Page 84 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

"Family ties don't make it personal then?" Ian snapped.

Goddamn, what the hell had they wanted, a blow-by-blow account of exactly how personal this was to him?

"That about sums it up, Richards," Clint snarled, turning back to him, anger tightening his features. "Drug cartels and unidentified terrorists do not fucking apply. Remember that."

Clint was pissed, there was no doubt. Ian pushed his fingers through his hair and shook his head at the thought.

"Son of a bitch, McIntyre," he cursed. "Why didn't I just drag all of you in on it, since Diego knows your faces so fucking well. I could have watched him kill you like I watched him kill that little maid. Her brains splattering across the wall before she had time to realize she was dead. Hell yeah, I wouldn't be dealing with your stubborn ass now if I had."

Clint rounded on him, his lips flattening, the muscle at his jaw twitching dangerously. Clint wasn't a man to cross, but Ian had learned to cross the most dangerous of them all. The fury in the other man's face didn't have the power it once held.

He met Clint's anger head-on. No apology. He'd be damned if he'd apologize for any of it.

Clint's gaze sliced to Kira then. "You're slacking, Agent Porter. I figured you'd have him in line by now. Teach him a few manners."

"He's still a work in progress," she drawled, the hint of a Southern accent causing Ian's balls to twitch in hunger despite the tension in the room.

When her fingers slid over his arm, and she aligned herself at his side, something shifted within him. Others stood either in front of him, or behind him; he'd be damned if anyone, man or woman, had ever stood at his side in such a way.

The feeling that swept over him had him fighting to hold back, to keep his damned hands to himself. Instead, his arm slid around her, pulling her to his side, desperate to feel her against him.

Clint's lips quirked. "Keep working on him, he might have potential. Come on in here, we have some serious shit going down. We were planning a break into Ian's room tonight. Thankfully, you saved us the trouble."

Ian's eyes narrowed as he followed Clint through the villa. If they had been considering a move that potentially dangerous, then the situation had gone beyond serious shit. They knew the operation, that was evident; moving in on him could have fouled the whole thing.

"There were ways to make contact," Ian reminded him.

"Sure there are," Clint growled. "Ways that information can be leaked too. From what I understand you're under a total blackout until this mission is completed. I talked to your stepfather; even he hasn't heard anything. We weren't about to rock this little boat by going through channels that could possibly include another nasty little spy belonging to Sorrell. Coming straight to the source. I like that angle."

Bitterness filled his voice, the same bitterness that had filled all their guts when they realized how effectively the government channels had been infiltrated by Sorrell's spies.

"I need to get this over with," Ian informed him. "I have men waiting to grab Ascarti if need be. The opportunity is now or never."

"Never." Clint led the way into the sitting room off the more formal living room.

"Ascarti isn't what you want." Reno stepped from the shadows of the room, cradling an M-16 as he gazed at Ian quietly. "It's good to see you again, Ian."

"Reno." Ian nodded, then glanced at the weapon in his arms questioningly.

"Security." Reno shrugged. "Macey and Kell are on their way back in; until then, there are things to protect."

"There are?" Besides their own sorry asses? But why the hell they thought he was a risk at this point, he wasn't certain.

"There's a reason we've been busting our asses to contact you for a week, Ian," Clint snarled. "You have your head up your ass? Since when did you think we'd jeopardize an op?"

"Since the general information that went out on it said I was a deserter and traitor," Ian snapped back, feeling Kira's hand rub against his back warningly.

Hell, why did that ease the anger beginning to rise inside him? What the fucking hell kind of hold did she have on him anyway? Whatever it was, it eased the violent tension rising inside him and had the other two men watching him with knowing grins.

"Would you believe I had betrayed my country, Ian?" Reno asked then. "Better yet, would you have believed it of Nathan, no matter the evidence?"

"I built the evidence," Ian reminded them. "It was pretty damning."

"A little too damning," Reno agreed. "I'll kick your ass for taking me away from my wife and son after we're finished here. Until then, we have details to attend to."

Macey and Kell stepped into the room.

"Fucktard," Macey muttered as he passed him. "Dumb shit. The least you could have done was let us have some fun too."

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