Night Life. Katherine Garbera

      “Hey, boss lady, I hate to tell you this, but underneath that beautiful face, you’ve got some nasty habits.”

      She punched his shoulder and he laughed. Orly was one of the few people she really trusted. She knew his secrets and he knew hers. There was balance in their relationship, unlike her marriage to Kane, which was…not. She had no one to blame but herself.

      “You okay?” he asked.

      She crossed to the window. The night sky was clear and the half moon cast long shadows on the landscaped lawn. A breeze blew and the trees swayed lightly with it, their shadows moving across the lawn. “I’m restless.”

      Orly moved to stand next to her, dropping his arm across her shoulders. “I wanna say—hot damn, this is a good thing but you don’t sound happy about this.”

      “I have a son now.”

      “Do you want me to find something more exciting than installing a security system for a bed-and-breakfast?”

      She shrugged. She could justify many things in her mind, but endangering her son she couldn’t do. And she couldn’t be an agent and be a mother. She didn’t have an on-off switch that she could toggle from protective nurturer to avenger. “Not yet.”

      She wanted to go back to her old job. But then she’d have to really find a nanny for Dylan and another bodyguard, because Orly would be with her. And she couldn’t do that. Not yet. Maybe once Dylan started school. God, what a mess. She who’d vowed to never put her life on hold for any man was torn because of two. One she’d loved too much to keep, and the other—she glanced over at her sleeping son—the other was her entire life.

      A subtle beep emitted from the pager on Dylan’s dresser. Intruder. She crossed the room to the Monet Seashore painting and swung it to the left. A quick glance at the crib showed Dylan across the room, sleeping undisturbed. The lighted monitor indicated someone moving from the kitchen toward the west wing and the bedrooms.

      God, it had been so long since they’d had to deal with anything like this. She wished Kane were home. Orly was good but he wasn’t Kane. And when your home was being invaded, you wanted your husband around.

      “Is that your girl?” Sasha asked.

      “Uh, no. She’s tied to the bed.”

      “Go untie her and take Dylan with you. Hole up until I give you the signal.”

      “What are you going to be doing?” he asked. She knew that he didn’t care for this any more than she did. If there was one thing she knew about her partner, it was that he hated hiding out as much as she did. But only one of them was needed to neutralize their visitor and she was the senior partner.

      “Taking care of our intruder.”

      “You don’t have a weapon,” he said.

      “I’ll get one.”

      Sasha moved silently through the house. She’d swung by her bedroom to remove the 9 mm Glock that fit her hand as if it was made for her. She wondered if her past had finally caught up with her, and felt more than a moment’s fear that she wouldn’t be able to rise to the task. Sure, she had a lifetime of training, but lately the most exciting thing she’d done was organizing a playdate with a group of moms from her neighborhood.

      She trusted Kane and his security measures to protect their son. Forgetting that Nightshade had more enemies than most agents and that her husband had become a man she didn’t really know anymore.

      She tucked the Glock into the holster at the small of her back. The intruder moved quickly and Sasha moved back into the shadows, waiting for him to pass her position. As soon as he did, she attacked him from behind with a side kick that connected solidly to his midsection. He countered with a sweeping roundhouse kick that caught her shoulder. Sasha stepped to the left and countered with a back-kick, front-jab combo that pushed her assailant up against the wall.

      Family pictures rattled under the impact but the intruder paused, facing her. His eyes were the color of the ocean on a stormy day, though she couldn’t see them clearly in this light. Husky in build and slightly over six feet tall. In fact, he reminded her a bit of…

      “Dammit, girl. Can’t a father visit his only child without it turning into a sparring match? You’re rusty, by the way,” her dad growled. Sergeant Major Mitch Malone pulled her close for a bear hug. Her old man smelled of Cuban cigars, which were the only ones he smoked. He always said that damn embargo was a foolish, political waste of time.

      “Most fathers ring the doorbell. Besides, I’m retired, I’m entitled to be rusty.”

      “Didn’t want to wake my grandson,” he said. He was dressed in battle fatigues and combat boots. He was armed as well with the same Colt .45 he’d carried since she’d been born.

      “How’d you get here?” she asked, leading him down the hall to the kitchen.

      “Military transport via Germany.”

      Sasha was breathing hard and struggling not to show it. She closed her eyes for a moment as relief swamped her. She’d held her own. She wasn’t as out of shape as she’d feared she might be. She also felt that seductive rush of adrenaline that only came from facing an enemy and outsmarting him. Her father moved into the room as if he was on a recon mission.

      The kitchen was big and airy and filled with shadows. She scanned the space before turning on the lights.

      This didn’t bode well. She hit the intercom switch and informed Orly that the intruder had been neutralized and that the sergeant major was in the house.

      “Who says I’ve been neutralized?” her dad asked.

      She gave her dad a wry glance. Her father had more gray in his hair now, but otherwise he still was the toughest-looking man she’d ever seen. “I do.”

      He shrugged and said in that smart-ass way of his, “I’d call it a stalemate. You weren’t exactly kicking my butt.”

      She didn’t want to discuss her own failings. Taking her time getting back into shape since giving birth to Dylan had made sense. Motherhood was her chief focus now.

      But the old man was right. She’d been slow and sloppy tonight; if anyone other than her dad had broken in she’d have been in big trouble.

      Instead of dwelling on that, she said, “Why are you here?”

      “You need to come out of retirement.”

      “We’ve been over this before. I’m a wife and mother now.” Even though Kane had argued that she was too young to retire, Sasha had stood firm. She was also not sure she could keep everything balanced. Being a mom was tougher than she’d thought it would be.

      “Kane needs you.”

      Blood rushed in her ears and she had to sit down. Kane hadn’t really needed her. That’s one of the reasons he’d left. “What do you mean?”

      No matter how she felt about her relationship, she wasn’t ready to give up on it. Though things were strained between the two of them, neither of them had left.

      “Townsend has surfaced again and he’s up to his old tricks with HMIA.”

      “I’m sure Kane will catch Townsend. He’s one of Her Majesty’s best men.”

      “Not anymore.”

      “Dad, stop talking in circles. What are you trying to say?”

      “Hold up a sec then I’ll tell you.”

      Pulling a small wandlike device from his back pocket, her father made a slow sweep of the room. She rolled her eyes as she watched him work. Sasha and Orly swept for bugs routinely. Her father took paranoia to new extremes. There were no bugs in her house as of three days ago.

      She took no chances with the safety of this house, especially now that Kane had moved back to London. Security