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NICK WATCHED AS KAYLEE pulled open the bag of potato chips, dumping them into a large bowl. The skinny jeans she had on hugged her curves, but it was his oversized sweatshirt on her that made him smile. She’d ordered a few more things than what Lena had picked up for her but had taken to wearing his clothing as well. Nick loved the sight of his woman in his things. While they weren’t officially a couple, she was in his bed every night, and he thrilled at having her warm and safe beside him. She’d thrown on one of his big tee shirts after they’d showered together this morning, and the sight of her bare legs and breasts pressing against the soft cotton had driven him wild. He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off of her, and the eggs he’d been cooking had nearly burned.
She glanced over, flushing slightly as she realized he was watching her. “I like you in my clothes,” he said.
“And nothing at all,” she added with a wink.
His libido rocketed at that thought, but he moved around the kitchen beside her, bringing over several more bags of snacks. “Careful,” he warned, ducking in for a searing kiss. “We have to get ready before everyone gets here.” She licked her lips, her cheeks pinkening, and Nick locked eyes with her for a beat.
Kaylee in his kitchen was a temptation. Her sweet vanilla scent filled the air, and once again, he realized how damn lonely he’d been all these years. Clearing his throat, Nick grabbed the tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno peppers. He’d told her once she could stay, but he realized she didn’t quite believe him. It wasn’t a completely insane thought. They’d known one another for years, and when it was right, it was right.
“I can’t believe you cook now,” she teased as he began to chop the onion. “You’re quite different than when we were in high school.”
Nick shot her a sideways glance, a smile teasing his lips. “I can’t believe you don’t cook.”
“Hey, I can microwave a frozen meal like you wouldn’t believe.”
He chuckled, expertly slicing the tomatoes next. “I bet you can. You were pretty good at microwaving popcorn back when we were teenagers. It’s nice to learn that you’ve expanded your repertoire,” he joked.
“Hey,” she protested, tossing a potato chip at him.
Nick snatched it out of the air and smirked, stalking toward her. “Did you forget I’m a highly trained sniper? I can shoot a target from a thousand yards away.”
“Oh yeah? You shoot potato chips?” she asked.
“Woman,” he joked. “You wound me.”
Kaylee pursed her lips together, smiling, and Nick moved in for another kiss. Damn. She was irresistible. At this rate, they’d be lucky to have things ready in time for dinner.
The rapping on the front door had them both jolting in surprise. “My teammates aren’t supposed to be here for another hour,” he said as he pulled back. Unease wound through him. He ducked to give Kaylee one last quick kiss then moved toward the front door, tension coiling within him.
Things had stalled in the investigation at Offutt. Cornwell hadn’t merely taken a leave of absence—he’d vanished, along with Fiona from HR. It was believed they’d fled together as word of a classified intelligence leak stemming from the Air Force base had spread. Whoever was handling things at Offutt hadn’t been good at keeping it under wraps. Maybe they hadn’t wanted to. While it may damn well have been intentional on their part to let word of the leak spread, causing the guilty parties to be concerned, it burned him up to know everyone involved was seemingly in the wind. He wanted eyes on them to ensure Kaylee’s safety. The last thing he needed was for any harm to come her way.
Nick looked through the window and was surprised to see Gray standing there. “What’s up, man?” he asked, gesturing for him to come in. “I thought you couldn’t make it tonight.”
Gray nodded as Nick shut the door. “I can’t stay but wanted to give you a head’s up about what’s coming. Kaylee here?” he asked.
“Like I’d let her out of my sight,” Nick said, shooting him a look of disbelief.
“I figured as much. I was on my way home and thought I’d stop by. Unfortunately, it involves her. I was leaving headquarters when I happened to see West.”
“You were there on a Saturday?” Nick asked in surprise. While it was normal to work extra hours when they were readying for an op, that wasn’t the case this weekend. While the tech staff had been busy on the case involving Kaylee, that wouldn’t have included his teammate.
Gray lifted a shoulder. “I was working out. Plus, uh, Lena was handling some things there,” he added in a low voice.
Nick snorted.
“I didn’t want her to be there alone,” Gray said. “Yes, security is around, but she doesn’t like being in the basement of the building when it’s nearly empty.”
“Huh. I never would’ve figured that. She’s always running errands for Jett, coming and going at random times,” Nick said, his mind turning over that piece of information.
“Yeah, well, usually he’s there when she is. It sounds like Anna wasn’t feeling too well with her pregnancy, so Lena was helping out with the inventory. Jett needed to get things ready in case we’re sent down to Mexico soon for the trafficking situation.”
“And the gym is next to the armory,” Nick said.
