His black gaze leapt to Kane's, a clear order in that look. Joe Spagnola was going to be so thoroughly checked out, they would know when he sneezed last. Kane's nod of agreement was nearly imperceptible, but there was satisfaction in the set of Mack's mouth when he poured the water into the pot.
"So, did you say there was only one bathroom in this place?" Kane took matters into his own hands to defuse the situation. He snatched up clean clothes and began edging toward the only walled-in room on the floor.
"Oh, no, you don't." Mack took the bait, hurrying to cut him off. "The shower's mine. You always fall asleep."
"Halt." Jaimie's clear command stopped both of them in their tracks. Looking very haughty, she took a stack of fluffy towels from the linen closet and marched purposefully across the room. "I can't believe your manners. This is my house."
"Hey," Kane protested. "We're honored guests."
"Who told you that lie?" Jaimie asked sweetly. "I'm a lady, in case you hadn't noticed, and ladies go first."
"I'll bet some woman made up that law," Kane groused.
"Haven't you ever heard of women's lib?" Mack asked.
Jaimie stuck her head around the door with a butter-melting-in-her-mouth kind of smile. "Of course I have. You two can cook."
The two men stared at each other. Mack flexed his muscles. Kane cracked his knuckles. They grinned at each other. "So, what does she have in the refrigerator?" Mack asked.
"Well," Kane drawled, "we know she has beer."
Jaimie shook her head as she listened to their combined male laughter. She was smiling again for no apparent reason. Her men were crazy and having them back was so familiar and comforting when she could hear them from a distance. She relaxed, letting the tension drain from her. All the rest of it would come with time, but for now, these few moments, she was going to savor being with them.
She stepped into the shower with its intricately tiled encased space. Both men looked good, both of them physically fit as always. Better than always. Kane had startling coloring with his blond hair, green eyes, and black lashes, brows, and bluish jaw. Even from a sisterly standpoint, Kane was good-looking. There were signs of strain on his face--lines that hadn't been there before. And shadows in his eyes. He smiled, but it wasn't all the way, never quite reaching his eyes.
Jaimie allowed the hot water to run down her face, over her full breasts, soaking the aches from her muscles. Mack. Just looking at him could make her weak. She'd loved him for as long as she could remember. It had taken a great deal of strength to pull away from him, to realize he wasn't compatible with her. She didn't have his adventurous spirit. For a long time she felt inferior because of it, but somewhere along the way, she'd come to learn that people were different. She wasn't wrong or inferior because she had a different makeup.
It hurt more than she'd expected to see him, but on the other hand, she had to face him someday. She'd set up a partnership so when he and Kane retired, they'd have a place to come. She had hoped to be married with five children by that time so she wouldn't crave him, but she could handle this. She had to handle it.
Mack stared out the window to the streets below. He didn't dare move. He leaned his forehead against the thick glass, desperately trying to shut out the sounds of the water running. Just the thought of Jaimie naked, eyes closed, her face turned up to allow the water to cascade over her breasts, run along her narrow ribs, her flat belly, still lower to the silky triangle of tight curls . . . He just stopped himself from groaning out loud.
Kane, damn him, would know immediately what was wrong. Mack rubbed his pounding temples. It felt like someone was using a pile driver on his head. His entire body burned, throbbed with pain. He hadn't felt this way in his worst teenage years.
He had a sudden vision of Joe Spagnola in that elegant glass shower with Jaimie, his hands moving over her body. Mack's large hand balled into a fist, slammed into the window ledge, instantly dispelling the scene.
Kane whistled softly. "Need a couple of aspirin?"
"The woman makes me crazy," Mack said between clenched teeth. His voice grated.
"The woman has always made you crazy," Kane was compelled to point out.
"Don't laugh about this, Kane. She's living in this . . ." Mack gestured wildly with his hands, swinging around to encompass the huge floor. "Look at this, a fucking warehouse in a not so great part of the city. And . . . and," he added when he saw Kane's mouth twitch, "she's got some six foot Adonis drinking beer in her bedroom."
