were staying while on Barnett’s island. The villa was located on the beach about half a mile from the main compound. The little house was spacious and well furnished with high-end finishes and an open floor plan. Bamboo reeds covered the exterior of the hut and blended with the sand.
She strode to a wooden lounge chair facing the ocean and adjusted the angle of the chair. Assuming her role as Finn’s jet-setting lover, she mentally prepared herself to meet Reed Barnett.
Under other circumstances, taking him out quickly might have been her preferred course of action. They wanted to get off the island alive, and it was better to conclude the operation with evidence against Barnett and his cohorts to bring them to justice. When the opportunity presented itself to nail Barnett for his crimes, she would take it.
Closing her eyes, she stretched out on the lounge chair and lowered her sunglasses onto her face.
Finn whistled from behind her, and his shadow fell over her as he approached. “You can wear that bikini the entire time we’re here.”
Hyde rolled her eyes. She was wearing next to nothing. The bikini was light-colored, strips of fabric and string, and left no place to conceal her weapon. She felt feminine and pretty for the first time in months. Though it had taken an extra twenty minutes, she’d dried and styled her hair, smoothing it into soft curls.
She needed this op as a final farewell to this life, a successful mission to give Lydia closure and to say goodbye to Finn. Giving her sister peace of mind would ease Hyde’s guilt. Losing Finn in her life would be devastating. She hadn’t known a man as smart and brave as he was. Their relationship was intense and exciting. Back home in Montana, she wouldn’t find a man to replace him. Finn was one of a kind. “If you like this, I have some equally fabric-challenged clothes packed.” The West Company had provided her a suitcase containing everything she needed to behave like Alexandra Morgan, the dim-witted girlfriend of a major drug cartel leader operating on the East Coast in the United States.
The West Company had provided Finn a solid background, identity and large bank account as Finn Moore, as well. His persona would hold water as long as Reed Barnett didn’t press or dig too hard. The experts at the West Company were good, but nothing was perfect.
Hyde lolled her head in Finn’s direction. He was wearing a pair of red swim trunks and a navy T-shirt and he looked delicious. Her libido kicked up a notch. Flirting with him, touching him and being close was playing the part, but it was close to reality and what she wanted to do with him. She looked away, wishing she could confess the truth. The most intimate and passionate moments in her life had been spent with Finn. Her attempts to keep boundaries were challenged by how devastatingly handsome she found him. He walked into a room and he turned heads.
Hyde wasn’t in her twenties anymore. She wasn’t supposed to chase the handsome bad boy and hold on to the mistaken belief that dating him would lead to love and marriage and a family. She knew better, and every conversation with Finn cemented it.
How many more years would Hyde make a suitable mother? If her biological clock stopped ticking, would someone be crazy enough to let her adopt a child when she had no partner, no stable job and no home?
If she wanted a family, she had to make changes. A change in her career and a change in her personal life were in order.
Finn folded his arms over his chest. “Feel like going for a swim?” He tensed and glanced down the beach. They were no longer alone.
Hyde didn’t break character. “A swim? Maybe later. Why don’t you come here and help me put on sunscreen?” She leaned forward in her chair to get a better look at who was approaching. Finn didn’t seem alarmed, but she was curious.
Reed Barnett appeared, walking with two bodyguards. He was wearing a khaki-colored suit and pale green linen shirt. It was the first time she had seen the drug lord in person. His hands were tucked in his pants pockets as he strolled, talking to his guards and pointing at something in the ocean. Regardless of his casual behavior, he would not disarm her.
“Mr. Moore,” Barnett said, coming close and extending his hand to Finn. “I was alerted you and your beautiful lady had arrived on my island. Welcome to both of you.”
If he was rattled at Barnett’s appearance, Finn didn’t let it show. “I had planned to take advantage of your hospitality and enjoy the beach before our meeting tonight.”
Barnett looked out across the water. “It’s an incredible place. I don’t get out here as much as I’d like. Work keeps me busy. You know how that can be.”
Finn had made contact with Barnett through an operative from the West Company who was deep undercover in Barnett’s drug ring. Finn was masquerading as a drug lord with extensive ties along the East Coast. Their communication had been indirect through the West Company’s channels and their contact had indicated Barnett had a new drug he wanted distributed through Finn’s networks to gain greater reach.
“New business is worth it. I like taking time off between big projects,” Finn said.
Barnett asked a few more leading questions, trying to pry information from Finn. His answers were vague. The less they gave away, the easier it was. Barnett was assessing Finn and her, looking for a crack in their armor.
“Thank you for inviting us to your island. A couple of days out of the country is great,” Finn said.
Hyde rose to her feet and walked toward Barnett, hating that he looked at her chest first before meeting her eyes. Wasn’t even her best asset.
“Finn’s right.” Hyde came close to him and slipped her arms around Finn’s waist. His arm went over her shoulders and the movement was so natural and unplanned, pleasure swirled through her. “This place is great. Even better than when you took me to Fiji. It was quieter, but this is so private.” They had never been to Fiji, but it was on her list of places to visit.
Barnett studied them. He wouldn’t find any reason to doubt their story or their carefully crafted backgrounds. She and Finn were the best, and their attraction to each other played well into the characters they were pretending to be. The surge of desire was real and strong enough that it caught her off guard.
“Please alert my staff if you need anything. I’ll see you at dinner. It’s formal, but she can wear that,” Barnett said, pointing to Hyde’s bikini and smirking.
She smiled like an empty-headed twit who took his words as a compliment. Hyde was careful to do nothing to put Barnett on the defensive or to raise his suspicions.
The closer she got to Barnett, the easier it would be to take him down.
* * *
Barnett sauntered down the beach away from Finn and Hyde with his guards on either side of him.
“I could shoot him in the back and he’d never be the wiser,” Hyde said.
Finn’s arm was still draped across her shoulders. He was enjoying the sensation of her soft skin against his. She had been cagey since he’d arrived in Montana, and she hadn’t explained what had changed between them. Every other time they’d met, they’d had red-hot sex. She hadn’t seemed interested. He didn’t suspect she was involved with anyone else. Hyde would have been up front about that.
Hyde was internationally well-known and had a good reputation in their field. The number of successful missions she was rumored to have completed and her skill set was unmatched for someone her age. It didn’t make sense to retire without a good reason. No one seemed to know why the legendary Hyde was unreachable. He’d heard a few rumors she was dead and others that she was undercover for a government agency.
Since they’d met, Finn had kept tabs on Hyde. He liked knowing she was safe. Her well-being was important to him and he needed her in his life. Accepting that she was a spy, as she had been from the first day they’d met, had become harder over time. When he’d heard whispers about a female spy being injured and he couldn’t reach Hyde, he’d worried. He hadn’t confessed that information to her. It would offend her, like his worry implied she couldn’t take care of herself.