3.

Mason pushed the door to Zain’s lair open. It was really their Intelligence and Technical department, both of which were under Zain’s purview.

“Dead man walking.” Gavin pushed his chair into Mason’s path.

“Go type something.” Mason shoved the chair and kid out of his way and kept going to the office in the back. Sweat broke out along his spine and his throat was a little dry. It was well and all to talk a good game when Hannah was in front of him, it was another to set about on a plan of insubordination.

Zain stood behind his desk, studying a tablet screen Mason couldn’t see. Zain glanced at him and nodded. Mason closed the door and took a seat, tapping out his frustration on the arm rests. Being Zain’s cousin wouldn’t get him anywhere, and Mason didn’t expect Zain to stick his neck out for him, either. From beginning to end, this was Mason’s mess.

“So, Hannah?” Zain didn’t look up.

“Yeah, what was I supposed to do?” Mason laced his fingers together to keep from fidgeting. It was one of the first things his lawyer had taught him going into the trial.

You can tell a guilty person by how many times they scratch their head or pick lint off their clothes. Don’t be a guilty person.

“I don’t know, man.” Zain put his tablet down and sat across from Mason. “Helping her move was the right thing to do, but her old man won’t see it like that.”

“I know.” And when Mr. Stevens found out about Mexico...things would get ugly. “Are you going to bust my chops?”

“I’m not saying jack shit. I don’t know what his deal is, or who he gets his intel from, but it’s not me. I never told him about what happened.”

Mason let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He’d never asked Zain outright if it was him or not. Mason hadn’t wanted to know if his cousin had spilled the beans. Because if it’d been Zain...well, it was a reality that would never happen. Zain wouldn’t lie.

“How’d he find out?” Mason stared at the desk.

“No clue. Some guys will tell their chaplain more than they should. Clearly someone out there fits that category.”

“Hannah’s going to Mexico.” Mason lifted his gaze to his cousin. “She won some tickets or something.”

Zain whistled. “Stevens will not like that.”

“I’m going with her.”

“Willingly?”

“She said she was going to go by herself. It seemed like a no-brainer.”

“There is no way Stevens will buy that you’re just going to look after her. Hell, I don’t believe it, and I know you know better than chasing that tail.”

“Would you rather her go by herself?”

“Can’t she take a friend or something?” Zain rubbed his forehead with his good hand. “Damn it. If I called and told him now, you know he’d either tell us to not let her leave—or assign a team to go and babysit her. We all know how that worked out last time.”

“I heard.”

Hannah and her father might get along like wet cats, but her old man had taught her how to shoot, defend herself, and hide. If Hannah wanted to shake a tail, her father had taught her how. Probably in the interests of giving her the tools to shake off guys like Mason, but it worked both ways. She could make it awfully hard to keep Daddy dearest from following her.

“Look, man, I don’t know which way the Admiral would go on this if things went to hell. Stevens was the first hire when we expanded. They’ve been buddies since forever. Crawford could not care—or you could be fired.”

“I know.” Mason scrubbed a hand across his jaw. There was no telling how it would go, but he was not expecting anything good to come from it.

“Is she worth it?”

“I think so.”

“You have to know so.”

“How would you know?” Mason glared at his cousin. The last girl he’d seen Zain with predated his need for a prosthetic.

Zain stared back, not a single crack in his composure. “It’s my job to watch people. I know the signs.”

“What should I do?” Mason wanted it all, the job, the girl, a life. But things hadn’t worked out for him yet. Why should they start now?

“If it were me, treat the trip like a job. Watch her. Hang with her. Let her trust you. Don’t touch her, though. Don’t cross that line. Come home and let her down easy. Say you don’t think anything is there. Man, I don’t want to see you cut off or worse...”

Zain’s stare held meaning.

Mason grimaced. He hadn’t wanted to go there. Consider that Mr. Stevens could set out to put him on point, dole out the crap jobs, the ones where it was just a matter of time until a guy died. Judging by Zain’s pointed stare, Mason had to rethink the possibility there.

What if Mr. Stevens wanted him dead for being near his daughter?

“I could go home. Parents are talking to me again.” Mason slumped in the chair. The reality of his situation was not a kind one.

