Page 28 of Covert Temptation (SEAL Team Blackout Charlie #4)

She sliced a hand through the air as agitation took over.

“It’s true! I never slept with any of those men who came to watch me dance.

I have no idea how many people have seen me practically naked, but I’ve only had sex with three—you being one of them.

And the other two were boyfriends I didn’t meet at the club. ”

His lips compressed as redness streaked up his tanned neck. “I don’t understand, Kennedy. How does someone like you end up on a stage? You’re smart.”

“Gee thanks, Dante. Could it possibly be that on paper, two parents in a household looks peachy, but in reality, they were abusive to each other and me too? Dad drank because he was an asshole. Mom drank to survive him being an asshole. They knew how work the system, earning just enough money to get by. And that meant I was on my own when it came to college. No fast-food job was going to make ends meet.”

He sliced his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It was cliché but effective. I never considered the consequences of my choices or how they might prevent me from actually achieving my dreams.” She swallowed against the lump thickening her throat, but her voice was still small.

“I never considered how it would affect a relationship with someone I cared about.”

His chest heaved with the deep breath he took. “I hear what you’re saying.”

“I don’t know how you got this information, but I promise you, I made sure it was buried deep. Untraceable.”

He stared at her for a heavy beat. “How did you make sure it was buried?”

“I paid somebody to erase it from my past.”

“Someone has access to it, Kennedy. And that puts all of us at risk—you, me, Alyssa, my team .” He gave a swift shake of his head. Agitation poured off him in waves in direct opposition to other waves she felt coming from him earlier that night.

Everything had shifted. Changed.

She wanted to scream, but she wanted to cry. “I don’t know how that happened, Dante. You have to believe me.”

He gave her a long, searching look. “We have work to do then. We have to find out how this all happened. And that means you have to be completely honest with me going forward. Nothing omitted.”

She gulped, fighting tears, and nodded.

What came next? She couldn’t see the path ahead. The fingers had been pointed at her for so long, and she always fought against the claims. Now she had to wonder if she really had unknowingly played a role in hurting those she cared about most.

Dante…

It sliced her deep to think that she might lose him over this.

She took a step toward him, catching hold of his hand. Squeezing his fingers.

“I need a moment to think,” he said.

Her heart sank. “I get it.”

“I’m going to get us some food. Twenty-four-hour pizza?”

She gave him a watery smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Surprise me.”

He leaned in and dropped a quick peck to her forehead. “I care about you.”

Her lungs burned.

“Deeply,” he added.

She searched his gaze and saw the truth glimmering in the depths of his eyes. “I care about you too. It’s why I would never do anything to hurt you. Or Alyssa. Or the team.”

He nodded. “I’ll be back soon. Okay?”

She released his hand. He turned and walked out. She heard the front door open and close.

The safe house was dark, just like her hope of going forward with Dante, the man she wanted so much more with.

In a flash, she saw the future they might have had—one filled with quiet moments, stolen kisses, and a love as steady as Alyssa and Julian’s. She wouldn’t be alone anymore…and neither would he.

Maybe it wasn’t all lost. He wasn’t running to turn her in. And that had to mean something.

The sound of the front door opening jolted Kennedy like a shock to the spine.

Her heart punched into her ribs, and she scrambled across the room barefoot, the cold wood floor grounding her in motion.

He came back.

Dante.

Her pulse thudded faster—too fast—and not just because of the confrontation they’d had. She was ready to fight for him—for them. She was ready to say and do anything it took to make him see that she wasn’t a liar, not really. She was just a girl who had survived things the only way she knew how.

The hinges gave a soft creak.

She padded quickly into the hallway—ten steps. Her feet barely making a sound. “Dante—”

But the man standing there wasn’t Dante.

She stopped short.

The man standing in the safe house wasn’t familiar. Not even a little. He was massive, built like a wrecking ball with a buzz cut and pale eyes that didn’t move fast, because they didn’t need to.

Her breath caught.

He shut the door behind him gently, deliberately, like he’d infiltrated safe houses a thousand times. The soft click of the latch might as well have been the slam of a prison gate.

Something icy slithered down her spine.

He didn’t say anything.

Neither did she.

Her feet moved instinctively, one step back. Then another. Until the wall pressed against her spine.

There was no mistaking what was happening.

Cipher was coming after her.

The man looked her over like she was just a task on a list to be checked off. “Do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?”

His voice was deep, coarse, like sandpaper over stone. It wasn’t a question as much as a statement. Either way, the outcome was the same.

Her brain snapped into overdrive. He blocked the way to the back door—eight steps. Even in nine steps, the window would take too much time.

Her chest rose and fell with short, shallow breaths.

She should fight.

She should run—twenty-three steps to the front door. Too many to make before he caught her.

She was so tired.

Of everything.

No one believed her, and she was alone.

Her arms dropped to her sides, a strange calm descending over her like fresh snow. “The easy way.”

His expression didn’t change, but he gave the smallest nod, like he respected the choice. Or expected it.

“Let me get my boots and coat.”

She crossed the living room slowly. He watched her but didn’t move to make her hurry.

After she slipped on her boots and coat, she grabbed her purse from the living room.

He watched her, eyes flicking to the bag. Just a glance. But it was enough.

Kennedy let out a slow breath and smiled—tight, joyless. “Guess I won’t be needing this.”

She tossed it onto the couch. She wasn’t going to make it far, anyway. Wherever they were going, it wouldn’t require a wallet or lip gloss.

An SUV idled at the end of the drive, the engine low and patient.

She stepped outside. The wind bit through her coat and whipped strands of hair into her mouth. She didn’t wipe them away.

The man opened the door, and she climbed in without being told.

A moment later, he slid behind the wheel.

She kept her eyes ahead as they started down the road. They had just reached the intersection of the road to the safe house and the road going through town when a flicker of movement made her glance out the side window.

Her breath caught.

Dante.

There was no way he’d had time to get food, which meant he was coming back for her.

Only it was too late.

Panic and pain speared Kennedy. Through a flood of tears obstructing her vision, she stared through the glass.

Her throat constricted. God, he was beautiful. He was the only man who ever treated her like she mattered. Like he might be falling just like she was.

Tears blurred her vision.

I found someone, she wanted to scream. I found someone who makes me feel alive again—and now I’ll lose him too.

As the SUV sped down the road and took the corner, Dante disappeared from her view, and with him, everything good she’d finally found.