The Art of You

My control had evaporated, the remnants shattered on the floor as I prepared myself to face everyone and get an update from Enzo.

My rebellious girl led the way, her hips swaying in a hypnotic cadence, creating a perfect visual in my mind. My hands parked on each glorious swell, her palms on my chest, her hair down over her shoulders as she rode me, moaning and coming all over my cock.

Apparently, fucking, not fighting, would be my only hope to adjust my foul mood. But it would wait. It had to.

From listening to Seth Maverick’s confession to learning from Jesse on behalf of the President that the Central Damn Intelligence Agency had been compromised, my head was completely messed up.

And to top it off, everyone overheard my father going for round two on the phone before we’d boarded the plane. Yelling at me about the consequences of “opening my mouth” to someone (Jesse) who’d then “opened their mouth” to the President himself, leading to his girlfriend getting in trouble for withholding the truth from her superiors about the real reason for her daughter’s abduction.

Yeah, well, fuck my old man. We weren’t going to let innocent people die to protect the ambassador’s job. There had to be another way to stop this storm from making landfall, we just had to focus up and figure it out. But with all roads leading to the middle of no-fucking-where, I was losing both my patience and my hope I’d problem-solve us out of this disaster.

With every passing second since we left New York, I couldn’t help but question how Bella managed to rope us into letting her come. We’d changed our minds at the airport, deciding it was too risky for her to join us. But Bella, in all her stubborn glory, had pulled out some BS executive order card, playing it like an ace up her sleeve. So much for not being a great poker player. She vetoed our decision to stay behind with Enzo after we’d outvoted her. She’d refused to accept no for an answer. Then, she walked her fine ass up the steps of the plane, and hid out in the middle cabin the whole flight.

After wasting time following dead ends with the others and stewing in negativity, I’d searched her out. Next thing I knew, I wound up wanting to spread her legs open and drive my cock inside her.

Fuck. I still had her sweet scent on my fingers as we joined everyone, and I had to stop myself from drawing my hand beneath my nose and inhaling.

Bella quickly wrestled my attention her way, spinning around to stand by Alessandro. She ran the pad of her thumb along the underside of her lip, staring at me like she was mentally mapping out how she’d get me off with that sexy mouth of hers.

Locking my hand over the top of the seat next to me, I was one bad decision away from throwing everyone from the plane so I could have the sixty seconds of airport time she’d promised me yesterday.

I scanned the cabin, looking around at everyone gathered there. Why the hell were they studying me as if I had a live grenade in hand?

Jesus, I had no business being any type of tactical leader right now. Consider me just body number five on an arrest warrant, no different from the New Guy I’d once been at the Bureau. Don’t give me the keys to the kingdom and expect me to call any shots. I wasn’t in the right state of mind. It was the same feeling I’d had fifteen years ago and why I sat the op out, but for very different reasons this time.

Constantine peered at his sister, shaking his head. He probably assumed she was to blame for the fact I’d returned looking so unhinged.

Bella erased the space between us, and talk about perfect timing. Turbulence struck again, sending her into my arms. Keeping my legs wide and my stance firm, I kept us both upright and held on to her. “Easy there.”

Her lashes fluttered as she quietly stared up at me. And there we were, having another moment in front of everyone as if we didn’t have a mission to focus on instead.

“Here, sit,” Roman offered, vacating the seat I had been balancing against.

I continued to remain fixed in the aisle. I wasn’t sure how she was managing to do it, but she slowed down my racing heart with her soft, brown eyes pointed at me.

I could see the three feet in front of me again, which stopped me from concerning myself with the six-feet-deep hole I might fall into later.

Classic Teamguy mentality. One step and day at a time so you don’t dig yourself an earlier grave than necessary.

Clearly, getting roped back into the past this weekend had done a motherfucking number on my head. I needed to level back up.

“Remember, you’re an elite operator. One of the Navy’s best. Don’t forget it. Got it?” my team leader’s words from forever ago shot through my head.

