by Joni Hahn
He’d just have to prove himself. Then, Jaydan would have no choice but to believe in him.
He was on his own.
“Stop treating me like a kid, Jaydan. I grew up while you were gone. This is what I want to do.”
With a brief, condescending turn of his head, Jaydan said, “We don’t always get what we want.”
Austin’s nostrils flared. “Just because I’m not cut from Jonathan Rose’s cloth, I’m not good enough?”
Jaydan’s eyes bugged out before his face fell into a frown. “This has nothing to do with my father, or the fact that Booker and Mom lied to us. You and Gunner will always be my brothers.”
Austin couldn’t keep his voice from rising. It was that, or punch something. “And, as your brother, I want to have your back.”
“I’d expect nothing else, Austin.” He jabbed a finger at the ground. “But, not like this. Not with D.I.R.E.”
Lifting his chin, Austin stared out at the sea of bodies on the dance floor. “I’m approaching Mitchell with or without your help.”
“I’ll tell him not to hire you.”
His gaze drifted back to the superior look on his brother’s face. “You would, wouldn’t you?”
Jaydan gave an adamant nod. “You’re damned right. I have enough to worry about without adding you to the list.”
“Yeah, you proved that when I didn’t hear from you for years on end, and I did just fine.”
His brother’s face paled into his white tuxedo shirt. Shit. Did he really just say that?
Austin squeezed his eyes shut. Jaydan didn’t deserve that, and he had no right to say it.
“Jaydan, I’m sor-“
“Is that…?”
Austin’s eyes sprang open at the inquisitive sound of his brother’s voice. He followed Jaydan’s gaze to the open doorway and recognized the woman he’d seen on the evening news numerous times. The same woman Belle said couldn’t make it.
“Congresswoman Norton.”
Chapter Three
Belle rushed down the corridor behind the ballroom, cursing the long dress that hindered her pace. Mother butler, she’d really screwed up this time. The Madam would be furious. Belle never made these kinds of mistakes.
Damned serum.
Damned Austin.
Austin Rose had taken complete control of her wits. With his rugged good looks polished and refined in a tuxedo, he would’ve reduced her to a puddle of weak femininity if it weren’t for the high heels holding her up. And his scent, heaven help her, his tangy musk smelled better than Cindy’s homemade bread. Add a hint of leather and her mind shut down quicker than a tree after the holidays.
She had to pull it together. Put Austin out of her mind. The mission was at stake – her sisters’ lives were at stake. Now that she knew he had a tie to D.I.R.E., her own life was at risk, too.
“Belle!”
He’d found her. Thank God, she’d seen Congresswoman Norton before he did. If she’d been in his arms at the time, she would’ve had to take him out in front of everyone.
Her stomach hurt just thinking about it.
Hiking up her skirts, she rushed around the corner and headed to the parking garage. Shoving open the door, she skidded to a stop. He stood a few feet in front of her, breathing hard, his dark, nearly black eyes swirling with frustration.
She sidled away with slow steps. “I don’t want to hurt you, Austin.”
His brows rose high on his forehead. “Hurt me?”
She lifted her chin, irritated at his tone of surprise. Men were so egocentric, just like the Madam said.
“Let me pass.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her a laser-sharp stare. “Not until you tell me why you lied about Congresswoman Norton. Why you’re here.”
She hesitated, realizing in that moment that she couldn’t hurt him. For some reason, the idea of hurting Austin pained her more than any of the experiments done on her in the past, more than any of the lives she’d had to take.
Even Melody’s?
No, that can’t be. He’s weak. Unworthy.
His soft voice made her knees shaky. “Whatever it is, Belle, I can help you.”
How she wished that were true. How she wished she could run to his arms right now and ask him to hold her. To take her away from the nightmares and the tragedy that loomed ahead. To figure out some way to guarantee a better life for her sisters outside of the Madam’s plans.
The effects of the serum were more evident than ever. She grew weaker every day. Doing without it the last few weeks had left her vulnerable, had opened up her mind and bared her emotions. She felt more than she ever had before, saw beneath the surface of people, of Austin, who possessed a troubled soul.
