“We understand each other.”
Nikiraki smiled, a slight curving of the lips that reminded Hunter of a mongoose who’d just scored some great leftover food.
“Yes, pretty boy.” Nikiraki’s hand twitched, drawing Hunter’s attention to his hold on Mila’s neck. His fingers tightened around her neck, digging into her flesh. “Hunter and I understand each other. What I want is a file.”
“I don’t have a file. I have nothing from my father on me.” Her voice was thin, as if every word hurt, and it took all his control not to explode and go after the bastard.
“Ah, but you do my darling. Your father had pictures -- proof -- that I’d been involved in a little assignation a few years ago.”
“If he did, I don’t know where it is.” Again, he could barely hear her over the beat of the music.
“I guessed that, Mila. See, about a week before your father met his maker, you had an orthodontist appointment.”
“Fuck, why the hell are we chatting about Mila’s teeth? Hunter, you can’t seriously be thinking of giving in to this bastard.”
He’s holding my whole world hostage. He didn’t say the words, because then, Nikiraki would know he had him. Right now, he just thought him a bastard, out for the money.
“There is no such thing as too much money, Masters. You should know that in your business.”
Nikiraki laughed. “I had thought you’d been, let’s say, attached to Ms. Simmons.”
Hunter smiled, although it hurt like a motherfucker to act so cool while wanted to beat the son of a bitch to a bloody pulp.
“Attached?” He shook his head. “No. She’s a good fuck, but she’s not that good.”
And he prayed she would forgive him for his harsh words, when it was all said and done.
“Really?” Nikiraki said. The interest in his voice curdled Hunter’s stomach. “I had no idea such a Miss Priss would be good. Maybe I’ll keep her around for a while.”
Fuck. He should have seen that one coming. “And have the Agency on your ass? You know my father will pull out all the stops looking for her to make his woman happy.”
It was then that they heard shouts out in the bar, gunfire, the sound of scattering patrons. The music stopped abruptly. At least the Agency was predictable.
A grim smile curved his lips now that he knew they had Nikiraki.
“What the fuck is all that?”
“That,” said Masters, “is the Agency making sure they get you and the information in the same spot. The information wasn’t going to do them any good without you, and vice versa. Bastards.”
Hunter felt the same hatred of all the games the Agency played, but he would worry about that later. He had to make sure that Mila made it out alive. Experience told him the Agency wouldn’t worry about that unless keeping her alive was needed for the information.
A banging on the door made Nikiraki jump, his hand convulsing on Mila’s neck. It was then that Hunter looked at her. The understanding he saw in her eyes warmed him. She knew the game and would play it.
“I have what they need, including two of their agents.”
Hunter glanced at Robbie, who looked startled, then back to Mila and Nikiraki. “No, you have three. Well, two agents and a courier. See, the Agency knew she had something, probably not when they hired her, but they figured it out somewhere and plotted against you. And you walked right into their trap, you stupid bastard.”
Nikiraki pulled the weapon away from Mila’s temple and aimed it at Hunter’s chest. Mila pulled up her arm and shoved her elbow back into Nikiraki’s stomach. He immediately released her. As she drew in a deep breath, she turned on the bastard and kneed him in the face. Nikiraki fell back, screaming. Blood spurted out of his nose, and he dropped his gun. She bent over to retrieve it and leveled it at him,
“I don’t like anyone touching my fucking weapon, you bastard.” Her voice was just above a whisper, hoarse from Nikiraki’s abuse.
Hunter walked to her and drew her into his arms. Masters hurried over to the keypad and started to work on unjamming the door lock. When Hunter pulled away and cupped her face, every ounce of the fear he’d felt rushed forward.
“Oh, God, Mila, I’m so sorry, love.”
He bent his head to kiss her just as he heard the sound of metal scraping. Both of them looked at Nikiraki as he pulled up a small handgun and aimed it at them, directly at Hunter’s chest. As he fired, Mila shifted her feet, putting herself in front of his heart. The gunshot propelled her backward into his chest. He grabbed her to keep her from falling as he aimed his weapon at Nikiraki and fired. He hit the bastard in the shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon.