Gray pinned him with a look. “Don’t mention any of this conversation to her. I don’t want you giving Lena a hard time about it.”
“Mention what?” Nick asked, clapping him on the shoulder. “I don’t know her history, but yeah, I can see why a woman might not want to be down there alone in the armory on a weekend. Everyone’s got a background check or security clearance at Shadow Security, but hell, you just never know the true side of people. Look at what’s going on at Offutt. Cornwell is a highly decorated Colonel who’s willingly passing on classified intelligence for money and sexual favors. He hired some fucking rapists to whisk Kaylee away.”
“Exactly. Lena wasn’t too happy that Jett needed this done ASAP, so I made sure that I was around when she was. That’s all.”
Gray’s gaze shifted, and Nick glanced back to see Kaylee moving toward them. She looked cute as hell barefoot in her skinny jeans and white tank top. His sweatshirt was tied around her waist, her dark hair long and loose, and Nick felt something stir within him. She was gorgeous in anything she wore, but seeing her here, in his home, always made him want to roar in approval. Maybe that made him a goddamn caveman, but it felt like she was where she belonged.
“Kaylee,” Gray said with a nod.
“You’re early,” she said, looking concerned as she came to stand beside Nick. “Is everything okay?”
“I was just at headquarters, and West told me about some photos he found,” Gray said. “He’ll be reaching out shortly, but I wanted to give you a head’s up about them. It’s not good.”
“What sort of photos?” she asked with a frown.
Just then, Nick’s phone buzzed, and he quickly swiped the screen.
West: I’m sending you some files. It’s bullshit but will upset Kaylee.
West: Wanted you to hear it from me first.
Nick stilled, wondering what exactly West had to show them. Kaylee looked up at him, the concern evident in her green eyes. “Did he find something?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he murmured, waiting for West’s files to come through.
“I haven’t seen them yet either,” Gray said. “It sounds like they’re trying to use whatever it is in these photos against Kaylee.”
Nick’s phone buzzed again as a file came through from West. Moments later, his gut was churning, bile rising in the back of his throat. Even though he knew it wasn’t real, the images before him made him sick.
Kaylee looked over before he could hide the screen and gasped in surprise. “Is that me?”
***
KAYLEE FELT LIKE THE world was spinning around her as she stared at the shocking slideshow of photos. Her heart raced as Nick quickly yanked his phone away. “Stop. Show me!” she demanded, tears smarting her eyes. It wasn’t real. It was impossible. Her stomach lurched, despite her knowledge that none of it had really happened.
Gray had averted his eyes, giving them a moment, and Kaylee stared in horror at the fake photos that appeared to be her and Colonel Cornwell in various positions on her bed, both of them naked.
“But—but that’s not me,” she said, looking at the pictures in horror. “I’ve never slept with him. I barely know him. I’ve certainly never even invited him over to my place!”
Gray lifted his phone to his ear, putting it on speaker. “It’s West,” he told them.
“West, what the hell is this?” Nick asked, seething. He had an equal look of shock and horror on his face as Kaylee glanced at him, tears smarting her eyes. He couldn’t think that these pictures were real, could he?
“These photos were blasted to the unclassified email addresses of people working at Offutt at approximately fourteen hundred this afternoon. Their IT staff blocked most of it, but several got through anyway. I’m trying to help them determine how the photos and email would’ve bypassed their spam filters and security. The photos weren’t sent to any addresses on their secure network, as it came from an unclassified email address on an open server.”
“I don’t even know Colonel Cornwell,” Kaylee told West. “I saw him at the office, but this isn’t real. That’s my bedroom, but none of this ever happened!” Tears filled her eyes as fear washed over her. Kaylee knew the photos were doctored, but would other people believe it? Her family? Her friends? An icy cold chill slid down her spine.
“It’s AI,” West confirmed. “Artificial intelligence. They took photos of your actual bedroom when they broke into your apartment, using it as the background. They generated AI models based on your physical descriptions. It was made to look exactly like you.”
“But...why? Why would they do this?” she asked, frowning.
“Cornwell was mad,” Nick surmised. “He wanted to implicate you in the stealing of classified materials as well. You witnessed it, and now he wants you to go down with him. Whoever broke in to your apartment only had minutes. They were probably searching for something, too, given the reports from authorities that they trashed the place.”
“It’s likely they were trying to find clues about where you’d gone,” Gray said in a low voice. Kaylee’s gaze flipped to him, and she saw a look of sympathy on his face. He might have a gruff personality, but she sensed he was just as protective as Nick toward those he cared about. She might not know Gray well, but she obviously meant something to Nick. Given that, Gray was as concerned as his teammate about her, and she felt herself softening slightly toward the intimidating man.
