Black Ops 03 - Deadly Games (32 page)

Key West, FL
October 12, 4:30 P.M.

The reflected sunlight hurt Rocco’s eyes as he watched Gena rise up from an ocean wave. Did that excuse sound legit? Or did he need to rub sand in his eyes to disguise the fact he’d just teared up while sitting there.

Watching her.

His
Gena.

She had returned to Arlington with him, and except for a few times when Rocco went in to the office, they hadn’t been apart. He wanted it to stay that way. Forever. And since she’d agreed to marry him, his chances at
forever
were looking damn good.

The rest of it was all up in the air. Where to live? What to do? Gena had insisted that he stay with the Agency, not wanting to influence his decision. But Rocco knew it was time for a change. He’d been feeling restless for a while.

Then Gena teased that neither of them knew what
they wanted to do when they grew up, which sounded perfect to Rocco. He and Gena would build a new life together, with no remnants from the past. In fact, the sooner the aftermath of the
old
was cleared away, the better.

The extent of Harry’s betrayal still wasn’t clear, but he’d agreed to plead guilty and cooperate in exchange for a life sentence. Of course Harry was still playing games with investigators, teasing them with information in hopes of gaining favors. Which made Rocco grateful the investigation was someone else’s job.

He watched as Gena walked toward him, her face turned up to catch the waning sun. What this woman did to a bikini should probably be outlawed in public.

The ache in his chest grew heavier as she approached. Would it ever go away? This haunting desire to be with her? Or had he lived with it for so long, it was embedded in his psyche? He rubbed his sternum.

Gena reached the edge of the blanket. She stood there and smiled. Then she bent over and shook her head, spraying him with water. “A gift from the sea.”

“You? Or the droplets?”

He stood and helped her dry off before pulling her close for a kiss.

“I’m seriously considering a career as a beach bum,” he said.

“Great minds think alike. I’ve been imagining myself as a sand castle builder.”

“Great minds
love
alike.” He spread kisses along the curve of her neck. “Ready to head back? I promised Dante I’d man the grill this evening.”

“And I want to man the kitchen. I don’t want Catalina in there unless she’s preparing tea for herself.”

“How long does morning sickness last anyway?”

“According to Cat, hers never goes away. Poor thing.”

Dante, Catalina, and their two-year-old son, Marco, had flown to Key West yesterday with Rocco and Gena. They were the first to hear the news: Cat was pregnant.

“I was thinking. We could throw them a combination wedding and baby shower,” Gena said.

“You might want to check with Erin on that,” Rocco said. He, Max, and Dante had all laughed to learn that each of their fiancées had suggested throwing wedding showers for the others.

“Let’s just do one big party instead,” Max had suggested. “Like this.”

They were staying at an eight-bedroom beach house Travis Franks had rented for the week. Except Travis and Maddy hadn’t shown up yet. Rocco hoped it wasn’t because Maddy was having complications from the surgery she’d had in Singapore.

Max and Erin were swinging in the oversized hammock on the back deck of the house. Max was reluctant to let Erin out of his sight, which Rocco could understand.

“Travis just got in,” Max said as Gena and Rocco approached the deck. “Says he’s got a big announcement to make at dinner.”

“Dinner. Food.” Rocco’s stomach growled. “I’m starving. And since I’m cooking, I say we eat in an hour.”

Gena followed him into the kitchen. “I wasn’t hungry until you mentioned food.” She opened the
refrigerator and began pulling out dishes she’d prepared earlier.

“Any of your potato salad left?”

She shook her head. “Dante and Max finished it off at lunch. But I’ll make more.”

Rocco had been surprised to discover that cooking was another skill Vianca had taught Gena. And Gena had mastered it, too.

Rocco and Gena fell into an easy camaraderie with each other as he seasoned steaks and she chopped vegetables for a salad.

“Let’s eat outside,” she suggested. She piled a tray with dishes and silverware, then followed Rocco and the steaks out to the deck.

