Caught in the Crosshair (9 page)

“How long ago?”

Jaden caught her stare, looked at her deadpan. “Six months.”

Lauren set the plate down beside her and got to her feet quickly. She paced as thunder rolled in the distance. “That’s when he started call —”

“Look. Don’t do this. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“We both know you didn’t tell me because you didn’t trust me. Even so, I had a right to know,” she said, her eyes practically shooting daggers at him.

Jaden didn’t speak. A slip of conscience niggled at him. She was right on both counts.

“Then why? Why did they take him?”

“That’s the game-show-winning question. It wasn’t to kill him. They would have done that already.”

Her pace quickened, and she chewed on her thumbnail. “Is it because of the money? They wanted more. Maybe he owed them or had to buy his way out?”

These guys didn’t usually kidnap for cash owed. Ordinarily, they chopped men up and buried the pieces deep in a South American jungle. That information he would keep to himself. “Not their usual style of collection.”

“So there’s more to it.”

They were torturing this guy and killing everyone in their path. Jaden needed to know why. “Can you think of any other reason they’d do this to your brother?”

“When they called, they put him on the phone. He begged me not to come. Said they’d just kill me too.” Large round droplets were spilling from her eyes now. “He sounded resigned to dying.”

“That couldn’t have been easy to hear.”
Damn
. She’d been through enough already and here Jaden was piling on more. He didn’t like being the one to tell her this. He wanted to be her protector, blocking out everything bad or threatening. He told himself she’d think more clearly without distractions and not because he was developing feelings for her. The kiss on the rocky island had imprinted him. He could still taste her.

A gust of wind slammed the windows, causing them to bow.

Lauren gasped.

Jaden popped to his feet and said, “Better grab a shower while we still have hot water. Have no idea if the generator will hold. Toothbrush is on the counter. Found some new ones in the cabinet. They’re still in wrappers.”

Nodding, she grabbed the clothes stack and darted toward the bathroom.

Jaden waited outside the door, debating his next move. Their safe house was an old military compound. The condo, being a makeshift location, was therefore more vulnerable. The storm tripled the threat. Also made it more difficult to leave.

The lights dimmed, and then Jaden found himself standing inside a black hallway.

Lauren screamed.

Jaden opened the door so fast it smacked against the wall.

“What is it?”

“C-c-cold.”

The faucet turned off and a few moments later Lauren appeared wrapped in a towel. Lightning lit up the small hallway. She stood there shivering.

“How about that generator?” Jaden shouted to Gregory.

“Sorry. I’m working on it. For now, power’s gone,” Gregory shouted from the other room.

Jaden retrieved another towel and moved to her. It took all his energy to cover her with the cloth and look away from the soft curve of her bare shoulder, which glistened with tiny beads of water.

Find her brother and they’d have answers. One of Menendez’s boys killed Tim. They were responsible for Smith’s and Bryce’s deaths too.

“You ever been through anything like this before?” Lauren asked as Jaden led her into the living room.

The volume rose on the radio in the other room, cutting through the gale force winds.

A voice broke through the static … “
Hurricane Claire is pounding the coast of Antigua. If you’re not already evacuated, stay put. The eye is moving over the northern coast, so stay where you are for a few more hours. The second half is on its way.”

“Trust me. We’ll get through this. You know that, right?” He lowered his voice.

She didn’t respond or budge. Panic must’ve caused her to freeze. Losing self-control wasn’t good. She’d been through a lot already. If she slipped into shock … game over. He took her in his arms to warm her. Pulling her close did little else but cause her lilac scent to fill his senses. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Her long lashes swept up, and her golden eyes stared into his. “I know,” she said softly.

Jaden sighed sharply, unsure of why he felt compelled to offer reassurance, to tell her what he’d never spoken aloud before, when all he wanted to do was cover her mouth with his kisses. “Believe me when I say I know how important finding your brother is to you.”

She broke eye contact. “You can’t possibly know what this is like. Not when you go around saving people all the time.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I had a brother once, too.”

