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  “Oh, no, you don’t, Cal, not yet,” she ordered. “It’s my turn to ask the questions. But I want the truth.”

  Her skin flushed pink—from the whiskey or her temper, he couldn’t be sure.

  “But will you trust the answers?”

  “Yes.”

  He sat back and studied her. “Okay, then I’ll answer truthfully.”

  “Not so fast.” She stood, giving herself room to move around.

  “Calvin Francis West. Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?”

  Cal quirked an eyebrow at her. “You’re serious.”

  “Answer the question,” she stated. A lawyer’s voice, cool and collected. And sexy as hell.

  Cal felt a stir in the deepest part of his gut. Bloody hell, it was actually making him hard. “I do.”

  She nodded, satisfied, then placed both her hands on the table and leaned forward. A piece of hair fell over her eye; she blew it out of the way. “Tell this court. For the last several years, you have worked for various governments. What was your main purpose?”

  “Main purpose?”

  “I believe the term is specialty. What was your specialty?”

  “Killing.”

  Julia straightened, caught off guard at the directness of his answer.

  “Are you still employed by said governments?”

  “No,” Cal answered. He folded his hands on the table. It was either that or pull her onto his lap. “I resigned my position with Labyrinth a few days ago.”

  She nodded, then turned away. A moment later, she faced him, her back rigid, her features carefully blank. “Have you killed anyone who didn’t deserve it?”

  “No,” Cal answered. “I specialized in jungle warfare. Ninety percent of my kills were drug or arms related.”

  “And the other ten percent?”

  “Self-defense.”

  “I see,” she acknowledged with a curt nod. “Were you sent in originally, not only to kidnap Argus, but to kill him?”

  “What?” Cal swore. “I don’t kill children, Julia. And Cain and Jon would never have asked me to.”

  “And Jason? Would you have killed him?”

  “If he’d been proven a traitor, I would have neutralized him if necessary.”

  “And Renalto,” she asked almost as an afterthought. “Did you or did you not know that he was a possible traitor to the United States government?”

  “I talked with Renalto and Esteban the morning before we went to the airstrip while you were sleeping. That’s why I was certain Esteban was taking you with him. He’d already told me,” Cal explained. “Renalto told me he was undercover trying to oust the mole in D.C. feeding Delgado information on our operations.”

  “Cain told me it was Ernest Becenti,” she commented, then flashed back over those few days. “That’s why you left Renalto behind at the airstrip. Isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Cal replied. “Once Delgado attacked, I knew Renalto couldn’t be seen leaving with us. Jorgie or Solaris would have seen him. It would have blown his cover. He was too close to finding out about Becenti.”

  “And Esteban? You were expecting him to show up at the compound, too?”

  “They showed up late, but yes I was expecting them,” Cal said derisively. “Would have saved myself some pain if they had showed up on time.”

  “You trusted Esteban. Why?”

  “I trusted his motivation, more than I trusted the man,” Cal corrected. “As much as protecting you might have put him in good with President Mercer, he gave himself a better advantage by using his men to take over Delgado’s compound. Saving Labyrinth’s best operatives, the President’s secretary and delivering the MONGREL would make him and Jon Mercer practically family. That’s one hell of a motivation for him to stay on the straight and narrow.”

  She nodded, then changed the subject, needing to process her emotions over his answers. “Renalto says hello, by the way.”

  Cal lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t object to the change. “I heard he earned some time off. Cain said he’s taking an extended vacation somewhere.”

  Julia smiled, a big grin that made his heart leap. “Hollywood, for starters. He’s going to spend a few months there then head to France for the Cannes Film Festival.”

  “You’re joking.” Cal laughed. A full laugh, deep in the back of his throat, the core of his chest. Goose bumps tripped over her skin. She gasped in surprise.

  “What’s the matter, Julia?”

  “You’re laughing.” Stunned, she could only gawk at Cal. His whole face changed. The boyish features broke through the hard lines, taking her breath away. “I’ve never heard you laugh, Cal.”

  “I never heard you question a witness,” Cal answered, his voice dropped and grew husky. “I think I’m going to want to hear it more often.”

  “You just might,” Julia said, her body reacting to the searing look, the tone of his words. “Jason’s not the only one thinking about practicing law again.”

  “You can practice with me some more,” Cal said easily, but the tone was deceptive, deep.

  The hair stood up on the back of Julia’s neck.

  Suddenly, losing her footing, she glanced around. “Is it getting hot in here?” She blew out a burst of air.

  “Could be,” Cal said. He poured her another shot. “Drink this, it might help.”

  She laughed at the lecherous look in his face. “I think I’ll just remove my jacket.”

  Cal watched as she slipped it off her shoulders. “That works, too,” he observed. “Feel free to shed as much as you want.”

  She winked at him, slow and sexy. “I will.”

  Blood raced from Cal’s head and pooled in his lap. He shifted to get a little more comfortable in his jeans.

  “I have a question, Jules.”

  Julia froze. Cal hadn’t used his nickname for her the whole time they’d been together. “Go ahead.”

  “Why didn’t you come to see me at the hospital?”

  “I really wanted to, Cal,” Julia answered, her heart in her eyes. “But I didn’t think my being there would help with your recovery.”

  “And if you realized I had wanted you there?” he asked softly, but she knew everything hinged on this question.

  “I would have moved in and slept every night beside you.”

  He grunted, but she also sensed the relief that went through him.

  “I think if you had, I would have had a much faster recovery.” Suddenly, he pulled her into his lap. His arousal was hard underneath her thigh. “Don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she managed, but it was difficult with his teeth nibbling on her ear. “Are we good, Cal?”

  “Any more questions?”

  “One,” she replied.

  “The bear?”

  “All right. Two questions.” She smiled. “How did you know I hid the MONGREL in the teddy bear?”

  “I figured out it was a possibility on the plane and I replayed the conversation we had in the apartment through my head,” Cal said. “But I didn’t believe it at first. It took until I realized you trusted me to save Argus, not hurt him. Then I realized you trusted me with the device also. Right?”

  “So why didn’t you tell Cain?” she asked.

  “Simple. I wanted to see it for myself,” Cal said. “I needed to see the hard evidence that you did trust me with doing the right thing.”

  “But Cain confiscated it immediately after we hit the States,” Julia said. “How did—”

  “Regina made Cain bring it to the hospital.” Cal laughed against her neck, making her skin tingle, her pulse leap. “He opened the bear at the foot of my bed.”

  “It wasn’t a conscious thought, you know,” Julia admitted. “In fact, I didn’t realize my motive behind it until you were shot saving me and Argus.”

  “And the second question, Counselor?”

  “Do you love me as much as I love you, Calvin West?”

  “More,” he murmured against her li
ps. “So much more than I ever thought possible.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1457-6

  BLACK OPS BODYGUARD

  Copyright © 2011 by Donna Young

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two