by Elle Kennedy
“The son will probably step up,” Morgan was muttering.
“Blanco has a son?” Luke said, sounding surprised.
“Yeah. Lorenzo. He’s studying abroad, according to Holden, but I suspect he’ll be on the next plane out…”
Kane tuned them out. He turned to the window, staring at the gray-white clouds, listening to the sound of the jet’s engine as it pushed them home.
Home. Morgan’s compound. Shooting the shit with the guys and getting drunk until the next job.
For the first time in his life, none of that sounded very appealing.
“This just came for you.”
Abby lifted her head as Noelle entered the enormous living room, holding a UPS package in her hands. Her boss’s heels clacked against the smooth wood floor as she crossed the room that looked like it belonged in the pages of a design magazine. Abby had never been here before—Noelle usually stayed in her Paris penthouse, which seemed to suit her far more than this lavish Vermont chalet with its endless ceilings and quaint furnishings.
Abby liked this place better. It reminded her of Morgan’s house.
It reminded her of Kane.
She shifted her gaze from the spectacular mountain view offered by the huge picture window and accepted the package from Noelle’s outstretched hands. Her fingers moved lifelessly to pull at the string that opened the box.
Noelle perched herself at the edge of Abby’s chair, her blond hair falling onto her face as she leaned over Abby to examine the contents that spilled out of the parcel. Abby had asked her lawyer to ship the box, which he’d been holding for safekeeping for the past few years. She flipped through the passport, birth certificate, and other documents, then froze when an item slid onto her lap.
Slowly, she lifted the silver chain. The small cross dangling from the chain sparkled in the sunlight streaming in from the window.
Her throat clogged.
“I never took you for religious,” Noelle said, wrinkling her brow.
“It’s not mine.”
The shadow at the foot of the bed. The gleaming silver chain around a thick, corded neck.
The shadow cast over her, bending down, reaching for her.
She slapped away the hands. “Please… don’t… no… no!” She clawed at him, spat at him, ripped that chain off his neck. She clasped the tiny medal attached to the chain, trying to jam it into the shadow’s eyes. His hands gripped her waist.
He was carrying her away.
She took a breath. “It was Jeremy’s. He was wearing it the night he broke into Ted’s house and saved me.”
“Abby…” Noelle sounded wary, as she often did when a situation bordered on emotional.
“He gave it to me in the hospital, the night before he died,” she murmured. “He told me to give it to…”
My daughter.
Abby fell silent. Give it to your daughter, Jeremy had said hoarsely, so she’ll always be protected.
But the cross was just insurance, he’d added. Because as long as Abby was around, he knew any kid of hers would be safe.
Tears stung her eyelids. A kid of hers. A kid she’d never have because she was too damn scared to let anyone in.
But she’d let Kane in.
She’d told him about her past, trusted him with her body. For the first time in her life, she’d connected with another human being, and it had felt… good. Really good. Laughing with him, lying beside him. Kissing him.
But in the end… in the end she hadn’t trusted him to help her with Devlin. She hadn’t trusted him, period. He was right. How could they ever have a real relationship when a part of her would always be pushing him away, just a little?
“Don’t you dare cry on me,” came Noelle’s sharp voice. “You know I can’t do tears, Abby.”
Despite the warning, one tear slid out, soaking her cheek. She opened her mouth, not sure what she wanted to say, but what came out was completely unexpected. “I want out.”
Noelle sucked in her breath. “What?”
“I don’t want this life anymore.” Her hands trembling, she shoved the cross back in the box, along with the ID papers. Abby Sinclair’s ID papers. She hadn’t been herself for years. It was easier that way. Pretend to be someone else, run away from anyone who gets too close. So much easier.
But she hadn’t been pretending this past week. She hadn’t pretended with Kane.
“Are you fucking with me here?” Noelle asked apprehensively.
She set the package on the arm of the chair and stood abruptly. “I’m tired of the solo missions. Tired of becoming a different person for months at a time. I can’t keep living like this. Do you know how closed off from the world I actually am? Do you know how lonely this life is?”
Noelle occupied Abby’s chair, resting her elbows on the armrests. She looked cool and collected, as always. Utterly emotionless. “You’re talking crazy, honey. We both know the world has nothing but pain and heartache to offer. Why would anyone be stupid enough to embrace that?”
“Is that all there is? Is that really all there is?” she challenged. “What about all the other things?”
Noelle looked surprisingly nervous. “What other things?”
Abby started to pace, feeling on edge. “Love, for one. Family. Laughter. Hope. Those exist too, don’t they?”
The other woman let out a hasty laugh. “Maybe in fairy tales. Come on, Abby, when was the last time any of those idealistic things led to something good?”
When I met Kane.
She held back the words. Noelle wouldn’t understand. She only understood power. Danger. Money.
But Abby got it. She actually got it now. She and Kane had connected. They’d laughed together and held each other and when she’d needed him, he’d been there for her. He was a good man. Probably too good for her. Definitely too good for her.
Yet he’d wanted to be with her. Wanted a future with her. And like a fool, she’d thrown it away.
