RADLEY MOORE ENTERED the numerical code into the keypad lock, opening her front door, and breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped inside. She never would’ve expected to get tangled up in her own troubles again, but here she was—watching her back just after she’d bought her first place in Seattle and taken a new, full-time position with Shadow Security.

The anonymous texts she’d gotten earlier were vague, but she’d show them to the boss man. The last thing she needed were threats to her affecting the men she’d be working with. At the moment? She wanted a few minutes to decompress and soothe her frayed nerves.

Crossing the sleek foyer of her luxury condo, she dropped her leather backpack onto the table, running a hand through her long, dark hair, and unzipped her heeled, black boots. She breezed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Stainless steel appliances and granite countertops gleamed before her, and a brief smile crossed her face. She’d worked her ass off over the years to save up for her first home, and she’d done it—made a hefty down payment, taken out a mortgage, and moved in.

She took another swig of water and let her eyes sweep over the space, taking in the fancy coffee maker, toaster oven, and other small appliances lining the counters. Everything was brand new, and in a sense, it felt like this was also a new start for her—a second lease on life. While she hadn’t imagined herself ending up in the Pacific Northwest, here she was.

Home sweet home.

Except Radley wasn’t safe here either.

She briefly looked up to the ceiling, the frustration and pain from previous years nearly overwhelming her. She’d made it this far and wouldn’t ever go down without fighting. No one would snatch away her hard-won success or freedom.

And blaming her for the wrongdoings of others? That was also a hell no.

Irritation roiled through her at the texts she’d received. Nothing like dredging up the past to heap a steaming pile of bad memories on her.

After separating from the government, Radley had been taking freelance jobs with her sister from their vast network of contacts. They’d had a number of successful years working together, except Riley was happy in Oahu now. Radley could hear the excitement in her sister’s voice every time they spoke. The job she was working was big, but the other changes coming were even bigger. Her sister was clearly in love with the man she was seeing—Sawyer “Saint” Collins. Riley and Sawyer were almost like two magnets drawn together. They were total opposites upon first glance, but once they were flipped around? Nothing would separate them.

It was tough to know her sister wouldn’t be back, but it had also given Radley the encouragement she needed to take a leap of her own. She’d met Shadow Security founder Jett Hutchinson years ago while serving overseas, gathering intelligence in the Middle East. At the time, Jett’s Delta Force team had worked in a joint operation with Radley and her colleagues, tracking down a high-value target, or HVT, and bringing him to justice. It was quite a small world to reconnect with Jett all these years later, half a world away. He’d introduced her to Holt Blackwell, and that was that. Radley was now working out of Seattle with the Shadow Ops: Bravo Team.

Radley and her sister were both former government operatives. They’d run assets, collected intelligence, and spent a substantial amount of time overseas. It had been good—until it hadn’t. Radley had been burned by a colleague and needed to fly back to the States ASAP to get out of danger. Riley had been livid, departing with Radley under the cover of night.

She still recalled their conversation years ago, after they were safely back in the States, the fallout from the betrayal making Radley’s future crumble right before her eyes.

“And what would we do if we quit the agency?” Radley asked in a hushed tone, anger coursing through her bloodstream.

Riley’s eyes flashed, reflecting her own feelings of anger. “We start freelancing. Taking side jobs. Doing our own thing, making our own rules.”

A feeling of resolve washed over Radley. Warm. Sure. Steady. Confidence bloomed in her chest. She and Riley were equipped to complete ops in a way most others never would be. They had training others could only dream of. Skills. Knowledge. Connections.

They’d take on jobs themselves—and they’d bring in the man who’d wronged her.

Reality crashed back into her. While the man who’d betrayed her was in jail, Radley was still being targeted. Watched. Likely by her attacker’s friends. This was hardly how she’d planned to start her new job, but that was neither here nor there. The irony of the Shadow Ops team working covert ops wasn’t lost on her. Maybe the man taunting her thought she really was with a regular security firm. He might assume her coworkers had some beef and brawn but no cloak and dagger skills.

And that was where he was dead wrong.

She’d find out who was taunting her and end him as well, wrapping up her past with a neat little bow. Onward and upward.

Glancing around the kitchen, she moved back into the foyer to grab her leather backpack, retrieving her cell phone. It was a shit way to start her new job, but that couldn’t be helped. Radley quickly swiped the screen and shot off a text to Holt.

