His brow shot up. Then he shook his head back and forth. “If I ever meet the bastard who hurt you, I swear I’ll knock him out.” He paused, his gaze gentling as it held mine. “There’s nothing homely about you, Liz. You’re fucking sexy as hell…” He trailed off as my face heated. He sighed. “I’ll admit you’re not like most girls, and honestly, that’s what drew me to you. Because you’re different. And I genuinely like you, Liz.”
Our gazes locked. And there was so much tenderness and compassion in his eyes that I felt myself wavering, my distrust slipping away. God, I was such an idiot.
Embarrassed heat washed into my face.
“I’m so sorry,” I blubbered, lowering my gaze. “That wasn’t fair. I shouldn’t have insulted you like that.”
“Hey,” he said gently, stepping closer. “It’s all right. You don’t know me yet. But I’d rather you not compare me to the other guy anymore.” His gaze filled with caution as it sought mine. I swallowed hard, then jerked my gaze away, humiliated.
Then slowly, cautiously, he reached for my glasses. I startled, my gaze unwittingly darting back to his. But I didn’t stop him as he gently removed them, though I probably should have. Instead, I just stood there like an idiot and gaped up at him. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? So kind? So gentle? So utterly irresistible?
He folded my glasses and stuck them into his shirt pocket. Never once did his gaze leave mine.
My heartrate kicked up. What was he doing?
“I know you won’t believe this…you’ll think I’m just spilling out a pick-up line, but I’m being completely honest when I say you have—by far—the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, his gaze softening.
My first reaction was to snort in disbelief. Right. Should I thank him? Or call him out as a lying flirt?
Then I melted inside. Was he being serious? Did he really think I had pretty eyes?
He’s not Jeremy, Liz. Stop comparing him to Jeremy. Just give him a chance.
“Every emotion comes through in your eyes,” he went on quietly. “Did you know that? When you’re frightened, your eyes roil with dark waves of uncertainty. When you’re feeling distrust, they lighten with flickers of wariness. When you’re excited, they blaze with swirls of anticipation.” He paused, his gaze searching mine. “And when you feel attraction, they smolder and darken with heat.”
I swallowed hard and shook my head in denial. “No. That’s not true.” No one had ever said anything like that to me before.
“Yes,” he persisted. “Your mouth might be able to lie, but your eyes tell the truth.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Was it that obvious that I was attracted to him?
“I’m not trying to embarrass you, Liz, I’m just telling it like I see it. You don’t want to like me,” he continued softly, “but you’re wavering because a part of you wants to give me a chance. Look at me, Liz. Let me show you I’m not a bad guy,” he urged. “Please. Will you give me a chance?”
My breath hitched. I jerked my eyes open. And my distrust returned. “Why? So you can release your stupid love potion on me again and laugh while I humiliate myself?” I had been meaning to sound sarcastic, but it came out sounding hurt instead.
He flinched, drawing back. “Ah, hell. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t do it to humiliate you. You were being difficult and it was the only way I could think of to help you to relax. And I promise I’m not releasing it now.”
I didn’t know what that meant.
I glared at him, pushing a hand against his chest, gasping softly as my palm connected with a rock wall. Holy hell! Talk about muscles! My imagination went wild, picturing what he might look like underneath that shirt.
He took a step back, giving me space, his gaze cautious.
“Give me back my glasses.”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Tell me, do you feel an overwhelming urge to rub against me right now, Liz? A fierce desire to get closer to me? To rip your clothes off and go at it like rabbits?” His gaze was intense as it bored into mine.
Heat washed into my face, but his gaze held no laughter. He was dead serious.
I puffed out a breath and contemplated my response. “No.”
He didn’t look away. “I promise I will never use the love potion on you ever again. If you have any feelings of desire toward me, now or later, they will be real. Natural. Not forced.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. Or even if I should respond. I didn’t understand the “love potion”. But I did have feelings of real desire toward him. I mean, what woman wouldn’t? The man was beautiful. He was kind. He was considerate. And I couldn’t deny the strong pull I felt toward him.
