Mission: Marriage: Bulletproof Marriage

“Three?” Natalie piped up. “There are only two—myself and Sean.”

“And me,” Corbett said quietly. “I make three.”

“Damn it. There’s something we’re missing. Some piece to a cryptic jigsaw puzzle.”

“The code,” Natalie breathed. “I’ve got to decipher this code.”

Sean knew Natalie had always loved jigsaw puzzles. Growing up, her father had made sure she had a steady supply of them. Sean had continued the tradition. He’d always said her aptitude with puzzles was one of the reasons she was so good at cracking codes.

“It’s time to tell us everything, Corbett.” Natalie’s quiet voice was edged with steel. “Obviously, something happened in the past to make this guy hate you.”

Corbett sighed. Sean could picture him running his hand through his perfectly cut hair. “My operations have angered hundreds, maybe thousands of people over the years. Such is the high price of freedom.”

“If he so much as harms a hair on my father’s head …”

“Stay calm, Natalie. For now, we can’t assume the worst.”

“How can I not?” Natalie said, her even tone somehow more horrible than a scream. “My father’s missing. Until he’s found, I have no choice but to assume the worst.”

Closing the phone, she placed it back on the dresser. When her gaze met Sean’s he saw her eyes had gone blank and guarded. “I don’t believe this.”

“Unfortunately, I do. The Hungarian will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

Expression thoughtful, Natalie prowled around the room like an agitated lioness. “Someone, somewhere has to know the Hungarian’s identity. Someone has to have seen his face.”

Sean’s heart stopped. He cleared his throat, forcing himself to sound nonchalant. “I have seen his face, and I actually know his first name. But I’ve never been able to learn his surname.”

“You?” She stared. “You’ve never mentioned this before. When did you see him? Does Corbett know?”

He struggled to sound indifferent. “I’ve never told him.”

“Why not?”

Taking a deep breath, he watched her cross her arms. Carefully—he knew he had to tread carefully.

“Because there’s a part of my past I didn’t want him to know.”

“Or me?” She straightened her shoulders.

“Or you,” he agreed, feeling as if he’d hammered another nail in his own coffin. “I’m sorry, Nat. But there’s something else I have to tell you.”

Chapter 9

“I’ve had enough of your secrets.” She hadn’t meant to raise her voice, yet here she was, shouting like a fishwife. Still, yelling felt damn good. Maybe it was about time she screamed at him. He’d certainly earned it.

Despite this, she took a deep breath and deliberately lowered her voice. “You keep pulling them out of your hat like rabbits, one right after the other, until I wonder if you even know where they begin and end.”

God, she hadn’t thought it would still hurt, hadn’t even thought that she could hurt this much. Yet, watching the wary expression on his face, she wondered if she’d ever even known the real Sean.

“I told you some of the truth yesterday. And you didn’t want to hear the rest so I held back to protect you.”

“I’m not a child, Sean.” Her voice rose again. “I’m your wife. Or was your wife. There weren’t supposed to be secrets between us. I can only take so much.”

She shook her head, the anger leaching out of her as rapidly as it had come, replaced by a deep, deep sadness. “Is there anything you’ve ever told me that wasn’t false?”

This time when he looked at her, she saw her own sorrow reflected in his eyes. “As I matter of fact, there is. When I said I love you and that everything I did was for you, I told the truth.”

Though she wanted to run and put some distance between them, she didn’t move, but knew he’d seen the disbelief in her face. “And now?”

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

Clenching her teeth, she nodded. “What could be worse than learning your own husband pretended to be dead for two years?”

Hurt flashed across his face, but he let her barb go.

“I tried to tell you this before,” he reminded her. “But you said you’d had enough truth for one day.”

“I’m ready now. I wasn’t then.”

“There is another reason the Hungarian wants me dead,” Sean said slowly. “You know the story of how Corbett found me?”

“I swear if you tell me that was a lie, I’ll—”

“It was partial truth. I had just graduated from university, and I fell in with a bad crowd. I spent a lot of time partying and living in the streets. When I did work, I worked as a dishwasher or a busboy. Corbett used to come into this restaurant all the time. He’d talk to me, ask me questions and listen to me. He made me see I could do better. Finally, he offered me a job.”