Radley: Bad news, boss. My past may already be causing some problems.

Radley: I had a tail today.

His reply was immediate, as brusque and down-to-business as his personality.

Holt: Any idea who it is?

Radley: I’m working on it. I received several texts from someone who knows exactly where I’ve been every day this week.

Holt: God damn it. It’s always something with these assholes.

Holt: Forward the texts to IT. Are you still a go for your first assignment?

Radley: Affirmative. Consider it done.

Holt: I’ll send one of the guys to meet you there.

She bristled. Radley didn’t need protection, and she certainly didn’t need a man to be the one providing it. She was highly trained, just like the former Special Ops soldiers she’d be working with. While it was true they had different skill sets, she wasn’t charging in to an enemy compound in Afghanistan with RPGs being launched at her. She’d be on the outskirts of Seattle, safe on U.S. soil. She’d be on a scouting mission, not storming a terrorist cell compound alone.

He didn’t respond, and she silently fumed. It wasn’t a great idea to start off on the wrong foot by arguing with the boss, but damn. Radley could handle herself just fine.

“Argh!” she finally cried out, frustrated.

While she hadn’t met the team yet, she’d passed by them on her rush out earlier. She’d had barely a second to ascertain that they were all big, muscular men. Of course they were. They were former Delta Force soldiers. While she hadn’t worked with these guys in particular, she knew the type. Jett and his old teammates had been excellent to collaborate with in the Middle East. They’d relied on her analytic skill set and clandestine gathering of intelligence just as much as her team had relied on their strength and firepower.

While Radley might not be a former soldier, she was highly trained by the U.S. government. She could evade detection, handle weapons, drive defensively, run assets, along with a whole host of skills that were unnecessary in most other walks of life.

If Holt didn’t realize Radley could hold her own on a simple reconnaissance mission, then why the hell had he hired her?

Shaking her head as she scrolled through her contacts, she clicked on Riley’s name. Hawaii was two hours behind Pacific Standard Time. Hopefully she’d catch Riley before she headed to her job as a waitress—her undercover job, at that. Riley was working on her own classified assignment in Oahu.

The phone rang, and then her sister’s voice was on the line, instantly brightening her mood “Hi! How’d it go today?” Riley immediately asked.

A slow grin spread across Radley’s face. “Good, actually. I thought I’d be nervous officially signing on the dotted line, but it felt like the step I needed.”

“It’ll work out. Jett handpicked all the guys himself. I never had any qualms about working with Jett or his men overseas when they were still in the Army.”

“Me either,” Radley told her. “Too bad I couldn’t say the same about our own colleagues,” she added darkly.

“Fuck David Schultz and the Humvee he rode in on,” Riley said, causing Radley to chuckle.

“At least he’s rotting away in jail now,” Radley conceded. “How are things in sunny Honolulu? And how’s lover boy?” she teased.

“We’re definitely not lovers,” Riley retorted.

“Uh-huh. I don’t believe that for a minute. Think you’ll head back to Seattle when it’s over?” Radley asked lightly. The answer to that was a big fat no, but it wouldn’t kill Riley to admit she was staying in Hawaii. Permanently. Her sister had fallen for the Navy SEAL she was working with. Convenient, that. While Radley wouldn’t normally advise mixing work with play, it had worked out in this case.

There was silence on the other end of the line. “I’m not sure,” Riley finally told her.

“Uh-huh. And why is that?” Radley sassed. Her lips quirked as she crossed back into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of water she’d left there earlier.

“Lover boy,” Riley admitted.

Radley laughed, practically feeling gleeful. “Exactly. Although from what you’ve told me about Sawyer, I highly doubt he’d ever want to be called lover boy. I’m happy you’re happy,” she admitted. “And hey, you’re welcome to stay here if you want to come visit. Although who’d want to trade sunny Hawaii for gloomy Seattle?”

“Trade it? Not a chance. But coming to see you is always a yes.”

“Just name the day,” Radley said. “I’ll get the guest room all set up. I can’t believe I’m officially a homeowner now—well, a condo owner, at any rate.”

“A condo is a home. And yours is in a luxury building, nonetheless. It looked amazing in the pictures you sent. You’re living the high life now,” Riley teased.

“Something like that. You’re the one with a man, but hey—I’m perfectly happy to stay single. Forever.”

She could almost picture her sister rolling her eyes. “You say that now, sure, but we both know you’re going to meet the right guy and—bam. Fireworks. Explosions.”

