Authors: Wendy Byrne
He shrugged.
"Thought I could plant the seed. Maybe get you under my spell so you could spill all your secrets. You haven't told me much about yourself."
"
Not much to tell."
He bit off a laugh.
"Yeah, right. I know I asked you this before, but why did you leave me in the middle of nowhere? And did I mention I was injured?"
"
I work alone." Her smile looked forced. "Besides, you were cramping my style."
"
Hey, I work alone too but I'd never leave a man behind."
"
US military. I should have guessed."
"
What's that supposed to mean?"
"
Nothing." She shrugged. "You have that way about you."
"
So do you. But I suspect you weren't in the military."
"
That's right. You're privy to all sorts of personal information about me and everybody else you want."
"
Not really." He shook his head. "Besides, your file is buried so deep somewhere I'm not even sure the president could touch it."
The tension in her shoulder seemed to dissipate.
"So you say." Her expression turned stubborn, as if whatever secrets she had, she intended to keep buried.
"It's true. What's your story? Where were you trained?"
She chewed her lip as her eyes narrowed.
"Why should I be the one spilling secrets? How about you?"
"
Ah, you're one of those. You show me yours and I'll show you mine." He smiled and hoped she'd let down her guard at least a little.
"
In that case, you need to strip naked, because you've seen everything I have." She smiled, and that tension eased a fraction more, as evidenced by the slow, easy smile tweaking the ends of her lips.
He shook his head. Where this was headed was written in neon colors. Instead, he played along—at least for the time being.
"Babe, you do not want to see that. I have scars."
"
In case you weren't paying too much attention, I do too." She turned on her side and pulled up the edge of her robe to reveal a long, smooth leg. "I got six stitches in my calf, broke my arm a couple of times and they had to put in a pin the second go round, the usual appendix scar, and a nick right above my heart—the list goes on and on."
"
So this is a competition now." He stood and ripped his shirt over his head. "Caught a bullet with my chest. Found out I wasn't Superman after all."
The wound had puckered and diminished over the years. She fingered the scar, then trailed her fingers up his chest.
"Is that all you've got?"
"
I have more, but they're inside." He brought her fingers to cover his heart. "Just like yours..." He trailed off as she sat up in bed, wiggled out of the robe, grabbed his shoulders, pulled him against her, and kissed him. A full-on kiss involving tongues. Not one of those little pecks she'd laid on him before.
A straight-up diversionary tactic for sure.
* * *
Sabrina felt the rapid beat of his heart as his naked body slid off hers. He nuzzled the spot on her neck that he
'd already discovered drove her crazy before he drew her body against his. As far as trying-to-avoid-the-inevitable conversation, the sex was an excellent diversion.
"
I like your way of avoiding the subject." He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, as if he'd noticed the sudden uptick in her pulse.
Sabrina turned to face him. She wasn
't ready for this. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Instead, she kissed behind his ear and down his neck, hoping maybe he'd settle for round two. "Don't tell me you're one of those psych majors into analyzing everyone and everything."
"
Matter of fact I was, but even if I wasn't, a blind man could see what you're doing here."
She harrumphed her disapproval. Why couldn
't he be like any other red-blooded American man and get laid, go for round two, and then move on. But noooooo, he had to get all new-age sensitive on her. "I don't like to talk about myself."
She wanted to say something clever and funny, but at the moment the only thing more frazzled than her body was her brain.
Push. Pull. Push. Pull.
The universal truth: disaster was around the corner. But she had no ability to stop it. Knowing and wanting were at opposite ends of the sanity spectrum.
She knew every inch of his body now, if not by feel, by sight, and erotic thoughts zinged through her bloodstream. It had been a long time since she'd given in to pure lust. But compromising what they had to do weighed heavy on her mind.
Intimacy between them would screw up this mission only if she allowed it to. She could keep herself detached like she always did. Besides, if things got a little too close, she could always shake him loose.
Push. Pull. Push. Pull.
And maybe, just maybe, she could gain a little perspective. Because right now she didn
't want to think about caution. She didn't want to contemplate going slow. She wanted to be with him—skin on skin. To feel the touch of his hands on her, which was one more un-Sabrina-like thought to add to her growing list. But being with him had made her feel alive for the first time in a long while.
Damn, she needed something to clear this muddled mind of hers.
"I told you before I had scars inside as well. My dad beat my mom for as long as I can remember."
She drew in a breath. After their casual conversation, his revelation had been unexpected.
"I'm sorry."
He shrugged.
"I'm over it. That was a long time ago."
"
You have a sister, right?"
