Swept Away Read Online Free Page A

surprise.
    “So this is settled now. Okay?” Carlos asked, directing the question to his brother.
    Francisco took a long time answering as he and Brock stared each other down. Brock’s heart beat like a hammer in his chest—his life depended on making Francisco believe he was just another smuggler like them. And it was in that still, tense moment that he noticed Francisco no longer wore around his neck the key that had dangled from a chain there earlier in the day. He hadn’t asked what the key was for, but he had his suspicions, and its sudden absence was worth noting.
    “Okay,” Francisco finally said. “It’s settled.”
    Brock gave a short nod and slowly eased his way back down into the hot tub, although the girls didn’t fly back into his arms. He couldn’t blame them.
    For now, he was off the hook—but he’d have to think real carefully about how he wanted to play Francisco from this point forward. Did he act like this had never happened, like things really were cool between them? Or did he act like an asshole now, hold a grudge? That might give him the upper hand, make his charade more convincing.
    Thankfully, time was on his side. The pickup was this afternoon. Five million dollars worth of Mayan artifacts looted from ancient cities in the Guatemalan wilderness and smuggled out of the country to be sold to wealthy collectors stateside. Late tonight they were scheduled to meet the head of the operation, code name Omega Man—a really stupid code name, in Brock’ s opinion, that made him picture the guy in a cape and tights—then as soon as he could get away and make a phone call, a team of agents would swoop in to seize the items and make the arrests. So all he had to do was keep Francisco in the dark for the rest of the day—and the night. Surely he could do that.
    “Looks like the party’s over, girls,” Brock said apologetically. But not too apologetically— thugs didn’t treat their women overly nice in his experience, and it was a good time to be sure he acted like enough of a thug.
    “Doesn’t have to be,” Blondie said, curling up next to him anyway now that the tension had passed, pressing her ample cleavage against his arm as she slid one palm over his shoulder. “In fact, I think a party is exactly what we need right now.” She flashed a scolding glance to Francisco, and Brock hoped it didn’t get her slapped by the gruffer brother.
    But Francisco only glared and said, “Pickup’s in an hour. I don’t care what you do ’til then— just be ready.” After directing that last part specifically to Brock, he turned his back, peering out over the vast, empty waters that stretched before them.
    As Blondie leaned near Brock’s ear to say, “What’s your pleasure, cowboy?” it occurred to him that maybe the best strategy was to continue going with the flow, to simply let the party commence. Francisco wouldn’t expect a fed to do that. Especially right after the accusation.
    He cast a cutting glance at Francisco for good measure, though—still acting pissed. “Why don’t you surprise me,” he said to Blondie, adding loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Do something to take my mind off all this shit being flung at me so I can concentrate on work in a little while.”
    “What about me?” the brunette asked.
    Okay, this was getting a little sticky. Or good. Depending upon how he looked at it.
    Go with the flow, dude—anything else and you look like the fed you are. “No reason you girls can’t play nice and share,” he said with a wink. Fact was, the girls were hot—and whatever happened, it wasn’t exactly gonna be torture.
    And when the brunette began raking her fingernails lightly down his chest, torture became the furthest thing from Brock’s mind. He’d been working pretty much around the clock on this case for the last two months, with little time for play, and he didn’t usually mix this kind of play with work—but it looked like that was about to change.
    The