by A. V. Asher
The dim light dulled the crimson threads of blood smeared on Mercedes’s palms. Wind from the blown-out windows thundered through the cab.
It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
The god damn shaking had returned. The back of her head burned, and a dull ache was seeping through her body, amplifying every new bruise and mark.
She tried to think of a song. Something that would help settle her stomach and relax her stiff muscles. Her fingers did nothing. Her mind was too splintered.
Just this morning, she and Alec had discussed her options. Staying here or going back to San Francisco. It was clear she couldn’t do either.
Jason had lost his damn mind. If he was willing to do what he had done tonight, there was no way he’d let her go. Alec couldn’t beat Jason back forever.
Alec.
Holy hell.
Mercedes had always known about his abilities. It wasn’t like it was a secret. He had shared stories with her, some that made her stomach turn. She knew he was a well-trained soldier.
But watching it in action was something entirely different. There was a violence in him she’d never seen before. Every movement he made had a purpose. The gruesome sound of Jason’s shoulder being ripped out of joint reverberated in her head. Alec hadn’t even flinched.
Where Jason was chaos, Alec was composed.
A gunshot and a thick crunch of bone echoed in her mind. She hadn’t seen it, but Alec had pulled the trigger. Her gut wrenched.
“Oh my god, you killed someone.” She stared at him.
“Aye.” Alec shot a look at her. His eyes were hard. “And I’d do it again.”
Her pulse leapt at his intensity. “I’m sorry you had to do that because of me.”
Alec stared out at the road, his hands gripping the wheel. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “I told you, I’d do anything for you.”
Her breath caught as a spark of warmth ran through her.
Mercedes closed her eyes, breathing in the rain-drenched air whipping around her. Time wasn’t making sense. Was it only minutes ago he’d brushed his lips against hers, a gentle teasing before a kiss that never came?
Because of the doorbell.
And fucking Mariah.
The ache of betrayal rushed through her. Alec had made her believe she meant something to him. And like an idiot, she had fallen for it. Again.
I told you, I’d do anything for you.
Nothing more than honeyed words.
“How did you know, Sadie?” Declan’s voice made her jump.
“Know what?”
“That Mariah was working with Jason.”
Mariah Costa’s smug smile gnawed at her. If she was being honest, she’d say it was straight-up jealousy that made her instantly distrust the woman. But she’d never admit to that.
“It was in her eyes.” Which was also true. “She didn’t think we’d lie about who I was. And every time she talked about being with Alec, she was watching me. She wanted a reaction out of me.”
Mercedes didn’t miss the jerk of Alec’s head from the corner of her eye. His grip on the wheel tightened.
An hour later, Alec pulled into an industrial park. While a few cars were passing by on the main street, the buildings were quiet. The SUV stopped in front of a warehouse with a large roll door. The headlights against the side of the building reflected into the darkened cab, illuminating the cracks along the windshield.
Mercedes peered. “Where are we?”
“The last safe location we have,” Alec answered. “We own this building, but it’s not on the company books. Mariah doesn’t know about it.”
The hurt in her heart bubbled to the surface, lashing out. “You sure? She seemed to know a lot about you.” She was being a petty asshole, and she knew it.
Alec stopped and looked at her. She held his gaze. Her pulse jumped at the mix of anger and regret she read in his eyes. He pursed his lips, shoved his door open, and stalked to the warehouse.
“Damn, that was salty,” Declan scoffed.
“Shut up, Dec,” she said without heat. He chuckled.
Alec opened the large warehouse door and walked back to the car, the headlights illuminating his powerful frame. His plain white T-shirt was stained with streaks of blood, and the thin cotton fabric clung tightly to his sculpted chest. Warmth tingled down her spine, pooling in her core.
God, he was incredible.
She had to look away. It did her no good to be distracted by this attraction she had for him. She needed to keep her eye on reality.
Alec climbed back into the driver’s seat and pulled the battered SUV into the warehouse. The large overhead lights gave the room a blue glow as they warmed up. He shut off the car and climbed out without saying another word.
She pushed open her door and held onto it as she gave her legs a test run. Grateful they weren’t as jittery as they’d been during her hospital escape, she wrapped her arms around her waist and took in the building.
There was a collection of vehicles parked around the space. Some were basic black sedans, while others were classics. Alec loved working on cars. These were clearly a mixture of business and pleasure.
Alec pulled a first aid kit from a nearby cabinet and set it on a low card table.
“I need to have a look.” Alec gestured to her head. “Come sit here.” He pulled a folding chair out from the table and turned it around in front of him.
Mentioning the injury made it throb. Mercedes sat in front of him, biting her lip to keep in a grunt of pain when he started searching through her hair. His fingers were gentle, but she winced when he separated her hair from the wound at the crown of her head.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “The bleeding has stopped. I don’t think I’ll have to stitch it. Let me know if you feel it start up again.”
Alec came around and knelt in front of her. His hand reached for her throat, and she pushed back in her chair, terror ripping through her. Her fist struck out, but he caught it before she could land a punch.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s alright. It’s alright.” Alec’s voice was gentle. “I want to make sure you don’t have any swelling.”
