Free Special Ops Exclusive by Elle Kennedy Page A

apparently she was. So painfully aroused that her thighs clenched together involuntarily.
    Nick seemed oblivious to her current state of agitation. “So that’s it,” he finished. “Someone in the government, most likely a big player in the White House, wants me dead.”
    She bit her lip. “And when I called Harry, I pretty much advertised your location to...let’s just call him Mr. X.”
    Nick sounded annoyed again. “I told you to drop it.”
    “Well, I didn’t, and now I’m a target,” she said matter-of-factly. “So let’s move past it and come up with a plan.”
    Shaking his head, he let out an amazed laugh. “Nothing fazes you, does it, Rebecca?”
    “Not usually.”
    She swallowed hard as Jesse’s agonizing screams rang inside her head. She swiftly banished the memories, forcing herself to focus. Grief would come later. Right now, her priority was staying alive.
    A thought suddenly occurred to her. “You still haven’t told me why you’re in Cortega,” she accused.
    “Remember how I mentioned someone in the DoD tried to kill Sebastian? It was an aide named Paul Waverly, and he fled D.C. right after the attempt on Sebastian’s life. We tracked him to Cortega,” Nick explained. “Apparently he paid a visit to a man who rules the criminal underworld here, El—”
    “Nuevo Diablo,” she finished. “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. Mr. New Devil reportedly runs guns and drugs, dabbles in prostitution and deals with fake IDs. Is that what Waverly was doing? Getting papers?”
    “I think so. But I can’t be sure until I meet with Mr. New Devil for confirmation, and I haven’t been able to arrange a meeting yet. My source has been distracted with the riot.”
    Rebecca pursed her lips. “All right. So we sit tight until your source is ready to meet us, then—”
    “There is no us,” Nick interrupted. “You’re not a part of this.”
    Her jaw fell open. “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me. You’re not getting involved,” he said in a tone that invited no argument. “I can handle this on my own.”
    “Oh, yeah? And pray tell, what am I supposed to do while you ‘handle’ this all by your lonesome?”
    “I’ll stash you somewhere safe and—”
    “Stash me somewhere safe?” Disbelief hung from each word, and her pulse sped up in anger. “Are you effing kidding me?”
    “Two men dragged you out of the hospital at gunpoint,” he snapped. “Your cameraman and driver just burned to death!”
    She flinched at the reminder.
    “You’re in danger, Rebecca. Whoever is after me probably thinks that I confided in you about this whole mess. You’re a threat to him now.”
    “We don’t even know who Mr. X is,” she protested.
    “But Mr. X doesn’t know that. For all he knows, my men and I are fully aware of his true identity, and I came to Cortega to tell my story to world-renowned correspondent Rebecca Parker.”
    Nick flicked the turn signal and changed lanes, quickly speeding past a slow-moving truck that was chugging clouds of exhaust into the morning air.
    Morning. Jeez, how was it only morning? Rebecca felt like collapsing and she’d only been up for four hours. God, so much had happened in those four hours—she’d lost two of her closest friends, she’d nearly been kidnapped and killed by a pair of mercenaries, and now she was fleeing the city with a gorgeous soldier who seemed intent on relegating her to the sidelines.
    Well, too bad for him, because Rebecca had never spent a single second on the sidelines her entire life.
    From this point on, she and Nick were in this together.
    Whether he liked it or not.

Chapter 7
    R ebecca Parker was the most aggravating female Nick had ever encountered. The woman had deemed it necessary to argue about every single sentence that came out of his mouth, and it was beginning to drive him crazy.
    “We’re here,” he said curtly.
    He came to a stop in front of the rambling old farmhouse that Rebecca had been eyeing with disdain ever since