by Cynthia Eden
Goosebumps rose on her arms. “Saxon?”
“I’d destroy him. I’d destroy anyone who wanted to hurt you.”
There was a hard, flat tone of utter certainty in his voice. She shivered.
His head cocked to the right. “Does that scare you?”
“Nothing about you scares me.” That was the truth. She wanted all of him, good and bad and everything in between.
His hand lifted and his knuckles slid over her cheek. “I can be here, wearing the suit, pretending to be someone else, but deep inside…we both know what I am.”
“Saxon—”
“A killer, a—”
“No.” She caught his hand and held tight to it. “You’re a fighter. A protector. You’re the man I-I want.” She’d almost said he was the man she loved. But Elizabeth had held back. Why? Because she was scared. Not of him, never of him. Her eyes searched his as worry slid into her heart. “Something’s happened.’
He gave a faint nod. “I have to leave town for a bit. One of the winery’s security guards will be seeing you home today.”
Her hold tightened on him. “Where are you going?”
His gaze became shuttered. “To see Victor.”
He was holding back on her. “What’s going on?” When he was silent, she stepped closer to him. “Please, Saxon, tell me.”
He glanced away from her. “I’m going to see my brother. A short trip. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Liar,” she whispered.
His lips curled the faintest bit. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He pulled away from her and headed toward the door.
She stood there a moment, her mind whirling, then she blurted, “I want to come with you.”
He stilled. “That’s not an option.”
“Why not? If you’re just going to visit Victor…”
Saxon looked back at her.
She could see the terrible truth in his eyes. “Victor is in trouble, isn’t he?” Her voice was hushed.
The lines near his mouth deepened. “I’ll take care of him. It’s what we do. We take care of each other. Me, Victor, and Jasmine…” He turned away again.
She raced across the room and blocked his path before he could reach the door. “I want to help. Whatever is going on here, let me help you.”
He stared down at her. There was longing on his face, in his eyes, but he gave a determined shake of his head. “There’s one thing I won’t risk for him.”
“What? Saxon, I don’t understand what’s happening.”
His hands curled around her shoulders. He pulled her up against him. Crushed his mouth to hers. Kissed her with a wild fury that made her heart race and her body ache.
“You,” he rasped against her mouth. “I won’t risk you.”
Then he left her, striding quickly from the room.
And Elizabeth knew that whatever was happening—whatever dangers Victor faced—they were very, very bad. The last time she’d seen Victor, he’d been determined to get the hit on her canceled.
Whatever has happened to him…it’s because of me.
***
The airport was busy when Saxon strode inside. There were families around, laughing, talking. Businessmen rushing to collect their luggage.
He barely spared any of them a glance. Everything happening around him—it was all just noise. Getting to Victor, saving his brother, that was his priority.
He hadn’t called Jasmine. He didn’t know what he’d find waiting for him in South Carolina, and he didn’t want to risk Jazz, too. Tracy had promised to provide support for him—and he would trust her. Victor had said the woman was a good agent, the best on his team.
He would—
The noise around him dimmed because she was there. Standing just a few feet away and nervously biting her lip.
“Elizabeth?”
She swallowed and nodded.
He was at her side in an instant. “What the hell are you doing here?” He’d left her all safe and sound back at the winery. She shouldn’t be in that busy California airport with him.
“Something has happened to Victor, right?”
His back teeth clenched. “Yes.”
“Because of me?”
He looked away.
“You do that…you look away when you don’t want to lie to me.”
Saxon caught her arms and walked her over toward the wall, blocking her view of everyone else with his body. “Whatever is going on—”
“It’s because of me. Victor was trying to help me. And now you’re flying off, and I’m coming with you.”
The hell she was.
But Elizabeth reached into her bag and she pulled out a ticket. “After you rushed out on me, I talked with Vanessa. She’d booked your flight, so I got her to book mine, too.”
No, this wasn’t happening. “You can’t come with me.”
On the intercom, he heard them announce the boarding for his flight. He backed away from Elizabeth, but she caught his hand.
“Why not?”
And he wouldn’t lie. “Because the bastard who has Vic—that bastard wants you! He wants to trade Vic’s life for yours, and that isn’t happening.”
She paled as she stared up at him.
“I can’t lose you, and I won’t lose Vic.” That meant he went on the plane by himself. “You mean too much to me.” And because he didn’t know what the hell was going to happen when he got to South Carolina, he leaned forward and kissed her once more. This kiss was different from the one he’d given her in the winery. Not wild, but soft and sensual. He poured his emotions into that kiss. He wanted her to know how he felt even if he didn’t have the words that he should be able to give her.
Do I love her?
Yes, he thought he did. But he’d never told a woman that he loved her. Never had those words come out. He wasn’t sure they could. He was so screwed up on the inside. Far more damaged than his sweet Elizabeth probably realized.
I knew she was too good for me, but I couldn’t stay away. And once he’d had her, there had been no going back for him.
“Good-bye,” Saxon breathed the words against her lips, then he kissed her once more. This time, when he kissed her, he could taste the salt of her tears on his tongue.
