by Sophia Rae
Max went to the end of the hall where a guard stood outside the door. The guard eyed Nick, but Max motioned for the guard to unlock the door.
Nick nearly pushed Max out of the way the second the door opened. In the middle of a bedroom larger than his whole house, stood a leggy blonde with her arms wrapped around the most beautiful sight Nick had ever seen.
“Eve,” he said.
She pulled out of the blond woman’s arms—he assumed this was Allison.
Nick stepped toward her, thankful when she fell into his arms. Her warm breath on his neck sent comforting shivers all through him.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he buried his face into her mass of red curls.
“I’m fine.” She pulled back, placing her small hands on either side of his face. “Are you okay? Have you seen Roman?”
Nick shook his head. “No. I saw Hank, he told me how to get here. He’s being arrested as we speak.”
Eve closed her eyes. “Where’s Roman?”
“Right here.”
Max, Allison, Nick and Eve all turned to the doorway. Roman stood with a gun pointed at Nick.
“Sorry to break up this touching moment,” Roman said. “But I’ve got some business with my brother.”
Instinctively, Eve stepped in front of Nick. “It’s over, Roman. The FBI are on their way and you’re going to jail for a long, long time.”
His evil laughter filled the room. “Oh, Eve. I don’t think so. You see, I’m too smart for them. I always have been. Your old man, though, he was almost as smart as me.”
Nick placed his hands on Eve’s shoulders, intending to get her out of the way. Unfortunately, she shrugged him off.
“So you killed him?” Eve asked.
Roman shrugged. “What else could I do? He got in the way, just like the four of you are now in my way.”
“Roman,” Max said, stepping forward. “You won’t get away with this. There’s four of us and one of you. Besides, do you know the consequences of killing two federal agents?”
Two?
“Ahh, that’s right,” Roman said, smiling at Nick’s surprised look. “You didn’t know the girl you were fucking was really a fed, did you?”
“Shut up, Roman,” Eve ordered. “It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to kill anybody.”
“Eve?” Nick asked.
She looked over her shoulder. One glance in her eyes and Nick knew Roman told the truth. She was a fed. He’d been protecting a damn fed.
“You lied,” he whispered, shocked.
“I had to.”
Eve looked back to Roman. “Put that down before you do something that will only add to your prison time.”
“I’m not going to prison, Eve. I’ll die first.”
“That’s fine, too,” she said. “Just tell us where the other girls are before you kill yourself.”
“I’m not going down without taking you all with me.”
Nick heard the shot, saw Eve jerk.
Then she fell to the ground.
Chapter Fifteen
Nick went for his own gun.
“Don’t even try it,” Roman warned. “Do you want to die, too?”
Nick risked a look at Eve. Blood poured from her shoulder—at least, he hoped the shot had only hit her shoulder. This whole ordeal had turned into a fucking nightmare. A never-ending nightmare that had evolved into reality.
“If she’s dead, I’ll kill you,” Nick promised.
“Cut the hero act, little brother,” Roman said. “You won’t kill me. You’re too worried about your little lying bitch. Threw you for a loop when you found out she was a fed, didn’t it?”
Nick still couldn’t believe it, but he couldn’t dwell on that now. Eve’s time dwindled with each passing second.
He glanced back to Max, who had Allison tucked safely behind him. Something Nick should’ve done when Eve jumped in front of him. She’d saved his life, but at what cost? Her own? It wasn’t worth it… Not if he had to live without her.
“Take your weapon out slowly,” Roman said.
Nick looked back to him and laughed. “I’m not that stupid.”
“Take it out and put it on the floor or join your girlfriend.”
He would be of no use with a bullet wound, so he did as Roman asked. He could only pray Grady and his team were on the way.
Relying on others to save the day wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind, but at this point he’d do anything to save Eve’s life.
“Kick it away from you,” Roman said.
