Bad Attitude (B.A.D. Agency #1)(33)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Steele decided to be a little bolder with the conversation. “Well, you know how fathers can be. They want their sons to walk in their footsteps.”

“And I have tried repeatedly. But some things, I just can’t agree on.”

“Such as?”

“His weapons policies. I am hoping that your president will help him understand why it is our country needs to disarm the old Soviet weapons. They are nothing but a magnet to other countries who wish to steal them or buy them so that they can use them against their neighbors. The last thing I want to see is a nuclear bomb detonated in my backyard or anyone else’s. I don’t know about you, but bullies sicken me.”

Steele nodded as he realized just how wrong Syd’s information was. This kid had been set up, and the poor bastard didn’t even realize it.

This wasn’t a man who wanted to sell nukes. This was a man who had his head on straight.

He sighed heavily before he extended his hand out to Steele. “I am Viktor, by the way.”

Steele shook his proffered hand. “J.D.”

“Nice to meet you, Jaydee. Come. The bathroom is over here.” Steele followed him into the room as he kept watch for anything odd…like his father kicking in the door to gun them down. Or something a little more subtle, such as his father entering the room and knifing Viktor in the ribs.

But nothing was setting off his alarms.

They went about their business and didn’t speak again until they were leaving the room.

Viktor hesitated in the doorway as he made a little noise of excitement. “Is that the actress who is Lara Croft? You know, Angelina Jolie?”

Steele watched as Syd chatted with a group of women while her gaze casually but thoroughly kept tabs on the other people in the room.

“No. That’s my woman,” he said, grateful Syd couldn’t hear him. No doubt it would piss her off. But honestly, he would love nothing more than to be able to really lay claim to her.

“You’re a lucky man, Jaydee,” Viktor said before he excused himself and headed off for a small group in the center of the room.

Yes, I am.In more ways than one.

Syd sidled up to him and returned his drink to him. “Learn anything?”

“The kid doesn’t want to sell the weapons.”

Syd actually choked on her wine. “What?”

“You heard me. I’m beginning to seriously doubt your intelligence, Syd.”

“Thank you,” she snapped in an angry tone.

Steele cringed as he realized what had just leapt out of his mouth. “I meant your reports, not your brains.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you did.” But he could hear the amusement in her tone.

She moved to the other side of him. “Any sign of your father?” she asked behind her wineglass before she took a sip.

“Nada.”And that concerned him. Where could the old man be? There wasn’t really any place for him to set up the shot, which meant he’d have to be in the building somewhere.

But where?

Steele had started to turn around when someone bumped into his injured arm and sent the wine sloshing
onto his clothes. He bit back a curse as the Greek ambassador apologized to him.

He glanced over to Syd as his arm burned as if it were on fire. “I have to go back to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

She inclined her head to him. “I’ll keep an eye on our guy.”

Syd didn’t move as Steele wandered off. She watched as Viktor made his way around the room, from small group to small group. He seemed rather personable for a terrorist.

Maybe her intelligence was off.

She rolled her eyes at the bad pun. As Viktor drew near another group, a tall blond woman walked in. Syd felt an instant dislike for the thin, gorgeous creature, who oozed sophistication. She glanced down at her black dress and felt completely hideous in comparison.

What was it with women like the blonde who always made her feel so damn inadequate?

Suddenly, she was glad Steele wasn’t here to see this. If he gaped at that woman, she’d have to hurt him.

The blonde took a glass from Carlos before she made her way straight toward Viktor, who had his back to her.

Every male eye in the place followed the woman as she paused behind him and tapped him on his shoulder.

Viktor’s eyes widened the instant he turned and saw the stunning creature who had disturbed him. The woman extended her hand and whispered something in his ear that caused him to smile and laugh.

Syd took a deep draught of her wine as she tried not to be ill at the sight of them.

Refusing to watch the mating ritual of the posh and loaded, she glanced around the room for signs of Steele’s father.

Steele rubbed at the wine stain on his pants. Of all the times for such a thing to happen, this wasn’t it. He let out a disgusted breath as he tossed the towel into the garbage can. He couldn’t spend any more time on this.

Still pissed, he left the bathroom and headed back to the party.

He saw Syd the instant he returned. She was a hard one to miss, especially since the sight of her always warmed him. But as he glanced around the room, he didn’t see Viktor.

He crossed the room to Syd’s side. “Where’s our guy?”

She pointed to a corner with her thumb. “Making time with Cameron Diaz over there.”

Steele started to give the man kudos until he realized something.

He knew that woman.

Syd frowned as she saw the color fade from Steele’s face an instant before he made his way straight toward the tall blond woman.

What the hell was that?

But at least it wasn’t attraction. She knew exactly what Steele looked like when something turned him on.

Curious as to what had caused him to look sick to his stomach, she followed after him. As he drew near, the blonde looked up. Her face paled just the same way as Steele’s had an instant before she looked about as if she’d been caught in the middle of…well, what they’d done yesterday in the dressing room.

The woman rushed for the hallway.

Steele ran after her, with Syd right on his heels. Once they were out of the reception room, Steele stopped in the hall and glared after the woman.

“Tina!” Steele barked in the most commanding tone she’d ever heard. “Don’t you dare run from me.”

Tina? The name went through Syd like a knife. Tina as in sister Tina?

The woman paused before she turned back toward them. “What are you doing here, J.D.? You’re supposed to be in jail.”

“And you’re supposed to be at UVA in class.” He moved to stand just in front of her.

Tina shrugged as if she were trying to pull off nonchalance, but it wasn’t working. The girl was nervous. Too nervous. “I was invited to a party. But that doesn’t explain how you got here. I thought you were on the run.”

Suddenly they heard shouts from the reception area. Someone was calling for an ambulance.

