by April Hunt
Roman couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Found them,” Cade called out. With a gloved hand, he opened the cooler to find at least fifty or more burgers, all double-bagged and waiting for use. “On second thought…hold on.”
He held out the bag toward their new friend, and the man practically did a somersault to avoid touching it.
Knox snorted. “Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to bet that those are our burgers.”
But no vial.
“Where’s the virus?” Roman hauled King’s new friend halfway across the counter, nearly spilling him off the other side. “Where’s the damn virus? The vial!”
Blood dripped down his face and into his teeth as he smiled. “You really think he’ll let it out of his sight? Mace is nothing if not a control freak.”
Roman’s stomach sank like a lead weight. They’d got all the bastard’s men. The tainted burgers were taken out of the equation. The festival was safe.
Now the only threat out there was to the woman he loved.
* * *
Isa walked straight ahead, not wanting to give Mace any reason to make good on his threat to the festival. But every step she took, she felt like she’d just stepped a little farther out on a rickety pirate’s plank.
Isa hoped talking would distract him enough to slow him down, “So you take me, and maybe you even dispose of me. You sell FC-5 to the highest bidder. And then what? You realize that virus has the ability to wipe out a huge portion of the population.”
Mace dug his gun deeper into Isa’s side. “That won’t be my problem. I’ll be long gone by then.”
“Really? Where are you escaping to? Because unless it’s freakin’ Mars, nowhere will be safe. How do you not get that?” Isa snapped.
Mace yanked her back and immediately got in her face. A few people around them paused to stare, maybe to possibly intervene or maybe to just sit back and watch the show. “You’re really getting on my nerves, Izzy. If you don’t watch that mouth of yours—”
“Do what?” Isa challenged. “You’re already planning on disposing of me.”
“And maybe I’ll do it sooner rather than later.” His gun whipped up, no longer hiding it against her side.
Isa pushed his hands to the sky and it discharged. Around them, people screamed. A flurry of movement caught her attention. Nat, leading a team of black-suited DCPD, quickly cleared the area, hustling families in the opposite direction from where she stood with Mace.
“Doc!” Roman, flanked on either side by King and Ryder, were the only ones heading her way. “The vial! He’s got the vial!”
Mace dropped his hand to his hip, hovering it over the left side of his jacket pocket. She didn’t think. She struck. Twisting his wrist in one direction and the gun in the other, she disarmed him and tossed the gun aside.
In an instant, Roman was there right along with King and Ryder.
“It’s in his pocket! Do not crush his jacket!” Isa warned, seconds before they man-handled him into cuffs. Donning a pair of gloves she’d pulled from her pocket, she carefully frisked him until she pulled out a fragile glass ampule. “You had it in your fucking pocket?”
Roman left Mace to his brother and nearly tugged her into his arms, but she stopped him, dangling the FC-5 from her fingers. “I wouldn’t if I were you. Did you locate the tainted food? And what about the rest of Mace’s team?”
“Confiscated. All of it.” Roman looked about a second away from not caring she held a deadly virus in her hands. “Are you okay?”
“As good as I can be while holding something that could kill everyone on this street,” Isa half-joked.
“So what do we do with…that?”
“Me!” Maddy sprinted down the sidewalk, a metal biohazard box swaying in her hands. “I can’t wait to hug you, but first let’s get the infectious material safely tucked away in its little hidey hole and take it home, shall we?”
“That sounds like the best idea ever.”
Nat gestured to the cop on her left. “We’ll give you guys an armed escort back to Tru Tech.”
“Thank you.”
“Not a problem. And you”—Nat not so gently nudged Blue Eyes in the opposite direction—“get an armed escort to a six-by-six jail cell. At least until the feds come and pick your sorry ass up.”
Isa turned to Roman, torn between following Maddy and never letting him out of her sight.
“Go.” He eased her into his arms and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead. “I know you need to go. Do your thing, Doc.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Roman could hardly see straight, he was so damn tired, but it wasn’t just physical exhaustion. He was mentally drained. Emotionally wiped out. Hell, he couldn’t even bring himself to celebrate with everyone at Iron Bars despite the fact that they couldn’t have asked for the operation to go any smoother than it did.
This job may be done, but there’d always be a next. And one after that. It wouldn’t be the theft of FC-5, but something would come along equally as dangerous, and Roman would do whatever he could to make sure it didn’t happen, because that’s what he did. It’s who he was.
But that kind of stress, the constant unknowns…it wasn’t who Isabel was. And it sure as hell wasn’t what she deserved.
Standing on the rail by the dock, he stared across the Potomac. The DC lights reflected off its surface, rippling the glowing river as if it housed thousands of blinking fairies.
“Pretty man. Pretty view. I’m not sure if there’s anything that could make that sight any better to be honest.” Isabel’s warmth coated his back as she wrapped her arms around him. “King told me you were hiding out here. Just curious why when the party’s happening up there.”
“Guess I’m just not in the mood for a party.”
“That doesn’t sound like a positive.” She slipped under his arm and around his side until she stood in front of him, her brown eyes staring up at him in full concern mode. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re not at the lab, so things must be looking up. Good day?” Coward. By deflecting her question he was only delaying the inevitable, and judging by her frown, she knew it.
