by Dana Volney
“What was this one about?” She danced the tips of her fingers between his shoulder blades, spine, and neck.
“Death. It’s always about death.” There was grit in his voice—an utter distaste for humanity.
Silence lingered and she let it. There would be no pushing. He’d tell her.
He sat up so that his head was under her chin as they both lay in the bed. “I was driving. It was supposed to be a standard diplomatic point A to point B and back. Until it wasn’t. We were diverted to an unscheduled meeting and fell under fire with no cover. Malcolm lay there dead before we even knew what was happening. I tried to save him. I tried.”
A tear slid down her cheek. She’d heard about the attack in the southeastern part of Afghanistan the day after it happened, remembered the absolute fear of not knowing if he’d been one of the three who’d died that day. She’d never heard the full story—they hadn’t exactly been communicating the ups and downs of their lives in the last couple of years.
“We shot back and killed a bunch of those bastards but not before they got Wes. Then Brenn.”
Half of his team. No wonder it gave him nightmares.
“I’ve had a lot of fucked up days of my life.” His thumb stopped rubbing her skin and chills crept up her arms. “But that one, it stands out.”
“Today didn’t help, did it?” Getting ambushed must’ve stuck with his subconscious. Tonight was reason number 311 she should’ve stayed away and let him be. If only there’d been another way.
“Apparently not.”
“I’m sorry about your teammates.”
“This is what happens. I can’t seem to get away from it. They were killed not long after you were kidnapped, and that was it. I was done.”
She’d known the situation in Saudi Arabia hadn’t gone as planned with Safar, and that had royally sucked—it had taken forever for her ribs to heal—but she’d never actually considered how much it had affected Felix.
She softly kissed his temple. “I know you did everything you could in a bad situation.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
“It never is. Not for people who think they can save the world.”
The sweat on his brow was gone, the remnants of the past no longer visible. She hugged him as best she could with one arm around his shoulder and the other trapped against her belly, and kissed the top of his head.
“I know you miss parts of it. But I’m glad you’re out. I’m pretty sure you gave me high blood pressure.”
A breathy chuckle skidded across her chest. “Your sexy body is perfect. Always has been. Always will be.”
His head turned up to her, and she pressed her lips on his, letting them linger as she breathed him in then kissed him again. She let her cheek rest on the top of his head as she closed her eyes. The tender moments with Felix were few and far between, but always the most meaningful.
In the morning, her heart would be hardened, and she’d be all business.
Chapter Eight
Arabella heard footsteps and waited for a second to get her bearings. Light flooded her lids, and she carefully opened her eyes in time to see Felix’s back disappear through the bedroom door. He was fully clothed, and something didn’t feel right. Why hadn’t he woken her up? Maybe he’s going to make breakfast.
She gathered the white sheet to her chest and hips and tiptoed to the door he’d left open only an inch. Peeking through the crack, she saw that Felix was checking his weapons then holstering his handgun at his side, putting another at his ankle, and a knife at his waistline on his lower back. Definitely not a casual walk or breakfast-making behavior. He grabbed his windbreaker, and she hurried, quietly, to her clothes. If he was leaving, she was following.
Last night she’d gone from resignation to depression to lust to gloom. She took a deep breath and blinked a couple of times to wake up. Today was starting off in the distrusting realm.
She watched through the curtains as he fired up his borrowed truck. She scouted the parking lot. There was an old Toyota Corolla that would be fast to hot-wire. As soon as Felix pulled out of his parking spot, she ducked and sprinted through the lot. And, thank God, the car was even unlocked. She kept an eye on Felix waiting to turn left into traffic.
She hunkered down in the driver’s seat, pulled the wiring harness down from the console, stripped the red battery wire with her knife and twisted, did the same to the ignition wire and connected it, then stripped the starter wire and tapped it until the car started. All and all, one of her quickest performances.
She sped out of the lot and hung a tire-screeching left. Don’t draw attention to yourself. She stepped on the gas until she spotted the truck and then kept a comfortable distance. Felix ducked and turned into random streets, probably in case he had a tail, for fifteen minutes before turning into a grocery store parking lot with a sporting goods store next door.
I am losing my damn mind. She’d just tailed Felix picking up breakfast. She hadn’t looked in all the sacks he’d brought in, but it could’ve just been enough for last night. The Toyota sailed into a spot a couple rows over and she leaned back and scooted down in her seat. Her body tensed. She rubbed her shoulders in a small attempt to relieve some pressure. Being on the run for four months had done a number on her already paranoid way of thinking.
She could go up to him and surprise him—then he’d know her completely crazy for sure. Or, and the best choice, she could go back to the apartment, clean up, and wait for him to return.
She put the car into drive and glanced around to pull out of her spot without incident. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a black Escalade with tinted windows pull up by Felix. That’s when it clicked—Felix hadn’t walked into the store. She pressed on the brake and shoved the car in park, sliding down a little in her seat again.
The Escalade pulled up close to Felix, and he leaned on the hood of the truck.
Darek emerged from the SUV.