“That’s absolutely wild that they’d come up with such an elaborate scheme,” Kaylee said in disbelief. “They could’ve just planted classified materials there if they wanted me to look guilty.”
“He probably didn’t have them,” Gray said. “If the HR woman photographed copies of the documents and sold them, Cornwell probably left the copies at Offutt to avoid being implicated if anything went wrong. It’s a bad look to have stolen intelligence on you.”
“Bad look,” she muttered sarcastically.
“Looking bad is the least of his problems,” Nick spat out.
“I know you probably don’t want to, but look closer at the photos,” West said over the speaker phone. “If you look at the details, you can tell it’s AI generated.”
“He’s right,” Kaylee said with a gasp. “Look how bad this is,” she explained, peering at it closely. “I’ve got six fingers on that hand.”
Gray’s lips quirked. “Huh. It’s almost amusing how bad it is when you look closely.” Nick shot him a look that could kill. “But it’s not funny that you were targeted this way,” Gray continued, serious. “It’s sextortion. It’s not really you, but at a quick glance, people will think it is. Cornwell knew what he was doing. He wanted people to believe you were having an affair with him.”
“That’s sick!” she said.
“It won’t hold up in court,” West said in a clipped tone. “This ‘evidence’ of an affair between Kaylee and the Colonel is non-existent. There are multiple ways we can prove the photos aren’t real and are simply AI-generated images. Some even look like they’ve been further manipulated with your actual face photoshopped on.”
“It’s still embarrassing as hell,” Kaylee said with a shudder.
Nick was stiff beside her. Even though the photos weren’t real, she could tell he hated seeing her in bed with another man. Nick muttered a curse as he hid the images on his phone. “How’d you find these?” he asked, his voice rough.
West cleared his throat. “Aside from the few that got through at Offutt, they were leaked online. We’re running searches for mentions of Colonel Cornwell on the Web and got multiple hits. The photos and alleged affair are being played as a scandal—the woman scorned after her affair with a military officer ends decides to leak photos to embarrass him and sets fire to her own home to destroy any possible evidence.”
“What?” Kaylee asked in disbelief.
“He was trying to shift the attention and focus to you. Stir up trouble. Cornwell has disappeared. Whoever is leaking this is making it seem like he’s gone because of the scandal you’re allegedly publicizing.”
“He was stealing classified information!” Kaylee exclaimed.
Nick’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, his touch soothing. “We know that,” he assured her. “The authorities know that as well.”
She let out a shaky breath, leaning into him for support. “Sure, you guys do, but what about everyone else? What about my friends and family? My coworkers? The people I work with will see this and think it’s real! They’ll think our alleged affair is the scandal.”
“They’ll think you were taken advantage of,” Gray said. “They’ll look at the photographs, just like we did, and realize all of it is fake.”
Tears smarted her eyes, and she shook her head, turning and burying her face in Nick’s chest. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “Cornwell will no doubt be court-martialed soon. The HR woman will be arrested. Before you know it, this will all be over.”
“It’s true,” West said over the phone. “Our contacts at Offutt have indicated they have enough information to arrest them both. The incident you witnessed was far from the only time they’d met outside of regular business hours for nefarious purposes. The IT staff are already tracking the files Cornwell accessed before the occasions he met with Fiona Brown.”
“They always met at work?” Nick asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes, that’s correct,” West confirmed. “They met right at Offutt on multiple occasions.”
“The guy was only thinking with his dick,” Gray muttered.
“I expect charges to be brought forth soon,” West continued. “Conduct unbecoming of an officer. Unauthorized retention, removal, and transmission of classified documents. Likely more. They’ll be located and brought in. Cornwell’s estranged wife is being interviewed as we speak.”
“What about the leaked intel?” Nick asked.
“The damage caused by the leaks is another issue. We probably won’t know the extent of it for a while or any repercussions stemming from their treachery.”
Kaylee kept her face pressed against Nick’s chest for a few moments as the men continued talking, trying to compose herself. The people she worked with were supposed to have sworn an oath to their country. Not only were they traitors, they were horrible human beings. Her parents would see those fake photos. Her friends. Just because Cornwell might be arrested soon didn’t mean the pictures would go away. And what harm had he caused by leaking Top Secret documents?
Sighing against Nick, she shut her eyes. They were murmuring about the men still missing as well, Jarid Cronin and Kyle Levins, and whether they remained a threat. Kaylee didn’t think she could stomach this anymore. As the days continued to tick by, the entire situation seemed to keep getting worse, and she couldn’t help but dread whatever might be coming next.