“I came to see you.”
He barked out a huff of disbelief. “Yeah, sure. Try again.”
In all honesty, seeing Austin had been forefront in her mind while she dressed for the party. While her motive was the Madam’s need to destroy D.I.R.E., Belle’s desire was to see Austin Rose again. He did something to her insides she’d never felt before. Something sinfully forbidden yet, so appealing she questioned her vow of loyalty to her sisters.
A dangerous first.
Turning around, she ran in the opposite direction, toward the concrete stairs. His footsteps grew closer, spurring her to pick up speed.
Mother butler heels.
She clutched the corner of the wall to gain traction. He grabbed her from behind. Swinging around, she pulled back and gave him an open palm to his nose, eliciting a string of curse words laced with a Texas drawl. Yanking down on his arm, she flipped into a mid-air somersault before pulling him behind her and throwing him to the ground. He landed on his back, his oaf echoing in the deserted garage. Jerking the knife from her thigh-holster, she propped her shoe on his chest and leaned down to point the blade at his throat.
“I said I didn’t want to hurt you, but you wouldn’t listen. Don’t follow me.”
She turned around to leave. He caught her ankle and yanked her to the ground beside him, the knife tumbling a few feet away. Rolling on top of her, he held her arms on either side of her head. His hard body radiated boiling heat along hers, his gorgeous face flushed with anger.
“And I said I wanted to know what you were doing here. I won’t fight a woman, Belle, so stop this.” He crushed his mouth to hers, his tongue plundering deep, taking what he wanted with wild abandon. Riotous, wondrous elation exploded inside her, crackling and sparking like a New Year’s fireworks display. She met every thrust of his tongue with one of her own, hungry, ravenous for his taste.
Raising her hips to his, she ground against him, her moan loud in the cavernous garage. She didn’t care.
She’d experienced her first glimpse of heaven.
Breathing hard, he broke away with a wondrous frown. “Damn, Belle…”
A smile blossomed on her face, her chest heaving.
“Too bad I have to turn you over to D.I.R.E.”
Mother butler.
Stomping her foot on the floor, she felt the tiny blade pop out of the heel of her shoe. With a swift kick, she struck his calf with the blade. Cursing again, he released her hand to grab her shoe and toss it away. She slammed the heel of her hand into his face and rolled on top of him. His calloused palm clutched the back of her bare thigh, shooting a wave of heat through to her core, while his other hand tossed her shoe behind her.
Staring into his swirling, chocolate eyes, she forced her mouth on his for another open-mouthed kiss. She needed just one more taste, one more glimpse of ecstasy before she put him behind her forever. His squeeze on her bottom made her squirm, her body telling her she needed him, needed whatever his touch and his kiss promised.
Why do you need something weaker than you?
His fingers played along the seam of her panties, before slipping beneath the elastic at her leg. His forefinger teased her wickedly, without mercy, before dipping into her wet heat. Wild, uninhibited sensations ricocheted t
hrough her, wondrous feelings she’d never encountered before. She grinded her hips against him, wanting more, thirsting for whatever he intended to give her.
The next thing she knew, she lay beneath him, his finger deep inside her, eliciting a pleasure that left her speechless, motionless, thoughtless. He held a power over her, revealed a weakness she didn’t know she possessed.
She lifted her hips to take him further. Wasn’t weakness supposed to be something shameful? Not something decadently sweet?
“Come for me, Sweetpea…” He kissed her again, his tongue, his mouth making her wetter, escalating the tingling awareness, the desire that had bombarded her body.
Come for him? He wanted to satisfy her when she fought him? When she had injured him over and over again?
Men are domineering and self-serving.
She was stronger than this.
He pulled his hand from under her dress to block her fist. An instant chill settled inside her, familiar and resolute. She writhed beneath him, struggling to free herself. He might be lean, but he was all muscle.
She jerked her knee toward his nether region. He twisted to miss the blow. His chocolate eyes narrowed, his speech breathless.
