"This is amazing,” I said. “We couldn't have expected more."

  "Our pleasure," Ariel said with a smile.

  “You know how you're going to make your approach?" Jax asked.

  Lachlan looked at me. " I will be using my official ID. She will be Saffron King, my wife, and we're here on our honeymoon. Having the extra identification helps a lot."

  Jax nodded. "Excellent. I’ve got her ID here. If you need anything else let us know."

  Ariel interceded. "So Lachlan, do you know Massimo Igno?"

  "Only from school. We weren't friends, and he was a couple of years ahead of me. Maybe he won't even recognize me, but we'll need to be a little hands-off if that's the case."

  "Okay. I'll have my people stay back just in case."

  "That's helpful, thank you."

  Ariel grinned at me, and I couldn't help feeling like her smile was a warm hug. I said, "Tabs told you, huh?"

  “Your first field mission, yes. She's very excited."

  I groaned.

  “Don't worry about it. We're all here to support you. And this is your show. You just tell us what you need. Welcome to the Winston Isles. Try and have some fun."

  Lock deliberately bumped my leg. "Oh yeah, fun is Saff's middle name."

  I scowled at him, and Ariel laughed. "Oh, pretend married couple. You guys are going to be great."

  Jax rolled his eyes. “If you need a deeper cover, let me know. Zia came up with those. She's a great hacker."

  Ariel cleared her throat. “I came up with those, thank you very much."

  I lifted my brows. “You're a hacker?"

  “It's one of my skillsets."

  Jax rolled his eyes. “You'll have to forgive my boss. Sometimes she likes to gloat."

  I chuckled, loving that we had this team as our backup crew. With them, I felt infinitely more secure. We had this in the bag.

  Famous last words.

  14

  Saffron

  Lachlan was right. Driving on the wrong side of the road was nerve racking to say the least. By the time I reached the villa, I was exhausted.

  We'd both agreed to head off to freshen up, get some rest, unpack, and spend a little more time with our new IDs. Lachlan got to be himself. Which was hardly fair. But he had to remember things like calling me Saffron and not Saff. And remember things that Saffron loved. And while he was fine, a little practice never hurt anyone. Besides, I needed a moment to myself. Watching all the loved-up couples today hadn’t necessarily been a revelation, but it had made me hyper-aware of just how alone I was.

  For the most part, I didn't feel my loneliness. But watching everybody else together, hearing Jax and Neela's daughter, Mayzie, laughing, I realized I wanted that too. The life that I’d started to craft for myself, or the one I was thrust into if I was being honest, I didn't want that. I wanted real friends. As much as I loved Tabs, I wanted more friends than just her. I wanted a family.

  I had to figure out how the hell I was going to get that. Or if that was even possible for someone like me. My whole life, the Rogues had been everything. But maybe there was more to life than that. It hardly seemed fair that I couldn't have both. That I couldn't be both.

  I should have the opportunity to be more than one thing, shouldn't I? Wasn't that a possibility, a thing that people wanted? Those were the kind of things I wished my mum was around to talk about.

  But she's not, is she?

  And Gabe didn't let anyone in. Not even me. The only other person on earth who knew what he could be going through, and he didn't even let me see him. My brother angered me, suffocated me, and sometimes pushed me to the point that I honestly considered shooting him. Not a fatal shot, but like a shoulder or a kneecap. But even worse, he pushed me away, refusing to accept even the slightest bit of love. Or giving it to me. And I needed it.

  I dragged myself out of the melancholy and started to unpack. I knew the guys were bringing in our bulletproof vests and additional specialized items. I had a couple ball gowns coming that had cameras built into the fabric. We were also getting more audio equipment. But for now, I could unpack the rest of my things. Tabs had helped me put together the things that I would need for the mission.

  Because, hell, I didn't know what I needed. But she had been on dozens of missions.

  When I opened my suitcase, I immediately started to hang up the usual things. Dark jeans, sundresses. But when I got to the toiletries, what I found made me frown.

  Yes, she had put knickers in. It's not like she'd left them out. But it was the kind of knickers she'd slipped in.

