Ana was as curious about all of them as they seemed to be about her; each of them studied the other with thinly veiled suspicion. She had to stifle a half groan, half chuckle.
Let the games begin.
“Carly’s already briefed you to some extent on Salvation’s Crossing,” Ty said, directing his attention to Ana. “It’s supposed to be a public outreach program for Hispanic culture, but we believe it’s actually a false front for a cult.” When she nodded, he turned his attention to the others.
“Illegal immigrants are being used by the cult for slave labor and for … well, let’s just say they’re being sold on the black market. Miguel Salvador finds illegals and welcomes them in to Salvation’s Crossing. He’s seeded the streets of San Diego and Los Angeles, and even Tijuana and Mexico City with hucksters he pays to spout the word of Salvation’s Crossing.”
Collette—the ex-cop, ex–blackjack dealer who’d had extensive training in body language and could morph into anyone she needed to be, be it ingenue, femme fatale, or hooker—spoke up. “So when the illegals make it across the border, they think Salvation’s Crossing is their salvation.”
Ty nodded, looking around the room to ensure Ana, Barrett, and Justine understood as well. Barrett was sitting staring out the window, her knees held together at a perfect angle, the silk skirt she wore skimming her thigh and riding up just enough to be sexy but still classy. No one would guess she’d graduated from West Point Academy at the top of her class and had served overseas.
Next to her, Justine sat more relaxed. A former dancer known for blowing men’s minds and making them blow a wad of cash on her when she pole danced, Justine had an innate sensuality. She was also an ace when it came to anything with an engine, particularly cars.
The two of them seemed uninterested in his lecture, but Ty could tell they were on alert, absorbing, filtering, and processing his words. Good.
Ana, though—he cast his gaze to her. As he’d expected, she was looking at him with chin raised, eyes challenging, a woman ready for a fight. That bravado, which he fully knew she could back up with fists or a knife, stirred something deep inside him just the way it always did. Desire, he reminded himself, as his cock went to half-mast. Ana stirred up his sexuality in a truly visceral way. After their little lesson at the pool, he’d been on the verge of losing it. Before he could rip her clothes off and plunge his fangs into her neck, he’d practically run away.
“Any questions on Salvation’s Crossing?”
“What’s the next step?” Ana asked. Despite her calm demeanor, he sensed her vulnerability. It hit him then—how much a young Ana would have benefited from an organization that purported to do what Salvation’s Crossing did. How different her life would have been if she’d been given a home instead of a place in a gang.
That’s what was really driving her. Ana didn’t want to go back to her childhood home, but she wanted a home. One that looked like her place in Seattle, but where she didn’t live alone. She wanted to find her sister, make sure Gloria got out safe. And she wanted to stay with her sister. She wanted to have a family again.
Just like he did.
Fact was, however, she still had a chance of getting what she wanted. He didn’t.
Still, her complete love and loyalty to her sister moved him. Had he loved Naomi to such a fierce degree? He’d like to think so, but he wasn’t sure. Maybe because he’d suspected Naomi hadn’t loved him with that same fierceness, either.
Never mind the sisters, his or hers.
What he wouldn’t give to have Ana love him that much. To know she was his and would be in his bed every night, freely, enthusiastically, despite the fact that she knew exactly what he was.
A vampire.
His cock strained against the soft fabric of his jeans, no longer at half-mast. Images of ripping Ana’s jeans off her ass and plunging himself into her warm depths raged in his mind. He’d take her, and hard—from behind, up against a wall, sideways. Bite her neck—
Suddenly he realized the rest of the team members were staring at him, silent. Barrett raised an eyebrow at him, the hint of a smile quirking at one side of her mouth. Bollocks. Had she realized how much he’d been hungering for Ana? He shifted in his seat, hoping his straining erection was sufficiently hidden behind the folders he held in his hand.
“We continue with your training. Collette, Barrett, and Justine will teach you a few things that can help you with your mission before they train with Peter.”
“Such as?” Ana’s question wasn’t rude, just direct.
“Your mission isn’t an extraction or surgical strike. It’s intelligence gathering. The only way we’re going to get in, get the evidence, and get out with it is if our cover is believable.”
Ana frowned. “What cover?”
“We’ll be posing as lovers,” he said smoothly. “That means you’re going to have to be a social butterfly. You know, someone who’s accustomed to the best in life and who’s also a free spirit. Also, it can’t bother you if I touch you—however that might happen.” He watched understanding flicker across her face and saw the bitterness that twisted her mouth.
Just like during your training, he wanted to say. It was really best if she thought that, he told himself.
But he still wanted to shake her and insist that she see the truth: she was beautiful and he wanted her and he’d want her regardless of how they’d met. Her mind, however, was already on the mission and everything she’d learned so far.
“But I thought one of my roles was to seduce Miguel into letting us into the cult. How am I going to do that if he—if he—”
“If he thinks you’re mine?”
She scowled. “If he thinks we’re sleeping together.”
“Can you really be that naive about men, Ana?” That came from Barrett.
Ana rounded on her. “You don’t know me at all. And who asked you?”
Ana was more innocent about the desires of men than she could ever realize, Ty thought. Mainly because she didn’t give herself the freedom to feel her own.
“What Barrett is saying,” Justine chimed in, “is that thinking you’re with Ty isn’t going to put off a man who’s truly interested in you, Ana. In fact, if Miguel believes you’re lovers, he’s going to want to win you over even more.”
A few hours after she’d learned she’d be posing as Ty’s girlfriend, Ana entered the stable behind Justine. Collette and Barrett were already inside. The blonde spoke softly to one of the mares, stroking the blaze on her forehead and slipping her a baby carrot.
The warm smell of fresh hay and old timber made Ana stop and take a deep breath, just to enjoy it. She glanced at Barrett again. There was an apple half in her hand.
Ana hadn’t thought to bring treats. She doubted they had been told to meet here to pal around with the horses, although she didn’t know the reason for Carly’s order.
Show up at the stables. Collette has my instructions.
“Hello, ladies,” Justine said, sidestepping a sticky green-brown clump that rolled out of the straw. “Eww. Where are all the stable hands? They need to tidy up in here.”
Collette laughed. “I believe that’s our assignment.”
“The hell it is,” Justine retorted, pushing back a wavy lock of black hair. “Who told you that?”
The ex-cop took a piece of paper out of her shirt pocket and unfolded it, showing it to Justine, whose eyes widened with horror as Barrett laughed.