She chewed her lip as she looked at him. He knew he looked strange, like a bush with a face—though even his face was darkened with greasepaint. The only thing that made him look human would be his eyes and the flash of his teeth when he spoke.
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
“Jack Hunter.” He cleared his throat. “My wife was a big fan.”
“Was?”
And there it was, that twist in his heart that still caught him unaware sometimes. It’d only been eight months, so it wasn’t unexpected—and yet it hurt.
“She died, ma’am.”
Her breath hitched. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She reached for the handle and opened the door. And then she stood and dragged her beach bag with her. Swiftly, she changed her shoes—but she didn’t leave the old ones behind. He would have told her not to because it was positive ID she’d been in the car, but either she’d thought of that or she just loved her shoes.
She fixed him with a determined look. “All right, Jack Hunter. I’m ready. But you have to call me Gina, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I mean Gina.” He pointed to the east. “That’s the direction we’re going. About six miles, and we’ll come out on a beach with sea caves. We’ll hide there until help arrives.”
She swallowed. “Sounds fun.”
He cocked his head as he stared at her, but then he decided she was making a joke. The word that kept swirling in his brain when he looked at her was tough. It was turning out to be a surprise. She was tougher than he’d thought she would be. Smarter too, he’d bet.
“Then let’s go.” He hadn’t taken but a few steps when she called out.
“I can’t see you. You disappear.”
The ghillie suit. He turned back to her. “We can’t turn on any lights, I’m afraid.”
He thought about asking her to hold on to his suit, but it was possible pieces of the camouflage would tear away. There was only one solution he could think of.
“You’ll have to hold my hand.”
He stretched out his hand to her and she placed hers inside. He felt a jolt of awareness throttle through him. It was shocking to his system after all this time. He hadn’t wanted a woman since Hayley died—and he still didn’t, goddamn it—but for the first time since then, sexual awareness reared up and reminded him that he hadn’t lost the ability to feel desire.
Jesus H. Christ.
He wanted to let her go, but a tremor passed through her and he knew he couldn’t. He’d said he was here to help, and by God he was going to help. Even if he had to suffer from the things her touch was doing to him.
*
Gina did her best to keep up with Jack. When she stumbled, he slowed, and when they reached any obstacles, he helped her through. She’d lost count of how many times his hands had spanned her waist, but she hadn’t lost sight of how sparks had zinged through her every time. She kept telling herself it was nothing when in fact it was terribly disconcerting.
She’d learned a long time ago that sex was a weapon people often used against each other. And she really should have remembered it when she’d made the decision to date Athenasios Metaxas. He’d come to one of her concerts in Greece a couple of months ago, and he’d been so handsome and suave—and he’d commanded such power over his domain that he’d made her feel safe.
Until this past week when he’d shown his true nature. He’d wooed her with such meticulous attention to detail that she’d thought he was a dream come true. His brother had given her the creeps, always staring at her, but Athenasios had seemed perfectly normal.
He’d flown to wherever she was staying, wined and dined her, and behaved like a perfect gentleman. He’d called her—not too often—and told her how lovely she was and how much he enjoyed her company. And then he’d asked her to go sailing in the Caribbean with him.
She’d agreed.
That’s when she’d discovered he wasn’t a dream at all. He was brutal and thoughtless and he believed women were his for the taking. Her included. He hadn’t raped her—she couldn’t call it that—but he’d forced the issue when she wasn’t quite certain she was ready to take that step with him. Then he’d started making plans for her life as if he had every right to do so.
Gina shivered as she remembered how helpless she’d felt, how trapped.
“You okay?”
She looked up at the dark blur that was her companion. If he hadn’t been holding her hand, she would have thought he wasn’t there at all. He spoke quietly, and she pitched her voice low when she answered, remembering that he’d told her it was okay to talk so long as she was quiet.
“Fine. Just tired. And a mosquito bit me. Guess I missed a spot with the bug spray.”
He chuckled. The sound warmed her. He’d been amused when she’d pulled bug spray from her bag and doused herself.
“Sorry to laugh. It’s not funny.”
“No, I don’t mind. You have to laugh at something, right?”
“You amaze me with how calm you are about all this.”
She waved a hand. “Oh, I hike through the woods in a bikini and a robe all the time. It’s especially fun when running away from madmen.”
“Yeah.”
She bit her lip. “I guess if you’re with the Army, you must know something about what happened back there.”
“I do. But I’m afraid I can’t tell you about it.”
“I was there. I saw it. Someone shot Athenasios and the men who arrived by helicopter. And then they shot the bodyguards.”
“You really need to keep those details to yourself when you get home.”
“Trust me, I don’t want anyone knowing I was anywhere near there when it happened.”
“Wasn’t he your boyfriend?”
Her hand tightened on his, but she quickly made herself relax. She couldn’t pretend Athenasios had been a good person when she knew better. In many ways, he’d been no different from the men her mother had dated who’d hit her when she was a teenager. “Not really. Our relationship, such as it was, was definitely ending just as soon as I got away from him.”