But I wasn’t about to tell him any of that. No way.
I still had major trust issues.
A door slammed from nearby, then muted laughter penetrated through the walls. Ryan jerked his head away, his gaze centering on the room next door. “Sounds like Luke and Mateo are back, and they’re not alone.”
Yeah, I could imagine all the fun going on next door.
“My glasses,” I reminded, holding my hand out. “Why did you take them, anyway?”
He hesitated, his gaze coming back to mine. “Because I was going to prove something to you.”
What did that mean? I eyed him warily. “Prove what?”
Ryan slowly reached into his pocket.
Then he jerked his head toward the door.
“Get down!”
He snagged my arm and pulled me to the floor, urging me to hide underneath the bed.
Then, in a swift move, he yanked a gun from somewhere at his back, and spun to face the door just as it crashed in.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ryan
The door crashed open, and a swarm of Company soldiers burst into the room with guns drawn.
Liz, fortunately, did as I instructed and rolled underneath the bed.
I dived behind the armchair in the corner, raising my weapon and firing as the first of them swarmed into the room. Drop. Thud.
Two of them down.
The deafening roar of repeated gunfire echoed around the room as they fired back at me. I don’t know how I avoided getting hit as bullets pinged and thunked all around me, skewering through the chair and into the floor and the wall behind me.
Luke would hear the commotion and come to assist me as soon as he could, but in the meantime, I had to fight them back and stay alive. I prayed Liz was smart enough to stay hidden under the bed. If she came out, she would likely be shot. And killed.
Several more bullets slammed into the chair, others ricocheted around the room, embedding into the walls and the furniture.
A sharp sting pierced my cheek, then the wetness of blood oozed down my face. Shit. A bullet had nicked me. I wasn’t sure how bad it was, but I didn’t think it was deep. I kept firing back, finally managing to drop another thug before I ran out of bullets. Flattening myself against the floor, I waited for one of the soldiers to get close enough so I could attack him. I would have to use my knife and my body as weapons now that I was out of ammo.
For a moment, silence stretched. One of them whispered something, then I felt them creeping closer.
There was a barely perceptible whisper of sound, following immediately by a grunt.
Luke had arrived.
I peered around the chair, assessing the situation. Luke was fighting three soldiers, and a fourth was spinning around, aiming his weapon at Luke. A fifth clutched an injured leg, leaning against the wall.
I burst out from behind the chair, tackling the fourth guy, knocking him to the floor before he could shoot Luke. We each fought for control, smacking, hitting, thrusting, punching, landing blow after painful blow. At last, I landed a hard strike to his throat, making him gasp and fall back. With a swift move, I twisted his neck, ending his life. Yeah, take that, you bastard. I hadn’t even needed my knife. And I had a prosthetic arm.
A soft gasp caught my attention, and I glanced over to see Liz staring out
at me from underneath the bed, her eyes wide with fright. Ignoring her, I jumped to my feet and went to help Luke take down the rest. The fifth guy, the one leaning against the wall, must be out of ammo as well, for he launched himself at me as I came closer. I landed an upper strike to his ear, another blow to his abdomen, then kicked his injured leg out from underneath him. He dropped in front of me, groaning. I lifted my knife and sliced through his jugular. Tossing him aside, I moved to assist Luke. Together, we took down the final thugs, letting their corpses drop to the floor.
Breathing heavily, we exchanged a glance, nodding at each other.
Well done.
I swept a glance over the bodies lining the floor of the room, watching for signs of life, making sure they were all dead.
Mateo peeked his head into the room from the hallway. “You guys still alive?”
Luke snorted, stuffing his gun back into its holster. He bent and wiped the blade of his knife on one of the soldier’s shirts. “Could’ve used your help in here, kid.” As he straightened, I noticed blood dripping from an injury on his forearm, but it didn’t look serious. “They teach you how to kill at the facility before we rescued you?”
