Lethal Consequences (The Aegis Series Book 2)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  She was on the edge of hyperventilating. Several times he’d expected her to freak out and she hadn’t, so the fact she was losing it now not only set off warning bells in his head, it set every protective instinct he had where she was concerned to high alert. “Talk to me, Olivia. Tell me what’s happened.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. Tears that made his heart absolutely ache. He reached for her hand, but she slapped it away again. “Two weeks,” she rasped. “Less than two weeks. You didn’t tell me.”

  Oh shit. Dani . . .

  The blood drained from his face, and his heart dropped like a stone into his stomach.

  “You should have said something.” Olivia swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “It’s my life, dammit. Mine. Not yours. I had a right to know. I get to choose how I want to spend what I’ve got left. Not you. Not . . . you.”

  She turned back for the house, her shoulders shaking, her hands swiping over her face, and he knew right then he was going to lose her if he didn’t do something to make this right.

  He darted in front of her, blocking her entrance to the house. “Hold on.” She shoved at him, but he didn’t budge. When she tried to step around him, he moved in front of her. “Just listen. I wasn’t trying to control you. I didn’t tell you because it doesn’t matter.”

  Her damp eyes widened. “Doesn’t matter? Maybe not to you, but it matters to me. This is my life we’re talking about.”

  “I know that.” His spine stiffened, and he clenched his jaw, his stomach churning that they were even discussing this. “But it’s not gonna happen, so I didn’t think it was worth worrying you.”

  “Not going to happen? Do you have your head buried in the sand? This is happening, Landon. That stuff they injected into my body is going to kill me.”

  He moved into her, grabbed her by the arms, and pulled her against him. “No, it’s not. I won’t let that happen.”

  She stilled, and her damp, soft green eyes searched his for several heartbeats, then fell closed. “You can’t stop this. You can’t fix it like you fix everything else.”

  “Dani can. You’ll see. She’ll make the antidote, and it’ll all be okay.”

  “Oh, Dani. Jesus.” She pushed out of his arms. “That girl has every reason to want to see me dead.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She’s in love with you. She’s probably already picked out your china patterns, for crying out loud. She’s not going to help me. Why would she help me? She already senses there’s something going on between us. She’s going to do everything she can to get me out of the picture. Messing up the serum or acting like she can’t get it to work is the obvious answer.”

  No, he didn’t believe that. And if Dani even thought something like that, he’d set her straight. Rapidly. His jaw clenched. “I’ll deal with Dani. Don’t you worry about that.”

  She tipped her head and shot him a look. “What are you going to do? Bully her into making the serum?”

  “If I have to, yeah.”

  “God, you’re so freaking frustrating.” Olivia dropped her head into her hands and pressed her fingers against her eyes. “You can’t pretend like this isn’t happening. It’s real. I’m . . . dying.”

  “No.” He brushed her hands away, cupped her jaw in his hands, and moved in close, tipping her face up to his. “I won’t believe it. I’m not losing you. I love you too much to let that happen.”

  Her shoulders dropped, and all the fight seemed to slide right out of her. Slowly, she closed her eyes, and a single tear slid down her cheek. “Don’t do that.”

  “Don’t do what?” He brushed the tear away with his thumb, his heart aching, his nerves vibrating with fear and anxiety and a panic he couldn’t hold back anymore.

  “Don’t make me love you more than I already do. I’m trying to be pissed at you. I have every right to be mad.”

  His heart swelled. She loved him. Loved him. Someone who didn’t deserve to be loved. Someone who hadn’t even known what the word meant before a few months ago.

  He slid one hand into her silky locks. The other wrapped around her waist, pulling her in tight. He buried his face in her hair. “I’m not losing you.” Tears choked his throat and dampened his own eyes. “So just get that out of your head right now. It’s not happening. Dani’s gonna make the antidote, you’re gonna be fine, and everything will be okay. This isn’t the end, Livy. I won’t let it be.”

  Her arms wound around his back, and her soft fingers tiptoed up his shoulders, then sank in. “You might not have a choice, Landon.”

  But he did. Everything in life was about choices. He’d picked the wrong path too many times to count, done things he wasn’t proud of and wished he could change, but this—the way she made him feel, the person he was when he was with her—this was the right choice. She was worth fighting for. And he was willing to do anything to prove that to her.

  “I’m not losing you,” he said again. “Believe me. Say you believe me.”

  She didn’t answer, just held on tighter. And as he felt the warm wetness of her tears soaking through his T-shirt, he closed his eyes and prayed. Something he hadn’t done since he was a kid, hiding in his closet when his parents were fighting, wishing he could just fly away.

  He prayed for a miracle. And hoped like hell someone was listening.

  The gentle rustle of wind through the palms outside echoed through the open window, mixing with Landon’s soft breaths in the dark bedroom where he lay wrapped around Olivia in sleep.

