by Lora Leigh
“Oh, Eli, I’m doing more than blaming you,” she informed him with narrowed eyes and tightened features. “I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Come on, Zoey, it’s not my fault you can’t beat Billy,” Eli protested without the fire he needed to convince her of his innocence.
The young agent was almost amusing. Doogan barely managed to hold back his grin as he watched and listened to the confrontation. Eli wasn’t convincing Zoey of anything because where it counted, he was actually scared of her.
He was more scared of her than he was of Doogan. Because he could actually lie to Doogan and make it convincing. That was faintly insulting, Doogan decided.
“Oh, Eli, you did not just blame me for losing that race.” One hand went to her hip; the other clenched the strap of her helmet as though actually considering using it on the young man’s head. “I know you’re not that damned stupid.”
Doogan himself would have already at least threatened to use the helmet on the young agent. Just because Eli was so damned scared of her. He deserved to have his ass kicked for letting such a tiny thing scare him like that.
“Well, I wasn’t the one who lost it,” he assured her, frowning down at her. “Come on, Zoey. It’s not my fault.”
She glared back at him. “I am not talking to you, Eli. Talking to you just pisses me off, so if I were you, I’d run.”
“Zoey . . .”
“And run fast.” Her voice lowered as he stepped back and actually turned and stomped off.
Now that was funny.
Doogan couldn’t help a chuckle this time as he watched Eli get as far as the middle of the crowd gathered around Billy before he stopped and turned back to watch Zoey.
That was when Eli caught sight of him.
Doogan let his gaze meet the agent’s and watched Eli’s eyes widen in surprise.
“I could help you with that motor,” Doogan offered as Zoey made to pass him, her head down, lips thinned angrily.
That brought her to a stop.
For a second, surprise and feminine hunger flashed in her gaze before it stilled beneath a sudden shadow of fear.
“Now, doesn’t that offer just sound a little too good to be true?” she drawled, not bothering to hide that Mackay suspicion and mockery that ran deep and wide. “Why would you want to help me, Mr. Chatham Bromleah Doogan the Third? You might actually get grease on your royal hands. That would suck now, wouldn’t it?”
He lifted a brow slowly. Well, he hadn’t expected an open-arms greeting, but he hadn’t expected such a confrontational attitude either.
“Do I have Eli to thank for this reception?” He nodded to Eli as the other man strode toward them, his eyes narrowed, disapproval lining his face. “I thought we were getting along rather good the last day we saw each other.”
Eli was just determined to make sure the Mackay blanket of protection remained fully in place around the youngest sister, it seemed, despite the secrets he held where the past year was concerned.
Loyalty, he thought. Eli’s loyalty had shifted far too much in the direction of the Mackays.
It seemed all four agents he’d sent to Somerset had switched loyalties from Doogan to the Mackay clan. Now didn’t that just figure? And why hadn’t he expected it? He should have.
“Zoey, you’re going to end up locked in a damned convent for your own safety,” Eli hissed at her, concern gleaming in his gaze. “You don’t understand. Dawg finds out about this and there will be no way in hell he’ll let it go. Especially if he’s involved.” He jerked a thumb in Doogan’s direction.
Celadon-green eyes gave a mocking little roll, her expressive features settling into a warning expression. “Eli, I’m already not pleased with you right now,” she warned him. “And I’m well able to decide who I let into my little circle of friends and who I don’t.”
“He’s no woman’s friend,” Eli seemed to be reminding her.
Doogan had suspected the younger man had done all he could to douse the sexual response Zoey had shown on the plane two weeks before.
“Boy, you’re pushing it,” Doogan stated, icy anger overshadowing the fondness he actually felt for the younger man.
“She’s going to get herself killed,” Eli retorted, frustration creasing his face before he glared back at Doogan. “What do you want? What are you doing here?” His gaze flicked over Doogan in disgust. “And since when did you start dressing down?”
