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

“Don’t get passive-aggressive on me, Mann.”


“Is that what I’m doing?” He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “Look. I’ve grown…fond…of you. The last thing I want is for you to have problems at work because you’re involved with me.”


“Yeah? You planning on breaking up with me, then?”


“You can be the thickest man in the universe, Vincent. No, I’m not breaking up with you. But…” But I knew the WBIS wouldn’t react well to the knowledge that its best senior special agent—even though he was no longer in the field—was having an affair with an officer of the CIA. “…if there are any difficulties—”


“I’ll deal with any problems that come along. Not that I’m anticipating any.”


Cesare came to the table just then, bearing two shallow bowls. “Poached peaches topped with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce.” He kissed his fingers and grinned broadly.


Chapter 110