“Too bad you didn’t leave sooner.”
“I tried. He wouldn’t let me.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. “It’s good you’re out of there. He wasn’t a nice man.”
“No, I know it now. I suck at picking men, apparently. It’s a family trait, passed down from mother to daughter.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Gina sniffed. She liked the comforting feel of his hand on hers. Especially when he gave her a little squeeze of support.
“Would you tell me about your wife? Unless it’s too painful.”
He didn’t say anything for a long while. She didn’t know why she’d asked, except she’d wanted to think about something other than the fact she was currently on the run from Athenasios’s men—and who knows who else.
“We were high school sweethearts,” he began, his voice a little rusty. “I joined the Army after school and we ended it, but I found that I didn’t like being without her. So I went back and married her a couple of years ago. She was a vet tech.”
“She wasn’t easy to forget.”
“No.” He pulled in a breath. “Still isn’t. Hayley was on her way to work during a bad storm when her car hit a patch of water and hydroplaned out of control. Broke through a railing and landed upside down in a creek. The impact killed her, which was a good thing because the creek waters were rising. She was scared of drowning, so I’m glad she didn’t go that way.”
She squeezed his hand convulsively. “Oh Jack, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s fine. The counselor said I have to talk about it. It was eight months ago. She’d have been in the hospital having our baby right now.”
Oh God, this did not get any better, did it? Gina swallowed the lump in her throat. He spoke so calmly, but she knew it had to be killing him inside. She didn’t know him at all, and yet she hurt for him.
“I’m sorry is so inadequate, but it’s all I know to say.”
“It’s all anyone can say. What else is there?” He was quiet for a while as they trod through the woods. She noticed that he stopped and listened every so often. But there was nothing out here other than typical night sounds. She tried not to think about snakes or spiders—or heaven knows what else liked to hang out in tropical jungles.
When he spoke again, though he was always so quiet when he did, the sound startled her. “Hayley loved your music. Drove me crazy listening to your albums. I haven’t listened to any of your songs since she died. Don’t want to hear them.”
“I understand.”
Some of her songs came from a deep well of pain and insecurity inside, and she was especially proud of them. But others, the ones her manager always pushed her toward, were big splashy numbers with thumping beats and killer dance moves. Those were the ones that had made her popular. But she wouldn’t ask which songs Hayley had liked more. Maybe it was best she didn’t know.
She’d been wanting to make a change for a while now, but every time she tried to get her way, a phalanx of music company executives and flunkies came down on her hard. So did her manager.
“Star power sells, Gina.” “The kids love the dance numbers.” “You’re outselling Beyoncé now—do you want to fuck that up?”
Maybe she did. Hell, she didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew that she wasn’t satisfied lately. As someone who had everything she could ever want, she felt guilty for complaining.
So she mostly didn’t. Except sometimes, dammit, she wished she could have something more. Something that couldn’t be bought.
Up ahead, it seemed lighter out, and she realized they were approaching the edge of the woods. The sound of the ocean swelling against the beach reached her ears and her stomach twisted. What was waiting for them out there?
“Will we make it out of here alive?” she whispered.
“That’s my plan. Don’t worry, I’ve been in tougher spots than this and here I am. Metaxas’s men are amateurs, and that’s an advantage for us.”
They skirted the edge of the woods for a while, until he determined they were where he wanted them to be. They emerged from the woods and hurried along a cliff face until he found the caves he was looking for. Gina hesitated in the entrance.
It wasn’t a cave so much as a nook carved into the rock. Once she climbed in there with him, they’d have to stay close together until they were rescued.
He turned to look at her after he slung his rucksack down and stowed the rifle he was toting. And wow, it was some rifle. She hadn’t realized everything he’d been carrying when they’d been in the woods. But now the moonlight illuminated more than she’d seen before.
“Why do you look like a bush?”
His teeth flashed white. “Camouflage. No one notices another bush, right? Helps me get close enough to the target.”
Target. Gina gulped as fresh understanding dawned. “Are you the one who shot those men?”
The light in his eyes dimmed a little. But then he nodded. “That’s my job.”
Her heart thudded. He’d shot four men in the blink of an eye. And then two more when that bodyguard had been slapping her around. She should be horrified, and yet…
“The last two… Were they part of the job too?”
His gaze was steady. “No.”
She dropped her eyes from his, unable to look at him for the worry she’d let too much show in her face. Fear, gratitude. Awareness.
“Thank you.” Her voice was soft, her throat tight.
“You have to get inside now, Gina. I know it’s not a lot of room, but you’re safe with me.”
She looked up then, let him see what was in her eyes. She’d never trusted anyone so quickly in her life. But she knew, inherently, that she could trust him. “I know I am.”
He held his hand out and she took it, her skin sizzling with the contact. They stared at each other for a long minute—and then they went inside and sank onto the sand together.
CHAPTER THREE
THEY SPENT THE HEAT of the day in the small cave. It went back far enough that they could get out of the sun, but it was narrower at the rear and they had to sit side by side, bodies touching as they watched the ocean swells rolling in. They couldn’t see the beach from where they were since they’d had to climb up a little bit to reach the cave.