She inhaled. “Yes, I know. That’s the same thing you and Corbett always told me. What part’s untrue?”

“Corbett did find me, but someone else found me first.”

Not comprehending, Natalie waited. “Who?”

“The Hungarian.”

Despite herself, she took a step back. This was Sean. Sean. Who apparently had always been a master at hiding the truth. Could he have sunk any lower?

“You’re a double agent? You’re the mole inside the Lazlo Group. Oh my God.” She couldn’t catch her breath. “You not only lied to me, but you lied to Corbett, too? You’ve double-crossed everyone.”

After a moment of stunned silence, Sean laughed. This shocked her even further, though it was a hollow sound. “Come on, Nat. Be realistic. You know better.”

“Do I?” She resisted the urge to rub her stinging eyes. “Apparently I don’t know you at all.”

The guarded expression of mirth that he’d affected vanished. Hurt darkened his eyes. “I know I hurt you, but I did what I thought was best. For you. So you could live. Now, I might have done things differently, but—”

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” she cut him off. “Answer the question, Sean. Are you the mole?”

“Of course not. I can’t believe you would think such a thing.”

“Can’t you?” Again her anger, always close to the surface, bubbled up. “Nothing you’ve told me is true. Why should this be any different?”

He sighed. “I worked for the Hungarian briefly, a long time ago, before I knew any better.”

She felt as though she’d been zapped by a Taser. “You … worked for him? Then you know who he is.”

“Not really. I told you—I’ve seen his face. But his real name—no one knows that. We all called him Big V. That was before he became known as the Hungarian.”

She had to ask. “What did you do for him? What kind of work?” Praying he wouldn’t tell her he’d been the assassin for an organization that bordered on terrorism.

“I did very little work.” Brows lowered, he looked annoyed. “Like I keep trying to tell you, I didn’t work for him that long. He’s the one who arranged the meeting with Corbett. He was aware Corbett liked that restaurant, so he got me a job there and made sure I got Corbett’s section. I guess he must have known Corbett would be a sucker for someone like me—a young man with a good education but no direction.”

She gaped at him. “You’re telling me the Hungarian—”

“Sent me in to take down Corbett. Yes. But I couldn’t. Once I got to know him and saw what he was like …”

His voice broke. “So I pretended to be waiting for the right opportunity, which of course never came. Eventually, Big V began to question me, and I broke off all contact.”

Now the vendetta made more sense.

“You double-crossed the Hungarian? One of the most powerful underworld bosses in the world?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I barely knew him. I worked for him while I was at university. After I graduated, Corbett took me in, taught me the ropes. Helped me believe in myself. I couldn’t do what I’d been sent to do.”

“Why’d he want to kill Corbett?”

“No clue.” Shaking his head, his expression was grim. “But he’s hated him for years. Corbett can tell you the exact number of attempts that have been made to kill him over the years.”

“And the e-mails? Are they from him, too?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve tried to trace them, but the trail leads right back to the Lazlo Group’s server.”

She took a deep breath. “All right, so you never told me. I’ll try to deal with that. But why didn’t you tell Corbett the truth? He was your mentor.”

“Tell him? How could I?” Expression anguished, he took a step toward her, then stopped. “I was afraid. Afraid he’d stop trusting me. Afraid he’d send me back into the streets where I’d be at the complete mercy of the man I betrayed.” He sighed. “Then I met you and fell in love. I couldn’t go back. I didn’t want to go back.”

“Didn’t you realize if the Hungarian could hate Corbett for years, he could surely want to make you pay, no matter how long it took?”

“At first I didn’t. I was young and green. I didn’t fully understand how much power Big V had at his disposal. He gave me no warning, nothing. He simply sent his people in and obliterated my entire family. I knew you were next.”

“So you ‘died.’” Even remembering hurt.

“I had to.” The earnestness in his voice made her throat ache. “Don’t you understand? You were next. He means to torture and kill everyone I ever cared about.”

As if he was the only one who’d suffered.

“I lost the baby.” She hadn’t meant to say that. Once the words were out, she desperately wanted to call them back. Oddly enough, she felt as though she’d been the one hiding secrets from him.

