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

I knew the coat meant a lot to her. It had been given to her by her husband; Nigel Mann had been the love of her life. I also knew that since she’d been widowed in ‘78, she had never been involved with another man.


“I guess she was touched by both our gifts.” I rested my fingers on Quinn’s hips, kneading them.


“She never asked what happened to it, you know. I guess she assumed it was too ruined to salvage and didn’t want to know if I’d had to dispose of it.”


“You’re a good man. Y’know something, Quinn? I—” I realized what I’d been about to say and quickly changed it. “—I’m glad you realized it was me and not Skip Patterson who interviewed your mother.”


His hand was warm on the back of my neck, and he urged me down for another kiss. But before our lips touched, he murmured, “Y’know something, Mark? So am I.”


Chapter 97