“I have to believe there can be something good in my life,” she said softly. “Jeremy believed it could happen.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“I’m scaring myself.” She swallowed. “I don’t want to work alone anymore. I want to be part of a team.”
Noelle’s jaw twitched. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re leaving me for Jim Morgan.”
“No.” She met the other woman’s eyes. “I’m leaving you for Kane.”
Abby had expected fireworks, a harsh reprimand, but to her surprise, Noelle simply went quiet. For the first time since she’d met this cold, calculating woman, Noelle actually looked… uncertain.
Sighing, Noelle stood up and gripped Abby’s chin firmly, forcing eye contact. “Are you sure about this?”
Only a second of hesitation, and then she nodded. “Yes.”
Noelle released her, but not before gently running her hand over Abby’s cheek. It was a shocking gesture, the first hint of tenderness she’d seen from Noelle, and probably the last.
“All right then,” Noelle said briskly. Back to business. Back to normal. “I’ll call the pilot.”
“We’ve got a visitor,” Lloyd announced, poking his head out on the terrace.
Kane glanced up from his seriously shitty poker hand, experiencing a menacing sense of déjà vu. Last time Lloyd said that, Noelle had appeared on their porch.
He set down his cards, eliciting a groan from Luke, whose unmistakable tell—scratching his left ear—revealed he had a ridiculously good hand.
“I fold,” Kane said with a smirk.
Luke let out a curse, turning to glare at Lloyd. “Thanks a lot for that. Do you know how much money I could have milked out of him?”
Kane got up and left the patio, heading toward the front hallway. Hank, the man who monitored their security cameras, met him at the door. “Can’t tell who it is,” Hank said. “Tinted windows.”
Shit. Not again.
“Should I let them in?”
“Might as well.”
&nbs
p; Weariness climbed up Kane’s spine like a strand of unwanted ivy. He walked onto the porch. In the distance, he saw a red BMW approaching the front gate. Not the black Mercedes Noelle had driven up in, which was a good sign. Still, they didn’t receive many visitors, and none of the chicks Luke hooked up with could afford a Beemer.
The gate buzzed open and the car drove through. Kane rested his hand over the Glock tucked into his waistband. No danger alarms were going off in his head, but one could never be too careful. With Morgan off on some mysterious trip he seemed to take whenever they finished a mission, Kane had been left in charge, and he was always extremely careful about protecting the compound.
The car finally stopped, parking next to D’s dirt bike. A moment later the driver’s-side door opened.
All the air in his lungs left his body in one fell swoop.
It was Abby.
She wore a pair of snug blue jeans, a loose yellow tank top, and white sneakers. Her long red hair cascaded across her shoulders, and as she walked closer, he noticed something silver sparkling at her collarbone. He squinted. Was she wearing a cross?
“Hey,” she called tentatively.
His voice came out rough. “Hey.”
She climbed the steps and then she was standing in front of him. Her sweet, flowery scent floated into his nostrils and he steeled himself against it. He had no clue why she was here, but he wasn’t about to let her presence affect him. So what if she looked cute and sexy and oddly relaxed? He’d meant every word he’d said to her back in Colombia. He couldn’t be with a woman who didn’t trust him.
“So,” she started awkwardly.
“Why are you here?” His tone was sharper than he intended, but he didn’t apologize for it.
“I…” She suddenly sighed, shaking her head in resignation. “Screw it. I was going to slowly ease into this, but it’s totally not my style.”
He stared at her in confusion. “Huh?”
“Here’s the thing.” She met his gaze head-on. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it since I was eight years old and I’m pretty damn good at it. I can kill a person in a hundred different ways. I’m perfectly fine with being alone—it’s what I’ve always preferred.”
He drew his eyebrows together. Where the hell was she going with all this?
“I can do my job and be alone and live my life like I always have. I can live without you, Kane.” She released a shaky breath. “I just don’t want to.”
His heart rate accelerated. Just a bit.
“I don’t want my old life,” she admitted. “After we said good-bye, I went to Noelle’s place in Vermont. I was planning on staying there until I got my next assignment.”
“Yet you’re here. Why is that, Abby?”
“Because there is no next assignment,” she said simply. “There’s only you.”
He couldn’t fight his skepticism. “You didn’t want me before.”
“I was scared.” Her yellow eyes flickered with remorse. “I was stupid.”
“Yep,” he agreed mildly.
“But I’ve smartened up. I came here because… well, because there’s nowhere else I want to be.” She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
He couldn’t help but grin. Her careless revelation, that little shrug, didn’t surprise him. Heartfelt declarations and Abby Sinclair didn’t go together. This was the Abby he’d fallen for—direct, unapologetic. He loved her even more for that.
“And I want a future with you,” she finished. She tilted her head. “So, is it too late?”
Was it too late? A childish part of him wanted to say yes, to punish her for the way she’d handled things back in Bogotá. But by punishing her, he’d be punishing himself. Where would he ever find another woman like her, anyway? Why would he ever want someone else?
“I think we could work something out,” he said slowly.
The corners of her mouth curved. “You think?”
“I know.” With an answering smile, he pulled her into his arms, his entire body flooding with warmth and pleasure as he breathed in the scent of her hair, nuzzled the soft flesh of her neck. “You’re not going to work for Noelle anymore?”