Jack had removed the bush—aka ghillie suit—and sat beside her in a muscle-hugging black T-shirt, military camo pants, and boots. Gina was aware of him in ways she’d rather not be.
But he’d wiped the greasepaint from his face with a cloth, and her breath had caught at what was under there. A day’s worth of stubble adorned a face that would have looked good on an action-film poster. His hair was blond, his eyes piercing blue, and the hint of a dimple in his cheek when he smiled was enough to make her heart thump.
Not that he smiled much. He’d opened up his pack and given her an energy bar and some water, which he’d told her to conserve. They’d sat in companionable silence for a long while, and then she’d dozed, waking when it was broad daylight to discover that she’d fallen asleep against him and that he’d put his arm around her so she would be more comfortable.
She’d apologized, but he’d shrugged and said it was no big deal. Though she hadn’t intended to, she fell asleep again, and when she woke this time, it was dark. She blinked at her surroundings, but then it all came back to her, and she pushed away once more from the solid mountain that was Jack Hunter.
“You feeling okay?” he asked.
Gina sat up and stretched. Her face throbbed where Athenasios’s thug had hit her, and she was a bit sore after hiking through the woods in flip-flops, but she was alive and that was something.
“I’m okay. A bit stiff.”
“When the moon sets, we’ll get out of here for a bit. Go for a swim. The saltwater will help.”
Gina was doubtful, but on the other hand, she’d love to stand up for a while. A shaft of moonlight shone into the cave, and she turned her head this way and that, trying to relieve the stiffness in her neck.
Jack swore softly, and then she felt his hand on her chin. He was gentle, but she flinched anyway.
“I won’t hurt you.”
“I know.” And she did know it, but he’d surprised her.
“You’re starting to bruise. I’ve got a cold pack.”
He turned to his rucksack, and she marveled at all the things he had in there. It wasn’t huge, but it carried an arsenal of supplies, weaponry, and medicine. And condoms. Her eyes widened as he set some of those aside for a moment.
“Wow, you really are prepared.”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “A bit of everything in here.”
“Including condoms.”
He grinned. “They’re for keeping ammo dry. You’d be surprised.”
“I guess I would.”
He pulled out a bag that he squeezed and shook. When he handed it to her, it was cold.
Gina put it to her face, wincing a little as she did so. “Thanks.”
He was putting stuff back in the pack. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop that from happening.”
Her heart contracted at the regret in his voice. He cared and she liked that. No one cared much about her as a person so much as they did about her status and money.
Stop. That’s pitiful, and you aren’t pitiful.
Damn straight. She’d never been pitiful and she wasn’t going to start now. Poor little rich girl. She was self-made, but money came with heartaches of its own. She’d learned that lesson only too well, but she still wasn’t going to whine.
“You saved my life. I’d be pretty ungrateful if I was angry because someone hit me first. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”
He grew still. “What does that mean?”
She was embarrassed she’d said that much—and then she thought, What the hell? He was a stranger to her and it no longer mattered. Maybe they wouldn
’t make it out of here anyway, no matter what he said. Why keep pretending?
“It means I didn’t have a dad. It means I had a mother who changed boyfriends like most people change socks. It means that some of them were angry, and some of them lashed out.”
“Jesus,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’m over it.”
“If it helps, I’d shoot those men for you if I could.”
She laughed, though maybe she shouldn’t. “I almost wish you could.” She pulled in a breath and shifted the Mylar blanket he’d given her earlier over her body. “The worst one was a guy named Randy. He was a soldier. He liked to drink and slap women around. Mom first, then me. And then one day he had a bulge in his pants when he was hitting me—and I just knew I had to go.”
“Christ, Gina.” He sounded horrified, and she liked him even more.
“Nothing happened. I ran away that night, and that was it. The end of Regina Robertson and the beginning of Gina Domenico, though it took a lot of years of hard work. I slept on streets sometimes, in bus stations and dodgy apartments…” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
“I don’t mind.”
“No selling your story to the tabloids later, all right?”
It was his turn to laugh. “Sweetheart, my boss would hang my ass from the spire of the Capitol if I did such a thing. Even if it wasn’t against my moral code, it’d be career suicide—and this is all I have now.”
She hated how lonely he sounded. She reached out and put her hand on his. His skin was warm, and once more that sizzle of lightning flooded her. “I was kidding, Jack. I know you won’t go to the press.”
He didn’t move for a long moment, and then he turned his hand and ran his fingers against her palm, softly, sweetly. It was as if he’d touched the heart of her, because her entire body grew tight with anticipation.
“What made you choose the name Gina Domenico?” His voice was soft, and she knew he was deliberately moving on. Getting her away from the awkwardness of what she’d just told him.
“My mom always called me Gina, so that was easy. And then I saw a story about an Italian artist named Domenico something-or-other.” She laughed. “I can’t remember his last name, but I never forgot Domenico. It sounded foreign, classy, and I decided that would be my stage name.”
Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5) Page 2
