Page 17 of Rhys

With a slight nod, Rhys walked over to one of two doors just off the kitchen. Opening it, he led her down two small steps into the space large enough for one car, a small workbench, and a high-end metal toolchest.

Stepping past him, Vanessa went straight to the driver’s side door and flung it open. Ducking inside, she began grabbing her things from the passenger seat.

Don’t do it, dickhead. Donotcheck out her ass.

Like a kid being told not to push the big red button, Rhys’s eyes fell to her bent waist…and beyond. Even in the set of baggy scrubs, he couldn’t help but admire the set of curves that had filled his palms more times than he could count.

And that dick he mentioned earlier? Yeah, that greedy bastard stood at attention like a soldier ready to go to war.

“It’s all here!”

She unfolded herself and stood upright. With her one arm balancing a laptop and small purse, Vanessa’s eyes found his at the very same moment he tore his away from her backside.

“That’s great.” Rhys cleared his throat, praying she hadn’t just caught him checking her out.

If she did, she didn’t let on. “I can’t believe the shooter didn’t take it.” She walked over to him. “Could you please hold these while I get the rest of my things from the trunk?”

“I’ll get it.”

Sliding past her, Rhys had to squeeze himself between her body and the tool chest to his right. The move was awkward at best, but luckily, he managed to pass by without knocking the items from her grasp.

After using the plastic handle near the driver side floorboard, he rounded the back of the car and lifted the trunk. Inside there were two duffle bags, both black.

He reached for the one closest to him, the sound of its contents one he was very, very familiar with. Setting it back down, Rhys pulled the zipper free and pushed the divided material open.

What he found inside shouldn’t have surprised him. But somehow it did.

Holy shit.

The first weapon he spotted an HK416 assault rifle, complete with an EOTech optic, a sound and flash suppressor, an AN/PEQ-2—infrared beam used for illuminating targets visible only by night vision goggles—and several extra 30-round magazines, each filled to capacity.

Upon further inspection, Rhys discovered two pistols, two Glock 19s. One appeared to be standard issue. The other was packaged with a threaded barrel, M-6 laser light, high-capacity magazines, and a sound/flash suppressor.

Other items in the bag included four boxes filled with 9mm ammo, a double-push dagger with a carbon fiber handle and a chisel-ground M390 steel blade, a taser, and a set of high-end night-vision goggles that he knew for a fact ran a tab upwards of twenty grand.

A low whistle traveled past his puckered lips. “Damn, Ness. Guess you came prepared, huh?”

“Always.”

Her response was instant and without remorse, making it nearly impossible for him to reconcile the woman he remembered with the one currently standing in his garage. Staring down at the treasure trove of weapons, Rhys was reminded of the fact that he never really knew her in the first place.

A heaviness pressed against his chest with the sadness that knowledge carried with it, but he blinked it away. Tilting his head around the trunk’s lid so he could see her, he half-teased, “What’s in the second bag? Hand grenades and RPGs?”

“A few changes of clothes and some toiletries.” The intriguing woman smirked. “Had to leave my grenades and RPGs at home this trip.”

This trip.

The off-handed remark sounded like nothing more than a flippant comment, but the look in her eyes told him Vanessa wasn’t actually kidding.

Jesus. She really is a spy.

Though he tried like hell, Rhys couldn’t begin to imagine the five-feet-nothing woman holding a gun, let alone going hand-to-hand with men like the ones he and his team took down on the regular. And though it shouldn’t, the idea of her putting herself in danger like that scared the piss out of him.

Quickly zipping the bag closed, he pushed away the lifted both it and the other one up and out of the trunk.

Slamming the lid shut, Rhys made his way back to her. “Come on. We’ll get you settled in, and I’ll order us some food.”

“And then what?” Vanessa fell in line behind him.

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