by Cynthia Eden
“If Linc has so much as a scratch on him,” Blair promised as she cradled her gun, “I will burn that building to the ground.”
“God, you’re both scary and sexy.”
“Chase, that shit was spoken, not thought,” one of the other agents muttered.
“Linc is the priority,” Blair told them all. “No one else in there matters.” She could see the guard who’d stumbled out just moments before. He was searching the area around the old warehouse, his body stiff and uncertain. “I’ll be taking him down on my way in.”
The guard turned away.
She raced from her hiding spot. They’d been waiting and watching that warehouse. And as soon as the guy with the gun had stumbled out, Blair had known that Linc sent him out there as a sign.
You told him Wilde agents were about to swarm, didn’t you? A trick Linc had used before. You sent the perp out to let us know we need to come in.
Her steps were silent as she closed in, but at the last moment, the guard spun toward her.
Too late.
She attacked.
***
“Who is so interested in Blair?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Matthew glowered at Linc. “When Natasha called me earlier, she said things had changed.”
What? “Changed how?”
“Our buyer wants you dead. After we carve you up into lots of painful pieces, Natasha promised he’ll pay us five million. Easy money. But…the catch is you have to suffer. A lot.” He snatched the knife from Ron. “I’ll take care of shit myself if you’re just gonna stand there.” A huff. “Pull out your phone, Ron. Make yourself useful and film this crap. Don’t get my face. Our client wants a video as proof.” A taunting smile to Linc. “I think he plans to send it to your sexy partner Blair before he kills—”
Linc had gotten his right hand free. While the douche had been running his mouth, he’d twisted and twisted until he got free. Before Matthew could cut him, Linc’s right hand flew out, he grabbed the knife, and he drove it right back into Matthew’s stomach.
Matthew’s mouth dropped open in shock and pain. “You…you…” He grabbed for the knife, trying to yank it out of his body.
Ron lunged forward. “Boss!”
The door to the room flew open and banged against the wall.
Linc’s gaze whipped to the doorway. Blair stood there, with a gun gripped tightly in her hand. So gorgeous, but… “Could use a little…ah, help, sweetheart,” he called.
Ron ran right at her.
She shot him in the shoulder, and he slumped onto the floor, moaning.
Matthew had hauled the knife out of his stomach, and the prick moved fast, scuttling like a rat as he got behind Linc.
And he put the bloody knife to Linc’s throat.
“You don’t want to do that!” Blair shouted as she took aim.
“You don’t,” Linc agreed.
“He’s the only reason you’re still alive right now.” Blair’s voice was ice cold, but her blue eyes blazed. Two other agents rushed in behind her. Chase and a guy named Donovan O’Ray. “You hurt him, and my finger will pull this trigger faster than you can draw a breath.”
“She’s coming,” Matthew muttered. He looked around, as if expecting to see someone else appear. “She should be here! Where the hell is she?”
Uh, oh. “You’re talking about Natasha?” Linc asked. Hadn’t the guy said a few minutes ago that she should have arrived already?
So where is she? He got that bad, something-is-off feeling.
“Yes, yes.” The knife didn’t move. “She told me to wait for her here. She gave me this location specifically. Said she would come and finish you off. She took my private jet up from Miami. Should’ve been here.”
Blair’s gaze flickered to Linc. “You’re bleeding.”
He winked at her. “Barely a scratch. Ron can’t hit for shit.”
A furrow appeared between her beautiful eyebrows. “Ron?”
“You shot him. Thanks for that, sweetheart. Maybe when you have time, you could punch him in the face, too?”
She didn’t move.
“No?” Linc considered that. “I’ll take care of it.”
Chase and Donovan closed in on the left and right. Blair maintained her position. And Linc…he didn’t like this. He decided to keep talking because he knew how much Matthew liked to run his mouth. And when Matthew was running his mouth…He’s not slitting my throat. “Just how long ago did your girlfriend land, Matthew?”
No answer.
