Awakened Read Free Page A

that fact suddenly made Barrett’s cheeks flush with shame.
    She sure as hell didn’t like the feeling.
    They all had their crosses to bear. She wasn’t up to keeping score right now. Rallying, she lifted her chin.
    “Do you mind telling me how we’re supposed to keep going if someone in the FBI is truly conspiring against us? The seven of us alone—five with Ty still helping Ana through her turning—with a traitor in our midst? What can we possibly accomplish?”
    “We don’t know there’s a traitor. Not yet. For now, we use the resources we have, limited as they are.”
    His tone suggested they might be limited but that they also might surprise her. “Care to enlighten me?”
    The intercom crackled as Carly finally decided to speak. “Nick Maltese is one such resource.”
    Shock made Barrett’s eyes widen. Memories made her skin tingle and her heart clench with longing and regret. She and Nick Maltese had crossed paths just over two years ago in Eastern Europe, after Barrett joined the army. Barrett had been working as a liaison to women and children forced into refugee camps as a result of ongoing conflicts.
    Her mind immediately zoomed back to the moment she’d first seen him.
    Tall enough to make her feel short—and at five feet eight inches she wasn’t—with broad shoulders that stretched his army-issue T-shirt to the max. Dark hair, regulation short, which he’d scrunched into spikes somehow. Dark eyes that just fucking did her in. And that smile. Blazing white and wide when he looked at her.
    He’d turned toward her, as if alerted by some sixth sense that he was being watched. Before that, she’d had just enough time to let her gaze roam up and down, from his dusty boots to cargo-pocketed camo pants that hugged narrow hips she’d instantly wanted —really wanted—to get a grip on.
    Later, she’d learned Nick was in the region as a high-ranking noncombatant—a flexible term that basically meant you’re whatever we want you to be, soldier . Officially in charge of clandestine tech operations. Not black ops. More like gray. But he’d trained as a sniper and he ranked as one of the best. Unofficially, that was also what he did. Undercover and under the radar.
    One of his inventions was a computer-tracking system to help locate trafficked children and teenagers in war-torn countries. There had been no way to save all of them, but Nick had put his own life on the line to get into the worst brothels, once rescuing two young girls who were barely alive. He’d pulled strings at the highest level and personally flown the girls and their mother to asylum and safety.
    When not heading up humanitarian rescues, he sometimes took out the worst of the bad guys. Sanctioned kills, every one, never reported on either side of the conflict, accomplished with terrifying precision. His assigned targets were shadow killers themselves.
    He was tenacious to a fault. Unbelievably intelligent. Arrogant as hell.
    And so damn sexy, so damn tender when he’d wanted to be. He’d had the power to make Barrett forget her grief and her duty and simply want to be a woman, one who could take shelter in his arms. Of course, it was because of those very feelings that she’d ended things between them. She’d always intended to end things. Being booted out of the army for failure to obey orders had simply speeded her decision along.
    “How—how do you know that name?” she forced out, praying her shaky voice didn’t give her away.
    Instead of answering her, Carly said, “Peter, Ty’s on line two. I’ll talk to Barrett about Mr. Maltese.”
    “Of course,” Peter said quietly. He left, but not before placing an encouraging hand on Barrett’s shoulder. The gesture did nothing to reassure her.
    “I apologize for joining the party late,” Carly said. “Ty called just as you walked in, then so did Mahone.”
    “Is Ana all right?” Barrett asked, thinking of Ty’s lover, the woman she’d barely gotten to know before