by Lexi Blake
It was hard, but he was strong. A knife didn’t merely slip in, it required force and movement. It required upper body strength. The man in his arms was a bull, all sinewy muscle. Logan had to force the knife past his ribs and up, into his heart. Two years ago he’d never lifted a weight, didn’t think to train.
It was his own torture that brought about the change, but now he knew if it hadn’t happened, he would have been helpless to stop this. His past pain might be Georgia and Seth’s salvation, and suddenly he was grateful. Grateful for the time he’d spent on that desk. Grateful for the lesson it had taught him. Grateful that he was alive in this moment to save them.
He held the guy close, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He didn’t feel remorse. This man would have killed Georgia. He would have taken everything that was beautiful and lovely and precious about her and ground it into dust. Logan had already decided to give up law enforcement, but he would never give this up. This was his job in life. To protect them. To love them. To do anything he had to do to ensure their survival.
Henry was suddenly in front of him. “He’s dead. You can let him go now.”
He let the man slide away as Henry picked up his gun and checked the clip. For a man who hadn’t used firearms in years, he still knew his way around one.
“Are you ready? This is your op, Logan. I’ll do what you need me to,” Henry said.
“I’m going to slip into the master bedroom window. Georgia left it open earlier. You go in the back door. Kill anyone you see. Use the knife if you can until we’re in the living room. Once we know we have them trapped, all bets are off.” He wouldn’t care how much noise he made once he knew they couldn’t get away with Georgia and Seth. He looked down, expecting his hands to be shaking, but they were stone-cold steady. It was only his heart that was shaking. He gave Henry what he hoped was a confident grin. “Hey, Henry, I won’t tell your wife if you won’t tell my moms.”
Henry put a hand on his shoulder. “Deal.”
Logan jogged around the back of the cabin, his whole being set on doing his job. On getting them back.
Chapter Seventeen
Georgia winced as the man in the suit slapped Seth full across the face. A stream of blood began to flow, racing down Seth’s blue and white button-down, but when his eyes came up, there wasn’t pain in them. He swayed on his feet, but it was obvious that Seth was angry.
“Is that the best you can do?”
The man who had taken her prisoner gave him a reptilian smile. “Oh, Mr. Stark, I assure you, I can do so much better. My men are simply playing around right now. Amarralo, por favor. I think it’s time we had a chat.”
Seth’s eyes found hers as he was pulled into one of the dining room chairs and bound by the chest to it. Two of the boss’s henchmen had already zip tied his hands, and now they wound a thin rope around his torso. She could see where it cut into his skin.
Her own hands had been left undone. She’d been careful to be pleasant since she’d gotten in the SUV. All the long trip from town to here she’d wondered if her brother was dead. She couldn’t stand to think of Win’s big body cooling in a parking lot while life went on around him. Tears seeped from her eyes.
“Hey, gorgeous. Don’t cry.” The man with the gun reached up and casually wiped a tear off her face. “You’re very beautiful when you cry, but I haven’t given you anything to cry about. Not yet.”
She shivered, her every nerve in pain at the thought of his hands on her. She didn’t want anyone except Seth and Logan. Not for the rest of her life. The love she felt for them was sacred.
“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Despite the fact that he was tied up and bleeding, Seth growled the words. He struggled against his bonds, the chair moving back and forth.
“My name is…well, you can call me Jones. I work for a very particular business.” Jones straightened his tie as though he couldn’t stand the thought of being unkempt. “I guess you could say I’m the North American manager for my firm. It’s a family-run business, and they’d prefer to stay in their country. I handle issues that tend to come up for my boss back in Bolivia. I suppose you could say I’m the public relations and the security guy all rolled into one. You understand business, don’t you, Stark?”
Seth’s eyes were clear as he spoke, though she could still see the blood on his chin. She wanted nothing more than to walk over there and wipe his face off and kiss every place where he surely ached. He took such good care of her. Standing idly by seemed wrong, but it was her only play now. “I understand that a man like you will do anything for money. I happen to have my checkbook handy. Unfortunately, I can’t write one out because you seem to have tied down my hands.”
