Rafe shrugged off the comment and diverted his gaze to the three men who didn’t belong to his team. Next to him, Penny’s gaze also shifted.
“No. Freaking. Way.” With a laugh, she flew down the steps and toward the man with the shaved head hovering just off the shack’s bottom steps. The warmth in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around the stranger turned Rafe’s blood to ice.
*
The bonfire flames reached high into the sky, lighting the night with a warm, golden glow, and yet Rafe had never felt so damn cold. No expectations, Penny had said. He should be jumping for joy that he could go on with his life as he’d always meant—sans complications. But the more he thought about it, the more pissed he got—at himself, at Penny, and at the jackass across the bonfire who kept whispering things in her ear.
Vincent Fucking Franklin. The mentor. The friend. One look at the former SEAL and the image Rafe had of a middle-aged man with a potbelly and acne pits disintegrated. Franklin and his cronies, Ryker and Braggs, were easily two hundred pounds of solid muscle and bad attitude.
Penny sat tucked between Franklin and his men while Rafe’s gut twisted in fucking knots with each smile she gifted the Navy SEAL. That smile could bring world peace—and he wished like hell it was being aimed at him.
He’d been dumb-shit stupid for thinking one night—or even a long string of them—would ever get Penny out of his system, or that her presence wouldn’t affect him on some vital level. She was an extension of him, permanent right down to his most basic parts. But unlike with an arm or leg, there was no way to alter his way of life to make her absence easier.
It fucking hurt, and he deserved every last ounce of that fucking misery.
“You stare at the poor fuck any harder and his dick’s going to turn to ice and fall the fuck off.” Trey leaned back, relaxed and totally at ease. And fucking smirking. “And before you go all jealous lover and shit, you should probably know that he’s the reason we were able to find your sorry ass.”
Logan dropped himself onto a tree stump. “Actually, because of him and his guys, we were able to find Fuentes’s little hidey-hole. But we found your sorry ass by following the trail of body bread crumbs that you left littering the jungle floor. Good job, by the way. We probably stumbled onto the compound a day and a half after you made your mark, and the place was still in an uproar.”
“I had a little help,” Rafe mumbled.
They’d hashed through everything over an hour ago. Back in San Pedro Sula, Alpha and Franklin’s guys had nearly come to blows before realizing they were searching for the same people. And the almighty Vince and his subhuman-level contacts had pinpointed the location of Fuentes’s compound in less than forty-eight fucking hours—a fact that was still making Charlie chew nails stateside.
But one thing no one knew about was Fuentes’s fucking nephew. And that was because it wasn’t in the intel that had been handed over by the DEA when Alpha had accepted the operation. It was a pretty big-ass piece of information to leave out accidentally. Now the question posed was where Fuentes’s mole stood in the DEA food chain. And they’d be one step closer to figuring that out when they reached the Mocoron base.
Penny’s laugh pulled Rafe’s attention across the fire. Through the flames, he watched her shake her head and smile at something Vincent said. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, could barely keep from crossing the distance and begging her to go with him someplace where they could talk. Fucking talk. Him, the man who’d rather storm a compound with guns blazing than sit down and approach a problem diplomatically.
Leaving things the way they had back in that tiny little hut not only left a sour taste in his mouth, but made him wish he could kick himself in the ass. He’d gone about it the wrong way, chose the wrong words. He fucking lied…because purposeful omissions were the same damn thing as spewing falsehoods.
Instead of telling her that he wished he could give her everything she deserved, he focused on the fact that it couldn’t be done. And now it was too late. That haunted look in her eyes as she’d tried to remain cool while forcing back tears would haunt him for-fucking-ever.
“Fuck it.” Rafe stood, ignoring everyone but the pair of vivid green eyes watching his departure. He allowed himself to soak in the sight of her for a minute, and then with a mental kick to his balls, he turned away.
*
“Christ, I need a moment of privacy and a cigar,” Vince muttered as Penny watched Rafe escape toward the riverbed. “Babe, I’d be totally remiss if I didn’t ask if you knew what the hell you’re doing. You really up for going down that road? Going commando isn’t for everyone—and I’m not talking about the fashion option.”