Mateo bounced into the room, excitement filling his eyes. “Yeah. Hand-to-hand combat. And I’m a good shot with a gun.”
Luke scowled. “Then why didn’t you help us?”
Mateo shrugged. “I don’t have a gun. Besides, you guys didn’t need me. You had it handled.” He glanced around at all the bodies. “Eight of them, and two of you.” He grinned, glancing up at us. “You guys just kicked some serious ass!”
There was a reason Mateo didn’t have a gun. Luke didn’t wholly trust him yet. And neither did I.
Luke shook his head, his gaze landing on mine. “Your face is bleeding.”
I reached up to touch the wound, jerking back as pain spiraled into my cheek. I flexed my jaw, working it up and down. “I don’t think the bone is shattered, but it hurts.”
Luke studied the wound. “Looks like it may have just skimmed your face. You’re lucky. You’ll live, but you won’t be so pretty anymore.” He snickered.
I pressed the sleeve of my shirt against the wound, wincing at the pain.
Luke glanced at Mateo. “Since you didn’t help fight, you’re in charge of clean up.”
Mateo blanched. “What?”
“We don’t have time for clean up,” I announced. “Won’t be long before the cops show up. We need to split.”
Luke sighed. “You’re right. But I hate leaving a mess behind.”
“Me, too.” We’d been taught to always clean up. But in this situation, there wasn’t enough time.
Liz poked her head out from underneath the bed, eyeing me warily.
“You can come out now,” I informed her. “We won’t hurt you.”
She hesitated, her gaze darting to Luke, then she crawled out from underneath the bed.
I studied her closely. She didn’t appear to be in shock, though her eyes held a wild, panicked look, and her face was flushed. This girl was holding herself together quite well, even when afraid. She was strong. Admiration swept through me. She was definitely unique.
Liz swallowed hard, glancing down at the bodies, then jerking her gaze away. “You can’t just leave these bodies here like this. They’re human beings.”
Luke shook his head in disgust. “They’re not human. They’re killers. They deserved to die. And if any of them had seen you, you would be dead, too.” His gaze narrowed on her. Then he marched toward her. She gasped, stumbling back until she fell onto the bed. He leaned over her, his expression fierce, doing his best to intimidate her. “You wouldn’t happen to know why those soldiers came here, now, would you, Liz?”
All the color drained from her face. She jerked her gaze to me. “H-he—the m-man—s-said you were here to kill Glenda. I h-had to protect her.”
I sharpened my gaze on her. “Who said I was here to kill Glenda?”
“The d-detective who came here a few months ago. He left his business card and said if you showed up, to c-call him immediately. I thought you were going to hurt Glenda, so I called him. I’m s-sorry. I just wanted to protect Glenda. How was I supposed to know he wasn’t a real cop?”
Luke leaned away from her. “What was the man’s name?”
Liz swallowed hard. “Um, Ellsworth, no, Ellington.”
Shit. Ellington had been here a few months ago, warning Liz about me, pretending to be a detective? And now he’d sent soldiers to take me out. How had I not seen this one coming?
Luke shot me a glare that said loud and clear: You got caught up in chasing a piece of ass, and it nearly got us killed.
I glowered back. You pushed me into it, asshole.
He jerked his head in acknowledgment.
I refocused on Liz. “When did you call him?” I wasn’t upset with her. She’d only been trying to protect my mother, and for that, I was grateful. She didn’t know I wasn’t here to hurt my mother. I knew without a doubt that Liz wasn’t deceitful. She was as guileless as I’d first thought.
Liz glanced nervously at Luke, then focused those big gray eyes on me. How well could she see me without the glasses? I reached into my pocket, but the glasses were gone. They must have fallen out during the battle.
“I called him right after you guys checked in and went upstairs.”
“Fuck.” Luke turned away from her, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Noah and get an update on Ellington’s whereabouts. Ellington must have had soldiers in the area ready for us to show up.”
