Wounded Courage (Lucky Thirteen)

by S. M. Butler

  “She’s out. We got her a little more comfortable. I don’t know… I mean… I’m supposed to have watch in a few minutes.”

  I nodded, answering his unasked question. “Go. I’ll get Dylan to stay with her.”

  “I don’t want her to wake up with a stranger.”

  Damn. The concern on his face sent guilt into my chest. I sighed. “I’ll stay then.”

  “But—”

  “I’m not a stranger. All three of us grew up together, you know.”

  Hardy snorted. “You were the older boy who shoved her face in the mud. Not sure she’ll like you around.”

  “She kicked me in the nuts. She totally deserved a mud bath.” I grinned, thinking about the gangly girl I’d picked at with Hardy. Simpler days. Hell, now that I thought about it, that girl was always beating up on me. I delicately touched my nose. “She’ll be fine. And you need some time alone too. Watch is good for that.”

  Hardy sighed and grabbed his jacket that was laying on the couch. “I’ll be back. I have to run to town to get some stuff for chow. Let me know when she wakes up?”

  I nodded again. “I will. I’ll be here.”

  Hardy left, and I glanced back at the bedroom door. Yep, I was here, and she was in there. Distance was good. She had some kind of power over me. I’d first noticed it in that room when I’d grabbed her. And again when I’d set her down in the cot.

  I didn’t like her having that power over me. Not one bit.

  Addison

  The voices above me were distant. My mouth was dry, like I’d been breathing through it most of the time. Slowly, I came back to reality, small bites of all the things that happened in the last few hours sliding back into place a little at a time.

  When I opened my eyes I expected to be back in that interrogation room. Maybe chained to the wall. Wasn’t that what they did with escaping prisoners? But I wasn’t. I was in a cot. The room was sparse, no real personal touches. Was this what passed for prison cells now?

  I sat up, blinking, and checked out the rest of the room. Two armchairs angled toward each other sat in one section of the room, with a small circular metal table between them. A dresser sat on the other side of the bed from that, but had doors instead of drawers.

  No one else was in the room, which confirmed that maybe the voices I’d heard had been in the next room. My bandages had been redressed while I was asleep, I realized. How long had I been out? I lifted my hand to my cheek, gingerly touching the swollen cheekbone. What was it about the face? It always felt worse than it really was.

  “Glad to see you’re awake.”

  I gasped and jumped off the bed, flipping my body in the direction of the voice. My heart pounded with the strength I drew from my fear.

  Murphy was in the doorway, a fierce scowl on his face. I didn’t relax at all. I was furious and terrified and my leg hurt and I wasn’t going to let him have the upper hand again.

  He pointed to my leg. “You should stay off that leg. You’ll pull all White’s sewing out.”

  His lip twitched in the corner, like he was amused but didn’t want me to know it. His icy eyes glittered in the dim lighting of the room, like twin disco balls. Murphy wore loosely fitted jeans, even further from a uniform than what he’d been wearing earlier. But the brown tee remained. I’d never seen anyone that filled out a t-shirt the way he did. He hadn’t always been like that. Growing up, he’d been more wiry, skinnier. This muscle thing was new… and distracting.

  He shut the door behind him and walked over to the armchair in the corner, across from where I stood. At least the gun was gone this time, though I wouldn’t dare to presume he didn’t have another way. The dude was a living weapon, after all.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Was he here to finish what he’d started in that room, when he’d practically had me creaming in his hand without even doing anything sexual with me? My heart fluttered with hope until he replied, “My shift.”

  Then hope sank into the abyss. He was only here to babysit the prisoner. The scowl on his face was proof of that. He didn’t want to be near me.

  He sat down, leaning forward, so his elbows rested on his knees. “I don’t like having to chase down wayward girls, particularly ones that are at risk to bleed out if she exerts herself too much.”

