Page 1 of Traitorous Lies (Prey Security: Charlie Team #6)

Chapter

One

This was the absolute last thing in the world Jax Holloway wanted to be doing right now.

Running through an empty field with no cover while a dozen people were shooting at him, he’d rather be there.

Swimming all the way back Stateside from France wearing nothing but his underwear, he’d rather do that.

Hell, he’d rather jump out of a plane without wearing a parachute, and he had a thing about heights.

Anything but this.

The tuxedo he wore felt too tight against his skin, even though he knew it had been custom-made for him and in fact fitted perfectly. He just wasn't this guy, he didn't get dressed up like this, didn't mix with the rich and famous, and didn't prance around in a suit at charity galas.

But tonight he had no choice.

He had to be there. Had to suck up the uncomfortable feeling of the tux and Jack-o-lantern mask he’d been given to wear when he arrived at the gate of the estate.

If he had any other option, he’d snatch it up like a dying man would a cracker, but the truth was he and his family were fresh out of options.

It was this or nothing.

And it couldn’t be nothing.

So, he was here, surrounded by men dressed in tuxedos similar to his own, and women in fancy ballgowns that looked like something right out of a fairytale. Classical music played, and he caught sight of a pianist and small string ensemble on the other side of the huge dance floor.

Couples glided across it, laughing and chattering away, and he prayed he didn't have to attempt to dance tonight.

It wasn't that he didn't know how to dance, he did, he was actually quite a good dancer, but it was bad enough having to be there.

The last thing he wanted to do was take his mark for a spin like he wasn't there to essentially ruin her life.

Monique Kerr.

Twenty-six years old, shoulder-length brown hair, smoky gray eyes, and a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

Only daughter of Samson and Mary Kerr. Mother walked out on her when she was only two years old.

Raised by a single father who, from all intents and purposes, sheltered her and spoiled her rotten.

That was his mark.

Truth be told, he wasn't particularly comfortable with having to fly all the way over to France to attend this Halloween ball just to make contact with her.

Not just because the whole setup was so far out of his normal life that he had little to nothing in common with the people attending, but because this woman hadn't done a single thing wrong.

While Jax was sure Monique was every bit the spoiled, rich princess he expected her to be, she had committed no crime, and done nothing to facilitate Prey Security’s interest in her other than having the misfortune of being related to Samson Kerr.

Her father, on the other hand …

The crimes the former US Ambassador to Egypt had committed were many and varied.

And they affected Jax’s family personally.

Which is why he was there. Sucking up wearing the uncomfortable tux, and the mask that made him feel too hot and like he couldn’t breathe. It was why he would make contact with the Kerr princess as soon as he laid eyes on her, and why he’d do his best to charm her into agreeing to leave with him.

Once he got her alone, he wasn't quite sure what his next move would be. He was alone in Europe while his brother, four stepbrothers, stepsister, and all his brothers’ girlfriends were tucked safely away with Prey’s Delta Team.

The men from Delta were … different. And after the last several months, with his family suffering from attack after attack, it was good to know that the people he loved were somewhere they’d be safe.

But it left him, as the one still single other than his younger stepsister, on his own in France to do a job he didn't feel the least bit qualified for. Sure, he’d served at a SEAL before leaving to join Prey’s Charlie Team with the rest of his brothers, taking the spot that had been left empty after a former Prey employee went completely off the rails, but never in either of his careers had he had to seduce a woman for information.

It left him feeling … dirty.

Spoiled or not, Monique didn't deserve this.

While there was a chance she knew her father was the kind of man who would rape a woman, who would ruthlessly go after women and children just to attempt to keep his involvement in a conspiracy to frame two innocent people for treason, that didn't make her complicit in any crimes.

And he had no doubt that she wasn't complicit, she was too young to have been involved in the near quarter of a century old rape, and two decades old conspiracy.

There was even a chance she’d been a victim herself of her father’s cruel whims.

