what to say, but she’d never been a coward. “I’m meeting friends of
mine”—she glanced at her watch—“in an hour. You like jazz?”
“Sure,” Evyn said, her gaze fixed on Wes’s face.
“When are you going to be done?”
“My push is due in half an hour—” Evyn laughed, shook her head.
“Are you inviting me to go out with you?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing, but I like being with you. Pretending
I don’t when we’re going to see each other every day isn’t going to
work.”
“I’ll come find you when Gary shows up,” Evyn said. “I’m usually
pretty good at pretending, but not so much with you.”
Wes warmed inside. “Tonight…just so we’re clear, it’s just—”
“I know,” Evyn said quickly. “Just friends. I know. That’s good.”
Wes nodded, grabbed her coffee, and left before she said anything
they wouldn’t be able to take back, or live with. She was halfway to her
office before she recognized the ache in her middle was gone.
• 209 •
RADCLY fFE
chapter twenty-six
So,” Emory said, leaning across Dana at the table and grasping
Wes’s arm, “how did you meet Evyn?”
“We work together.”
“I remember her,” Dana said. “She was at the wedding. One of
the agents.”
“That’s right,” Wes answered while watching Evyn thread her
way through the crowd toward the back of the bar. She looked great
tonight, in plain dark trousers and a white shirt. More than a few people
watched her pass, and Wes struggled between possessiveness and pride.
Both sensations were foreign.
“She’s very nice,” Emory said.
“Yes,” Wes said. The band was good, and the bar was packed.
There hadn’t been much opportunity for conversation, for which she
was grateful. Emory wasn’t as relentless as her mother or Denny when
she wanted to know something, but she didn’t let up. Her curiosity
had been apparent from the instant Wes had introduced Evyn, and
understandably so. Evyn was great company—sociable, funny, at ease
in any situation. Wes doubted she would be as comfortable meeting
any of Evyn’s friends, but then she wasn’t particularly comfortable
in social gatherings to begin with. She hadn’t had much practice.
Evyn undoubtedly had, and thinking about her in a bar, comfortable,
charming, connecting with other women, the twinge of possessiveness
swelled to a surge of jealousy. She promptly extinguished it. She didn’t
have any claim on Evyn, by her own choice.
“Sexy too.” Emory plucked a handful of peanuts from the bowl
on the table.
• 210 •
Oath Of hOnOr
“Yes,” Wes said.
“When did you lose your powers of speech?” Emory asked with
exaggerated politeness.
Dana cautiously eased her chair back from the table, clearing the
space between Emory and Wes.
“I could use a break here, Em,” Wes said quietly.
“I can see that—you’re out with a great-looking, sexy, charming
woman and you’ve been trying to pretend all evening that she wasn’t
there.”“That’s not true.” Wes could hear the testy tone in her voice and
tried to dial it back. Emory was her friend. “It’s complicated.”
Emory laughed. “Of that, I have no doubt. Neither of you strikes
me as simple. Although sometimes, I think you’re kind of simple-
minded.”
Dana stood up, the loud scraping of her chair audible even over
the music. “I’m gonna go get refills. Another drink, Wes?”
Wes eyed her half-finished beer. She’d had her hand clasped
around the bottle for most of the last set, and the beer was warm. She’d
feared if she let go, her hand would end up on Evyn’s thigh, the hard,
sleek thigh that had somehow come to rest against hers soon after
they’d all sat down. The entire length of her leg tingled, as if Evyn had
been sending a low pulse of energy into her for the past hour. “I’ll have
another Pilgrim.”
“Coming up.”
“So what’s really going on?” Emory asked as soon as they were
alone.“I don’t know, Em,” Wes said, weary of pretending everything
things out.”
“But there’s something going on between you. That’s pretty
obvious. She’s been watching you the entire night.”
Wes stiffened. She’d been hyperaware of Evyn since the moment
they’d left the White House and driven to the club in Evyn’s car. They
hadn’t talked much, but the silence hadn’t been uncomfortable. All the
same, every time she looked at Evyn, she’d known the silence was
masking what they both wanted to say. Even the noisy bar and the
diversion offered by Emory and Dana’s company hadn’t diminished her
awareness of Evyn next to her. Her brain registered the music, followed
• 211 •
RADCLY fFE
along in the conversations, and prompted her to answer when spoken to,
but all she really noticed was Evyn—the heat of her body, the sound of
her voice, the space she occupied at the table. Watching Evyn’s fingers
curl around her glass, all Wes could think of was the sensation of those
fingers gently clasping her breast, stroking her, turning her blood to fire
and her mind to a sea of pleasure.
“You’re attracted to her,” Emory said, making it a statement, not
a question.
“Yes.”