  I glanced toward the door he’d entered from. It was the only door. No doubt that was on purpose. This room didn’t even have a bathroom. He followed my gaze. “That will just take you into the common room. This room was a storage room. Chris cleaned it out and got the furniture. We set it up while you were with the doc.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re not heartless?” Murphy gave me a look like I was dumb for asking the question. “Obviously, we knew you’d be staying for a while. There’s too many questions to answer about you. We’ve been chasing Giroux Enterprises for a long time. And then suddenly, you were there.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to be here.” I sounded like a sulky kid, but I couldn’t help it. I ignored the throbbing in my leg as much as I could. But maybe I should have acted as if I were less mobile.

  “You’re not a prisoner here.”

  “Sure feels like it.”

  “Look, you just can’t leave yet.”

  “Yeah, that’s called being a prisoner.” I pointed out that fact with much sarcasm, which he obviously didn’t appreciate. He looked frustrated with me. Good. I didn’t want to make anything easy for them, not to mention I was so embarrassed at the way I’d fallen apart in front of him. Sure, it was probably the drugs they’d slipped me, but still.

  “We have protocols. The Giroux family has been on our radar for a long time. Alex—” Murphy hesitated, his oceanic-colored eyes watching for my reaction. “Well, he’s one of them. Regardless of how you feel about him, you had to know that, at least. He was a criminal. And anything you know about him or his family would be helpful to us.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s dead.” I looked back at the door again. Claustrophobia was kicking in, the walls pressing in on my body. It felt like a vice on my chest.

  “You’re pretty much in the center of our complex, and there’s cameras everywhere. You’re not leaving right now.” I slid my line of sight from the door to him. He was so good at reading me. Was that training or familiarity?

  I smirked. “So, I’m getting shifts of babysitters instead?”

  Determination glistened from his eyes, but there was something else within them I couldn’t identify. A dark intent rested behind those icy marbles, which made my heart race even faster than it was already. What was that intent?

  “Maybe I just wanted to talk to you.”

  Heat rushed through my body. “That’s doubtful.”

  “Is it so hard to believe?”

  “I haven’t seen you or Chris in three years. I haven’t talked to either of you in all that time. Neither of you made any attempt to contact me, even to ask me how I was doing. So yeah, it’s hard to believe.” I tried to keep the hurt from my voice, but I heard some of it leak through. Would my life have been different if I’d talked them more than I had?

  I sat down on the bed, finally giving my leg relief that it was screaming for. I noticed my clothes first when I glanced down. I wore an identical brown tee to Murphy, albeit much looser than it was on him, and blue shorts that said “Navy” on the left leg. Obviously, the clothing was improvisational…They stretched down to my knees, and were incredibly loose. Which one of them had changed my clothes? And how much did they see?

  “Your brother changed your clothes, with our corpsman. We thought that would be more comfortable for you. Your other clothes—” Murphy grimaced.

  “They were bloody. And paper scrubs are uncomfortable.” My stomach rolled at the thought of my clothes. My blood. Rene’s blood. I’d been too far from Alex to get his blood on me too. Everyone in that room had gotten shot except Devyn.

  “Devyn. How is she?” I’d been so preoccupied with myself I hadn’t
even thought of my friend.

  “She’s okay. They sent her home.” I nodded, relief washing through me. At least someone got to go home, but she hadn’t ever been involved. Marie had pulled her in. I felt bad for not visiting her more often. Maybe if I had, I could have seen Marie for who she was, and warned Devyn long before it had become too late.

  A minute of quiet passed between us. I avoided looking at him, and instead I played with the hem of the brown tee I wore. I wasn’t sure what to say to him.

  “I need your promise, Addison.”

  “For what?”

  “That you’re not going to run again.”

  I paused, my throat hard and stuck. There was a sharp pain in the center of my neck. “What if I can’t do that? What if I can’t make that promise?”

  “Come on, Addison. I can help you. I can get you on the way home, but you have to give us something.”

  “Just a pint or two, right?” I joked, but his lips pursed together in a tight line.

