Prologue
HE SCANNED THE AREA to the east of the village. The fucking newest royal couple visiting the camp couldn’t have come at a worse time. You got a US Official there as part of some damn mission and two countries in the middle of a war because, well, the one side didn’t like anyone who didn’t believe in their cause. Nope, not a good time at all. The call had come in three days ago that something was going to go down, something big that would make the Americans look like the bad guys, again. Newsflash fuckers, America already looked bad in the eyes of the world. However, that didn’t stop them from sending him and his team out to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, where the temperatures reached triple digits during the day. Nobody gave a single fuck about any of that. What they cared about was ensuring the royals, who had arrived yesterday, lived long enough to get the fuck out of the village, without a national incident being blamed on America. The US official had his own team watching his six, which was ironic since he and his team weren’t privy to who and or where they were. Hollywood was pretty sure he’d seen something earlier on the other side of the village but wouldn’t swear on his life.
Movement caught his eye. He adjusted his scope, sighted in what he hoped like fuck he wasn’t seeing. “Don’t be what I think you are,” he murmured. For the last forty-six hours and eleven minutes he’d been lying in the same spot without moving. The sandy hill offered very little coverage except a few sparse bits of foliage he and his team had burrowed under; their clothing matched the land almost perfectly. Hollywood was used to being patient during a mission, had known he’d have to hold his position for an extended period of time. The rest of his team were spread out a little farther back in case he needed them. If that happened it, all Hell would break loose, something their government was hoping to avoid at all costs. It was why they were sent in to do the dirty work nice and quiet like. Get in, take out a target, or rescue the mark without incident and come home. If you don’t make it back, that sucks for you but don’t go thinking they’re going to admit what happened to the world.
Time slowed as he tracked the young girl’s progress toward the village, her bare feet kicking up dust behind her. He shut down everything else around him, focusing on her. Long black hair gleaming in the sun overhead. Her dress was white, too white, billowing out behind her. Through the scope, he noticed the protrusion on her chest. Where she should be flat since she couldn’t be more than ten, a fucking kid like his little sister. Only this girl walked with determination and clearly had something under her dress that wasn’t natural, boxy in appearance.
“Hollywood, you got eyes on the girl?” The question was barely a whisper in his ear.
He took a deep breath, knowing he only had two minutes to line the shot up before all Hell would break lose. They’d chosen him to take the shot because not many could hit a target over a mile away with accuracy. He could, every time. “Yeah, I got her. She’s packing.”
“Thirty seconds and then our window close for the in and out without incident.” Lieutenant Diamond was calm like always. Hollywood would hate to see the man pissed.
Hollywood didn’t respond, his team trusted he’d make the shot in time. Instead, he watched the young girl as she walked forward, noticing the way her hands bunched at her sides into little fists. He zoomed in on her face, seeing a tear roll down her cheek. “I’m sorry, little girl.” He didn’t say the words out loud. With one small adjustment to the scope, he took a breath and squeezed the trigger. Many would’ve began moving away. He wasn’t made that way. With the scope still in position, he watched as her body jerked and then fell, almost gracefully to the ground. Some thought he stayed to admire his work, but the truth was, he felt he owed it to those lives he’d taken. It was his way of showing them respect , sort of like saying goodbye. Fucked up maybe, but it was his last moment with their souls.
“You done doing your last rights and shit, Hollywood? Maybe we should’ve called you Priest instead of Hollywood. Come on, we need to move before they start looking for your ass. You may be further out than they’d think a shooter should be, but they’ll start casting a net. Let’s move it,” Lieutenant Diamond barked.
With his clothing soaked in sweat and grime, and other shit he’d had to lay in from over forty-six hours of being in the same spot without moving, he broke his rifle down quickly and silently. Once he had his precious in the sand-colored case, he eased backward, ensuring he didn’t make much more than a slight shift in the earth. He’d just earned the right to head back to the states, he hoped.
Chapter One
TWO WEEKS LATER...
“What do you mean you’re pregnant?” Hollywood asked Angel. He could feel his world spinning out of control, and he’d only been in California for a handful of days after being debriefed in North Carolina at Fort Bragg. His Lieutenant had given him a heads-up last night to get his shit together and be back in forty-eight hours for another mission, he had no time for this shit.
“Scott, don’t make me repeat myself,” Angela pleaded, her dark eyes swam with unshed tears.
Fuck, he was always careful, and they hadn’t fucked in over seven, maybe eight months. She didn’t look like she was ready to have a baby or close to it. He did a mental calculation as to when the last time he’d been in California and when they’d slept together. She’d be closer to eight months. When he’d tossed the condom, he knew for a fact it hadn’t broke or leaked.
“Say what?” He stared down at her dark head and her too thin frame. Aside from her medically enhanced chest, she didn’t look any different. He was sure she’d have a belly if she was as far along as she was supposed to be if she was carrying his child. She was confusing the fuck out of him, and he wasn’t a stupid man.
“I need your help. You said you’d always be there if I needed you, and—I need you now more than ever.” Angela moved forward, brushing her body against his.
He lifted his arms, gripping her biceps in his palms. “Dammit, Angel, don’t. We’ll get to your announcement in a minute. Are you on one of those stupid ass diet fads again?” When he’d first met her, she’d been a couple years older than him without an ounce of shyness. She’d been a fucking bombshell who knew how to use her body to get what she wanted. His friends called her a dark-haired Marilyn Monroe. He never saw the comparison except that she had an hourglass figure like the other woman, and she was petite at a little over five foot three with curves in all the right places. His teenaged body had reacted in the most obvious way anytime she’d entered the same room he’d been in. It had been lust at first sight. She’d taught him more that summer than he’d known in all his seventeen years. Of course, he could teach her a few things now. If her father, his stepfather had known all the places he’d fucked her, he’d probably have had a fit. The thought almost made him smile.
“No, I’m not on some stupid diet, unless you call pregnancy a diet.” Her dark eyes flashed up at him. “I’m pregnant and sick every hour on the hour.” She put one hand on her stomach, the other one over her mouth. She was clearly battling the urge to throw up.