Page 74 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

"And if I walked away from you, it would destroy what was left of me," she answered. "We've been playing a cat-and-mouse game for years now. It's time to stop. Here and now. I'm your equal in everything but physical strength and you know it. Don't push me away because you're too much of a chauvinist to work with me."

It wasn't just chauvinism. It was the certainty that losing her would kill him.

"You'll be crucified in the tabloids," he told her.

"Got the T-shirt." She grinned back at him.

His lips quirked. Yes, she did. She had been in the tabloids for years, either for the scrapes she had purposely managed to get into, or for the charities she and her uncle backed. She was controversial, flamboyant, and one of the government's most covert contract operatives. She was damned scary.

He lifted his head and pressed his lips to her forehead as he let his eyes drift closed, allowing himself to enjoy holding her in his arms, feeling her warm and sweet against him. Just a little while longer.

"We need to shower." He opened his eyes and stared into the clear, blue sky beyond the balcony. "I have to deal with what happened yesterday."

"You're going after them? Do you know who they are?"

He nodded again. He knew who they were. The information had been waiting in his in-box when he rose that morning.

"Sorrell's men," he answered her. "I received news he was in Aruba this morning. Apparently, he's been here for a while."

She nodded against his shoulder. "Are we going for intel or blood?"

"We're not going for either," he said. "I'm sending in a small team of Fuentes soldiers to capture Sorrell's contact as well as the two men in the boat yesterday. They left an hour ago. I just have to wait on the call now."

It was coming to a head slowly. He had managed to foul every attempt Sorrell had made to kidnap or kill him. All that was left was to draw the terrorist into a meeting. Once he identified him, Ian could take him out.

It was a waiting game, and Ian had once believed he had the patience for it. Patience had never been a problem until now. Until Kira had walked into his life once more.

"Are you going to make contact?" Kira asked then, and Ian knew who she was talking about.

Durango team. He looked up at the rise again and sighed wearily. Reno would be pissed when Ian and Kira didn't show up as he ordered. But hell, what could his former commander expect? Reno had no business here. His wife was just out of the hospital with their newborn child; he should have been in the States attending to his family, not out trying to cover for someone whose main objective had been to keep the team as far from this as possible.

Diego Fuentes loved playing with the men assigned to that team. He considered it his personal duty to see just how far he could push each man until he broke. He had nearly broken Nathan. If Fuentes had succeeded in his past plots he would have killed the commander's sister and a senator's daughter; both women were tied intimately to two of the SEALs on that team.

He shook his head in response to her question. "It's almost over. There's nothing they can do to help at this point."

"They can cover your back."

"They can get in my way." He lifted her from his lap, collected his coffee cup, and drew her back into the bedroom.

Closing the door and locking it, he moved to the bureau, flipped the security protocols to active then turned back to her.

"When this hits, Kira, it's going to hit fast. I have to be certain where your loyalties lie."

"In what regard?" Long black hair flowed over her shoulder as she regarded him warily now.

"Sorrell will die." Nothing else was acceptable. "If you can't handle that, then get out now. Don't come between me and this mission."

"Your mission is to kill him?" she asked soberly, her expression concerned. "I would think DHS would need the intel he could provide?"

"He dies, Kira. I don't give a fuck what DHS needs or what they want. So you decide now exactly who has your loyalty. Me or DHS."

He had her loyalty. He knew it, she knew it, but he wanted to hear it. He wanted her to feel it.

She licked her soft pink lips, her blue-ringed gray eyes flickering in acknowledgment of the power play.

"You have my loyalty, Ian," she finally whispered. "But don't make the mistake of abusing it. I'm not your puppet and I won't be used as one."

"I didn't ask for a puppet." He stepped to her, pulling her into his arms as he hid the grimace that contorted his features. "We can't let him live, Kira. Even for the intel. He has too many ties, too many spies. I won't risk his escape. I won't risk Nathan or his wife, even for the information."

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