Nick smiled as he kicked it back toward Max, who laughed. “Thanks, Nick,” Max said. “I wasn’t allowed in here with Allison with my gun.”
“Now I’m glad that rule was enforced,” Roman replied. “Come here, Allison.”
“No,” Max answered. “She’s not moving.”
Roman aimed his gun at Max. “If she doesn’t want anybody else shot, she will.”
“It’s okay, Max,” Allison said, her voice trembling.
She moved from behind Max and cautiously made her way to Roman. How had this angelic-looking woman gotten mixed up with this mess?
Once she was within reaching distance, Roman grabbed her by the arm and hauled her against him. She winced when he put one arm around her waist and shoved the gun beneath her chin.
“If either one of you guys tries to play hero, I’ll kill her, too.”
Nick felt so fucking helpless, he didn’t know what to do. This was precisely the reason he’d quit after Roger.
“If you kill her, too, you won’t have a shield,” Nick reminded Roman.
“You may be able to get off one shot, but one of us will get you,” Max said. “You might as well turn her loose. I guarantee if you shoot her, you will die.”
Roman snaked his hand up to Allison’s breasts. A tear slid down her cheek as she looked away.
“I don’t want to kill her,” he said. “She’s been the best. I could get so much money for her. Now I’ll have to keep her. But that’s okay, we have fun, don’t we?”
When Allison didn’t answer, Roman squeezed her breast harder. “Y-yes.”
“Drop the gun, Burke.”
Grady stood directly behind Roman with a gun pointed at his head.
Relief flooded through Nick. Finally, the backup they needed to get Eve the hell out of here.
“Sorry I had to hurt Eve,” Roman said. “I was so looking forward to having her.”
Rage poured through Nick. “You tried to blow her up.”
Roman’s brows lifted. “I did no such thing.”
The obvious shock and confusion had Nick believing this criminal, but something about his reaction had him thinking. If Roman hadn’t planted the bombs, who had? Someone who knew every move he and Eve had made. Someone who knew where the safe house was. Someone they trusted with their lives.
“It’s been bugging me all this time,” Nick said. “Why would you try to blow her up, if you wanted to lure her in? It didn’t make sense. But no one else knew where we were, except…”
Nick’s gaze went to Grady. Suddenly Nick saw his “friend” in a whole new light. Instead of the hard-ass FBI leader, he saw something else. Something sinister.
“You.”
The man merely shrugged, still aiming his gun at the back of Roman’s head. “Nick, don’t be absurd. I’d never try to kill you or Eve.”
Nick’s blood boiled as he continued to glare at his “friend”. “That guy who came after me and stabbed me in the parking lot—that was after I’d just told you where we were. All the time you put us together, played us off each other—and you were trying to kill us both.”
Grady’s eyes hardened. His grip on the gun tightened. “The two of you were getting too close to the truth.”
Nick knew a gunshot didn’t hurt as bad as betrayal. “What truth?”
“I like women.” He shrugged. “Women I can choose to be mine and they have no choice in the matter.”
Roman let out a sinister laugh. “So,
you’re my secret buyer?”
Grady nodded, sending even more disgust through Nick. How the hell had this happened? And why hadn’t he figured everything out before Eve was shot?
“Through a middleman, I bought some of the strippers,” Grady said. “Nobody had a clue, not even Roger, but when Eve kept digging, I knew she was too good not to find me out.”
Roman stepped to the side, pulling a petrified Allison with him in his grasp, the gun still under her chin. “So you’re the one,” he muttered. “I knew I had a buyer that wanted to remain anonymous. You got some good ones, I’ll give you that.”
Disgust rolled through Nick’s stomach. He didn’t have time for the hurt and anger, not when Eve might be dead. “You’re no better than this bastard,” he said to Grady. “You’d kill an innocent woman who trusted you just so you could continue this sick, twisted game?”