  “Addison—”

  “You can’t make that promise to me, Murphy. I know you can’t. And you never have lied to me. Not ever. So please…” I let out a shuddered breath. “Don’t start now.”

  He stopped, his expression thoughtful. He nodded. “Okay. But I will do what I can to get you home. That I can promise, but not if you’re not cooperative. And your brother… he won’t take you being imprisoned well. You know that. So maybe for his sake?”

  “That’s dirty, Murphy, bringing up Chris like that. You know I’d do anything for him.” I always had. I’d always wanted his approval. I’d always wanted him to be proud of me. I just never made the right choices.

  “I do what I have to do.” His lip twisted upward. The bastard.

  The choice wasn’t easy. They’d want to know everything I did about the Giroux family. They’d want to know why I was there, if it had to do with Chris or not. But Murphy was all about honor and duty. He was the All American boy. If he knew about the vault, how I’d stolen like the men who’d tried to kill me, I could only imagine the way the light in his eyes when he saw me would dim and vanish. If I stayed… they’d expect to be able to follow me everywhere, for my safety as Murphy had put it. But the reality was… he might believe it was for my protection, but his superiors wouldn’t.

  “Can you promise me something if I stay with you, Murphy?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Never lie to me. Never keep anything from me.”

  “I—”

  “Murph, I’m serious. I have to know everything, or I’m not going to be able to provide you or your superiors with any information worth a shit. Most of what I know is the people. I don’t know dates or times or activities. I know the people.” I swallowed hard. “Honesty, Murphy. That’s the only thing that will work.”

  “Then I’ll have to ask you for the same thing, Addison.”

  “What?”

  “Never lie to me,” he whispered. “We build this arrangement on trust and honesty. What I can do is dependent on your cooperation.”

  I didn’t want to say yes. It would be a lie right then. But as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I needed them as much as they needed me. “So we’re agreed. Mutual sharing of information?”

  He nodded.

  “The Giroux family has a lot of enemies, some of which would not be deterred by the United States military standing between them and me.”

  “I will protect you,” he promised. He was always saying that, and every time, it made my heart flutter. What a bastard.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay, then. So, now what? We sit here and stare at each other?” I asked.

  “It’s nearly lunchtime. I imagine that your brother will bring lunch when he gets off his shift.” The tone of his voice was flat, emotionless.

  “So you can drug me again?” I flopped back on the bed, my legs still hanging off the side.

  “To be fair, it’s only because we knew you wouldn’t sit and listen to us.” Did he practice not having emotions? Because mine were churning and he didn’t seem affected by anything.

  “I hate this.” I spat, staring up at the ceiling.

  “Hate what?”

  “Being trapped. Being alone. It sucks.”

  His eyebrow rose. “I wouldn’t say that you’re alone. Your brother is here. I’m here.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s another reason why you’d feel alone.”

  I glared at him, anger churning inside me. After all that, he didn’t trust me? “Are you trying to accuse me of something?”

  He didn’t answer.

  I huffed and stood, hobbling toward the door. “I just said I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  “It’s not that—”

  “You know what? Fuck this. If that’s how you’re going to be, this isn’t going to work.” If he wanted to accuse me of something, then he damn well better say it. I’d rather deal with the disappointment in Chris’s eyes than the cryptic and vague accusations Murphy was wielding.

  Within seconds, he grasped my elbow and spun me back toward him. Anger seeped from him. His body was rock hard, tense and I couldn’t stop the small intake of breath as his body came into contact with mine. Aroused yearning started deep within me, radiating outward until I swore he knew I was wet for him.

  “Let. Me. Go.” I ground out, through clenched teeth. “My brother—”

  “You think your brother can help you? This is my shift, baby doll.” He walked me backward, but I didn’t realize it until my back hit the wall behind me. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t take the intensity of his expression, of those icy blues. “You’re under my care. I’m in charge of this team.”

