Last Hope Read online

  “Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick are a force to be reckoned with!”*

  Praise for

  LAST BREATH

  “Clare and Frederick have penned a sexy, thrilling romantic suspense with a strong heroine and a to-die-for hero. Romance readers won’t want to miss their latest.”

  —Smexy Books

  “Dark, gritty, but filled with hope . . . an action-packed, emotionally driven story that will have you reading the pages quicker than you can turn them . . . dial[s] up the action to an almost breakneck speed.”

  —*A Love Affair with Books

  “Interesting and wonderful characters . . . I’m happy to report that Clare and Frederick knocked this one out of the park for me.”

  —The Book Pushers

  “Far exceeded my expectations. It appears as if there is nothing these ladies can’t write about, and I anxiously await to see what they will do.”

  —The Muses’ Circle

  “I’m seriously at a loss for words to describe to you how good this book is. It has everything you could ask for. There’s tons of action and suspense. But somehow there are tons of sweet and sexy moments in this and it just all works together so well . . . I cannot stress enough how much I think you should read this series and particularly this book. It’s one of a kind and you won’t regret it.”

  —All Romance Reviews

  “Crazy hot.”

  —TheBookHookUp.com

  “Very intense book with a good mix of sex [and] action.”

  —TheFlirtyReader.com

  “From the first page to the last I was hooked . . . definitely a unique read.”

  —ReadLoveLust.com

  Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare

  “Blazing hot.”

  —USA Today

  “Sexy.”

  —Smexy Books

  “Sizzling! Jessica Clare gets everything right in this erotic and sexy romance . . . You need to read this book!”

  —Romance Junkies

  Praise for the novels of USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick

  “Sexy and sinful.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Katy Evans

  “I love these strong characters.”

  —Sizzling Pages Romance Reviews

  “Wonderful . . . I wholly recommend you read it.”

  —Nocturnal Book Reviews

  TITLES BY JESSICA CLARE AND JEN FREDERICK

  THE HITMAN SERIES

  Last Hit

  Last Breath

  Last Kiss

  Last Hope

  Last Hit: Reloaded

  (Intermix)

  OTHER TITLES BY JESSICA CLARE

  THE BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB

  Stranded with a Billionaire

  Beauty and the Billionaire

  The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed

  Once Upon a Billionaire

  Romancing the Billionaire

  One Night with the Billionaire

  BILLIONAIRES AND BRIDESMAIDS

  The Billionaire and the Virgin

  Taming of the Billionaire

  THE BLUEBONNET NOVELS

  The Girl’s Guide to (Man) Hunting

  The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male

  The Expert’s Guide to Driving a Man Wild

  The Virgin’s Guide to Misbehaving

  OTHER TITLES BY JEN FREDERICK

  WOODLANDS SERIES

  Undeclared

  Undressed in the anthology Snow Kissed

  Unspoken

  Unraveled

  JACKSON BOYS

  The Charlotte Chronicles

  KERR CHRONICLES

  Losing Control

  Taking Control

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  Copyright © 2015 by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  BERKLEY® and the “B” design are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-19682-7

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Clare, Jessica.

  Last hope / Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick.—Berkley trade paperback edition.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-425-28153-6

  I. Frederick, Jen. II. Title.

  PS3603.L353L372 2015

  813'.6—dc23

  2015018839

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / September 2015

  Cover photo by ImageBrief.

  Cover design by Meljean Brook.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Version_1

  To Mick,

  who is the best.

  We would be lost without you.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  We want to thank all those bloggers who came together at the last minute and posted about Last Kiss. We *heart* you so much.

  A Beautiful Book Blog

  A Dirty Book Affair

  A Love Affair With Books

  AalyandTheBooks

  All Romance Reviews

  Booklover4lifeblog

  Ariella’s Bookshelf

  Book Hooked

  Books to Breathe

  Charlie & Mel’s Book Reviews

  Escape Into A Book

  Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

  I LOVE STORY TIME

  Jacqueline’s Reads

  Lindy Lu Book Review

  Maine Book Momma

  Nic’s Novel Idea

  Ogitchida Kwe’s Book Blog

  Radical Reads Book Blog

  Read It Woman

  Read-Love-Blog

  Reading in Pajamas

  Recommended Romance

  Seeing Night Book Reviews

  She Hearts Books

  Sugar & Spice, Smutty & Nice Book Reviews

  The Book Fairy Reviews

  The Book Goddess

  The Reading Ruth

  Twin Sisters Rockin’ Book Reviews

  Two Book Pushers

  Written Revelry

  2 Girls a Book & a Glass of Wine

  A Reader Who Reads

  Angie’s Lil Neck of da Author World

  Confessions of a Y.A. and N.A. Book Addict

  Ellesea Loves Reading

  Erotic Romance Book Blog With Sandy

  Four Chicks Flipping Pages

  Kimmy Loves to Read

  Lina’s Reviews: A Book Blog

  Naughty Book Eden

  Nicely Phrased

  Not Another Damn Blog-Blog

  Prone to Crushes on Boys in Books

  Reading Is Sexy

  Red Moon (Silence Is Read)

