Promises (29 page)

She pushed away and glared at him, her spine snapping straight.
 
“You’re sorry?”
 
His head jerked back with her sudden fury.
 
“How could you be so incredibly dense?”

“Bobbi, I
—
”

“No!
 
I’ve had it with all this stupid guilt.
 
It wasn’t your fault!”
 
Her shoulders slumped with a burst of air from her lips.
 
“Jason loves
—
loved his work, Travis.
 
Whatever happened wasn’t your fault anymore than it was mine.”
 
Cupping his face in her hands, she tipped up on her toes and kissed him softly.
 
“Let it go.”

He swallowed hard, forcing down the emotions choking him.
 
“You don’t blame me for
—
”

She placed her fingers against his lips.
 
“I love you.
 
I could never blame you for Jason’s decisions.”

He nodded, unable to speak.
 
She was right.
 
It wasn’t his fault.
 
No matter how hard he wished he could’ve been there for Jase, it wasn’t his fault that his best friend was dead.

With a small smile, she took his hand and started up the hill.
 

God, he loved her.
 
He loved her strength, her vitality, even her stubbornness.
 
He could hardly wait to introduce her to his family.
 
They were going to love her as much as he did.
 
He just wished Jase could be there.

Bobbi knew the minute Travis introduced her to Agent Manning that it was over, but when Jason didn’t appear she began to wonder if it was really only the beginning.
 
She explained everything to Henri about Jason while they’d fixed coffee and breakfast that morning, believing at any moment he was going to come walking through the door.
 
When he hadn’t, all her doubts and fears came crashing down on her.
 
Was he dead?
 
Was she really all alone in the world?

Travis came up beside her as they stepped off the path into the village, wrapping his warm hand around her as he took her bag.
 
No, she wasn’t alone, but she feared the worst for her brother.
 
Slowly, she let the thought of his actually being gone settle on her heart, but she held back the biting pain.
 
When she got home, when she was back in her safe little world she’d give way to the grief.

The Interpol agents escorted them back to Monte Carlo and directly to their room, checking it thoroughly before allowing them to enter.
 
Although it had been ransacked by Steele’s men the night before and the murderer himself was in custody, that didn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t retaliate in some way.
 
The sooner they got home the better she would feel.
 

Throwing open her suitcase, she started shoving her clothes inside except for what she intended to wear on the plane.
 
Their flight was scheduled to leave that evening which left her plenty of time to shower, change and pack, but she couldn’t seem to slow down.
 

Out.
 
Away.
 
Anywhere but here.
 
Home, where she could finally break down.
 
All kinds of thoughts whirled through her mind as she haphazardly crammed her belongings into the suitcase.
 

 
In mid-stride between the closet and the bed, Travis scooped her off her feet.
 

“What are you doing?
 
Put me down.
 
I have to pack.”
 

He strode purposefully toward one of the beds.
 
“Is that what you were doing?
 
I thought maybe you just hated your clothes.”
 

Ignoring his sarcasm, she said, “You’re going to pull your stitches.”

“Then you’ll have to play nursemaid again.”
 

The sparkle in his eyes and the teasing grin on his lips sent her heart into a tailspin, diffusing her panicky rush to get home.
 

He gently set her down on the edge of the bed and tugged her arms out of the sleeves of Henri’s shirt.

“Care to fill me in on why you’re so intent on getting me out of my clothes?” she asked, although she had a very clear idea of what he had in mind.

“I like you out of your clothes.”
 
He jerked her shirt up and over her head, exposing her bare form to his perusal.
 
“I take that back.
 
I love you out of your clothes.”

His warm breath brushed across the rigid peaks of her breasts, and she shivered with anticipation.

“We have several hours before we have to be in Nice to catch our plane.
 
I thought we’d find a way to kill time,” he murmured against her skin.

She moaned as he kissed the taut nipples.
 
Her hands slipped beneath the edges of his shirt collar.
 
She hadn’t noticed he was half undressed, his buttons all undone, his feet bare.
 
