In an unusual break in character, she takes a look at the screen. With her vision getting worse, and refusal to wear glasses, I can’t help but see the message.
Package acquired. Delivery as discussed.
Her eyes dart back and forth, rereading the message several times. It’s almost as if I cease to exist.
“Is everything okay?”
For my mother to interrupt a conversation to look at her phone, I imagine the worst has happened. Her lips turn up into one of the scariest smiles I’ve seen in my life. It’s predatory.
“Everything is fine. In fact, it’s going to be perfect.”
It may be my imagination, but her cheeks flush and her eyes gleam. Her lips slide into a triumphant smile.
Okay, that’s creepy.
“Fine?” I don’t understand. “What does that mean?”
“It means things are exactly as they’re supposed to be.” She shoves her phone back into the depths of her purse and spins to face me. “Chop, chop, we’re going to be late.”
She spins in her stilettos and marches toward the elevator, chin held high, back ramrod straight; she glides with a gait envied by the most talented runway models. My mother is perfection personified, but why does she look so incredibly pleased after that text?
I don’t like odd when it comes to my mother.
In fact, the last time I saw that look on my mother’s face was when she told me about my father’s death. In an uncharacteristic move, she used a video call to tell me the news.
At nineteen, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I idolized my father and couldn’t believe he was dead. My mother scolded me and told me Rossi women never cry. My tears, according to her, were scandalous and proof of weakness.
Above all, a Rossi can never be seen as weak.
Her husband of twenty-one years died, yet she didn’t allow one tear to mar the serene perfection of her face. She told me it was because she refused to give the gossips anything to talk about.
I don’t believe she mourned my father. As much as he loved me, their relationship remained cold and distant. I don’t know why they got married. Any spark that may have existed died long before I came along. I always thought they’d be happier with a divorce. Not that my mother would consider it. Divorce leads to gossip and scandal.
Then a year later, she shocked everyone when she married my uncle. It was a year to the day after my father’s death. It was as if she read the societal rule book, completed a year-long mourning period, wearing black every day, declining social invites, and making my life miserable. Once that year was over, she moved on.
I expected people to talk, to churn the rumor mill, but either I wasn’t privy to the gossip train, or it got stopped in its tracks.
3
LIAM
One of the things I’ve learned as a Guardian is to expect the unexpected. There’s no such thing as a normal rescue operation. Which means rescuing kidnap victims requires adaptability and finesse.
Such as this mission.
Instead of a six-man team, Wolfe and I team up with Lily and Jinx. The four of us execute one mission while the rest of Alpha team heads out on another one. The ops run concurrently, spreading Guardian HRS resources thin.
Which requires out-of-the-box thinking.
“You’re thinking about it again.” Wolfe nudges my knee as the driver navigates through the thick traffic of New Orleans.
“I can’t not think about it.” I shake my head. “Did you ever think this is what you’d be doing when you became a SEAL?”
“I don’t know. It’s kind of cool. Like James Bond cool.” His grin is a mile wide.
“James Bond cool?” I shake my head. “I don’t believe you just said that.”
“What else would you call it. We’ve got cameras in our tie pins, some funky tech in our cell phones, and exfil?” Wolfe huffs a laugh. “You’ll get to put your Fred Astaire moves to work. If we pull that off, it’s going to be epic.”
And if we don’t?
“It’s certainly out-of-the-box thinking.” I scratch the back of my neck.
“Stop complaining about the op.” Lily kicks my foot, dislodging it from its perch on my knee.
I shoot her a dirty look and kick my heel over my knee again. “Not complaining, just trying to wrap my head around it.”
I’m also doing my damned best not to be a chauvinistic prick to Jinx and Lily. I’ve spent my fair share of time on the sparring mat looking up at Jinx. Lily’s yet to throw me down, but she’s getting better every day. The thing is, I’ve never operated with a woman before.
My instinct is to defend and protect. If I do that to either one of them, they’ll chew me up and spit me out. But they’re still chicks. Not to mention, the prep work on this mission is basically non-existent. There wasn’t time for it.
That makes me itchy.
Working with chicks? On an op that hasn’t been fully vetted? My spidey-senses tingle big time.
“How am I supposed to be your date and not touch you?” I glance at Lily.
Wolfe laughs again. “Knox will cut your balls off if …”
“He’ll do no such thing.” Lily crosses her arms. “Knox understands undercover work. Don’t overthink this.”
“She’s right about that,” Jinx chimes in.
“Agree.” I spread my arms out wide. “But you didn’t hear what he said to me.”
“What did he say?” Lily blows out a frustrated breath.
“Let’s just say him cutting off my balls is the least of my worries.”
“It’s going to be fine. We hold hands. You put your arm over my shoulder. We stare intently into each other’s eyes. We don’t have to kiss to be on a date. Leave that to the love birds.” Lily jabs her thumb toward Wolfe and Jinx.
Their relationship is nothing short of combustible. They fought tooth and nail, denying their attraction for each other, and thank the Lord they sorted through their shit.
Wolfe looks up at Jinx and that grin of his turns positively sinful.
“Don’t you have undercover experience?” Lily arches a brow.
“Liam is the king of undercover,” Wolfe chimes in, pulling his gaze off his woman to join the conversation. “He’s the one who gave Max and Knox pointers on their mission.”
“That’s true.”
Knox went undercover as Max’s bodyguard. The two of them infiltrated Benefield’s estate in Colombia, posing as buyers. They were there to rescue Eve Deverough, daughter of a shipping mogul. Deverough is the one who surrendered the information, which brings us to the Belvedere tonight.
Six names were scrawled on Benefield’s ledgers. Through expert intelligence work by Jinx and Wolfe, we know those women were kidnapped and brought to the Belvedere. Deverough confirmed it and added the additional note about the women being split into two separate batches. One group is to be sold. The other group is meant for something far worse.
Our job is to get in the Belvedere and rescue the women slated to be sold at auction. The rest of Alpha team is tasked with rescuing the others.
“I’m not worried about the date part of the evening. Knox can fuck himself if he thinks I’d do anything to you. I’m worried about getting out of the Belvedere. Are we really expected to walk out the front door?”