could imagine himself brushing aside the silken strands and kissing his way along her collarbone to the pulse point at her throat, then higher still until he was treated to the taste of her full, glossed lips.
He practically groaned aloud from the effect of his vivid mental image.
Julia took her place beside Luke, struggling to keep her smile in place. Where the hell was the arrest squad?
The music stopped and the Internet-ordained minister smiled up at her. “Let us begin.”
Julia swallowed and nodded, wondering if some strange quirk of fate was going to bind her to a stranger. Her hands were shaking as they gripped the bouquet.
Fixing her eyes on the knot of Luke’s tie, she struggled to keep from glancing over her shoulder to check on the focus of the sting.
“Do you, Luke, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
Impressive. Luke hadn’t hesitated at all. Julia wasn’t sure she could still speak English as her turn approached.
“Julia, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I—” The door at the back of the chapel burst open, letting in a stream of sunlight and a dozen windbreaker-clad agents. Relief and regret vied as Julia turned to the door, then back to face Luke. “Apparently,” she said apologetically, “I don’t.”
Chapter One
Miami, 2006
“You’re too close to this one, Julia.”
Rachel Brennan didn’t even bother to look up as she sat behind the large glass-and-chrome desk. Because she was the head of Miami Confidential, her word should have been final.
Julia didn’t see it that way. She was so angry and worried and frustrated she wasn’t seeing much of anything. But she knew her only hope of changing Rachel’s mind lay in convincing her boss that she was capable of working the Botero case without letting her personal feelings interfere. They’d been through this more than once since the kidnapping of Sonya Botero a couple of weeks ago. Rachel kept insisting Julia help out, but from behind the scenes. Julia wanted a more active role and refused to settle for anything less.
The three chunky, brightly colored, acrylic bracelets on Julia’s right wrist clanked loudly as she braced her fingertips against the edge of the desk.
Rachel grudgingly lifted her clear blue eyes. “Was there a particular letter in the word no you didn’t understand?”
Julia didn’t so much as blink at the caution in the other woman’s tone. “I’m not a liability, I’m an asset. I’ve known the Botero family since I was a kid. C’mon, Rachel, I lived with Sonya my last year of high school. Mr. Botero trusts me. I’m like a daughter to him.”
“Which is why you need to take a seat. Look…” Rachel paused to put her pen down next to a neat stack of folders. “Getting Sonya Botero back from her kidnappers is our top priority. I won’t have the job compromised because you’ve got a personal connection to the victim and her family.”
“How will I compromise the assignment?” Julia argued. “If anything, my affection for the Boteros only makes me more determined to find Sonya and bring her home safely.”
Rachel leaned back in the deep red, glove-leather executive chair, stroking the tip of one perfectly manicured fingernail across her chin. The woman looked more like a pageant contestant than the head of a group of highly trained Confidential agents. Her ebony hair was piled loosely on top of her head, secured with a lapis clip that matched the color of her eyes. In spite of the legendary south Florida heat and humidity, Rachel’s makeup was fashion-model perfect. But looks were deceiving. Julia knew that Rachel was a legend in the business.
“You’re one of the best agents I’ve ever worked with, Julia,” Rachel said. “You’ve got a great future ahead of you. I don’t want to see that derailed because you let your personal feelings prevent you from—”
“They won’t,” Julia interrupted. “Have I ever been anything but completely professional?”
“No,” her boss answered with complete candor.
“Then trust me, Rachel. Trust that I’m a team player who is capable of keeping my focus.”
“You’re a frustrated team player,” Rachel replied pointedly.
Julia refused to let her shoulders slump. So we’re going to beat this dead horse again. “I came to Miami Confidential because I wanted more responsibility and more autonomy than I had with the DEA.”
“Which you will get,” Rachel repeated.
Julia bit back the urge to ask how many more gowns she’d have to sew or tuxedos she’d have to alter before that became a reality. She wanted to be a full-time agent, not a seamstress. “And I appreciate your faith in me. I’m just asking you to extend that faith to include me in the Botero case. I swear you won’t be disappointed, Rachel. Have I ever let you down? Let the team down? Even once? I’m practically a member of the Botero family. You don’t have anyone else as close to them. I’m an asset,” she repeated, to make her point.
Reluctantly, Rachel shook her head. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Julia.”
Julia held both her breath and her tongue; it sounded as if her boss was waffling.
“But against my better judgment I’m finally going to say yes, because you’re right about being an asset. You’re not going to be the primary,” she told her flatly. “But your connection to the Botero family might be useful. Just don’t let any personal feelings for the victim blind you to what has to be done. I expect you to do your job, and remain professional and focused at all times.”
“I will.” Julia’s heart rate increased. “Thank you,” she said, exhaling the breath she’d been holding as she began backing out of the well-camouflaged offices. “You won’t regret this.”
Rachel tossed out a stern look. “See that I don’t.”
Nodding, Julia felt behind the bookcase and found the keypad that opened the secret door. Half afraid that Rachel would change her mind, she decided a hasty exit was the best option.
Using the back stairway, she entered the public area of Weddings Your Way. The scent of coffee mingled with the fragrance of freshly cut flowers as she moved across the polished tile floor toward her office.
No one would ever have guessed that the upscale Miami business was actually a front for one of the most specialized agencies in the country. Confidential agents worked out of branch offices all over the United States. Because of her sewing skills, Julia had been assigned to Weddings Your Way.
The obvious benefit was the location. Miami was her home, and after four years of moving all over the place at the whim of the DEA, she was all too ready to return to the warm, tropical, familiar surroundings of her childhood.
Julia’s office was a large space that occupied the northwest corner of the second story of the converted Spanish-style home on the shore of Biscayne Bay. A wide partition separated her desk from the actual sewing area.
Sidestepping two bolts of fabric leaning against the wall, she slipped behind her cluttered desk, sat down and began flipping through her Rolodex.
Though she and Sonya had been as close as sisters, Julia’s work as an undercover agent had created a distance between them. She felt a pang of guilt now, regretting every opportunity lost to fix the breach in their relationship, as she hunted for Sonya’s exact address and the code that would get her past the building’s security and into Sonya’s condo.
Regret was tempered by the resurgence of anger as she remembered the way Sonya had been snatched, right out front of Weddings Your Way. The Botero family was very, very rich. Uncle Carlos had his fingers in all sorts of pies,