Jones walked a circle around him, making a tsk tsk sound, like a disappointed mother. “Oh, you underestimate me. I’m a company man, if you know what I mean. Once in, you’re in for life. That life can be an amazing one, or it can be short and tragic. I personally enjoy the perks of being employed by one of the largest drug cartels in the world, and I also enjoy my head being on my body. So I do my job.”
“What exactly is your job today?” Seth was cool as a cucumber. He sounded like he was in a Friday afternoon meeting with his management staff.
Jones laughed, a sound that contained no humor. “I’m going to tell it to you straight, Stark, as one businessman to another. I’m looking for a man, and I think you can help me find him. I brought along my Spanish-speaking compatriots because the last thing I want to do is fail at this. Right now, they think this is a simple shakedown. I’ve been trying very hard to solve a problem for my bosses. I want to move up. They can be generous when they’re pleased.”
“And when they’re not?” Seth asked.
“Oh, well, that doesn’t tend to go well for anyone. Like I said, I’m doing this on the down low because I would rather like to beat the man they actually hired for the job. He doesn’t have my brains. He’s still trying to figure out where Bishop is. Bishop is gone. We won’t find him on our own. But I have a suspicion that you can. So you’re going to be a good boy and tell me that my hunch is correct, and I can prove to everyone that I’m the right man for the job.”
“I’m not feeling particularly chatty today.” Seth struggled against his bonds.
Jones shrugged as though he’d expected that. “There’s only one way this goes down. You’re going to die. I can’t leave behind a bunch of witnesses. This is a bit of a covert mission, and I don’t want it getting back to the big boss if I fail, so your death is absolutely going to happen. Now, it can happen quick and painless, or my friends there will enjoy dragging it out along with your intestines. They’re good at it.”
At least he was honest. Georgia’s eyes struck on the bar and something that shouldn’t be there. Logan’s hat. Her heart rate tripled, and it had been pounding hard before. Logan’s Stetson was right there along with the keys to his county-issued vehicle. Logan was here somewhere. Was he hiding? Had he gone for help?
She knew one thing. He wouldn’t leave them behind. If he was hiding, then he was waiting for the right time to pounce. He would come for her. He’d promised her that a long time ago when she’d been taken by another douchebag. I’ll always come for you, Georgia. She’d sobbed in his arms and felt safer than she’d ever felt before.
So she had to stay alive because Logan would be here. She had to make sure Seth was alive, too. She had to do whatever it took and that meant getting the attention back on her. If she didn’t, all the focus would be on Seth and it would be all violence. At least when it was on her, it was a slight bit softer. Gross, yes, but not all knifey and stuff.
“You don’t have to kill me.” She said it in that oh-so-breathy way that let a guy know she was soft and pliable and very dumb. Guys, idiot, nasty assholes like the one in front of her, tended to like their women dumb.
Jones turned and sure enough she had his attention. “Really? You weren’t so keen on me killing the other one.”
“He was my brother. I love my
family.” He’d called the cartel a family business. It was a gamble. “A brother is different from a guy I’ve been banging and you know it. You let him live.” Hopefully.
Jones’s eyes flared, and she knew she had him. “Now that is a surprise, sweetheart. I thought you were going to be trouble. I’ll be honest, the whole way over here I was thinking what a shame it would be to have to kill someone so sexy. Isn’t this your boyfriend?”
She shrugged. He was so much more than a boyfriend. He was half her soul. She’d figured out this afternoon that her soul wasn’t her own. It belonged to Seth and Logan. She belonged to them. “I was with him because he’s rich. You’re rich, aren’t you? I can see plainly that you’re powerful. Power can be very attractive to a girl.” She’d seen him staring at her, his eyes going right to her breasts. When he’d helped her up into the car, his hands had lingered on her hips for a few seconds too long.