Doogan arched his brow and just stared back at Eli for long, silent seconds, the warning clear in his eyes. The kid was pushing his luck. Mackays might have his loyalty, but he was still an agent of Homeland Security and therefore under Doogan’s command. And he was still family. Sort of.
“This is messed up,” the younger man muttered, no doubt in response to the fact that he knew Doogan well enough to guess how deep his interest in Zoey extended. And Eli should damned well be aware of the fact that the need for additional protection was now imperative.
“Possibly,” Doogan agreed, never taking his eyes off Eli.
Eli breathed out in resignation. “What? What do you need?”
He might remember who ultimately held his job in his hands, but the kid was doing so with a decided lack of respect. He was going to have to take care of that, Doogan reminded himself.
“I want you to assure Ms. Mackay I’m fully capable of helping her with her bike,” he asked, pleasantly he was certain. “She’s hesitant to believe I am.”
Eli’s eyes widened, sheer terror seeming to flicker for just a second before he rubbed at the back of his neck, a grimace pulling at his lips.
“Elijah,” Doogan prompted warningly.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Eli agreed, turning to Zoey suddenly. “He’s guaranteed to make every male in your family ready to lock you up, though, if they find out you’re having anything to do with him at all. Walk away, Zoey.”
She actually laughed at Eli and when her gaze returned, Doogan made damned sure the look she saw on his face reminded her of that kiss in the plane, and the hunger that burned between them.
And she remembered. The light flush on her face, the way her eyes seemed to darken just a little at the edges assured him that she did.
“Zoey, you promised to stay away from him,” Eli groaned, resignation and exasperation mixing in his tone.
“Eli,” Doogan murmured warningly, “keep it up and I’ll shoot you myself.”
It was enough to make him wish he’d never sent Eli to Somerset to begin with, no matter how much Grant Brock had needed him at the time.
“Don’t threaten Eli now,” Zoey chastised him sweetly. “I get to hurt him first. He seems to forget which Mackay he promised to be loyal to first.”
Doogan arched his brow at her with mocking amusement before turning back to Eli. “Why don’t I give you more power and less excuses, then? Unlike Eli, Dawg and his cousins don’t scare me in the least.”
“Shows how smart you’re not,” Eli muttered before glancing warily at Zoey.
The young agent rubbed at the back of his neck again, his need to further warn Zoey clear in his expression.
“Stop making your neck raw, Eli.” She rolled her eyes again, obviously reading the look.
“You have a truck? I have to get the bike back to the warehouse.” She turned to Eli, pointing her finger back at him demandingly. “Keep your mouth shut, Eli. Squeal, and I’ll make bacon out of your ass, you got me?”
He actually looked worried, Doogan thought. Was it the threat, or the woman making it? He had a feeling it was Zoey causing all that concern.
“He doesn’t have a truck . . .”
“It’s parked on the other side of the trees,” Doogan broke in before turning back to Eli. “Get her bike, Eli, and follow us.” Without waiting for an answer, he lifted a brow at Zoey. “Need a ride?”
“If you don’t mind,” she answered with a pleased little smile. “And I look forward to seeing how good you are. With my bike.” Impish, teasing, that smile did somethi
ng to him. Something he didn’t want to think about or look too closely into.
“You could be biting off more than you can chew,” he warned her. “With the bike as well.”
Her brow lifted with graceful doubt for a moment.
“Come on, show me your truck.” She was laughing at him again. “We’ll get my baby loaded and get her home. Maybe next month Billy Ray will be paying me.”
Oh, that was a given, Doogan thought without a doubt in his mind. If Eli thought he knew electronics, motors, or cycles, then he had nothing on Doogan.
“You can count on it,” he promised her. “Bet on it.”
Leading the way from the illegal racing track, Doogan pushed back that odd surge of emotion he felt, when emotion was something he rarely felt. Instead he let the satisfaction he felt free instead.
Who could have guessed that Zoey would have been so easy to connect with again? Adrenaline junkie? It was more than apparent the youngest Mackay sister was still chasing the only edge of adventure she could find outside her brother’s and cousins’ circle of control.
