by Elle Kennedy
“Trevor…” She trailed off for a moment. “You had the nightmare again last night.”
Shock coursed through him. “What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she said quietly. “You don’t just toss and turn at night. You… you say things sometimes.”
His hands clenched into involuntary fists. “What do I say?”
“That you’re sorry.”
Pain sliced into his gut like a dull blade as her words formed images in his mind. Gina standing over him, her curly brown hair like an angry cloud surrounding her face. Her brown eyes glimmering with fury and betrayal.
Isabel’s voice was gentle as she said, “Do you want to tell me about it?”
“She always holds a gun,” he mumbled. “She aims it at my heart and she yells at me for leaving her. For not being there.”
Isabel sucked in a breath. “Jesus. I’m sorry.”
“And in the dream, I’m always pleading with her to shoot me. To put a bullet in my heart so I don’t have to feel it ache anymore. But she never does it.” His voice cracked. “She turns around and walks away. And then I wake up.”
A pair of warm arms wrapped around him. His head lifted in panic and surprise. Isabel was sitting next to him now. Holding him. Strength emanated from her slender form, surrounding him with heat and soothing tranquillity.
“It’s only a dream,” she murmured.
His muscles, so tense a second ago, turned to liquid. He found himself leaning into her, his forehead pressed against hers. “Then why does it feel so damn real?”
Isabel looked at him with shining certainty. “It’s guilt. The guilt you feel haunts you at night, but you’ve got to start letting it go. It’ll kill you in the end.”
He wanted to argue. Wanted to scream at her and tell her she had no fucking right digging around in his head and yanking out painful memories. Instead, all he could do was stare into her eyes. They were Paloma green, but that did nothing to hide the sharp intelligence or deep compassion that he’d come to associate with Isabel.
He took a breath and the scent of her grabbed hold of his senses. Her skin smelled like peaches and lavender, the sweet aroma surrounding him like a warm blanket. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t pull back. He just sat there, staring at her, and when her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, a groan lodged in his chest.
He wanted to kiss her.
But he didn’t. He couldn’t. With a sudden burst of anger, he pushed her hands off his shoulders and stumbled to his feet. “We should turn in,” he muttered. “It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”
Isabel didn’t respond, but he could feel her bewildered eyes burning into his back as he marched into the bathroom. He shut the door, officially closing her out. She had no business making him feel things again.
No business at all.
Abby was exhausted when she finally slid into bed next to Kane’s warm, naked body. It had been a long day, made even longer by all the activities she’d been determined to cram into it. She knew she’d annoyed Kane and the others by insisting that they go over every last detail and prepare for every possible scenario, but if she couldn’t be part of this rescue, she was damn well going to be part of the planning. When she thought back to her time in Blanco’s prison, her gut clenched with anger. The beatings, torture, questioning—all for nothing. She couldn’t even finish what she’d started, thanks to a fractured wrist that made her a damn liability.
But she was confident the rescue would be a success. This ambush would catch Blanco and his men completely off guard, or at least she hoped it would. And she didn’t regret her decision to try to involve Lucia Alvaro in the mission. It was clear that Kane still didn’t feel comfortable with it, but he had no idea what it was like to be at the mercy of others. Abby had been fighting for her life since the age of eight. She knew what Lucia was going through right now, and had no doubt the girl would do anything in her power to save herself.
She did worry about the girl’s mother, though, and she voiced that troubling thought as Kane pulled her close and tucked her head against his chest.
“Do you think Inez will be able to pull it off tomorrow?” She couldn’t hide the anxious note in her voice. “What if there’s trouble at the gate?”
“Luke will be there. He’ll be standing guard in the hills overlooking the entrance. If the guards make a move, he’ll take them out.”
That made her feel better, though she wished she could be the one to go with Inez in the morning. After all, Isabel and Luke weren’t the only sharpshooters of the bunch. Still, Abby knew it was safer for her to stay in this house until the extraction went down. If one of Blanco’s men caught her loitering on the property, they’d surely recognize her. Erica had been a big hit with all the men, particularly the ones to whom she’d given blow jobs.
The memories brought a sick feeling to her chest, coating her throat with bile. Oh God. How… why had she done those things? Sex had always been a weapon for her, but now… now it made her want to vomit, thinking about all the things she’d done for the sake of a mission. Lying here with Kane, she suddenly felt so unbelievably dirty.
The volatile emotions pricked at her skin like tiny little razor blades, causing her to shift away, to slide to the other side of the bed, where she tucked her knees against her chest, breathing hard.
“Hey,” came Kane’s worried voice. “What’s wrong?” His big, strong body pressed against her back, spooning her from behind.
“Don’t,” she choked out when he started rubbing her bare shoulder. “Don’t touch me.”
“Abby… Jesus, would you look at me?”
She blinked through a sudden onslaught of tears.
“Abby.”
His fingers dug into her waist. She flinched, protesting when he forced her to turn over. His warm hands held her chin so she had no choice but to meet his concerned gaze. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
Abby swiped at the moisture streaming down her cheeks.
“Fuck, are you crying? Damn it, Abby, what’s going on?”
“I shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.