“We’re closer than we’ve ever been before, and all because of Abby. There’s something in her body’s reaction to the virus that’s the missing link I’ve been needing. As much as I wish Beaver Ridge had never been targeted, we’re only a week or so away from finding a cure because they did.”
Roman pushed a smile to his face. “That close, huh? Then I guess it is a good day.”
“It’s looking up, but we’re just not quite out of the clouds just yet.”
“You’ll get there. I don’t have a doubt in my mind.”
“But you do about something…don’t you?” Isa’s voice faltered as she watched him carefully.
No one had ever been able to read him so accurately before. Not even his brothers.
“Talk to me, Roman. No matter what it is you have to say, I deserve more than this silence. Is it me? Do you not want…me? I mean, I know we never discussed how things would go once we—”
“None of this is about you.” Roman cursed at her small flinch.
He ripped his hand through his hair and pulled away. Being close to her like that made it hard to remember what he needed to do, and that was put her first. “This is me. Doc. Everything we’ve gone through in the last couple of weeks? The danger? All the unknown variables coming from every which angle? That’s my daily fucking life…and it is as far from Mari’s Sanctuary as you’ll ever want to be.”
She tucked her arms across her chest. “It’s different, I’ll give you that, but—”
“It’s not just different, Isabel. It’s not compatible.” Fuck. It hurt to breathe, a five-hundred-pound weight settling on his chest. “We’re not compatible. I won’t gamble with anyone’s life but my own. Least of all yours. I told you before that I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get your happy ending, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m doi
ng this for the both of us.”
The tears that had slowly welled in Isabel’s eyes stalled, giving way to anger. “That’s the biggest bunch of bullshit I’ve ever heard.”
He blinked, taken back. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, you heard me. You know who gets to decide what I need to make me happy? Me! Yes, the Sanctuary makes me happy. So does my work at Tru Tech. And the pupu platter at Lin’s China Bistro. And right until about ten minutes ago, so did you.”
“Doc, I—” He reached out to her, but she stepped away.
“You know what doesn’t make me happy? As a matter of fact, do you know what downright pisses me off?” She didn’t wait for him to answer, drilling her finger into his chest so hard it pushed him backward. “When someone comes along and thinks they know what will make me happy better than I do. Well guess what, Mr. Steele? You don’t.”
“I only mean to—”
“To use me as an excuse to keep you from reaching your own happiness?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Oh, that’s right…you’re using Kat as an excuse.”
Roman bristled, balling his fists at his sides. “You don’t know the first thing about Kat.”
“No, but I know that just like I didn’t cause Olly’s mission to go sideways, you didn’t ask for those rebels to plant their very own IED garden, and if I deserve to be happy, so do you.” She left him by the river and walked away, pausing after a few feet. Her anger melted away, leaving behind raw emotion. “You know what would make me happy, Roman? When you realize that you don’t just have something to give…but everything.”
Roman watched as Isabel walked away, and for every foot of distance that she put between them, it felt as if he stepped on that land mine over and over and over again.
* * *
Roman lost himself in the methodical sway of the sparring bag, drilling it with a series of punches each time it veered toward him. Judging by the frayed state of his hand wrap, he’d been at it for a few hours and hadn’t had even one interruption—a huge perk of using his own gym and not the one at Steele Ops.
Another plus was no pitying looks from well-meaning family or, God forbid, unsolicited advice. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to hear it. And he’d spent the last forty-eight hours avoiding it.
Eventually, someone would come pounding on his door, and he hoped to hell it was a brother, because one of those bastards he could punch. His mother or cousin, not so much.
Two feet away on the bench, his cell vibrated. Ignoring it, he tugged the sparring bag close and drilled it with a short series of knee pounds. His prosthesis protested the move, pinching him behind the knee, but he finished the set and stepped away.
Sweat poured down his face and chest, soaking the waistline of his shorts. He’d mopped himself up with a towel when his security alarm beeped with deactivation.
Fucking visitors.
Liam stepped into the gym with King, and neither one looked very happy. “You owe me twenty bucks. He’s still breathing.”
“Barely.” King’s brow furrowed. “Fuck, man. How long have you been at this?”
Roman panted. “I can still move my arms, so not long enough.”
“Instead of beating your body up until it’s entirely black and blue, why don’t you go to fucking Tru Tech and get your woman?”
“Why don’t you fuck off?” He scowled at his youngest brother and best friend. “And why the hell are the two of you even together? Is this supposed to be some kind of intervention or something? If so, I think you’re missing about a half dozen nosy-ass people.”
Liam snorted. “We’re the first wave. Or varsity team. Or whatever you want to call it. Basically, if we can’t talk sense into your sorry ass, you’ll have another visit in thirty minutes. And just so you’re warned, Mom and Grace are next.”
Fuck. Roman downed his water bottle before tossing the empty container in the corner recycling bin. “You’re all wasting your time. Besides, even if I wanted to go after her, there’s no way I can make it right. You didn’t hear her before she left the other night.”
