flying in from Seattle just to do Izzy’s hair. Although, now that I think of it, Robert would probably like a manhandling by Sten or Nick, who are the studs of the family.”
Sten gave a bark of laughter.
“Shut up, Sten.” Lars rumbled.
With her arm over Izzy’s shoulder, Danni lead her to the hallway. “Emily and I had a long chat about what you two do when you’re stressed. Girlfriends have to stick together.”
“But how did you know about Emily?”
“Reeves and I are good friends, and I’ve heard about you and Emily forever. I already feel like I know you.”
“Really?” Izzy blinked back the tears. The weeks since she fled New York were long and lonely and she’d spent much of the time surrounded by geeks and soldiers.
“You know, we have a lot in common.”
Izzy stared at the runway model beauty. “We do?”
“I majored in mathematics at MIT and then switched to biology. I’m a geneticist right now but creating mathematical models so I’m kind of a mathematician. ‘You say tomatoes and I say to-mah-toes.’”
Izzy felt Sten’s probing stare on her back, but she didn’t turn around. She needed a break from trying to figure out his intense mood swings. It was like a switch went off, and he was in Marine mode and was no longer capable of being even a friend or a colleague. She didn’t expect him to behave like an ardent lover when they had a job to do, but a little understanding of her stress would go a long way.
At least Danni understood. She’d gone to the trouble of reaching out to Izzy’s BFF about stress releases.
“You know what else we have in common?”
Izzy was still processing that the woman who could easily be a Victoria’s Secret model went to MIT, was a mathematician, a geneticist, and was friends with Reeves.
“We both have asshole exes. We are going to compare notes about why revenge sex is the best therapy.” Danni pitched her voice higher, most likely for Lar’s benefit as they went farther down the long carpeted hallway, the walls covered in more heavy oils of Italian landscapes.
“And after Robert and I are finished with you, you’re going to have your pick of any man at Defcon to get your revenge.”
“Danni, I’m warning you.” Sten’s exasperated growl sounded just like Lars. Izzy looked backward over her shoulder before being led by Danni into one of the bedrooms. Sten stood next to Lars, both staring at the women, their legs planted apart and their arms crossed over their chest.
“Is that what Alex Hardy is?” Lars’s snarl was loud and rough. “Revenge sex?”
“I don’t kiss and tell,” Danni responded in a saccharine-sweet voice and closed the door.
16
Disgusted by his immediate primitive reaction to the suggestion of Izzy having sex with another man, Sten stood frozen. He held his body tight, ignoring the way his muscles clenched in readiness to follow Izzy and stake his claim in a very male and carnal way. Despite Izzy offering only one night with him, last night wasn’t revenge sex. He knew the difference, but did Izzy?
Danni’s comments were meant to taunt Lars, so why was his stomach rolling? Last night was more than payback to her corrupt ex. And he wanted more nights of blistering sex with Izzy. What breathing male wouldn’t want a repeat with her and her hot little bod? It didn’t mean he planned a future with her so why was he acting all caveman possessive?
He felt a connection with Izzy that he hadn’t felt since he believed himself in love with Jessica. Izzy wasn’t like any woman he had known. Izzy was open, honest, and giving. So was Danni, or at least she used to be.
After being left at the altar, Danni still had a lot of rage and a less-than-friendly view toward the male kind. And Danni was spending time with Izzy. Armed with pinot grigio and The Princess Bride, Danni planned to change Izzy into a sexy criminal bent on retaliation. What the hell was The Princess Bride movie? And when did a MARSOC Marine get assigned to supervise two women who might use a dangerous mission as an opportunity to wreak vengeance against the male sex?
FUBAR. His first CC mission was totally FUBAR. He had been so excited to join CC to use his skills and resources to insure better control of the outcomes for the men and women with boots on the ground. He was burned out at playing “whack the moles/terrorists” just to watch them pop up again. He wanted to use data to strategize before good men, many his friends, got killed.
Nick came out of one of the four bedrooms where he had been setting up their temporary armory. “I see Danni’s been working her magic on baby bro.”