  I picked up my phone, quickly dialed the routing number for the secure line. And waited.

  When it chimed, I gave them my code. "Alpha-Tango-Whiskey-Sierra-five-seven."

  That was a code line for Tabatha.

  It rang once and she answered. "Oh my God, you're there. How is paradise?"

  "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

  “You sound unhappy. Is Lock irritating you already? Or is it just the foreplay?"

  “Can you explain to me why you packed me sheer knickers and thongs? So many thongs."

  "Oh, yes. That's to help, you know, get in the vibe of your character."

  “You're joking."

  "Why would I kid about something like your character? You are Mrs. Saffron King. Your undergarments should reflect that."

  “You do know we're not actually married, right?"

  "But you're playing a married couple. You have to believe it. As a newlywed, you would have very sexy things. What if this Massimo character breaks into the villa and snoops around? He's going to wonder why you have granny panties. Also, why the fuck do you have granny panties? You're young and hot."

  “I do not have granny panties. I have seamless panties. They're perfectly respectable. They're even low-rise." I sniffed indignantly.

  “Yes, they're serviceable, and they don't leave panty lines. But you need thongs and lace. Lace is sexy."

  “I cannot believe you switched out my underwear," I grumbled. "Where did these even come from?"

  "La Perla."

  I dropped the offending pairs in a drawer. "Are these yours?"

  "No. I ordered them as soon as I knew you were going on a mission. What's the problem?"

  “I'm going to kill you." I shuffled through the bra and panty sets. "There isn't a decent regular set in here except what I have on."

  "Thank God. You need to see yourself as a sexual being. Someone who gets shagged."

  "Oh my God. I hate you."

  “You're welcome." She hung up the phone.

  She was making me insane.

  But she also had a point. Our characters needed to be foolproof.

  I just had to hope that Lock didn't notice. Because he was not seeing my panties. Ever.

  Saffron

  This was it. We were doing this.

  I was fine. Not nervous at all. Not terrified.

  Okay fine, a little terrified.

  I was Saffron King, Lachlan King's wife. My husband was part of the famous King Media empire. And I loved him.

  As we started the stroll from the car park, Lock threw his arm over my shoulder, and I purposely reached up and intertwined my fingers with his.

  He pulled me in and gave me a brushed kiss on my forehead. “You ready?"

  "Look alive, King."

  “You know I will always love hearing you say that."

  I lifted a brow and just shook my head.

  I could feel his chuckle vibrating through his body. And of course, it vibrated through me, making me warm and squishy and desperate to be even closer to him. Like a fool.

  We hadn't talked about anything. And I was not about to start now. Nope no talking necessary. We were going to do this mission. We were going to pull this off and it was going to be fine. I was going to be fine.

  "Relax, Saffron. You're holding on real tight."

  I realized my arm around his waist was bunched in the fabric. I unclenched my hand and smoothed the fabric, not sure what else to do with my hands.

  “Go on, you know you want to. Put your hand on my arse."

  I burst out laughing. And then he very deliberately pulled me in. He leaned down, and I stiffened.

  Oh fuck.

  He would know. The moment he kissed me he would know.

  I knew that was irrational. I completely understood that I was not being a rational person here. He wouldn't know. Those memories of me were gone.

  And while I was trying to come to terms with that, indulging in this feeling was a bad idea. I knew it. I needed to stay focused. Eyes on the prize. We had a mission to complete. And I could do it. It was just Lachlan.

  He was good. If he was himself, we could do this. We just had to be in the right place at the right time.

  Lachlan's voice was soft. "Would you relax? You can do this.”

  I nodded and relaxed into him. "Okay, sorry.”

  He leaned over and kissed me properly. It was brief. Soft. Honestly no more than a peck. But it was just the peck I needed. It wasn't demanding. It wasn't sexual. It was more like reassurance. Like we were a team. And then I relaxed into him.

  He pulled back, his gaze lingering on my lips for a moment. Then he nodded, and we resumed our walk.