Why the hell didn’t you let me help you with your addiction? I closed my eyes, exhaling a breath of frustration.

“You need more time?” Constantine was being far more patient than I deserved.

I swallowed and opened my eyes, realizing the turbulence had stopped, but I was still hanging on to this woman like she might be taken from me here and now. Please, God, anything but that. I can’t lose her. “I’m good.”

The reminder of why I had to slip back into operator mode was peering at me with her big worried eyes.

“Sit.” I gestured with my head to Roman’s empty seat, guiding her there so she understood I wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Once she fastened her belt, I dropped down next to her, not wanting to be far. And screw it, I reached for her hand on top of the armrest and laced our fingers.

From the corner of my eye, I caught a flicker of a smile from her, which helped steady my pulse even more.

“What’d Enzo say?” I finally asked, shifting my attention to the others.

“The delivery man was able to identify who gave him the envelope,” Alessandro shared, taking a seat opposite us. “He was, uh, somehow expedient in his methods.”

“Who is it?” I tightened my grip on her hand.

“The woman’s date from across the street. The accountant.” Alessandro dropped his head as if regretting the fact we hadn’t seen this coming. But how could we have? “His name wasn’t on the party list, we checked before this news. He could’ve still been at the party under a different one since he left his date’s house at ten that night. That’s enough time to get to Scarsdale. He may have hacked the security feeds, making him our mystery Instagram poster, too.”

“Assuming you already double-checked his background again, I’m guessing no red flags?” At least I was capable of thinking about the case again.

“None.” Alessandro shook his head. “But he could be damn good at altering his identity. If he has the skills to corrupt CCTV footage and is somehow behind the classified files being sent to Maverick, as well as this mess now happening at the CIA, he’d be able to spoof our systems when looking into his identity.”

“Or, this guy is just another Seth Maverick. One more pawn to throw us off the real trail,” Constantine suggested.

“I can’t imagine this guy running the risk of showing his face to the delivery man if he’s the magician behind the curtain to our chaos.” Bella had echoed my own thoughts. “Unless, of course, he wanted us to find him, just like he planted that video online because he hoped we’d find it on X, leading us to his Instagram account.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “If he’s been following you, or all of us, for some time, he knows we’d dig deep. He’s planting clues he wants us to unearth for a reason.”

That reason kept sending me back to the 2010 operation. In my head, this case had to somehow tie to that failed mission. Well, unless we were too close to this thing and missing the bigger picture somehow.

“Enzo and Adelina are almost to the address for him on file now. Single-family home on Long Island. They were already at our parents’ place with Callie, so it’s a short drive,” Constantine shared. “Malik’s with them for backup.”

“I’m assuming you’ve already looked into any possible connections between some of the classified cases that were sent to Maverick that he wanted turned over to Clarke?” Roman asked, taking a seat alongside Constantine on the couch off to our left.

From what I knew about Roman, he was not only married to a former CIA officer, he was a certified genius. Between the two of them, they had a lot of experience with cases like the one we were dealing with.

“We have, but no notable connections yet,” Constantine answered.

“Something had to have set them off on this vendetta now,” Roman said, and I had to believe that was true as well. “I think that’s the one missing piece to understand the motive. Until we can lock on to that, we’ll remain three steps behind.”

Right. I let go of a frustrated sigh.

“The answer must be in those twenty files about instances of bad intel leading to servicemen and women dying.” Roman pointed to the nearby laptop on the table at his side. “This has to be an inside job, which most likely rules out this guy Enzo’s going to talk to. They were able to get their hands on classified files and nearly launched their own unsanctioned CIA operation all with the touch of a button.”

When Jesse had shared our concerns with POTUS, it prompted President Bennett to speak with the CIA director. After untangling a mess of encryption, it was discovered operational orders had been sent with the CIA director’s signature from the director’s server.