  Reviews by Tammy and Kim

  Sassy Moms Say Read Romance

  Sinamen Reads Romance

  Susan’s Books I Like

  The Book Blog

  The Flare Up Book Blog

  Thoughts of an Avid Reader

  T
reat Yourself with Books

  Turner’s Antics

  Twisted Sisters’ Book Reviews

  Valley of the Book Doll

  The Bad Ass Book Blog

  Best of Both Worlds: Books & Naughtiness

  BestSellers & BestStellars

  Book Loving Pixies

  Book Musings & Wine Pairings

  ByoBook Club

  Cat’s Guilty Pleasure

  Collector of book boyfriends

  Diary of a Book Addict

  Fictional Rendezvous Book Blog

  Hot Guys in Books

  Jo&Isalovebooks

  Jodie’s W.I.N.E. List

  Marebare’s Book Shelf

  Margay Leah Justice

  Momma’s Secret Book Obsession

  My Favorite Things

  Nerdy Chic

  Nerdy Soul

  Obsessive Reading Disorder

  OldVictorianQuill

  Reading Drinking and Relaxing

  Ripe For Reader

  Sexy Bibliophiles

  Sexy Vixen Reader

  Smut and Bon Bons

  Smut Book Junkie Book Reviews

  Sogni di Marzapane

  Straight Shootin’ Book Reviews

  Sultry, Steamy Reading

  Summer’s Book Blog

  Sweet & Spicy Tales

  Tantalizing Reviews

  The Ultimate Fan Blog

  Travels n Reads

  Vera Is Reading

  Warrior Woman Winmill

  Wicked Women Book Blog

  Wild and Dirty Book Blog

  Shout-out to the Chroniclers Facebook Group and the Games, Billionaires & More Facebook Group. Thanks for making every day a bright one.

  CONTENTS

  Praise for Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick

  Titles by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  RAFAEL

  “How come it’s always the pretty ones that end up working for these fuckups?” Bennito Vasquez is twenty-five years old. He has a head full of dark curls and no problems with the ladies but he still takes it as a personal insult when there is a beautiful woman out of his reach, and they don’t get more inaccessible than Ava Samson.

  “Because they’re dumb.” This conclusion is from Rodrigo. At thirty-two he’s practically the old man of our group. But they all look up to me, which makes me feel far older than my thirty-five years of age.

  “She’s not dumb,” Garcia mutters. He’s my right-hand man. We’ve been through hell and more hell together.

  Heaven is always two steps ahead of us and just out of reach. Miss Ava is heaven and sex wrapped up into one tempting package. Any man with a pulse has thought about what it would be like to climb into bed with Ava and get lost in her big eyes and tangled up in her dark brown hair.

  “If she had any brains, she’d have stayed away from Louis Duval and his crew. Instead, she’s sitting in a hotel in Lima with an ugly purse in her lap. That spells dumber than a box of rocks,” Bennito declares.

  Garcia shakes his head in disagreement. “She’s smart. Look at how she acts. She knows she’s being watched because she undresses under the covers. She sleeps close to an escape route but has her head toward the door to watch for intruders. Those are better preservation instincts than ninety-five percent of the population.”

  “Why doesn’t she ditch the bag? I’d pitch that sucker and be out of that room in a heartbeat.”

  “It’s clear there’s something important there and she can’t,” Garcia replies with annoyance.

  Garcia is right. Ava’s smart. When she arrived at the hotel, she looked for listening devices, cameras, sensors. She found a couple of them but not all. Devices are so tiny these days that it takes an electronic sweep to discover all of them and even then some can be missed.

  “Still . . . why’d she even come here with Duval?” Bennito asks sourly. He knows it all—or at least thinks he does.

  “Because of Rose.” I break my silence with a concept that Bennito can understand. “She’s there because of her friend . . . her family.”