“Yeah, and do what? Flip burgers?” Zain shook his head. “You’re a SEAL, man. Doesn’t matter you don’t have the uniform on. It’s who you are. Giving this up and going civvie will wreck you. I don’t want to see that happen over a girl. A nice girl. I like Hannah. If things were different, I’d be happy for you. But she’s Steven’s daughter, man. He won’t rest until he puts as much space between the two of you that he can. He’ll either make the Admiral fire you...or he’ll figure out how to make you quit. And that’s the nice way this ends. I’ve been around here for a long time, and Stevens isn’t a bad guy, but where Hannah is concerned...I wouldn’t want to chance it.”

Stevens had the power to put Mason in the kind of situation that would get him killed. What they did, the jobs they took, they weren’t safe. People died. Not often, because the Aegis Group was good at their job. But men died. Good men. And Mason could be one of them.

Was his life worth one weekend with Hannah?

Dylan cringed and glanced at his phone.

The name Cruz pulsed on the screen.

Shit.

Rogelio must have run his mouth.

Dylan briefly considered not answering the call. Most of the time it wasn’t Cruz calling anyway, it was a lackey or some other peon. Dylan could put the conversation off a little while longer until he had Hannah in his grasp. But what if it was Cruz? Did he really want to ignore the man and risk his life?

Damn the bitch.

Dylan flicked his thumb across the green Answer button.

“Hello?” He prayed it was someone else.

“Dylan.”

Fuck his luck.

Cruz.

“Hey, boss, how’s the weather?” Dylan opened the fridge, wishing he’d stashed some beer at the holding house. Instead he had a couple bottles of sedatives, some tranqs, and a few bags of designer drugs for when he’d hit a club and go fishing.

“Why is my merchandize not in the air?”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Dylan ran his hand through his hair, took a deep breath, and seized on the first thought.

“The virgin wasn’t ever part of today’s pick-up.” He paced through the house, peeking out of windows.

“What happened, Dylan?” There was a deadly edge to the calm tone. Cruz was pissed because Rogelio threw Dylan under the bus.

“There was a hiccup. It’s not a problem. She’ll be at the plane on Thursday.”

“No, she won’t. She just called and spoke to Luis to arrange her rooms and commented that she was getting her own flight.” Cruz’s voice rose steadily until he was almost yelling through the phone, the false calm shattered. “Why isn’t she on that plane, Dylan?”

Dylan winced. Fuck his luck.

“She’ll be there though. Rogelio and the others can grab her from the resort. They do that sort of thing.” It was already an established part of the business. Besides, who’d miss one more girl?

“There are already two girls scheduled for pick-up from the resort. She will make a third. That is too many. Don’t you understand, you idiot? No more than two girls can go missing from the same place or the American authorities get suspicious. How many did you send with Rogelio today? How many?”

“Three.” Dylan gulped down oxygen, his lungs burning.

“Three. Three. Where were they from?”

“They were college girls.”

“You’re fucking this up Dylan. College girls have families who care where they are. This is not what we discussed.”

“I get it, I get it, boss. I’ll fix this.”

“I want your ass here, tomorrow. You’d better have a solution or it’ll be your ass on the block. I’ve promised to deliver a virgin because you said you could make it happen.”

“She’ll be there.” One piece of ass was not worth dying over.

“You get one chance, Dylan. One. Understand?”

“Got it.”

The line went dead.

Dylan shoved his phone into his pocket and continued to pace. Hannah would go. He’d set the hook too well, and if she was confirming room reservations, she had all intent to go. She just wouldn’t be getting on a charter plane bound directly for Cruz’s facility. Details, really. But something could always go wrong.

He didn’t doubt Cruz’s threat to put his ass on the auction block. Cruz dealt primarily in women, but there were typically some younger men for the more deviant tastes. Dylan would need to make sure they grabbed Hannah without incident.

Hannah leaned across Mason, her breast brushing his arm. Her body tingled at the accidental touch, far too aware of him, the space he took up, and that he hadn’t said a single thing to her since take-off. She took the soft drink from the flight attendant, her smile firmly in place.

She would not blush.

She wouldn’t do it.

It was an accident.

But it was him.

And she had the most extreme reactions to anything involving this man.

There was the tiniest flex of Mason’s muscles, but it was the set of his jaw that gave him away. Melissa had tried to explain the kind of power that gave a woman, but words were nothing in comparison to the giddy thrill of knowing.