Jones assessed her, his gaze moving up and down her body. “You’re living with him. Do you think I haven’t done my homework? I checked you both out.” He turned to Seth. “She’s been living in your condo for months.”
“Wouldn’t you have invited her in? Look at her, man,” Seth said. “She’s not exactly the best assistant. She’s good for one thing. And I’ve had that for months and months.”
Yes, Seth was damn good, too. It occurred to her a little drama could buy them some time. She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I was his secretary. He’s handsome and rich. A girl’s got to eat, you know.”
Jones frowned her way. “You didn’t seem so happy with me before.”
She hated him and, at the time, she hadn’t known she would need to flirt with her horrific kidnapper and potential rapist. “But you were kind. You didn’t kill my brother when you so obviously could have.”
“I didn’t have to. I believe in a measure of mercy.” He stared down at her.
She giggled like a schoolgirl. She wanted to throw up, but that wouldn’t further her cause. “I do, too.”
Jones put a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “You got a good one there, buddy. You chose well. Don’t blame yourself. You’re young. You think with your dick, so it’s no wonder you picked a whore. That’s what happens when you trust a chick, especially one with great tits and a heart-shaped ass. She’ll throw you over for the first guy who comes along and chooses not to put a bullet through her brother’s heart.”
“Georgia, what are you doing?” Seth sold it. And she knew he was acting because she’d seen him do it before. Seth was a master. A deep peace settled in her despite the fact that they could still die. It was the peace that came from having a great partner.
She shrugged, hoping her eyes were properly blank. “Sorry. I’m going to go with the best bet.”
A long laugh boomed through the room as Jones winked her way. “I thought I’d put a gun to her head and threaten to shoot the bitch if you didn’t give up Bishop, but I think that might be doing you a favor now. Maybe she can blow me while I have you tortured. A blow job makes everything so much more pleasant, don’t you think?”
Georgia smiled because she would bite his dick off the first chance she got and then they would see who had the upper hand.
“I was in love with her,” Seth said, his voice bitter.
A bit of worry ran through her. God, he was either really good or not lying at all. What was his game? Had he caught on to hers? She would rather suffer through seriously icky sexual stuff than have Seth’s inner parts get used as playthings. She could survive the ick. She couldn’t survive watching him die. Her stomach rolled at the thought of any of these men touching her, but she would do it with a big smile on her face if it bought Logan the time he needed.
Jones got closer to her. “I’m not kidding. I would enjoy watching his torture while you service me. I don’t actually like to get my hands dirty. I’ve moved past that. It’s like asking an executive to pass out the mail. But I don’t mind getting my dick a little filthy. Not for a woman who looks like she’d be worthwhile.”
And then she would require some serious bath time in which both of her men took special care of her. They wouldn’t leave because she’d played a part and pretended to want the gross criminal guy. Oh, she was going to get her ass smacked hard. She might become deeply acquainted with floggers and whips and that spanking bench thing, but then they would kiss her and love her and make her forget because she’d figured out that she could make it through anything now.
She walked up as boldly as she could and cocked a hip at Jones, whose eyes went right to her chest. “I’m game. You said you would be honest, well, I will, too. I’m a practical girl. I’ll go with the guy who offers me the best deal.”
No lying there. The best deal was the one Seth and Logan offered her. Pure, no-holds-barred, stick-together-even-when-the-going-went-to-complete-shit love. They offered her nothing less than a life where things could go wrong and they could fight and make each other crazy and still know that they would get in bed at the end of the day and turn to each other because they were in it together.
So she didn’t even have to lie to him. She was telling him flat out who she would choose.
“I can offer a lot,” Jones said.
He had nothing on her men. “I imagine you can. So who’s this Bishop guy? I want to help if it gets me out of this dingbat town.” She loved Bliss. She could stay here. She would even get used to the moose and stuff, but she would bet that Mr. Big Suit didn’t love small-town living. “I don’t know why he dragged me here.”
