Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies (3 page)

The bird lurched forward. Genie turned toward him, the wind whipping her hair into a gold halo around her head as she stared at him. His jaw twitched unhappily. She was still able to steal his breath. Even after everything she’d done to him.

He steeled himself, narrowing his eyes and hardening his defenses. He would rescue her sorry ass, but he would
not
let her get under his skin. Not again. As far as he was concerned, the woman he’d once loved had died in the warehouse explosion and was buried alongside her sister.

Liar.

Even as he gave himself the harsh warning, a part of him wanted to see her again. To be near her.
To hold her
. His right leg ached, reminding him of the broken bones, the weeks in the hospital, the months of physical therapy.

And she’d never come.

Not once.

At the time, all Cameron would tell him was that Genie was gone. Off the grid. No longer a part of CTA. But he’d heard the whispers all along. Voices that said that, before the explosion, Sean Emerich, known terrorist and the bastard they’d been after for eighteen months, the man who still dealt in everything from gun running to human trafficking, had been shacking up and working with Genie’s sister, Becca.

Hell, Kyle hadn’t even known Genie had had a sister. And to make matters worse, he’d since found out she had another one. They’d been goddamn triplets! He’d loved Genie. Been closer to her than he’d ever been to any woman, and yet she’d kept so much from him. Secrets and lies.

Even if he wanted to—which he definitely didn’t—how would he ever be able to trust her again?

Especially if the rumors were true, and Genie had known her sister was with Emerich and had done nothing. Said nothing. Or worse, had warned Becca of the case the CTA was building against him. And what had been her involvement with the warehouse explosion? Why had she even been there? Why had she wanted Kyle to meet her there if she was just going to disappear afterward, without an explanation of what in the hell had been going on?

So much destruction and pain had followed. Becca’s death. His own broken body. And still Genie had not come. Not for Becca. Not for him.

He pulled his mental armor tight, zipping it up and closing the lid on the coffin that had once held his feelings for the beautiful, dynamic woman standing on the roof of the mushroom-shaped structure in the desert, and buried them even deeper.

“Whoo-ee, that girl can still scorch the skin off your eyeballs,” Johnny called as he opened the door and readied the ladder. “Twenty degrees to your left.”

Yeah, she was a looker all right. But she was also a traitor. A liar. And as far as he was concerned, she could rot right here in this isolated tomb of her own making. But he had orders to rescue her from the unknown enemy in the black SUVs. Pick her up and bring her in to Cameron.

Alive.

And Kyle always followed orders. If he was anything, he was a good soldier. First. Foremost. Always.

Damn Cameron and his orders and the whole CTA to hell.

…

Genie looked up and sucked in a breath as a helicopter approached at full speed. Kyle? Or the bad guys?

She scanned the helo as a hot whirl of wind almost pushed her from her perch. Her hair whipped around her face, momentarily blinding her. She held on tight to the roof railing. The chopper was flying low, real low and real fast. She looked down. Men were filing out of the house below her, all staring up at the helo in the sky. Killing her chance to repel to safety.

Trapped.

The helicopter hovered above her. “Genie, let’s go!” The voice boomed from a bullhorn.

Her eyes widened as she saw Johnny Garino waving to her from the copter’s open door. She couldn’t help the smile of relief that split her face. “Kyle.” She didn’t know why she was surprised. He’d said he was coming. And the man always had known how to make an entrance.

A rope ladder dropped. Within seconds she had it in her grasp. She unhooked the repelling cable from her belt buckle as the metal door in the hatch below her banged open. Two men pushed up into her crow’s nest less than ten feet away.

“Roll it,” she yelled, and gave the thumbs up sign.

The helo lurched forward, pulling her off the roof. She held on tight, the ladder lodged in the crook of her elbow as she flew through the hot desert air, away from her home, her sanctuary, and the men standing on her roof pointing H&K MP5s at her.

She tensed, instinctively ducking her head as she clung to the ladder, the searing air thrashing her face as she waited for bullets to start flying. But they never came. She turned and glanced over her shoulder. The men were watching her escape, their guns pointed her way. And yet they did nothing. What the hell? Why send nine armed men to storm her fortress home only to calmly watch her slip away?

The reason hit her with a stinging smack to the face.

They wanted her alive.

Gripping the rungs of the ladder, she slowly climbed as the helicopter soared over the barren Nevada desert. She pulled herself up into the belly of the helo and smiled wide at Johnny before launching herself into his arms.

He hugged her back, a forceful bear hug. The lines around his green eyes crinkled. “Good to see you, doll.”

“Back at you, tubs.” Her nickname for him ever since the academy days, when he’d come into their unit a little too heavy and a little too happy, rolled easily off her tongue. Even though he’d been bigger than the rest of them, he’d always been the first around the track and the first over the wall. He handled whatever they threw at them with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips.

Johnny could always be counted on.

Just like Kyle.

Anxiety twisted inside her at the thought of her former lover. She stole a peek toward the cockpit. Kyle sat rigid in the pilot’s seat, not saying a word, not even turning to look at her. The sharp edges of his handsome profile hit her hard. She supposed she couldn’t blame him for not acknowledging her. But it pissed her off anyway.

She buckled into one of the four back seats as Johnny pulled up the ladder and shut the door. No reason to pour salt into the wound by having to deal with Kyle now.

“Oh no, sugar,” Johnny said with a wink and a smile. He jerked his head toward the cockpit. “You go right on up front.”

