Maya Banks - No Place to Run

“And now he’s after you. For what, revenge?”

She swallowed and turned her head away. Revenge? Revenge sounded personal. Tomas would make an example of her. A rite of passage in his new role of leadership. He’d want to deal effectively with her. She’d be an example to others how traitors were dispatched. The fact that she was his flesh and blood would only raise his stock among his followers. Like her father, he’d be viewed as a man not to cross. But most importantly, she held the success of that empire in her hands. And for that, he’d be willing to risk everything.

“He’ll kill me and our child as soon as he gets what he wants,” she said softly. “It’s why I had to finally come to you and hope you would offer me your protection no matter what your feelings might be for me. I can’t do it myself any longer. I almost died. Our child almost died. I’m no longer willing to take the chance of going it alone, even if it means bringing trouble to your front door.”

His eyes grew hard and determined. His jaw tightened in anger, but when he reached out to grasp her arm, his touch was gentle and soothing.

“There never should have been any doubt you could come to me. I may be mad as hell. I may feel like a dumbass, but that’s nothing next to your and our child’s safety. Did you honestly think I’d turn you away once you’d explained everything?”

He sounded incredulous, and once again she was struck by how unfair it all was. She was expected to trust him, but he wasn’t required to believe squat about her or her intentions.

“If I’d thought you’d turn me away, I wouldn’t be here,” she said evenly. “No, I didn’t immediately come here. For one, I had no way of knowing how long you’d be tied up in Mexico. Two, I had no way of knowing if anything would happen to you. Three, once you no longer served the purpose of luring me into the open for my father’s men to snatch, you’d be expendable. Now the clock is ticking because as of the minute I came to you, you’re expendable.”

“You really believe all that, don’t you?”

She turned away from him, her shoulders heaving with anger.

“I’m not an idiot, Sam. You may not think what I’ve done has been smart or that I’ve had the best plan, but you know what? It’s kept me alive so far. And you know what else? It’s kept you alive too.”

An impatient hiss escaped his lips, and then he gripped her shoulder and turned her back around to face him.

“Let’s get a few things straight here, okay? Just so there’s no further misunderstanding in the future. You will not make decisions in regard to your or the baby’s safety at my expense or in an effort to save me. That’s horse shit. My job—what I do—is protect people. From now on that’s you and our baby, Sophie. I’m protecting you both, and the best way you can help me do that is to listen to everything I tell you. Don’t make rash, emotional decisions. And be honest with me. Completely. From now on. Got it?”

She wanted to deck him for being a condescending jerk, but she could see he truly wasn’t attempting to talk down to her. He was in total command mode, and he was talking to her like he’d talk to one of his men. No nonsense and he expected compliance. She was sorely tempted to snap him a salute and rattle off a snarky “yes sir!”

“Now come here,” he said in a low voice.

The deep timbre sent a shiver down her skin. He sounded gruff and a little unsure, but there was also a compelling plea for her to come to him.

She went and he caught her in his arms, pulling her against his chest. Warm. He was so warm that his heat soaked into her pores and invaded her stiff muscles.

He felt so good, so absolutely right, that she could do nothing more than stand in the circle of his arms and bury her face in his neck.

“I’ll protect you, Sophie. We have a lot to work out, and we’ll get there. But first I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure no one ever touches you or our child. If you believe nothing else, believe this.”

“I do believe you,” she whispered. “It’s why I came.”

“I just wish you’d come sooner,” he said in a quiet voice.

“I’m here now.”

He nodded. “And you’re staying.”

He turned her toward the couch and urged her down once more. After making sure she was propped in a comfortable position, he carefully arranged the blankets around her.

“You need to rest and I’ve got to plan our way out of here. Donovan is doing some checking on our assassin. So if you’ll sit tight and let us do our thing, we’ll have you out of here as soon as possible.”

She tried to cover the yawn that threatened to crack her jaw, but gave up and surrendered halfway through.

He leaned in, kissed her forehead and then smoothed his hand down her face.

“Rest, Sophie, and trust me to protect you and our baby.”

She stared back up at him. “I do, Sam. I do.”

