Marcus smiled and glanced at Lara. “Oh, she would have attracted my attention. But I probably would have guessed that she was a fed.”
“You never would have known,” Lara said defensively. “I’m damn good at my job.”
Marcus’s smile grew broader. “And I’m highly connected.” He looked at Tate. “Did you mark her as a fed?”
“Yeah. But only because I checked her out for personal information. I didn’t really suspect she was FBI. I just knew she wasn’t our average type of guest at the resort.”
“I’ve checked out everyone who even speaks to me for the last two years. I had no doubt the FBI were looking, but we weren’t ready to form a team. We needed the evidence first,” Marcus explained.
“Why did you let the team arrest you?” Lara asked curiously.
“All of the terrorists weren’t there. We had to round up the rest of the group. They would have bolted immediately if they knew I was involved with the CIA. I had to wait until the remaining group was in custody, and we needed to set a trap. If I would have exposed myself then, it would have made it more difficult for me to assist in luring the rest of the group to an arrest area,” Marcus informed her. “I was damn glad you had backup, Agent Bailey. I went to the storage room to try to get an emergency text to the director while the terrorists were busy checking the merchandise, but they weren’t going to make it in time. I was already trying to think of an alternate plan.”
“You didn’t tell them I was your brother,” Tate remarked. “I don’t understand Arabic nearly as well as you do, but it sounded like you were telling them that we were police.”
Marcus nodded. “There was no way I wanted them to know we were related. They’re paranoid and crazy. It was better to let them think we’d been discovered by the local authorities and needed to move quicker. I was going to try to get them to provide the money so that they could start transporting the goods while I held you two to give them time to escape. It would have bought us some time, but I’m not certain they would have agreed, and I didn’t know how quickly law enforcement would be sent. Believe me…I was more than happy to be arrested along with everybody else by the FBI. I was just glad they were in custody, and Agent Bailey had the forethought to bring in backup. I was worried about you bleeding to death on me.”
“Please call me Lara. And I didn’t trust you like Tate did.”
“I’m glad.” Marcus shot Lara a grateful look.
“Nothing has leaked to the media yet,” Tate observed.
Marcus shook his head. “With any luck, it won’t. We kept a pretty tight lid on all of this. The only civilians who know are Gabe and my family, and Gabe already knows the real truth now. He says he won’t tell anyone, and I believe him. The hospital had no idea what happened to you, Tate. They reported the stabbing, but the report went to the police, and they aren’t talking. I’d really prefer this not turn into gossip, and as few people as possible know that I work with the CIA.”
“That makes sense if you ever want to function as an operative again,” Lara agreed.
“I can’t believe my brother is a damn spy,” Tate grumbled. “Jesus, you’re likely to get yourself killed by playing James Bond.”
Marcus gave Tate a reproving stare. “Like you can talk? What I do is a hell of a lot safer than any of your past missions.” Marcus turned to Lara. “And what was your objective here at the resort?”
“To get close to you and seduce you into talking. All we knew was that you were purchasing and flying large amounts of explosives. It was an investigative assignment.”
“Nice,” Marcus said as smooth as silk. His eyes moved over her nonchalantly. “Exactly how much seduction would that have involved?” he questioned.
“None,” Tate growled. “She’s off-limits.”
Marcus grinned. “Not anymore. We’re both on the same side.”
“I really regretted punching you in the face. Don’t make me do it again,” Tate warned in a menacing voice.
“Feeling a little possessive, little brother?” Marcus sounded amused.
“Yes,” Tate affirmed.
“And how does that work out for you, Lara?” Marcus asked.
It’s hot. So damn hot that I want to tackle Tate and screw him until I can’t breathe.
“I can handle him,” Lara told Marcus with a smile.
“Somehow, I’m pretty certain you can,” Marcus said as he rose. “I have to take care of some details, but we’ll talk more later. I just wanted you both to know that I’m sorry. You have no idea how hard it was not to reveal who I was. But I think it probably would have gotten us all dead. I was terrified that Tate was going to bleed to death. I came pretty close to blowing my cover anyway.”
Lara was pretty certain Marcus was right. He’d handled things well, considering he was concerned for his younger brother. Even if she hadn’t seen through Marcus’s disguise before, she could see his concern and regret now.
She and Tate rose to see Marcus out. On instinct, she grasped Marcus’s arm. He turned to her questioningly.
“Tate always believed in you. Even when I presented the damning evidence, he laughed in my face. He never believed you were guilty,” she told Marcus urgently, wanting to make sure neither one of the brothers ended up resentful.
“I know.” Marcus patted her hand. “I’m sorry, little brother,” he told Tate sincerely.
Lara moved her hand from Marcus’s arm and she watched as two sets of gray Colter eyes clashed in understanding. Marcus reached out and grabbed Tate up in a bear hug. Tate wrapped his clenched fists around Marcus’s body; the two of them pounded each other on the back. Both men were about the same size, and Lara wondered whether they’d hurt each other in their manly show of affection.
“I’m so fucking glad you’re safe,” Tate told him as the two men broke apart, both of them still slapping each other on the back.
“I’m glad both of you are okay.” Marcus looked back and forth at Tate and Lara.
Lara moved forward and pulled Marcus into a hug. “Thank you.”
Those two words covered so many things:
Thank you for being innocent so Tate won’t hurt anymore.
Thank you for being a rich guy and still caring enough to help stop terrorists.
Thank you for caring about a lowly FBI agent who was just doing her job.