Page 91 of Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs 4)

She shook her head. “Mr. White.” She worried the name through her mind. “Every time you mention him I swear I get cold chills and a headache.” She rubbed at her brow.

“Whore’s Dust will do that.” Her father grimaced. “You likely heard the name while you were there, sweetheart. It’s a code name Fuentes gave his spy. And Fuentes likes to brag to his victims. That’s probably where you heard it.”

It was a reasonable explanation. She had been in the Fuentes compound nearly forty-eight hours before her rescue; he could have done a lot of bragging in that time.

“The party is in two nights,” Kell stated behind her, his voice dark, the shadow of his Cajun accept barely coloring his words—but the fact that it was there was telling. “There are some things I need. I’ll make a list and give it to Ian tonight.”

“You’ll have everything you need, Kell.” The admiral spoke up at that point. “Myself and Captain Malone have also been invited to the party. We’ll provide what backup we can.”

“What about Jansen Clay?” Emily asked. “He’ll want to help, because of Risa.”

Her father and the admiral shook their heads at once. “This information is need to know only, Emily,” her father said. “As highly as I think of Jansen, I can’t trust his temper. Risa’s in bad shape, from what I hear. He’s as likely to go vigilante as he is to follow orders.”

Daddy! Help me! Emily jerked violently at the cry that tore through her head and the sense of terror that had her coming to her feet, nearly stumbling before Kell rose and caught her in his arms.

“Emily?” he questioned her roughly. “What’s wrong?”

She swallowed tightly, fighting back the burning bile that rose in her throat.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head fiercely as she fought the revulsion building inside her. “I didn’t meant to do that.” She felt like tearing her hair out in an attempt to tear out the memories.

“It’s the discussion. Talking about it pulls at fractured memories that make no sense.” The admiral’s voice was a vicious growl. ?

?That bastard Fuentes has a lot to answer for.”

Emily nodded jerkily. The doctors and psychologists had pages of information they had given her, enough for a book, on the side effects of the synthetic drug Fuentes’s genius scientist had created. The mad bastard had at least been paranoid enough to keep the secret of how to make it hidden from Fuentes. With his death, the secret had died with him, making the remaining Whore’s Dust a lost commodity on the drug market.

“I’ll be okay.” She pulled back from Kell slowly, avoiding his gaze, feeling weak, ineffective in her own defense now.

“Yes, you will.” His hands tightened on her shoulders before one lifted and moved to her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. “It’s not your fault, Emily.”

She was aware of the other men in the room and the fact that they, along with her father, were witnessing her weakness. And she hated that. It only proved to her father that she wasn’t as strong or as brave as she thought she was.

“I know that.” Her smile was tight as she pulled back. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go wash my face.”

She needed to escape. She needed to regain her composure before she talked any more about Fuentes.

KELL WATCHED HER LEAVE, HIS jaw bunching with the effort it took not to follow her, not to comfort her. His head swung around to encompass the men staring back at him thoughtfully before he pushed his fingers through his hair and started after her.

“Kell. Give her a minute,” the senator said, his voice rough. “Just a few minutes.”

Kell jerked around. “Why?”

The other man shook his head. “She’s feeling weak. If you go in there and comfort her, you’ll make her feel weaker, and she’ll hate that.”

“This coming from the man who tries to chain her to any and every controlling asshole he can find?” Kell snapped back furiously. “How would you know what makes her weak or strong?”

Rather than becoming angry, the senator’s lips twitched with an edge of humor.

“Between me and you, son, I knew those controlling assholes didn’t have a chance. Just as I knew that eventually you’d get tired of watching me send them to her and take the job yourself. Just as you’ve done.”

Kell’s eyes narrowed as Richard leaned back in his chair and regarded him with a slight smile.

“She can outshoot most men I know.” He ticked off a finger. “She goes to Gator Jack’s to learn how to fight. She’s nearly talked her shooting instructor into letting her into an open practice range normally reserved for law enforcement and military, and the woman can maneuver through rush-hour traffic like a defensive-driving instructor.” He continued to count off fingers. “She thinks that damned research will help her write a book, when the book is just an excuse to research crap guaranteed to piss me off and make her bodyguards crazy. On top of this, you’ve been following her for the better part of five years whenever you’re home on leave, and you have an annoying habit of threatening her bodyguards whenever you catch them looking at her with anything other than polite interest.”

Kell felt like squirming.

“I may not be in action anymore, son, but I’m not a SEAL for nothing. My daughter is damned strong, but she doesn’t take orders worth a damn. And when it comes to women, neither do you. You two needed a solid kick in your asses years ago. I just gave you one.”

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