I glanced around the room, searching for Liz’s glasses, then spied them near one of the soldier’s feet. Bending, I scooped the glasses up, relieved they weren’t broken. I stepped up to Liz and held them out her.
She blushed, taking them from me and slipping them on. “Thanks.”
Luke put his phone on speaker so we could all hear. “What’s up?” Noah asked. “Where did you guys go, anyway?”
“We’re still in Oklahoma. What’s the status on Ellington?” Luke asked.
There was a moment of silence, then Noah said, “I got an email about a half hour ago from Agent Browning. He said Ellington lost the FBI tail and he’s now in the wind.”
Liz gasped. “FBI? Who are you guys?”
None of us answered her.
“Shit,” I murmured, glancing over at Liz. “Which means no one knows where Ellington is.”
“Right,” Noah confirmed. “What are you guys doing?”
I hesitated, locking gazes with Luke. Then I sighed and told Noah everything.
After I finished, Noah groaned. “Seriously, man? What were you thinking? I want to see my mom, too, but I’m smart enough to know I can’t do that until we deal with The Company. Now you’ve put your mother at risk. You need to find her and get her to a safe place.”
He was right. I was an idiot. What had I been thinking, coming here?
Emotion clogged my throat.
I wanted to see Mom. Is that so wrong?
I jerked my gaze back to Liz. She was still sitting on the bed, listening to our conversation with rapt attention. But the expression on her face wasn’t one of fear or shock, but rather, of fascination.
“Do you have Glenda’s number?” I asked her.
She looked into my eyes, her gaze soft and more welcoming than it had been previously.
“Yes. It’s in my phone, in my purse.”
“Call her. We need to warn her of the danger. She needs to get out of town before they come for her.”
Liz swallowed hard. “Are you really her son?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. Moments later, she pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled through her contacts to my mother’s photo. I found myself leaning closer to get a look at Mom’s face before Liz clicked on it. That brief glimpse showed me Mom looked the same as I remembered her fourteen years ago.
A wave of emotion washed over me, momentarily stealing my breath. Mom.
I swallowed hard, clearing my throat. “Put it on speaker,” I ordered. Anticipation swept through me. Followed by sudden nerves. I was about to hear my mother’s voice again for the first time in fourteen years.
Luke’s gaze narrowed on me, and I knew he could feel all the emotions that were roiling inside me. But I couldn’t stop them if I tried. This was a momentous moment.
My heart pounded. My skin grew clammy.
Glenda—my mom—answered after the third ring.
“Liz,” she said, sounding surprised. “Is everything all right?”
And I was thrust back in time to the night they’d stolen me away. That very same voice had begged and pleaded with The General to not take me away, and when he’d refused, she’d then begged and pleaded that he not hurt me, that he treat me the way a real father should.
The way a real father should…
Those words had not registered with me at the time. But now I understood them.
“He’s everything to me,” Mom had whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “He’s my sweet boy. He’s all I have in this world. Please don’t hurt him.”
“Giving him to me will be a great sacrifice on your part,” The General told her. “I understand sacrifice. You’ve done well by the boy, raising him up right. He will be perfect for the program.” He handed her an envelope I assumed was full of cash. “Take this. It should compensate you for your loss. You have my word that I will treat Ryan well.”
My chest squeezed as the memory faded. Mom. She had fought for me. I think deep down I’d known she had. Her cries had grown louder, her protests stronger. The soldiers had held her back as they’d yanked me away. The General had given her no choice but to hand me over. They’d dragged me away. Into a life of hell.
Liz’s voice pulled me out of the past.
“No, Glenda. I’m sorry. Everything’s not all right. Something’s happened.” Liz glanced at me, a question in her eyes. “You need to leave town, Glenda. You need–”
Then I did something I probably shouldn’t have done. I snatched the phone from her grasp, unable to keep quiet any longer. “Mom?”
There was silence on the other end. Then her breath hitched. And I could feel her shock. Her disbelief. It was all I could do to keep my own emotions under control.
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