Lucia gave him a thumbs-up, and his heart rate accelerated, his blood thrumming for a fight.
He located Tiago and Kate in the final pool, their positions in place and expressions calm.
Everyone was in their assigned zones, locked on their targets.
There were targets they couldn’t account for, the ones who were in their rooms or lingering in areas of the resort that required a key. That was where he came in.
And his favorite thief.
He picked up his pace, making a beeline to the outdoor bar at the center of the property. As he turned the corner, the first thing he saw was her fire-engine-red hair.
The thick waves tumbled down her back in lavish, unbridled glory. She sat on a stool at the bar, her spine straight and legs crossed like a lady. But that was where her decorum ended.
She wore an ultra-sexy rockabilly swimsuit, black with a cherry-themed print. The sweetheart neckline and figure-hugging shape drew the eye to her voluptuous tits, where they swelled up and out to here as she leaned toward the man beside her, whispering shamelessly in his ear.
A rush of heat tightened between Cole’s legs as he prowled closer, his gaze raking her body, soaking in every dip that he knew so well.
Her beauty was just as bold and arresting as the first night he met her. Only now, he knew that gorgeous face wasn’t just makeup and eyelashes. Beneath the cosmetics, she radiated. Her fair complexion, her natural red hair, and those sexy little freckles that dotted her nose—all of that only added to her badass perfection.
He was so fucking in love with this woman he made her his wife last year.
She was his forever. His happiness. And right now, she was instrumental in finishing this job.
Stalking around the perimeter of the bar, he listened to her conversation with the man at her side. Her Russian accent had improved over the years, and she laid it on thick, drawing her target under her spell.
She ordered him another drink, never once making eye contact with Cole. They were so attuned to each other, she knew he was there without lifting her fake eyelashes in his direction.
Watching her employ her seductive powers on her targets shouldn’t turn him on as much as it did. But there was something really fucking satisfying about seeing every man in this bar openly gawk at her and knowing that no one could touch her. She was his. Period.
He waited for the moment she would make her move. Her target was the only man at the resort who held the codes to the property’s top-notch security system.
Her target owned the resort and ran his multi-national child trafficking organization within these walls. He was paranoid by nature, and never removed his fingers from his phone on the bar.
Until she slid a rope of cherry licorice from her purse. She looked away, feigning innocence as she sucked it between her lips, conjuring the image of a blowjob.
Her target homed in, leaned in, his attention on her mouth, forgetting himself, and at last, forgetting his phone.
She held his gaze, licking on her candy as her free hand swapped his phone with a lookalike from her purse.
Just like that, she fucking did it. She had the codes.
His pulse raced as he slipped away from the bar, watching as she started coughing, hacking, pretending she was choking on the Twizzlers.
With a wobbly exit, she grabbed her purse and pounded on her chest. “I’m okay. I’m okay. So sorry. I’m just going to use the ladies room.”
The lookalike phone she left behind was locked and uncharged. It would distract the owner for a while as he tried to power it on. By the time he realized she’d stolen his codes, it would be too late.
Cole stepped out of view, following her at a distance as she made her way toward the beach. Her gorgeous ass swayed in the swimsuit, her gait graceful and confident.
His stomach tightened as he pursued her, waiting for the hand-off. A few feet ahead, PaulVer stepped out of the shadows of a pool house. She dropped the phone in his hand and continued walking, slapping her flip-flops along the pavers.
The night PaulVer had unleashed the shit storm surrounding Vincent Barrington, Matias had offered him a position on the team. The kid hadn’t hesitated, and he’d been invaluable ever since. Especially in operations like this one.
Now that he had the owner’s phone, he would scrape the codes to break into the security system. In about three minutes, the faces and identities of his team would be wiped from the security footage, like they were never here. The entire system would be hacked, and every door in the resort would be unlocked for their attack.
Cole’s chest expanded with the rampant, pounding beat of his heart. He quickened his strides, chasing Lydia to the beach. Their weapons waited there, buried in the sand near Van and Liv.