He froze. “What baby?”

Swallowing, she braced herself to say the words. Bringing it up again only served to awaken old grief, old pain.

“I was pregnant, Sean. With our child.”

“You didn’t tell me?”

“I was going to tell you that night, the night you ‘died.’” Her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue. “I had everything planned. I thought we could announce it to your entire family together.”

The anguish in his face mirrored that in her heart.

“Sweet Jesus … I didn’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” she lied. She’d convinced herself she was all right for so long, she didn’t dare fall apart now.

Now he did come to her, pulling her into his arms. “Did you tell anyone?”

“Only my father, and I swore him to secrecy.” She held herself stiffly, unwilling to take comfort from Sean now, when it was far too late.

“I didn’t know,” he murmured again, his voice breaking. “God, Nat. I’m terribly, terribly sorry.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Pushing him away before she lost control and started weeping, Natalie tried for stoic and settled on disgust. “I’ve already grieved for him, Sean. Two years ago.”

He winced. “Our son?” His voice was hoarse. “You’re telling me we would have had a son?”

Managing a nod, she said nothing. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Not yet.

He reached for her again. “What you’ve been through …”

Evading him, she took a step back and shook her head. “I survived. Just like you.” Taking a deep breath, irrationally proud that her voice sounded steady, she met his gaze. “About the Hungarian, Sean. Big V. You need to tell Corbett.”

“I know.” He began to pace, his agitated movements clearly showing his tension. Finally, he ended up facing her, though the length of the room separated them. “I can’t tell Corbett. Not now.”

“But—”

His expression totally shut down, making him appear cold and remote. A stranger.

“Nat, I’ve lost everything and everyone I’ve ever cared about. My entire family, my friends, you. Can’t you see that Corbett’s all I have left? I don’t want to lose him, too.”

“He loves you like a son, Sean. You won’t lose him.”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong. If he were to find out that I once conspired against him, he’d never forgive—or forget. I know him better than you do.”

“I’ve known Corbett since I was a little girl,” she protested. “He and my father grew up together. You know that.”

“Maybe he considers you family. But me …” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “He has a strong sense of honor. You’ve never seen him when he feels someone has betrayed him. I have.”

“Do you really think he’d view this as a betrayal? You did nothing.”

“No, but I intended to. With him, intent is all that matters.” Hands clenched into fists, he took a step toward her and stopped. The agony in his eyes tore at her heart. “Give me your word, Natalie. Give me your word you won’t tell him.”

She nearly choked. He knew when she promised something, she meant it. It took every ounce of self-restraint she possessed not to point out he wasn’t in a position to ask favors of her. Instead, she told him the truth, as she always had in the past. “I don’t plan on telling him. That’s something you’ve got to deal with on your own. I won’t make it easy for you.”

Relief flashed across his handsome face. “Good. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Sean.” She dug out her phone, turning it over in her hand. “You’re the one who has to live with yourself, not me.”

Again a shadow filled his eyes and she knew he was remembering. Holding her breath, waiting for something—something intangible, something she couldn’t put a name to if she tried, she ached. Looking at him, she couldn’t help but remember, too.

How much she’d loved this man. How much he’d loved her—or so she’d once believed. His eyes were dark with pain. Tired eyes. Beloved eyes. Still.

Ruthlessly, she pushed the thought away and opened her cell phone.

“Now who are you calling?”

“Auggie again.” She frowned. “He never called back. I’m a bit worried. I wonder if he’s heard about my father.”

This time Auggie answered on the fourth ring. “Nat! How good to hear from you. I’m sorry I never returned your call. Things have been a bit crazy. The bad guys are planning something big and I’ve been trying to get information on it.”

“I know what it is.” She took a deep breath. “Aug, they’ve got my father.”

He didn’t understand. “What? Who’s got your father?”

“We think it’s the Hungarian.”

“The Hungarian?” Auggie’s surprise came clear over the phone. “That doesn’t make sense. Why on earth would the Hungarian want your father?”

“We think he wants to use Dad as bait.”

“Bait for what?” Auggie sounded grim. As though he meant to wade into the mess, find the Hungarian, and pull him out by the scruff of his fat neck.

