Caleb

Prologue

Caleb ~

Caleb and the rest of Bravo team sat around a conference room table, going over the logistics of their next assignment. The light from the projector flickered on the screen in front of them displaying pictures of the high profile political family they had been hired to protect for the next five weeks.

Ricardo Flores was one of the wealthiest men in Colombia and was quickly gaining political support in his run for President. While his anti-corruption platform had gathered heavy support from the people, the mob bosses of Colombia who relied on government corruption were less than thrilled. In fact his run for president had painted targets on his entire family's back, prompting the need to beef up his security in a major way.

Caleb's eyes were trained on the screen as the pictures of each client began populating. The first picture was of Ricardo Flores and his wife Camila who looked every bit as rich as they were, followed by a picture of Ricardo's eldest son, James, who had quite a playboy reputation according to the tabloids and looked the part. The last picture on the screen was one that Caleb had become particularly fond of over the past five days of meetings, Ricardo's daughter, Elaina.

Her picture was in every file that Caleb had received that week and there she was again, displayed prominently on the screen, stealing Caleb's focus and clouding his thoughts for the hundredth time. His blood pounded a little faster through his veins and he could practically feel his pupils dilate as they settled onto her face.

Jesus. She's so damn beautiful.

Not just beautiful, but easily the most attractive woman Caleb had ever laid eyes on, hands down, bar none, without a doubt.

Maybe it was Elaina's long dark hair that fell in loose waves against her perfect olive skin, or her big bright eyes that were either light green or light brown - he couldn't quite decide because they looked a little different in every picture, but they were bright and genuine nonetheless.

This is the fifth meeting we've had this week and this girl still has me coming unglued. What the hell is wrong with me?

It wasn't just his intense attraction to her that was alarming, but something else - something that was unhinging Caleb's nerves one by one. He felt a deep familiarity with Elaina every time he looked at her which was nearly impossible for him to rationalize. Each time he laid eyes on her, it was like a tiny voice sounded from within him as if to say - Hey wait a minute, I know you. Which was ridiculous because it was definitely the first time he'd seen her, and Elaina was not the type of woman who could be easily forgotten.

Choosing to deny and suppress the strange feelings of recognition, he decided to chalk it up to lust or infatuation because that was much easier to explain and much easier to accept.

I'm a man and she's insanely attractive. This is lust, intense physical attraction, because I've been going through a dry spell. It's as simple and harmless as that. Every man in this room is probably thinking the same thing about her, I just suck at hiding it.

Shaking his head as if he were trying to physically rid himself of his attraction to her, Caleb cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, eliciting a wide grin from Pierce who knew exactly why he was so restless.

Get your shit under control Caleb. She's a client - an assignment. Quit acting like a horny teenager and pay attention to the damn briefing.

Physically forcing his eyes from the screen, Caleb refocused his attention onto Axel who was the leader of Alpha team and currently in charge of briefing them on the secondary objective of their assignment.

Turns out the job was going to be bigger than a simple babysitting gig. Much bigger. As in Mafia, money laundering, and terrorism big, and the Flores family was caught right in the middle of it all.

"Boys you've got a ticket to the big show and we're gonna need you to take full advantage of that. Running security for the Flores family will be your primary objective, but that also means you'll be surrounded by some serious mob bosses in the Colombian mafia - ones that the CIA and Homeland have a particular interest in at the moment. Your secondary objective is to gather as much intelligence as you can and relay it back to Alpha team."

"No offense Ax, but shouldn't your CIA buddies be able to infiltrate and gather the intel you need? Happy to pick up the slack, but wondering why we're needed." Declan asked the question all four men were thinking.

"That's just it, even the spooks can't get a foothold in the inner circles that you'll have access to. Remember the mafia members you'll be dealing with aren't the thugs you're used to, they are the wealthy elite - the top one percent of Colombia. Their businesses are family run and exclusive to the point where the CIA can't breach the inner workings."

"So what are we looking for, Ax?" Pierce asked, flipping open the file in front of him.

"The extremists we've been tracking are plotting some major shit and using the mafia ties in Colombia to launder the money that funds their operations. Problem is we can't figure out who's runnin' the show. The corruption in Colombia runs so deep and lips are so tightly sealed that we can't narrow down our suspect pool. That's where you come in. We need your intel to figure out who's laundering the money."

"I've given you a file of the heavy hitters along with their ties to the Flores family so you know what to look and listen for."

Axel paused, giving Bravo team enough time to open the files he had given them.

"Each family member will offer up different intel. Ricardo Flores himself and his daughter Elaina will provide the most insight on his political and business affiliates."

"Why would Elaina have insight into Ricardo's business affiliates?" Marcus asked.

"Elaina works closely with her father and has recently taken on more responsibility at his company to allow him to focus more on his campaign trail." Axel answered.

"James, Ricardo's son, will be able to give you more perspective into the social dynamics. He runs a string of upscale clubs and bars that are frequented by many of the mob bosses. And lastly Camila, Ricardo's wife and step mother to both James and Elaina, frequently socializes with the wives and family members of more than half of the heavy hitters on our list."

This assignment was going to be anything, but easy and Caleb knew he should be giving Axel more of his attention, but he couldn't help himself. As hard as he tried to force his eyes down to the folder in his lap they somehow managed to drift back up to Elaina's picture on the screen.

A large foot nudged the leg of Caleb's chair, jarring his body and breaking his concentration. The foot belonged to Pierce who was giving him a wide toothy smile as if he could read Caleb's mind.

Fucking Pierce.

The truth was, Caleb's iron clad self control that he had once prided himself on was slipping, which was okay for the time being because he was just staring at a picture. What the hell was he going to do when she was standing right in front of him, living under the same roof for the next five weeks?

Dragging his hand backwards through his hair, Caleb leaned back in his chair and blew out a hard breath.

I'm in big trouble. 

*******************************