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Chapter Nine

Jack strode through the elegant hallway to Gina’s apartment. He still couldn’t believe he was going through with this. For every reason that tonight should go off without a hitch there were twice as many reasons why it could bite him in the ass. Gina Perot being one of them.

The database queries on her social security number only covered the last twelve years.

Thanks to the flu sweeping through his office, the analyst he’d assigned to conduct a more in-depth query was out on sick leave.

Other than piquing his curiosity, that one oddity in her lookup raised no real red flags.

Besides , by the time he got the full lookup, his association with her would be history.

He glanced at his watch. Eight sharp. Gina had better be ready.

The risk of what he was doing was astronomical.

If something went wrong tonight, he’d lose his job.

If it didn’t, and he got that bug planted in time, it would all be worth it.

Especially with the latest intel he’d received this morning from Meat about the Commission convening as early as next week.

That still didn’t stop the guilt from spreading through his system like venom. When he’d told Gina no one else gets hurt on his watch, he’d meant it. If anyone else died because of his actions, he honestly didn’t know if he could handle it.

Taking a deep inhale, he pressed the buzzer on her door.

It opened a few seconds later, and he was met by a tall, willowy African princess lookalike wearing a pink warm-up suit and who made short order of checking him out like he was a piece of meat.

Her amber eyes dipped down, then up. She smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. Model teeth. Like the rest of her.

“ You must be Jack . Come on in.” She hooked her hand around his elbow and guided him inside as if they were lifelong pals.

The door shut behind them, giving him the distinct feeling he’d just sealed his fate.

“ I’m Kinsey Prescott . Gina’s busy in the kitchen, but don’t worry.

We’ll take care of you until she’s ready. ”

Take care of me?

The woman sure smelled good, like some fancy flower. Though he preferred Gina’s more subtle vanilla-sugar scent.

Two other women, also sporting sweat suits, rose from the sofa.

Beneath the gym garb they probably wore the same skintight black getup he’d seen Gina wear the other night.

It was like working with Emma Peel and Charlie’s Angels all rolled into one.

If any of these women called him Bosley —even once—he’d cuff them just to make a point.

“ Margo Kim , Annabelle Rudolph , this is Gina’s FBI agent.” Kinsey threw him another seductive smile. “ Jack Gates .”

The woman with short, curly red hair pursed her lips and crossed her arms, plumping her bosom beneath her blue warm-up jacket. She looked ready to claw his face off. Margo , the trim blond in the brown suit, nodded, watching him silently.

They stared at him as if he were the devil incarnate. And that annoying grandfather clock in the foyer kept ticking away, grating his nerves raw. More , now than ever, he wanted to toss the thing out the window.

Kinsey tapped one finger lightly on his cast. “ I should probably apologize for that.” She gently tugged on his arm, drawing him deeper into the living room.

“ I’m the one who ran you over.” She batted her long, dark eyelashes, wearing a contrite but still flirtatious expression.

“ I swear I didn’t see you, and as I’m sure Gina explained, we had no idea who you were.

We assumed you were a mobster trying to kill her.

Surely you can see our side of the story. ”

“ Surely .” He cocked a brow. Tell that to his busted wrist and his cracked skull.

“ Now that we’ve got that settled…” Kinsey’s face lit with a smile. “ Have a seat and we can get down to business.” She urged him to sit on the love seat and plunked herself down on the sofa next to the pouting redhead.

“ Speaking of business.” Jack searched the living room. “ What’s Gina doing in the kitchen that’s so important?”

“ She’s ”— Kinsey glanced over her shoulder—“prepping. Yes , she’s prepping.”

“ Prepping ?” he asked.

“ She’s a little nervous.” Margo’s voice was even, cultured. “ Given the circumstances, surely you can understand that.”

“ Surely ,” Jack repeated. That seemed to be the word of the day. “ What’s she really doing?”

The redhead pursed her lips tighter. Margo glanced toward the kitchen.

While pressing her thumb and forefinger together, Kinsey explained, “ Gina has a teensy, weensy little fetish. It’s a chocolate thing. When she gets uptight she?—”

“ Oh , that.” Jack relaxed. For a second, he half expected Gina to ditch and run. But that didn’t really jibe with her spitfire personality. A little high-strung maybe, but he’d never peg her for a coward. Just the opposite. The woman had more guts than was safe for one person to have.

“ You know about Gina’s chocolate thing?” Annabelle’s large green eyes reminded Jack of pale limes.