Natalie sighed. “That stupid code. The one I copied. And Sean. They want Sean.”

“Why? Sean’s no threat to them, is he? And you never deciphered their code, so it’s worthless.” He paused. “Or did you?”

“No, I haven’t. Not yet.”

“Then why would they want it? Especially if it’s their own code?”

“Maybe it’s not their code.”

“What?” Auggie asked.

She looked at Sean, remembering their conversation. “If these two pieces of code do belong to someone else, maybe the Hungarian wants to decipher them before we do.”

“Let me see if I can find out anything. I’ll call you back.” Auggie hung up.

Sean looked at her, considering. “Where did you get your code?”

“One of our agents brought it in. I don’t know where she got it.”

“Can you ask her? This could be important.”

“She’s dead. She got assigned to work on my team, which, as you know, was a death sentence.”

Lightly he touched her shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Try and think. Maybe she might have talked about something minor, something that could give us a hint how she came by that coded message.”

Natalie tried to remember if Sonia had mentioned where the code had come from. “Nothing comes to mind.”

“Maybe it’ll come to you.” When he took his hand from her skin, she felt bereft. “In the meantime, I need to call Corbett and see if he can tell me how he came by his coded message.”

While Sean talked to Corbett, Natalie wandered the small room, trying to think. So far she hadn’t been successful in deciphering an entire word or phrase—she’d been too busy trying to establish an alphabet.

Maybe she’d been going about it the wrong way. Perhaps she needed to treat the coded message as if it were a treasure map.

Wearing circles in the carpet, she paced while she pondered.

“Nat?” Gradually, she became aware of Sean calling her name. She blinked and turned to face him, keeping her expression neutral.

“Corbett’s going to research how his man intercepted the code. Unfortunately, that particular agent is also dead, but should have left detailed records. He’ll get back to us as soon as he knows.”

“Good. In the meantime, I’ve got to break the code.” She grabbed the laptop, opening it and powering it up.

Dimly conscious of Sean gathering his things and leaving to get some breakfast, she brought up the code file. Soon, she was lost in the lines of text, trying to decipher a pattern.

Sean brought her food—coffee and muffins in the morning then later fish and chips. Waving her thanks, she ate absentmindedly, tasting little, unable to shake the feeling that she was on the edge of a major breakthrough.

She worked on the laptop while Sean slept, the tall lamp over the uncomfortable hotel chair her only light. Though urgency drove her, breaking code had always excited her. She suspected this was the reason she was considered one of the best in the world. True, the Lazlo Group had several who were experts, but she’d been at the top of the SIS heap.

Eventually, the letters swam and she blinked. Time to give her eyes a rest. Ten minutes—no more. Then she’d be back at it, even if she had to work straight through the night.

She had to break this code. Their lives—and her father’s life—could very well depend on it. Close—she was getting close. She could taste it.

After sunset, she was still hunched over the computer when Sean’s cell phone rang. He sat bolt upright, reaching for the phone at the same time as she did. Their hands collided and she drew back first, letting him grab his own phone.

“It’s Corbett.” Instead of answering privately, he punched the speaker button.

“I’ve learned where the code came from.”

“Where?”

“You remember Kitya, the Hungarian’s mistress? Before she died, she stole the Opar diamond from him.”

Natalie gasped. “The Opar diamond is just a legend.”

“No, it’s not.” Pacing now, Sean circled the room. “I’d heard the Hungarian had it, but I wasn’t aware the gem had been stolen.”

“The Hungarian kept that under wraps. He’s been searching for two years. Especially since the stone hasn’t been recovered. The coded messages are from Kitya to her lover.” Corbett cleared his throat. “A man the Hungarian executed shortly after Kitya’s death. The Hungarian believes the messages detail where she hid the diamond.”

“And he wants it back.”

“Of course,” Corbett said in a dry tone. “He’ll stop at nothing to get it.”

“He can have the damn thing for all I care.”

“Natalie.” Corbett’s voice was harsh, fury barely contained. “You can’t let them win. The code is a bargaining chip. Decipher the message and the value is tripled.”

