Hot Intent

He sighed and moved toward the edge of the big deck. “Things have changed. My...role has changed.”

She wanted to shout at him that his role was to be Dawn’s dad and her lover and eventual husband. But she bit the words back. She’d known going into this relationship what his priorities were. But she’d thought she could change him. Or at least change his priorities. Foolish her. Yup, that was her heart cracking just a little bit more in her chest. How long until it shattered completely?

He continued. “Cargo ships have been seen making unscheduled stops in small ports along the east coast of Cuba. No off-loads or on-loads have been observed. We’ve been asked to poke around. Talk with the locals. See if they know something about any smuggling that might be going on.”

“What kind of smuggling?”

“No idea. Could be drugs, weapons, human trafficking...hell, it could be cigars for all I know.”

She snorted. “If the CIA wants to send us in to have a look, they think it’s more serious than cigars.”

He exhaled hard. “You always have been too smart for your own good.”

She took a step closer to him, to where he stared out at the woods. “It’s not our problem anymore. Other people with a death wish can go check it out.”

“But I’m uniquely qualified—” he started.

“Why? Because you’re practically a Russian agent yourself?”

He spun to face her. Something dark and cold emanated from him. This was the side of James Bond the movies never portrayed. They might get the fun and games right, but the movies mostly ignored what it meant to be a trained killer. A couple of her brothers were trained killers. She knew the signs of it in the way Alex held himself now. In how he watched everything and everyone, in the way he moved, always coiled, always ready to spring. He was a living, breathing hair trigger.

Alex spoke low and hard. “My father’s telling the powers-that-be in his government that I’m working for him. I can use that against him. I ought to be able to use his name to move around with impunity.”

“Until they get wind of you working for the CIA,” she retorted. “If your father thinks D.U. is a CIA front, you have to expect the Cubans to think the same thing. We’d end up in danger regardless of who your father is.”

He shrugged. “I have the skills to evade the Cubans. I know exactly how they’ve been trained. It’s how I was trained, dammit.”

“The CIA can find someone else to do the job,” she said implacably. She felt bad about coming across as a pushy bitch, but no way was she going to show him the true depth of her terror at the course shift his life had taken. He was heading down a path she and Dawn could not follow him down.

He huffed, sounding exasperated.

“What aren’t you telling me, Alex?”

“I already accepted the assignment.”

“Well, unaccept it!”

“I can’t.”

“You mean you won’t.”

“I mean I gave my word, and I’m going to do this.”

“And I’m supposed to sit at home like a good little woman and wait for you maybe not to come back? Ever?”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “Yes,” he finally answered. “That’s about the way of it.”

“You expect me to sit around doing nothing while you sally forth to your possible death? Not a chance. If you go, I go.”

“That’s crazy. You’re not trained for this kind of mission.”

“And yet, Doctors Unlimited asked me to go on it.”

“You need to stay home.”

She planted her fists on her hips. “No. If you go, I’m going, too. And that’s an ultimatum.”

“I don’t deal well with ultimatums,” he snapped.

“And I don’t withdraw mine,” she snapped back.

They glared daggers at each other. She could be just as stubborn and pigheaded as he could. If he was determined to do this supremely stupid thing, he damned well wasn’t going off by himself alone to do it and die.

A little voice in the back of her head whispered that this wasn’t the way to demonstrate her trust in him. She shoved away the realization that her declaration was partly based on desperation. If he decided to leave her, there wasn’t a darned thing she could do about it, right? Mentally, she knew that. But way down deep in her gut, she was forced to acknowledge that her ultimatum had as much to do with clinging to him as anything.

“What else aren’t you telling me?” she demanded.

“I don’t know anything more than I’ve told you.”

“If you’re dragging me off to Cuba, I have a right to know everything.”

“I don’t want to drag you to Cuba, dammit! I want you stay here and be safe.”

“Which is exactly what I want you to do, too.”

“Not happening.”

“Then I’m going to Cuba, whether you take me with you or not.”

He stared at her in frustration. She crossed her arms defensively and stared back. It was a long standoff, but she was a McCloud, and they were a tenacious bunch.

He finally declared, “You are the most stubborn, unreasonable female I’ve ever had the misfortune to know.”

Hah. Capitulation. She heard it in his voice. Gracious in victory, she murmured, “And that’s why you love me.”

He scowled, and she didn’t press the point. Instead, she asked, “Why is André going to all the trouble of infiltrating us into Cuba to hunt for something the CIA isn’t even sure exists? Does this have something to do with your father?”

“Maybe,” he answered candidly. “The close Cuban connection to Russia lends credence to the notion. Several of the ships that have been spotted belong to Russian front corporations, and some intelligence traffic has been tracked between Cuba and the FSB that corresponds to the appearances of the ships.”

“Is that why you’re so set on going on this wild-goose chase, then?”

“I’d definitely rather know what Peter’s up to than be operating in the blind.” He added quietly, “And so would the CIA.”

“Are you ever going to give up this never-ending battle against him?”

“I will if he will.”

She snorted. “Like that’s gonna happen.”