He turned away and headed for the plane.
***
Saxon buckled his seatbelt and leaned his head back against the seat. He’d need to get a weapon when he arrived in South Carolina. And he’d check in with Tracy to see what kind of reinforcements would be available from the FBI.
His eyes closed as he planned.
Getting Victor out alive was priority one. Making sure that—
He smelled honey. Sweet, sweet honey. Something soft brushed against his knee.
Saxon shook his head even as his eyes opened. Elizabeth was there and currently sliding into the seat right behind his. He caught her arm. “What are you doing?”
She glanced down at his hand. “I think I told you before, I won’t have you risking your life for me again. I won’t let you or your brother be in danger because of me.”
“You don’t understand—”
“No, Saxon, you don’t understand.” The tears were gone from her eyes. She stared up at him and said, “I love you, and I won’t let you just fly away from me. If there is something I can to do help you, I will.”
I love you.
He hadn’t heard anything past that. Tell her that you love her, too. Tell her. But he couldn’t speak a word.
The flight attendant’s voice drifted through the plane as she began her safety spiel.
“It’s okay,” Elizabeth told him with a soft smile. “I know you don’t love me yet. It’s too fast, I get it. But do I love you, Saxon, and I’m coming with you. I’m going to be by your side. I’m going to—”
“Why?”
Her smile widened. “Because that’s what family does.”
No, no…why do you love me? And why was it suddenly so hard for him to actually speak?
/> She caught his hand and brought his scarred knuckles to her lips. “Whatever is waiting for us, we’ll face it, together.”
The hell they would. “He wants you.” He’d told her that already. “The bastard is trying to trade your life for Victor’s.” That’s a trade that will never happen. I’ll protect her. Always. Victor was his brother, and he’d do just about anything for the man. Take a bullet, give up his life.
But there was one thing he wouldn’t do.
I’ll never trade her. Because she just meant too much to him.
***
Hours later, they were in South Carolina. Finally. Elizabeth had felt as if they were racing some invisible clock during the entire journey.
As soon as they left the Charleston airport, Saxon pulled out his phone. His face was tense when he made the call, and Elizabeth stood beside him, hardly daring to breathe.
“I’m here,” Saxon said into the phone.
She inched closer, trying to hear the other man’s voice. It was garbled but it sounded like he asked…Did you bring her?
Saxon’s gaze slanted toward Elizabeth. “Yes.”
A car horn honked, drowning out any hope she had of hearing the other man’s words.
“Where are you?” Saxon demanded.
“No cops…” She caught those words clearly.
A family came out of the airport, talking excitedly and laughing. She glanced over at them for an instant. When she looked back at Saxon, he looked even more grim and intense.
“I’ll be there,” Saxon promised.
“An hour.” She heard that part very clearly. “Or he’s dead.”
She shivered. Night had fallen, and there was darkness all around them. So much darkness.
Saxon ended the call and put the phone in his pocket.
“What happens now?” She asked him.
“Now…” Saxon said. “I go and get my brother.” He took her elbow and led her toward a black SUV. The driver side door opened just when they reached the vehicle and a woman with long, red hair stepped out.
“Hello, Tracy,” Saxon said.
Elizabeth’s focus shifted to the woman. There was a gun holster at the woman’s hip. She really hoped the chick was FBI and not—
“I’m Agent Tracy Adams,” she said, giving a quick nod toward Elizabeth before she motioned them toward the vehicle. “And I know where Victor is.”
Saxon and Elizabeth climbed into the back seat. Tracy slid back into the front and she cranked the engine.
“I know, too,” Saxon muttered. “The guy is expecting me to come to him…with Elizabeth…within the next two hours. He told me no cops, no other agents…or Victor would be dead.”
“Figured as much,” Tracy said. “ I broke the rules by running the trace on his phone so I could get his location. And considering that I don’t know what I could be walking into here…I figured it would be a case of a two-man team up. You and I against whatever hell is waiting.”
“But if he sees you,” Elizabeth pointed out, worry making her voice thicken, “then he’ll know you’re an agent. He could kill Victor.”
Tracy drove them away from the airport. “Saxon, tell me this…does he know what Elizabeth looks like?”
“If he’s been online, then, yeah, the guy probably knows what she looks like. He’ll have seen her hair, her—”
“Yeah, but now that she’s gone darker, she probably doesn’t look too much like her old pictures, anyway. She’s my size, my age…” Tracy braked at a red light. “I’m hoping we can fool him, just long enough for me to get inside and help you get Victor out. I’m thinking that when I go in with you, he won’t see an agent. He’ll just see…her.”
Elizabeth’s breath whooshed out. That plan might actually work. Only there was one more thing. “What can I do?”
Tracy’s gaze met hers in the rear-view mirror. “Stay down and out of sight in the car. If we come out fast, we’ll need you to be ready to drive us away in an instant.”
So she was the getaway driver?
“Do you have a team standing by?” Elizabeth said. She must have a team. But…if Tracy did…then why does she need me to be her getaway driver?