“I did,” King told him. “Actually, not there at Iron Bars, but I took her home and heard plenty. As a matter of fact, I heard it all night long.”
One minute Roman was sitting on his ass, and the next he was sprawled on it. Seconds before getting in his friend’s face, King had sent him flying right onto the mat.
“What the fuck do you mean, you heard it all night long?” He got to his feet as quickly as he could, something in his prosthetic jamming into his skin. “And what the hell were you doing taking her home?”
“Someone needed to look out for her after you ripped her heart from her chest. I just happened to be the bastard in the parking lot when she came looking for an escape.” King shook his head at him, his disgust palpable. “Do you really believe any of that shit you spouted off about? I mean, compatibility? Fuck that, Ro. I can tell you from having known you pre-amputation and seeing you with Dr. Sexy these last few weeks, there’s no one out there more compatible with your sorry ass than her.”
“She deserves more—”
“Say she deserves more than you can give her, and I will fucking conjure Kat’s spirit, let her take possession of my body, and have her kick your fucking ass.” King looked like he wanted to lay him out on the ground again. “And you know she’d do it if she found out you were using her death as a reason to stop living your damn life.”
Some of Roman’s annoyance leaked away. He dropped onto the bench as if a two-hundred-pound barbell had been dropped on it. Reliving the sight of her tears clawed apart his insides all over again.
He loved Isabel more than he thought himself capable of loving another person. In a time when he fought to breathe, she made each breath come easier. When he couldn’t see even two feet into his future, she lit up the way like a beacon.
“I fucked up,” Roman admitted. “After everything I said, I’m not so sure she’ll believe me if I tell her how I really feel.”
King muttered to Liam. “Why the hell did they send the single guys to teach him the way of the female mind?”
Liam shrugged. “Hell if I know, but I think I actually know the answer to this one. Ro, as nice as words are, sometimes you also need to show people how much you care.”
“And if that’s not enough?”
“Enough of this whining shit.” King pushed his shoulder, nearly toppling him off the bench. “Get the fuck up and try. You two are like two puppies hiding under the bed during a thunderstorm.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Well guess what? You guys survived the damn storm. It’s time to climb out. If you tell her how you feel, show her what she means to you, and you’re fucking honest about it, and she still tells you to fuck off, then you’re both morons.”
This time when Roman jumped to his feet, he clocked King.
Ethan stumbled backward, tripping over a dumbbell.
Pain radiated from Roman’s knuckles and up to his wrist, but he didn’t care. White hot fury soared through him at the thought of anyone—even his best friend—giving Isabel less than the respect she deserved. “Talk about Isabel like that again, and I’ll do more than loosen a few teeth.”
Isabel Santiago deserved more than respect. She deserved unflappable support. Friendship that could withstand the test of time. Someone to challenge her. Someone to love her.
Someone ready to make her happiness his own.
And that was him.
It hit him like a freight train until he almost landed on his ass right next to King. “What the hell was I thinking?”
“You weren’t.” King’s already swelling lip curled into a grin. “So don’t you think maybe it’s time you change that?”
Definitely.
Roman’s cell rang again. He stopped himself from throwing it across the room seconds before seeing the DCPD caller ID. “Steele.”
“Hey,” Nat greeted him warily. “I know you g
uys did your job, and I won’t blame you in the least for wiping your hands of this entire thing, but…she’s saying she wants to talk.”
“She?”
“Lina Doe.”
“That’s not going to happen, Nat. No fucking way.”
“Roman, I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think we needed it. None of those guys from the festival are talking. Not a damn word. And this woman? She’s pissed off enough that I think we can flip her on them.”
“Who cares if she flips on them? We’ve got her and her entire team locked up. We got the virus. It’s game over. She has no cards to play. Anything she’s trying to pull is simply to keep everyone jumping through hoops.”
“Roman…”
“No.”
“She said it has something to do with Isa…and I really think she’s telling the truth.”
Fuck. Nat wouldn’t say that unless she meant it…and it also meant that he couldn’t blow this off. He’d already risked losing Isabel in so many different ways he refused to risk losing her yet again.
“I’m on my way.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Isa pulled another slide out from the microscope and barely resisted the urge to chuck the damn thing against the wall. She, Tony, and Maddy had been at this for the better part of the morning, and they were still empty-handed.
“This one isn’t working, either,” she growled. “I thought we were onto something, but these three samples look as if the meds had no effect whatsoever! What the hell?”
“Okay. Whoa. Take a deep breath and step back from the microscope.” Maddy barely hid her amusement. “Alexa, play some soothing meditation music.”
Throwing her friend a glare in their bulky protective suits was difficult but not impossible, but Maddy wasn’t fazed, raising her gloved hands in mock surrender. “I love you to pieces, Is, but you have to chill out. The promising samples outnumber the shoddy ones…by a lot.”
“But they weren’t what we’re looking for.”
“No, they weren’t. But now thanks to them we know what we’re not looking for. We learn as much from failures as we do successes.” Maddy tapped her chin, feigning deep thought as she flicked her attention to Tony. “Tony, help me out here. Where did I hear that before? Hmm. Wait. It’s almost on the tip of my tongue.”