  We very deliberately paused in boutiques, and I tried on hats and scarves while he nodded and smiled approvingly. Snapping pictures. It was almost easy to pretend.

  We'd already gotten word from Zia that Massimo Igno was on the island. He was with his fiancée, and we'd seen them leave their villa. Their driver was a Royal Elite informant, and he had notified Zia, so we had their exact location. It was only a matter of time. And well, being seen, being out, being a loving married couple.

  We stopped for Lock to grab me a gelato. And as I took a lick, Lock leaned over and whispered to me, "Showtime."

  I nodded. Lock turned with a wide smile. "Oh my God. Igno. Is that you?"

  He kept a broad smile on his face as he pulled me close and kissed me on the forehead. “You okay?" he whispered.

  I nodded at him, and he dragged me over to his “friend."

  The woman next to him, Graciella Natanya, looked confused.

  The two men embraced and clapped hands on each other's backs. I was always fascinated with how men could do that. Pick up and resume friendship right where it left off as if no time had passed.

  Massimo said, "Mate, I can't get over how much you look like your brother."

  Lock shrugged. “Yeah well, the King genes are strong. How are you? I haven't seen you since Eton. I expected you at Cambridge, but you never appeared."

  Igno shook his head. "My father had other ideas. Wharton, Harvard, you know the deal. I'm not really a Harvard man though, am I?"

  Lock laughed. "To be honest, I wouldn't know. You ran more with Charlie when it came to that."

  “I miss him. I can't even imagine what it's like for you."

  “Yeah. I appreciate it, mate. It's been rough. I miss him every day."

  Graciella cleared her throat. "Sweetheart, who's your friend?"

  He sighed. "Sorry, love. This is an old mate, Lachlan King. This is my fiancée, Graciella Natanya."

  Lock turned on the charm. "Ah, lovely to meet you. This is my wife, Saffron King."

  Massimo guffawed. “You got married? You?"

  Lock shrugged. "What can I say, when you know, you know. And one look at Saffron and I knew I wasn't giving her up."

  "Wow." Igno stepped forward and wrapped his beefy arms around me, inhaled deep, and squeezed.

  I expected Graciella to narrow her gaze at me, but she just looked at me curiously as if completely unaffected by her boyfriend's overly long hug.

  "Hello."

  "Sorry, you have to allow us an indulgence. We haven't seen each other in a very long time. Since school. This is my fiancée, Graciella. I'm sure the two of you will get along great."

  But Graciella just gave me an exasperated laugh. "Men. They don't know anything, do they?"

  I chuckled. “It's nice to meet you."

  "This is such a lovely coincidence. How long are you staying on island?" she asked.

  We made small talk before Lock found his way back to me and pulled me to him, kissing my temple. "There you are. Don't run far."

  Graciella had me walking a little bit, looking in the shop windows, but Lock was wise not to let me get too far.

  This only worked well if it was the two of us together. A team. The idea was no separation unless it was absolutely necessary.

  It was easier to sell the couple, sell the connection. And it was just safer.

  I had to keep reminding myself this was a sneak and peek mission only. We were only there to observe.

  As the four of us walked through the old town, Graciella occasionally wandered into a boutique and pulled me along. She was beautiful. Lovely.

  When she looked at me and asked me what I did, I told her I was still in graduate school. Art history.

  She laughed as if that was the most delightful thing she'd ever heard.

  Whatever. I just needed her and Igno to buy the act.

  And they did. Lock and Igno laughed once or twice about an old mate of theirs. To wrap up the “accidental” meeting, I strategically yawned.

  Lock groaned. "Ah, my darling wife, you're exhausted already?"

  “You were the one who wanted to go cliff diving this morning at the crack of dawn. And then you wanted to go see the king’s museum. And then on a photo tour. I am beat, Lachlan."

  "Well okay, let's get you back to the villa."

  He turned to Igno then. “It was good to see you, mate. But she will murder me if I don't get her back for some rest. Where are you guys staying? We're at the palace villas at the edge of the old town. We should catch up more, drinks tomorrow or something."