Nodding his satisfaction, he turned on his heel and headed out of the living room to find his brothers, and she was left alone, huddled under the blankets on the couch to ponder the mess she’d gotten the entire Kelly family in.

“WHAT did you find out?” Sam demanded as soon as he returned to Donovan and Garrett.

Donovan looked up as Sam approached. “I ran the guy’s photo and prints through the CIA database.”

“And?”

“Interesting. He’s one of Mouton’s all right, but he was assigned to his brother’s security detail.”

“What’s so interesting about that?” Garrett asked.

“Well, the info I gathered suggested that Tomas is a token part of Alex’s network. He has no say, no power, and Alex ignores him as long as Tomas plays by the rules. Which are basically that he keeps his mouth shut and does whatever Alex tells him.

“Now, yeah this guy would have been chosen and hired and trained for that matter by Alex or his trusted head of security, but he wouldn’t have had any real power or responsibility other than to stick close to Tomas, and if I know Alex, the assassin probably reported to Alex, not Tomas.”

Sam frowned. “So why send this guy after Sophie? If her father’s so pissed, or he wants revenge or he wants to send a message, why send this joker? He wasn’t completely inept, but he wasn’t hard to take down. Why not send one of his best?”

“Why send anyone at all?” Garrett demanded. “I feel like we’re missing something here. Yeah, so Sophie’s his daughter and she bailed. Mouton doesn’t strike me as the sentimental type. Why would he give a shit about a woman? The guy’s a first-class asshole. He’s trafficked in women and children. I doubt he understands the first thing about familial sentiment.”

“She sold him out,” Sam said in a low voice.

He still wasn’t sure what to make of Sophie’s declaration. His gut told him she was telling the truth. Sometimes it paid to go with your gut. Other times it got you killed. Damn if he knew which was the case this time.

“Sold him out?” Donovan gave Sam a searching look that was threaded with disbelief. “Back up a second. What haven’t you told us?”

Garrett leaned forward, his ever-present scowl deepening.

“She was our informant,” Sam said to Garrett. “The one who tipped us off about when the arms shipment was going down.”

Donavan and Garrett exchanged what-the-fuck looks. The words to defend her rushed to Sam’s mouth, but he swallowed them back. He couldn’t defend her. Not yet.

“She did all that because you were fucking her?” Garrett asked incredulously.

Sam turned and slammed into Garrett’s chest, twisting Garrett’s shirt in his hands.

“I’ve had enough of your mouth,” Sam snarled. “You will have some goddamn respect when talking about the mother of my child, you got me?”

Garrett’s eyes narrowed, then widened when Sam didn’t back down. He put his hands up. “Okay, okay, my bad.”

When Sam released his shirt, and Garrett took a step back, swearing the entire way.

“Will you at least try to look at this objectively?” Garrett asked. “What if it were me or Van? One of us hooks up with a chick while we’re on a mission. He gets distracted. Chick shows up months later, after we failed to take down the target, and she’s making all sorts of wild claims, not the least of which is she’s pregnant with Van’s child or my child. Then she says she sold out her flesh and blood for a guy she was with a matter of a few days. Tell me, Sam, would you be saying okay, yeah, whatever?”

Donovan remained quiet, but Garrett’s thoughts were reflected in his eyes.

Sam sighed. “When did I ever give you two the impression that I’m some emotional dumbass who thinks with his dick? I get that you’re suspicious. I have my own set of doubts, but so far what she’s saying is checking out. And whatever you think, you’ll show some respect for both me and her. If you can’t live with that, then I suggest you get the fuck out, and I’ll go this alone.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Garrett muttered. “You know good and goddamn well Van and I are behind you. Jesus this is one giant clusterfuck.”

“You can’t solve this for me,” Sam said as he stared Garrett down. “I know it goes against every grain that you can’t just step in with a solution. This isn’t just a mission or some job, and you and I both know it. Everything has changed for me, and I’m the only person who can sort it out.”

Donovan chuckled, and Sam and Garrett both glared at him.

“Garrett looks like a whipped puppy because the control freak in him can’t control the situation. And Sam looks like he’s swallowed a rock.”

Sam held up his middle finger at the exact same time Garrett did, which only made Donovan laugh harder.