"
Yeah, she's in med school. We've both dealt with what happened in similar ways. While she threw herself into her studies, I threw myself into risk-taking as a profession. I never met an impossible mission I didn't volunteer for: deep into enemy territory with a three percent chance of getting out of there alive and I'm your man. It was as if I wanted to go back in time and save my mom from what had been brewing for as far back as I remember."
"
I …don't…know…what to say."
"
Nothing to say. My dad's an asshole and there's nothing I can do about that." He drew in a breath. "My mom never tried to run away from the bastard. In fact, when he found a new woman, she begged him to stay. I signed up for the Army ROTC my senior year of high school, and they put me through college. I had a knack for languages and figured, what the hell? Became an Army ranger, got shot up, and went to work for the FBI. Haven't talked to my dad in more than fifteen years and don't intend to. My little sister escaped most of the crazy. My mom sits by the window and hopes for the day my POS dad will come back. It's sick and twisted, but that was my screwed-up barometer of family life. I thought I could separate my personal experiences from my undercover job when I went to work for Marco, but found out pretty quickly that was impossible."
"
I…" She thought about responding, but couldn't get the words to form through the clog of emotion inside her throat. He'd shared something of himself. Could she do the same? Getting comfortable is never good. Even as she pushed away the memory, the words bubbled on the edges of her lips. "My parents died when I was seven. My brothers and I lived on the streets, foraging for food, begging for places to stay, and then hiding out in caves, barns, anything that kept a roof over our heads."
He wrapped his arms around her.
"How did it happen?"
She shook her head, even while sensation shuddered within her.
"I was young. I don't really remember. I can feel the fear." She rubbed her hands down her arms. "Then they were gone. My brothers and I have never talked about it. At first, Max convinced me the whole thing was an adventure." She shook her head. "We developed some survival skills along the way."
"
Yeah, I could see that. I spotted you pickpocketing Arte's knife in the rearview mirror when we drove into town." He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "But there's more, isn't there?"
She drew in a deep breath. No one outside her brothers knew the truth.
"Have you ever heard of Goren Petrovich?" Saying his name out loud took every ounce of fortitude she possessed. For years she'd worked so hard at obliterating his name from her vocabulary, but she'd failed to erase the memories of what he'd made her become.
"
I don't think so. Who is he?"
"
My brothers and I had an especially bad night. We had crawled into a cave. I remember being cold and hungry, shivering and crying, asking for my mama. I think I had a fever. It's all kind of fuzzy now. Max went out to get us some food but returned with Petrovich. That's when the real adventure began."
"
What do you mean?" Although he said the words as a question, she could see by the set of his jaw and the pity in his eyes he already knew the answer wasn't pretty.
"
He trained us. To…well, that's where I learned to take down a man like Marco." Rather than feeling weighted down by telling her secret, she felt better for some inexplicable reason. It was almost as if that blackness inside of her had become a dark, dingy gray instead. "Petrovich took on contracts for hire, and he trained us to do his dirty work. To carry out the…hits."
"
But you were just a kid."
Sabrina shrugged. Trying to shrug off the emotion his words of sympathy stirred.
"He told us they were bad men. Maybe some were, I don't know."
"
It's not your fault."
"
I know that," she snapped back, more intensely than she'd intended. She paused, took a deep breath. "I guess it's why I'm taking this case to heart. I know what it feels like to be used like that."
"
Ah shit…did he…" He winced. "You know…"
She held up her hand, even though she couldn
't help but be touched by the absolute fear she spotted in his eyes. "No, it was never sexual. On one hand he offered us a roof over our head, food, and an education. It was what he expected in return that gives me nightmares. Of course, he always somehow convinced us we were ridding the world of evil, but I'm not so sure about that."
She turned so that her back was to him and relished in the comfort for once in her life. Somehow he intuitively got her. And that frightened the hell out of her.
Kane was sound asleep when Sabrina made her decision. After last night, she needed to make a clean break. He was getting inside her head, acting as if he knew what she was thinking, how she was feeling, and she didn't want that to happen.
Besides, going alone was what she did best. Having a partner had never been part of her makeup, and hooking up with him had been a mistake. Now that she had a direction and a way to go, she wasn
't going to allow him to hold her back, even for a second. She needed to find Caitlyn ASAP and not get mixed up in his official investigation into Trinity. Not her problem.
Antonio wouldn
't ask questions. He knew the score, and was an expert at ferreting out codes. Screw the FBI. She had her friend to help her, and he wouldn't feel he needed to tag along for the ride as well. He wouldn't make demands or have any expectations.