A hint of remorse crossed Grady’s face and that’s when Nick knew, this wasn’t the man he’d gone through the Marines with. This wasn’t the same man Eve trusted with her life—ironically, the man who’d tried to end her life.
If Eve did indeed live through this, the realization of Grady’s dealings would kill her.
“If you’re going to shoot Roman, do it,” Max told Grady. “Personally, I’d like for all of us to step out and let the two of you kill each other.”
“Nobody’s leaving,” Roman assured them. “Especially now that I have someone in my corner. After all, Grady wouldn’t want anything to happen to me. Where would he get such amazing women who will fulfill his every desire?”
“Actually,” Grady piped in. “I have nothing to lose now, so killing you doesn’t much matter.”
Grady’s safety clicked off, then all hell broke loose.
Everything happened so fast, Nick had to react quickly. Roman whirled around, loosing his grip on Allison. Max grabbed for her just as Roman pointed his gun at Grady. Nick lunged for Eve, shielding her with his body.
He didn’t want her hit again—dead or not.
Another shot blasted through the room. From the corner of his eye, Nick saw Roman slump to the floor.
“Get help in here. Eve’s bleeding to death,” Nick yelled to anyone and everyone.
Max pulled his radio from his pocket. “Agent down. Repeat, agent down. Get an ambulance here. Now!”
“Don’t move her, Nick.”
“Don’t you fucking move,” Nick shouted over his shoulder. “Max—”
“I’ve got him,” the other agent assured. “How’s she doing?”
“Fine, she’s fine.” She has to be.
Nick heard Grady pleading to Max just to kill him and be done with it. Voices flittered about the room, but Nick felt like he was in a dream. The room seemed so hazy, all the voices jumbled together to make a low, whining noise.
All he saw was Eve lying in a pool of her own blood.
Just like her father.
Nick remained by her side on the floor. He moved her hair away from her face and continued to stroke it until the EMTs came through the door.
“Sir, we need to work on her,” one of them said.
Reluctantly, Nick stood up and backed away. He forced his tears to hold on until he knew for sure the outcome. Eve wouldn’t want him crying over her.
Max placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “She’s a fighter. She’ll be fine.”
Nick only nodded. The lump in his throat wouldn’t allow him to speak.
“Do you want a ride to the hospital?”
“Yeah,” he croaked out.
“Nick,” Grady said as a federal agent placed him in handcuffs. “This wasn’t personal. It was all about the money. I’m sorry you got caught in the middle.”
All the anger, all the emotions from the last two weeks spread through Nick like wildfire and before he thought twice, his fist connected with the side of Grady’s jaw.
“I don’t give a shit about your pathetic apologies. You make me sick.”
Nick took one last look at his brother. Roman’s sleek white silk suit, now stained with his blood.
If anything happened to Eve, Roman would never be dead enough and Grady wouldn’t serve enough time behind bars. Nick turned away, unable to look at the monster who’d started this whole mess and the monster who’d had a hand in the end.
Fate wouldn’t be that cruel. It couldn’t be. He’d failed protecting someone he cared about, again. If something happened to her…
“Give me a second, will you?” Max asked.
“I’ll meet you in the car.”
Like a zombie, Nick watched the EMTs load Eve onto a stretcher, hook up an IV and take her from the room.
She had to live. They had a life to live. Together.
Oh, God. The baby. What about the fact they might have created a life?
Nick didn’t know if his heart could take any more pain. He hadn’t realized how much he wanted a baby with Eve. Their baby. A baby they’d made in love.
***
Allison stood in the center of the room, unable to take in all the activity around her.
Roman had died. Eve might be dying. And this Grady person was not such a good guy after all. Feds were asking questions she didn’t know how to answer and all she knew was that she was finally free.
“Allison,” Max called from across the room.
She glanced to the female agent who’d been taking her statement. “Excuse me.”
Max stood with his arms crossed over his massive chest as Allison made her way to him. Now that the nightmare had come to an end, she wouldn’t see him anymore. And as stupid as it sounded, she’d miss his daily visits.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “It’s over.”
