Chapter 2
Giva’s gaze raked Dax, once again amazed at the resemblance. The Marine was a dead ringer, a perfect doppelganger of their target. She’d known who he was the moment he’d stepped into the bar. Though he looked like Maas, he was a little too much on the rugged side.
Maas was soft and accustomed to expensive tastes and women. Dax was too grounded, down-to-earth and comfortably casual in how he walked and talked.
Hammer went on with his description of what he had in mind for the mission. “Giva, like you, is a new member of the Brotherhood Protectors International team. We specifically brought you both on board for a project that will need your special operations training, combat skills and experience working undercover missions.”
“She’s Israeli Sayeret Matkal?” Dax ran a hand through his hair, the dark circles beneath his eyes making him look more mysterious than what Giva suspected was exhaustion from the long overnight flight. “Could someone please explain to me what the hell’s going on? And who is Maas?”
Hammer glanced toward the Giva. “You didn’t tell him anything on the way over?”
Giva’s lips curled in a tight smile. “I thought it best to reveal everything once we arrived. I’ll let you do the honors.” She’d known Dax wouldn’t have believed her if she’d tried to explain any of the plans her new boss had in mind.
Hammer grimaced and faced Dax. “You might want to take a seat.”
Dax crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll stand.”
Hammer drew in a deep breath and launched. “When Hank Patterson told us what was about to go down and what we needed to do, I knew immediately that you would be the right man for the job.” He nodded toward the older man with the white hair. “Dmytro, could you bring up the big screen?”
The older man leaned over the table where a keyboard and mouse lay and ran his fingers across the keys.
“Like I said,” Hammer continued, “we need a pair of operatives with combat training and undercover experience to infiltrate a secret meeting of some of the wealthiest people on the planet. The people whose money drives world economies and politics. To get into this meeting, our operative has to be one of the filthy rich people who use their wealth and power to effect political change and decisions across the globe.”
Dax’s brow furrowed. “And who have you targeted who fits that bill?”
Giva almost smiled. Here we go .
Hammer nodded at Dmytro.
When the older man clicked the mouse, half a dozen images of a couple appeared on the giant monitor at the far end of the conference table.
Dax squinted at the display, took several steps forward and froze.
Giva knew when he zeroed in on the woman in the red dress, a close copy of what she was currently wearing.
Dax looked from the photograph to Giva and back.
“Is that you?” he asked.
The other woman who’d been standing with Hammer stepped forward. “No. That woman is Sasha Royce.”
Hammer slid an arm around the woman. “Dax, this is Jasmine Nassar, my fiancée, also a former Sayeret Matkal from the Israeli Army. She’s responsible for bringing Giva on board.”
Giva gave Jaz a nod.
“When we learned we needed to infiltrate the Nexus Collective to find out what they were scheming, we examined the list of the six who’d received invitations to the upcoming gathering.” Hammer tipped his chin toward the display. “Of all the people listed, the man in these photo was the one person we had half a chance of sending.”
“Who’s the man?” Dax asked.
“Evan Maas,” Hammer said. “Born in Australia to a wealthy family, immigrated to Canada to attend university. With his high IQ, he ended up in Silicon Valley where he started a tech company that blew up overnight. He sold it for hundreds of millions at the same time he was starting other companies.”
Jasmine continued with the description of Evan Maas. “The man has a Midas touch. He made his first million before he turned thirty and his first billion by the time he turned forty. He proved he can make money, and now he wants to make his money change world politics.” She turned to Hammer with a gentle smile. “You were spot-on when you said Dax was a dead ringer.”
Hammer’s lip turned up on one corner. “And you were spot-on with Giva.”
She smiled at the other Israeli woman. “I knew the minute I saw the photos of Sasha Royce.”
“And I knew we had to test the theory,” Giva said.
Hammer gave Dax a crooked grin. “It was Giva’s idea to meet up with you at the bar instead of you coming straight here. Dmytro put the word out to the dark web that Evan Maas would meet his current woman, Sasha, at a bar in Zurich tonight incognito, without his usual bodyguards.”