While she’d been feverishly packing, he’d been preparing to seduce her.
 

Pushing the shirt down his massive shoulders until it fell to the floor, the feel of his firm body beneath her palms unfurled a curl of longing inside her.
 
His lips traveled across her torso and up to her shoulders, chasing away all the tension and fear from the previous hours.

Lifting his head, he pressed her to the bed with his body.
 
She felt safe and loved and complete, in ways she’d never felt before.
 
This was where she wanted to be, needed to be.
 

She slid her fingers to the edge of his pants and eased them over his hips.
 
He kicked them off as he continued to nuzzle her neck.
 
She worked her hands down his body to his rigid shaft, relishing the feel of muscle and heat beneath her fingertips.
 
He dropped his head to her shoulder with a moan as she stroked him until her body pulsed with a heady need for him.
 

“Now.
 
I need you now,” she gasped.

“Not yet.
 
It’s my turn,” he murmured, as he lowered his mouth to her breast while he slid one hand to the center of her desire.

Taking the taut peak into his mouth, he mirrored the tugging, teasing motion of his fingers, poising her on the edge of release.
 
Her body quivered as he slid his fingers between her moist folds.
 

“Travis, now.”

He delved into her mouth hungrily, his arousal pulsing against her stomach.
 
Cupping her bottom, he lifted her slightly and knocked her world off its axis.
 

“Your apartment?
 
Why can’t we go back to my apartment?” she asked testily.

“How many times do I have to explain it?
 
My apartment still has the power on and food in the fridge.
 
Have you forgotten you turned off all your utilities and closed up your place indefinitely?”

Standing next to the baggage claim at the airport, his patience grew thinner by the minute.
 
Bobbi had done nothing but complain since they’d entered U.S. airspace.
 
Her nagging and whining would be the death of him.

He cast her a cursory glance while waiting for the luggage to come around the carousel, surprised to find her laughing.
 
“What’s so funny?”

“You.”
 
She tried to cover her mouth and suppress the giggles shaking her tiny frame.

He snagged her by the wrist, pulling her tightly against his chest.
 
“You little troublemaker.
 
You’ve been yanking my chain the whole time.”

Slipping her arms around his waist, she turned her smiling face up to his.
 
“I thought I’d give you the ultimate nag test.”

He loved the feel of her in his arms.
 
It was where she belonged, and where he hoped to keep her for the next fifty or sixty years.
 
He fought to keep his tone light, but the electricity sparking between them brought a huskiness to his voice.
 

“What other tests are waiting for me?”

The tip of her tongue peeked out and moistened her lips, damn near sending him over the edge.
 

“Oh, I don’t know.
 
How about the one where I talk nonstop while you watch the Super Bowl?
 
Or whine when you go out with the guys.
 
Or how about
—
”

He cut her off with a quick hard kiss.
 
“You’re going to drive me crazy.”

“And you’re going to love every minute of it.”

As he lowered his head for another kiss, she stopped him by pressing her fingers against his lips.
 

“Hold that thought.
 
We’re not exactly alone and I need to make a pit stop.”

Grinning, he kissed her fingers and thanked God for bringing this woman into his life.
 
“I’ll wait here for our bags.”

As she stepped away and started toward the ladies’ room, he called after her.
 
“Be careful.”

Looking back over her shoulder, she gave him a teasing wink then continued to make her way through the crowd.
 
He watched her until she disappeared from sight, enjoying the gentle sway of her hips clad in a pair of form fitting shorts.
 

White, tight, shorts.
 
Shorts he’d been fantasizing about peeling her out of for more than eight hours.
 
It had been one hell of a long flight, but soon they’d be in his apartment.
 
Alone.
 
With no interruptions.

The sound of more luggage sliding out of the chute dispelled his latest fantasy, bringing his attention back to the carousel.
 
With very little to collect, he quickly claimed their bags and waited for her.
 

What was keeping her so long?
 