“Yeah. You’re free to go outside this room.”
Terror filled her. “That’s all I’ve wanted for nearly three months, but now I don’t know where I’ll go or what I’ll do.”
“Can you go to your sister’s house?”
Allison dropped her eyes to the freshly blood-stained carpet. “I’m ashamed.”
“Of what?”
Her eyes snapped back up. “Of everything. Of what I am, what I did, what was done to me.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said with conviction.
“Then whose is it?” she cried. “I take full responsibility for what has happened. I can’t go back home. I won’t bring that kind of embarrassment to my family.”
When Max’s stare became too much to take, she looked away. “You’d better get going. Nick’s waiting on you.”
“Allison.”
She looked back to see his face one last time. “Yes?”
“You’re an amazing woman. You deserve a good life, and I know your family would help you.”
He didn’t know her family, obviously. “We’ll see. Thank you for saving my life.”
Max reached out, cupped the side of her face. “It was my pleasure.”
As Allison watched him go, she knew she’d met possibly the most amazing straight man ever.
***
Nick roamed aimlessly through Eve’s apartment. Now that he knew her, the real Eve, he looked at the rooms in a whole new light.
The walls were bare because she hadn’t planned on staying or getting attached. There were no little knick-knacks sitting around. Plain, simple, straightforward.
Just like Eve.
Nick plopped down on the sofa, grabbed the throw and held it up to his face. With his eyes closed, he imagined Eve wrapped in this afghan as she’d held it as a shield. She’d been so angry, so scared; she’d held her gun on him.
Now he knew better. She never would’ve shot him.
Shot. Oh, God. Nick buried his head in the throw, inhaled Eve’s sweet floral scent and finally lost it.
He cried like he’d never cried before. What if he lost her? Would she ever know how sorry he’d been for lying to her, even if only to protect her?
Right now Eve lay unconscious in surgery. Nick had ridden to the hospital wit
h Max to find that Eve had been taken into emergency surgery. He took a cab to Eve’s apartment, needing to feel close to her.
And because he couldn’t bear to be at the hospital if the doctor came out with a grim look on his face.
Nick dried his face with the throw Eve had worn over her naked body only weeks ago and tossed it on the back of the couch. On wobbly legs, he made his way down the short, narrow hall to her bedroom.
He stood in the doorway, taking in all the mess. Clothes were strewn about everywhere, the bed was unmade, a corner of the fitted sheet had popped loose and her nightstand drawer was open. A smile formed on his lips.
He’d gotten used to her messes. Her men’s boxers lying around, dainty shoes he always seemed to trip over.
Because he needed to do something, he started in the doorway and picked up each article of clothing one at a time. Everything he picked up felt so small, so soft, and smelled like jasmine.
Just like Eve.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Nick turned at Max’s voice.
“How did you know where I’d be?” Nick asked.
Max shrugged. “I knew if you weren’t pacing the hospital, you’d want to be somewhere you felt equally as close to her. It didn’t take long to find her address from some of my co-workers. Grady was arrested, but claimed he wanted to talk to you.”
Nick snorted as he continued his trip through Eve’s room.
“We found the location of the other women, thanks to him,” Max went on. “I suppose he thinks he’ll get off easier if he gives up some information.”
Nick looked away, went back to picking up one garment at a time. “At least we can get the other ladies back,” he mumbled. “Wasn’t one of them your sister?”
“Yeah. I’m waiting on a call when the agents pick her up.” Max waited a beat. “Aren’t you going to ask about Eve?”
Nick froze with his hand on a gray tank. “I don’t want to hear it if it’s bad.”
“She’s out of surgery.”
Nick jerked upright and faced Max. “And?”
God, his whole body cringed. He didn’t want to hear those words. He didn’t want to know her heart would never beat again. He didn’t want to live without her beautiful smile and smart mouth.
