Page 14 of Dangerous Mission

“But you can’t because my dad asked you for this favor. It seems you’ve played to his puppet strings as long as I have. Are you going to get some promotion out of this?”

Dammit.She wanted to blame her lack of control her mouth had on not being able to sleep the night before.

“You really think that’s the type of person I am?” He shook his head. “There are bad things happening in my own life. I walked away from them to be here. Tim asked me for help, and I had to weigh coming here against leaving my team. The men who fight next to me. They might have to head into a mission a man down because I’m here.”

“Then go back to California.”

“Have you not listened to a word I’ve said? I’m not leaving you in danger. You might not realize it, but I’ve never stopped loving you, T.”

“Honestly, I don’t think you ever loved me. You’re right. Nothing you say is going to change anything. We can’t rewrite the past, and the time apart only made me resent you.”

Axel was next to her in a second. She could reach out and run her fingers down his chest. To avoid doing something stupid, she put her hands behind her. He trapped her chin with his fingers so that she couldn’t look away. “The way I left years ago was wrong, but let’s get one thing clear. You are the only woman who has ever captured my heart.”

She didn’t have time to think before his lips crashed against hers. He wasn’t soft and gentle. The kiss was full of need. Instead of pushing him away, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as their tongues tangled together. He ran his fingers through her long hair and tilted her head to the side.

Everything shitty faded away, the same way it had when she was a kid. In that instant, she felt the passion she’d searched for in her dates and couldn’t find. One kiss from him, and everything she’d worked to repair fell down.

But it was too much. She shoved his chest, and he stumbled back.

“You can’t fix things with sex.”

“But we were so good at it.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Terri grabbed her coffee and phone then headed for the large glass doors to the patio. She couldn’t sit inside with him, because she wasn’t sure whether she could control herself next time. Axel said something as she closed the door behind her, but she didn’t listen. She sat down on a chair and relaxed.

Hex had disabled all tracking and GPS on her burner phone. He’d also made it so that the apps she used would go through a VPN tunnel. That protected her location.

Her email was full of messages from her assistant. She wanted to know her plan for the upcoming week. It was Saturday, and she had to give her assistant props for hustling.

The last assistant she had was horrible. She’d booked events that went against Terri’s values. Terri only wanted to do things that empowered others and helped people struggling. When she let the woman go, she threw a fit, and the Secret Service had to drag her out of the building. It didn’t stop there. She showed up at her house. Finally, Terri had to get a restraining order.

After clearing out the important tasks, she opened TikTok. The damn app could be addictive. People posted their family dramas, and it made her feel a little better about hers.

She noticed she was tagged in a video and opened it. A man had videoed himself next to his car and claimed he was dating her.

She’d seen similar videos before. Instead of dragging herself into the drama, she made a quick video with the tree backdrop, reminding people to be kind.

When replies started to flow in, she closed the app. Even when she reminded people to be kind, they went off on her. Terri had to prepare herself to read through comments, especially with her emotions so raw.

The door behind her creaked open. She didn’t know if she was ready for another round with Axel.

Axel

Axel hatedthe way he’d treated Terri years ago. He couldn’t stand the hurt in her eyes. Tim and Axel had sat down one afternoon, and he explained his plans to the man he looked up to. He planned to ask Terri to marry him before joining the navy. Tim said it would never work. It wouldn’t be fair for his daughter not to have someone always by her side. At the time, he listened to every word Tim said. Axel considered not enlisting, but Tim had talked him into it.

The screen on the laptop lit up as he moved the mouse. Next to him, his phone buzzed with a blocked name and number. He debated answering. He wasn’t in the mood for a telemarketer trying to sell him insurance or a wholesaler trying to buy his vacation house.

“Hello?”

Tex’s deep-Southern twang came through the phone. “Richy,” he said, using Axel’s call sign. “It looks like I’m not the only person who has deep connections. I knew your family was well connected and sought after. It took a few favors from President Fugate to find out why he trusted you so much.” Tex paused. “I’m guessing Cy erased the digital trail of you on the web. It takes some digging to find the link. Especially the one to your family. But none of that matters. He asked if I would work with you. What I don’t understand is why he made the call and not you.”

Tex was a legend. The former SEAL assisted with many missions. His computer skills were the reason Axel was alive. Tex had tracked his location, and a team out of California rescued him and Cy. Axel owed Wolf and his team his life.

When he was younger in high school social media barely existed. Many of the kids were just jumping on the bandwagon at the time, but he had no interest in putting his life on the internet. The paparazzi already posted more than enough information about his family. Terri’s public relations team for the family wouldn’t let her create an account.

“It’s good to hear your voice, Tex. It’s been too long. Tell Melody and the kids hi from me.”

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