Son of a motherfucking bitch. What in the holy of all holys was Felix doing meeting with Darek? In the open? With no backup? This was a conversation she’d give her right foot to hear. There was no way to be inconspicuous about moving—especially since Darek wasn’t alone.
What was Felix thinking? Was his goal to get killed before her? She tapped her fingers on her thigh as her vision tinted red. She itched to put them both in a chokehold. Her empty stomach, the one she thought was getting food soon, roiled as a burst of adrenaline surged through her body. Was he double-crossing her? Divorce papers all of a sudden weren’t good enough and he wanted her out of the picture forever?
And who the fuck was Amelia again?
His eyes. They’d been genuine last night when they’d made love. In fact, the entire time since she’d shown up in his life again. He might want a divorce, and he might be interested in dating after the divorce, but he didn’t want her dead. He was playing an angle. A deadly angle he’d chosen not to loop her in on.
She searched the car she’d stolen—no binoculars or anything to use to get a better look at the meeting.
Felix kept the edges to his face angry and refused to shake Darek’s hand. I cannot believe what I am watching. Darek had originally wanted Felix dead, like, badly. And Darek wasn’t the forgiving type. And now Felix was out there, making who knows what kind of deal, with the devil.
A nagging question stung the back of her throat and wouldn’t go away. Was Felix giving her up for his own peace? He’d always been a standup guy . . . except that night she was kidnapped. Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought, and what she’d assumed she knew about him was only because she wanted it to be that way. Maybe he’d adopted new ethics since leaving the army.
Her head hurt from all the guessing she was doing. She had to go with her gut instinct and trust only that. She wasn’t some fragile little woman; she could take care of herself. And she preferred it that way. Alone. Where there was no one to second guess her or be her weakness. She couldn’t afford to be attached to Felix. Her
heart, her soul, couldn’t live through that type of pain again.
She settled into the threadbare seat and seethed as she watched her old enemy and her husband converse. There was no trusting Felix after this. She never should’ve come to him. Her retaliation would involve his blood, or his bones breaking, or, at the very least, bruises. Let’s see how you like it when you’re caught off guard.
• • •
Felix could slit Darek’s throat right now and sleep like a baby tonight.
“Felix. Felix. Felix.” A voice he’d never forget turned his blood cold.
Waking up to Darek’s call hadn’t been the type of morning Felix expected—especially after the great sex and rousing from hell to have Arabella comfort him. Like she used to. Her concern, her gentle touch, had been real, and he’d not wanted to leave that moment. Not ever. The stillness of the night, the raw emotion that had made its way to the surface . . . he really fucking missed her being there.
“I’m happy to see you’ve come to your senses.” Darek adjusted a gold ring on his pinky.
“What can I do for you, Darek?” Fuck this guy. Felix’s irritation level was at code red, and the fact that he really couldn’t just dispatch with Darek and his entire team right there and keep Arabella safe made his insides boil.
“Imagine my surprise when my men described someone protecting her who looks exactly like you. And then had a picture for confirmation. Are you imagining my surprise?”
“Only if you’re imagining mine.”
“I’ll make you a deal. You deliver her to me, and we no longer have a problem.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“I’m in Seattle. It would be just as easy for me to make this a two-for-one trip.”
Felix raised an eyebrow.
“I’m taking my stolen information back at any cost,” Darek continued. “You can either be with me or against me.”
“Let me think about it and get back to you.”
Eddie’s tech had certainly traced the meeting call already. He could relay it to Alex and they could converge. And risk being late and having Darek escape, only to surprise them later. No thank you. Felix needed to start controlling the situation. No more of this running and hiding bullshit.
A hearty, evil laugh made his insides cringe. “She got to you. Her charms are a lie.” The spit from Darek’s words landed on Felix’s shoes. “Too bad you won’t be around to see for yourself.”
Arabella’s charms and lies were her greatest assets, but they’d certainly had the opposite effect with Darek.
“You’re on American soil, Darek. The rules are different here.”
“Maybe for you. For me they are not.”
“We’ll see about that.” Felix didn’t want to survey the area and spook Darek, but he sure as hell hoped Eddie had made it to the Fred Meyer parking lot. He was the only backup Felix had called. And it had been twenty-five minutes already. The less time he spent in the presence of this maniac, the better.
“I’ll forgive your indiscretions and even add in a little finder’s fee if you give me Katelyn.” The old man ground his jaw in a circle. “Or should I say Arabella Nox?”
Katelyn Anthony was a cover ID Arabella had cultivated for years. That name was officially dead in the water. And if they didn’t put an end to Darek, so was her real name.
If Felix had had more time, he could’ve put a capture team in place. Taking Darek with only Eddie as backup would be reckless. Felix liked odds in the double digits. Waking Arabella had been an option, but one he’d hated. This impromptu meeting was already too dangerous, and to bring the exact person Darek wanted would be way too stupid. And if he’d told Arabella he was leaving, there’d have been no way he could’ve stopped her from tagging along. A sleeping Arabella wasn’t a dangerous one.
His play was to set up the meeting to turn her over and figure out how to detain Darek later. “Where and when?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stopped himself from clenching his fists. Or using them.
“There’s a little café next to Pike’s Market. Wonderful croissants. Be there at five.”
