Page 82 of Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs 4)

Diego had never known such loyalty. But that man in the cell, naked, shuddering in the throes of Diego’s latest attempt to break him with the last remaining doses of the date rape drug, that man knew a loyalty of which Diego only dreamed.

“You will dress our friend.” He nodded to the monitor as he spoke to Saul. “Feed him. Strengthen him enough to aid the boy if it is needed when they come for him. Delgado will kidnap the girl and bring her here. We will have Sorrell and our Mr. White in one place for our SEALs to collect.”

“Will you tell him that the girl will be kidnapped?” Saul asked. “Without his cooperation, it may not be possible to take her.”

Diego shook his head slowly. “This part I do not control. And there will be no way he and his friends can stop it. This man, ou

r spy, the girl trusts too well. Our friend Mr. White will bring her here, unharmed, as he has been ordered, for this Sorrell to collect. When they arrive, our captive will not be drugged, and he will remember the torture Mr. White has inflicted upon him. There will be no escape for White once he has been rescued. Be sure to place the girl in his cell when she arrives. She may need the additional protection.” Diego ran his finger thoughtfully over his lips. “The moment the girl is taken, you will send the coordinates of this place to my son. He will then take care of the rest.”

“Can you trust him, Diego?” Saul’s voice whispered what was his innermost fear.

Diego stared back at his friend and most trusted advisor.

“I can do nothing but take the chance,” he said with a heavy sigh. “It is too late to start over, to train another son, to worry for his safety and give him the freedom he will need to grow confident. We shall see, Saul. But we shall also protect our own backs. My son tries to make it appear as though he has no weakness, but all men know weakness, I have only to find his.”

“Should I contact Delgado?” Saul asked then.

Diego shook his head slowly. “I will contact him. He will know his orders have come directly from me and that he is to follow them implicitly. From here on out, Saul, this game is in earnest. There is no room for error, and there are no second chances. We can allow no mistakes from this point forward.”

Saul nodded in agreement, but his gaze was worried. Just as Diego was worried, despite the façade he presented. Worried that others could have learned about his son; perhaps this was even why Sorrell was targeting this team. To flush out Diego’s weakness. To have something to hold against him in the negotiations he was attempting to undertake for control of the cartel’s networks. A control Diego must not allow.

A control his son would not allow.

Twenty-one

EMILY WAS CERTAIN SHE SHOULDN’T have been surprised to find Kira waiting for them, in Emily’s apartment no less.

She was sprawled on the couch, a bag of Emily’s favorite cookies in her lap and the television turned to one of the foreign-language channels she loved so much.

Her long black hair was pulled high into a ponytail that allowed heavy curls to tumble well past her shoulders. Her face was makeup free and she still looked like a million bucks. She wore faded, ripped jeans and a wrinkled camisole top and still managed to appear fashionable. But the gun at her side ruined the image of the lazy, discontented socialite.

“About time you two showed up.” Her voice was pitched low as Kell closed and locked the door behind them. “Where’s that tall, buff, and completely antisocial hunk who lives on the other side?”

Ian?

“Why is my best friend and next-door neighbor sitting on my couch, eating my cookies, and watching my TV? And why is she doing it with a gun?”

As though she wasn’t damned good at guessing. The guess was getting ready to piss her off. She had just endured more time than she considered excusable with a silent, uncommunicative SEAL. The other, Ian, had been vaguely amused but not so much that he was willing to break the silence.

Emily hadn’t gotten to sit in the copilot’s seat this time, and she hadn’t been able to flirt with the pilot or Kell. And she sure as hell hadn’t been able to relieve the frustrating pain of this suddenly cold attitude she was receiving from the man who had been her lover.

Had been. Because it was going to be—oh, at least a good couple of hours before she tried to jump his bones again. She shot him a silent glare before turning back to Kira.

“Explanations, if you please,” she suggested to Kira wearily, shaking her head as she trudged toward the bedroom. “And you can make them without grouch-ass there glowering at both of us.”

Kira rose to her feet, winked at Kell, gave him a perky little wave of her fingers then followed Emily into the bedroom.

“Well. I have to say. You have totally outlived my expectations of your ability to handle that piece of man flesh,” Kira drawled as she closed the door behind her.

Emily was certain Kell heard every word.

She snorted. “Yeah. Right. I’m handling him really well. He hasn’t spoken to me in hours and he’s so damned cold he’s about to give me frostbite.”

“Cold?” Kira paused in front of the door, her hand waving in front of her face in a brief gesture of heat. “Baby. Those eyes are burning and those jeans are bulging. Trust me, that man is ready to rock and roll in the hardest of ways.”

Emily sniffed with offended pride. “Then he can rock and roll by himself.” For a few hours anyway.

Turning her back on Kira she threw her small bag to the bed, then sat down on the mattress and breathed out heavily.

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