Page 52 of Wicked Intention

As the man walked away, Zo gasped. She’d recognize the way he moved anywhere. “Finn,” she called, but her voice was thin, reedy. She’d never be able to scramble out of the tree in time to reach him. Swallowing hard and drawing a deep breath, she tried again.

“Finn.”

Chapter Twenty

Palm Beach, Florida

25 Months Earlier

FINN'S DUTIES as best man were finished. He’d stood beside Ski at the altar, handed him the ring on cue, offered a toast during the wedding dinner, and danced with the matron of honor, the bride, and the bride’s mother. The online checklist he’d read had listed additional items, but the bride’s parents had an army of people taking care of the other details, which meant he was free for the rest of the evening.

The only thing Finn wanted to do was leave.

That feeling became more pronounced as Captain Nguyen approached. He wore a dark gray suit with a red tie, but even out of uniform, he exuded an aura of command. It was second nature for Finn to straighten as BD closed the gap.

“This isn’t the best place to hide,” the captain said, gesturing to the pool house.

“The good spots were taken. At least I have something atmy back.” Finn didn’t quite come to attention, but he did stop leaning against the structure’s façade.

“Relax, Stone Man. It’s a wedding, not a mission.” The captain took up a position alongside him.

Great. This meant something was up. Not that BD didn’t socialize with the team, but Finn had learned to read his CO. He forced the rigidity from his muscles, outwardly appearing to relax, but he kept his mind sharp. To prevent himself from asking questions, he looked around. As if he hadn’t memorized every detail.

Ski had married the daughter of a former US ambassador, and the wedding was huge. Eight hundred guests from around the world were in attendance, including prime ministers of other countries, a few celebrities, and titans of industry. The security was like nothing Finn had seen before, and the ambassador’s Palm Beach estate was lit up brighter than the Vegas strip. It would have been overwhelming even if the team hadn’t just returned from an assignment.

If he hadn’t spent the last six weeks in a Puerto Jardinese prison.

This was too much, and the only reason he hadn’t run was that he wouldn’t abandon his teammates. Until Ski and his bride left, he was stuck here. He focused on his breathing to hold control.

“Are you okay, Stony?” the captain asked.

Finn dug deep. “Fine, sir.” He met his CO’s questioning look with a bland expression he had to struggle to maintain. And when the other man looked away, Finn fought the urge to run a finger around the collar of his tuxedo shirt.

There was a long silence before BD said, “I hear you’re heading to LA after you’re discharged.”

Finn shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any.”

The captain’s gaze became laser-sharp. “I also hear Pruitt gave you the address for a certain woman, one who lives in Los Angeles.”

He fought off the lie that immediately sprang into his mind. Tom Finley was the liar. “That could be a coincidence,” he said, choosing evasion over fabrication.

“Sergeant,” the captain chastised, his voice so low that no one would be able to overhear him. “We both know what happened less than two months ago. You ignored every protocol we had in place to rush to her rescue, and it set off a chain of events guaranteeing the gentlemen in question will be back in business shortly, selling weapons that will kill soldiers around the world.”

Finn’s muscles locked. After glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby, he spoke even more quietly than BD had, but his voice was hard. “With all due respect, captain, you should have sat on the information about where I was and what was going on. I had the situation under control, and because I’d had hours to argue my case with the boss, I’d been able to make a lot of progress on the operation. It was the premature action by the brigade that blew things up. You should have trusted me.”

“I do trust you.” Nguyen’s tone was carefully controlled, a sure sign that Finn had angered him. “But it was a cooperative effort. If I’d kept it to myself, and the brigade command found out about it, our relationship with them would have been undermined, maybe even damaged irreparably. It was a chance I couldn’t take.”

“The brigade command is as rife with corruption as the rest of the government.”

“Sergeant,youshould have trustedme. You should have trusted your team.”

Finn tried to swallow his words, but they escaped anyway. “You know as well as I do what kind of security the boss surrounds himself with. Getting in there would have been almost impossible, and they would have hurt her, maybe killed her if I hadn’t gone.”

“Did we have a plan if a civilian was put at risk?”

Finn nodded once. He could come up with multiple excuses for why he hadn’t waited for the team to come together for the rescue, but the bottom line was he wouldn’t leave Zo at Torres’ mercy. While his ass had been behind bars, he’d worried about her until he’d learned she was safely back in San Isidro. He hadn’t fully relaxed until after Christmas when he’d gotten word that Zo had returned to the States.

“Heading to LA to seek her out isn’t smart,” his CO said after a moment. His tone was mild now, and Finn was able to take a deep breath.

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