Travis and Maddy were standing at the rail, looking out at the beach. Rocco smiled. He had been the first to learn that Maddy and Travis were married. That they were a perfect match was obvious.

“Yo! Look at those steaks!” Dante said as he and Cat came out of the house with Marco in tow.

Cat grimaced at the platters of food and moved to the far side of the deck. “I just got my stomach calmed down.”

Ignoring the adults, Marco made a beeline for the steps, lugging his sand bucket and shovel. He had claimed the sand at the bottom of the deck stairs as his.

Gena ferried food out from the kitchen, declining help. On her final trip, she carried a tray with a pitcher of fresh limeade.

“The kind with pineapple, I hope?” Cat asked.

“Yes. Anyone else?” Gena ended up pouring a glass for everyone.

“Guess this is as good a time as any,” Travis said.
He moved to his briefcase and withdrew several large envelopes.

Rocco groaned. “No work! We’re on vacation.”

Travis shoved an envelope into his hands, then gave one to Max and Dante, too. “You can open them later to review the fine print, but basically they’re job offers. Damn good ones. I’ve agreed to head up a new private security operation and I need expert help to build it.”

“You’re leaving the Agency,” Rocco said.

“Resigned last week,” Travis confirmed. “Maddy and I have been house hunting in Miami. The new headquarters will be in South Beach. Your offers include relocation.”

Dante held his limeade up. “I’m in.”

Max nodded. “Me, too.”

Everyone looked expectantly at Rocco now. He wrapped an arm around Gena. “I’ll have to get back to you later, Travis. After Gena and I have discussed what we want.”

Gena smiled up at him. “Thanks for that, but it’s your call. You have my support either way, though personally—” She winked. “Travis had me at
South Beach.
”

“Guess I’m in, too,” Rocco said.

Dante grinned.“Iproposeatoasttothe new venture.”

“To new ventures!” Rocco echoed.

Max raised his glass now. “To brothers found. And to the remarkable women we love.”

Everyone cheered at that.

Rocco rubbed his sternum. That ache in his chest was back, but this time he had a name for it. It was love fulfilled and expanding.

If you liked this Cate Noble book, try the others in the series, available now from Zebra!

In the first in a thrilling new series where pulse-pounding suspense meets wild, sensual heat, Cate Noble introduces Dante Johnson, a CIA operative caught in a firestorm of betrayal and desire …

After eighteen months in a secret prison in Southeast Asia, Dante Johnson wants only to move on with his life—until a bomb attack makes it clear that someone, somewhere won’t let the past go. All signs point to Catalina Dion, the brilliant foreign agent he once believed himself in love with … the same woman suspected of selling him out …

Cat knows her young son’s safety depends on her ability to remain hidden. But now Dante has tracked her down, reigniting the searing attraction between them and tempting Cat to lower her guard in potentially lethal ways. She can’t escape him. She can’t resist him. And now, together, they’re on the trail of a rogue Russian scientist, risking everything on a fragile trust and a fierce hunger that may be more dangerous than any enemy they’ve ever faced …

Abducted CIA operative Max Duncan returns to his home turf—and into a web of intrigue with the only woman who can help him salvage what’s left of his life …

Think only of the mission—or suffer the consequences. This has been Max Duncan’s reality for two years. His thoughts are not his own, and any attempt to exert his will results in excruciating pain. Then his friends stage a rescue he never believed possible. Finally “safe” at home, Max still can’t escape the prison of his own mind …

Dr. Erin Houston, called to California to help Max, would rather be investigating her father’s death, a “suicide” she’s convinced was actually murder. But when she and Max end up on the run, their time together sparks a connection between the mind-control experiments her father was fighting to stop and Max’s suffering …

Now, as Erin and Max race to expose the truth, someone with a different agenda is closing in—and will stop at nothing to prove them dead wrong …