“It paid off,” Giva said. “A couple of goons jumped us on our way out.”
Hammer’s eyes rounded. “Did they?”
Giva nodded. “We handled it. But your boy here was too easily led by the red dress. Got right into the car with a stranger.”
Dax glared at her. “You’d just taken down a gunman and helped me escape.”
Jasmine chuckled. “Sounds like Giva. We liked to call her Giva the Diva when we worked together in the Israeli Defense Force. She had a knack for creating drama.”
Giva shrugged. “Even if he wasn’t gullible, your man isn’t right for the assignment. He’s too rough around the edges, unrefined and gauche to be mistaken for Evan Maas.”
“Is that what the mission is?” Dax asked. “I’m to masquerade as this rich dude with Miss Haviv as my girlfriend?” He shook his head. “I know nothing about Maas, his holdings and his relationship with the other members of this so-called Nexus Collective.”
“We have a week to bring you up to speed,” Hammer said. “Our computer team?—”
“Code for hackers,” a young woman with purple hair and multiple piercings in her ears, who didn’t look like she was out of her teens, rose from a computer console. She tipped her head toward Dmytro. “The old man and I have pulled everything we can find about Maas, his holdings and his connections with the people invited to this meeting of the rich and powerful.”
“Rumor has it they’re tired of how governments are running their portions of the world and want to change it for the better,” Hammer said. “Not for the people of the world, but for their own interests, to include increasing their own coffers.”
“In effect,” Jasmine said, “pitting countries against each other to increase military and reconstruction spending.”
Dax frowned. “They can do that?”
“They’re the rich and powerful,” Giva said. “They have their government leaders in their back pockets, funding their re-elections or military coups.”
“All you two have to do is find out what they’re planning,” Hammer said. “Report back to us, and we’ll devise a plan to head it off before they start World War III.”
Dax snorted. “I thought I was coming to work as a bodyguard. You’re talking espionage, the underworld and deadly liaisons.”
Giva cocked one of her brows. “Does that frighten you, boy?”
His gaze met hers, his eyes narrowing. “If you’re not even a little scared, you’re a fool.” He turned to Hammer. “I’m in.”
Giva’s eyes widened before she quickly contained her shock. “I’m not sure you can learn all you need to know in one week.”
“Lady, don’t underestimate me,” he said, his lips thinning. “I’m a fucking sponge.”
“Good,” she said. “You’ll need to be for us to pull it off.”
Dax turned away from her to face Hammer. “What’s your plan to keep Maas and his girlfriend away from the meeting?”
Hammer grinned. “We intercepted the invitation. We have it on good authority?—”
“Dark web,” the purple-haired woman said.
Hammer nodded. “Maas is on a personal hiatus to one of his islands. Mega-star Sadie McClain and her husband are vacationing with Maas and his girlfriend with the express directive that they do so off-grid. No paparazzi, phones or internet for two whole weeks. So, we have one week of prep and one week of the meeting of the Nexus Collective to get the information we need.”
“Why are you bringing me into this so late?” Dax asked. “
Hammer held his hands out, palms up. “We only got wind of this two days ago. Dmytro happened to be surfing the dark web when he found information on a meeting of the Nexus Collective.” Hammer nodded toward Dmytro.
Dmytro’s brow twisted. “Curious, I followed the thread down the rabbit hole.” He shook his head. “The displaced Russian oligarchs were tired of having their assets frozen, and certain nation leaders weren’t acting the way they thought they should to free their funds. The rumors had it they were planning something big that would impact the world. The phrase World War III was thrown around.”
“Dmytro brought the information to me; I passed it to Patterson,” Hammer said. “We pieced together the names of oligarchs and some of the world’s wealthiest that were included in the discussion. That’s when we sat down and studied the list and came up with Maas as the youngest of the old guys—the one person among them we might be able to replicate and distract.”