Seducing her to try to get the location of where her reclusive father was hiding out was wrong on so many levels, and yet, what other choice did he have?

This was more than just about finally clearing his father and stepmother’s names, it was more even than getting revenge, it was about literally saving the lives of the people he loved.

Ever since his stepbrother Cooper’s trip to Egypt back in July, it had been one assault after another on his family.

First, his stepbrother Cole’s neighbor had been violently assaulted because these people mistakenly believed her to be Cole’s girlfriend.

The two were together now, but back then, Cole hadn't even liked Susanna.

Before his family could begin to get their feet beneath them again, his stepbrother Connor’s trip to Cambodia to attempt a reconciliation with his ex, Becca, had left the couple fighting for their lives.

Immediately after that, his stepbrother Cade’s four-year-old daughter, Esther, and the girl’s nanny, Gabriella, had been abducted.

Thankfully, both had survived and now the three of them were a family and expecting a baby.

Then just ten days ago, his brother Jake and Jake’s best friend and now girlfriend, Alannah, had almost been killed after being lost at sea.

Enough was enough.

There was no way he could stand by and do nothing when his family kept being threatened repeatedly.

Just because they’d been lucky so far and none of them had died, they’d all been left with physical and psychological wounds that couldn’t even begin to heal because they were all on edge, wondering when the next assault would come.

If using an innocent woman to try to put a stop to it was the only way, he had to take it. No matter how uneasy it left him feeling.

Besides, it wasn't like he would take things all the way. Jax had no plans on having sex with Monique, would try to keep any touching to a minimum, and would do his best to make sure he didn't even kiss her. The last thing he wanted was for her father’s games to add another victim to the tally.

All he had to do was make contact, convince Monique to leave with him, and then get her talking to find out where her father was hiding.

After that, he could send her on her way, and she’d walk away with at most a bit of a bruise to her ego.

Which he was sure for a woman like Monique, with the entire world at her fingertips, was not going to leave behind any lasting scars.

It sounded so easy in his head, Jax just had to hope it turned out to be that easy in real life.

Behind him, the most exquisite laugh tinkled like bells.

The sound seemed to slam into him with the force of an explosion, leaving him equally as groggy and confused .

Only the pain centered in just one appendage. The one made for pleasure as the sweet, musical sound had him growing rock hard.

No, no, no, no, no.

He absolutely could not allow himself to be attracted to anyone tonight. And he had the most horrible sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew exactly who the magical laugh belonged to.

Still, Jax clung to denial as he slowly turned around, doing his best to shift his pants slightly to make the growing bulge less obvious.

As soon as he turned, he knew this already unwanted mission had just become a whole lot more complicated.

Because the woman with the laugh was Monique Kerr.

In person, she was a whole lot more stunning than she’d been in the photos he’d seen as he prepped to fly to France and seduce her.

Her pretty gray eyes twinkled like stars, her hair was twisted up into some fancy bun, and she wore an honest-to-goodness tiara with what he was positive were real diamonds.

Her ball gown was two shades off white, making her look like a fairy princess getting married.

But it was her smile that hit him the hardest.

It was bright, it was beautiful, and it was aimed at him because she’d very nearly walked right into the back of him.

Their eyes connected, and something passed between them.

From the faint blush that stained her cheeks, Jax knew she felt it too, and from the way her smile grew wider, he knew that this op just got a whole lot easier because seducing the pretty Kerr princess was going to be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

That should make him feel better, but instead, it left him feeling sick.

October 31 st

8:03 P.M.

You can do this.

You’ve done it before so you can do it again .

The little pep talk did little to ease Monique Kerr’s nerves and served only to distract her to the point where she almost walked right into the back of someone.

Trust her to do something so silly.

Despite growing up in a wealthy family where attending social functions just like this one was par for the course, she could never really get used to it.

Dressing up had been fun when she was a kid, but now it was more than a little embarrassing.

All the time, Monique kept waiting for someone to announce her as the fraud that she was.