Dangerous Games (Aegis Group, #3) (32 page)

Her head turned this way, then that.

“Is she waking up?” Crystal limped in, clinging to the IV bag they had her on still. Whatever concoction of drugs Doug had injected her with was out of her system, though for a while there it’d been touch and go with her, too.

“Not yet,” Zain said.

“I have to keep walking or they won’t let me leave. Text me if she wakes up?”

He nodded, not ready to take his eyes off Andrea for even a second.

His personal bias, his interest in her, could have cost Andrea her life. He should have put someone else on the job. Luke. Travis. Anyone would have been better than him. They wouldn’t have hesitated. They wouldn’t have screwed up like he had.

His arm burned, a constant reminder of how close they’d cut it.

The second stray shot Doug had fired had grazed Zain’s shoulder.

“Mm?” Andrea’s head turned this way and that again, as if she were searching for something.

Zain stood and took her hand in his.

“Hey, hey, everything’s okay.” He stroked her hair off her forehead.

She squeezed his hand.

“Too loud,” she whispered.

His breath got stuck in his throat. He blinked rapidly. Emotion expanded in his chest until it threatened to break his ribs.

“I know,” he whispered. He leaned down until he almost had his head on the pillow with her.

She turned her face toward him, her eyes squished up.

“Did you get the license plate of the bus that hit me?” Her brow creased in pain, her words mumbled, barely intelligible—but she was speaking.

“They should have something for the pain.” His hand shook, and all the tension wrapped around his chest released. She was alive. Talking. “Hold on, I’ll—”

“Don’t go.” Her hand tightened around his.

“I’m not going anywhere. I just want to call the nurse, okay?”

“Okay.” She relaxed by degrees.

He buzzed the nurse and hovered while a parade of people came in and out, checking her bandages, asking her questions, peering into her eyes, testing her nerves. He just wanted to kick them all out, but they were doing their jobs. Even Crystal was kept out while they pronounced Andrea out of the woods.

By the time the medical staff cleared out enough that Zain could see her again, their friends had arrived. Miranda. Cliff. Max. Crystal’s family. Andrea’s dad called in, intending to fly out that night to be there for her.

Zain wanted to push them all out. Didn’t they know she needed rest? That he needed to hold her hand and be reassured she wasn’t about to slip away again?

“Zain? Hey, Zain, she’s asking for you.” Miranda pulled him out of the waiting room and brought him in to see her, even kicking Crystal and another girl out he didn’t recognize. “I found him.”

“There you are.” Andrea held out her hand.

He took it, pressing a quick kiss to her fingertips.

“Please tell me they’re all gone?” she mumbled, eyes closed again.

“Yeah, they’re gone. It’s almost midnight. They’ll be kicking everyone out soon.” Even him, unless he got crafty about it.

“Thank God. I love them, I really do, but I just want them to go away.” She turned her hand around in his grasp until they were holding onto each other. Her motions were still slow, the pain killers doing their job—but she was awake. And talking. And she wanted him there. “How are you doing?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

“They said you got shot, too.”

“No, just grazed.”

“Oh.” Her eyes parted and she peered at him through thin slits. “Did you see the video?”

“Yeah, I did. We pulled it down though.”

“Good. I’d rather not see a gif of me getting shot anytime soon. I kept trying to figure out a way to like—tell people—that it wasn’t fake. I’d even worked out how to say a thing in Klingon but I didn’t get to. What happened to Doug? They won’t say.”

“He’s dead.” Zain squeezed her hand a bit tighter.

“Oh. Good. Did he really kill Kevin’s dad?”

“I...don’t know.”

“I knew if I just kept talking and stalling that you’d be there.” She closed her eyes again. Her words slurred.

He lifted her hand to his lips.

“I almost wasn’t there in time,” he said.

“But you were. And that’s what matters.”

“Andrea I—I should have seen that coming.”

“What?”

“Doug.”

“Even Captain America has a blind spot.” She smiled weakly at him.

Andrea had always seen him as a hero. Even when he didn’t feel like it. When he couldn’t see it. But she did.