She sucked in gulps of air, desperate to calm her thundering heart.
He kept her hand, his eyebrows furrowed. “You’re okay. You’re safe here. Breathe in. Focus on my voice,” he coached in soothing tones.
Mercedes shuddered uncontrollably, a cold sweat beading on her forehead. Declan brought over an ice pack and pressed it against the back of her neck.
“Better?” Alec’s blue eyes were anxious.
“I think so. What the hell just happened?”
“You had a panic attack. It’s no wonder after everything that’s happened.” His hand brushed her hair from her face. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”
“It’s okay. I’ve never had one of those before.”
“They can be pretty intense.” His face was only inches from hers. “I want to check your throat, if you think you can manage?”
Logic told her Alec would never hurt her. But she was terrified of having another reaction like that.
Mercedes took a breath. “Go ahead.” She tried to relax as he gently examined her throat, wincing when he hit a tender spot.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, probing gently. “Everything seems okay. You can breathe normally, right?”
Not at the moment. She gave him a curt nod.
“Good, we’ll be out of here soon.”
“What about you?” She put her hand on his chest, next to the bloody tear in his shirt. She could feel him tighten under her fingers. “You might need stitches.”
“Aye, I might. Declan will look at it. It’s not the same as having Mason around, but he can thread a needle if needed.”
Alec stood and walked to the first aid kit, taking out various gauzes and medical paraphernalia. He stripped off his bloody shirt and sat on the table in front of Declan, who handed him a wet towel to clean the blood off his chest. The nearness
of Alec without a shirt would usually give her a thrill, but all she could see was the crescent-shaped gash on his chest. It was about three inches long and deep. Jason had narrowly missed adding to his puckered scar, a reminder of the bullet Alec had taken in the war. Other silver scars, long since healed, decorated Alec’s muscular torso and arms.
The thought of Declan pulling a needle through Alec’s flesh made the room spin. Mercedes held her breath while they examined the wound.
“I think a closure bandage will do the trick,” Declan muttered. “Sadie, come hold this towel, please.”
Mercedes took the towel. Her hand shook as she held it against Alec’s chest. Declan used a squirt bottle of saline to clean the wound while Mercedes caught the runoff. She put her other hand on his shoulder to steady herself, feeling the warmth radiating from him. His body tensed with each stream of solution that hit it. Mercedes winced at his quiet hisses of pain, each sending a dagger into her heart.
“I’m okay, lass,” Alec said. “Just stings a bit.”
Mercedes was clutching his shoulder. “I know. But I don’t like it,” she whispered.
“Aye, I know how that is.”
Once it was clean and dry, Declan made quick work of bandaging it and added a clear adhesive wrap to cover it.
“Good thing you were here, lass. Normally he swears at me like a sailor.” Declan smacked Alec’s good shoulder with a grin.
Alec sent Declan a smirk as he hopped off the table.
Normally? Was this just another day for them?
Mercedes watched them silently as they pulled bags and items from cabinets. They spoke in low tones about next steps, how to clean up the mess at the house, removing the damaged vehicle from the warehouse.
“There’s a bathroom in the back.” Alec gestured behind him. “You should wash up and change.”
Mercedes gathered clothes and her makeup bag and found the small restroom. She was a wreck. Smears of blood were on her cheeks and chin and crusting on the fabric of her shirt.
Who the hell is this woman?
What she wouldn’t give to go back to when her biggest concern was submitting a brief on time or how short to make her hemline for a company cocktail party. Now she was wondering how to dispose of a blood-soaked shirt.
Mercedes scrubbed her hands and face. She tried to rinse the blood from her long hair, but it wasn’t easy with only a pedestal sink.
Alec knocked at the door as she added the final touch. “It’s time for us to go.”
The table of supplies was neatly packed up. Declan was loading an older model jeep with bags, and she walked to the passenger side.
“We’re over here, lass.” Alec’s voice was quiet. He was standing in front of a sleek black muscle car.
“What’s that?”
Alec glanced down at the car. “It’s a Camaro.”
“I can see that. Won’t it draw attention?”
He smiled. “Aye, it’s a very nice Camaro. But they didn’t use satellite systems in 1969.” He frowned, regret clear in his eyes. “I’m not taking any chances.”
Mercedes looked to where Declan was throwing one last thing into the passenger side of the jeep.
“Dec’s not coming with us?” Why was she only now catching on to this?
“No, you and I are going out on our own.”
Her stomach sank. “Just the two of us?”
“Aye.” He was studying her.
She swallowed, her throat scratchy. “I thought I was going to the embassy with Declan.”
Alec’s face darkened. He took a step forward. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I told you I was going to the embassy with Declan.”
Alec winced, his eyebrows drawn together. “I know you’re angry with me. You have every right to be. But it’s not safe to do that tonight.”
Mercedes hesitated, but not for the reason he thought. Her anger had slipped away when she saw him bleeding. Blood he had shed for her. But she couldn’t go with him. Alec had a way of scraping her heart raw. It was too hard to be alone with him.