  His hands tightened and he stepped so close, so that he was completely pressed against me. Every hard, delicious inch of him. The scent of his cologne sinfully wound its way around my senses. His face was close, his mouth mere centimeters from my neck. “The work we do here is far too important to trust outsiders with, even you.” His hot breath fanned against my skin. “You shot Rene Giroux to save my teammate’s wife, an act which I am extremely impressed by… and grateful for, but now your hands are dirty and you’re not safe anymore. You know that. You have to trust me.”

  “Don’t hurt me.” I managed to whisper out between breaths. I didn’t really believe that he would, but I was shoved against a wall, unable to move and panic was slipping into my chest.

  His lips brushed against my ear, his words hot and heavy against it as I trembled. “I promise you I will not hurt you. I do not break my word.”

  He pulled back, and met my eyes. I lost myself in the whirlwind of my own emotions and his eyes. What he didn’t get was that I was predisposed to be hurt by him, and yet, I kept going back for more. “Where do you find such courage?”

  His hand slid around to the small of my back, an anchor in the whirlpool of my emotions. He didn’t answer my question. “You need to stay here. I can’t protect you somewhere else. Only here. With me.”

  The Giroux family would want me as soon as they figured out what Alex had done. They’d keep me alive long enough to get what they wanted. After that, I’d be expendable. Their enemies? They’d not be as nice. Rene had been a powerful, evil man. A tamer version of Simon Giroux. Marie and Jean were just as bad. Marie was dead, apparently, but Jean was out there still. And he’d been close with Alex. His anger would demand payback.

  Their father was one of the most dangerous men in the world. His reach extended over several continents, which meant I wasn’t safe anywhere.

  Like it or not, for now, I needed their help and I hated that. I didn’t want to trust them. I shuddered out a long, emotional breath, my body relaxing with the exhale. He sensed the change in me, and let go of my wrists, though his other hand remained on my back. I liked it there. It was comforting. Anchoring.

  I lowered my arms down to my sides, feeling the weight on my shoulders where a moment ago he’d held it away from me. He didn’t have any idea the weight I carried. Hell, I wasn’t completely sure that I
knew.

  His hands left me, but only to cup my face in his palms. So close. All I had to do was tilt my head just so and our lips would touch. But fear kept me from doing it. His tender touch was a sharp contrast to his harsh, determined words.

  “You’re Chris Hardy’s sister. I will protect you with everything I have.”

  The determination in his gaze speared me between the eyes. I believed him, but I also knew he didn’t believe me. For all his talk of protection, there was a deep-seeded distrust in his eyes. I didn’t know that I would trust me in his position either, but it still hurt that he thought I planned this, that I was some sort of spy sent to find them.

  My gaze lowered to his lips, such perfect lips. I just wanted to touch them, feel them against mine, but he pulled away. He released me altogether, stepping out of my personal bubble zone.

  No that wasn’t me. I was just a girl who had been delivered into a bad situation, who had helped a good man try to be free, who had gotten sucked into a life she hated, and was now paying the price for that.

  He blew out a breath. “Guess Hardy’s not bringing lunch. Maybe I should remind him.” Before I could even straighten up, he’d vanished into the next room and left me cold.

  ~*~*~

  Murphy

  I shut the bedroom door behind me. I expected Addison to burst right through that door if she wanted. I remembered her as a child. I was a couple years older than her and Chris, but I remembered the force of nature she’d been.

  She never took “no” for an answer. She never accepted a situation she didn’t like. Growing up, she’d been infuriating. A little blonde tagalong that drove me to distraction even back then. Chris would tell her not to follow us, and five minutes later, she’d be there, asking her crazy questions.

  She was testing my control now, but not the way she had then. Secretly, I had liked her all those years ago, but she’d been off limits, the twin sister of my best friend. It would have complicated things far too much.

  I flopped on the couch and blew out a breath. How was she so good at making me bad? Every time I was near her, I just wanted to devour her. And I couldn’t, because she was part of the mission now and she was Chris’s sister. I had to be a professional.