Jasmine smiled. “Hank’s wife, Sadie McClain, jumped in with both feet, securing a commitment from Maas for an island vacation. Maas funded the production of one of her highest-grossing films. He’s been on set throughout the shoot, giving him and his girlfriend time to bond with Sadie. When she learned he was one of the Nexus Collective, she offered to help distract him and allow our team to infiltrate and learn.”
“We intercepted the invitation going out to Maas before he received it,” Dmytro said.
“In turn, we responded that Maas would attend with his girlfriend in tow,” Hammer said. “I had an idea who could fill in for Maas.”
“Me,” Dax stated.
“And I knew who looked close enough in appearance to Sasha to pull it off,” Jasmine said.
“We just had to bring our Evan and Sasha together and get their buy-in,” Hammer said.
“Now that we’re both here,” Dax said, “when do we start?”
“Tomorrow morning, bright and early,” Giva said.
“I’ll be ready,” Dax said.
“Good,” Giva said. “You need a lot of work.”
Dax’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid of work.”
Giva nodded. “Good.” She pushed to her feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get out of these heels.”
“And Dax,” Hammer said, “since we let it out that Maas was in Zurich, you’ll need to keep a low profile. Hide your face, don’t go into crowded places without some sort of disguise.”
Dax’s mouth twisted. “Anything else?”
“You’ll also need to get to know each other well,” Jasmine said.
“That’s right,” Hammer said. “Sasha and Maas are close and display a lot of PDA,” he nodded toward the big screen, “as you can tell by the photos.”
Giva frowned. “PDA?”
“Sorry, PDA is a military acronym.” Hammer’s lips twisted. “Public displays of affection. You’ll have to look like you’re a couple. You know, give the impression you like each other, not like you’d rather use each as target practice with daggers.”
Giva frowned at Dax. “You might be good at combat, but can you fake emotions? This job isn’t like pretending to be a drug dealer or a member of the Italian mafia. You’ll have to convince the five other wealthy men you’re grooming me to be the fifth Mrs. Maas.”
“He’s been married four times?” Dax asked.
“That’s right,” Hammer said. “You have homework to do. You’ll need to commit to memory the names of all his ex-wives and the children he spawned with each.”
“As well as the names and purposes of at least his current companies making him boatloads of money,” Giva said. “Add to that the names of the Nexus Collective and what they bring to the table, along with what politicians or country leaders they own.” She cocked a brow in his direction. “Are you up for that?”
“He’s a quick study,” Hammer said before Dax could answer. “He can start in the morning.”
“He’ll need a new wardrobe,” Giva glanced at Dax’s black button-down shirt and slacks that fit him well and made him appear a little dark and mysterious—but not what Maas would wear. “Do we have a budget? Maas only wears the very best. He loves to flaunt his wealth.”
“Hank assures me we can gear up with whatever we need to make it work,” Hammer said. “The magnitude of influence these men wield could be catastrophic.”
“Then we take our boy shopping tomorrow,” Giva said.
Dax’s brow dipped. “I can do my own shopping.”
“Maas and Sasha are known to spend time in Zurich,” Lucie called over her shoulder from the computer console she’d drifted back to. “I’ve cross-checked charges on his credit cards to the businesses where he spent the most money while in Zurich. Besides the Lamborghini dealer, there were several clothiers with big charges, both from men’s and women’s establishments.”
Giva frowned. “We can’t take any chances on picking the wrong outfits. Maas is very particular. The fashion magazines stalk him and Sasha. I insist on going with you.”
Dax nodded. “Okay.”
Giva’s frown deepened. “You capitulated too easily.”
“You can come with me.” He gave her a tight smile and added, “On one condition…”
Giva lifted her chin. “And that is?”
“I’m going with you when you suit up. I imagine Maas knows what he likes on his woman.” His lips quirked upward. “Besides, that will give us time to practice our PDA. Unless you think pretending to be in love with me is too difficult.”