“I can’t let you go on without me. I have to see you safe.” He cleared his throat. “Please.”
Mercedes looked away, torn. Declan had said he wanted to go on his own with the twins. A trip to the embassy might be pointless anyway. She had no idea if they could accommodate her at the last second.
At least Alec seemed to have a plan.
She looked up at him again and sighed. “Okay.”
Alec let out his breath all at once. “Let me take your bag.” Mercedes slipped the strap off her shoulder and handed it to him.
She walked to Declan and gave him a hug.
“Can’t you come with us?” she asked in a last-ditch effort to put a buffer between her and Alec.
“I’m sorry, I can’t. I have something I need to do. It’s important.” Declan smiled apologetically. “You’ll do fine. No one wants you safe more than that man over there.”
Mercedes followed his gaze to Alec as he got into the car. The engine roared, reverberating off the metal walls. If only she knew what to believe.
Declan gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she joined Alec in the car.
She had no idea where they were going. It didn’t matter. One thing today had taught her was that she’d be stupid to let her guard down again.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Vodka doesn’t do shit for pain.
Jason took another pull from the bottle as Patrick snipped the last suture. He’d dug the needle into Jason’s thigh a little more aggressively than necessary, but at least the job was done. It was going to be a bitch to walk for a few days.
The other injuries were a problem too. His broken nose had been set, but the purple and black discoloration had already seeped under his eyes. By morning, he’d look like hammered shit.
Then there was his shoulder. It had popped back into place on its own, but muscle spasms threatened to throw it out of joint again.
It hurt like hell.
“Finished,” Patrick said.
Jason slid off the conference room table and pulled his pants up. The world spun as a wave of nausea hit him. God damn it. I don’t have time for this.
The darkened offices had given him a reprieve after everything had gone sideways, but they couldn’t stay here long.
Mariah was leaning against the glass doorway, looking amused.
“Where’s my icepack?” Jason growled at her.
She sneered and tossed it at him. His hand moved automatically to snatch it from the air, searing his injured shoulder. The world lurched again.
Bitch.
Mariah smirked as she pulled out a chair from the table and flopped into it. “I don’t know why you’re so pissy with me. You’re the dumbass who tried to take him on.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
Jason slumped against the table and pressed the pack to his face. He had to get it together and make a plan. But between the throbbing of his injuries and the rage coursing through him, he was drawing a blank.
Fucking McKinley.
That piece of shit told Sadie to stab him. And she did it. What had that bastard done to her? There was no way Sadie, his Sadie, would have ever hurt him on her own.
She loves me. She’s just confused.
The bang of a distant door brought him back to the present.
“Shit, here we go,” Patrick muttered.
He turned to see Adam’s broad form striding toward them. Jason stood, straightening his back and pushing the ice pack away. Adam wasn’t a man you showed weakness to. He thrived on it.
“What the fuck did you do?” Adam ground out as he strode into the conference room.
Jason put his chin up. “I told you I’d find her.”
Adam stepped up to him, glaring down into his eyes. “You were told not to engage McKinley,” he snarled. “Do you know, or even care, how much you cost us tonight?”
“We needed to know
where she was,” Jason said.
“No. What we needed was for you to not beat the shit out of her and send her back into the arms of a fucking MI6 officer, you stupid bastard.” Adam’s face was reddening with every word. “Years of our work, gone.”
He stepped away from Jason with a huff and turned his attention on Mariah. “And you.”
Her wide dark eyes watched Adam warily.
“You were directed to have dinner with McKinley and test the waters. How the fuck did you end up at that house?”
Mariah lifted her chin. “Romeo over there said I needed to get eyes inside to confirm the asset was there. I did that.” She shot a glare at Jason. “I thought I was following orders.”
Adam gritted his teeth. “He didn’t have the authority to give that order.”
She shifted her gaze back to Adam. “And how the fuck was I supposed to know that?” She stood and came around the table. “It would’ve been nice to know there was a change in management before I got sent in to blow my cover.”
A smirk played on Jason’s lips. It was Adam’s fault. This is what the asshole gets for running a sloppy ship.
Mariah turned back to Jason, narrowing her eyes. “What I want to know is why did I have to blow my cover?” She walked closer and tilted her head at him.
Jason stared at the floor, his jaw clamped tight. There was no way he was going to give them anything.
“What did you think was going to happen?” Mariah studied him. “You were going to go in there, machine guns blazing, kill Alec and Declan McKinley right in front of her, and she’d somehow swoon into your arms?”
They were watching him, three sets of eyes evaluating his every movement. He’d have to be careful.
“We still need her, don’t we? I made the call to get her back. Once we had her, we could do what was needed.” Jason’s stomach turned to think of what they might have to do to her.
“It would have been easier to know what they were doing if I were embedded. Cressida’s already stripped my access. We’re blind now.”
Damn it. There had to be another way.
“McKinley has a sister, doesn’t he?” Jason said. Mariah’s eyes widened. “And a little niece? Where are they? In Scotland?”
Her mouth dropped.