“And…who had the idea for you to hold me here? Say that once more? Because I thought you just told me that Natasha—”
“Natasha did! She’s the one who told me to grab you and bring you here.”
This specific location, hmm? Oh, that’s all kinds of bad. “And she’s the one who wanted that slow and up-close vid of you torturing me, too, huh?” The nagging feeling he had was so very bad. A feeling that he was missing something.
The knife trembled against him. “I needed a video of your death. The client only pays when he sees you die.”
Blair’s delicate jaw locked. “You are never getting paid.”
The knife lifted a few inches. “Look, we can make a deal—” Matthew began.
Linc grabbed his hand. Snap. He didn’t just break Matthew’s fat index finger. He broke about three fingers with that vicious twist.
Matthew screamed. He lurched for Linc—
Blair shot him. Bam. Linc was pretty sure he felt the heat of that bullet whip past him right before it thudded into Matthew.
Blood spattered on him. Shit.
Blair was rushing forward.
Linc strained against his remaining bonds. He looked back at a prone Matthew. The guy was still conscious. Looked like a gut shot. “You said Natasha made the bomb back on Turquoise. Ron put it on the boat, but she made it.”
Matthew groaned. “Her dad was…ah…some kind of…demolitions guy…”
Demolitions. Shit. The nagging feeling was now a sinking in his gut. “And she should have arrived by now.” He kept coming back to that. Sure, Natasha could have just decided to leave Matthew high and dry or…
She could have another plan.
“I need a knife!” Blair yelled. “We need these ropes off Linc! We need—”
Linc turned his head and stared at her. He could be wrong. Or he could be right and they could all soon be dead. “Get the fuck out of here!” he yelled.
Blair blinked.
“Now. Get your ass out of here now!”
“Are you crazy? There’s no way I’m—”
“I think Natasha isn’t late. I think she was here before Matthew dragged me in. I think she was waiting for you to come in, too. Waiting to take us both out. I don’t think payment is just for my death any longer. What if—what if it’s for us both? What if the big payout comes when Natasha takes us both out?”
“Take us both out?” Blair’s eyes widened. “How?”
He looked at the crates that lined the room. And realized that a few of those crates appeared to have loose tops. It would sure be easy enough to plant explosives in those crates. “She’s going to blow up this building.”
Blair shook her head. “We searched the perimeter! She’s not there. It’s okay—”
“Get the fuck out, baby,” Linc said and it sounded like he was begging because he was. “Now, please—”
The first explosion rocked the building.
Chapter Twenty
“This is what happens when you make plans without consulting me,” Blair raged as she yanked a bloody knife off the floor—the same knife that Matthew Vorten had pushed against Linc’s throat. “We wind up in situations exactly like this one.”
“Get out!” Linc yelled.
She sawed at the ropes on his ankles. “I’m not going anywhere without you.” She turned her head. “Chase, Donovan, drag those bastards out and find Natasha—”
Another explosion. One that rained down fire from overhead.
&
nbsp; She didn’t wait to see if Chase and Donovan were listening to her. She cut the rope on Linc’s ankles.
He ripped the knife from her hand. “I’ll get free. Just go!”
Smoke was filling the room. Smoke and flames, and she was not going any place, not without him. How could he not get that?
Linc sawed through the rope. He stood up.
And then immediately staggered. Blair caught him before he could slam into the floor. “What’s wrong?”
“Freaking drugs. Guess they…made me weak.”
“That’s why you don’t leave your partner behind even when his fool-ass yells at you to do so.” She looped his arm over her shoulder. “Hold on.” She coughed as the smoke grew thicker. “We’re both getting out. We’re both—”
She looked up. Matthew was staggering toward her. He had a gun. Where in the hell had he gotten a gun? And why didn’t Chase or Donovan have him in custody?
“I lied. My gun still has bullets,” Linc said, completely confusing her. “Get…back…”
He shoved her behind him, then he—he slammed his body into Matthew’s. They hit the floor. More smoke billowed and when she managed to pull Linc back—
The knife was sticking out of Matthew’s chest. Matthew wasn’t moving.
