Page 8

M addox

“Kill the motherfucker.”

The words had never meant anything to me. Until Alfaro had said them. After that, he’d hopped on a private jet for Tahiti or where the hell ever he’d taken his family on a much-needed vacation.

Yet as horrific as the statement had been, his words combined with the torture I’d endured for days before had somehow freed the real man inside.

The one who no longer cared about anything but exacting revenge.

The moment Alfaro had walked out the door, my body had begun to thrum. No chain had been able to contain me, no assault rifle pointed at my chest.

I’d reacted to the intense training and years of fighting a war no one had any business being in.

The massacre of Alfaro’s men had been impressive, enough so I’d been awarded a medal for saving two members of my team on that cold, bleak night.

But doing so hadn’t brought me back to life.

Inside the prison walls, the hopeful lieutenant had died. In his place a monster had been born.

I fisted my mouth to keep from screaming in anger.

Gray knew me too damn well. He knew how much I’d wanted payback, but Alfaro had slipped away, the South American Cartel leader taken to safety.

It was the second biggest regret I’d had from the time I served.

Kage was the reason it wasn’t number one.

Closing my eyes, I thought about what I had to lose if I accepted the assignment. There would be no turning back.

There was no reason I’d kept the napkin and certainly none for the fact I’d sat down with a drink in my hand in front of my computer. And I had to be losing my fucking mind to be typing in the address.

But here I was, acting like I gave a damn about some woman who’d gone off halfcocked to one of the most dangerous countries in the world. People disappeared on a regular basis. When you threw aspects of the rainforest in the mix in monsoon season then you were begging for disaster.

Yeah, I knew the terrain well. I’d been tasked to lead a secret mission not long before all hell had broken loose with my unit.

Sighing, I rubbed my aching eyes as the screen was filled with a story. I read a few lines written by Charmaine, finding her writing style informative as well as creative. Okay. So what?

I skimmed a few more until I came to a video. As soon as I clicked the link, I sat forward in my chair, narrowing my eyes.

She was holding a child in her arms while several others clamored around her legs. She was inside a hospital, and the kids were obviously patients. Behind her stood a seven-foot fucking bunny in neon colors.

Since she’d done other reports on children, it was possible her bogus story had provided her with access. But Alfaro was no fool. If she started making waves, she was a dead woman.

I couldn’t care less why she was making the report.

What did catch me off guard was the flash of her eyes as she talked.

They were light gray, almost silver and in the artificial light, they appeared luminous.

As she talked, she became animated, tickling the little girl and smiling for the camera.

Her long dark hair was swept into a ponytail, swishing back and forth.

Next, my gaze was drawn to her luscious lips, the rose gloss causing an involuntary movement. I licked my bottom lip, wishing I could suck on hers. I bet she tasted like strawberries.

She had an hourglass figure, her rounded hips perfect for a man like me to grab and hold onto while I fucked her.

Her breasts were straining against a pastel pink tee shirt.

Her waist was cinched by tight black jeans.

My mouth watered as I thought about all the inappropriate things I could do to her.

And my lurid ideas had nothing to do with extracting her from her location or keeping her safe. She looked like the kind of woman I craved, someone who could take everything I had to give and dish more out. A rough and tumble kind of girl I could easily enjoying breaking.

Christ. What the fuck was wrong with me? Her insane beauty didn’t change a damn thing.

When she flashed her smile, it seemed like her long dark lashes were blinking at me.

Fuck. I closed my eyes, purposely cutting the video. This was without a doubt the last thing I needed on my plate. The very last fucking thing. Women were trouble. I sat back, rubbing the scruff on my jaw. Maybe it was time for me to shave. As if that mattered.

What in the hell was I supposed to do with this?

I tossed back a gulp of my drink, exaggerating the swallow. Gray had gone out of his way to find me. That meant this was important to him. Did it really matter he hadn’t told me everything? Maybe we weren’t in the Navy any longer, but I felt I still owed him a modicum of respect.

In truth, I owed him my life.

The screen was frozen with a damn bright smile on her face. It was as if she had the whole world by the balls.

Women like her became toys for men like Alfaro. If he had any idea she was in town and had been contacted by someone who’d betrayed him, her life was in significant danger.

Hell.

Don’t do it. You’ll regret every second.

No matter what happened, the woman would become a distraction.

An enticement.

A method of engaging in sin.

Nope. That wasn’t going to happen. I shook my head and hated that I’d always been a man who did the right thing.

At least my momma would be proud.

I yanked my phone into my hand and hit redial.

“Yeah?” Gray answered.

“I accept. On two conditions. One, the mission goes my way. And two, I want one point five million.”

Call me greedy. So the hell what? I had a feeling Ms. Douglas was going to be a royal pain in the ass.