“My father—” she swallowed “—could already be dead. You know how this works. What guarantee do we have that he’s still alive?”

“Phillip—your father—called me a few minutes ago.”

That stopped her cold.

“What? How?”

“He’s safe. He wanted to let me know that.”

“Why didn’t he call me?”

“He asked me to let you know. He knew we’ve been in contact. He wasn’t actually kidnapped.”

“You’re telling me he went willingly?”

“In a way.”

This was getting crazy. “You’re not making sense.”

“Your father decided to take care of the Hungarian on his own. You see, he knows who he is.”

She let her mouth fall open. “He does?”

Corbett’s sigh sounded tired. “As do I. There’s additional information I need to tell you.”

She and Sean exchanged a suspicious glance. “New information?”

“Not exactly new. I thought Phillip would have told you by now, but he’s a man of his word. He promised me years ago never to reveal what had happened. Some secrets can only be told by the person most affected.”

Alarm bells went off in her head. “More secrets. Great.”

Corbett ignored her. “As you know, your father and I share a history.”

“Boyhood friends, best friends.” She’d heard the stories all her life.

“Yes. But, when we were growing up, there was another.” He cleared his throat, still sounding coolly collected. “There were three of us.”

“Three?” She didn’t understand. “All I’ve ever heard about were my dad and you. Corbett and Phillip. Best friends. There were only the two of you.”

“No. There was another. We swore a vow, your father and I, never to talk of him or to say his name.”

“But all the photographs I have show only you two.”

“We destroyed all the others. But now, I’ll break my own vow.” Corbett sounded grim. “The Hungarian was the third. We were inseparable. Phillip, myself and … Viktor.”

“Viktor?”

“Yes. Viktor was—is—my cousin.”

“Are you telling me that my father is safe?”

“Not exactly.”

Her temples were starting to ache. “Explain, please.”

“Phillip went in to try to—as he put it—talk some sense into the Hungarian. He ended up being a prisoner.”

She could barely contain her impatience. “Is he in real danger or not?”

“I’m not sure. Viktor has no reason to hate him, unless it’s because he associates him with me. But my cousin’s mental instability is a factor. Either way, before you make plans to try and rescue him, your father thinks he can handle this himself. He says he doesn’t want you going anywhere near him.”

“Of course he doesn’t!” Natalie exploded. “But you and I both know I’m going anyway once I know where he is. Where is he?”

“He refused to tell me.”

Natalie wondered again if Corbett was telling the truth.

“What are his reasons?” Sean stepped forward, placing a cautionary hand on Natalie’s shoulder.

Corbett sighed. “He has some crazy idea of trying to talk sense into my cousin. After all, we were all close friends once.”

“What happened to change that?” Natalie asked.

“Now is not the time—”

“Yes, it is. Now more than ever before, we need to lay all our cards on the table.” She shot Sean a meaningful look. Narrowing his eyes, he shook his head.

Corbett coughed. “I really don’t think—”

Ruthless, again she cut him off. “Neither do we. Now tell us what happened to make your own cousin hate you so much that he wants to kill you.”

Chapter 10

Silence.

“A woman?” Sean guessed.

“Yes.” Corbett’s clipped reply told them he still found the subject unpleasant. Tough. “We all fell in love with the same woman.”

Incredulous, Natalie met Sean’s gaze. “All three of you?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“She must have been some woman.”

“She was.”

Natalie swallowed as a thought occurred to her. “Please tell me this wasn’t my mother?”

“No.” Finally, Corbett chuckled. “This happened a year before Phillip met Evelyn. One year, three months, and a few days, to be exact.”

“You’ve never forgotten her.” Sean made the question a statement. “Even after all this time.”

“Phillip recovered first. Loving Evelyn helped him.”

The nonanswer intrigued her. “What about you?”

“I barely remember her face.”

Though she suspected Corbett was being less than truthful, she didn’t comment. Instead, she tried to stick to the information related to the topic. “But Viktor still …”

“Who knows what Viktor thinks?” Corbett’s usually civilized tone was laced with acid bitterness. “Obviously, he still wants revenge.”

“For what? You still haven’t told us what happened to cause the split between you three.”