“Which one of you is throwing up walls?”
Wes laughed. “What makes you think we are?”
“Oh, come on. You’re both acting as if it would be a crime to
touch each other.” She shook her head. “The two of you actually go
out of your way not to touch when it would be perfectly natural to do
so—it’s so obvious. So who shot who down?”
“No one,” Wes said, at a loss as to how to make sense of everything.
“It’s mutual—we decided not to go that route.”
“What route?”
“Intimacy.”
“You mean sex?”
“Come on, Emory,” Wes said. “Don’t make this any harder for me.
You know what I mean.”
“Honest, I don’t. Is she married?”
“What? No.”
“I know you’re not.”
Wes shook her head. “Can we not—”
“She’s straight?”
“No,” Wes said definitely. Her stomach twisted, remembering
the way Evyn made love to her, so confidently, so perceptively, so
powerfully. “Definitely, no.”
“And I know you’re not.” Emory raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”
“No,” Wes said, laughing despite her discomfort.
“So what’s the problem? You’re both available, you’re both gay,
and you both obviously have the major hots for each other.”
“We work closely together—a personal relationship could
seriously disrupt the team.”
“May I say, major bullshit?”
“You don’t understand—”
• 212 •
Oath Of hOnOr
“More
bullshit.” Emory spoke without the slightest bit of heat,
just calm certainty. “I know you, and I’m betting any woman you’re
attracted to would be pretty similar as far as this is concerned. Nothing
compromises your work. I bet Evyn is the same way.”
“I’m what way?” Evyn pulled out her chair and sat back down
next to Wes. Her arm brushed Wes’s and the tingling spread from
Wes’s leg into her stomach, making it hard for her to focus on Emory’s
inquisition.
“Totally serious and uncompromising about work,” Emory said.
Evyn gave Wes a what-did-I-miss look, then shifted in her chair
and regarded Emory. “Yes, I’d say that’s true. Why?”
“How well do you know Wes?” Emory asked.
Wes snapped back to the conversation. She wasn’t going to
discuss her personal relationship with Evyn while Evyn sat an inch
away. “Never mind. Emory and I were just catching up.”
Evyn glanced from Emory to Wes. “I have obviously missed
something pretty important here. Maybe you should catch me up.”
“Emory is my oldest friend—she thinks that gives her certain
privileges.”
“It does,” Emory said.
Evyn laughed. “What is it you want to know?”
“Do you really think there’s anything that could make Wesley
compromise her professional obligations?”
“No,” Evyn said slowly. “I don’t.”
“That’s not how you felt a few weeks ago,” Wes said.
“You’re right. But I know a lot more about you now than I did
then.”“My point exactly,” Emory said. “Experience sometimes runs
counter to expectations—and proves there are exceptions to every
rule.”“And sometimes,” Evyn said softly, her gaze returning to Wes,
“rules are just convenient shields.”
Wes had the urge to get up and run, and she’d never run from
anything in her life. What could be so frightening about a woman
wanting to be close to her? Not just any woman. Evyn. Evyn, who
had provided quiet strength, and tender comfort, and fierce passion.
Evyn—who refused to be pushed away.
“Sometimes reshaping boundaries is slow work.”
• 213 •
RADCLY fFE
Evyn grinned. “I’m patient.”
Wes threw back her head, laughing quietly. “How is it I’ve never
noticed?”
“Never?” Evyn murmured.
Wes’s breath caught. Evyn had been endlessly patient the night
they’d made love—letting Wes lead, despite her inexperience, letting
her satisfy her need to touch and taste and savor. “I remember.”
“Good.”
“Well,” Emory said, as Dana returned, “before Wesley tells me it’s
none of my business, I’ll butt out.” She cleared a space on the table for
the drinks and leaned to kiss Dana as she sat down. “But for the record,
I think you two are smoking hot together.”
Wes groaned and Evyn grinned.
Emory lifted a shoulder. “Just my scientific observation.”
v
Russo walked out onto the back deck of his mountain cabin. His
last two public appearances and the benefit dinners that followed had
been great successes. His supporters had been enthusiastic, and even his
wife had managed to do her part. Now he planned to celebrate properly
with Nora, who should arrive any moment. Despite the frigid air, he felt
totally comfortable. The sky was clear, the stars bright points of light,
the moon a huge flawless globe. Snow cascaded down the mountainside
and layered the bending boughs of the pines with powdery lace. He was
surrounded by natural beauty, and the brisk air stung his lungs with
every breath, reminding him of the surety of life.