“If you were a man, I’d kill you.”
She struggled to free herself. “Oh, so now you’re a chauvinist?”
Holding down her arms, he said, “When it comes to fighting, you’re damned straight.”
She tried to bring up her knee between his legs again. He shifted to stop her.
“Would you just stop, already?” Wincing, he said, “Shit, Belle. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want you to answer some questions for my brother.”
She could never answer questions for D.I.R.E. “No.”
“You don’t have much choice.” His cool breath smelled of whiskey and mint, reminding her of that kiss and his finger inside her.
“Don’t I? What will you do to me if I don’t? Kill me?” She tipped her chin toward him. “Go ahead.”
He frowned at her, his eyes wide with incredulity. “Kill you? Are you on heavy drugs?”
Not for weeks now. “Take your best shot, Austin. Whatever that might be.”
Climbing to his feet, he pulled her up beside him, his hold on her arm like a clamp. “We’re going to find a D.I.R.E. agent.”
Like hell they would.
Stomping down on his foot, she kneed him in the groin and broke free. Curse words echoed in the dank garage amongst venomous growls.
“Dammit, Belle, that’s it.”
She took two steps before he turned her back around - face first into the concrete wall. His ‘oh, shit’ filtered through the fog in her brain before everything went black.
***
“Get Mitchell Jacobs, and do me a favor, don’t alert my brother.”
With a nod, Austin’s new best friend, Agent Colten Colfax, hurried back into the building. Kneeling beside Belle, Austin removed his tuxedo jacket and placed it under her head, questions swirling in his mind.
She had to be some kind of rogue agent, or worse. She had hand-to-hand combat training and carried undisclosed weapons like some kind of James Bond assassin. A doctor of disguise, she’d turned from a street-tough scamp into a fairy tale beauty in the span of a few hours. Not to mention, she got past security and into the party.
“What happened?”
Mitchell Jacobs squatted beside him, his jaw hard, his stare no-nonsense. He exuded authority, his demeanor leaving no question of who was in charge. A woman accompanied him, along with a man wearing the super agent armbands.
Austin said, “I tried to stop her from leaving. She stabbed me and took off running. I swung her back around and - right into that wall.” He pointed at the wide, concrete barrier and winced. “Totally on accident.”
The woman knelt beside her on the pavement and examined her. Mitchell’s eyes studied Austin before glancing down the parking aisle at Belle’s discarded shoes and purse.
Following Mitchell’s gaze, Austin turned back around. “Her name is Belle Mason. She said she was at the party as a representative of Congresswoman Norton, who couldn’t make it. When I saw the congressman arrive, I went looking for her and caught her trying to leave. She has hand-to-hand combat training, a knife in the heel of her shoe, and one smart-ass attitude.” Austin offered his hand. “Austin Rose. Jaydan’s brother.”
Mitchell gave him a firm shake as the man behind him grinned.
“Hell, there’s another one?” Extending his hand, he said, “Agent Dylan McCall. The gorgeous woman kneeling beside her is Dr. Teague Hamilton.”
Damn. If he didn’t want to make a difference in the world, he’d join D.I.R.E. just for the women.
Teague glared up at Dylan. “I can do my own introductions, Dylan.” Turning to Austin, she said, “I think we should get her to the hospital just to make sure there’s no serious injury.”
“She hit pretty hard.” He hoped he hadn’t caused her grave harm. “Earlier today, I defended her against a guy who told Jaydan she knows where his missing sister is located. She took off as soon as the cops arrived.”
“Cops?” Mitchell scrutinized him with narrow eyes.
God, he hoped he didn’t blow his chance at D.I.R.E. by getting arrested. But, he also didn’t want Mitchell to find out about the arrest from Jaydan or some other source.
“Yeah, the guy didn’t like my southern chivalry.” He gave Mitchell a steady gaze. “Jaydan had to bail me out before he got here this afternoon.”