Or maybe he was being a little too impatient.
 
They had all the time in the world now.
 
A few more minutes weren’t going to kill him, but as the minutes dragged on, something in the pit of his stomach told him she wasn’t standing in line waiting for an empty stall.

“Lose something, Reid?”
 
The smooth deep voice oozed into his pores like a sickness.
 

Ballard.
 
Steele’s number one man.
 

Travis spun around to face the impeccably dressed criminal.
 
“And what would that be?”

Ballard picked an invisible piece of lint from his suit.
 
“Oh, a pretty little piece of work with surprisingly nice legs.”

His stomach knotted and churned.
 
He could barely get the words passed the tightness in his throat.
 
“What have you done with her?”

“Let’s just say I’m giving the little lady a lift.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Hardly.”
 
Snickering, Ballard pulled out a cellular phone, punched in a number then handed it to him.
 

Reluctantly, he lifted the phone to his ear.
 

“Travis?”

Flinching at the sound of Bobbi’s voice, he had to double his efforts to appear calm.
 
“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.
 
Don’t
—
”

Ballard yanked the phone away and punched the end button.
 
“Sorry to cut your conversation short, but we have business to discuss.”

He resisted the intense desire to rip the slime ball apart.
 
He had Bobbi.
 
Getting her back in one piece, unharmed was his only concern.
 
Ballard would pay later.
 

“What do you want?”

“A small token really.
 
Surely you didn’t think you would get very far with it.”

His thoughts flipped through his mind like cards in a Rolodex.
 
Jase.
 
The disk.
 
Steele.
 
The arrest.
 
Bobbi.
 
What could Ballard possibly want?
 

“I can see the questions on your face, Reid.
 
Let me provide a few answers.
 
I know about Steele, the disk, and Interpol.
 
A shame really, but Steele was always a bit too melodramatic.
 
He should have listened to me.
 
What I want is a key, which I believe to be in your possession.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ms. McBride claims to know nothing about it either.”
 
Ballard let out a long and heavy sigh as he casually looked around the airport terminal.
 
“She isn’t my type of course, but she does have those exquisite legs.”

“You touch her and you’re a dead man.”

He chuckled menacingly.
 
“I propose a trade.
 
The girl for the key.”
 
He slowly extended his hand and dropped the cellular phone into Travis’ jacket pocket.
 
“I’ll let you know where and when.”

Ballard disappeared into the milling crowd, and there was nothing Travis could do to stop him.
 
He didn’t know anything about a key, and Bobbi’s life was forfeit without it.
 

Damn it!
 
He let his emotions get in the way again.
 
He should’ve been paying closer attention.
 
He
—
no, he had to stop blaming himself and do something.
 
Bobbi was counting on him, and he couldn’t let her down.
 

Mulling over his options, he realized Ballard wasn’t about to let them walk away.
 
They were both as good as dead.
 
He needed help, but there was no one he could trust.
 
Steele’s mole was still an unknown and would tip-off Ballard the minute he called headquarters.
 
He’d have to handle it on his own.
 

“I won’t lose you, Bobbi.
 
I refuse to lose you,” he murmured.
 
Snatching up their bags, his oath spurred him into action.
 

“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
 

Bobbi was exhausted.
 
They fired question after question at her for hours.
 
All she wanted to do was sleep.
 
Her shoulders and arms were numb from having her hands tied behind her back and her wrists ached from the chafing rope.
 
She’d be happy to give them the key, but she didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.

“I’m afraid you’re spoiling my good mood, Ms. McBride.”

The man who’d come to the cabin so many days ago held her face firmly in his hand.
 
Her skin crawled at his touch, and she desperately wanted to pull away, but she refused to let him see her fear.
 
“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about your mood.”

He slapped her with enough force to send her flying out of the chair.
 
With her hands tied behind her back, she couldn’t brace for the fall and struck her head against the floor with a painful thud.
 
She lay there, fiercely biting back her tears determined not to let him see her cry.
 