A split second later, another shot rang out from Masters, clipping the bastard in the thigh. As Nikiraki sank to the ground, howling, the door opened to reveal agents. A woman with dark hair and a grim face started barking orders to everyone as Hunter fell to his knees, pulling Mila against him.
He felt her for her pulse and breathed easier when he felt it beating strongly. He cradled her against his chest.
“Hunter, I can’t breathe,” Mila said, her voice muffled and sounding a bit amused.
Relaxing his grip, he looked down into her face, and a wave of fear swept through him when he saw how pale she was. The activity around them, people shouting, Nikiraki screaming like a girl, orders for a medic, all faded as he studied her face. Pain glazed her eyes.
“Don’t look like that. I’m not going to die. Not until I beat the hell out of you.” She still sounded like a foghorn, but she did sound a bit stronger.
“Beat the hell out of me? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
“A good fuck? A good fuck?” Her voice gained strength with her irritation. “You, jackass. You deserve a good swift kick in the ass for that one.”
“Mila, I didn’t mean it. You know I didn’t.”
“Of course I do, you jackass.”
“Quit calling me jackass.”
“Bite me.”
“If you two lovebirds want to stop for just a moment, the medics finally showed.”
Hunter didn’t want to let her go, but knew he had to. A medic knelt down beside her and smiled.
“I’m going to have to put you under for this.”
She nodded as he pulled out the needle. Within seconds her grip on Hunter’s hand relaxed, and the pain seemed to fade from her eyes.
“Hunter?”
He leaned closer, and she said to him, just loud enough for him to hear over the clamor around them, “I love you, jackass.” She chuckled; then her breathing deepened and evened, telling him the drug had worked.
He pulled himself to his feet and looked down as the medic did a quick fix-it job on her, stopping the bleeding. He noticed the blood on his boots and realized she’d bled heavily, and his worry increased tenfold. As they got her on the stretcher, he noticed Robbie arguing with the woman who seemed to head everything up.
“I didn’t know what the hell was going on, Robbie. If they didn’t tell you, they definitely weren’t going to tell me.”
“Really? You’re the one who sent her.”
“I know, but they didn’t tell me until I got here what it was all about, and that was about two hours ago. You weren’t answering your earpiece. What was I supposed to do?”
Robbie took a step closer to the woman. “Harris, if something happens to her, I’ll hold you responsible.”
“Wrong,” Hunter said, his angry voice causing everyone but the medics to look at him. He stepped over one guard to make his way to Masters and the woman he presumed was Agent Harris. “I’ll hold you all responsible, including you, Masters. The Agency and all their bloody games can go to hell. If you think I don’t have connections to make your life hell, and that means all your superiors as well, think again. I may be a bastard, but I’m the bastard of a very powerful man.”
He watched grim acceptance wash over Masters’s face, and Agent Harris nodded, even as she paled. He wanted to take them down and hu
rt them as much as Mila had been hurt. All of this would have worked better, faster, no injuries, if the Agency had just told them what the hell was going on.
Before he could continue, the medic said, “We’re losing her, dammit. Get the heart regenerator going.”
Chapter Ten
Mila woke to pain. Hot, searing, mind-numbing pain, radiating from her shoulder. She didn’t want to be there; she didn’t want to feel it. Her stomach roiled. She swallowed, trying to control the bile rising in her throat. Even as she did, the pain seemed to increase, shooting through her. Her mind raced away from the pain, pulling her back from it, trying to protect her, but there was an insistent voice.
“Mila, love, wake up.”
She opened her eyes and bright light burned them. Immediately, she shut them.
“No. Love, you have to wake up.”
She shook her head even as her heart warmed when she recognized Hunter’s voice.
“The doctor wants to have a look at you.”