“Told him it would happen,” Linc rasped.
She hauled him up and with his body braced against hers, they stumbled forward. One step, two steps. The air was thick and heavy, and the flames seemed to greedily surge at them, but—
Chase was there. He grabbed Linc. They all staggered outside where the fresh air poured onto them. Wonderful, fresh, breathable air. She sucked in some desperate gulps, right before gunshots blasted. Chase and Blair shoved Linc down as they all dove for cover.
“Why the hell can’t you just die?” Natasha screamed.
Linc and Chase were on the ground. Donovan was dragging Matthew’s goon out, and Natasha—she kept shooting and shooting until her gun didn’t fire anymore.
I’m sure not going to give you a chance to reload. “Obvious answer—because I’ve got too much to live for!” Blair shouted as she hurtled forward.
She hit Natasha, hard, and tackled the woman. Blair yanked the gun from Natasha’s hand and threw it a few feet away. Then she drove her fist into Natasha’s face. Once. Twice.
“You broke my nose!” Natasha cried.
“You tried to kill me.” Blair’s fist was drawn and ready to slam down again. “And you tried to kill the man I love.” Just for that alone…
Blair delivered another hard, vicious hit. Natasha’s head snapped back against the ground as she groaned.
Rage twisted inside of Blair. “I’ve got plenty to live for, but what the hell have you got?”
Blood trickled from Natasha’s nose. “I’ve got…the name of the man who paid for all this…”
Blair smiled at her. “I’ve got that, too. But thanks. I’m afraid no deal or trade is going to be made at this time.” The flames crackled behind her. “Just so you know, jail is definitely not going to be a stay in paradise.”
Natasha’s eyes fluttered closed as she moaned.
More Wilde agents were closing in, and it looked like some uniformed cops were there, too. Would have been great if they could have stopped Natasha before she went all shooting and bomb triggering crazy but…
At least I got to break her nose.
“Cuff her,” Blair barked at the cops. “Do not let her out of your sight for a minute. That woman is a killer.”
“So…are you,” Natasha gasped.
“Don’t you forget it.” Blair’s voice was ice cold. “Because I sure won’t be forgetting you.”
Natasha’s eyes opened. “It…it was just a job. Nothing personal.”
Blair rose. The cops grabbed Natasha and hauled her to her feet. “It’s personal now,” Blair assured her. “I am going to personally make sure you never see the outside of a prison again. You’re done.”
“But I have his name! I can tell you who wanted you dead—you, your lover! It was—”
“Edward Sharpe.” Blair shook her head. “I know. We’ll be dealing with him next.”
She motioned to the cops and the Wilde agents. “Get her ass in the back of a patrol car. I need her away from me.” Mostly because when she thought of what that woman had nearly done…
She was trying to kill Linc. She set those bombs in there to kill him.
Blair wanted to kill her.
The cops pushed Natasha toward a patrol car.
Blair couldn’t help it. She lunged after them with her fists clenched—
A hard arm looped around her stomach and yanked her back. “Got you.”
She hit a warm, strong body.
A body that she would know anywhere. But then, there was no mistaking that sexy rumble of a voice, either. “Let me go because I want to hurt her some more.”
Linc turned Blair so that she stared up at him. “Guess who is standing on his own? I can feel my legs again.”
Her lower lip trembled. A tear leaked down her cheek. She swiped it away.
His head bent and his lips brushed over her cheek. “I heard you.”
“You need to get in an ambulance.” One had to be around there somewhere. “We need to get you checked out and—”
“You love me.”
Chaos. They were in the middle of chaos. The warehouse was burning behind them. Cops were buzzing around like bees. Natasha was begging people for a deal.
And Linc—Linc was the only thing that mattered.
“I heard you tell her that she tried to kill the man you loved.” Linc smiled down at her. His face was bruising. His lower lip all swollen and a wee bit bloody, but he was smiling. “I’m that man.”
