Smoke and Sin (The Perfect Gentlemen 4)

Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. She didn’t know if Connor was even on the property yet. She might be completely alone in trying to save the day. But somehow she couldn’t let Darcy have Constance’s recordings while ensuring she didn’t take Roman away.

Otherwise, she feared she’d never see him alive again.

How was the property laid out? With her head whirling, Gus couldn’t remember much. Where would that crazy bitch have parked? She had to think, had to get there before Darcy managed to shove Roman in a trunk and leave.

She managed to feel Kemp’s FN Five-Seven lying beside his slack hand. She didn’t have time to hunt through her purse for her own gun, so she grabbed it and began feeling her way around the back of the barn for the hidden hole in the wall he’d mentioned.

“I’m moving,” Roman grumbled. “You don’t have to poke me. I understand you’ll shoot me so everyone should remain calm and do what they need to do.”

Gus got his message. Stay right where she was until Connor showed up, then let him handle everything. She discarded that idea. She wouldn’t wait to save Roman. She had to act now.

“Where the hell is Gene?” Darcy’s voice was growing more distant, but Gus couldn’t miss the tension in her voice. The woman was scared now.

It seemed she’d come with two men—and one was definitely down. She couldn’t possibly have thought she would be up against a Secret Service agent and a pissed-off woman in love. If Connor had arrived, add a former CIA guy to the mix, and Gus didn’t see how Darcy could win.

Once Roman and the recordings were safe, she would figure out if her wild theory about why Kemp had been here and who’d sent him could be true. At the very least, she would tell everyone he’d tried to protect her, as well as keep the tapes away from Darcy and her Russian contacts, so he’d be given a hero’s burial.

But for now she had to move.

Since she no longer had to be inconspicuous, Gus continued to grope the wall until she found a hole that had been disguised by someone propping up a few spare boards against the opening. Wincing, she forced herself into the jagged space, a nail tearing at her slacks. Wedging her tall frame through the opening was a tight fit, but she made it.

Then Gus took a deep breath and reached back for her purse, securing it over her shoulder. Those tapes weren’t going anywhere. She was going to get them to safe hands and save her man.

“Get up!” Darcy shouted. The sound carried from around the corner of the barn, somewhere to Gus’s left. She wasn’t sure where Darcy had parked her car. Or how the woman had found them unless what Kemp had said was true about their phones being traced.

“Stop!” Roman yelled back. “I need a minute. I rolled my ankle.”

Gus flattened her back against the barn wall and crept to the corner, peeking around to get a line of sight on Roman. He lay on the ground. Sure, he might have fallen, but Gus would bet he’d tripped on purpose. He was trying to give Connor time, a chance.

But she didn’t see the former CIA agent. That made her Roman’s only chance at survival.

“Get up or I’m going to shoot you,” Darcy promised. “I won’t wait any longer.”

Gus heard the desperation in Darcy’s tone. She was panicking, and that was bad for Roman.

He wouldn’t leave with Darcy willingly, not until he knew Gus was safe. But without that assurance, he would fight and he might well lose the battle—and his life.

Hell no.

Gus pivoted, raising the gun as her father had taught her. He was with her in that moment, though he’d left the earth years ago, and she could hear him patiently advising. Safety off. Target in sight. Don’t rush the shot.

Dax was with her, despite being an ocean away. The gun is an extension of your hand, your will. See where you want the bullet to go. Take a deep breath. Steady.

Roman jerked his head up suddenly. Their stares met. He was with her, too. While Darcy yelled and moved in behind to give him a kick, he sent Gus a simple nod.

Do it.

He trusted her. He needed her. He believed in her.

Gus took a deep breath just as Darcy caught sight of her. The woman’s eyes widened. Time seemed to slow as Darcy yanked her pistol up. But Gus was way ahead and released the breath she’d been holding as she pulled the trigger.

Then time accelerated, and Darcy’s head suddenly slammed back. She collapsed to the grass in an unmoving heap.

“Damn it, Gus!” A masculine voice yelled across the yard. Connor jogged over from the main house, his shirt torn, his gun at his side. “I wanted to question her. You couldn’t have injured her or at least left her with a damn brain?”

Roman slumped to the grass, rolling onto his back, splattered with blood. Had he been hurt?

