My gaze drifted from the map to Rav’s profile. The years had sharpened his features, adding lines at the corners of his eyes that hadn’t been there in Afghanistan.
The beard was gone, but there was still something raw and dangerous about him. A coiled readiness in how he stood, weight balanced perfectly, ready to move in any direction. How that body had felt pressed against mine, the scratch of his beard against my skin, the weight of him…
Christ’s sake, Brooke. Focus.
Percival’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Son of a bitch.”
He strode into the mid-cabin from the galley, where he’d been on a call. Everyone turned to look at him.
“Something wrong?” Scarlett asked.
“Evelyn was right to keep you out of the hotels.” Percival pocketed his phone, dropping into one of the leather seats. “Since they didn’t need to wait for us, our team flew in last night.”
“And?” Rav prompted.
“And someone leaked to the police that a ‘dangerous American paramilitary group’ is operating in Naples.” His jaw flexed. “They’re all over our team. Surveillance, plainclothes officers, the works.”
“Shit,” Malcolm muttered.
“Could your contacts help smooth this over?” Percival asked Rav. “Get the local authorities to back off?”
Rav shook his head. “They’re intelligence gathering types, not people with pull in law enforcement.”
Why would someone do that? It wouldn’t be a coincidence, would it? “Could this be related to the Carabinieri tip-off? The one that sent them after Fenix?”
“Bobcat’s checking into that exact question,” Percival said, referring to our team leader. “The leak came from somewhere high up. Someone with access to both our operational plans and Italian government contacts.”
“You think you have a mole?” Malcolm asked.
“We don’t know yet, but it doesn’t sound like the analyst who called the Carabinieri was behind this.” Percival looked pointedly at Rav, who nodded. They must have talked after Bobcat had informed us about the analyst last night. “Either way, my orders are to join the team in Naples. We’ll show our faces, cooperate with authorities, convince them we’re just private security consultants.”
If those werehisorders, what about mine?
My stomach dropped. “And me?”
“You stay dark,” he said. “Bobcat wants you to remain with Reynolds. No official trace of your presence in Italy.”
“How dark can I be? Lark would have told them everything he knew about our team.”
He shrugged. “Orders are orders, Doc.”
Fuck. I wouldn’t be joining my team. I’d be staying with?—
Oh shit. Instead of joining my team, the group who’d helped me find purpose in this screwed-up world, I’d be staying with Rav.
With his team, but still.
With Rav.
Scarlett nodded. “That’s doable. We’ll need to modify our sleeping arrangements at the villa, but we’ll have room. We could use your expertise on site, anyway.”
“I’d rather be with my team,” I said, more sharply than intended.
“Not an option,” Percival said. “It was Bobcat’s call, not mine. Your knowledge of Greek Fire is too valuable to risk you getting caught up in whatever game is going on.”
I swallowed my protest. He was right, strategically speaking. But the prospect of being separated from the men I’d spent the last three years working with?
“This has Fenix written all over it,” Drew said from where he stood behind Jayce’s seat. “They’re probably retaliating against Pendragon for sending the Carabinieri after them.”
