Necessary Risk Read online

  Necessary Risk

  Aegis Group Task Force #4

  Sidney Bristol

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  Inked Press

  Necessary Risk

  Aegis Group Task Force #4

  Ivy Ashley is striking out. Fired from her gig as a live-in bodyguard, she's at the end of her rope when she is asked to join a special task force for a one-off undercover job. It's easy. All she has to do is infiltrate a harem. She even has back-up in the form of a lone-wolf spy with the sexiest lips she's ever kissed.

  Piers Killam does not play well with others. Least of all an ill-prepared Army veteran in over her head with an undercover op who makes him remember why he started doing this job. Every day with Ivy revives his long-dead heart.

  The race to locate the missing pieces of information for their team is on, and it's Ivy's life they're gambling with. Piers doesn't intend to share Ivy, not even with the prince she's contracted to. But when they find the digital time bomb the whole game changes. Piers will have to decide who to save and who to let go.

  Explore the whole Aegis world in these series...

  It all began with the Aegis Group.

  Dangerous Attraction

  Dangerous in Training

  Dangerous Games

  Dangerous Assignment

  Dangerous Protector

  Dangerous Secrets

  Dangerous Betrayal

  Dangerous Heat

  Dangerous Connections

  Dangerous Exposure (2020)

  More Coming Soon!

  Within Aegis Group, special teams take on special jobs, beginning with the Alpha Team.

  Dangerous in Love

  Dangerous in Action

  Dangerous in Transit

  Dangerous in Motion

  Dangerous in Charge

  Other specialized teams exist under the Aegis Group umbrella, including Lepta Team.

  Dangerously Taken

  Dangerously Involved

  Dangerously Deceived

  Dangerously Broken

  Dangerously Entwined

  Troy Team has signed on to work an ultra-secret case in the Aegis Group Task Force series.

  (prequel) First Risk: a newsletter exclusive serial

  Stolen Risk

  Forged Risk

  Technical Risk

  Necessary Risk

  Intercepted Risk (2020)

  Targeted Risk (TBA)

  Hard Risk (TBA)

  Burned Risk (TBA)

  Final Risk (TBA)

  Stay tuned for the appearance of the Omega Team and Dangerous Ladies!

  In Dangerous Games it continued with the Gone Geek girls.

  Beauty and the Geek

  Mr. Purr-fect and the Geek

  The Jock and the Geek

  The Gamer and the Geek

  The Adorkable Girl and the Geek

  The Fake Boyfriend and the Geek

  When the Seattle office of Aegis Group opened the Twisted Royals took the stage.

  The Origin Story

  Alpha Prince

  Her Prince

  Bad Boy Prince

  Noble Prince

  For short reads, tune in this December for the Body of Danger novella series kick-off.

  Heart of Danger

  Spirit of Danger

  Soul for Danger (2020)

  The other Smith brother takes us to the Texas SWAT series, a small town suspense series.

  Fighting Redemption

  Stolen Redemption

  Forbidden Redemption

  Reckless Redemption (coming soon)

  Thanks to the SWAT team, Ransom, Texas enjoys a slower pace of life beginning in The Love Barn.

  Give Me Back My Man

  Summer of Love

  Party out of Bounds

  Table of Contents

  Prologue.

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

  16.

  17.

  18.

  19.

  20.

  21.

  Epilogue.

  For my own Sanity Circle. Thanks for always being there to talk me off the ledge.

  Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight! I take orders from one person! Me!

  ―HAN SOLO, STAR WARS

  Prologue.

  Friday. Logan Muller’s Apartment, Washington, DC.

  Ivy Ashley was no stranger to walking into enemy territory. That was why she was here. For her abilities and experience.

  Then why did she feel like this was her screw up tour? And why were they meeting in Logan’s apartment?

  The girl squad that had accompanied Ivy from the Task Force Headquarters parking garage to the adjacent apartment complex ushered her inside the utilitarian space. There was a leather recliner that was so Logan, a sofa and TV. Surprisingly, the largest piece of furniture was the dining table jutting out of an alcove into her path. She’d have thought he’d had a huge ass TV instead of a table. Then again, Logan probably thought he needed all that space for his reports.

  Ivy turned to meet Logan’s gaze as he held the door. He was a man that stood out in a crowd. Not necessarily for his looks, but how he carried himself. Shoulders back, chest out, head up, he exuded confidence. He was tall with ruddy skin, jet black hair, and a face that looked as if it had been carved from granite with those sharp angles.

  “Long time no see, Muller.” She offered him her hand.

  He took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Thanks for helping us out.”

  There was only one other person waiting to receive the girl squad.

  The other woman she only knew by reputation.

  Zora Clark, some sort of NSA boogeyman. Her gaze strayed from Ivy to the women behind her. There was no humor, no personality in that stare. She was a machine. “I see you’ve already met Diha, Kelsey, Cat and Felecia.”

  Ivy glanced back at the women who’d already made quite the impression on her. “We have. Where’s the rest of the crew?”