  Ribbons of moonlight cascaded over the floor and the bed, highlighting the muscles in his shoulders and strong back. She ran her hand down the soft, bare skin, then trailed her fingers up into his thick, dark hair where his head rested against her chest. He hadn’t wanted to let her out of his sight since their moment outside. Not when he’d needed to finish the security check with Raleigh and Pierce, not when Eve had called to see how things were going and Olivia had lied and said all was fine, not even when he’d gone to have a come-to-Jesus chat with Dani.

  That one Olivia had put her foot down about. She’d had enough of Dani Crossler for one day. Whatever Landon needed to say to the girl, Olivia hadn’t wanted to witness it. When he’d returned, he’d insisted everything was fine and that Dani already had Olivia’s blood samples spinning in the centrifuge to separate out the elements she needed to make the antidote, but Olivia wasn’t sure she believed that. The girl was smart. She’d been preying on Landon’s guilt for years. She knew how to get what she wanted. And it was glaringly obvious to everyone except Landon that what she wanted now more than anything was him.

  Olivia glanced down at his face, his eyes closed, his long, thick lashes feathered against his tanned skin. He’d ushered her into this room as soon as he’d come back—close to the stairs so they could drop to the lower levels if something happened, but far enough away from Dani and the others so they could have some privacy. Then he’d proceeded to remind her all over again why she loved him. Because he cared like no one ever had. Because he knew just where to touch her to make her melt. Because he grounded her and made her feel alive even when she had every reason to completely freak out.

  Olivia ran her fingers down his arm to his hand resting on her belly. The sheet was pushed down to their hips, and his legs were intertwined with hers. Even in sleep she could tell that he didn’t want to let her go, and she didn’t want to let him go either, especially when she remembered the sweet, intoxicating way he’d brought them both to a soul-shattering release. But it wasn’t up to him anymore. This wasn’t something he could shoot or fight his way out of. She was running out of time. And reality told her that every second she stayed here didn’t just put him, Dani, and even the Aegis guys guarding this place in danger. It could jeopardize the whole world if something happened to Dani before she could create an antidote for Cerberus.

  Her chest squeezed tight
with the knowledge there was really only one solution. Eve would be pissed when she found out. Landon might just lose it for good. But this wasn’t about either of them. It wasn’t even about Olivia. It was about something bigger, something greater, something she—a nobody schoolteacher from Idaho—had the strength to change.

  Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.

  How many times had her father implied that to her? How many times had he hinted that Eve was out saving the world while Olivia was simply stuck in a classroom hiding from it? She believed deep in her heart that teaching was an invaluable profession—one of the most important to society—but the last few years she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that in some way her father had been right. She’d run home from Hollywood the first time a director had inappropriately propositioned her. Gone into teaching because it was safe. And justified it all by telling herself she was just being the responsible daughter who cared about taking care of their father. But in doing so, she’d squashed her dreams. And more importantly, she’d locked away a part of herself she hadn’t even known existed until right now.

  This was her chance to truly make a difference. This was her chance to do what no one else could. This was her chance to finally make her mark.

  Carefully, she lifted Landon’s hand from her belly and slowly slid out from under him. She held her breath as he grunted, rolled to his abdomen, and reached for the pillow, pulling it in and wrapping his arm around it. When his soft breathing returned, telling her he’d drifted back to sleep, she exhaled a relieved breath and reached for her jeans from the floor.

  She dressed quickly, then turned back to look at him still sound asleep, his hand up near his face on the pillow, the sheet low across his sexy, muscular back. Her heart squeezed all over again. He’d be pissed when he awoke and discovered she was gone, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. Someday—hopefully—he’d understand.

  Quietly, she crossed to the bed, wanted to lean down and kiss him one more time but knew she couldn’t. In the end, all she could do was save him, like the dozens of times he’d saved her since the first day they’d met.

  Tiptoeing out of the room, she closed the door softly at her back, then moved through the dark house, heading for the lab.

  “Goddamn it, Marley.”

  Jake rummaged through a stack of files in the office he’d told Marley to use when they’d arrived in Italy, searching for Miller’s folder. He knew she’d made paper copies before they’d left Kentucky in case the system was down when they got here, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out where she’d stashed them.

  He shoved a book to the side, knocking a paperweight off the edge of the mahogany desk. It hit the hardwood floor with a clank. Cursing under his breath, he pushed a file folder aside and reached for the one below, flipping it open and frowning when it wasn’t what he needed.

  This was why he couldn’t afford for her to be out of the office. It wasn’t because he was worried about her safety or any of that crap, but because he’d lose his fucking mind if he had to deal with this kind of mindless shit on a regular basis.

  “Yeah, got it.” Mick Hedley stepped into the open office doorway with a phone pressed to his ear. Tipping the mouthpiece away, he said, “File cabinet, top drawer, under D for DIA.”

  Fucking A. That made perfect sense. She should have just filed it under D for dipshit since that seemed to be Miller’s MO lately. “Gimme the goddamn phone.”

  He held his hand out as he wheeled his chair across the floor toward the four-drawer file cabinet against the far wall. Hedley handed it to him, and Jake tucked the receiver between his ear and shoulder while he stood and opened the top drawer. “Your filing system sucks.”

  “It’s on the computer, Jake,” Marley answered in a you’re-so-freakin’-dumb tone.