"Let's be fair, Mack, she probably had him drink it in the living room or maybe the kitchen," Kane replied mildly.
"Just how the hell can you tell the difference? If he's sitting in her living room, he can see the bed, can't he? Don't you think that's going to put a few ideas in the bastard's head?"
"Looking at Jaimie probably put ideas in this guy's head," Kane corrected. He poured two mugs of coffee.
"I think I'll have a private little chat with him. Find out what the hell he wants with her."
"What do you think he wants, you idiot? He's a man, isn't he? She's beautiful, intelligent, going to make a load of money, and she's single. He's no fool."
"You aren't helping, Kane." Mack curled his fingers into fists and hit his thighs. "He's looking to take advantage of her because she's lonely."
"Don't do anything to make her feel sorry for him. You know Jaimie and her underdog syndrome." Kane flashed a small grin. "And she didn't look all that lonely to me, not with beer in her fridge."
"It was a big mistake to give her all this time." Mack accepted the steaming mug of aromatic liquid. "So, all right, Jaimie doesn't like what we do . . ."
"Back up, Mack," Kane cautioned. "It's more than that and you know it. Jaimie can't stomach it. End of discussion. You, better than anyone, know that. You saw her. Don't get any ideas about discussing it with her. She was traumatized. In shock. She can't live this life."
"We can't just dance around the subject." Mack's black eyes gleamed like firestones.
"Isn't that exactly what you said the night she left?" Kane rested a hip against the butcher-block table.
Mack swore softly. He had bungled that so badly. "The whole thing went wrong from the start." He pressed his fingertips to his eyes, remembering that horrible night.
The weather turned bad as they were nearing the shore. They were in dark, skintight clothing, crepe-soled shoes. Nine men, one woman. Rhianna had been chosen for a special assignment in Brazil, leaving Jaimie the only woman on the team. The raft was put over the side and the men took up the oars. No one spoke, their faces like masks in the reflection
of the choppy water.
Mack hit the sand first, covered the others as they pulled the raft onto shore. The raft was camouflaged and the group headed stealthily up the beach. Two cars waited for them. No one spoke. At precisely 3:58 the cars split up, one stopping at the top of the block, the other at the other end. The silent team closed in on either side of the fourth building. Rain hammered at them, visibility was poor.
"Sentry," Jaimie hissed softly. "Another across the street, on the roof."
Kane moved around her to take care of the guard in front. A second man split from the group to warily cross the street. The rest waited, crouched in position, until first Kane and then Javier signaled.
They moved like lightning, entering the house from two points, heading for the second floor, third door on the left. Their informant had been positive the two French hostages were still alive in that room.
Jaimie suddenly signaled, her eyes wild with fear. "They're waiting for us, it's a trap, there's at least two dozen of them."
Mack didn't hesitate. "Pull out! Pull out!" Mack gave the order clearly, quickly, into the radio.
All hell broke loose, machine gun fire erupting from all directions. They were forced up the stairs to the second floor. "Don't touch the doors, none of the doors." Jaimie yelled the warning into her radio, danger emanating in waves from their surroundings.
Mack stayed in the lead with Jaimie behind him, the others, and, finally, Kane bringing up the rear. Screams, blood, dragging their friends--it was an eternity of hell. A hailstorm of bullets followed them everywhere. Jaimie found their escape route with her unerring, uncanny, undefined ability. One door, looking like a closet, not wired, but locked. Jaimie dispatched the lock holding up two fingers.
Mack rolled in going to the left, Jaimie to the right, guns tracking. Two women, both screaming in French. "Hostage! Hostage!" Mack lowered his gun. In the same heartbeat, one of the women raised an Uzi. The other woman continued to plead in French, tears coursing down her face. She was between Jaimie and Mack's assassin.
"Shoot!" Kane's voice roared in Jaimie's ears and then both women went down in a hail of bullets.
It all happened in seconds. Jaimie screamed a horrified protest. Kane pushed her through, trying to keep her away from the second woman's body. Jaimie went to her knees, trying to cradle the dying woman's head in her arms. Bullets spit at them from every direction. Mack yanked her to her feet, dragging her out.