“Andrea...”

“These are really good drugs,” she said.

“Yeah?” He chuckled.

“I’m going to say something.” Her eyes closed for a few moments. Was she gathering her thoughts? Or had she fallen asleep? He wasn’t sure which. He was all too happy to sit there, holding her hand.

God, he’d nearly lost her.

For the first time in ages, there was something in his life that mattered more than the job. He couldn’t live without her. It was selfish, but he was ready to do whatever it took to convince her to give him one, last chance. Just one, because he loved her.

She opened her eyes, staring straight at him.

Those Viking blues had never been so intense.

“Zain,
bangwI' SoH
.”

“I...should know what that means.” The words tickled the back of his mind, but he couldn’t focus on them. Not after today.

Her eyes closed a little, and she shifted so she faced him more. “I told you I loved you. You can blame it on the drugs later when I get embarrassed.”

Zain opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out.

He’d failed her...and she loved him. Or she thought she did. She was still talking, not that any of it made sense.

He leaned over her, resting his forehead to hers, so close he could see what appeared to be flecks of silver in her blue irises.

There were plenty of reasons why this was wrong, why loving her wouldn’t work out—but during that short time he’d thought he’d lost her. That she was dead. He’d known that facts couldn’t change how he felt.

“Andrea?” he said over her anxious babbling.

“Yes?”

“I love you, too.”

“Really?”

“More than you know.”

She blew out a breath and closed her eyes. “Oh, thank God.”

Six months later...

Z
ain hit send on the last necessary item of the day and activated his Out Of Office. By the time he got home, Andrea would be there. For three, whole glorious days. They had zero plans to leave his condo and every intention of starting at the beginning of the Star Wars franchise and watching it all the way through. Of course, they’d get distracted. He could never keep his hands off her for very long, not that she seemed to mind.

Yeah, he needed to stop thinking about that now before he got a very inconvenient boner.

He lived for these long weekends. As much as he hated to see her go, and the couple of days after she left sucked, but then he’d hit his pace. They’d chat, he’d work, and for some strange reason she...energized him.

“You heard from Luke yet?” he asked Gavin.

“Nothing.” Gavin rolled into view. “I’m starting to get worried.”

“Luke can take care of himself. If he needs us, he’ll let us know.” Zain grabbed his bag and stood. “I’ll be back on Tuesday. Try not to burn things down, okay?”

He closed the door to his office, but left it unlocked. It was only fair if he wasn’t going to be around to make sure the kid had access to his terminal in case of an emergency. Like if Luke got in over his head on something.

“Zain.” Admiral Crawford’s voice echoed after him from the phone on his desk.

Zain
thunked
his head against the door. He really should not have answered that last email. He could be in his car right now headed home to Andrea. He pushed the door open and leaned in.

“Yes, sir?” And how late was this going to keep him?

“My office,” Crawford said.

Gavin had the grace to not whoop until the line clicked off.

“Someone’s busted.” The kid grinned.

Zain flipped Gavin the bird. He stalked out of the office, down the hall and took the stairs up one floor two at a time.

It couldn’t be his attendance. He got the same amount of vacation as everyone else, he just chose to allot it differently. So it had to be a dedication thing. He couldn’t argue that for a few days here and there he wasn’t at his best. And how could he be, knowing Andrea was on the other side of the country?

The admiral’s office was on the second floor, where he had a bird’s eye view of the training ground. His secretary was gone and the door stood open.

This couldn’t be good.

Zain tapped on the door and leaned in.

Crawford sat at his desk, his face impassive. His dark skin was ageless, but a few silver hairs peppered the close-cropped hair that was left.

He gestured to the empty chairs across from him.

“Sit,” Crawford commanded.

Zain took the one closest to the door and set his bag on the floor. In all the years he’d worked for the admiral, he’d never come under fire as much as he had since Andrea had come into his life. His priorities had shifted. He had a life outside of work. He wasn’t available 24/7 like he used to be.

“We need to talk about your commitment level, Lloyd.” Crawford clasped his hands in front of him.

