“Yeah, your skills so far have sure made me feel super confident. You’ve been after the wrong guy the whole time.”
He had to give him that, though he wanted to point out his “skills” had gotten them out of that mess in the warehouse alive and unharmed. He clutched the hotel key card in his hand. At least that intel was correct. The guy was at the Fairmont like he was supposed to have been. It just so happened that they could have used a few more important details.
“Look, I’m sure that you’re anxious to get the hell away from me—”
“Damn straight.”
Edward clenched his teeth and swallowed back his own snide remark before continuing what he’d been about to say. “And return to your vacation. Help me out and I’ll get the fuck out of your hair.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to go to his hotel room with me. We’ll look around and see what we can find. Once I get what I need, you can head back to the beach with your book and drink. Forget all about me.”
“Thank God.” Daniel sighed, and Edward couldn’t help but roll his eyes again. He didn’t need this shit. The entire mission had gone to hell in less than an hour, and he wasn’t sure how the fuck he was going to salvage it. Kevin’s death could work in their favor, putting the threat to rest, but he wasn’t sure. Was the information now lost or was it in the wind, making it a race to find it first?
And what the fuck was he going to do about Daniel? The poor guy didn’t deserve to be dragged through this while on his probably well-deserved vacation. But Edward couldn’t give a shit about what Daniel wanted or needed. This was bigger than both of them.
“Are…are you some kind of mercenary or an assassin?”
Daniel’s stammered question pulled Edward from his gloomy thoughts.
“No.”
“Then who are you? Not some telecommunications executive.”
“Definitely not that.”
“Are you…oh fuck! Are you CIA?”
Edward tried not to react, but there was a surprising amount of venom in that question. More than should have come from Daniel. Unfortunately, he didn’t hide his reaction as well as he thought, because Daniel moaned and threw up his hands.
“Oh, my God! You are, aren’t you?” Daniel kept cursing and running his hands through his hair. “I don’t believe this. My employer is the type to get involved in this kind of shit. Not me.”
“Your involvement isn’t your fault, so don’t feel bad.”
“The one time in my life, I throw caution to the wind to get laid and this is what I get. Pulled into some freaking James Bond movie bullshit.” His voice rose on the last words.
“Come on.” Edward shook the boat key on its ring. “We’ll take their boat and go back to the hotel. There’s bound to be some information there.”
Daniel took a couple of steps toward the boat and then abruptly stopped, his eyes narrowing on Edward. “Did you search my room, too?”
Edward kept his gaze steady on Daniel, who was all kinds of disheveled from the scuffle. He looked cute and it pissed him off that he thought so. “I did.”
Daniel stomped closer to him. “And you didn’t think it was weird that I had nothing in my room to suggest I was this-this Kevin Jones guy?”
“I did. I just thought you were smart enough to have hidden things better—especially since you brought a stranger to your room.”
Faint red filled his cheeks. “I don’t make a habit of doing that.”
“Good.”
Why that information meant something to Edward, he didn’t know. But he couldn’t help but think about the sex they’d had and just how incredible it had been. Connections like that didn’t happen to him. Now he felt bad, sure, but at the time, he’d been all in when it came to the sex.
Unfortunately, he still had a fucking job to do now.
“Come on,” he grumbled. The faster he managed to put some distance between Daniel and himself, the better. The man was getting under his skin and fucking with his head. He needed to stay focused on the mission.
Daniel sat fuming quietly in the boat all the way back. This time around, the beautiful scenery had a dark edge as Edward kept his attention out for any more surprises. The sun now felt stifling, and every cove could have hidden danger.
Edward used the time to try and figure out his next move. Now that he knew “Kevin Jones” had been at the right hotel, he felt a little better about getting things all wrong. A little. He’d been told The Fairmont Southampton and given a picture. It just so happened that by a horrible stroke of luck or fate, Kevin’s nearly identical twin strolled into the same hotel on vacation. When Edward had spotted him the previous day boarding the shuttle for the beach, he hadn’t thought twice about it. He’d been sure he was looking at his target. After seeing the two men beside each other, his mistake made sense, damn it.