Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) Read Online Free Page B

minute-and-a-half until the two Secret Service agents make their way back around the house next door. Otherwise you’re clear.”
    “Plenty of time.”
    His rubber-soled shoes helped him keep traction as he slid down the sharply pitched roof to the small window on the top floor. Black gloves kept his fingers from being torn to shreds, and the black mask over his face and the matching clothes helped him blend in with the night.
    The climb up the side of the Dallas mansion had been the hardest part—not to mention a former president lived in the house next door, and on a night like this, where unfamiliar cars and people lined the street, security was at a peak.
    The climb had tested his strength and endurance ten fold, and he was glad he’d pushed himself so hard through rehab. Even now, his leg was aching and he’d had to stop for a few seconds to catch his breath once he’d reached the top.
    His feet touched on the tiny lip that jutted from the edge of the roof, and he lowered himself down until his hands had a good grasp on the ledge. His muscles bunched and strained and sweat dripped from his temple from the relentless summer heat. He lowered himself inches at a time and then dropped the rest of the way to the balcony. He landed silently and then took the tools from the zippered pocket of his pants.
    “Forty-five seconds,” Elena said. “I’ve deactivated the alarms for the top two floors.”
    “I’ve got a visual on the senator,” Cade MacKenzie said. “He’s dancing with a woman who has a face like a hatchet and a diamond the size of a quail egg on her finger. ”
    Cade was the oldest MacKenzie—there being five in all—and once upon a time, Cade had been one of Max’s best DEA agents. At least before the del Fuego cartel had killed Cade’s lover right in front of him. Cade had left the DEA and moved to Texas, which was where he’d met the love of his life and settled down to a nice, normal life, where they had a house in a busy neighborhood, a toddler, and another baby on the way. Or at least it was normal if you ignored Cade’s highly trained intuition and his ability to protect and defend—no matter what it took. 
    He and Cade had slipped back into their old routine as if they’d never been separated, and the change he’d made in his life over the past year had felt good. Damned good.
    “That would be Martha Sandusky,” Max said, taking a slim tool and using it to unlatch the window. “She’s the wife of one of Senator Henry’s biggest donors.” The latch gave and Max slid the window up and slipped inside. “I’m in,” he said.
    “Just in time,” Elena said, her voice soft and slightly accented.
    Elena had been adopted by the MacKenzie clan over the past year—much like Max and Jade and a few other team members. Once the MacKenzies decided to bring you into the family fold, there was no point in fighting it. Family was everything. You could always trust family and you knew they’d always have your back. Max had often wished he’d been born a MacKenzie instead of one of the Boston Devlins.
    They’d met Elena in Mexico whe n their team had gone to wipe out the del Fuego cartel once and for all. Elena had been caught in the crosshairs and she’d been kidnapped, beaten and raped repeatedly before Alexander Ramos’s men tossed her aside like garbage. She’d survived, and every day was a struggle, but she was a fighter.
    Declan MacKenzie had talked her into coming to America and taking the job with Max and Cade in the Texas office of MacKenzie Security. Dec had promised her they’d train her how to fight—how to protect herself no matter what the cost—and he’d promised they’d hunt down every last member of the cartel that had touched her. It had been enough to convince her. And Dec had come through on his promises. There was nothing left of the del Fuego cartel.
    Elena had been quiet at first—wary of the men she worked with—and she had a look in her eye that all but broke