She refused to let him intimidate her.
 

The goon who’d grabbed her as she came out of the ladies’ room, hoisted her up and planted her firmly back in the chair, and tied her to it.
 
He was the only other person she’d seen so far, and suspected Steele’s people had disappeared into the woodwork like the cockroaches they were once they’d heard about their leader’s arrest.
 
This Ballard person and the second ape in command were apparently the only two remaining.
 
If she could just give them what they wanted, she thought with a weary sigh.

“I’m afraid you have upset me, Ms. McBride.
 
My apologies.
 
However, I’ll have that key and will do whatever it takes to get it.”
 
He spun on his three hundred dollar shoes and left the dismal little room.
 
The overgrown ape followed, shutting and locking the door behind them.

Now she could cry
—
silently.

Hours passed, and the only thing she could be grateful for was they’d grabbed her after she’d left the ladies’ room and not before.
 
She tried to figure out if it was day or night, but the windows were boarded up and the sounds of the city were muffled and sparse.
 
The abandoned warehouse was in one of the lesser populated areas of town.
 
No one would know she was there, and what she’d seen of the neighborhood, no one would care.

Her head lolled as she fought sleep.
 
She needed to stay alert and be prepared for whatever was to come, but eventually her chin dropped to her chest, jet lag and fatigue taking their toll.
 
Her last waking thought was of a dark prince with deep fathomless eyes.
 

Travis watched as Ballard’s man dragged Bobbi down the rickety staircase from the abandoned office, their footsteps echoing in the vast empty warehouse.
 
She looked like a rag doll next to the Ballard’s bodyguard.
 
The deep circles beneath her eyes, the listlessness of her body told him she was exhausted.
 
Losing her brother, barely escaping an explosion, people chasing her halfway around the world, being kidnapped, everything she’d been through had totally sapped her strength.
 
His little spitfire was completely worn out.
 

He buried a growl deep in his throat.
 
She shouldn’t be there.
 
They shouldn’t be there.
 
None of this should be happening.
 
They should be at home curled up together in his king size bed making slow, sweet love.

As they came closer, he noticed the red rings around her wrists where ropes used to be, a black and blue mark on her cheek, and a nasty bump on her forehead.
 
Fury surged through his veins.
 

“You bastard,” he hissed.

“Now, now, Reid.
 
Looks can be deceiving.
 
Ms. McBride had a little fall.”

Bobbi jerked her head around, shooting daggers at Ballard.
 

Travis knew the bastard was lying even without her pointed stare.
 
He prayed she’d keep calm.
 
A temper tantrum wouldn’t do them any good.
 
Yet, it warmed his soul to see that small show of strength.

“Do you have the key?” Ballard asked, ignoring Bobbi’s murderous gaze.

“He doesn’t have it.”

Travis snapped his head around at the sound of a familiar voice.
 

Darren Coulee.
 
Now he knew who the mole was at headquarters.
 
The little snot had always bothered him, only he’d never been able to put a handle on why.

Coulee stalked across the concrete toward Ballard, taking a wide berth around Travis.
 
“He doesn’t know anything about it and neither does she, you double-crossing son-of-a-bitch.”
 

Ballard glared at him.
 
“Be warned, Coulee.
 
You tread on dangerous ground.”
 

Travis noticed Bobbi subtly edging away.

Coulee pointed his finger in Ballard’s face.
 
“You were going to cut me out.
 
And after all I’ve done.
 
You’d have nothing if it weren’t for me!”

A stupid move on his part, Travis thought.
 
Ballard’s eyes held the look of a man about to commit murder, and Coulee openly ignored it, the fool.
 
But then again, Travis could use him as a distraction.
 

He made eye contact with Bobbi, telling her to be ready.
 
She edged away a tiny bit more, while he maneuvered closer.
 

One step.
 
Two step
.
 

Bobbi’s gaze flashed to his, back to Ballard, then surreptitiously to the man behind her.
 
He could see her mind working, anticipating his next move.