Asal came out of the bathroom, displaying freshly scrubbed hands. She was adorable in her clean clothes, and she'd tied her hair into a ponytail.

Nicola gave another foreign-tongued spiel and then its English translation. "Go to the kitchen. Find a snack." She looked at Sugar. "You have food in there, right?"

"I don't know."

Asal was in and out with two bags of dried fruit and nuts.

"Guess so."

She skipped to the couches, grabbed a remote, and found cartoons on the flat screen. "Kid adapts fast."

Nodding, Nicola got back to it. "Rewind back to where you kicked his tight ass out of the room, and go. God, I would have sold my guns off to see that."

"He's a manipulative bastard."

"Not a news flash."

"Well, he wasn't one hundred percent upfront on some things."

Nicola shrugged. "Nature of everyone's favorite prick."

"You're not helping."

"You're not spilling, but tell me how I can help."

Sugar wanted to scream. "I meant you're making this complicated. There's nothing to help. It's done. It was fun. And I don't want to do it again."

"Then why are your eyes bloodshot?"

Maybe she should've checked the bathroom for Visine. It had everything else she could want. If Nicola Garrison knew she'd had a cry-fest in the Jacuzzi, Sugar would never live it down-or forgive herself for being unable to control her emotions.

Nicola softened. "Look, Sugar. I don't have many girlfriends. Just one at the CIA. Hazard of the job, I guess. We don't work with a lot of women. I could use a second friend. Hell, you might need a first."

"I don't have friends. They're baggage." Though I do have a sister and never should have e-mailed her about Jared. She had wanted to call her sister after Jared left, but she'd opted for a bath and avoided an explanation of the all-alpha idiosyncrasies that made up the Master of the Universe.

Ignoring the jab, Nicola continued, "You don't have... typical relationships. But I think Boss Man's doing a number on you, in a good way. It might help you figure it out if you talked about it, like, chick to chick."

Sugar crossed her arms, her defenses going into high gear. Battle guards up. Shields at the ready.

Nicola tried again. "Impressive, huh? Somehow, I had no doubt, but don't tell Cash I said that."

Sugar tried to imagine gossiping about Jared, a man who thought he was God. After all, on the floor, she'd moaned both, "God" and "Jared." Guess it'd be easy enough to get confused.

Unfolding her arms, Sugar mumbled, "I'll try the friend thing on a trial run."

"Trial run." Nicola's laughter bubbled. "There's a club downstairs. I think you're in need of a couple drinks. Asal has to spend the night with the UN attache tonight, so it's game on for us."

Sugar studied the woman who was volunteering to be her friend. It wasn't that she couldn't make friends. She had plenty of GUNS gals to kick back with, but none she trusted. Still, she walked to the counter, took the folded paper, and handed it to Nicola.

Nicola glanced at the paper, then her. "This is..."

"An e-mail between me and my sister. She's watching GUNS for me while I'm gone."

The paper crinkled as Nicola unfolded it. In the background, Asal was on her feet, singing the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song in English. Smart kid.

Nicola read the e-mail and then folded it, shaking her head. "Nosy. They act like they're not. But those men couldn't keep their noses out of private crap if it killed them." She bit her lip in thought. "But if it were my guess, Parker hacked into your e-mail to pull details on the GSI project, saw this, and decided Boss Man needed a kick in his impressive ass."

Sugar flinched at the invasion of her privacy. "I don't even know Parker, and he's up in my business."

"Parker's the most well behaved of the bunch. That's not saying much, but he's discreet. He's the tech guy. Can hack into any system, phone, computer, whatever, if you gave him the right tools. But Jared had this on him? That says a lot."

"Yeah, that he's a dick. Which I already knew. So no new revelations. The sex was hot, and hopefully, we got it out of our system."

"You're lying."

"Christ, everyone keeps calling me a liar."

"Don't lie, and maybe that'll stop."

