“Because I don’t want her to hear this conversation.” She marched past them. Her heels click-clicked on the floor. “Come with me.”
With one last, lingering look at that closed door, he followed her into the kitchen. She spun as soon as he and Ryan entered. Her lips pressed together and the fingers of her right hand tapped against her thigh. “This could be quite the clusterfuck,” Jezebel declared.
“I hope it’s not,” Ryan muttered. “Hate clusterfucks. They are my least favorite type of fucks.”
Jezebel had her gaze on Nash. “You know what a big deal Typhon is to the agency. We’ve had suspicions about his true identity for a while, but never enough concrete evidence to act. Never possessed a good enough bait to trap him.”
“I am aware.” That would be why he’d called Jezebel as soon as he’d gotten Delaney tucked in bed upstairs. And, yes, side note, Ryan had been right about what had occurred in the bedroom. Nash had pulled the covers up over Delaney’s body as quickly as he could and then he’d run for the door because lingering with her was so not a good plan. Not when his control was razor thin.
“We need him in custody.” Jezebel spoke those words as if Nash and Ryan were not already completely aware of that obvious truth. “We need to catch him in the act of a major crime. Yes, I have Delaney’s testimony. But a simple assault charge is going to be BS, if we could even get him in custody, and right now, the man is smoke. We need him to be brought into the open. I need evidence to nail his ass to the wall and conclusively link him as Typhon.” She shook her head. “This will get messy. It will get dangerous. It will be?—”
“A clusterfuck?” Ryan finished.
She didn’t respond to that. “I chose Vegas because we have quite a number of agents embedded in the city. It’s already an international hotspot. All intel I possess points to the fact that Typhon has major interests in two of the casinos there. Casinos that we think are tied to his money laundering and drug trade. He feels comfortable in that city. His contacts there will let him know the minute Delaney makes an appearance, and you will make very public appearances.”
Sure. They’d make a splash in Sin City.
“If he really did fall for the woman, then seeing and hearing that you two are romantically involved, that you are getting married, that will potentially push him over the edge.” Jezebel’s dark gaze had turned considering. “Maybe he’ll get so angry that he comes for you himself. That would be the ideal response in this situation. We want to push him. Get him to come into the open. Get him to do the dirty work himself.”
Ryan clapped. “Great. Hear that, Nash? You get Typhon coming to personally kill you.”
He ignored his brother. “I can handle the danger.” He had zero fears on that score.
“Can you handle the way you feel about Delaney?” Jezebel questioned him with a lift of her eyebrows. “Emotions make things messy.”
“Damn straight they do.” Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. “So messy.”
As if Ryan had ever let his emotions get in the way of a case. The guy compartmentalized in his sleep.
“I know that this situation could be challenging for you, Nash,” Jezebel added. Had that been a hint of concern in her voice? Maybe. Maybe not. “Your brother has already volunteered to be Delaney’s lead bodyguard. I’m sure he’ll make the sacrifice and be her groom, too.”
“I’ve got it,” Nash replied. “No sacrifice necessary.”
Her gaze shifted to Ryan. “Will you go check on Delaney?”
Ryan did not move. “She’s with your two guards. Don’t you trust them?”
She smiled. “Will you go check on Delaney?” Jezebel patiently repeated.
Cursing, he spun and headed out of the kitchen. The door closed softly behind him.
Then it was just Nash and Jezebel. Her foot tapped. “I know you sacrificed a great deal years ago. You lost your relationship with Delaney.”
He swallowed. “That intel remains in the vault. You swore on that. Whatever was sacrificed, whatever was lost—we don’t speak of it.” Because talking about the past changed jackshit. He still wound up without Delaney.
“Right.” A nod. “Do you see this as your second chance? Is that what you’re thinking?”
Sometimes, there were no second chances in this world. “You’re the one who came up with the plans. A, B, and C.”
A faint smile tilted her lips. “And you’re the one volunteering to be the new groom.”
Yes.
“But I have to know first, before we proceed even a single step, can you protect her? Will you be able to shut off your emotions when necessary and get the job done?”
“You really need to ask that question?” He kept his voice low because, knowing his brother, Ryan would be struggling to overhear their conversation. He’d shut the kitchen door, but Nash hadn’t actually heard the sound of his brother’s retreating footsteps. “I shut my emotions off before.” I broke her heart. “I will do whatever it takes to succeed with this mission.” Very careful wording because…
I have my own mission.
