The Omega Team: Hot Target (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Jordan Dane Page B
Authors: Jordan Dane
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her and handed back the ballistics evidence.
“I have nothing to lose by trusting you with this proof. If you can find out who killed…Hector—and publically put a name to the face of his killer—I can live with that.” The woman shrugged. “Besides, I can always have you killed, even in your precious land of the free.”
Athena let out the breath she’d been holding until the woman walked over to Rafael who was still on his knees and held by her men.
“I would still like to take you with me, for different reasons now.” The dark-haired beauty trailed a hand down Rafael’s cheek to his neck and chest. “But I do not think your sister would be patient enough to wait until I had my fill of you.”
Rafael glared at her and fought the men holding him. His defiance only made the woman laugh.
“Such passion.” She patted his cheek. “Yes, I would enjoy you far too much, my brave one.”
She smiled and turned her back on him before she vanished into the shadows.
“Release them,” the woman ordered. “ Vámonos! ”
“Please,” Rafael stood and called out to her as she climbed into an SUV. “Honor me with your name. Who are you?”
“My name is Camila Borrego.” She softened her voice. “Hector was my father.”
In a fleeting glimpse of rare frailty, Camila let them see the grieving daughter who had lost her father. Even a dangerous man like Hector Borrego had a family who had loved him. Camila didn’t stay. She shut the door to the SUV and called out to her men in Spanish. They gunned their engines and pulled out in a cloud of grit, leaving Athena and Rafael under the bluish haze of the moon.
Rafael turned his back on her and kicked at the dirt at his feet. Athena didn’t need light to sense his anger and frustration. It radiated off him like heat.
“Who would’ve figured it? Borrego had the love of a daughter.” The minute she said it, Athena wished she hadn’t.
Rafe stopped pacing and turned toward her with his face dusted in moonbeams.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t dream of the woman Ariana would’ve become, how she would’ve looked like her beautiful mother and been blessed with her heart.” Rafe’s eyes watered in a glistening hue of blue from the moon. “Don’t talk to me of Hector Borrego and his good fortune for having a daughter who loved him. I don’t want to hear it.”
Rafe climbed into the car and slammed the door.
Lo siento, mi hermano. Perdóname.
A tear drained down Athena’s face as she stood in the dark, wishing she had the words to beg his forgiveness. But there were no words to comfort him. Those words did not exist.
She had no idea how much this case would rip at her brother’s heart. He’d teased about having a death wish, but now she wasn’t certain it had been a joke, after he’d so easily offered his life for hers.
Not even a machete to the throat had stopped him.
Athena had to help Rafael heal, and make him want to live, or she’d be forced to watch him crash and burn in front of her eyes. He’d reached out to her for a reason and she was only now beginning to understand the depth of his pain—and how powerless she’d be to stop his self-destruction.
***
Hotel Inglaterra
After midnight
It had been far easier to sneak out of the hotel than to find a way back to their rooms unnoticed. Rafe had insisted on returning the car he’d stolen, in case the owner hadn’t noticed it missing. That took time. To gain access to their private hotel suite after midnight, Rafael had pilfered a maintenance uniform from housekeeping and accompanied Athena as if she’d come looking for help in the lobby and found it.
“If anyone from the hotel asks, I’ll tell them Rafferty has a backed up toilet,” Athena told her brother. “No one would come to see that.”
“I wish you hadn’t said that aloud,” Rafe said.
When they returned to the suite, Jacquie was first at the door to greet them. Rafferty and Landry were putting a dent in the
“I have nothing to lose by trusting you with this proof. If you can find out who killed…Hector—and publically put a name to the face of his killer—I can live with that.” The woman shrugged. “Besides, I can always have you killed, even in your precious land of the free.”
Athena let out the breath she’d been holding until the woman walked over to Rafael who was still on his knees and held by her men.
“I would still like to take you with me, for different reasons now.” The dark-haired beauty trailed a hand down Rafael’s cheek to his neck and chest. “But I do not think your sister would be patient enough to wait until I had my fill of you.”
Rafael glared at her and fought the men holding him. His defiance only made the woman laugh.
“Such passion.” She patted his cheek. “Yes, I would enjoy you far too much, my brave one.”
She smiled and turned her back on him before she vanished into the shadows.
“Release them,” the woman ordered. “ Vámonos! ”
“Please,” Rafael stood and called out to her as she climbed into an SUV. “Honor me with your name. Who are you?”
“My name is Camila Borrego.” She softened her voice. “Hector was my father.”
In a fleeting glimpse of rare frailty, Camila let them see the grieving daughter who had lost her father. Even a dangerous man like Hector Borrego had a family who had loved him. Camila didn’t stay. She shut the door to the SUV and called out to her men in Spanish. They gunned their engines and pulled out in a cloud of grit, leaving Athena and Rafael under the bluish haze of the moon.
Rafael turned his back on her and kicked at the dirt at his feet. Athena didn’t need light to sense his anger and frustration. It radiated off him like heat.
“Who would’ve figured it? Borrego had the love of a daughter.” The minute she said it, Athena wished she hadn’t.
Rafe stopped pacing and turned toward her with his face dusted in moonbeams.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t dream of the woman Ariana would’ve become, how she would’ve looked like her beautiful mother and been blessed with her heart.” Rafe’s eyes watered in a glistening hue of blue from the moon. “Don’t talk to me of Hector Borrego and his good fortune for having a daughter who loved him. I don’t want to hear it.”
Rafe climbed into the car and slammed the door.
Lo siento, mi hermano. Perdóname.
A tear drained down Athena’s face as she stood in the dark, wishing she had the words to beg his forgiveness. But there were no words to comfort him. Those words did not exist.
She had no idea how much this case would rip at her brother’s heart. He’d teased about having a death wish, but now she wasn’t certain it had been a joke, after he’d so easily offered his life for hers.
Not even a machete to the throat had stopped him.
Athena had to help Rafael heal, and make him want to live, or she’d be forced to watch him crash and burn in front of her eyes. He’d reached out to her for a reason and she was only now beginning to understand the depth of his pain—and how powerless she’d be to stop his self-destruction.
***
Hotel Inglaterra
After midnight
It had been far easier to sneak out of the hotel than to find a way back to their rooms unnoticed. Rafe had insisted on returning the car he’d stolen, in case the owner hadn’t noticed it missing. That took time. To gain access to their private hotel suite after midnight, Rafael had pilfered a maintenance uniform from housekeeping and accompanied Athena as if she’d come looking for help in the lobby and found it.
“If anyone from the hotel asks, I’ll tell them Rafferty has a backed up toilet,” Athena told her brother. “No one would come to see that.”
“I wish you hadn’t said that aloud,” Rafe said.
When they returned to the suite, Jacquie was first at the door to greet them. Rafferty and Landry were putting a dent in the
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