Targeted

“Very . . . He meant everything to me.” The last part was almost a whisper. The honesty and grief in her words hit him square in the chest with the intensity of a fifty-cal sniper rifle. Why the hell did she have to admit that to him?

He rolled back over and stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t the best distraction, especially since her exotic, earthy scent was teasing him, but it was better than staring at her profile. When he did that it was hard to concentrate on even speaking. “What happened to him?” Jack felt like an asshole even asking since he knew the answer, but a long-buried part of him wanted to hear what she truly thought about Sam. About him.

“Life.” The word came out bitter, strangled. She cleared her throat and continued, quickly changing topics. “Do you like what you do?”

Talk about a loaded question. “Sometimes yes. Other times I wonder how different my life would have turned out if I’d made another choice.”

She snorted. “I actually understand that. The boy, well, man, I was in love with died. We weren’t even talking or friends at the time, but I’m pretty sure he’d planned to propose to me before my life turned to hell.”

Jack struggled to draw in a breath. There were some things he’d known as a young man, like the fact that she’d loved him. Sophie had never said the words, but he’d known how she felt. But she’d known he planned to propose? Don’t ask the question, he ordered himself. But there was no force on earth that could stop him. “Would you have said yes if he proposed?”

“Yes.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He did not need to know that. He shifted against the floor, his attempt at getting comfortable pointless. Raw energy hummed through him and he fought his growing agitation. Why the hell had she admitted that?

“You probably can’t even tell me, but do you have family?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and shut his eyes tight. She wasn’t holding anything back. No one who got into his line of work had family. “No.”

“I guess we have that in common. We’re both alone.” Her whispered words wrapped themselves around his chest and squeezed with startling intensity.

You have me. You’ve always had me. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but of course he didn’t voice them. They wouldn’t make sense and they’d probably scare the hell out of her. He might not have been in her life, and with the exception of the last two years when he’d been deep undercover, he’d always watched out for her, wishing things could be different. It was the only way he’d been able to keep a link to her. Something that had always pissed off his boss, but it had been one of his contingencies when he was recruited.

“Jack . . . why did you kiss me in Miami?”

“You were in shock. It was the only way to get you to calm down.” Liar.

Silence descended on the room.

He stared at the ceiling for a long moment, telling himself to stay quiet, but his mouth wouldn’t listen to his brain. Being around Sophie had completely upended all his training. She wouldn’t even have to torture him to get information out of him. “I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it, Sophie.”

She sucked in a quiet breath. “Oh—”

He didn’t know what she was going to say, but he didn’t want to hear whatever it was, so he cut her off. “It can’t happen again.” Because it would only torture him, remind him of what he could never have.

She didn’t speak after that. Instead she curled up on the couch so that her back faced him.

Why the hell couldn’t it happen again? he kept asking himself even though he knew damn well why it couldn’t. The closer he got to her, the more he let her into his life, the harder it would be when he walked away. Even the thought of walking away from her was excruciating. Actually doing it after having had another taste—he wasn’t a masochist. If he took things further, it wouldn’t just be torture, it would be impossible.

The floor beneath him dug into his back. He rolled onto his side, but that didn’t help either. Years ago while still a sniper in the Marine Corps, he’d slept sitting straight up in cramped caves in Afghanistan with no problem. Tonight, visions of Sophie’s perfect mouth swam in front of him, rendering sleep impossible. And his fantasies didn’t stop at her mouth. He kept envisioning what the rest of her looked like. It might have been years, but he knew exactly what she was hiding under those clothes. And he desperately wanted to see, touch, and stroke all of her with his mouth and hands.

Sighing, he got up, folded the blanket, and threw the pillow back onto his bed. Out of habit he rechecked the windows and doors and headed back to the living room. Sophie hadn’t stirred once since he’d gotten up. Good, maybe she’d get some rest. At least one of them should, and he’d rather it be her.

He walked to the sliding glass door and shifted one of the floor-length blinds to the side. Most of the people who stayed in the building were snowbirds, so the place was empty half the year. One of the main reasons he’d purchased it. The building was unassuming and the tenants were quiet. More often than not, hiding out wasn’t necessarily about the best security. It was about being untraceable.

Hiding in plain sight.

The intracoastal water glistened under the pale moonlight and stars. It was unlikely anyone would be out this late, but he wanted privacy if he decided to work on his laptop on the porch.

Jack started to let go of the blind when two large, dark shadows moved from behind a palm tree. The movement had been slight, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Not with Sophie’s safety.

Without making his movements overt, he let the blind slip back into place, then went to wake Sophie. Using one hand he covered her mouth. Immediately her dark eyes opened in a wide-eyed panic, but when she saw that he had one finger over his mouth, she simply nodded.

Jack removed his hand and motioned that she should follow him. It was too late to get out. If someone was outside, they’d have the entire place surrounded. He grabbed his laptop and phone and headed to his room. He also picked up her pillow and shoved it into the hallway closet. The place needed to look as if they’d left a while ago.

He opened the sliding closet door in his room and shut it behind them. It was damn near pitch–black, but he was thankful Sophie wasn’t outwardly reacting. Her breathing was slightly erratic, but that was it. Reaching up, he felt along the top shelf until his hand landed on a flashlight. Jack flipped it on and handed the computer to her. This place was off the radar, but experience had taught him to always have a contingency plan. Always.

He’d brought only one trusted friend here years ago during a long weekend of fishing: Levi Lazaro. They’d rarely gotten downtime and it was right before his buddy had tied the knot. Sort of an impromptu bachelor getaway. Even then, he still hadn’t told his friend about this. There’d been no reason to. Jack put the small flashlight in his mouth, then felt along the wall until his hand ran over the almost invisible seam. Seconds could mean their survival, so he tried to block out Sophie’s presence. Normally he wouldn’t break a sweat, but knowing that her life depended on him had changed everything. Perspiration trickled down his face and neck.

Jack pulled the wall covering away and turned his flashlight toward Sophie. He motioned for her to get inside. Without pausing she ducked down and crawled in. A muted thud sounded somewhere in the condo. He hurried in after her and pulled the false wall back into place behind him. He’d originally built this crawl space for one person. Hunched over, Sophie wordlessly stared at him, but he could see the questions in her eyes. He sat first and guided her so that she was sitting in his lap before he flipped the light off.

There wasn’t much insulation through the plaster, so it wasn’t too difficult to hear what was going on. The bedroom door creaked as it opened. Sophie tensed in his arms, so he placed what he hoped was a calming hand on her back.

The sound of the closet door sliding open caused his stomach to roil. This was it. He heard the sound of hangers sliding across the pole, a quiet curse, then the door sliding shut. Sophie’s back relaxed slightly against his chest, but he could feel the pounding of her heart.

“They’re not here,” a familiar voice said.

Jack’s entire world shifted when he heard Levi talking. He’d wondered how anyone had found this place, had briefly wondered if there was a leak in the agency—one he’d gladly ferret out—but for a friend to betray him seemed impossible. What the hell was going on?

When his friend—or former friend—continued, Jack assumed he was on the phone since there was no