After grabbing the memory stick and laptop, it was bittersweet when she snuck out of the room after stuffing the few things she had in the bag, and headed for Antonio
's. Kane naively thought he could trust her, but trust was something she'd never been able to commit to in her life, and she wasn't about to start now. As her brothers used to say, "Trusting is for sissies," and she wasn't about to become one of the tragedies of her own stupidity.
She scribbled a note because she felt the sting of obligation after everything he
'd done for her. Guilt crept up her back as she pushed the motorcycle—and his only means of transportation—to a spot where she could start it without waking him.
Within moments she was on the road, handling the situation the only way she knew. Alone.
* * *
Kane felt the sun on his face as it filtered through the window and couldn
't help but smile. And it had nothing to do with the sex—okay, maybe a little. He patted the bed next to him, searching for Sabrina. When he came up empty, he opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. Even though he searched both inside and out, he knew she'd left.
Reality took about five seconds to slap him upside the face. He spotted the note where the laptop had been.
Sorry, I have to do this my way
.
After biting off a litany of curses, he called Ron.
"She bailed but still needs firepower. I'm pretty sure she's headed to a friend named Antonio. I have a feeling he might be somehow connected to Goren Petrovich. I don't care who you have to bribe, find out who he is and where he lives. ASAP." He jumped up and looked out the window. "And get me transportation."
* * *
The front door swung open, and Antonio swept Sabrina into his arms. Taller than Sabrina by several inches and solidly built, Antonio had been one of the many orphans who'd been under Petrovich's tutelage while she'd been there. For the most part, she and her brothers stuck together, but at times Antonio would invade their threesome.
"
Sabrina, your hair. I hardly recognize you." The man fingered through her short locks with a sense of familiarity she wasn't quite comfortable with. "I like it. You look Italian." He laughed, swinging her around in a circle. "You should have called. I would have prepared a feast."
She laughed even while thoughts pinged around her brain. Guilt. Caitlyn. Instead she focused on a means to an end.
"I tried once, but you didn't answer, so I thought I'd surprise you."
"
You're not here for a social visit. What can I do for you?"
She plunked the computer and memory device on the table.
"Crack the code. I need to find out where he sent these girls."
Antonio
's eyes narrowed. "Who's he? And what girls?"
"
A man they call Trinity is in charge. Have you heard anything about him?"
Maybe it was her imagination, or her current state of paranoia, but there seemed to be an almost imperceptible hesitation before he shook his head.
"I don't think so. What is this man involved in?"
A second passed while she tried to decipher what that look in his eye was all about. She gulped back the wariness and spoke.
"Human trafficking. I need some clues."
"Let's see what we can find. But before I do that, let me get you something to eat." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "You're looking a little scrawny."
She
'd been to his home a couple of times in the past, but he'd made some amazing improvements in the intervening years. "I guess the wine-selling business is going well for you."
"
I can't complain."
He placed his arm on her waist and led her to the kitchen, where a humongous La Cornue stove was the focal point of the farmhouse. She didn
't know much about kitchens but knew the stove alone cost over thirty grand.
Even though it was late in the day, o
pen French doors allowed in the breeze as the night began to fall. The grounds outside his home were beautiful, and she couldn't help but be lulled into a temporary sense of relief.
He pulled out a bottle of wine and poured her a glass, encouraging her to take a drink with a wave of his hand.
"You drink. I make some pasta." He pulled out a chair at the massive island topped with marble.
She knew better than to resist an Italian plying her with food. Instead, she opened the laptop, bringing up the only file she
'd been able to find. "This is all I've got."
He clucked as he turned on the stove and began to heat the water.
"And here I thought you were the computer whiz."
"
I bow to your superior skills."
"
It's about time you admitted it." He chuckled and sat next to her as he began to tap on the keys. "Let me see what I can find."
She peered over his shoulder, anxious for any morsel of information. Thoughts of Kane plagued her even though she tried to put them aside. Still, she couldn
't help but wonder about him and if he'd made any progress finding information about Trinity.
While she
'd come here to escape the discomfort, Antonio wasn't bringing her the sense of relief she'd thought he would. Somehow they didn't feel like old friends anymore.
* * *
Kane had finally managed to doze off when his phone rang. "What do you have?"
"
Antonio Bianchi."
His pulse pounded.
"Are you sure? She's been gone for nearly twelve hours. I've been crawling out of my skin."
"
Yep, positive. We were able to find a photo of them together from a while ago." Ron drew in a breath. "He's rumored to have gone rogue in the intervening years. While he has a legitimate wine business as a front, there's a lot of speculation about where he gets his money, and none of it good."