  Igno's eyes went wide. "No way. That's where we are too."

  I laughed. "Oh my God! Fantastic then, the two of you can catch up tomorrow and leave me to rest. I'm so sorry. I don't want to be horribly rude, but I am knackered."

  Igno laughed and started to wrap his arms around me again. But this time Lachlan stayed locked tightly to my hips.

  "One hug, Igno."

  Igno laughed. "Ah, I’m Italian. I love beautiful women. See, Graciella doesn't mind, do you?"

  She only rolled her eyes. “You'll have to ignore him. I do."

  I assumed they were joking, but I made a mental note to double-check how their relationship was going just in case there were problems we needed to know about.

  When we separated, Lock picked me up around the waist and tossed me over his shoulder. "Now, woman. Come with me. I plan to ravish you before you sleep."

  I giggled and mock slapped his back. And all I could do was lift my head slightly and shake my head at him. Just enough so that Massimo and Graciella would see it.

  At the car, he eased me down, every inch of my body sliding against his, and I could have sworn to God that underneath his clothes he was rock hard.

  He watched me smoothly and bit his lip. "They watching?"

  My gaze flickered over his shoulder.

  Massimo and Graciella had wandered over to the other side of the boutiques, and she had a clear line of sight to us. “Yes."

  "Relax… or try to. I'm kissing you now, okay?"

  I couldn't help it. I went stiff again. He leaned in, dropping his lips low and sliding his hands into my braids, pulling gently and angling my head, turning our bodies so that Graciella and Massimo would absolutely see us kissing.

  He pulled back slightly, and against my lips he whispered, "Try and swoon a little, okay?"

  He kissed me again, and when he released me, I didn't have to pretend. I did swoon just a little, my body unsure of exactly what had happened. The kiss had been just as hot as I remembered, and I was left dazed and confused.

  Damn it, he knew what he was doing to me, and he relished it. It was hardly fair.

  "All right let's get in the car."

  When he opened the passenger side door for me, I eased in. He gave a nod. "Looks like that went well."

  All I could do was nod because I still couldn't quite stop the buzzing and humming in my head.

  How the hell was I going to survive any more kisses from Lachlan king?

  15

  Saffron

  Of course I told Tabatha. I kept telling myself I was calling her for advice because she had experience as a field agent. But really, obviously, I had just kissed the man I fancied, and I needed someone to dish about it with.

  After the rigamarole of entering all the clearance codes, Tabatha answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, how's it going?”

  “Good as can be expected. I will say Massimo is very creepy. He looks at me like I’m a gelato on a hot summer day.”

  Tabatha, best friend that she was, made gagging noises. “I've seen photos of Massimo. He's not necessarily bad looking, but there's something very sweaty looking about him. Is that wrong?”

  “No, that's exactly it. Look, he's Italian, tan skin, dark hair, deep-set eyes. But it's like it's all paired together wrong. You can see in a photo how some women would find him handsome, but in person there's this slick quality to him. I can't explain it, but I do not want to be left alone with him.”

  “And how is it going with your delectable husband? They say the first year of living with someone can be the true test of a relationship.”

  “Oh, very funny. He's fine. Except yesterday…” I let my voice trail off.

  Tabatha took off running with that kernel of gossip. “Oh my God, we wasted time on all the niceties for the last whole minute. Tell me everything. Did you two shag?”

  “What? No. But we did kiss.”

  On the other end of the line, Tabatha whooped. “I knew it. I knew being in paradise would ignite the passion. And does he remember?”

  “You said yourself, the effects of the drug we gave him are like GHB. He won't remember. And I very much think the kiss was for the mission, not because he wanted to.”

  “Bullshit. Was there tongue?”

  I thought back to the way his tongue slid over mine. The way his hand fisted in my hair, tugging just a little to give enough bite to excite me but not so much as to hurt. I thought of the way he groaned low in his throat. And I thought of the way the thick pulsing length of his erection had nestled up against my core, practically begging for entrance. But I didn't tell Tabatha any of this. Instead, I just said, “Yes, there was tongue.”