“No team,” Tracy said as the light turned green. “We’re solo on this because Victor went off the grid. I don’t know what the hell he did for you, Ms. Ward, and the last thing I want is for the FBI to wind up tossing my mentor in jail because he broke the law for you.”
“We’re doing this on our own,” Saxon said. “Not like it will be the first time.”
And Elizabeth prayed it wouldn’t be their last.
Chapter Fifteen
“This is the place,” Tracy said as she pulled the SUV onto the old road that ended at a dead-end. When the SUV’s headlights flashed, Elizabeth saw that the narrow road was surrounded by overgrown trees and bushes.
But then Tracy killed the lights and slowly turned around the vehicle, maneuvering it carefully on that too-tight road. When she was done, the vehicle was ready to race right away again. Elizabeth’s hands fisted in her lap. And I’ll be the driver.
“I need a weapon,” Saxon said, “and I know you’ve got a back-up.”
Tracy grunted and handed him a gun. “I never leave home without one.”
The interior of the SUV was so dark. Elizabeth wanted to be able to see Saxon’s face. She needed to see him again.
“We’ll play this like I’m your girl,” Tracy said. “We go in, we catch the bastard off-guard, and we get Victor out of there.”
“But you don’t know what’s waiting inside.” Elizabeth hadn’t flown all the way across the country just to lose Saxon. She had no intention of losing him, period. “You can’t just go in and—”
His fingers curled around hers. So warm and strong. “Victor’s inside. That’s all I need to know.”
Then he was gone. He’d slipped from the vehicle. Elizabeth hurried out, too, but Tracy just tossed her the keys. “Stay with the ride,” Tracy ordered her. “And stay out of sight.”
But she wanted to help. That was why she’d come. To be with Saxon. To stand by his side and face whatever hell was waiting. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt for me!”
Her determined voice stopped them cold.
“I should go in,” Elizabeth said. “If this guy wants me, then I’m going. I’m—”
“I’m an FBI agent,” Tracy told her flatly. “I know how to do this job. No offense, lady, but you’re PR. What the hell are you going to do? Talk the guy to death?”
“I—”
“Stay by the ride,” Tracy snapped. “And this will all be over in a few minutes.”
Tracy turned away.
“Saxon?” Elizabeth called.
He hesitated. “You won’t be risked.”
Then he, too, turned away, and Elizabeth was left by the car.
“You really need to get to know me better,” she whispered. “I don’t like being left behind.” She opened the SUV’s door and started looking for a weapon.
***
Saxon didn’t look back as he headed toward the decrepit house. He had to put Elizabeth out of his mind because he couldn’t afford any distractions, not then. He had a job to do.
Saving my brother.
“I never realized how close you and Victor actually were,” Tracy murmured.
The house was dark before them.
“But you’re risking your life for Victor, so I guess that bond has to be pretty deep, huh?”
“He’s my brother,” he said, the words a low growl.
“Ah. Now that is interesting.” She paused. “Family. Can’t live with them…can’t let someone else kill them.”
He slanted a fast glance at her. They were getting close to the house now. Tracy needed to keep silent.
“Do you think he’d give up his life for you, if your positions were reversed?” Tracy asked softly. “Because I don’t think he would. I’ve started to realize that he isn’t the man I believed he was. Brother or no brother.”
“I don’t think…” Tracy whispered, “that Victor really has a heart at all.”
They were now in what looked like the kitchen. Tracy took a step forward, but he stopped her, pointing to the trapdoor that he’d just seen on the floor. His light swept over it.
There might not be anything happening in the main level of that old house, but downstairs…downstairs, I’ll find my brother.
He opened the trapdoor. It gave a long, low creak.
“I did some research on Titus Rowe,” Tracy told him as she crouched at his side. “You know Titus used to work for Luther, back in the day.”
He started climbing down the ladder.
“But then Luther betrayed him. You see…Titus was his explosives guy. He could blow up anything, anywhere.”
Saxon stilled and stared up at her. Tracy was making no move to follow him down into the basement.
“But one day, Luther double-crossed him. Titus’s wife was caught in the cross-fire. She died and Titus—well, I guess that pissed him off.”
He wanted revenge against Luther Bates. Another eye-for-an-eye asshole.
“Titus had a son. This house belongs to that son—to Hugh Rowe. And guess what? He’s real pissed, too.”
There was something in Tracy’s voice, a low, cold note that put him on high alert. And she still wasn’t coming down the ladder into the basement. “Tracy…” He stared up at her. “What have you done?”
She smiled at him and then she lifted her gun. “Keep going down the stairs, Saxon. If you don’t, I’ll just shoot you right here.” She gave a little laugh. “By the way, you might as well just drop your weapon. It won’t work. I made sure that it wouldn’t fire before I gave it to you.”
***
The house was still and dark…and she’d found a crowbar in the back of the SUV.
Elizabeth crept closer to the house. She was way, way out of her league but…Saxon was in there, and every instinct she possessed told her that she should be in there, too.
She loved him. She needed him. And she was not letting the guy die for her. He’d already suffered too much. They were supposed to be safe now. But, no, because of her, Saxon’s brother was in danger.