Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents #5)(50)
Author: Cynthia Eden

His hand slid away from her. He swallowed. The soft sound was almost painful to hear. “Then I won’t push you anymore. I’m sorry. I—I guess I should have let you go.”

Never.

She grabbed his arm when he tried to ease away. The new stitches that she had on her neck—courtesy of that jerk Carl—pulled a bit. Tina ignored the little flash of pain. Some things were more important than pain. “I don’t need to take any kind of chance on you. I know that I love you.”

He blinked at her.

Ah, so she’d finally caught her agent by surprise. Only fair. He’d sure broken into her world and turned everything upside down.

“I loved you in New Orleans,” she told him softly. His pupils widened. The darkness fought the gold of his eyes. “I loved you in Dallas.” She smiled at him and hoped that he could see the emotion in her eyes. “And I loved you in Lightning.” She’d tried to tell him, to show him, in a million small ways.

Tina leaned forward and brushed her lips over his. She reached around him, her hands sliding over his coat.

She frowned when she felt the small bulge in his pocket.

Her brows lifted as her fingers slid inside that pocket. She touched the familiar form of an inhaler.

“I want you to always be safe,” he whispered. “I want you close to me, and I want to make sure I can help you.”

“You’ve been carrying this—”

“Since I found out what you needed. I want to be the man you need. The man who makes you smile in the morning.” A wicked glint lit his eyes. “The man who makes you moan at night.”

“You are.” Her heart was beating faster—because she was happy. The happiest she’d been in years.

It wasn’t about taking a chance on him. Wasn’t about the unknown risk of falling for a dangerous agent.

It was about what the heart wanted.

About trust.

About love.

“My sisters want to meet you,” he said as his lips lowered toward hers. “They want to meet the woman who saved them.”

“But I didn’t—”

“Yes, you did. Doc, you’re the bravest, strongest woman I’ve ever met. And I don’t know how I got so lucky as to find you, but I don’t ever want to let you go.”

She tilted her head back. “You don’t have to let me go.” Fair warning time. “Because I’m not going to let you go.”

“Forever?” Hope was there, in his eyes. Hope and love and happiness.

In his eyes. In his voice. On his face.

“Forever,” Tina promised. She kissed him and knew that she’d found the right man. The only man for her.

Epilogue

Bruce Mercer gazed down at the busy Washington, D.C., streets below his office. The sidewalks were full of people, and cars bustled on the pavement.

Those people lived their whole lives without realizing the danger that truly stalked the world. The danger his agents faced every single day.

“The last case was too close,” he said quietly. He’d almost lost Tina, and Cassidy’s true identity had nearly come to light.

Good thing only a dead man had heard Cassidy’s confession.

Devast had gotten intel that the man never should have possessed. The EOD tracking devices had been designed to protect the agents.

Not put them at increased risk.

Devast was dead, but the case wasn’t over. Not completely. There was a traitor in the EOD. Someone in his organization was selling out agents who were already risking their lives.

That traitor would have to be stopped.

Mercer turned away from the busy street and gazed at the agent who sat, silent and still, in the leather chair. “It was close, but you did a good job on this mission, Agent Marshall.”

Cooper Marshall inclined his head.

“Now I’ve got another case for you.” Bruce stalked slowly toward him. “I want you to find my traitor, and I want you to stop him.”

Cooper gazed up at him for a moment. “You’re sure it’s one of our own?”

“Yes.” And that just made the betrayal even harder to take. “Trust no one on this case, Marshall. A man—or woman—who will sell out his own teammates—that person will be the most dangerous enemy you’ve ever faced.”

And that enemy was in the EOD. He or she could be walking through the offices right then.

Mercer had thought he’d already cleaned house at the EOD. Every employee there should have been carefully screened.

But he’d messed up. He’d trusted the wrong person, and now his agents were paying for his mistake.

They can’t pay with their lives.

“Stop the traitor,” Mercer ordered him again. “By any means necessary.”