“That’ll probably just be me blowing his shit up when I’m mad,” Radley said dryly.

“You’ve always had a quick temper,” Riley said with a laugh. “But no, Rad, even you are going to fall head over high heels for a man eventually. He’ll probably need to have a gruff, take-no-shit kind of personality to put up with your temper, but his big dick will make it worth it.”

Radley nearly choked on her water.

“You okay there, sis?” Riley teased.

“I’m fine. And damn. I’ll admit my vibrator isn’t the same as the real deal, but it also doesn’t expect me to cook it dinner every night.” She was grinning now, just getting into her element. She missed her sister, she realized. They’d lived together for several years after leaving the government, and it wasn’t the same having to pick up the phone any time she wanted to talk.

“Speaking of dinner, I’ve got to head into work soon. Gotta get there before the dinner crowd and all that jazz.”

“Gotcha. One more thing before you go,” Radley said, frowning. “You haven’t gotten any weird texts lately, have you?”

“I’m guessing you don’t mean from Sawyer,” Riley said, suddenly all business. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, but I think someone has been following me the past week in Seattle. Either that or they’re tracking my phone or vehicle. I got some texts this afternoon, and whoever sent them knew every move I’ve made over the past few days.”

“That’s creepy. Did they threaten you?” Riley asked, her voice filled with tension.

“They claimed they were going to expose some wrongdoings I’d committed. It was pretty fucking vague, to be honest, but I don’t like that I’m being watched.”

“Me either. Think it’s related to Schultz?”

“Most likely, although we’ve been in our fair share of shit over the years, so it could be something else. We weren’t exactly making new friends helping to bring in terrorists overseas,” Radley said.

“And that dickbag exposed you. Be careful,” Riley said.

Radley’s thoughts churned. When the bastard who’d assaulted her had realized she was going to the higher-ups, he’d leaked her name. Ruined her cover. She’d fled the country with her sister, but her photo was still out there. And clearly, someone was watching her. It fucking sucked to realize she not only had to worry about danger from the evil men they’d tracked overseas but also from evil men in her own country—from within her former agency. Just because Schultz was locked up didn’t mean others weren’t involved in the cover-up.

“Did you hear me?” Riley asked. “I said to be careful.”

“Always. It was disturbing to realize my movements are being tracked. I’ve barely gotten settled here in Seattle.”

“Maybe someone from the agency wants to offer you your old job back.”

“Ha. Unlikely, and not that I’d ever return.”

“What’s your new boss say?”

“Holt wants me to forward the messages to the guys in IT. I’ll probably have to loop in Bravo Team as well. The newest guy just came on board today. They’re doing their own teambuilding session, but we have an all-hands soon. I’ll officially meet everyone then.”

“Keep me posted,” Riley said. “You know I’ll do whatever I can from here.”

“You’ve got your own case to deal with,” Radley reminded her.

“And I certainly can handle more. I mean it, Rad. Send me whatever info IT finds out. If someone is tracking you, there’s a good chance they’ll come looking for me, too.”

“I know.” Her phone buzzed with an incoming text, and she tensed for a moment before realizing it was someone she knew. “Hey, I gotta go. I’ve been chasing down something and just heard back from my contact.”

The women said their goodbyes, and Radley swiped to read the text that had just come in. It was nothing more than an address, but it was an additional clue. She slid her phone into her back pocket, her thoughts whirling as she strode through her new place.

Her eyes swept the empty living room, furnished with nothing more than a single sofa and entry-way table. She needed furniture. Art work. Cozy little throw blankets and decorative pillows. Maybe a plush rug in front of the gas fireplace where she and her lover could get busy in front of a roaring fire. Except wait—she was alone. And the last man she’d trusted, as a mere colleague, had betrayed her in the worst way possible.

She moved down the hall to her bedroom, her thoughts turning stormy once more. Radley had wandered the world for so long, it was somewhat surprising that she’d chosen to put down roots here in Seattle of all places. It wasn’t even sunny or warm.

She trusted Jett with her life, however. In turn, that meant she trusted Holt and the team of men she’d be working with.

And if it didn’t work out? She’d been on her own before, taking assignments with Riley, and she’d do it again if necessary. One thing Radley knew for certain—she would never depend on a man when she was one-hundred-percent capable of providing for and defending herself. Radley was a force to be reckoned with, and the men of Bravo Team would find that out sooner rather than later.