“In Bogotá?” he asked, wrinkling his forehead.
“In your bed.”
His eyes darkened. “Where the hell is this coming from? I thought we worked through that shit.”
“Worked through it?” she echoed with a humorless laugh. “I’m a whore, Kane. A whore and a killer. I fuck men to get close to them, and then I take their lives. Why on earth would you even want to be near me?”
A stunned silence filled the bedroom.
Kane’s grip on her chin loosened. He didn’t speak, not for a long while, and she found herself looking at him. Really looking at him. He was so incredibly handsome that her throat grew tight at the sight of him. That tousled blond hair, falling onto his strong, proud forehead. The gorgeous green eyes and perfectly shaped mouth. He had the body of a warrior, hard and lean and sculpted with flawless muscles. But it wasn’t just his physical features she was seeing. It was his strength and his determination, the way he touched her with infinite gentleness, looked at her without judgment, treated her like she was worthy of him.
What was a man like this doing with a woman like her?
“Why do I want to be near you?” he said, his husky voice slicing through the silence. “Do you really want to know?”
She nodded weakly.
“Because you’re the strongest woman I have ever met in my life.” His hands were on her face again, stroking her cheeks, touching her throat. “You’re the kind of woman who allows herself to be tortured so she can save a dozen strangers. You’re the kind of woman who’s not afraid of challenges, not afraid of anything.”
His mouth captured hers in a rough kiss. “I want you because you’re smart as hell, because you’re funny when you let yourself relax, and because you’re the sexiest woman I have ever met. Oh, and I’m wildly turned on by you.” To punctuate the last point, he pushed his groin
into her stomach, his thick ridge of arousal leaving no doubt in her mind.
“You’re crazy,” she whispered, a tired laugh sliding out of her mouth. “You can’t possibly see all of that in me.”
“But I do see it. I just wish you could see it too, Abby.”
She gave a little yelp as his hand moved between her legs, tugging at her skimpy panties. “What are you doing?” she stammered.
“Convincing you.” His mouth found hers again, and she squeaked as he moved on top of her and drove his cock into her suddenly throbbing sex. He rolled his hips in a sensual circular motion.
She shivered. He felt so good inside her. Pleasure rippled in her womb.
“Is it working?” he murmured.
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?” He made a tsking sound, withdrew slowly, then plunged back in, hard, deep, filling her completely. “Guess I’ll just have to up my game.”
“It’s done,” Luke announced, striding into the living room.
Abby looked up from the couch and dropped the thick file folder on the coffee table. She’d been reading the dossier Morgan had compiled on Blanco, though there was nothing in there she hadn’t already known. It had kept her occupied, at least. Kane and Morgan had been gone all morning, off to meet with their pilot, and Ethan and D were asleep in the back bedroom, leaving Abby bored and alone for the past few hours.
Now excitement replaced her boredom. “Inez did it?”
Luke nodded. He flopped down in the armchair opposite the couch, grinning in admiration. “I have to say, she is one tough broad. She just marched up to the gate and gave the guards a tongue-lashing that would’ve made Morgan proud. They let her in without batting an eye.”
“Did she plant the guns?”
“Yep. She stashed three nine-millimeters with silencers in the storage room, inside a box of old Christmas lights she says nobody ever opens.” He frowned. “And she hid another nine-millimeter in one of the kitchen cupboards of the servants’ break room. She said you and Isabel asked her to do that.”
Abby shrugged.
With a laugh, Luke leaned forward and clasped his hands on his knees. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I heard it myself last night—you snuck in the request right before D took Inez back to her village.”
Sighing, she met his knowing eyes. “You speak Spanish?”
He beamed at her. “Why do you think Morgan sent me to play sniper?”
“But you didn’t say anything about it yesterday. You barely even spoke to Inez.”
“You and Isabel were handling it.” He slanted his head. “So why the extra gun?”
Remembering Kane’s reaction, she reluctantly told Luke how they might be able to use Lucia and convince the girl to aid in her own rescue. When she finished, he whistled. “That’s a lot to ask of a kid.”
“Maybe, but we owe her the courtesy of giving her the choice.”
“Well, if she’s anything like her mother, I’m sure she’ll do anything she can to save herself. You should have seen Inez back there. Nerves of steel.”
“And she made it out all right, after she planted the weapons?”
“Walked out the gate twenty minutes later with a basket full of clothes and some mugs from the break room. I followed her back to the village. She’s safe.”
“Good.” With grudging respect, she added, “Thank you.”
“Hey, D’s the one who’s all sulky about this gig. I was on board from the start.” His normally playful face clouded with anger. “Blanco needs to be stopped.”
Kane’s cell phone, which was on the cushion beside her, began to vibrate at that moment. She glanced at it warily, saw the private number, and suppressed a groan.
“You don’t have to talk to him,” Luke pointed out, sounding irritated.
“I’ll take it in the bedroom,” she said quietly.
Without a backward glance, she headed down the narrow hallway, flipping the phone on as she walked. “Hello, Devlin.”
“Hello, luv. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“I’m sure it is.” She stifled a sigh. “What’s on the agenda for today, Devlin? More forays into the past?”