Zain’s stomach knotted up. He’d been expecting something like this sooner or later. Preferably later, and not the day before a three-day weekend with Andrea. How badly was this going to suck? The truth was, his head wasn’t here anymore. It was in Seattle. With Andrea. At least when he wasn’t there in body. And considering what they did, that was a bad thing. He couldn’t deny that his guys in the field deserved his full attention and they weren’t getting it.

“How serious are you about this girl?” he asked.

“Well...” How did he find the words to tell his boss, when he couldn’t face the truth yet himself? Zain spread his hands and shrugged, blowing out a breath.

“I see. What I mean to ask, is this a permanent type of thing?”

“It seems that way, sir.” Zain’s knee bounced and he tapped his fingers together, testing the sensors. He’d picked out rings. They were in the shape of light sabers with sapphires and rubies. But they weren’t there yet. He just liked knowing what to get when the time came.

“Seems that way?” Crawford’s brows rose. “Son, let me tell you something about women.”

“We haven’t discussed that far in advance. What with being long distance, it hasn’t seemed smart.” Her life was in Seattle. His was here. If they started discussing the future that meant deciding who was giving up their life. It was a big step. The kind he’d follow up with a ring, because the truth was, he’d never ask her to give up Grunge.

“Well,” Crawford folded his hands on top of the desk, “I need to know, and I need to know soon because I’m either going to lose you or lose an opportunity. You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”

Shit.

Zain opened and closed his mouth.

Was it that obvious?

Did the others know?

Crawford leaned back, laughing. It was an unusual sound, one Zain didn’t hear often from the Admiral.

“I ever tell you about how I met my wife?” Crawford grinned.

“No, sir.”

“I’d just enlisted and she was out there in college. I met her one night and got her to dance with me. I told her that I’d be coming back for her, so she had to save me a dance. She laughed at me. In my face. And wished me well. Four years later I walk into this coffee shop. She didn’t know it but I knew a guy who had a brother in school with her. He told me where to find her. I walked in there, sat down and told her I was ready for that dance. She knew I was crazy. I knew I was nothing but a backwater bayou boy and she was out of my league. But we both knew after that we were going to be together, so we made it work. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it.”

Zain nodded and made some sort of agreeable sound. Mrs. Crawford was an elegant woman who’d only just retired after a successful law practice.

“I need for you to think about an opportunity.” Crawford’s smile evaporated and he was all business again.

“What...opportunity is that, sir?”

Crawford flipped open a file. The words were too small to read from across the desk, but Zain could recognize a contract when he saw it. As one of the department heads Zain often knew about things before anyone else. Whatever this was, it was a mystery to him.

“We have a unique opportunity to expand. It would make having a secondary base of operations on the coast ideal. Now, I’d thought to open up something in San Diego for obvious reasons, but if you were going to move to Seattle eventually, anyway...How would you like a command, son?”

“What?” Zain stared at Crawford.

Was he serious?

Zain was a computer geek. A behind the scenes guy. Wasn’t he?

“I’ve got two people I could trust to take this on. You. And Stevens. Now, I’d prefer you, but I can work with what I have.”

“Me?” Had he heard Crawford right?

“It’s more paper pushing and managing guys than anything else. You’ve been good to us all these years and I’d like to keep you on. If it means being a bit more flexible with our plans I’m open to it, but only if you’re interested.”

“Me?”

“You’re sitting across from me, aren’t you?”

“But I’m...I’m the computer geek.”

“True, but the guys like you. They trust you to send them into a job with all the facts and equipment they need. You’ve also been around this business long enough manage people. I also think with you in a major metropolitan area you can do the face-to-face schmoozing I don’t have the stomach for.”

“You want to open a branch of Aegis in Seattle?” With him at the helm. It wasn’t a command, more like management. He’d be the one sending guys for jobs, meeting and reviewing client’s needs. It was a lot of what he did now working with Stevens. But only now it would be him. On his own.

“I’m thinking yes, but it’s up to you. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and years of the right experience. I could have used a hundred of you over the years. What do you think?”