“What? And miss the chance to catch up with you? No way. How you been, Johnny?”

“Exhausted. So, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna sit back here and get me some shut-eye.
Alone
.”

She stuck out her lower lip and pouted.

“It’s not that I haven’t missed you, doll. ‘Cause I have. A lot. More than I should have, I reckon.” He leaned forward and placed a hand on her knee. “In fact, maybe later after my nap we can spend a little alone time
together
, eh?”

“Darling, you and I, we’re just not meant to be.” She grinned as she repeated their old joking repartee, glad to see some things, some
people
, never changed.

“Only in my dreams, sugar.” He winked and leaned back in his chair. “Now go face your demons before they get the better of you.”

“Nope, we can’t have that,” she muttered, and stepped toward the front of the copter and strapped herself into the co-pilot’s seat. She settled the headset onto her head and adjusted the mic. Finally, she turned to face the man who’d gotten too close to her, and suffered the consequences. And yet here he was, still being there for her when she needed him. Not sure what she should say to that.
Thanks? I guess I needed you after all?

I’m sorry I left you.

I’m sorry I lied.

Nothing seemed right. So she said nothing at all.

He still hadn’t turned to look at her. She took advantage of the moment to peruse his face. He looked the same
—
drop dead gorgeous with his dark, almost-black hair, deep blue eyes, and strong chiseled jaw. The man had always managed to make her toes curl with just a look.

But not anymore.

What they’d had was dead and gone. She’d killed it and there was no bringing it back. No matter that her pulse was racing like a roadrunner and her heart was doing a weird little happy dance. That was just the adrenaline from her near death experience coursing through her veins. Nothing more. She had to focus on what was at stake now
—
her dad.

Nothing else mattered.

Really.

“Who were those men?” she asked, making her tone flat and professional.

“Not even a ‘thanks for the rescue?’” Kyle responded. His voice was deep, strong and exactly the way he sounded when he stole into her dreams at night.

She turned away and stared out the concave window at the endless sea of sagebrush and scrub land below, and tried to ignore the old ache in the middle of her chest. Unfortunately, she could still see his reflection. “I was managing the situation but if it makes you feel better, yes, thanks for the rescue.”

Something twitched in his jaw. “You’re welcome.”

She braced herself as his subtle scent filled the cockpit
—
citrus and spice
—
and she had to grit her teeth against a sudden flare of longing. Why could she not spend five minutes around this man without her senses going into hyperdrive? “They looked and acted military.”

“I noticed.” Was that concern? Yeah, right. She gave herself a mental shake. He wasn’t concerned. He no longer cared. And why should he? She’d gone MIA on him for the past eight months. Eight long, lonely months. She’d thought she was over him, and yet, here she was staring at his large and capable hands expertly handling the throttle as easily as he handled his emotions.

If he still had any emotions where she was concerned. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was completely over her, and she was just sitting there, torturing herself thinking about what might have been. What
had
been. She should tune into him and find out one way or the other what his real feelings were for her now. But she wouldn’t. She was too much of a coward even to consider it. She really did
not
want to know.

Anger burned in her gut.
Damn
Cameron for not sending someone else to extract her from her tree house! She didn’t appreciate having to face Kyle Montgomery and dredge up all these old feelings again. They were better left dead and buried.

Straightening, she turned back to him. “What exactly do you know about what’s happening with my father?” she asked, her voice sounding harsher than she’d intended.

The brilliant blue of his eyes flashed as his gaze met hers and held. She clenched her fist against the jolt of attraction shooting through her and quickly glanced away again. What was
wrong
with her?

“We got a distress call from the island yesterday afternoon. We sent a team immediately, but by the time they arrived, the estate was empty.”

Fear squeezed her, cutting off her breath as she tried to imagine her father’s huge house empty. This was worse than she’d thought. “Conclusions?”

“Hard to tell. No witnesses. Surveillance systems had been deactivated. Everything looked in order.”

“Except my dad wasn’t there.”

He nodded. His hands gripped the stick tightly, his neck and jaw stiff. “There was no sign of a struggle, nothing to show forced entry. If anything, it looked as if he’d left voluntarily.”

“But he didn’t.”

“We can’t tell. The only indication of trouble was that the distress switch on the alarm system had been activated.”

And that he’d sent her the necklace, letting her know that he didn’t have her back. Implying he must have known they were coming. Whoever they were.

“We have agents in the area,” he added. “If there’s anything to be found, we’ll find it.”

“Well, that’s comforting,” she muttered, not bothering to keep the resentment out of her voice.

His fist on the throttle tightened until his knuckles turned white. “You used to believe in the CTA, in what we’re doing. In the fight we’re committed to.” He turned to her, his crystalline gaze boring into hers.

“I used to believe in a lot of things,” she snapped.
God
, but he was good-looking. Brilliant blue eyes glared from beneath heavy dark brows and a shock of black hair. His jaw, hard and strong, tightened and his lips pressed into a straight line. Unexpectedly, she remembered their soft texture and how, when they moved across her skin, they could set her on fire.

Dammit
. She had to get hold of herself and focus.

But he wouldn’t let it be. “What happened, Genie? What changed?” he asked, his tone soft, as if he really wanted to know. As if it mattered. When they both knew that was no longer true. Between them, nothing mattered. Not anymore.

“I woke up and saw the truth.”