“ Yeah .” He crossed his arms, mimicking Annabelle’s surly demeanor. “ I know about it.”

“ Hah !” Kinsey slapped her knee. “ You were right, Anna . The FBI really does know everything.”

He could only wish the FBI knew everything. Like when the Commission was set to vote on conferring Franco Falzone with Godfather status. That meeting would be a target-rich environment for every federal law enforcement agency on the east coast.

The redhead rolled her eyes. “ How can you find humor at a time like this?”

“ Oh , I don’t know.” Kinsey draped an arm over Annabelle’s shoulders. “ Maybe because life’s too short to always look at the downside of things.”

Annabelle slanted Kinsey an annoyed look. The brunette giggled, but he detected an undertone of sadness. Guess money really couldn’t buy everything. Like happiness.

“ So , Jack ,” Margo interjected. “ Gina briefed us on the plan, and we studied the schematics. We agree, the second-story balcony is the optimal access point, and Gina can easily pick the balcony sliding door lock and handle the rudimentary security system. Is there anything else we should know about?”

He pegged Margo as the rational, levelheaded one of the team. Kinsey , the sassy, good-natured rich girl who liked to party. And Annabelle , the pessimistic worry wart.

“ Yeah ,” Annabelle piped in on cue. “ Like whether you’ll stick to your word and let us go after you plant that insect.”

“ Bug ,” Kinsey corrected. “ It’s called a bug, not an insect. With your love of cop movies, you should know that.”

“ Bug , insect, worm, whatever.” Annabelle flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture. “ I still want an answer to my question, Jack . ”

“ Be nice to the hunky federal agent.” Kinsey winked at him.

Quantico didn’t train agents for this level of abuse.

Facing off against Gina’s sharp wit was like standing in front of a firing squad and waiting for them to shoot.

Now Annabelle wanted to slice him up for shark bait, while Kinsey looked ready to eat him for dessert.

God only knew what Margo had in mind. Winning an argument against one woman was statistically a losing proposition, let alone four of them simultaneously.

“ We don’t have a choice about this,” Margo cut in. “ We broke the law and Jack is only doing his job. Isn’t that right, Agent Gates ?”

He looked at each of the women. “ I gave Gina my word that after tonight, your obligations to the FBI are over. That promise extends to all of you.”

“ How do we know you won’t?—”

“ That’s enough, Anna !” Gina’s eyes flashed, and something silver glittered in her hand. Chocolate .

Despite his body’s involuntary shudder, he stood, a tribute to the etiquette his mother had pounded into his and his brothers’ heads to stand when a woman entered the room.

“ As Margo said,” Gina continued, “we’ve already discussed this as a group, and as a group ,” she emphasized, “we agreed to go through with this to pay our debt. There’s no need to keep rehashing things.

And don’t forget,” she said, pointing a finger at Annabelle , “you were the one who said we were bound to get caught sooner or later, and better to be caught by the good guys than by the mob.”

“ I’m starting to rethink that.” Annabelle fell back against the sofa.

“ Well , don’t.” Gina’s voice softened as she took a seat next to Kinsey .

Jack sat, noticing the other women looking expectantly at Gina , as if waiting for her next command. It was clear she wasn’t only their leader but the very heart and soul of the group.

“ We’ll do this job as professionally as all the others we’ve undertaken.” She unwrapped the silver foil-covered chocolate in her hand and tossed it into her mouth.

His stomach took a nosedive. Apparently , she’d forgotten about their truce.

“ As much as it pains me to say this,” she said, sliding her hand into her pocket and coming out with another piece of the offensive stuff, “for tonight, we take orders from Jack .” Her mouth worked as she sucked on the candy.

Jack couldn’t tear his gaze from her lips. The things he imagined her tongue must be doing to that warm, melting?—

Hell . Her words finally sank in to that mushy gray stuff between his ears. Or what was left of it. She’d actually relinquished control of this op to him. It was a good thing he was already sitting or he’d have fallen on his ass.

Kinsey cleared her throat and grinned at him, dragging his brain back on line. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Was it a tropical rainforest in here, or was it just him? He stripped off his bomber jacket and draped it on the armrest.

“ Oooh , nice toys.” Kinsey eyed the gear strapped to his belt— Glock , extra mags, expandable baton, tactical Master knife. “ Do we get to play with those?”

“ Sorry , no.” He chuckled. Kinsey was exactly the kind of woman his crazy youngest brother, Deke , would go for. Even the FBI hadn’t mellowed that kid out yet.