Her gaze came up to meet his. “What happened?”

“He was four years older than me. Got involved in the wrong crowd in high school. Drugs. He was small time. Got shot and killed when a deal went bad.” His voice caught. His fists clenched and released. “He was just a kid. Didn’t know what he was doing. He died for forty dollars. That’s what they took from him as they stepped over him and left him for dead.”

She lifted her gaze to study his face, examine every curve, as though his confession explained a lot. “It’s the real reason you do this job, isn’t it? Because you couldn’t save him.”

He shrugged, non-committal. He didn’t want to examine his actions any more than he wanted to face the shaft of light to his heart brought on by her smile.

“Why’re you telling me this now?”

He rolled his shoulders, winced. Damned if he knew. He wanted, no needed, her to know she was different. “I wanted to be honest. With you. With myself. Show you I’d never fight this hard for the wrong side.”

She paused, looking everywhere but at him. “You still think I’m involved somehow?”

His gut instinct told him no from the beginning, but he couldn’t trust it anymore. Jaden lifted his gaze and took in her beautiful face. She stood so close he could smell the lilac soap she’d used minutes ago. He could almost taste her minty breath. There was no rational explanation for what he was about to say … why he needed to know the answer so badly. “I asked you before, and I’m asking you now, are you?”

Shocked, hurt, her gaze bounced around, and then without warning, it shifted and locked onto his.

She leaned closer. “No.”

Clearing his throat, he tried to break free from the fog clouding his judgment. He should rail against the urge to sweep her into his arms. He should walk away. He should fight the instinct he had to hold her, touch her, and tell her everything she wanted to hear.

Should have. Would have. Could have.

But didn’t.

He didn’t have the willpower.

***

The silence between them reassured Lauren. It shouldn’t. She reminded herself she should be angry and hurt that he could doubt her intentions after everything they’d been through together.

Then she
really
saw the hollow cast to his eyes. The dark circles. The story that lurked just beyond those cool baby blues. The pain. He’d opened up to her a little. For a man used to being alone, it must’ve taken a lot.

Just then, he leaned in so close that his lips grazed her hair, and he whispered, “I believe you.”

His soft words and warm breath on her neck made her lightheaded. She took in a steadying breath, fearing that if he got any closer the gravitational orbit that surrounded him would take over, pulling her into his solid-wall chest where she’d melt.

A crush of emotions knotted in Lauren’s stomach, climbed, and lodged in her chest. Her throat tightened, making it impossible to swallow. Quietness blanketed the room as deafening as the roaring winds had been. She could hear Jaden’s heart beating steadily, securely inside his chest. The rhythm comforted her.

The winds outside calmed as though Mother Nature had a remote control and had hit pause.

“We’re probably in the eye.” Jaden’s low, gruff voice brushed over her as sure as his fingertips grazed her cheek. “We’ll need to make our move soon.”

With her index finger, Lauren outlined the muscles in Jaden’s forearm, his thick, ripped arms.

How sexy was he?

Her head was spinning, her body tingling. He was perfection. And she had to fight every instinct she had to wrap her arms around his strong neck and beg him to kiss her again. The thought of their last kiss made her lips tingle, wanting more. “Do we have a few minutes to come up with our plan before making our next move?”

Jaden’s finger traced her lips before moving to outline her jawbone, his every touch flaming her insides, sending volts of desire through her. She wanted to let go, to trust it would all work out, but her childhood hadn’t been spent dreaming of white towers, horses, and handsome dark knights. Hers had been spent protecting herself from nearly everyone.

She refocused her attention on Jaden’s face. Taking in all the pain behind those dark eyes, she asked, “You said you had a brother. Is there any other family back home?”

“No.”

“Surely there’s someone you need to get back to.”

“If you’re talking about women, there’ve been a few.”

Next time she felt the urge to ask a question she didn’t want the answer to, she’d try to remember to keep her mouth shut. She had a past. He had a past. Did they really need know every detail?