Gus ignored Connor utterly. Still clutching Kemp’s weapon, she rushed to Roman’s side and dropped to her knees. “Roman? Are you okay? Do we need to call an ambulance?”

When she gripped his wrist and began searching for a pulse, he pulled her down, wrapping his arms around her. “I love you, too, Augustine. I love you so much. Thank you.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him back.

“Get a room, you two,” Connor said with a rueful shake of his head. “You have to get back to London and I have to deal with all these damn bodies. I left the CIA so I wouldn’t have to deal with bodies anymore, damn it.”

“There are two more in the barn.” Roman managed to sit up. “Unless Kemp somehow survived the bullet he took.”

“Kemp’s here?” Connor peered through the doors.

“Yeah, but he didn’t make it. He was trying to protect me. He probably saved us.” Her mind was still working. “Guys, was he possibly working secretly for Zack?”

“Not for Zack. I would have known about that. I would have told you,” Roman insisted.

“How about Deep Throat?”

Roman shrugged. “That’s possible. We may never know.”

Gus wouldn’t stand for that. That wild hunch of hers was looking more possible… She wouldn’t rest until she had answers.

Connor holstered his weapon. “Get those tapes to Zack pronto. I assume you have them?”

“Of course,” Gus confirmed.

Roman stood, offering her his hand. “Don’t you know there’s nothing my girl can’t do?”

“Excellent,” Connor returned with a smirk. “Then she can drive back to London, and you can help me get rid of the bodies.”

Roman thumped a hand over his chest. “Nope, I’ve had a harrowing day. I might have a heart attack, you know. I need to keep Gus close. She can perform mouth-to-mouth.”

Rolling his eyes, Connor pulled out his cell. “Go. You’re useless to me. I know a firm in London I can call. The CIA uses them from time to time. They’ll help me clean up and figure out who the hell the two men are.”

“You can’t leave Matthew here,” Gus insisted. He’d given his life in the line of duty. She wasn’t sure precisely why he’d been working outside of the Secret Service, but there was no doubt in her mind he’d been trying to protect the president in his way. “He should have full honors.”

Connor nodded. “I’ll figure out how to make that happen. His service record might have to be confidential, but his family will know he died in the line of duty. Now hurry and get out of here. I don’t want this to hit the press. And Gus, you did good.”

Roman hauled her up and into his arms, holding her close. “You were fantas

tic, and I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. I knew you would show up and save the day. I love you. All I could think about was the fact that I hadn’t said it back. Let me say it every day for the rest of our lives.”

She rested her head against his chest, hearing the soothing beat of his heart. “I think I can handle that, Calder.”

“Roman,” he corrected. “Or maybe husband?”

Gus smiled. They would finally be together. “Yes.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“What exactly do you mean when you say you’re going to marry my sister?” Dax scratched his head, staring at Roman as though trying to figure out if he was joking or not.

Roman glanced around the large parlor in the East Wing of the White House, hoping for some backup. Dax was making him crazy. He’d tried to explain the new situation to his friend about ten times already.

Dax’s new bride, Holland, slid an arm around her husband’s waist and cuddled close. “I think he’s trying to tell you what everyone else has known for years. He’s in love with Gus. It’s about damn time, Calder.”

It was, in fact, far past time.

Dax frowned. “Is this like an April Fools’ joke no one told me about?”

Roman groaned. “No, but we’re thinking about getting married in April, buddy.”

Gus claimed she needed at least that long to properly plan her wedding. Since he was the reason she’d waited all these years to get hitched, he was willing to give her anything she wanted. The only thing he’d insisted on was that she move in with him the minute they’d gotten back to DC. He’d refused to wait another second to start their lives together.

They’d flown home yesterday morning. He’d had her in his bed that night. And he planned to every night from now on.

Life was looking up.

But this evening was likely going to be a rough one. Zack had asked them all to gather in the parlor, and Roman was almost certain the news wasn’t good. Zack had waited until this afternoon to listen to the tapes, unwilling to chance that anyone could overhear while still in England. How hard had it been for Zack to finish up his meetings with the prime minister as if nothing had happened? Hell, it had even been hard on Roman, but at least he’d had Gus by his side.