  The lightbulb turns on for him. Bennito’s research for this current mission resulted in thousands of pictures of Rose Waverly aka Rose Wastkowski. Currently a middle-tier runway model, Rose has social media accounts filled with photos of her lying on the beach, out in nightclubs, and more recently, on the arm of Louis Duval. Duval is a French businessman who makes most of his money on the black market selling information. He has a fondness for blond models and Burgundy wine. His one true love is money.

  Of Ava, Bennito found almost nothing. At the age of eighteen, she moved to New York City with Rose. There are no Internet hits with pictures of Ava, and her background check revealed a shared lease with Rose, two credit cards with low balances, and a modest checking account. Her parents are still alive but their connection seems tenuous. There are no phone calls or emails or text messages exchanged between them.

  After reading the one-page dossier on Ava that Bennito had compiled, it was clear to me that Rose is not only her friend, but the only person in the world Ava has to call her own.

  All of us standing in this room can understand Ava’s desire to save her friend because that’s why we’re here. One of our own is being held as ransom. Our charge is to steal whatever it is that Louis Duval is trying to sell to various criminal factions. If we do that, we get Davidson back. If we fail, Davidson dies.

  “Every one of us would strap dynamite to our bodies if we thought it’d save Davidson,” I say quietly. “Stupid or not, we’d do it just like Ava’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep Rose safe.”

  Chastened, Bennito returns to his duties. Despite his brash words and lack of thinking, he’s a good kid with a gift for coding and computers. He has a feel for it that can’t be taught. I pulled him out from under a prosecution in the United States after he’d hacked into a big computer website to impress a girl. Now he does more productive things that are far more dangerous.

  But we back him.

  Because that’s how family works. Bennito is part of our brotherhood, the one Davidson, Garcia, and I formed when we realized that only by relying on each other would we survive the hell that the army was putting us through.

  The smart thing for Ava to do would have been to walk away. When she came home with her arms full of groceries and saw Duval and one of his goons sitting in her small apartment instead of Rose, she should have dropped her bags and ran. Instead, she marched in and placed her bags on the counter and demanded to know what was going on.

  Duval told her, quietly, that she was to help Rose carry out a task or Rose would be hurt. Ava resisted at first. Which is smart.

  But then Duval pulled out his phone, swiped his finger through a few pictures that our secretly place
d cameras couldn’t pick up, and things got real quiet. Next thing we knew, Duval was telling Ava that she needed to fly to Lima. And Ava?

  Ava packed her bag and went.

  • • •

  In the seven days she’s been here in Lima, she’s had one visitor—Redoine Fouquet. Fouquet is rumored to be Louis Duval’s younger brother. Whatever family resemblance there once was has been eliminated by countless plastic surgeries as both Duval and Fouquet attempt to evade the law.

  No, Ava wasn’t dumb. Whatever her mistakes are, I don’t think lack of intelligence is one of them. She’s beautiful. That can often be a problem. Maybe she’s too trusting or too kind but not dumb.

  I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows in our hotel and look across the way at Ava’s room. Clad in a tank top and yoga pants, she climbs into bed. The other men crowd around the table of monitors to watch. I fist my hands in my pocket.

  I hate that they watch her.

  I hate that she’s in danger.

  And most of all I hate that I care.

  When Norse, the fifth man of my detail arrives, I tear myself away from the window and from Ava. “What’s happening?”

  “The object, whatever it is, is up for auction. It will close in forty-eight hours.” Norse runs a hand over his shorn hair. It’s winter in Lima, which in most places means cold. Here it means wet, humid, and foggy. Norse’s cotton shirt is plastered against his chest. As he unbuttons it, Garcia throws him a replacement T-shirt.

  Garcia was a sergeant in the army, responsible for making sure that the troops were all properly outfitted and armed. A good sergeant can mean the difference between everyone getting out with all their limbs attached and some newbie losing his toes to gangrene. Garcia was the best that there was. Now he’s mine because the army doesn’t handle its toys well.

  They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars training them, making them into cold, unfeeling machines, but they lose interest in the older soldiers because they have this never-ending flood of new recruits. The nonstop supply makes us all disposable. Use them up and toss them out was the unstated motto. I’ve been gathering up the army’s trash for the last ten years or so. Norse, Garcia, Davidson—all army discards. We take our skills and guns and hire them out. Ironically, the U.S. government is one of our best customers.

  Except this time, our payment for a completed mission is Davidson.

  “Do we know who the buyers are?”

  “Two bids—one from North Korea and one from Libya.”