“This job doesn’t exactly lend itself to long-term relationships. Not when you’re gone on assignment eleven months out of the year. Not a lot of women put up with that,” he said with his dry crack of a smile.

Damn, he was sexy. She couldn’t help but wonder how many women had trailed behind him trying to get him to leave his job and commit. A few? A couple dozen?

One look at him said the number had to be high. She had eyes. The man was drop dead gorgeous, dark, and mysterious. A combination that would drive most women into frenzy.

Out of the corner of his mouth he said, “There’ve been a lot of women. But no one special. None like you.”

Not sure if she dreamed he’d said it or if she’d even heard him correctly. It didn’t matter. She wanted nothing more than to feel his warm skin against hers.

The man in front of her was real. Made her body flame with passion. Desire made every nerve ending from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes tingle with anticipation, need. A distant little voice reminded her how truly dangerous a man like him was.

When his erection pressed against her, all rational thought flew out the window. She’d wanted this man from the moment she saw him. He brought her entire body to life, and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold back.

“We should probably talk about our plan to get out of here alive,” she said lamely, trying to regain her senses.

***

“Who’s waiting for you to get home?” Jaden asked. Desire swelled in his chest. She was perfection. Dark, red shoulder-length locks cascaded around her shoulders.

“No one.”

There they were, face-to-face. Body to body. Skin to skin. She had nothing more than a towel wrapped around her.

He wasn’t thinking clearly, couldn’t formulate a coherent argument as to why this shouldn’t happen. It had all the earmarks of disaster written all over it, but he was too involved to care. Being with her made him wish for things he shouldn’t.

So he defied logic instead and pulled her closer, moving to the back bedroom to ensure a moment of privacy.

“And Lauren. I’m not like those men from your past. You don’t have to be afraid of me.” He set his jaw, wanting her to hear those words and take them to her heart. “I’ll take care of you.”

She looked up at him with wide golden eyes, glittery with desire, before squeezing them shut and burrowing into his chest. Before he could say or do anything he found himself holding onto the shaking beauty.
Lauren.
She was right there in his arms where he wanted her. And it felt so right.

“I believe you,” she said.

He stroked her hair as he leaned forward until his lips were within an inch of the nape of her neck. His heart thumped against his rib cage.

The pain rifling his body a distant memory, replaced by an ache to feel her bare skin against his. To wrap her in his arms and feel her long legs alongside his.

A thin piece of cotton couldn’t insulate the raw sexual heat between them.

Her body quaked under his touch, while something deep within him needed to make her feel wanted and safe. His breath quickened. He couldn’t think straight. She felt so right in his arms, fit him perfectly.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, and it was important for him to know the answer. She’d already told him she spent way too much of her childhood fearing men. He needed her to believe he wasn’t like them.

“Yes,” she said.

Sure, she was flawless. Big brown-gold eyes. Taut body. That wasn’t what made the image of her replay in his mind relentlessly like a hit song on the radio. It wasn’t the soft curve of her hip, her endless legs, the way her full, luscious lips fell into a pout. It was the strength and courage she displayed in the face of danger. And something more.

Jaden trailed his finger along the tender part of her arm. Should he even be touching a woman who was tightly linked to his case? An asset?

It was wrong. He knew that. It broke all his rules.

Consequences be damned.

He couldn’t stop if he tried.

The way she reacted to his lightest touch, her body quaking underneath his fingertips, was so sexy he wanted more.

Without another word, Jaden pressed a kiss to the small freckle above her lip before his lips found hers, pressing down hungry and needy. Her mouth moved against his, her tongue teasing his.

The creak of the slider opening in the next room scarcely registered.

Agency guys wouldn’t sneak in.

This wasn’t good. Their position had been compromised. How in the hell had that happened?

Either the cartel had gotten their hands on high tech devices, or someone in his agency couldn’t be trusted. Jaden quickly dismissed the latter. ManTech went to great lengths to ensure its agents were dedicated. A mole would never infiltrate. Would they?