Mark Vincent has risen from senior special agent to Director of Interior Affairs in the WBIS. Lately, life has been sweet for him -- in addition to his promotion, he's found a partner in Quinton Mann, who can almost match his ability in the intelligence field, in spite of the fact Quinn's CIA. Mark has also found a condo in Alexandria with the help of Portia Mann, Quinn's mother, and it's closer to Quinn's town house than Mark's present apartment. Sweetest of all, Mark plans to take Quinn to his island in the Caribbean for the holidays.<br><br>Quinn's glad he has the holiday with Mark to look forward to -- something is going on at Langley, and he feels he's being kept out of the loop. To make matters even worse, useless missions and sleepless nights filled with nightmares are leaving him exhausted. But then his mother's life if threatened, and Quinn discovers the accident that resulted in her hospitalization was no accident. The obsessively self-absorbed Senator Wexler is involved, and while Quinn considers himself a civilized man, now he's out for blood.<br><br>Up until this point, Mark has stayed out of Quinn's CIA business. But hurting Quinn and those he loves isn't a smart move, and Mark has every intention of seeing Wexler pays. Quinn demands to come along, and while Mark isn't happy, he finally agrees, and they set out together to deal with the senator. There's just one catch: this will be the first time Quinn sees Mark at his deadly best, and Mark isn't sure how his lover will react.

Forever

A glance through the peephole revealed an all-too-familiar face. What the fuck was Novotny doing here? He was supposed to be going up to New York. I didn’t bother wondering how he’d gotten past the gates. I’d known they were shit from the moment I’d seen them. Even a Feeb could bypass them.


I unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Yeah?”


He glowered at me and stepped aside to reveal a dolly with a number of boxes stacked on it.


“Just get out of the way, would you?”


He wheeled the dolly into the foyer. He saw the Glock in my hand and curled his lip in a sneer. “I don’t know what Portia—Mrs. Mann—”


“Oh, come off it, Novotny. I know she’s more to you than just an employer.”


“Huh?” I realized what he thought I meant, and I was tempted to clock him. “Are you out of that pea-brained Czech mind of yours? I meant I know you’ve been part of the family for forever.”


Chapter 78