Assuming the terrorists had a backup plan if their kidnapping scheme with the ambo’s daughter failed, a small U.S. military assault team was already on the ground in Spain, prepared to wait for the terrorists to hit the Spaniard’s black site.

The problem? The head of the CIA swore up and down he never gave such a command. Considering the director had been in the Situation Room with the President at the time the email had been sent, it was safe to say someone with damn good skills from inside the Pentagon had set up the director. That same person set up Seth Maverick, too.

The President ordered the assault team to stand down. Doing what was morally right, he alerted the Spanish authorities that their black site was probably compromised. Hence the call from my old man afterward about his girlfriend getting in trouble because of the calls we’d made.

“Someone went to a lot of trouble to ensure the head of this terrorist cell doesn’t—” I dropped my words as it finally fucking clicked. I let go of my hold of Bella’s hand and stood. There was the big-picture moment we’d been missing. “It’s about the last of the twenty files. Two Marines died in the embassy bombing last October. Good intel—intel that was ignored—could’ve saved them.” I checked the date on my watch. “The one-year anniversary of that attack is in a day and a half.” I shook my head, remembering something else. “The Instagram account has 363 posts up.”

Bella abruptly unbuckled and stood. “What if that’s some sick countdown to whatever they have planned?”

“That means someone has been plotting their revenge for almost a year,” Alessandro said as a call came over his phone. “How the hell are any of us tied to that bombing, though?”

“This asshole pulled us in for a reason, but maybe it’s not for the reasons we originally thought.” I planted a hand on the wall at my side for support as Alessandro accepted the call, placing it on speakerphone.

“Tell me you have something,” Alessandro remarked quickly.

It sounded like Enzo was hacking up half his lungs from coughing so hard. Sirens blared in the background.

“What is it?” Bella asked, beating me to the punch.

“There was an explosion,” Enzo choked out, still coughing. “We’re fine. The house blew before we got to the front door.”

“What the fuck?” I looked around at the others, trying to grapple with the news and the fact Enzo, Adelina, and Malik could’ve died.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Bella’s voice broke as the reality of what-could-have-been slammed her back into her seat.

“If someone is after us, why not wait until you were on the doorstep? Or inside?” I hated raising that point, but it had to be said. They could have easily been killed. So, why were they alive?

“Well, we were saved alongside that road, too,” Bella murmured, and I dropped my gaze down to peer at her. Her quivering lip nearly did me in.

I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and comfort her, but right now wasn’t the time. Turning to one of the two operators who were on board with us, I requested, “Nick, can you get the bear from the duffel bag in the middle cabin?”

“Thank you,” she mouthed, and I wasn’t trying to treat her like a baby. But she was mine to take care of. Mine to protect.

The reality of the situation slammed into me again. I could’ve lost her Friday. And Enzo today.

I dropped down next to her as Constantine muttered, “Whoever is behind this whole damn thing is no guardian angel.”

My hands tensed in my lap, and Bella reached over the armrest and uncurled my flexed fingers to clasp my palm.

“He’s the grim reaper,” Alessandro said in a deep voice, drawing my eyes, “and we’re all still alive because he wants us to die on his own timeline.”

We had a day and a half to get ahead of this fucker before he checkmated us.

“I need to call my wife,” Enzo said, his words barely audible. “Be in touch when I know more.” He ended the call before we had a chance to check if he was truly okay, mentally and physically.

I didn’t blame him for wanting to get on the phone with Maria ASAP. The only person I’d wanted to talk to or see after the accident Friday night had been the woman currently holding my hand.

“Whoever is behind this is looking to end things on the anniversary of the day someone they cared about died, right?” Alessandro’s question had my attention flying back to him. “What in God’s name do any of us have to do with that attack in Algeria?”

“The photo,” Bella whispered as if that was the answer. “Somehow, in some crazy way, I think everything ties to Bianca’s death. Right down to that embassy bombing.”