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Caleb Copeland leaned over the ship's railing, looking on as the trio below sipped champagne and chatted under a string of lights that offered scant illumination. Alex was half turned away from him, looking remarkable in a summer dress, her tanned, bare shoulders drawing him in like a moth to a flame. The allure was intoxicating and impossible to ignore. Her pull on him was undeniable, whether she wore a ghillie suit, tactical gear, or a bare-shouldered dress.

They first met on a mission in the Netherlands involving a high-octane helicopter chase where he witnessed firsthand her world-renowned sniper skills. He was there in his capacity as a CIA paramilitary operations officer and branch chief, offering tactical support on a matter of national security deemed to be of the highest priority to the United States. To that end, he was there to enlist Alex into the Central Intelligence Agency and onto his team. She was an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol and a decorated soldier. He needed her unique skill set, so was determined to alter that arrangement. But Alex being Alex, she had rebuffed his recruitment efforts.

At the time, no one could have predicted that Alex would become the central figure and hero in a story fit for Hollywood. Most of the details of that operation would remain classified for decades to come, but the hunt for a stolen thermonuclear bomb had almost ended with the destruction of one of the world's greatest cities. Paris was still recovering from its near miss with catastrophe. If not for Alex's stubbornness and disregard for her personal safety, the powerful nuke would have detonated below the City of Light. Not only would Paris have been obliterated, but the global order would have been forever altered.

Alex, he learned, was a force of nature greater even than the nuclear weapon she had saved Paris from. Following the incident, his recruitment of her to his team within Ground Branch had been a success, even if it had taken some secret backroom brokering from CIA deputy director Kadeisha Thomas to finish the deal.

Alex was now a CIA contractor, a paramilitary operations officer on Caleb's elite team inside Ground Branch. And yet there she sat—her inner warrior concealed beneath the camouflage of a floral dress.

Reality is merely an illusion.

Madame Clicquot sat to Alex's right: the shepherd dog next to the lamb. Who was who depended on the circumstances. The man with them was Clicquot's boyfriend and the multibillionaire owner of Aurora. Caleb had yet to make his acquaintance but recognized Valtteri from his file.

As he watched the threesome chatting below, he heard someone approaching from behind.

"Are you ready, Mr. Copeland?" a man said. Caleb nodded. "I'll give you that tour now, starting with the security office and armory. My boss tells me that's what you were hoping to see first."

"It is," Caleb replied.

"I'm Jocko. Mr. Street mentioned you're Special Forces."

"Ex, but that was a long time ago."

"And now?"

"And now I'd be very interested in looking around this amazing vessel."

The security officer nodded. Caleb acknowledged his discretion with a smile and a clap on the back. "Lead on, Jocko."

* * *

"Alex," said Celeste. "I'd like to introduce you to Valtteri."

His bearing was bold, confident. A breeze tousled his wavy blond hair, and his smile revealed shallow dimples and laugh lines that gave him an amiable appearance. As he leaned forward, the patio lights illuminated his fiery eyes.

"It is great to finally meet you, Alex. Celeste has told me so much about you."

"I'm afraid she has kept you a secret until now."

"Not a secret," Celeste corrected. "We're just being discreet."

"Celeste detests the mere whiff of a scandal," said Valtteri.

"And would this be one?"

"Not in the least," said Celeste. "But one's personal life should be just that—personal."

Alex couldn't have agreed more.

"Shall I refresh our drinks?" Valtteri asked, raising a bottle he held at his side. But before he could refill their glasses—

The ship rocked as a series of concussive blasts echoed across the sea.