“That’s a public spot for such a wanted man.”
Darek laughed without much humor implied. “I’ll tell you, because this is the last time we will have time for small talk. We’ll be taking her out of the country. Swiftly.”
“Efficient.”
Darek returned to his SUV, where one of his henchmen opened the door for him. “I don’t think I need to tell you what happens if you don’t show or plans go awry.”
“As long as you and I are done, she’ll be there.”
The dark SUV exited the lot flanked by another.
Felix grabbed his cell phone from the pocket in his black cargo pants and dialed Eddie. “Get any of that?” he asked as he glanced around for his backup.
“Yah.” Eddie was already behind Felix, nearly giving him a heart attack.
Felix pocketed his phone. “Did you get his cell, too?”
“There are four. Captured all the signals.” Eddie tapped on his phone. “What a dick. What’s his deal?”
“She stole from him. Apparently that makes her more unlikable than me.”
“That’s saying something.” Eddie chuckled. “You brought Arabella, too?”
“No. I didn’t wake her.”
“Um, bro, I hate to break it to you, but she’s here.”
Felix’s head snapped up. How’s that possible?
Eddie glanced around the lot. “Or just was.” He studied his phone again. “My tech doesn’t lie.”
“Fuck.” Felix had his keys out and was at the truck door in an instant.
“I’ll alert Winter, and we’ll start a plan for tonight.” Eddie, who normally took very little seriously, looked Felix dead in his eyes, with no joke between them. “Don’t let Arabella get away.”
Felix shook his head and took a deep breath. Easier said than done. Arabella had trailed him and watched a meeting she didn’t know the details of. None of this was good for him. None of it. She was going to jump to some half-cocked conclusion and be pissed, and the best he could hope for was to catch her before she disappeared. For good. If she hadn’t already.
He squealed the tires as he left the parking lot. He pointed the truck for the safe house and said a short prayer she’d gone back there. If she decided to split without going back, he’d probably never see her again.
Did she really assume he would go behind her back and sell her out like that? To Darek of all people? They had a tumultuous past, but that didn't mean he wanted her dead. Far from it.
He gripped the steering wheel tighter, checked again to make sure he wasn’t being followed—as if that had worked earlier—pushed hard on the gas pedal, and gritted his teeth. Who knew what she was thinking. This wasn't a normal operation; this wasn't a normal situation. They were flying by the seat of their pants here, and he was hoping for the best, which didn't include one of them dying.
He screeched to a halt in front of the apartment door. Moving quickly, he placed his hand on the doorknob. Then froze. She’d ambushed him once this week; he was not going for a second.
He stepped to the side and took a beat to listen. All quiet. He glanced out at the small parking lot flanked by rows of small apartments just like the one he’d found for Wyn Security after Winter’s house had been blown up while she was protecting Eliam. There was a Toyota parked sloppily to his left. He started to reach for his Beretta. Dammit. Was he really going to go in there to speak to Arabella, if she was in there, with a gun?
Fuck yes, he was. No telling what she’d armed herself with.
Carefully, he turned the knob and pushed the front door open. “Nox,” he called out, decisive and curt. “I know you followed me.” Silence. He stepped into the doorway and swept the room with his gun.
Empty. Fucking shit, she’d beat him here and run. She was the one who’d dragged him into this cluster—the least she could do was stick around and finish the job. Irr
itation sank into every last nerve he had.
He cleared the rest of the rooms and holstered his gun. “Dammit, dammit, dammit.” He slammed his fists down on the cream kitchen countertop.
“There’s a lot of that going around recently.”
He swiveled, and before he could see her or get to his gun, she punched him in the face. Square in his motherfucking jaw.
“You fucking asshole.” She landed another punch to his gut, damn near emptying his lungs. Yeah, she’d always been a formidable sparring partner, but this was rage he’d never seen before.
He ducked to avoid losing any teeth and pivoted around her, reaching for her punching arm. She wiggled free and swept his leg, landing him flat on his back on the linoleum floor. Before she could make her next ball-busting move, he rolled into her legs, causing her to go down next to him. He boogied to his feet and put distance between them. She was clearly looking for a fight, but he wasn’t. His breathing was labored, and pain nagged at his face and abs. He’d been lax on his fight training over the past year—he’d be remedying that shortfall next week.
“What the fuck, Nox?”
She was on her feet and determined. The bright spot was that she didn’t have a gun trained on him.
“You make a secret meeting with the guy who has been trying to kill me for months and who isn’t the biggest fan of yours, and you’re asking the questions? I don’t think so.”
“He called this morning.”
“Then why didn’t you wake me?” She moved to her right in a circling fashion. He was her prey.
“For a lot of fucking reasons.” He put his hands on his hips, only noticing now that somewhere in all the scuffle, she’d taken his gun. The black metal mocked him from the carpet by the bedroom door. He understood part of her rage. If he’d seen her meeting with Darek, he’d have lost his mind, too.
“Name one good one.”
“You needed sleep. You are too invested in this not to do something stupid. Like, oh say, go off half-cocked and blow everything up."
“That was one time and you know it.”