Sugar walked over to a barstool and leaned on it. The truth blows. Her feelings were written in that e-mail, and she'd teared up after Jared had left and she had kicked over a chair.

She cleared her throat. "Jared needs to be a one-time rodeo. He and I... we think the same. Or at least we did. Then something happened up here." She tapped her temple. "And I wanted more."

"Actually, it may've happened here." Nicola tapped her chest. "What if he wants more, too?"

"Impossible." That wasn't the Jared she knew.

"Then why'd he run across the globe with that e-mail?" Nicola asked.

"No idea."

"You should have seen him when he found out you were captive number two."

Sugar shook her head. "He was-"

"There was a clear transition from Jane Doe to Lilly Chase. He threw a phone. Threatened to call the White House. May've stockpiled nuclear weapons. The man was... a beast. Possessive, protective. Hell, he went all primal. For you."

For me? No way. She had a strong urge to sit down.

Both their phones buzzed at the same time. Sugar almost didn't recognize the ring since she'd had her phone for only a few hours.

Nicola pulled hers from next to her hip piece. "Staff meeting in Jared's suite. One hour." Her smile went from earring to earring. "I can't wait."

An anxious punch made Sugar consider calling in sick. "This is going to be awful."

Asal walked over with empty bags.

Nicola tossed her hand. "Nah. Entertaining maybe, but not awful. Besides, no one's thinking about you two right now. They're on Titan baby watch. Now that's funny. Let's grab food with Asal before we win an award for worst custodians of the year."

That's right. Baby Winters. Boy or girl? And what would a Titan guy name his kid?

Spike. Killer. Blade. Guessing the name would've been fun, but baby hoopla wasn't her thing. Besides, the nervous need to throw up surpassed her curiosity. She had sixty minutes until she faced off with Jared again.

CHAPTER NINE.

Sugar and Nicola dropped Asal with her UN babysitter and made the walk of doom to Jared's suite. Nicola raced to the door, tugging her along while Sugar bit her freshly glossed lip. Avoiding Jared was high on her agenda, but since that mission was impossible, she at least wanted to look like she could care less. A cherry shine on her kisser and another swipe of mascara did that.

Still, the carpet was quicksand, and her every step was weighted, bringing her closer to what should be no big deal. The churning in her gut had nothing to do with dinner. She entered at her own risk, knowing that acting casual would be unbearable after their roll on the floor.

The door was propped open, and the whole crew was there, minus Winters and Jared.

Brock, Rocco, Roman, and Cash sprawled over a couch. Nicola beelined to Cash, who grabbed her by a belt loop and toppled her onto his lap. Brock said something about getting a room. Rocco and Roman groaned, and Nic whispered into Cash's ear.

Jared walked in from the kitchen, beer in hand. "Princess," he said, nodding to Nicola. "Nice of you to join us."

Sugar smirked. Whatever, we weren't late.

Nicola's smile was too big and too telling. "Boss Man."

He grunted, eyeing Nicola's toothy grin, then stiffly turned to her. "Sugar."

"Jared." She sounded as rigid as he looked. Alrighty. That wasn't uncomfortable or anything. Her heart beat a drum line in her ears. Loud enough everyone should've heard. But they didn't. The awkward silence lingered, until Rocco burped. Thank the Lord.

She sat next to Brock, who, as far as she could tell, hadn't done the Jared-Sugar double take.

Jared cleared his throat and started the briefing, which was standard stuff-a recap of why Sugar and Kip Pearson were sent to check up on the outpost police. He gave them her update on GSI's intermixing of Afghani police and Taliban forces.

Turning from the group, Jared asked, "What else you got for us, Parker?"

Parker? Her cheeks felt warm. Parker had gone through her personal items. He knew more than he should. Even if she weren't hyper-private, which she was, he'd crossed a big hairy line.

A voice from her blind spot startled her. She turned to a flat screen. A man who looked like he should've been lumped on the couch beside the other Ramboes chewed on the end of a pen. Big muscles. Chiseled jawline. Not what she thought of when she thought hacker.