“I’ll take on the occasional assignment. But no more deep cover. No more giving up my identity, or sleeping with scumbags in order to kill them.” She searched his face. “I want to use my skills for better purposes. I want to save people.”
“We’ll do it together.” He grinned. “Morgan would love to recruit you for the team. I think he values your skills more than he does mine.”
She grinned back. “Well, he’d better be prepared to let me run a serious training workshop for you pansies. Someone needs to teach Ethan how to use a knife.”
Kane laughed. “If you drive everyone crazy, though, we might have to vote you off the island.”
She furrowed her brows. “What?”
“You know, like on that reality show, where they—” He stopped and shook his head. “Forget it. I doubt you even own a television.”
Abby seemed to hesitate again. “Do you think the others will mind having me on the compound? Coming along on missions?”
“They’ll adjust,” he said with a shrug. “And if they give you any trouble, you’ll just scare them into submission.”
“Damn right.” Standing on her tiptoes, she brushed her lips over his. A jolt of desire shot through him. “They’d better get used to me, because I’m not going anywhere. I want to be with you.”
They kissed again, and this time Kane slipped her a little tongue. They were both breathless when they broke apart. Abby gave him an impish grin, wrapping her arms around his neck and linking her hands together. “So, that being-with-you thing—I think I want to start now.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You can’t even take the time to say hi to everyone and have a cup of Lloyd’s tea?”
One hand reached between them to cup his growing erection. He groaned.
“Maybe later,” she said dismissively. “Right now I’m more interested in getting you naked.”
He was lifting her into his arms before she could blink. “Best idea ever,” he muttered, bending down to kiss her again.
Kicking open the front door, he carried her inside, the sound of her laughter echoing against the walls as he marched up the stairs with her in his arms.
“A bit overeager, aren’t you?” she taunted as he took her into his bedroom and deposited her not so gently on the bed.
“You have no idea.” His hands fumbled with the button of her jeans. “By the way, I plan on keeping you in here for several days at least, just to let you know.”
She yanked on his collar and pulled him on top of her. “I have absolutely no problem with that.”
“Good.” His gaze suddenly landed on the silver cross around her neck. He slowly lifted it. “A new calling?”
“A reminder,” she said softly.
“To do what?”
A faint smile spread over her beautiful face. “To do everything.” She tugged on his hair and brought his mouth to hers. “Starting now.
Read on for a sneak peek at the next
exciting book in Elle Kennedy’s
Killer Instincts series,
available from Signet Eclipse in February 2013.
On the roof of the low-rise across the street from the Diamond Mine, Trevor lowered his binoculars and reached for the water bottle at his side. He took a quick sip, then ran a hand through his close-cropped hair and sighed. Although he wasn’t about to admit it to the others—the team leader had to lead by example, after all—this gig really was too tedious for his liking. Surveillance was boring as hell, especially after the last couple of missions the team had taken on—rescuing relief workers in Ethiopia, and a kidnapped executive in Johannesburg. Then there were the thirteen little girls in Luis Blanco’s Colombian prison…
As usual, the memory of that particular assignment caused his thoughts to drift to Isabel, the undercover operative he’d teamed up
with during the Colombia job. He’d been thinking about her a lot these past six months. Too much, probably. But hell, it was hard not to. He’d been a total shit for leaving things the way he had. The woman had saved his life, and instead of thanking her, he’d lashed out, blamed her for making him face his issues.
Funny, but the anger he’d been consumed by all those months ago had completely evaporated. Now when he thought of Isabel Roma, he was overcome with gratitude. He’d walked away from that mission with an important piece of knowledge—he didn’t want to die. Once, maybe, but not anymore. Isabel had helped him to see that.
And he’d yelled at her like a toddler throwing a tantrum and left her in a hospital room to recover from a bullet wound she’d suffered while saving his life.
“You’re a real asshole, Callaghan,” he muttered to himself.
Yep, he sure was. He could still make amends, though. After this job was over, he was in line for the unwanted vacation Morgan pushed on his men to prevent them from burning out, and Trevor was thinking of sticking around in New York. Isabel had mentioned she had an apartment there, so maybe he could finally work up the courage to contact her. Unless she was out in the field, throwing herself into the latest role her assassin boss had assigned to her. In that case, Noelle would probably know how to reach her…
Trevor contemplated picking up the phone and calling the queen of assassins, then shuddered. Maybe he’d ask Morgan to call Noelle. She didn’t seem to frighten the boss.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when Sullivan’s voice crackled in his ear. “The kangaroo’s leaving the Outback. I repeat, kangaroo’s leaving the Outback.”
Trevor grinned. He’d rather shave his legs than say it aloud, but he really had missed that crazy Australian. Missions were always more fun when Sullivan was around.
Reaching for his field glasses, he focused on the strip club. Sullivan had positioned himself in the outdoor patio of the pub next door, directly in the line of sight of the club’s entrance. Sure enough, Luke had just exited through the double doors. Trevor zoomed in closer, noticing that the dark-haired man looked a bit dazed.