Other men had been attracted to her over the years, though never at the right time or when she was interested in them.

Mason liked her.

He wanted her.

And she knew it.

So why the silent treatment?

“Sleep okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Barely slept. I was up unpacking and packing.” Well, at least he hadn’t forgotten how to use those lips. She wanted to give them a real workout. Later.

“Dylan give you any trouble?” Mason sipped from his cup of water before sitting it on the tray table, still staring straight ahead. What was his deal?

“I haven’t heard from him. He’s probably moved on to someone else.” She crossed her legs and didn’t bother to tug her stretchy knit skirt down when it rode up on her thigh.

Other girls her age were having healthy sexual relationships. Why not her? She’d allowed her parents’ expectations and then her shame to keep her from living life to its fullest. Well, not anymore. She wanted to have wild, passionate sex. With Mason. And it was her choice.

She peered out through the window, mesmerized by the white, fluffy clouds.

“This is so cool,” she said.

“Have you never been on a plane before?”

“Once. When Dad took us to Canada for a thing.” She practically pressed her nose to the glass to get a peek through the clouds at the ground below. The memory of that last flight was so old, she could barely recall how her belly had flip-flopped or the pressure in her ears.

“Are you serious? You never flew to visit your dad or anything?”

“No, Dad never let us. He always said it was too dangerous, or we were better off staying home. When he was gone—he was gone and that was it.”

“What about when he was in Osaka?”

“He didn’t want us out there.” She’d given up being bitter over the time apart years ago. Her father had reasons, and she didn’t have to agree with them.

“How long would he be gone for?”

“Years, months, a lot of time was spent without him.” She shrugged. “It was usually just Mom and me.”

“Wow.”

“Considering how alike my dad and I are, it’s probably a good thing we were kept apart.” Hannah shrugged.

“Why do you say that?”

“Come on, you’ve seen us together.” She leaned on the armrest and sipped her soda.

“Only once.”

“What did it remind you of?”

“Two alley cats screaming at each other.”

“That’s how it always is. I mean, he’s my dad and I love him, but I can’t stand him, his rules or any of it.”

“Why’d you never move away?”

“Mom. When Dad uprooted her from that sleepy little town they grew up in and brought her here, she never really found where she belonged. I can’t leave her. It’s always been mom and me.” Where her father was unyielding, Hannah’s mother was kind and gentle. Hannah had learned more about being a good person simply by watching how her mother treated others than she had at a hundred Sunday school lessons her father conducted. Some people needed a book with rules to tell them how to live. All Hannah needed was her mother.

“You get that look when you talk about her.”

“What look?” Hannah’s gaze slid toward Mason.

“You smile, get this look.” He gestured at her face. “She must be a really great lady.”

“She is. You should meet her sometime.” Mom would like Mason. Granted, Mom liked everyone, but that was beside the point. Mason was special. “What do you want to do when we land?”

“Check in, get a lay of the land.” He shrugged.

“I was able to get the adjoining rooms thing ironed out last night. You sure that’s necessary?” She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed at the separate sleeping arrangement. Yeah, she wanted sex, but she also hadn’t figured out what she should tell Mason. Or if she’d tell him anything at all. Having her own space to retreat to might be a good thing.

“I’m sure the resort is safe, but I’d prefer to be able to get to you quicker if there is an incident.”

“What? Like someone’s going to kidnap me?” She rolled her eyes. “The problem with you guys is that you think everyone is out to get you, or someone you know, and we are all in danger. Live a little. Let loose. It’s a vacation, not a job, and you are not my bodyguard.”

“Hannah...” He stared at the seat in front of him. He had that look...the one where he seemed like he could chew nails.

“What? You’ve been super quiet this whole time. What gives?” She set her drink down on his tray table and glared at his profile. Was he going back on their talk? Had he changed his mind?

“I need us to go slow,” he said.

Who was the virgin here?

“I didn’t realize anything was moving.”

“It’s not—yet.” He blew out a breath and shifted, leaning toward her, his gaze latching onto her face. There was a hardness there she hadn’t yet become acquainted with. “I’m going lay it out for you. Your dad is not the most reasonable officer I’ve served under. He can be pretty unhinged at times, but he knows how to use the men he has and where their strengths are. Yes, he threatened me in the past because of you. When your dad finds out I’m here, with you, it’s going to be bad. The question is—how bad?”

