Page 53 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 2

“What did you boys find?” Chase asked, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs.

“A map to the location of a key.”

“And what does this key open?” Axel asked.

“Mateo.” I nodded for him to take over. He was the one who found the map and divined its meaning.

He picked up the map and unfolded it. “This gives us the location of not just the key but what it opens. A safe deposit box in the Bahamas, at the Bank of Nassau. It’s where he hid the diamonds.”

“Well, shit.” Chase said, echoing my sentiments when we realized the diamonds weren’t stored here.

“So we have to sail south, go through the Panama Canal to get to the Gulf of Mexico, and then cross that to get to the island?” Axel asked with raised brows.

“That’s one option.” I had another idea. One I doubted Kylie would like. But it would be the best to keep her safe. It also meant coming clean with her about who we really were, and I wasn’t certain how she would take it.

“And the other?” Chase asked. “Because that route would take us minimum two weeks, if not three. While we’ve all coped with life on the yacht, I would rather we hasten our movements.”

“You’re not wrong. Every minute we delay in retrieving those diamonds and nabbing Santos, more women like what we’ve seen could be battered, bartered and traded for hefty sums of cash, only to put them well out of our jurisdiction, making it infinitely more difficult to retrieve them. I suggest we contact headquarters, get a flight to DC, and visit CIA headquarters. We can put Kylie in a safe house with other agents, while we head down to the island to retrieve the key and then the diamonds. I know her fingerprints are needed. That’s easy enough for us to scan and have with us without her needing to be there. Once those have been secured, we can continue our hunt to bring Santos in.”

“How do you think our little Phoenix will react when she discovers we’re CIA? We haven’t been completely honest with her,” Chase stated, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

It was a tricky spot given we’d been intimate with her. We had developed feelings for her. The lies we told had been to protect her. Although I had started feeling increasingly guilty for failing to disclose the truth. I didn’t know how she would take it.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Fuck. Me.

Internally I grimaced and turned. Kylie stood in the doorway. She had dressed. Although her hair was still a mess from being fucked three ways to Sunday. Her beauty sucker punched me. Even a mess she was the most stunning woman on the planet. She frowned, accusations blazed in her eyes.

“Kylie,” I sighed, hating that she now knew the truth. The urge to protect her, even from the truth, was hard-wired into me. She was as much a victim as the women in those videos. She was a caring, soft-hearted woman who had the tar beaten out of her on a regular basis.

“No. I’ve had it up to here,” she gestured toward the top of her head, “with the lies. You’re CIA? You’re not the head of White Security? You’re not even bodyguards for hire?”

I took a step toward her. With the urge to comfort her and explain our transgressions before her love turned to hatred.

But she retreated. Moisture lined her inky lashes. I loathed the pain in her eyes. Pain we’d caused.

My need for atonement would have to wait. She needed the truth if we were ever going to put us back together. I lifted my hands up, trying to impart I meant her no harm and retreated a step back. She didn’t want me to touch her right now. I’d respect her wishes. “Yes, we are CIA field agents. Our team was placed on this case after the original team, led by my twin brother, Grant, was murdered by Luka Santos. We’ve been tasked with finding enough evidence to arrest Luka Santos and dismantle his criminal organization. And we needed you because of the diamonds Santos and your husband stole from the Met in New York. Diamonds which your husband stole and hid from Santos. Those diamonds reputedly once belonged to Marie Antoinette. And they’re the reason Santos killed your husband and is after you.”

“Did you investigate me? Am I a suspect on your list?” Stone faced, her bottom lip trembled, and a single, solitary tear trickled down her cheek.

Guilt flooded me. That fucking tear broke my heart. I let myself get too close to her. I violated everything I had been taught about being an agent and fell for her. Christ, I even started imagining a life with her after the case. I wanted her to be the woman I came home to. And I couldn’t lie to her anymore, not if I wanted a real chance at a future with her. “Yes. It was standard protocol.”

She sucked in a ragged breath and clenched her hands into fists. “I see. And fucking a suspect, is that something that was on your agenda too or did you figure since I fucked a member of the mafia, I was a whore who didn’t matter?”

“Angel, it wasn’t like that,” Axel protested, worry stamped across his features.

She shot him a furious glare and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Not like what? Like how you manipulated me with your lies. Like how you didn’t confess who you really were once you realized I had no fucking clue about my deceased husband’s business dealings. You even made it seem like there was a future for us. I let you touch me in ways I’ve never allowed anyone. After everything I’ve been through in my life, that you know I’ve been through, how could you do this to me? I thought you guys were different. I thought I could trust you.” She swiped at her tears. “But I was wrong. I don’t even know who you are.”

“Angel, please, listen to us. We love you. We’re sorry. We—”

“You love me? That’s rich. How can you even say that after what you’ve done? You know what, screw you all. I can’t even stand to look at you let alone be anywhere near you.”

Kylie grabbed the map on the table, swiveled on her heels and charged out of the room. Her footsteps scurried up the stairs.

“Angel, come back.” Axel pleaded. He was out of his seat, striding toward the door.

“She’ll be fine. She just needs some time to process. We have work to do. It’s best if she isn’t further involved. We’ll get the map back from her in a bit.”

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