Page 52 of Toxic Vengeance

“Amber’s sure it’s him?” Zack asked her.

“Yes.” In the rental house living room, Eden slid another full mag into one of her cargo pants pockets and checked to make sure all of her hair was still hidden beneath the wig.

Instead of long ringlets she now had a straight, chin-length bob in chocolate brown that covered her ears. That and the baggy clothes she wore would help conceal her identity from anyone else searching for her with facial recognition software. “She hacked into some facial recognition program and got a hit on Bennett leaving the building earlier.”

“Hacked it from where?”

“No idea. And probably best we don’t know.” Amber was a force to be reckoned with. That she’d even been able to steal the files she had from the Program as the people in charge had been trying to burn everything was impressive.

“Still gonna ask her later.”

“You do that.” He and Amber had become pretty chummy in the short time they’d known each other. Zack’s intel expertise and Amber’s tech wizardry were a potent combination. The two of them had spent the entire flight across the Atlantic with their heads together, going over various things.

The unwelcome twinge of jealousy pissed Eden off. Amber was happily committed to Jesse, for Chrissake, and she had to spend time with Zack to prepare for this mission. There was nothing at all improper going on between them, yet a few times when Eden had looked up the aisle at them, she’d been tempted to wedge herself in the seat between him and Amber just to get his attention. To show that she had something to offer to the hunt as well.

Op time, she scolded herself.Get your insecure head out of your ass and focus.

This was why she and the others had been relentlessly trained not to get involved with anyone on a mission. They screwed with your head, even when you weren’t actually with him anymore.

She straightened as Zack slid his sidearm into the holster beneath his armpit. “Good to go?” She wanted to get moving. Trinity was already scoping out the building, and Eden wanted to limit the amount of time she and Zack were alone.

“Yeah.” He swung his leather jacket on and started for the door. “I’ll drive.”

Fine with her. She’d be able to watch everything more carefully without her attention divided.

She started for the door but stopped when Zack grabbed her elbow and turned her to face him. “What?” she demanded, annoyed.Let’s just do this already.

Zack stared down into her eyes. “You be careful. Don’t take any unnecessary chances. If it doesn’t feel right, just get out. Hear me?”

Eden hated being told what to do. But from him it was merely annoying because it was kind of sexy in an alpha, protective way. She’d never had anyone in her life who cared about her like that before, except Chris, and that was different to the vibe Zack was giving her now. He didn’t like her being in harm’s way, wanted to protect her. It reminded her of how he’d been when they’d been seeing each other last year.

Even his grip right now. Firm but gentle, combined with the concern on his face. Little things, like a hand on the small of the back when walking through a crowded room or space together. Him entering the room first, keeping hold of her hand so he wouldn’t lose her in the crowd, or keeping her on the inside of the sidewalk, away from traffic. They’d told her a lot about the sort of man he was.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself,” she told him. She’d gone up against scarier targets than Glenn Bennett, and she wasn’t even going to kill him.

Yet. But if she found out he’d been involved with Chris’s murder, he was a dead man.

Her job was to take him off guard and tranq him so Zack could carry him out, and together they would drive their prisoner back to the safehouse for questioning. Eden loved the idea of Bennett bound and blindfolded, waking up in total darkness to find her, Amber and Trinity there to interrogate him.

“Too bad, because you don’t get a say in that,” Zack said, no give in his tone or expression.

She firmed her jaw. “Can we go now?”

He waited a beat before releasing her. She couldn’t help but admire the figure he cut as he walked out to the street to where the rental car waited. Broad shoulders, jeans hugging his strong thighs.

She shook herself and aimed for the front passenger seat. Zack opened the door for her and held it while she got in. “Thanks,” she muttered, wishing he would stop being a gentleman and pretend she was nothing but a teammate.

“Welcome.”

They didn’t talk on the drive to the building. A swanky one located close to the business district. Not a place likely to be frequented by Bennett’s normal crowd, she was sure, and at least he was smart enough not to stay at a hotel.

That was as far as her respect for him went, however. If he was dirty, she would tear him apart.

Zack pulled up to the curb in front of the building. “I want to come in with you.”

She turned to face him. “No. That’s not the plan, and you need to realize that I can handle myself.”

“It’s not that I don’t think you’re capable,” he argued. “It’s that I don’t like you going up there without backup. Bennett was former Paramilitary Ops, and before that, SOF.”

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