“Seriously?”

How was it her father could still have a hand in her relationships? She was not a child. It was not his place. It wasn’t fair.

Rage twisted inside of her. Her dad. Mason would dump her before they’d even had a shot. All because her dad could be a dick.

“Hannah?” Mason took her hand, his touch cool, a little clammy. “Because of what we do, I have to be careful.”

“Careful?”

She wrinkled her nose.

Mason stared at her.

What could her dad do? He managed the operational side of Aegis. Which men went where... What jobs they took...

Oh, God.

He was kidding, right?

Her dad was a dick. A grade-A dick, but...that?

“You think my dad would put you in danger, because of me?” Not just danger—but death. She’d attended the funeral of every man and woman who died as a result of the often dangerous jobs the company was hired to do.

Mason didn’t respond.

He didn’t need to.

Her father wasn’t evil, but where she was concerned, he’d never been rational. She didn’t fall in line. And that made him crazy sometimes.

“Mason.” She covered her mouth. Why hadn’t she thought of it like that? “We need to go home.”

“It’s too late.” He squeezed her hand.

She stared at him.

He’d known when he said yes that this could happen. That his life could be put in danger. He’d known—and he’d said yes. He could get hurt, or worse, and he’d still come with her. What kind of a selfish bitch was she?

“Why did you let me talk you into this?” She clung tight to his hand.

“Because...I couldn’t let you go.”

She pried her hand from his and sat back in her seat, clutching the armrests until her knuckles hurt. Her father wasn’t evil, he wasn’t a terrible person. His only crime was being a stubborn ass and loving her too much. They had their problems. They fought. But those arguments had never spilled over onto anyone else—until now.

Mason’s life wasn’t worth proving a point to her father.

Mason yanked the connecting door open and stalked into his room, Hannah haunting his every step.

“We can go home. No one would know we even left.” Her voice was strained, and his mind filled in the pinched, anxious cast of her features. It was the same way she’d stared at him for the last hour of the flight.

Was it seriously news to her that her old man was completely unhinged when it came to his daughter? Stevens wasn’t a bad commanding officer, though his official title was Director of Operations, or some other corporate-sounding bullshit. All the guys knew that in their rank of command, the only two people who could overrule Stevens were the Admiral and Mama Dean, who ran their medical needs. No one crossed the retired surgeon, not even the Admiral, and Mama Dean didn’t interfere until someone had holes punched in them.

Mason walked his room, which was a mirror image of the one Hannah would be in. The resort wasn’t in Cancun, which was a hundred miles away, but in a newer tourist trap. The reviews had the normal range from glowing to shit-hole. What bothered Mason was the relatively clean bill of health given by the city’s police. He wasn’t buying that report. Not even the big vacation spots had such glowing statements of safety from the cops.

“Hannah. Stop.” Mason didn’t mean to snap, but he couldn’t take another minute of her spit-balling ideas for how to get home and pretend yesterday had never happened.

They’d kissed, and damn it, he wanted to kiss her again. But he had to be sure it was what they both wanted.

He turned around and stopped. Hannah had a white knuckle grip on her other hand. God, he was an ass. She was more worried about him than anything else, and here he was practically yelling at her.

“Come here.” He wrapped her in his arms, rubbing at the tension in her back. She was so tall he could actually rest his cheek against the top of her head.

Bit by bit, the tightness in her shoulders relaxed and her arms curled around his waist.

He closed his eyes and inhaled the smell of her hair, the shampoo she used, and whatever fruity, spicy scent she’d sprayed herself with. Neither spoke. The only sound in the suite was the whoosh-crash of the waves outside and the faint tunes of a radio somewhere.

“Too many people know we left today. There’s no point denying we’re here,” he said.

Thanks to Hannah’s roommate, they’d scored earlier flights, too, so the day wasn’t wasted.

“Then what do we do?” Her voice broke, the sound yanking at his heart. “I can’t talk to Dad about this. It’ll just make it worse. But if he hears about it from someone else, he’ll be angry, too.”

“Zain had a few ideas for how to spin me being here to look like a protection detail.” Though Mason had come up with the idea, it was a hollow lie. Maybe Zain would have better luck spinning a truth out of that lie. Because they both knew what would happen if Mason and Hannah were left alone together. He wasn’t going to stop it from happening, and judging by the way she’d locked lips with him, her sense of control was pretty thin, too.

