Page 7 of Dangerous Mission

Movement near his SUV caught Axel’s attention.Dammit.He’d known she wouldn’t wait long before taking off.

“If you don’t need anything else, I would like to leave, officer.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her pull his sweatshirt down low and walk right past the media. The officer dismissed him, and he turned to leave. He picked up speed to catch up as she walked down the sidewalk. Axel didn’t need his face on the news, so he stepped around the news van and into the street. When she was about halfway across the street, he put his hand on her shoulder, and she let out a little scream.

Worried one of the news reporters would turn, he kept his hand on her arm and pushed her toward the other side of the road.“I thought I asked you to stay in the SUV.”

“You did, but I never agreed to stay. April is in the ambulance, and you were talking to the police, so I saw no reason to remain there.”

Axel shook his head and steered her down another street. When he spotted a pizza shop, he pulled her through the door. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

“The better question is, why do you care what I do? I’m pretty sure you don’t care about anyone but yourself,” she spat.

The hostess's head shot up, and her eyes widened.

That was the anger he’d expected and deserved. “You’re right.” He turned to the hostess. “Can we sit here and talk for a minute?”

The woman behind the lectern opened her mouth, but Terri pulled her arm out of his hand. “No. I have somewhere to go. You can sit and eat.” She turned and walked back out the door.

He chased after her. “You can’t wander around the streets without a bodyguard. It’s not safe.”

Her deep-blue eyes glared at him. “I don’t understand why you care.” She paused for a second. “Who asked you to watch me?”

He didn’t often blush, but he could feel his face heating. “It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s not an answer. What I want to know is why you agreed to what my father wanted.”

The woman haunted his dreams. The decision to leave her years ago without even telling her was a dick move. But he couldn’t ask her to walk away from the life she had. Her father asked him to not make her choose. He was also the one who talked him into joining the navy. But Tim wanted him to explain his choice to Terri, and one day, they could reconnect. Instead, he left without an explanation.

His sisters sent him letters at boot camp. They started out nice, telling him everything going on. Then they went into detail how big of a dick he was for leaving Terri the way he had. When he joined, his mother took him to the bus. She wasn’t the best mom while they were growing up. Her priorities were Dad and his company. Axel hadn’t needed her often, but he asked her to drive him and explain his decision to his family. Mom wasn’t happy, but she did what he wanted. She’d thought he would continue his swimming career and make another run at the Olympics with Terri by his side. But Axel wanted something more out of life. Tim Fugate had told him stories of his time in the military over the years. That was what Axel wanted. He wanted to serve his country but not be in the public eye.

No way could that have happened if he’d stayed with Terri. He needed to keep a low profile.Axel knew she would’ve walked away from her life, but he didn’t want her to give up her dreams. Terri wanted to figure out a way to do good in the world.

Axel cleared his throat. “We have two options. You can have me for a bodyguard for the rest of the night, or I’ll call the Secret Service, and you can have the two men you ditched at the mall.”

A white van drove down the road with another one following. The media was leaving the scene. Axel moved Terri so that she couldn’t be seen from the street. With the vans gone, they could get back in the SUV.

“Fine, but I want to go somewhere else.” She turned and headed back toward the parking lot.

From the glint in her eye, he knew the night was going to get even crazier.

Terri

Terri glancedat Axel from across the high-top table in the bar. The music boomed, making it so that they couldn’t hear a word from each other. On stage, the DJ pumped his fist in the air as smoke and fire exploded from cannons next to the stage. Women in red bras and red G-strings danced in cages hanging from the ceiling.

None of those were the reasons she’d come to the club. When the waitress came over, Terri asked for a bottle of vodka. It was the same waitress she had whenever she came to the Drako Night Club. Terri requested her because they’d worked out a deal—bring a bottle of expensive vodka but filled with water.In return, she gave the waitress a huge tip. Terri was sure her weekly stops at the club paid the woman’s rent.

If Terri ever drank water, the media would pick up on it quickly, and rumors about her being pregnant would fly. Instead, she used the identity the press had made for her to look like a party queen. The paparazzi liked to run stories on her. In her second year of college, when she’d developed a love for deep-fried Twinkies, she added a few pounds. The media had had a field day.

Axel shifted in his seat so that his back was to the wall. The waitress came back with her bottle of vodka and a glass of water for Axel. Terri twisted the top off the bottle and filled the crystal glass to the top then poured another for the waitress. The pours equaled three shots. Terri clinked glasses with her and downed the liquid. She had perfected the after-shot face. The waitress walked away after she slipped her three hundred dollars.

“Really?” Axel shouted over the music. “You think it’s good for someone in your position to drink like this?”

Terri grinned, filled another glass, downed the water, and scrunched her face. “What? Are you too good for one shot?”

“Someone has to be sober,” he growled.

Dammit, that man with his sexy growl.

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