Nora’s latest report showed his popularity growing and his strength
with the electorate approaching the point where no challenger would
pose a threat. Still, a substantial number in his own party found him too
radical, too polarizing, and there were large segments of the Northeast
and West where Andrew Powell commanded a huge following. He
needed to shake up the moderates in his own party and create doubt
in the hearts of the centrist liberals who might be persuaded to change
allegiances if the threat to their personal safety was great enough. The
time to prepare the groundwork for that shift in power was now. Certain
of his course, he called Hooker.
• 214 •
Oath Of hOnOr
“Hooker,” the man answered.
“It’s time to initiate our plans with the optimal timetable,” Russo
said. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time,” Hooker said.
“Yes, I’m aware of that, but given the ideal location, you should
have ample time to activate all the parties.”
“I’ll need to confirm with my contact.”
“Then do so,” Russo said calmly. “Unless I hear from you, I’ll
assume we are proceeding as planned.”
“My fee just went up,” Hooker said. “It’s going to take a whole lot
of coordinating to pull this off so soon.”
“I have utmost faith in you. And if all goes as expected, you’ll
receive a twenty percent bonus.”
“That’s very generous,” Hooker said.
“I hope we’ll be doing business for some time.”
“I’ll let you know when I’ve confirmed with my contact.”
“Wonderful. And happy holidays.”
“Yeah,” Hooker said, “ho-fucking-ho.”
Russo rang off without commenting. The new year was going to
be a very good year.
v
“Are you coming to bed?” Blair kissed the top of Cam’s head and
rubbed her shoulders. “It’s getting late and it’s been a long day.”
Cam leaned her head back against Blair’s stomach and closed her
eyes, enjoying the warmth spreading down her back from Blair’s hands.
“Have I ever mentioned I love the way you touch me?”
Smiling, Blair kissed the top of her head again. “A time or two.
What are you doing?”
Cam rubbed her eyes. “Reviewing reports from this morning’s
security update. Looking for anything out of the ordinary.”
“Why? If you think we’re dealing with someone on the inside?”
“The leak may be internal, but if…” She hesitated. They were
talking about Blair’s father.
“It’s a little late to try to shield me, don’t you think?” Blair’s
question lacked the usual heat that accompanied any accusation of Cam
• 215 •
RADCLY fFE
being overprotective. “Lucinda briefed me and you know she doesn’t
sugarcoat anything. If someone is going to try to kill my father, you
don’t think it will be someone close to him? Someone we know?”
“I don’t know a thing for sure,” Cam said, wishing with everything
in her Blair didn’t have to be a part of this. Bad enough Blair needed
to worry about her father, but Blair was going to be right in the middle
of any potential attack. She was almost as much at risk as Andrew, and
there was no way Blair could be convinced not to go on the trail with
him. “You’re going to be there too,” Blair said with her uncanny ability
to read Cam’s mind.
“How do you do that?”
“Practice.” Blair spun Cam’s chair around, straddled her lap, and
kissed her with heat. They’d spent the day apart. While Cam had met
with Lucinda and then gone straight into a briefing with Tom and the
other agents on PPD, Blair had spent a rare afternoon with her father.
They hadn’t talked about security concerns. They’d talked about his
reelection campaign, the major platform issues, and the role Blair would
play. For a few hours she’d been able to forget the danger and the fear.
The only other person who’d ever made her feel so safe was Cam.
“I missed you today,” Blair said. “We’re still supposed to be on
our honeymoon.”
Cam smiled and ran her hands up and down Blair’s back. “And I
am obviously falling down on my marital duties already.”
Blair snuggled tighter into Cam’s lap, settling her ass firmly in
Cam’s crotch. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. But if you’re almost done, and
you’ve still got half an hour left in you, you could see to your duties.”
Cam rested her cheek against Blair’s breast. “Give me ten minutes,
and I’m yours.”
Blair ran her fingers through Cam’s hair. “All right. Have you
found anything?”
“Nothing substantial, really. I’m just trolling—a truckload of
munitions went missing from Fort Dix. We’ve got Army CID on that.
A sleeper cell we’ve been watching in San Francisco looks like it may
be waking up—I’ve got a Homeland Security team moving on that.
An inventory irregularity turned up at a Level 4 government-funded
research lab outside of Atlanta. A team from the CDC is on their way
there.”
• 216 •
Oath Of hOnOr
“So you think someone on the inside is part of a larger group, and
the attack is being orchestrated from the outside?”
“We have to be prepared for that.” Cam tilted Blair’s chin up and
met her eyes. “We have to be prepared for anything.”
Blair smoothed the frown lines between Cam’s brows. “We will
be. You’re not alone in this—no matter what, you’re never alone.”
Cam wrapped her arms around Blair’s waist and rose. Blair
automatically locked her legs behind Cam’s back. Cam kissed her. “I
know. Let’s go to bed.”
v
Wes kissed Emory’s cheek as they stood outside the Black Fox. “It