“I knew she’d be a problem.” Cole paces through the room.
“Because you were involved?” I ask, resigned.
“We were never involved. When we were on assignments for months at a time, she scratched an itch. That’s all it was.”
“I have a feeling it was more than an itch to her.” I drag my hands through my hair, emotionally drained. “What’s her name?”
“It’s classified.”
“Did she make a move on you during the last mission?”
“Yes, and I turned her down.” He pauses beside the coffee table, his face lined with frustration. “She doesn’t like to be denied, but I made damn sure she understood I wasn’t interested.”
“Did you tell her about me? Is that why she sought revenge and sent the photos? She was jealous?”
“I didn’t tell anyone about you.” He lowers onto the couch beside me and stares at his hands.
I don’t care about their history together. He has history with countless women. What freaks me out is this badass, secret-agent woman targeted me.
As the silence creeps by, I try to recall everything Cole and Trace said that day in the penthouse. Then I remember a comment that doesn’t add up.
“The day I received the photos…” I turn to Trace. “Cole referred to this woman as a defector, and you said, That was the mission? like you were surprised. What did that mean?”
“When I saw the photos,” Trace says, “I immediately recognized her. I used to work with her, too.” He lifts his gaze to Cole and grimaces. “I used to sleep with her.”
“Yes, you did.” Cole laughs, as if it’s a private joke between them.
“You both fucked her?” My eyes widen. “Is this a common thing for you guys? Sharing lovers?”
“No. Just her.” Cole shrugs. “There are very few women in our profession, and guys like us don’t trust easily, especially during an undercover operation. She was one of us.”
“And she scratched an itch.” My insides tighten. “Did you…do her together? At the same time?”
Cole makes a face. “Hell no.”
I didn’t think they were the double-teaming type. “So you just passed her back and forth?”
“I know where you’re going with this, Danni.” Cole shifts to look me directly in the eyes. “She is not you. Trace and I worked with her, had sex with her on occasion, and didn’t give a fuck who else she was banging. Don’t you dare compare a meaningless fling to what’s going on here.” He motions at the three of us. “It’s not even in the same universe.”
I want to argue there’s nothing going on here, but that would be total bullshit.
“Moving back on topic…” Trace straightens beside me. “When I saw the woman in the photos, I knew she was the one who sent the envelope. Cole confirmed she was a defector, which clued me in on the purpose of his last mission. It isn’t uncommon for him to go undercover to root out the source of a leak of classified information.”
“In this case, the information was leaked to an enemy nation state.” Cole clenches his teeth. “And the source of that leak turned out to be her.”
“Hang on.” My head pounds as I try to keep up. “You and this woman went undercover to find a traitor, and she was the traitor all along?”
“Yes,” Cole hisses on a sharp breath. “By the time I caught on, she was already gone. Like I said, it was a goat fuck operation from the start. But Danni, you need to understand my handler was the only person who knew about you. I never mentioned you, not to her or anyone. So when I severed contact with you, I felt confident about your safety.”
“How did you figure out she was a traitor?”
“Espionage is my job, baby. But it was also her job, and she was good at it. She knew I would catch her, and when I did, she was armed to protect herself.”
“With a weapon?”
“With information. She hacked into my personal files at the agency, found you listed as my emergency contact, and learned everything she could about you.” He drops his head in his hands, his expression creased with tension. “I fucked up. She was ambitious and power hungry and manipulative, and I trusted her. All those years, I should’ve been scrutinizing her every move.”
“She passed the same rigorous investigation as the rest of us.” Trace regards him, voice gentle. “It wasn’t your fault. She fooled everyone.”
“You say that, but you know damn well I failed.”
“You didn’t.” Trace releases a sigh. “You’re phenomenal at your job. The best. In the end, you saw what no one else did and brought her in.”
I hold still, breathless, devouring the interaction. It’s the most amicable conversation I’ve ever witnessed between them, and it spreads warmth around my heart.
Trace shifts his focus to me. “Cole didn’t know she found out about you. He was off the grid, hunting her under the assumption that no one knew you existed. Meanwhile, she had your house wired with surveillance equipment, inside and out. That’s when she sent the hitman and had the whole thing recorded on the cameras.”
Shock strangles my windpipe. There were people in my house more than once? Where was I when the cameras were installed?
“She didn’t know I was watching over you.” Trace scowls. “And since I lost contact with Cole, I didn’t know the circumstances around the threat. I just knew someone found out about you and they wanted you dead.”
“Jesus.” I slump against the back of the couch.
“When I finally caught her, she was ready for me.” Cole grips my hand and laces our fingers together on my lap. “I’ll never forget when she held up her phone and flashed the live video of that assassin walking into your house. I fucking lost it.”
My insides shrivel with horror. “But Trace stopped him.”
“I didn’t know that,” Cole says. “I didn’t know where Trace was, if he was watching, or if you were home. She said she would call off the hitman, if I let her go.”
I tense. “She could’ve been lying.”
“Not about that.” Trace catches my gaze, his expression cold. “She turned her back on her country to make some money. But she wouldn’t have betrayed the honor code among us.”
“He’s right.” Cole works his jaw, the movement vibrating with resentment. “I had a split-second decision to make. I could let her kill me and save your life. Or I could kill her and guarantee your death.”
Talk about impossible choices. My chest hurts for him.
“I went with the third option.” He strokes a thumb across my knuckles, his eyes dark and murky. “I initiated a struggle that made it look like I was trying to get away. As intended, it put enough space between us to force a gun fight. I had the obscurity of nightfall on my side, and there was a bridge with a sizable river beneath.” He looks at me expectantly.
“You jumped?”
“I let her back me onto the edge of the bridge, knowing she’d shoot me like the soldier she was. Face to face. In the chest.”
My heart stops, and my gaze darts to the front of his shirt.