Steele was torn as he heard the panicked cries from the reception area. Damn it! It was a hell of a time for his father to make his…

He looked back at Tina as a really bad feeling came over him. She was edging toward the door.

“Oh, God, no,” he breathed. “Tina, please tell me you didn’t do it?”

Her face blanched again as she ran for the door.

Steele bolted after her. He grabbed her before she could make her exit, and her purse slammed into his arm. Snatching it from her, he opened it to find a small empty glass tube snuggled in with her lipstick, wallet, and compact.

Tina shoved him away and tried to run again, but he caught her.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Tina.”

Her hazel eyes were filled with panic. “I won’t go to jail, J.D. I won’t.”

Syd swallowed as she realized what was happening. “She’s the assassin APS sent?”

Steele nodded as he stared into the face not of a woman, but of the girl he’d spent so much of his life adoring and protecting. Tina had always meant the world to him. “Why, peanut? Why would you do this?”

Anger darkened her eyes as she stared up at him. “Why do you think? I wanted to join the Army like you did, like Dad did. But they wouldn’t take me as anything more than a clerk or a truck driver. Daddy
trained me just as he trained you, and I’m every bit as good at this as you are.”

Her eyes narrowed on him. “Even better, in fact. It wasn’t fair that you got to be a sniper while I was relegated to some office somewhere, doing paperwork. I was born to do this.”

“Apparently not,” Syd said snidely, “since you got busted.”

She cut a nasty look at Steele. “It must run in our family.”

Steele’s face was stoic as he handed the vial to Syd. He was torn between wanting to spank Tina and wanting to protect her from what she’d done. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Viktor, but my money says this is what’s causing him to be sick. Get it to the medics.”

“What about Tina?”

He didn’t know how to answer that. She was his sister, and she’d done something so wrong that he wasn’t even sure if he should protect her. What was the right thing to do?

But then he knew.

“She’s under arrest.”

Tears welled in Tina’s eyes. “You wouldn’t do that to me. You can’t.”

God. Duty. Country. He didn’t have any choice. Sick over that fact, he pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket and snapped them around her tiny wrists. “I never tried to kill anyone, Tina.”

“No? You have sixteen confirmed kills on your record, big brother. There’s no difference between you and me and what we do.”

“You’re wrong about that, little girl,” he snarled in her ear. But even as he said the words, Syd could see the indecision in his eyes.

“Keep her out of sight,” she said before she dashed off with the vial.

She made her way back to the reception area, where Viktor was lying on the floor, writhing in pain. She went to Andre, who was standing over two men trying to help the younger man as the ambulance sirens blared from outside. She pressed the vial into his hand and saw the recognition in his eyes.

The ambulance was just arriving as she rushed back to Steele to find him and Tina still arguing.

Honestly, she felt like tossing water on the two of them to calm them down.

“Hey, Steele? Enough. If we don’t get her out of here, we’re all going to have some serious explaining to do. Right now they think Viktor’s sick, but it won’t be long before they realize it’s poison.”

Inclining his head to her, Steele looked less than amused as he grabbed Tina’s arm and hauled her down a back hallway that led to a side entrance reserved for the help. It wasn’t until they were out of the building that he finally slowed his long, angry strides.

“Get her in the van,” Syd said, “before someone sees the cuffs.”

“I’d rather beat her.”

“Beat her later.”

He glared at Syd before he complied. He placed Tina down roughly on one of the seats. Tina sat stiffly, her entire body rigid as she glared at her brother.

“I can’t believe you’d do this to Mom and Dad,” he said between clenched teeth. “How could you?”

“Me?” she snapped. “What about you? Dad won’t even go near a military post because of you. He’s so embarrassed that he’s terrified of running into one of his Army buddies who knows what you did.”

Steele clenched his fist as if he’d like to backhand her. “Why would you throw away your entire life for something so stupid?”

Her eyes narrowed on him. “Why did you?”

“I was angry.”

“So was I. It’s not fair that I can’t do what you do because I wasn’t born with a dick.”

“You watch your mouth.”

“Fuck you.”

Syd stepped between them. “Okay, children. Stop fighting, or I’m going to put you both in your rooms.”

“Who the hell are you?” Tina snapped.

“You don’t talk to her like that, Tina. I mean it.”

Syd appreciated his defense of her, but she didn’t need it. “Don’t worry, Josh, I can hold my own. If
she wants to tangle with me, I’ll be more than happy to kick her skinny little ass.”

Tina jerked herself upright. “Try it.” But even as she said the words, there was no denying the shame in her eyes.

Steele met Syd’s gaze, and she saw the pain inside him. “How many people have you killed, Tina?” he asked quietly.

She looked away from her brother.

But Steele wouldn’t let her. He took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Answer me.”

“More than you, less than Dad.”

He cursed. “Why?”

“Why did you do it?”

“Because the Army told me to. I was doing my job.”

“So was I, J.D. So was I. They were all political targets. None of them were innocent. What I did, I did for God, country, and duty.”

“How do you know that?”

She didn’t flinch as she stared at him. “How do you? What’s the difference between Wallace telling me who my target is and a captain telling you?”

Damn her for her blindness. “Did it never occur to you that Wallace might be lying to you? I talked to Viktor earlier, Tina. He’s the one who wants to disarm his country. Not his father. He’s the only thing standing in the way of keeping us safe.”

To his relief, she actually paled. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“No,” she breathed. “You’re lying. My intelligence showed that Viktor was ready to sell his country out. He was going to kill his father if I didn’t kill him.”

“Excuse me?” Syd asked.

“His father contacted us to kill him after his father had learned that Viktor had contracted with a group of mercenaries out of Europe to assassinate him at home. The president had sent in a group of soldiers to arrest them, and then he decided an eye for an eye.”