Kane
's fingers started to tremble as his heart raced. "In other words, she walked right into a trap."
"
We don't know that for sure, but Antonio has a reputation for being a mercenary of sorts. It doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that he might be involved somehow in what's going on with Trinity's organization."
A litany of curses threatened to explode from his mouth before he settled on one.
"Shit."
"
Your truck should be arriving any minute. It might be old, but it will blend in better for where you're headed. Are you going to need any backup?"
"
No." Kane spat the word out as he paced the room. "Besides, Nellis would never approve that expense, especially since she's not our target."
"
True, but by the time he figured it all out, it will be a done deal."
"
I'm good." For that instant Kane couldn't help but think about the fact that he and Sabrina were so much alike. The difference being he knew when to ask for help.
"
And the other news is we have a potential break in the information you sent us. We found a couple of hidden files with photos of the girls who've been taken. As soon as it's all compiled, I'll email it to you."
* * *
Sabrina wasn't sure if it was lethargy from the wine or the past several days had finally caught up her with her, but when Antonio walked her up the steps to the second level, she felt as if she could slide to the floor and sleep for a hundred years. He held tight to her waist as they slipped down the hall. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, and he stopped beside a door and opened it.
"
I have some business to take care of in the morning, but maybe after that I can get back to the computer and see if I find anything."
"
If you can't find anything, then…" She shrugged. She couldn't think about another failure. "Thanks for all your help, Antonio."
He pulled her in close and nuzzled her neck. A twinge of discomfort
tunneled inside her.
"
Maybe we could spend the night together. Just like old times. We could make love till morning."
"
I…I don't think so. What we had together was kids' stuff, over a long time ago."
He
withdrew and touched his fingertips to her chin while he examined her face. "What's happened to you? Is there someone in your life?"
What?
"
No, no, it's not like that." She blew out a breath as she worked through their conversations, trying to ferret out how he'd come to that conclusion. She'd never mentioned Kane or anything about his involvement. "It's complicated, Antonio." She put a chaste kiss on his cheek. How could she make him understand this thing with Kane when she didn't really understand it herself?
"
Ah, my dear Sabrina, love is always complicated,
n'est pas
?"
Without another word, he left. Not giving her
a second to protest, even if she could formulate the words inside her head.
* * *
Sabrina's head pounded as she lay in bed, unable to fall back asleep. A dull ache kept her from going from awake to alert.
Depression felt like a veil covering her as she fought through where or what to do next. Footsteps sounded in the hall, but she closed her eyes and feigned sleep when the door slowly opened. She couldn
't be sure how long Antonio stood examining her slumber, but it had to be a good twenty seconds. Any moment she expected him to call her ruse and insist she join him for breakfast, but he didn't. Instead, he quietly closed the door. She listened as his soft steps retreated down the stairs.
Seconds later, she heard him talking.
"No, I told you before I wouldn't." His voice was quieter than usual as he spoke. Since she only heard one voice, she assumed he was on the phone. "Yes, I have her but she doesn't know anything."
He was quiet for so long, Sabrina thought he might have finished.
"I get it. Okay." She heard a long exhale before he continued. "I'll leave in a little while and then you're free… The payment… She won't stay out of it…"
She shook her head as the words fused together in her head. Had he put something in her wine last night? She threw her legs over the side of the bed, but instead of charging down the stairs to confront him with the possibility, she slid back against the mattress.
Maybe it was all one big screwed-up dream.
* * *
Given the remote location, pulling into the dirt driveway would give advance notice of his arrival. Instead, Kane hid the old truck about a half-mile away and ran through the field toward the house in the early morning hours. With the back portion of the land covered in trees, he had a fighting chance of not being seen. Despite concentrated effort on his part, he couldn't keep fear from creeping up his back.
The dossier sent to him on Antonio couldn
't have been clearer. The guy would sell out his own flesh and blood for financial gain. With Sabrina, the writing was on the wall. He could only hope he wasn't too late.
He crept along the side of the building, his breath faltering with each step. Knowing what Antonio was capable of didn
't make him feel good about the situation. Sabrina could be dead by now.
Damn. Why didn
't he see that coming?
Nerves unlike anything he
'd felt in a long time rode up his back as he skulked along the side of the old stone farmhouse. A weathered patio covered the back part of the house, with a cobblestone pathway leading into the trees behind it.
As Kane was trying to figure out the best way to approach, a car engine rumbled to life around the front. He ran along the side, peered around the corner, and spotted one person inside the car. The motorcycle Sabrina rode sat in the drive, confirming what he already knew.