Giva bristled. She’d more or less accused him of the inability to act like they were lovers. As soon as Dax had suggested they practice their PDA, Giva had tensed. In dread or anticipation?
She wouldn’t give herself an answer to that. Dax was a handsome man. Maas was, too, being a near copy of Dax. But Maas didn’t have that rugged nonchalance and subtle confidence of a Marine.
Hass gave the impression that he would demand respect rather than earn it.
Giva appreciated a man who wore his self-confidence like another layer of skin, naturally.
Hammer said. “We’re here to drill you both on the information you’ll need to know. We have a few days before the meeting commences. Let’s make the most of that time. Any questions?”
Dax nodded. “Where are they meeting? Here in Zurich?”
Hammer shook his head. He opened his mouth to formulate his answer,
Giva beat him to the punch. “Dubrovnik, Croatia.”
Dax met Giva’s gaze. “Why Dubrovnik?”
She shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the three main leaders of this summit.”
“The top two are the ones to look out for,” Lucie called out. “Vitaly Rabinovich and Yuri Kagalovsky. Both Russian. Made their money the old-fashioned way by threatening the politicians or funding their leaders’ special projects, including the Russian mokroye delo or ‘wet work.’”
Dax’s brow creased. “Isn’t that when they threaten to do harm or kill family members if their target doesn’t commit suicide?”
“That’s right,” Lucie said without looking up from her monitor. “There’s also Marco Galeotti, a shipping magnate with real estate all over the world and links to the Italian Mafia.”
“The point is, besides those three heading this meeting, there will be a number of wealthy people there who are equally dangerous,” Hammer said.
“And if our true identities are discovered, they’ll kill us?” Dax concluded.
Hammer nodded. “You don’t have to take the assignment. I can find someone else; it’ll just take longer. We might miss the opportunity to discover what they’re up to and if the rest of the world should be concerned.”
“And what we can do about it,” Jasmine said. “If anything.”
“What I’m hearing is that you want Ms. Haviv and I to get in, listen and get out with a clear idea of what kind of scheme or schemes they’re cooking up.”
Hammer nodded. “We’ll send bodyguards with you and Ms. Haviv. It fits with Maas and his woman. The man makes enough money, he could purchase Zurich’s entire city center. He’d have an entire entourage of security personnel. Since we’re not fully staffed, Hank’s sending some of the protectors from the Montana and Yellowstone offices. They should be here late tomorrow.”
“I take it the bodyguards will be checked at the meeting doors, along with significant others,” Dax said. His gaze met Giva’s.
She gave him a brief nod. “You’d be on your own for the actual meeting. They’ll consider me arm candy. While you’re inside with the men, I could circulate with the women and listen to the bodyguards talk in case they have been clued in.”
“ If any of the others bring their women,” Hammer said. “Your bodyguards might also mingle with the bodyguards of the other oligarchs,” Hammer said. “They’ll be on full alert. If things go south, they will do their best to get you and Ms. Haviv out of there. It’s all up in the air until Maas gets the text with the instructions. We’ll have a jet boat in the Dubrovnik harbor, and vehicles staged outside the walls of Old Town.”
“Will Hank and Sadie be able to keep Maas and Sasha occupied for the duration of the meeting?” Dax asked.
Hammer nodded. “Hank said, if he had to, he’d drug the pair to keep them on the island. He also plans to sabotage the internet to keep them from attempting to get in touch with outside interests.”
“It’s hard to keep anyone from finding out anything through the internet these days,” Dax said.
Hammer’s lips pressed together. “Thus, the need to kill all access to phones and internet on the island.”
“What you need is a limited-range EMP generator,” Dax said.
A grin spread across Hammer’s face. “Knowing Hank and his tech guy, Swede, I wouldn’t put it past them to invent one for the occasion.”
All the talk had begun to bore Giva and make her anxious to get moving again. “So, Mr. Franklin, are you still in? Or is it too dangerous for your liking?”
