Page 27 of Explosive Vengeance

Heath’s piercing blue gaze locked on her the moment she stepped out of the bedroom. He was sitting on the sofa beside Ty, his expression unreadable. But those eyes. They practically saw inside her, and it was a strange, unsettling feeling to know this near stranger knew all about her and her identity and background when only a handful of others did. It was also freeing, in a way.

“So now you know,” she said to him, feeling sort of naked.

He nodded once, his expression betraying no hint of judgment. “Now I know.”

“And will you help us?” Megan asked, sinking onto the loveseat opposite them.

“My next contract starts in another couple weeks in Syria. I can’t push it back or just drop it.”

“That’s assuming you’re not a target now too, because if you are, you might not be able to leave,” she said.

Heath acknowledged the point with a nod. “I’m in until I leave for Syria.” His gaze shifted to Chloe. “What about you?”

His leaving in a matter of weeks wasn’t as appealing as it should have been for someone like her. But she hadn’t been interested in anyone in forever, and he… He was definitely interesting. “I’ll help where I can. But I can’t commit to the team yet. I’ve got something I need to take care of first.”

“Such as?” He raised a dark eyebrow.

“There’s a shipment of women coming into Marseille three days from now. I need to be there to intercept them.” That’s how it always worked. She showed up to verify the women were there, representing the buyer. Once she handled the money transfer—to her own offshore account—she got the women to safety and let Fleur take over.

“You mean trafficking victims,” Heath said, anger bleeding into his expression.

“Yes. I intercept them, get them to safety, and then a friend of mine steps in and helps them from there.”

“Why you?”

“Because Dubois and people like him behind this sort of shit are unfortunately above the law—because they pretty much own all the law enforcement and politicians around the country. They’re rich, they’re powerful, and they don’t give a damn about anything but themselves. That’s where I come in.” She crossed her arms, resentment building inside her. “I operated for years on my own doing the jobs I was assigned, answering only to my handler, who’s now dead. My targets were the heads of organizations. Men who ran weapons and drugs—and women.”

It still sickened her, even after all this time. “Nobody ever cared about the women, or what happened to them. They only cared about the money those women brought that in turn bought more weapons and drugs, which in turn funded organized criminal and terrorist activity. Men like Dubois were a means to an end, for me and the government, funneling us to higher value targets. Men like him were never punished. Now I make sure they are.” She gave him a thin smile. “I deliver the punishment they deserve.”

Heath was silent a moment, watching her. Judging her?

She didn’t care if he thought it was wrong. She’d seen the evil that inhabited the dark corners of the world, and refused to ignore it any longer. “If nobody else will step up to make it stop, then I will,” she said with a defensive shrug.

“That’s one hell of a risky mission to undertake,” he said quietly.

“Maybe, but who else is gonna do it? Too many local law enforcement groups are dirty. Here in France most of them are on Dubois’ payroll and can’t be trusted. He has eyes and ears all over the country, and probably beyond. And it has to be me, because that’s the way my friend and I have everything set up. If I don’t show when the shipments arrive, those women and girls are doomed to a living hell. Not only that, I won’t leave my friend to deal with this on her own.”

“How much do you trust your friend?” Megan asked.

“Completely.” Fleur was one-of-a-kind, and rock solid. Now that the Valkyrie Program was finished, Chloe was on her own. It was harder to get fake IDs, access certain databases. She moved around a lot. Fleur had helped her as much as possible, even stashing some of Chloe’s gear—weapons and other equipment—in various places for her across Paris.

At Megan’s cautious nod, Chloe focused back on Heath. His calm, serious demeanor drew her with magnetic force, and that was one hell of an eye opener because until now she’d sought out the exact opposite in guys. This man could handle himself under pressure, she’d seen it firsthand. That was damn sexy. “It might not be too late for you, but the window’s closing fast.”

“Not too late for what?”

“To leave. Forget you ever saw me or heard any of this.” She held his stare, liking the calming effect he had on her restless energy far too much. “You might still be able to walk away, but you’d need to do itnow.”

His stare never wavered. “Like I said, I’m in until I leave.”

Not only was he hot and capable, the man was selfless enough to help the others.Damn.

Even as she thought it, she warned herself against the surge of repressed longing that swept through her. First time in forever that she’d been into a guy, and while she thought she’d caught a spark or two of interest from him tonight, she wasn’t sure he was into her. Not that she could blame him; shehadheld a knife to his junk when they’d met.

“What if we help you with your current mission?” Ty offered. “Me, Megan and Heath. We help you and your friend rescue these women, then you come with us back to the UK.”

Chloe shook her head. “This isn’t over until I bring Guillaume Dubois down. He deserves to die the same way his brother did, but it would be more satisfying to expose him and bring his filthy empire toppling down on top of him first.” She was under no illusions, however. Once she brought him down, someone would try to take his place. But whoever did would always look over their shoulder for her.

“If we help you do that,thenwill you come in?” Megan said.

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