On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(114)

This is so much worse than the first time. First time, he was here.

Kristen was smart enough to fake her death, strong enough to come back from it.

Had she spent the last five years trying to find a way to get her husband back?

“Why would someone break into our place?” Adam asked. “That’s Kris. I can see it with my own eyes. Why would she do that?”

Because she wanted to make up for her crimes.

Because she wanted her man back and she needed information. She’d taken information on all of them and decided on a plan of attack—or in her case, a plan to protect and give. They were her present to Ian. Alex and Eve. By bringing them back together, giving them their chance at justice, she’d been trying to prove herself to Ian.

He pulled his cell phone, his heart racing.

He dialed Ian’s number. Ian’s world had crumbled five years before. Maybe tonight, he would get it back.

He held Eve’s hand as he waited for Ian to answer. Sometimes the universe was kind and a man got a second chance.

His heart filled with love. His second chance pressed her body against his.

All was f*cking right with the world.





Ian Taggart looked down at the screen of his computer, every cell in his body coming to life. He stared at it. Just a couple of lines that might mean the world. There he was. So f*cking long he’d looked for Eli Nelson and there he was. At least he was pretty damn sure this was the line on the son of a bitch he’d been waiting for. Hoping for. Praying for.

No f*cking way.

There was a little piece of him—the “glass was half-empty and very likely poisoned” part of him—that wondered if he wasn’t being optimistic. Those couple of lines of e-mail could be from anyone. He would know more when he had photographic proof, and the person in the e-mail had promised it would come. He should be patient, but that had never been his strong suit.

Kristen Priest. The e-mail had come from the same woman who had supposedly saved Alex’s life. Why hadn’t she used her real last name? It was White. Did she still consider herself undercover? Who the f*ck was she and why couldn’t they get a line on her? She was a ghost, and Ian didn’t like ghosts.

This woman was playing an angle, but he would join the game if it meant finding Nelson.

Eli Nelson had nearly killed his sister-in-law. He’d had problems with Grace at first, but she was his blood now. She made his brother happy and she was his niece’s mother. No one got to hurt Grace. Or his brothers. Or his country. Eli Nelson had threatened them all.

And possibly had a hand in killing Ian’s wife. He was going down.

If Ian could just find the little f*cker.

He’d become obsessed, and it wasn’t just about Nelson. It was about the turns his life was taking.

He’d walked out of his best friend’s reception because he couldn’t stand there and watch everyone. The music had been playing and he’d just known he couldn’t stay there. It was a * thing to do, but his whole team was happy and he was still aching over Charlotte—who was a manipulative liar and didn’t deserve him. Or anyone.

Fucking Russian mob princess who had the sweetest smile.

Except he’d wondered recently what it meant to be a Russian mob princess. What had her life been like? He’d seen her scars. How much had she suffered before she’d died?

He could still see her looking up at him as he entered her. She hadn’t been a virgin, but those kick-him-in-the-gonads eyes had opened up with wonder as he’d pressed his cock in for the first time. Fuck. He’d felt like a virgin when he’d made love to her.

It feels good. My Master, it feels so good. Please. Please teach me.

Teach her? She hadn’t been talking about sex. She’d been talking about life.

God, he missed her.

No. He hated her. She’d lied. She’d f*cking died. He didn’t need anyone. He needed vengeance in the form of one Eli Nelson.

And he might have just found it.

A single e-mail concerning an energy project in a small country close to India. Loa Mali, an island country. Eli Nelson was expanding his terrorist activities. He just had to run down Kristen whatever her name was and figure out what the hell she wanted.

She was using his team and he wouldn’t put up with that.

His cell phone buzzed beside him. He looked down. Alex. A long sigh came out of his mouth. Alex was probably calling to ask him where he’d gone. He was the best man after all. Best man. Such a ridiculous phrase. He was hardly a man at all. He was a monster, and he proved it day after day.

He wouldn’t worry Alex with his problems now. It was Alex’s honeymoon. He’d just watched Alex and Eve renew the vows they’d made so long ago in a simple ceremony that had gotten to Ian far more than he was willing to admit.

He’d made vows to love Charlotte, and he’d been a motherf*cking, led-by-his-cock idiot. Nothing he’d promised her had been false. He’d meant every stupid word. He’d meant to love and cherish her. He’d meant to die for her.

But she’d lied and played him like a moron.

And she’d died first. That hurt worst of all.

He could feel her in his arms, her sweet body a cooling corpse. He’d loved once and never again. Charlie was his woman, his soul’s mate. She was a f*cking righteous bitch, the perfect mate to his inner bastard, and now she was gone and he would be alone for the rest of his life.