Blair shook her head.
His smile slipped. “I’m…not?”
“Don’t be an idiot.” God, she loved him so much. Her arms flew around him and she held on tight. “You knew, you had to know.”
His arms closed around her, too, and it felt so good to be held by him. “You didn’t tell me.”
Her eyes squeezed closed. It wasn’t the smoke making her all teary. Wasn’t her fury. It was…him. “There are some things that I just thought you knew.” No, no, she would not cop out on this. She pushed back. Exhaled. Stared up at him. “I was afraid.”
His expression was so tender. “You don’t ever have to be afraid with me.”
What she felt for him terrified her because it was so strong. “I never felt this way about anyone. It was safer, better to have you as my partner than to lose you as…”
“As what?”
“As the man I wanted to be with. As the man I love.” There. Said. Said while she stared right into his eyes. “I love you, Linc. I love that you’re crazy and wild and that you seem to know me better than anyone else ever has or ever will.”
He blinked. “I think the drugs might be messing with my mind.” He weaved a little.
Her eyes flared as she clutched him tighter. “Linc? What can I do? What can I—”
He kissed her. “Say it again.”
“Linc?”
“Say it loud and let me make sure this isn’t just me dreaming. Because I’ve dreamed this before. Only there weren’t bombs involved. Or drugs. There was a little bit of bondage, but the bad guys weren’t the ones who’d tied me up.”
She could only shake her head. “I love you.”
His face turned serious. “You are my entire world. There is nothing I would not do for you. I’ve been yours since the first moment I saw you.”
Warmth spread through her. Warmth, joy—same thing. “Just like I’ve been yours.” She kissed him again. Then remembered his hurt lip. “Oh, God, Linc, I’m so sorry, I—”
“Fuck it. I don’t feel pain when you kiss me.” He lifted her into his arms. “See? Look at that. Stronger every moment.” He kissed her deeper, harder. More passionate.
He loves me.
Linc loved her. She loved him. They were both safe. They were toget
her, and when they were together, nothing could stop them. They were even stronger together, something she’d realized early on in their partnership and—
“You two should get a room,” Chase informed them crisply.
Linc lifted his head.
Chase slapped him on the shoulder. “Glad your ass is all right, man.”
Linc frowned at him. Linc also kept holding Blair in his arms. “You didn’t see her naked.”
They were in the middle of a crime scene. There were more important things to—
“No,” Chase replied slowly. He cocked his head and seemed to consider the matter. “Was I supposed to see her naked?”
“No,” Linc snapped. “I don’t have to hurt you.”
“You don’t have to…” Chase shook his head. “Linc, I just saved your ass! I was one of the agents pulling you out when your feet weren’t working! You need to try thanking me.”
Blair touched Linc’s cheek. “I picked the lock on the handcuffs. I was free long before he needed to come and get me.”
Linc gazed into her eyes. “Of course, you did.”
“I was right behind you at the garage. We trailed the van—they threw you in a van and we were close the whole time. I had you in sight, and I wasn’t going to lose you.” She didn’t mention how freaked out she’d been when she’d seen him being dragged into the van. His body had been limp, and for a moment, she’d just lost it.
“You had my back,” Linc said with utter certainty.
Blair nodded. “Always.”
His head dipped toward her. His mouth brushed over her lips.
“There are lots of questions to answer,” Chase mumbled. “Cops and Feds who need shit explained to them. But, no, you two, please carry on as you are. I’ll take care of things.”
“Thanks,” Linc murmured as he kissed Blair again.
“We owe you,” she added as she twined her arm around Linc’s neck.
“Damn straight.” Chase exhaled with a hard sigh. “I’ll collect eventually.”
Blair heard him walk away, but she didn’t look up. She was too busy holding on to Linc. Kissing him. Being incredibly glad that her partner—the man she loved with her entire heart—was safe in her arms.
And if the man ever tried to cuff her and slip away again…
She would so make him pay.