“What are they going to say if you shoot me in cold blood?”
“Don’t.Please.”
“Please what?You want me to turn myself in?Never going to happen.”Grant reached into his suit coat and pulled out his gun, pointing it at his brother.
“Freeze!”came from all around them.
Grant smiled at his brother.“Just us, huh?That’s the last time you’re going to lie to me.”
Grant squeezed the trigger, but his brother was faster.The pain was so intense it was almost blinding.He looked down as blood pumped onto his shirt.He dropped to his knees, then fell forward.
“No!”Kiernan Smith shouted as his brother fell onto his face.
Eve Barnes stared at the two men through their argument, then watched as Kiernan shot and killed his brother.“Good shot,” she whispered.
“Right in the fucking heart,” Rhett said.
Eve nodded.Grant Pickens was dead in seconds.There was no saving him with a shot like that.She didn’t know if his brother was lucky or good, but judging by the way the man was crying, she guessed lucky.
Agents swarmed the two of them, taking Kiernan Smith into custody.Eve and the rest of the team learned a lot on their way to the casino.The first of which was that they couldn’t do a fucking thing.
The CIA wasn’t allowed to operate on US soil, but they were allowed to work with agencies that could.The FBI was finally brought into the investigation, and Lorelei and Adam were flagged since they’d been looking into Grant Pickens.The two agents called Montgomery and filled the team in on as much as they could.
Once Kiernan and his brother took the diamonds, they were wanted by more than just the US.They had warrants out from countries they’d stolen from, countries they traveled through, and countries where they’d committed other crimes.The two of them were not going to be free ever again, but Kiernan was given a deal.
A deal that meant turning on his brother.
Kiernan only agreed when all his past transgressions were brought into the light of day.He would still serve time, but his time would be served in a US prison instead of one no one had ever heard of with prisoners who were never released.His help in bringing down his brother bought him a chance at freedom one day.
“Harmony got lucky,” Rhett said.
Eve nodded.“Yeah.She went through hell, but it could have been so much worse.”
“She’s in surgery and lost a lot of blood.She had her home and work invaded and destroyed by the man they’re putting the cuffs on right now.How would it have been worse?”Rhett snapped at her.
“She could be dead, asshole.You’re the one who just said she got lucky,” Eve snarled back at her partner.She was sick of his shit.It had been months since they started working together, and in all that time, he hadn’t warmed up to her.She thought he would.That he would see she was a good protector, a good person.Instead, all the asshole did was act like she was an inconvenience for him.
Rhett held her gaze for a second, then rolled his eyes and walked away.
“What the hell was that about?”Walker asked her.
Eve knew Walker St.Brown had their boss’s ear.One word to him, and she would get a new partner.Someone who would treat her like an equal instead of a dick who acted like she couldn’t do the job simply because she didn’t have said dick between her legs.
“Are things not working out between you two?”Walker asked, not letting the subject drop when Eve didn’t answer right away.
“We’re fine,” Eve said.
“That didn’t sound like fine.”
Eve turned and faced the man who was nearly twice her size.His short hair and matching beard gave him an edge that he didn’t need when he already looked like he could kill without effort.“We don’t always see eye to eye.”
Walker looked at her closely.“Is that a nice way of saying he’s an asshole who doesn’t respect you?”
“I can handle myself,” Eve said.She was the only female on the team, and she was smaller than all the men.She knew it was easy for them to look at her and see weakness and frailty.She could not handle it if they did.She was hired to do the same job they were, and she’d be damned if she didn’t do it just as well, even if it was in a slightly different way.
“I never said you couldn’t.I’ve seen you work, Eve.I know how capable you are.”
Eve looked at Walker with a different level of respect.She didn’t know he thought highly of her.Hell, she didn’t know he thought anything of her.“Thank you.”