“This has nothing to do with your past. Today is all about the present.” He sounded far too smug, and her guard instantly shot up. “I’ve decided it’s time for the two of us to meet.”
“Oh, really?”
“In fact,” he went on, “I expect we’ll be seeing each other tonight. Around seven, I presume?”
Her fingers curled around the phone. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you’re going to try to rescue the girls tonight.” A jubilant laugh filled the line. “And I’ll be right there to greet you, luv.”
Chapter 19
Abby’s entire body went cold. She noticed her knuckles starting to turn white and loosened her grip on the phone, drawing in a slow, silent breath. Gathering her composure, she feigned confusion. “What are you talking about? What girls?”
“Nice try, luv. But we both know that you paid a visit to the bunker.” He suddenly sounded impressed. “That’s why you snuck into Luis’s office, pretending to break into his files and look on his computer. You knew the cameras would pick you up. You wanted to get caught, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You positioned yourself in the prison to get closer to the girls. You knew what was going to happen to them, and you couldn’t stand by and watch, could you?” He made a soothing sound. “Poor Abby. They reminded you of yourself, didn’t they? Young and helpless, at the mercy of big, bad men.”
Her hands started to shake. She decided there was no point in denying it. “You’re right. I saw them,” she admitted. “But you’re making a very big assumption in thinking I’m going to lead some commando rescue tonight.”
“But you will. You and Morgan have probably planned it to the last detail.” He clucked his tongue. “I’m looking forward to seeing both of you, in fact.”
“It won’t happen,” she lied. “I’m not even in the country.”
“Save the horseshit for someone who’ll buy it. Blanco’s silly auction is scheduled for this evening, which means you’re in Bogotá. I know you, luv. You wouldn’t have been able to stay away.”
Frustration bubbled in her stomach, hot and relentless. No. She couldn’t let this bastard ruin everything. She should’ve expected this, especially after he’d told her he was back at Blanco’s compound, but they’d been banking on the element of surprise, catching Blanco’s men—Devlin included—unawares. Now everything had changed. Devlin had figured out her true intentions.
God, why hadn’t she found a way to continue distracting him?
The rescue would fail. There was no chance of success as long as Devlin remained in the equation. For all she knew, he’d already informed his boss about the impending assault. Abby’s brain kicked into high gear, working over the new information. She needed to take Devlin out of the equation. Isolate him from the other variables.
“Did you tell Blanco about this rescue you think is going to happen?” she asked slowly.
“Not yet.” Devlin sounded smug. “I wanted the pleasure of making you squirm first.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, an idea forming. “I have a proposition for you.”
His laughter echoed in her ear. “I can’t wait to hear it.”
Sinking down on the bed, Abby reached up to rub one aching temple. “Don’t tell Blanco about your suspicions, Devlin.”
She could practically see him grinning on the other end. “Keep my own employer in the dark? Why in heavens would I do that?”
“Because if you don’t, you’ll never get me.”
A pause. “I don’t follow, luv.”
“We both know you don’t give a rat’s ass about Blanco or his auction. I’m the one you want. Well, you can have me.”
“And I will. Tonight.”
“No.” Her lips tightene
d. “Because I won’t be part of the rescue team.”
It killed her to say it. It killed her. But there was no other choice. She had to lure Devlin away from the compound. If he remained on the scene, the entire mission would go to hell.
“I don’t believe you,” he finally said, but his confidence seemed to have faltered. “You’ll come.”
“No, I won’t. I do want to save those girls—you were right about that—but do you know what I want even more than that?”
His voice became wary. “What?”
“To make you suffer.” A callous laugh slipped out of her mouth. “It drives you crazy, doesn’t it, Devlin? Knowing I’m so close but you can’t touch me. And I bet it drives you even crazier knowing that I got captured on purpose, that everything you did to me, I allowed.”
She could hear his anger vibrating through the extension. “You couldn’t break me,” she finished, “and now you won’t even get the chance to try.”
“You’re lying,” he muttered. “You won’t abandon those silly children. You’ll try to save them.”
“Morgan’s team will save them,” she said, correcting him. “I trust them to do it. But me? I’ll disappear, Devlin. Tonight. And you’ll never find me. Unless…” She trailed off seductively.
“Unless what?” he demanded.
“You make a choice. Me or those silly girls.” She closed her eyes, forcing herself to continue. “Morgan and his men will ambush your employer’s compound. You will say nothing to Blanco about it. And in reward, I’ll come to you.”
“Isn’t that sweet, sacrificing yourself for those children.”
She ignored the mocking tone. “You have a decision to make, Devlin. Either you stay at the compound and try to stop the rescue—in which case I’ll be long gone. Or you forget about the rescue and meet me instead. It’s a fair trade, don’t you think? You get me; Morgan gets the girls.”
He went quiet. She waited.
This was too risky. She knew that. Even if Devlin agreed to meet her, he might still tell Blanco about the rescue attempt. But Kane and the others were pros. They could pull it off even without the element of surprise. They would have a better chance, though, if Devlin were off the compound. The man was unpredictable. A sadistic asshole who would get great joy from killing every last man on Morgan’s team should anything go wrong.