Following her to the parking area, just far enough behind her to glance at the rounded curves of her ass, encased in snug jeans, her legs surrounded by riding chaps, he wondered how wild she could get.
“Dawg Mackay will neuter your ass,” Eli hissed, pushing the bike as he came beside Doogan. “He will cut your balls off with a dull knife and you know he will. This is not a good idea.”
Eli was far too frightened of Dawg Mackay and his cousins. Personally, Doogan believed the younger man should be more frightened of Zoey. He would be, he thought in amusement, if Eli wasn’t lying about the proficiency she was attainting in the martial arts as well as the street fighting lessons he was giving her.
“You’re so melodramatic, Eli,” he drawled, rather than advising the agent of the error of his ways.
The boy definitely had a problem, Doogan thought, casting him a dubious look. Eli had been pissed ever since he’d stepped into the plane to see Zoey in Doogan’s arms.
It wasn’t jealousy, though. Doogan could have faced the jealousy and dealt with it. What Eli was trying to protect her from was a danger that seemed to be following Doogan as well. One Doogan was beginning to believe was behind the events a year ago that still threatened to destroy her.
“Don’t worry, Eli,” Zoey assured him, her voice light, easy as she threw Doogan a sultry look. “I promise I won’t let Dawg neuter him. I imagine Doogan just wouldn’t be his charming self without his balls.”
It was her tone of voice. There was something about it that had him wondering if he should be wearing a cup of some sort. Perhaps one made of titanium?
“That is, if she doesn’t do it first,” Eli said just loud enough for Doogan to catch. “By accident even. She’s dangerous. You don’t know . . .”
Sliding Eli a questioning look, he wondered at that particular comment.
Eli was well aware of the importance of keeping Zoey from facing the punishment of a crime she hadn’t committed. Just as he knew why it was so important to allow Harley Perdue to remain hidden and the suspicion of his death to remain intact. The prey Harley was hunting was back in town, according to the message Doogan had received, his attention once again focused on Zoey. The stakes had risen though, and the threat of arrest was in the very near future if Doogan didn’t find a way to stop it, quickly.
John David had made certain he’d aided the Mackays’ little plot to tie Doogan’s agents up with the oldest sisters, but he’d known Zoey would never give in to the only agent Doogan had left in town. Even Doogan knew Eli was still far too young to be able to handle that little spitfire.
Eli knew it as well.
Just as they all knew that Eli wasn’t the reason someone was conspiring to destroy her. Take out Zoey, and the ties between the Mackays and Homeland Security were destroyed. Especially if the agent looking into Harley’s disappearance had his way.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” It was all Zoey could do to hold back her laughter as she defended herself against Eli, having obviously heard him. “I promise, if I neuter you, it wouldn’t be by accident.”
Despite the laughter and her genuine amusement, Doogan was perceptive enough to see the fear Zoey was pushing back, though.
“Well, that’s comforting.” That fear wasn’t going to stand in the way of his having her, Doogan had already decided that. He’d thought about nothing else, hungered for no one else, since that first taste of her. “Let’s do our best to ensure it doesn’t happen, either by accident or by design. I wouldn’t be pleased.”
Zoey’s gaze flicked back to him, shadowed and undecided.
“I don’t believe I’d be pleased either,” she finally murmured, definitely too low for Eli to hear as they neared the powerful black king cab four-wheel-drive pickup Doogan had elected to use while he was in Somerset this time.
It was the perfect vehicle for the job he was there to see to. And perfect for her needs. As he’d learned before nearing the starting line, she had to rely on friends to slip her motorcycle from the garage on the lower floor of the converted warehouse she lived in to the races. Eli was most often elected, always late, and always complaining about the chances of getting caught by her brother, her cousins, or their friends.
Doogan had no intention of complaining.
“Load it up, Eli,” he ordered the younger man before escorting Zoey to the passenger-side front seat.
Eli’s muttered complaints were ignored as Doogan opened the door, gripped her waist, and lifted her effortlessly into the roomy front seat.