  As if on command, the door opened again and several men filed in. Men she knew from training days, emails and company gossip.

  “Ivy.” Harper Wright held up his hand. “Good to see you.”

  She slapped palms with the man and nodded. “You, too.”

  Yeah, right.

  Harper was one of those good guys who thought a lot about himself. He’d hit on her a few times at company functions, but she wasn’t interested in dating anyone connected to work. It was one of the few things she’d done right.

  The other men she knew to varying degrees. All good soldiers who ran a tight operation. Not that she knew much, just what was said around the proverbial watercooler. Or more accurately, through the text chat she had with the other women who worked at Aegis Group. They talked. A lot.

  That gossip train worked both ways, though. What were they hearing about her? Were people talking about Ivy losing her contract?

  She pushed that question down and sat next to Diha at the dining table.

  Felecia, Cat and Kelsey had taken up position on the stools at the bar, as if they were only here to observe, not participate.

  Thankfully, Harper circled to the other side of the table from her. Tucker Papadopoulos sank into the chair next to her and gave her a single nod of the head that she returned.

  Small favors from the universe.

  Tucker was quiet and likely not interested in what she did unless it impacted him. Jamie and Evan were the other two members, and decent guys. Jamie had a reput
ation as a serial monogamist and Evan was just quiet.

  “We’re all here,” Logan said, pushing to his feet.

  “Not quite,” Zora said.

  Logan frowned. “I thought—”

  The door opened and a woman with golden brown skin stepped in. Her head was covered by a turquoise headscarf and she wore a stylish, boxy cut pantsuit.

  “Team, this is Naidra Belkaid. She’s one of my secret weapons,” Zora said.

  Tucker nearly jolted out of his chair. “Naidra?”

  Zora leveled a look at Tucker that said a dozen things Ivy couldn’t understand.

  Tucker opened and closed his mouth, his gaze going from Naidra to Zora then back again.

  While the rest of the room froze, watching whatever the hell this was play out, Naidra went to one of the empty chairs on the other side.

  “Tucker Papadopoulos?” Naidra’s voice was lightly accented and melodic. Her dark eyes were shrewd, intelligent. This woman had seen things and they’d made her stronger. She wasn’t a woman Ivy wanted to get crossways with.

  “Yeah,” he replied, though his voice was dry.

  “I never got the chance to thank you for everything you did for me and my family.” Naidra smiled. “Thank you.”

  Tucker ducked his head. “Just following orders, ma’am.”

  Ivy glanced at Diha, who was watching the moment with eyes as wide as everyone else’s.

  Whatever this was, the only people who understood it were Zora, Naidra and Tucker. Ivy was willing to bet that Tucker didn’t know much.

  What the hell was Ivy getting involved with?

  “Now we may begin,” Zora said and turned her attention on Ivy. “You’ve been told we need someone to go undercover in a dangerous situation. This is your last chance to back out.”

  Ivy shrugged and pasted on her signature smile. The one she used to get through things without letting anyone know she wasn’t near as certain on the inside. “I’m here. We might as well do this.”

  “This is going to be dangerous, but you won’t be alone.” Zora slid a folder across to Ivy.

  “I’m game.”

  And she was.

  For the last two years Ivy had been a glorified babysitter. Sure, her contract had been to supply personal, live-in security for a society housewife and her two teenage hell-spawn. But the reality of the job was that she spent more time enforcing punishments and keeping tabs on the kids than protecting them from threats.

  Stop.

  Don’t go back there.

  She wrestled her mind back to the task at hand and flipped the folder open.

  She was ready to do something different. Something challenging. And this had fallen into her lap.

  “What’s the job?” She picked up two photographs.

  The first image was of a well-built man in his late thirties with warm brown skin and a neatly trimmed black beard. The red and white fabric secured to his head told her one important thing.

  She was in over her head.

  What the hell did they want her to do?

  The other picture was no less baffling.

  A man with sun-streaked brown hair and reflective sunglasses leaned against a sleek sports car. The motorcycle jacket he wore seemed to be made from the same leather as the black seats. It screamed bad boy.

  Knock fifteen or twenty years off him and he was exactly the kind of guy she’d been running off for the last year. She was sick of the so called bad boys. Where were the polite, respectful, intelligent boys at?

  “I have so many questions.” She arched a brow and glanced up, holding the last picture between her fingers. “Christ, he looks like a hotshot. I bet his hero growing up was Han Solo.”

  “You’re not far off,” Kelsey said just loud enough for Ivy to hear.

  Lovely.

  Harper snickered, but the others didn’t react.

  Zora held up the snapshot of the first man. “Jabir al Saud. He’s a Saudi prince. In the grand scheme of things, he’s fairly unimportant. On the surface, he’s your typical indulgent rich kid that’s never grown up. He likes to party. The Saud family goes to great lengths to support his partying, turning a blind eye to him because he is useful.”

  She glanced at Naidra.

  The other woman cleared her throat. “Jabir’s partying serves a function. It allows for a great number of people to get close to him without suspicion.”

