“Jammer, I can take care of myself. It’s not like I’m a noob. I’ve put together deals…”
“Gina, it’s not about you. It’s my irrationality again. Set it up and make sure that Joost understands that the Ghost will not be there. I don’t want to deal with the man’s bruised ego during the buy, or his refusal to sell to us.”
“Jeez, I can’t wait to meet this guy. He sounds like the equivalent of the soup Nazi.”
Startled by this non sequitur, Jammer looked at her quizzically.
She grinned. “If we don’t order just right, it’ll be, ‘No guns for you.’”
Jammer laughed. He gazed at her standing there, so confident and in control. Dressed in her outrageous clothes, which always seemed to work no matter what she put together. Hell, Gina could be completely naked, and somehow she’d still manage to appear as unruffled and powerful as if she was the one in charge.
He should know.
It was one of the many complexities about her that he used as his excuse for acting so completely out of character whenever he got within five feet of her.
“You can make jokes…”
“Good ones,” she said.
“Even good ones, but you know how high the stakes are. And the playing field is full of danger. All the time. Joost is a predator and very skilled at being one.”
“I’d say you’re better at it, Jammer, if I’m any judge of character.”
“I’m a master, Gina. I’ve never gone head-to-head with Joost, but he doesn’t scare me. But be prepared for him. He doesn’t do anything conventionally. That includes the way he handles gun buys and the people involved in them.”
Jammer had worked too hard to let Joost Roorback mess things up now. One way or another he would have those missiles and planes. He would prefer that Gina not be involved, but it was too late now. He was committed. He’d have to deal with her, Joost and whatever else popped up, and make sure the job got done-with him walking away the victor.
“Sometimes,” Gina said, smiling like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse, “you have to improvise.”
“I’m sure you’re good at improvising. I, on the other hand, prefer to have a plan A and a plan B.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t have any plans, just that I’m flexible enough to improvise.”
“You’re flexible…in many ways, but let’s not put it to the test, shall we? Let’s just get in, get the missiles and both go home in one piece.”
“I’m all for staying in one piece, Jammer, but what happens if things don’t go exactly according to plan A or plan B?”
“Then it’s simple. I get mean.”
“From what I’ve heard about Joost, that might be the only way we come out with what we want.”
“We’ll get what we want. I guarantee that.”
With that said, he pulled her close. “I wouldn’t risk you for anything, Gina. You know that, right?”
“Yes,” she responded, wrapping her arms around his neck and doing his favorite thing. She settled her head on his shoulder and did this little twisting, burrowing motion that made his heart tighten.
It would have been so easy if he hadn’t met her. His purpose had always been mapped out, and he’d endured three years of isolation and loneliness to accomplish it. He’d lost all that he was and had become a different person the day Fuentes had sent his goons to eliminate him and his team.
They had left him for dead, bleeding, in agony, lying among the bodies of his teammates. After the executioners were gone, he’d pulled himself to safety, but to this day, the blood of those three men and two women would remain with him until he set everything right by making their killer pay for what he’d done. But he had met Gina, and he had to deal with the fact that she had come to mean more to him than any of it. If not for his guilt and his vow, he would chuck it all.
“Make the call, Gina. Let’s play Joost’s game our way. By our rules.”
“Right, but he just won’t know it.”
He went back to the window as Gina contacted Joost. If Jammer had his way, Joost’s right-hand guy, Dieter Fromme, would be the person he’d deal with. Dieter was easygoing and more than made up for Joost’s eccentricities.
It wasn’t long before Gina told him that the deal was set. They were to fly to Amsterdam tomorrow and check into the Hotel Sofitel. Someone would be in touch with them then.
“He’s already started his game.”
“I know. But I didn’t talk to Joost. I talked to Dieter. He’s the one who gave me the directions.”
“Dieter is easier to deal with, but make no mistake, he protects Joost and would cut your heart out in a second if he thought you were a threat.”
“Who? Little ole me?” she said, batting her eyelashes. Then her face got serious. “He wouldn’t see what hit him.”
Jammer could attest to that. Ever since he’d met Gina he’d been looking for the bus that had hit him.
“That means we have some time here in London. What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I say we order room service and have our own private little party.”
“You don’t want to see some of the sights of London?”
She grinned. “Like what?”
“Big Ben?”
She grinned that wicked grin again, and Jammer’s heart started racing.
“I have my own Big Ben right here,” she said, cupping him through his trousers. “And it looks…feels like he’s about to strike twelve o’clock.”
“Where you’re concerned, it’s always twelve o’clock.”
“Oh, no, that means you must be in need of repair, because clocks always have to keep the right time.”
“I know how to keep the right time,” he said, his voice rough now with need, and with anticipation.
“And make time, if I’m not mistaken.”
Jammer chuckled as he allowed her to drag him toward the large bed in the suite. This woman had him by more than just the balls.
Something he didn’t want to think about right now. He should be focusing on the buy in Amsterdam. His gut told him that they were in for trouble there, but Gina’s soft hands and delectable body had other ideas.
And he was going to let her indulge every one of those ideas-hopefully for the rest of the day and into the night. Well, maybe with a break for food and hydration.
He wasn’t a robot. And it was evidently clear that he was a flesh-and-blood male, because he felt completely and utterly alive with her.
A very unexpected and devastating sensation for a Ghost.
JAMMER BIT INTO THE croissant and took a sip of the delicious coffee room service had just brought him. The server didn’t question him when he asked him to put the cart on the balcony, nor did he say anything when he tipped the kid a hundred bucks.
In his very proper British accent, he asked, “Will there be anything else, sir?”
Jammer shook his head and the kid left. After going a few rounds with Gina, he would have thought that sleep would have come very easily, but he hadn’t been able to settle, even with her warm and sated body next to him. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to get used to having her curl up next to him at night. When she was gone, he would miss that too much. Better to not indulge in that luxury so often.
He settled into a large chaise longue beneath the full moon and let the taste of the food distract his thoughts. September in London was decidedly cool and the nights even more so. He’d donned sweats and was quite comfortable with the hot coffee warming his stomach.
He was also concerned about the upcoming Amsterdam buy. He needed those surface-to-air-missiles more than he’d ever needed anything for a deal, but with Joost’s unpredictable behavior, it was imperative that Jammer be able to focus on the task at hand. If he was worrying about Gina, then he wouldn’t be one hundred percent effective.