“So we just—what?” Hannah pulled back, squinting up at him. “Hang out for a couple days and go home?”

“Pretty much.” Then he’d have to figure out how to pack up all these feelings and ship them off to some far-flung corner of his mind and hope he could forget about the way she kissed, the marks her nails had left in his shoulders... Yeah, he was fucked.

“That seems like a long, drawn-out, miserable goodbye.” The frown lines around her mouth deepened.

Salt meet wound.

Hannah turned away, walked a couple steps toward the adjoining door. She pivoted to face him, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t want goodbyes, Mason. I can accept that for your safety, we need to stay away from each other. But here? It’s just us. No one else.”

“What did you think was going to happen when we got here?” He prowled closer, closing the distance between them. Hell, it was all he’d been able to think about on the plane.

They had five days. Five days in Mexico without anyone else around.

He hooked a finger under the thin strap of her tank top and tugged. She rocked forward on the balls of her feet, practically vibrating with stubborn tension.

“Five days, Hannah.” He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. The zing of awareness had his cock straining against his zipper. He lifted his head, refusing to allow himself get lost in her just quite yet. “I need to check in with Zain.”

If possible, the heat behind her glare intensified until he wasn’t sure if she wanted to smack him or fuck him.

Hannah pushed him back and slammed the adjoining door closed. He didn’t stop her. They’d been sandwiched together for the last five hours, maybe what they needed was a little space. Perhaps when she got a moment to breathe she’d come to her senses and realize he was too much effort, too much like her father, and change her mind. If not, they were going to have five glorious days spent in bed. Hell, maybe they should have stayed home. It wasn’t like he had plans to let her out from under him for long.

Mason grabbed his bag from where he’d tossed it through the door earlier and dropped it on the bed. He jammed his phone between his ear and shoulder while it rang.

“Sit rep?” Zain said.

“Hello to you, too,” Mason grumbled. He adjusted his aching dick and pushed thoughts of Hannah out of his mind.

“You guys get there okay?”

“Yeah, place looks good. Spotted a dozen resort security on my way in so I’d say we’re fine. We’ll just stay on the resort.”

“Bit of bad news for you.”

“Yeah?” Mason’s gut tightened.

“Hannah’s roommate tagged her in some post about leaving on a jet plane—”

“And Stevens has already called you, wanting to know where she is?”

Zain blew out a breath.

“It’s okay.” Mason could feel the proverbial noose tightening around his neck.

“I’m putting him off until tomorrow morning, but expect a phone call. Or a unit.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Man, have a little fun while you’re there, okay?”

“This coming from the man who plays with dolls for fun?”

“Action figures—and I don’t play with them. I collect them, fuck you very much.”

“No thanks, I’m not into dudes or family.”

Mason and Zain’s laughter mingled over the airwaves.

“Seriously, there’s nothing you can do about Stevens finding out, so you might as well have fun. Maybe not the kind of fun he thinks you’re having, but at least drink a cocktail or whatever it is you do down there.”

“Coming from the man who never takes a vacation...”

“I’ve seen them in movies. Looks boring. Gotta go.”

“Later, man, thanks.”

Mason hung up and tossed the phone on the bed.

Shit.

He scrubbed a hand across his face and grabbed his toiletry bag. Brushing his teeth never ceased to knock at least one idea loose. He squirted paste on the brush and stared at his reflection while working the bristles over his teeth.

It wasn’t a question of right and wrong. There was nothing wrong about him and Hannah being together—there was just her father. Mason’s future. And where the two intersected. If he had other skills, some other way of supporting himself, he could live with saying goodbye to Aegis, but he had nothing. Just the stuff he learned in the SEALs, and the Navy didn’t want him. Not after what had happened. So where did that leave him?

With a hard-on and an empty bed, that was where.

The adjoining door jiggled. He stuck his head out of the bathroom and watched it open.

Hannah stood in the doorway in some kind of see-through, loose dress thing. He had to do a double take to realize she was actually wearing some kind of peach-colored bikini under the cover-up.

Fuck him sideways.

The only reason a woman wore an outfit like that was to get laid.

He was screwed no matter how he split this. The only question was, did he want to regret what he’d never had, or not being able to keep it?