You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(87)

“I wasn’t going to accost Phoebe. I don’t really know what that means. But I was going to castrate that son of a bitch.” He knew how to do it, too. He’d castrated a couple of bulls in his time. The trick was to do it quick, before the damn thing knew what was happening. He wouldn’t be cruel when he did it. He would be as humane as possible, but that little pecker wouldn’t be rubbing against Jesse Murdoch’s girl again.

“Yes, cutting that man’s balls off would absolutely have helped our mission,” Simon replied drolly.

“He was looking at her breasts.” Those were his breasts. He took care of those breasts. He loved them and rubbed them and sucked them, and they were f*cking his.

“I believe that was the point of putting them on display. She was trying to get attention so you and I could look around and attempt to uncover your former torturer. And her dress is quite modest by Western standards.”

“Well, by my standards, he was looking at her breasts.” He knew he was being stubborn, but the idea of that man getting his hands on Phoebe made him sick. She was precious. She shouldn’t have to get pawed by some man who didn’t love her.

He was the only one who got to paw her, damn it.

“I doubt he’s looking at her breasts now,” Simon replied.

Jesse sent his partner a nasty look and forced his way into the control room. “Where is she?”

Hutch had a Red Vine licorice sticking out of his mouth like a cigarette. His setup was neat, but it was obvious the man had a sweet tooth. Besides the pack of Red Vines, there was a dish of Tootsie Rolls and another of peppermints. He reached up and pulled the licorice out as he frowned, pointing at the bank of laptops he had going. “She’s fine. Well, I’m pretty sure she’s fine. I had to work a little magic and get those cameras to go wonky. The guys in security are probably flipping out by now.”

Ten stepped in, a bottle of water in his hand. “Their time’s up. Bring the cameras back online. Security can buy that the system has a glitch for only so long. They’ll be on their way to fix it if we don’t get them back online.”

Phoebe was out there and the only thing protecting her was the camera blackout. “No. Wait until she calls back.”

Hutch ignored him, hitting the button that brought the cameras back up.

Phoebe and Erin were in the elevator, speaking animatedly. Hutch hit a button that put their comms on speaker.

“How much had that guy had to drink?” Erin asked.

Phoebe shook her head. “Enough that he was disgusting. Someone should talk to the senator about him. That was embarrassing.”

Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. Their heads were turned up as though they couldn’t care less if a camera caught them. Just two women who had been hit on by a jerk. They’d still done the right thing by making sure he got to his room.

Ten put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s a pro. You have to let her do her job. You can’t pull the caveman act on her. She’s smart and quick and she can take care of herself. I did you a solid by having Weston get you out of there.” He leaned over and touched a button on Hutch’s system. “You two come on up. We’re good for the evening. We’ll let Murdoch sift through some of the footage and see if we’ve got a lead on anything.”

Over the elevator feed he heard Erin say, “I’m tired. Let’s tell the boss we’re done for the night.”

Phoebe nodded. “After dealing with that wanker, I just want to go up to the suite and forget men exist at all. I can’t believe I left London for this.”

He wasn’t about to let her forget. He intended to make sure she knew he existed. He sighed and stepped back. He’d damn near f*cked up everything. “I’m sorry.”

Ten’s green eyes were icy cold as he looked him over. “Next time you’ll be out. I’ll ship you back to Taggart and you’ll do this job from several thousand miles away.”

He deserved that. “Yes, sir.”

Ten softened marginally. “I didn’t like the way he looked at her either, but I’ve had years to get used to the idea that my sister has a job. You don’t, so you better hurry up and get with the program. And we men stick together on my team. No one’s going to mention that Murdoch here has a possessive caveman side and a dick with zero IQ.”

Hutch grinned around a licorice stick. “It’s forever our secret.”

Jesse nodded to let Ten know he was grateful. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to look through the footage.”

Hours and hours of his life would be spent sifting through the surveillance footage they’d gathered from both the security cameras and the personal equipment they’d been wearing. He’d learned that espionage was a lot like soldiering—hours of tedious, careful work, and then some shit exploded.

He stepped away and looked out over the balcony. The moon hung low, illuminating the beauty of the Persian Gulf. He felt someone step up, and there was no question who it would be. “How do you deal with it, Si?”

“Having my wife in harm’s way from time to time?”

“Yeah.”

“Mostly she’s behind a computer, but when she’s out in the field, I have to trust her. I’m almost always out in the field. She’s got to deal with that every day. Chelsea is smart and she won’t take chances she doesn’t have to. You’ve got another problem entirely.”