Jones smirked her way. “You’re a big-city girl. That’s obvious. So you’ve never heard of John Bishop? Think hard, sweetheart. Any information you can give me would help.”
She scrunched up her face, pretending to tax her brain. “I’ve worked for Seth for months. I don’t think there’s a Bishop on the payroll, but I could find out, maybe get you an address. I need a computer. Or I could call in to the office. We don’t have to make this bloody. This flooring is like expensive and stuff. I think the blood would make it less pretty.”
Yeah, she was good at this.
Jones smiled at her, watching her lips as she wet them with her tongue. If she only had her heels, she would bring one very slowly down on the bridge of his foot, letting it sink into the skin, and then she might actually get to shoot a son of a bitch. “Bishop isn’t working for Stark, sweetheart. I rather think it’s the other way around. You see, John Bishop was a ghost, a spook.”
“You’re a ghost hunter.” A little blondeness never hurt. It always got the guys to think she was cute and stupid and harmless. Why was Seth involved with the CIA? She knew exactly what a spook was. Her brothers were Delta Force. “Do you have one of those EMFBS thingees? Like on TV? They like hear ghosts and stuff. I don’t think Seth believes in ghosts.”
Jones laughed. His right hand relaxed. That was his gun hand. Yes, he was relaxing around her because he believed she wasn’t a threat. She was sweet and pretty and only good for a fuck. Oh, she was going to show him. “I wish these guys understood a lick of English because they would be amused by you. So pretty and so vacant. Exactly how I like my women.” He turned to his henchmen, giving them a shorthand gesture.
The man closest to Seth planted a fist in his gut. She heard the air whoosh out of his lungs and then his harsh moan of pain wracked her. She rolled her eyes as though the sound annoyed her when it hurt her down to her soul. She wanted to take the pain for him, but he would never allow it.
Where was Logan? She needed Logan. They needed him so badly. Had it only been a few hours before that she’d held him tight and promised him everything she had? Logan was the hero. He was the one who came out of nowhere and saved the day. Seth was the one who held them together. She needed them both.
“No, sweetheart. Bishop is supposed to be a real ghost, but after my counterpart in South America got through…interviewing…an old barkeep who thought he could get away from us, well, we found out that Bishop isn’t exactly as dead as he should be. If only his count
erparts in the CIA had as good intelligence as we did.”
She had no idea what any of this had to do with Seth. There was no way Seth was John Bishop. Was he related to him? She knew how close family could be, even when they were miles apart. Please let Win be alive. “It sounds like a tough situation. I don’t like it when people come back from the dead. It’s confusing.”
He actually purred as his free hand came out to pull her close. She was dragged hard against his body, his hand going low to cup her ass. “You are a bundle of joy, aren’t you, blondie? You’re going to be a lot of fun to keep around.”
She forced herself not to stare at Seth. How much could he take? They were using him like a punching bag.
And Jones, the giant asshole, had an erection he was rubbing against her. “We knew we didn’t kill John Bishop, so we did some investigating. My boss found the last man to see him alive. Bishop faked his death. After we paid a hacker a ton of money, all we were able to find was a cell phone we suspect belonged to Bishop. It was used shortly after his car exploded and he went up in a ball of fire and smoke. Do you know who he called?”
She shook her head.
He turned his eyes to Seth. “You, Mr. Stark. He called you. Why would a CIA operative contact a college kid? Is Bishop your father? Or just a guy who liked to bugger college boys?”
He held a hand up. Apparently his henchmen were well trained. They stopped immediately, and Seth’s head rolled forward, his exhaustion and pain apparent. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, man. I don’t know anyone named John Bishop.”
Georgia looked around. She’d lost track of two of the men. One seemed to have stayed out front and another had walked to the back door. There was a man hovering in the hallway to her left, leaning against the wall, watching the action. The last man she could account for had walked back toward the bedroom looking for anyone else in the house. He’d been gone for a while. She couldn’t stand the thought of that man walking into their bedroom, the room where she was safe and loved.