He pulled the pen from his mouth. "Satellite images showed GSI arrived about six hours after Sugar was pulled out. They loaded up some shit and firebombed the place. Looks like they had a daisy-cutter do a flyby. Nothing left but rocks and smoke."

Jared walked toward the flat screen, taking a long swig of beer. "Makes sense. Destroy the evidence. Nothing to report back."

Parker cocked a half-grin. "Except what I can dig up."

"Then dig, my man. I want enough GSI-coated evidence to start a goddamn Congressional hearing." He finished his beer, then rubbed the bottle in his palms.

Sugar could see the wheels turning behind his hardened face. The same scruff from earlier covered his cheeks. He wore the same uniform-a tight black shirt and tactical pants. It poured over his chest, melted to his package, and cupped his buttocks. She had a soft spot for looks that could, would, and had killed.

"Sugar," Jared snapped.

No way does he know what I'm thinking. No freakin' way. Right? She tried to stay stonefaced. "Yeah?"

The intensity of his black eyes almost knocked her out of her seat. They raked over her, making his scrutiny obvious to everyone in the room, and he certainly wasn't assessing her in any professional capacity. Score one for the cherry-red lip gloss.

"GSI's gonna want you dead." The certainty in his voice would've shaken her if she hadn't already known she was marked for six feet under.

"I know." She attempted an unconcerned shrug. "If they're all on the take, then I'm collateral damage."

"Not yet, you ain't, baby cakes."

She narrowed her eyes, again, not thrilled with him using the nickname in front of his team. "No shit, J-dawg. I don't intend to be." The Titan team watched them like a tennis match going back and forth. How about this for a point? "Tell us your plan to take down GSI, and I'll tell you mine to kill Kip."

His eyes crinkled with what she suspected was amusement. "Not very ATF of you."

"Maybe Parker didn't read enough of my e-mails. Right before I left, ATF unceremoniously booted my ass to the curb."

Onscreen, Parker threw his hands up. "Shit, I didn't read everything. I was on a search-term mission. Not to find out about the details of Sugar's life."

But you certainly found enough, didn't you, Parker?

Jared's jaw ticked. "You're telling me they fired you? Because you helped Titan?"

"More or less."

"Trust me, you'll have your job back." He crossed his thick arms over his black-cotton-clad chest. The man couldn't have looked any more serious, and it made her insides tingle. "Hell, Sugar, might as well count on a raise. If not, ATF's got another thing coming to them."

She rolled her eyes. "Not looking for a fix-it. Thanks, anyway."

"What the fuck are you going to do? Send out resumes?" If he'd seemed pissed before, he'd ratcheted up to irate. "Skill set-can fieldstrip a rifle, build an AR, and has a decent throat punch."

"I don't know, J-dawg. My throat punches are more than decent. I'd call them effective, given what I was after." And it had worked. She lashed out at him, he pinned her, and then they jumped on each other in her hotel room. Absolutely effective.

"Everyone out," he snarled, and she knew to sit still.

The screen went black. The knowing looks on the guys and the nosy look on Nicola meant this was just him and her. Their come-to-Jesus discussion was coming way earlier than she'd expected. Fine. Bring it on, big boy.

Nicola flashed a wink before she shut the door.

Alone with Jared Westin. Again. She shivered, and the temp had zilch to do with it. Her only excuse for that was fine-tuned feminine awareness. She could've done a girly-parts roll call just then, because they'd all shown up for duty, jumping to attention.

"Sugar."

This again? "Jared." She tried for a casual deep breath, but her lungs laughed at the idea. Not happening. She was dive-bombing into this convo oxygen deprived.

Jared ran a hand over his cheek, making a rough noise. He'd trimmed back his scruff since she'd touched him last, leaving just enough prickle. Her fingertips itched to test its abrasion.

"You can't talk about murdering someone," he said.