Dax faced Giva. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily. The mission is more of a challenge than I expected, which makes it even better than I imagined.” He held out his hand to Hammer. “I’m in.”
Hammer shook his hand and nodded toward Giva. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a partner.”
Her jaw tightened as she met and held Dax’s gaze. “For the record, I prefer to work alone. Unfortunately, even if I tried, I could never pass for Maas. Just don’t get in my way.”
Dax held out his hand. “I’m sure we’ll work well together.”
Giva placed her hand in his, liking how coarse and strong it was. She let him draw her to her feet.
Before she was completely balanced on her heels, Dax gave her hand a quick yank.
She teetered on her heels and then crashed into his chest.
Dax’s arms came up around her, steadying her. Then he bent and pressed his lips to hers in a hard, fast kiss that was short but intense.
When Dax raised his head, Giva’s mind was strangely muddled. Her blood coursed through her veins so fast she thought she might black out.
His hand cupped her elbow and stared into her eyes, a warm smile spreading across his face. “Are you all right, darlin’?” he said softly.
His low, sexy tone made Giva’s pulse race and her core flare with heat.
For a moment, she forgot that she was a tough, former Sayeret Matkal who could shoot with more accuracy than the majority of the men on her team before she was discharged from the IDF. Hell, she forgot to breathe.
Her reaction to Dax and his kiss shocked her to her very core.
He released her and took a step back.
For a moment, Giva swayed. Then sanity rushed back in with a vengeance. Her hand shot out, aiming for the man’s smirk.
He caught her wrist before her palm could connect with his cheek. A dark eyebrow rose. “Is this how you treat your lover?” he murmured. Louder, he said, “We’ll have to practice a lot. You need to work on your kissing skills if anyone is to believe we’re lovers.”
The temptation to slap him again and the control it took to hold her hand fisted at her side was almost a physical pain. She lifted her chin. “You call that a kiss? I’ve kissed strangers with more feeling and conviction than that.”
“Care to put your mouth where your money is?” Dax asked.
Hammer chuckled. “You two are going to be perfect together. I was just reading somewhere that Maas and Sasha have a fiery relationship.” He slipped an arm around Jasmine’s waist. “We couldn’t have picked a better match.”
Jasmine smiled, her gaze on Dax and Giva. “Agreed. Now, you two should get some rest.
“Hank and Sadie are due to meet up with the real Maas and Sasha as we speak,” Hammer said. “Once they make it to the island and Hank puts measures in place, he’ll contact us on his satellite phone. Until then, you’re to stay in your hotel, keeping your heads down.”
“We arranged for you to share a suite under the names Sandra and Edward Hughes,” Dmytro said.
Hammer nodded. “When we get the all-clear from Hank, you can begin shopping under your fake names while word spreads that Evan Maas is in Zurich with his girlfriend. You’ll have the opportunity to play your parts in public before you travel to Croatia.”
Jasmine’s brow dipped. “Anywhere other than here in the Brotherhood Protectors Office, you need to project yourselves as Evan Maas and Sasha Royce. You never know who will be watching.”
“True,” Hammer said. “While you’re roaming through the streets of Zurich, you’ll have bodyguards surrounding you, just like the real Evan Maas. A chartered plane will take you to Dubrovnik at the end of the week to the scheduled meeting of the Nexus Collective. You’ll need to be ready.”
Dax nodded. “I will be.”
“As will I,” Giva concurred. When she’d first agreed to help Jasmine and Ace Hammerson, she’d thought the mission a slam dunk, as the Americans would say.
Her gaze swept over her soon-to-be faux-lover, Dax Franklin, a knot of dread warring with a thrill of anticipation.
Giva had been prepared for the man’s appearance. She hadn’t been ready for his warm, sexy voice and full, insistent kiss. Even though it had been fake—a part of acting the part of Evan Maas—it had affected her.
More than she cared to admit.