She was watching him closely, the smile gone, her unusual pale green eyes probing, intent.
“He isn’t happy with you,” she informed him, her hands sliding from his shoulders. “Or with me. He could end up blabbing to Graham.”
It wouldn’t matter; Graham would come to Doogan before he went to a Mackay, and Doogan knew it.
“I can kick his ass far more effectively than Graham can,” Doogan assured her, wondering at the lingering suspicion in her eyes. “And he knows I’ll do it if he blabs.”
At least, Eli better know it.
Closing the door, he strode to the back of the truck, where Eli was strapping the cycle down, still muttering to himself about bosses, guns, and a new career.
Doogan stood silently listening, watching, until Eli finally turned to him with a dark frown.
“I could make certain that finding a new job becomes very difficult,” he told the younger man. “I could actually make it impossible, Eli. And before you open your mouth to Graham, or to our fathers, you should check your e-mail and your new mission parameters from none other than Director Bryce himself. Don’t force me to have you called in for refusing to obey direct orders.”
“And let me guess.” Eli glared at him. “One of those parameters is that Graham isn’t to know about your sudden association with Zoey? Right?”
“Pretty much. At least until I inform him of it myself,” Doogan agreed. “Do you have a problem with your orders, Agent Grant?”
Securing the last strap on the cycle, Eli jumped to the ground and slammed the tailgate closed before turning to Doogan again.
“I obey orders,” he reminded Doogan. “Whether I like them or not. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. That doesn’t mean they won’t find out.”
“Then let’s put it this way,” Doogan stated softly. “If anyone finds out, by any means, I’ll hold you directly responsible. What do you think about that?”
“That you suck.” Eli’s glare deepened. “You suck really bad.”
“And it’s going to suck even worse for you if anyone so much as realizes I’m in town before I inform them,” Doogan promised him. “So you better figure out how to make certain that secret, along with Zoey’s, remains carefully protected, Eli. Very well protected.”
Eli glanced away for a moment. When his gaze returned it was filled with grief and painful concern for the young woman he knew
had become a target. “You’ll get her killed. You know that being with her will only make the danger worse. They’ll kill her just like they killed your family.”
His family.
A faithless wife, a jealous brother, and the beautiful, innocent daughter Doogan would have given his own life to protect. The sister and niece Eli still grieved for and still blamed Doogan for the loss of.
“They can try,” he snarled furiously. “But this time, I fucking know they’re here, don’t I? I know their target and I know how they work.” Fury burned through him, the flames of rage nearly overwhelming him before he found his control and reined them back ruthlessly. “Now you can help me, Eli, or stand the fuck back and keep your mouth shut. But don’t get in my way. Do that, and you’ll be as much an enemy to me as they are.”
With that, Doogan moved to the front of the truck, stepped into the driver’s seat, and glanced at Zoey’s knowing expression.
“Finished threatening Eli?” She shifted in her seat to watch him directly. “Shame on you.”
He merely grunted at the amused chastisement. “He’ll survive it. Maybe,” he promised her, putting the vehicle in drive and heading for the gravel road that led to the clearing. “If he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut by now, then he needs to learn.”
Eli would definitely survive his threats. If he didn’t follow his orders, though, he might not survive Doogan’s foot up his ass. Or Director Bryce’s anger. Zoey Mackay had become the boss’s new pet project and if Eli or Graham interfered, then there would be more hell to pay than either Graham or Eli might survive.
FOUR
She was crazy.
Insane.
She’d lost her ever-lovin’ mind, just as Eli had accused her as they rode home from the airfield two weeks ago.
Doogan was the biggest threat to her life, Eli had reminded her somberly. If Doogan learned Zoey was having nightmares about having murdered Harley, and he couldn’t find Harley Perdue, then he could arrest her. And if he did, all favor the Mackays had found with Homeland Security would go to hell. It would become a war. One her brother and cousins couldn’t hope to win, and she’d end up in prison.