  He scrolled through files, searching for Landon’s info. “You know I don’t know how to work your damn system.”

  “I could teach you in under five minutes.”

  “Why the hell do I need to learn? That’s what I pay you for.”

  She huffed on the other end of the line. “Did you find it yet?”

  He pulled out the folder, flipped it open, and stared down at Landon’s photo. “Yeah. Finally. I feel like Indy-fucking-ana Jones, though.”

  “Huh. Interesting. You’re not nearly as sexy as Dr. Jones.”

  He dropped into his chair and wheeled back over to the desk, a smile tugging at his lips. “And you’re no Kate Capshaw. Oh, no wait. Maybe you are. She’s the chick who screamed and threw a temper tantrum all through the second movie, right?”

  “Very funny.”

  “Got your way, didn’t you? You’re on an op.”

  “Yeah, this is a lot of fun. Iceland’s the bomb.”

  Iceland was far enough from the Caribbean to draw the Red Brotherhood away from Miller and Wolfe, but the thought of Marley anywhere near the terrorist group dragged the smile from Jake’s lips. “Tell me you and the others are already in the air headed out of Reykjavík.”

  “Not yet,” she said. “The pilots are refueling. Eve and Zane placed the sample in a Dumpster in town, though, so we’re all set. Should be out of here within the next hour.”

  Jake breathed a sigh of relief as he moved the mouse over the pad on the desk and brought his computer screen to life. Hopefully, Olivia’s blood sample would continue to transmit a signal for several more days, and by the time the Red Brotherhood found it, they’d all be long gone and this would be just a memory. “Stone called. They need more men to secure Crossler’s compound. Sounds like it’s a mini-nightmare down there. I’m sending Tierney and Walker, but I want you, Archer, and Wolfe to head there next. I’ll rendezvous with you in the BVI.”

  “The BVI. Sweet. I have vacation time saved up. Maybe I’ll just buy a bikini and stay for a week or two once this is all over.”

  Images of Marley laid out on a sunny beach in nothing more than a string bikini popped into Jake’s mind, heating his blood, making his stomach tighten with the erotic vision.

  “Ryder? You still there?”

  Her sultry voice knocked him back to reality. He gave his head a swift shake, forcing that useless fantasy away. “Yeah. Sorry. Just pulling up the message now.”

  “So the vacation thing. That’s a go, yes?”

  Fuck that. No way in hell he wanted her parading around some beach half-naked for every douchebag guy to drool over. Aegis had an image to protect, after all. “No. I need you back in Kentucky.”

  She huffed again, but this time there was no humor in the sound, and though he knew he’d just ticked her off, he didn’t care.

  He scrolled through photos of the known Red Brotherhood associates his contact at the State Department had sent him only an hour ago and paused when he found the one that had caught his eye. “There it is.”

  “You got it?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Hedley moved closer to get a look at the screen.

  “In the back of Landon’s file is the photo you’re looking for,” Marley said. “It’s the only one of Danica Crossler I have.”

  He flipped Miller’s file open and paged to the back. To a picture he knew Marley had shown him when he’d told her he was hiring Landon Miller over a year ago. At the time she’d waved the photo and said, “This girl is going to be a problem for him,” but Jake hadn’t listened.

  “Where did you get it?” he asked, still looking through pages, searching for the picture.

  “Internet. You can find all kinds of shit there. Oh wait, you’re too old to know how to work something as modern as the World Wide Web.”

  “Oh yeah, you’re hilarious. Remind me of this conversation when I’m doing your annual review.” He flipped a page, then froze. “Shit.”

  “Why is that word so ominous?” Marley sighed. “What did you find?”

 
; He glanced from the photo in the folder to the face on the screen to his left. Reaching across to the mouse, he flipped screens to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. The same face stared back at him. “The link between Miller, Danica Crossler, and the Red Brotherhood.”

  Hedley’s gaze followed, and the Aussie muttered, “Fuck.”

  Jake pushed to his feet. “Change of plans, Marley. Do not go to the BVI. You hear me? Head straight back to Aegis headquarters.”

  “Why? You said Landon needed extra hands.”

  “He does. But not from Aegis. We’re handing this one off to the DIA. They’re gonna want to take the reins on this, and we’re going to let them.”

  Soft, silky fingers glided over Landon’s shoulder, moving down his spine and back up again, rousing him from sleep. He groaned, loving the feel of Olivia’s hands, loving every single part of her.

  “Mm, you have wicked fingers,” he mumbled into the pillow beneath his cheek. Visions of how he was going to roll her over, pin those teasing hands of hers above her head, and take her again slowly were already filling his mind, sending the blood pooling in his groin.

  “That’s nice to know.”

  His eyes popped open at the sound of the voice behind him. A female voice, but definitely not Olivia’s.

  He rolled to his side, diagonal in the bed, and pushed up on one hand, looking into a very familiar face.

  “Dani? What are you doing in here?” The wheels in his mind sputtered. Moonlight spilled over her features. “Did you get it to work?”

  Her hand slid to his bare hip. “Get what to work?”