Operation Love, page 6
Sage crossed his arms over his chest and nodded to the center of the room. “Tomorrow night, there’s an event at the Waldorf. Get some extra men ready and wear decent clothes, unlike the shit you had on last time. Here.”
He handed over a stack of cash.
Casanova tugged on her hand, but she didn’t budge.
“Who’s the target this time?” one of the men asked.
“I’ll send you the information. Don’t kill her. She’s the key to making us fucking rich.”
“How will some bitch make us rich?”
He smiled. “She’s a prodigy and the missing piece to putting a bunch of engineering drawings together. While a bunch of idiots bid on the stupid device, we’ll make millions off the sale. When I put my plan into motion tomorrow, the corporation will have to make me a key partner.”
Grim shifted to her side when Sage moved, but she lost her balance and held onto the large box in front of her. It tumbled forward. Casanova grabbed her hand and tugged her through the small door. They sprinted down the long dark hall. Neither of them said a word as they reached a fork and Casanova turned to the left. He turned a third time. She could barely see him as they rushed down the tunnel. Casanova came to a stop, and she bumped into his back. He shoved a door open and as they slipped through the tight opening, bullet’s thudded against the door as it closed.
When they hit the open streets, she ran next to him down an alley. He stopped near a dumpster and pulled her down next to him. Casanova threw an old sheet from the homeless man’s tent over them.
She held her breath as footsteps trudged past them. “They’re gone!” one of the lackeys said.
She didn’t move from her spot next to Casanova until footsteps disappeared in the opposite direction.
“Fuck, that was close.” Casanova patted her legs, chest, and arms. “Were you shot?”
She shook her head and stood. “No, but we need to get back to the hotel and call Xavier. This has become a two-group mission.”
Lucas was their best hope at figuring out what woman they planned to kidnap. Deleting the servers no longer mattered since Sage found the plans and if he kidnapped the woman to deconstruct the files they would have a huge problem. They rounded the corner, and Sage stood on the sidewalk, his cellphone pressed to his ear. He turned in their direction, and Casanova pulled her to his lips to block Sage from seeing their faces. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he deepened the kiss.
Tires squealed in the distance, and Casanova pulled back. They strode down the sidewalk toward the SUV. She pulled out her phone and dialed Xavier’s number.
His deep voice came over the line. “Grim.”
“He’s after an engineer. She’s supposed to be at the event tomorrow night. Sage doesn’t care about the bomb. He wants the technology.”
“I’ll mobilize the teams. See you soon.”
He didn’t say goodbye, just hung up.
“Xavier’s coming,” Grim told Casanova. “What should we do in the meantime?”
“I’m not ready to head back to the hotel. Let’s take a walk so I can clear my head. I’m not sure what to do about my brother and sisters.”
They had to find the woman before it was too late. If Sage got his hands on the plans for the device he could sell it to anyone in the world.
7
Casanova
Casanova stared at the park where the hotel he lived in as a kid once stood. A mom pushed her child on the swing. The fresh paint and new equipment cleaned up the neighborhood some, but he’d spotted three drug deals since Grim and he sat down on the park bench.
He didn’t miss the park was donated by Sage Mason.
“Much of my life wasn’t in the report you read.” Either she would accept him, or she would leave him. “At one time, a twenty-room hotel was here. We’re sitting where the main offices used to be. The woman I shoved last night worked at the front desk, but the motel wasn’t open to regular people. You had to schedule your appointments, and they were booked by the hour.”
“Holy crap, you grew up around a brothel. How could the system allow you to stay there?” She linked her fingers with his.
Casanova cocked his head. “As I said, parts of my record were right. Mom dropped my brother and me off at the fire station when we were six, way past the age where anyone would want to adopt us. So, Jay and I bounced in and out of homes. He was the charmer. I was the troublemaker, but when I would get kicked out of a house, he would follow. For years, we lived out of garbage bags. I was fourteen when I met Kate. Like us, she spent years in foster care, except Sandy and Harold brought her into their home.”
A red ball rolled across the sand and bounced off his shoe. He picked it up and tossed it to a small boy with chocolate on his cheek.
“Was she your first love?” Grim asked.
Besides Grim, Kate was the only other person he’d ever told he loved them. She’d said it back, but Kate always had a way with words.
“At the time, I thought so. We wanted to run away together…well, I wanted to, but she loved the streets. Kate’s mom was a heavy drug user while she was pregnant. I’m a firm believer addiction can link back to parents who use drugs during pregnancy. I thought Kate had quit.”
Kate had wanted to attend a party, and he’d asked her to wait for him, because he had to work at the brothel. He’d begged her not to go. Losing Kate wasn’t the only thing that happened to him that night.
“I’m guessing she overdosed?” Grim asked.
He’d found her body dumped on the lawn with vomit on her cheek. For years, he’d blamed himself for not skipping out on work and paying for the consequences later. The chances of her dying from drugs any night were high, and maybe he concentrated on her death to ignore what had happened to him.
“Yes. I’ve never talked about it to anyone. So many people asked why I wasn’t with her that night. We were inseparable, most of the time. She’d help me at the brothel, but that night, I’m not sure why she couldn’t wait to attend the party.”