  Why?

  Ivy braced herself for the answer.

  Naidra never even paused. “Jabir facilitates payments to various groups the royal family can’t be seen doing business with.”

  “You mean terrorists,” Tucker said.

  Both Naidra and Zora looked at Tucker for a moment. Their gazes were so similar. Laser sharp.

  Ivy shifted away from the man in case those two suddenly shot lightning from their eyeballs.

  “Yes,” Naidra said finally.

  What was going on? What was the subtext she couldn’t read?

  “That’s not our focus,” Zora said. “We’ve recently learned that Jabir housed intelligence for someone. A hacker you might have heard of. Valentino?”

  “Holy—yes.” Ivy caught herself before the curse passed her lips. She could feel the blood leeching out of her face. Her stomach was all knotted up. “We were in London when...”

  She couldn’t finish it.

  Valentino had caused a massive train derailment.

  Ivy and her employers should have been on one of those trains. They’d missed it because Ivy had to go chase down one of the kids. She’d still gotten in trouble despite that problem saving their lives.

  “Then you understand why we need access to these servers?” Zora asked.

  Ivy nodded.

  “Good.” Zora waved the other picture. “This is Piers Killam. He’ll be your back-up. He’s a freelancer that has an established cover with Jabir. Ideally you two won’t interact. He’s just there in case you need back-up or an escape plan.”

  “Okay, but what’s my in?” Ivy asked.

  Tucker shifted.

  Logan found a spot on the table to look at.

  “Jabir is currently in America to fill a few vacancies in his harem,” Zora said.

  “His—what?” Had Ivy just heard her right?

  “You won’t have to do anything with him,” Diha said quickly. “We’ve got it all worked out.”

  They wanted to send Ivy undercover in an honest to God harem.

  Those things still existed? And people hired for them?

  She had so many questions.

  Ivy turned her head and blinked at the petite woman. “Really? I’m dying to hear this.”

  She’d already said yes.

  There was no turning back. Like it or not, she was committed. She couldn’t fuck up another job. Not again. She would have to see this through.

  1.

  A week later. Westchester Airport. New York City, New York

  Piers Killam gunned the engine. The car vibrated with the power coursing through the body. The wind whipped his hair back as he pushed the speed limit.

  These were his last moments of freedom.

  Another damn job.

  He should have said no. He’d intended to say no, but his curiosity always got him in trouble. He had to actually listen to the job pitch. Why couldn’t he just stick to his guns?

  After the hell he’d been through, he deserved a break.

  What idiot thought it was a good idea to send a woman undercover into a fucking harem? Didn’t they know what that meant? What happened? What those women went through?

  A throbbing started up at his temple. Killam eased off the accelerator and took a deep breath.

  If he had his way, he’d figure out which of the women was the undercover agent today and haul her ass out before they even got on the plane. Lots of girls got cold feet before the plane took off and they were committed for at least a short amount of time. The smart ones at least backed out once the reality hit them.

  Please let her be a
smart one.

  When it came to working with the feds, he’d had mixed luck. If he were being paired with a man, Killam would have left the guy out to dry. Too many were rigid, one-way thinkers. Women were a little better. Their natural self-preservation instincts seemed to give them some edge over their male counter-parts. But that was women with years of experience.

  This was a harem.

  It meant whoever this woman was she had to be young. And young rarely had the kind of experience needed to survive.

  Yeah, he was fucked.

  Killam took the turn for Westchester Airport. Or at least he tried to.

  The road was blocked off with black rental cars and manned by men in suits.

  Jabby did like to feel important.

  What was a prince without a big ego?

  Killam found the man in charge by sight. A big, burly guard that had worked for the prince since long before Killam had met him. The man did a quick once over the car, but didn’t make Killam get out. If they did, they’d be there for an hour. Given Killam’s clientele and the circles he moved in, he was always armed to within an inch of his life.

  Besides, leaving Killam armed had saved the princes’ life once. Or so they thought. The guards didn’t need to know it had been a setup to help Killam earn Jabby’s trust.

  Killam eased the car past security and wound his way toward the tarmac. He only did this favor half the time. Truth was, he didn’t like to listen to Jabby’s name dropping. The man didn’t actually know anything useful. He was a pass-through. A person who made sure funds got to the right place. That was it. No one with a brain would tell him anything worthwhile.

  But Killam hadn’t returned a few of Jabby’s messages because he’d intended to pass on this whirlwind party. Until she happened. Now he’d have to do a bit of ego stroking to ensure he was in the prince’s good graces.

  Killam cursed the unknown agent’s name, then pasted on a smile.

  It was time to play his role.

  He eased the convertible to a stop with the passenger side aimed at the jet.

  Jabir al Saud stepped out, arms spread wide. He wore a crisp, white suit with his shirt barely buttoned. His hair stuck up a bit, no doubt from the attentions of one of his girls still on the plane. A wide smile told Killam Jabby was likely drunk or high.