“Good work, Rose.” Mitchell stood up. “Teague, we’ll get one of our doctors to ride in the ambulance to the hospital. “
Austin said, “I’ll go along so no one has to leave the party. I know your people don’t get to do this often.”
Mitchell gave him another quick onceover. “You need to have that leg looked at.”
Austin touched the area on his calf and came away with blood on his fingers. “I’m fine, but when she wakes up, she’ll be a hellion on wheels. You need to assign someone that can handle her.”
Mitchell quirked a brow. “You think you can handle her?”
He couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to prove himself. “Yes, sir.”
The D.I.R.E. boss gave a brief nod. “Very well. I’ll send two agents with you, Austin, and meet you at the hospital in a few hours.”
Austin couldn’t believe he was sitting in an impromptu D.I.R.E. meeting with Mitchell Jacobs, Dylan McCall and Teague Hamilton. They sat in an empty waiting area just down the hall from Belle’s room, two D.I.R.E. agents posted on either side of her door.
Other than a whopper bruise on her forehead, she was fine. The hospital staff gave her something to knock her out so Mitchell had time to come up with a game plan before they questioned her.
Her damned shoe had garnered him four stitches on his leg. She’d pay for that by following through on that climax she’d fought so hard to resist. The woman did not like being vulnerable.
“Her name isn’t on record,” Mitchell said, staring down at his tablet. “We’re testing her DNA to get a true ID.”
“Does she have any distinguishing marks, tattoos…? Mitchell glanced up to look at him.
He cleared his throat. “She has a tattoo on her rear.”
And, a damned fine rear it was, round, firm and nearly perfect - if it wasn’t for the strange drawing on her left cheek.
The three of them stared at him with wide eyes. His words rushed out in a defensive tone.
“I saw it when they were changing her into the hospital gown.”
Eyes swirling with interest, Teague sat up in her chair. “What did it look like?”
Squinting his eyes, he gave his shoulders a casual shrug. “Clouds with the words Destiny’s Warrior in front of them.” He lifted a corner of his mouth. “Fitting.”
Dylan jumped up from his seat and started to pace. “Holy shit,” he said, as he exchanged an incredulous stare with Teague and Mitchell.
Austin glanced at each of them
. “What?”
“She’s got to be after Teague,” Dylan said, shaking his head. “We have to get her out of here. What if there are others?”
“On the contrary,” Teague said, looking over her shoulder at Dylan. “I think I should be the one to question her. Maybe she’ll remember me.”
“No.” Dylan sliced a hand through the air. “If she’s a trained agent, or worse, one of Cyrus’s clones, I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
“Clone?” Austin said, taken aback.
Clones were artificial people. There was nothing artificial about Belle. If someone had created her, they needed to work on their mold. She had way too much attitude – and passion.
Mitchell said, “The hotel is being swept every half hour. If she’s a clone, she would’ve gone down already.”
They really were talking about clones. Now, he understood why Jaydan had warned him away. They didn’t deal with the local drug lord or serial killer. They dealt with big picture criminals. The far out villains that the general public never heard about. Area 51 shit.
“Let me talk to her,” Teague said. “Maybe she’ll relate to me since we both went through Mrs. Burnett’s home.”
Austin shook his head in skepticism. “She’s dangerous. It’ll be hard to get answers.”
“Sounds like you have your work cut out for you.” Mitchell’s somber face told Austin he wasn’t one to joke around.
He blinked and pulled back his head. “You’re serious…?”
“She knows you, Rose. You’re our lead hitter.”
“Lead hitter for what?” Holding Hope’s hand, Jaydan stormed into the waiting room and looked around. “What’s going on?”
Damn, he should’ve known better than to think Jaydan wouldn’t find out. Then again, maybe it was good for him to see that Mitchell showed some confidence in him.
Dylan rubbed his chin and grinned. “I think Mitchell just asked your brother to try out for the agency.”
Jaydan’s shoulders hunched as his nostrils flared. Hope yanked her hand from his grasp and shook it out.
Mitchell said, “I asked your brother to interrogate a potential threat.”