Grim squeezed his hand.
“That night, I was cleaning the rooms, and I caught Ester shoving Jay down the hall. My brother pleaded with Ester not to make him sleep with Olivia. I dropped my supplies and rushed down the hall to find an open door, Olivia on the bed, Ester stripping the shirt off Jay, and a camera in the room. I saw red, but she pulled a gun and pressed it to my brother’s head. I lost all hope in humanity that night. Either my brother did what she wanted, or it was me. And I would never make my fun-loving brother do what they wanted. Although they kept Jay in the room.”
He glanced at Grim, expecting to see disgust, but she had a tear in her eye. Pity wasn’t what he wanted either. He wished he could forget the night all together, except he could recall every word the woman said to him and the cries from his brother. If he’d turned Ester over to the police, a tape of him would be in evidence. Half the cops visited the brothel. So, he was fucked, no matter what.
When he left the room, he told Jay to hide for twenty-four hours. Over the years, he’d saved money from boosting cars and had enough for them to escape. He just needed Kate, except when he made it to her, she was dead.
Grim’s voice pulled him from his memories. “And this Ester you saw at the hospital? Many years passed since you were a teen. Are you sure it’s the same person?”
He didn’t fault her for asking.
“I have hyperthymesia.”
“Remember, I wasn’t the best at school. You need to explain.”
“Not much research has been collected on it because only around sixty people in the world have it. From the reports I’ve read, it gives the person the ability to remember all the details of their life. Perfect recall of events. I also have a photographic memory, so no matter how much I would like to forget, I can’t.”
Talking about his past made him want to hit the gym and run ten miles, but he kept his ass on the bench and watched the young kids play. “For example, a month after my sixth birthday, Mom brought Jay and me to a park a few blocks over. It looked nothing like this. The swings were broken, glass covered a majority of the ground, but she told us to play in the sand. My eyes were on her. She sat on the curb with a man and smoked crack. After she got high, she took us to the fire station. That was the last time I saw her after, dropping us off, she left the area.”
Except she was in South Side again.
The girl at the diner had the same eyes as him and the same last name. He’d noticed her the second they’d stepped through the doors. His entire childhood, he’d wished for a family member to swoop in and tell him everything would be all right. Except no family member ever came. Currently, he had a two-bedroom duplex and wasn’t sure what he could offer two teens and a child.
“Are you thinking about the girl at the diner?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “What do I have to offer them? Working for Xavier, I could have to head out with no notice. Those kids deserve better.”
“They need you. Xavier isn’t going to send you on a three-month mission. Remember, you have a support team in San Diego. You wouldn’t do it alone, but your siblings are. Let’s get through tomorrow night and then we can go check on them.”
His former teammates’ wives would open their arms to his siblings and help without doubt. During his military career, he’d barley spent his money, socking it away for retirement. Xavier had handed him a five-figure sign on bonus, so money wasn’t an issue. He wondered if they would hate him for not coming sooner.
“Will you go with me?”
“Yes! Now I have questions about your superpower. What was I wearing the first time we met?” Grim asked, a smile spreading across her face.
“You had on the Rogue Mercenaries issued combat gear, but a pink shirt peaked out the top of your collar. The date, March tenth, and it was a Tuesday around six-fifteen, give or take a few minutes.”
“That’s crazy, but I don’t remember the date, so I have no clue if you just blew smoke up my ass. So, this Ester bitch left here, moved to San Diego, and became a nurse. Why didn’t you stab her the second she walked into your hospital room?”
The thought had crossed his mind a couple of times. He had even planned a way to sneak her body out of the building, but he’d wanted to be one hundred percent sure it was Ester.
“Her time will come, but she’s the reason for the gunshots outside of Rogue Mercenaries. Except I’m surprised she wants me dead.” He took a deep breath and prepared to continue his story. “I used the money I’d saved to get Jay out of town. Ester had partners. Even if I killed her, the operation would continue. I had to make a plan, and it took me two years. During that time, things got worse. She would drug me in my sleep, tie me to the bed, and film acts. Stuff I never want to talk about. I’d become numb and then blamed myself for staying. Not all the women at the brothel were bad, only a few. Candy would take care of me, and she made me feel safe. One of Ester’s business partners killed her, and I started to execute my plan.”
A pimp from New York had moved to town and wanted to take over Ester’s area. Casanova had gone to him and gave him everything he knew about Ester. When the pimp showed up with his crew, they opened fire. Ester was shot. She screamed for Casanova to help. Instead, he’d taken the gun and shot her a second time, and she went limp, except she didn’t die. He snatched the box of tapes along with the books and left. Before he made it to the bus to take him to the next chapter, he’d transferred her money to an offshore Cayman account. The number for the account was only in his mind.
“What do you plan to do, now?”
Xavier had mentioned Ester was part of some criminal enterprise again.
“I’ll take her down for good this time. I should have done it years ago but coming here. Fuck, it’s hard.”
The mom near the swing glared when he swore.
He was done talking about himself. “And what do you want, Grim? The boss won’t be here for a while.”
“We could go take advantage of the hot tub in the room.”
Grim
Grim didn’t know if it was possible to have an orgasm from a foot rub, but she was close to finding out. They’d made it back to the hotel. Casanova had stripped her out of her clothes and tugged her into the private jacuzzi. The hotel staff had delivered an array of fruit and champagne. Casanova had brought them over to the hot tub.
The warm jets massaged her back, and he massaged her feet. His thumb pushed into her arch, and she practically purred.
“How can you possibly know exactly which part of my body to touch?”
He rubbed circles on her calf, and his hands continued upward. “You are so sexy when you moan. Come here.”
She leaned forward, and he pulled her through the water. His cock pressed against her stomach. “I want to taste you,” Casanova said.
He trailed a kiss along her neck, and he nipped the bottom of her ear. “I’m holding on by a thread. No way I can handle your juicy lips around my cock. Plus, I never brought a condom with me.”
“You’re a man. How the hell do you not have a condom in your wallet?”
He squeezed her as she ground against him.
“For two years, I chased the same woman. Don’t need a condom when the only action I got was my hand.”
“Two years?” Butterflies stormed her stomach as she realized he hadn’t slept with anyone else. She gripped his cock with her hand, and she went up on her knees.
His fingers dug into her hips, holding her in place. “Angel.”
The use of her real name was all she needed as she sunk down on him. She had an IUD and was tested medically a month prior. Casanova had to do medical testing as part of his new hire process.
“Fuck.” His teeth were clenched. “You’re so damn tight.”
And he wasn’t small. She winced as he went deeper. When she slid all the way down, she paused and let herself adjust.
He gripped her ass, and she rose. One of his fingers slid down her crack, and she froze when he pressed against her second hole.
“Casanova?”
He kissed along her jaw until he made it to her ear. “Not today, but I’ll have all of you someday.”
She wanted the same thing, to belong to Casanova in every way possible.
“Stand up and bend over,” he said. “I want to take you from behind. Your ass drives me crazy, and I think you know it. You wear those tight-ass yoga pants every time we go to the range. Then I’m rock hard the entire time we shoot. All I can think about is taking you from the back.”
She groaned as she slid off him and turned in the hot tub. She was short, so she knelt on the side bench, her ass level with the water. Casanova caressed her cheeks as he slid deep inside of her.
“Jesus.” His hand came down on her ass.
Her sex clamped around him, and she couldn’t hold back as she went over the edge. He leaned forward and cupped her breasts, pushing deeper inside of her. “I’m close.” He thrust two more times before he plunged all the way in and didn’t move. They were both panting as he pulled her backward with him still inside of her. “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”
He grabbed a strawberry from the side table and pressed it to her lips. She wished they could stay locked in each other’s arms and not deal with the world, but her boss would arrive soon, and mission planning would go into full effect.
Part of her wanted to ask what would happen when the mission ended, and he had to help his siblings.
A knock echoed against the door, and she reached for her robe. All the questions she had would need to wait.
8
Casanova
Casanova analyzed the hotel floor plans laid across the table in his hotel suite. He’d received a text from the auction organizer, which told him what time their ride would arrive to escort them to the auction. He had three escape routes in place just in case something went wrong. Grim and he planned to break away from the event and go to the specified location.
Lucas had figured out the woman Sage planned to kidnap off the guest list. Her name was Willa Cather. Drake, Lucas, and Xavier had headed to the venue to intercept Willa before Sage could get his hands on her.
Lucas didn’t go in the field often, but when he’d pulled Willa’s information up, he’d demanded to be part of the operation. Casanova watched as Xavier handed Lucas a gun and told him he had an hour to buy a suit. He wanted to ask if Lucas had ever shot a gun before, the hacker was the only person on the team he’d not heard a tiny bit of a background on. Drake was Army, Grim spent time in the CIA, and so did Xavier, but Lucas he had no clue.
They needed to leave soon, but Grim wasn’t ready yet. He moved toward the bedroom to see how much longer she would be when the double doors creaked open. Grim stood ten feet away in a long silver dress with a slit up the side. The neckline dipped between her breasts, showing her cleavage.
“Fuck, woman,” Casanova said. “How the hell am I supposed to keep my eyes on the mission with you looking like this?”
She ran her hands down the side of the dress and let out a shaky breath. “It’s not the most practical dress for a mission. Look, I had to hide my gun on my opposite leg.”
His eyes trailed to where she parted the dress and showed her milky thighs. She’d strapped a small gun to the inside of her leg. He wanted to bend her over the railing and fuck her.
He prowled across the hotel room, placed one hand on her hip, and trailed his fingers along the slit of her dress. The top of the slit was close to where her panties should be, but she wasn’t wearing any. “Did you not put on panties because you wanted me to lose my mind?”
A smile played on her lips. “Every pair I tried left a line, so I figured I would go without, but maybe this is a bad idea because…”
Her words trailed off when he traced his finger through her wet folds. “You’re dripping.”
“This is a bad idea. I have another dress I packed in case the one Yara picked out didn’t fit.”