A strict female voice sounded from a little further away. “Mr. Hunter, I told you this would be better if you would wait outside.”
“And I told you to fuck off, doc.”
She smiled, something she was sure just a few minutes ago she’d not be able to do. Without opening her eyes she said, “Hunter, I’m fine. Let the doctor take care of me and then you can come back.”
He seemed to hesitate, then he leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. “I’ll be right outside the door.”
“You’re a very lucky woman, Ms. Simmons,” the doctor said as she began to run her tests.
Mila snorted. “Yeah, I bet you say that to all your gunshot victims.”
* * * * *
Masters watched Hunter pace the corridor, as he had for the last day and a half. He’d told the pretty boy to leave, but Masters just kept hanging around.
“Hunter, they told you she was going to pull through.”
He ignored him as he had before. Hunter was itching for a fight, still angered by the impotence he’d felt in those moments when Mila wasn’t breathing and by his inability to punish anyone for it. He didn’t want to take it out on Masters as he had done before.
And the worst part of it was that it had been his fault. Instead of reassuring himself that Mila was okay, he should have been detaining Nikiraki and searching him for weapons. His failure had almost killed her.
He stopped pacing and closed his eyes. Remorse, fury, and pain twisted together and washed through him. He’d proven in that moment he wasn’t good enough for her. Knowing what was coming next, what he had to do, was going to tear him apart. It would hurt her and in doing that, Hunter wasn’t sure he’d survive with his sanity intact.
“I know you’re blaming yourself, Hunter. But you can’t. Both of us are at fault. None of it would have happened this way if the Agency hadn’t handled it the way they did. Hopefully, it will bring out some of the problems, make sure things get cleaned up.”
He opened his eyes and shot Masters a dirty look. “I’m sure Mila is happy to be of service.”
“Hey, if you want to fault someone, fault her father. What he was thinking when he had that file stored in her filling is beyond me. He started this fucking chain of events.”
Hunter wanted to argue with him -- that and rip Masters’s arms out of their sockets and beat him on the head with them -- but knew it was his own failure that was urging him to do it. He knew he’d screwed it all up, proving in those moments that he wasn’t the man for Mila.
The door slid open, and the doctor, a diminutive woman of about forty who commanded her floor like a storm trooper, stepped out into the hall. Her gaze immediately zeroed in on Hunter, and she approached him. The frown she was sporting would have had him worried if he didn’t already know she hated him. He’d made her life a living hell the past two days.
“Mr. Hunter. I am pleased to tell you that Ms. Simmons is doing just fine, and there is no worry she will pull through. The loss of blood was bothersome, but we had no trouble replacing it with the synthetic. Her body didn’t seem to have a problem with it. So many times there are people who reject it, but she seems to be doing fine. Now, you can go in there, but I warn you, don’t tire her out.”
She looked over his shoulder at Masters. “Both of you look like shit. You need a good shower, food, and a change of clothes.” With that, she turned on her heel and headed down the corridor, sending interns and nurse’s aides running for cover.
“She’s one scary woman, Hunter.”
For the first time in over thirty-six hours, Hunter smiled. “But she’s the best there is.” As fast as the smile appeared, it faded as he realized the task he had ahead of him. His father and Mila’s mother would be here any moment, and he knew they would take over her care, see her back to Earth.
Without another word to Masters, Hunter went to her door and entered Mila’s room.
Her eyes were closed. She was still too pale for his liking, but the doctor told them that was common for the first couple of weeks after a transfusion with synthetics. It made the bruises on her neck stand out even more.
“I know you’re going to yell at me, Hunter. I just don’t have the energy to listen to you.”
He would’ve smiled, but knew he’d break if he did. “Well, I guess that put me in my place.”
She smiled, then opened her eyes slightly. He approached the bed knowing what he had to do; the pain he would cause her would be more acceptable if he didn’t hide in the corner.
He sat in the chair next to her, although he knew she wanted him closer. If he were closer, he’d never be able to do the right thing. She looked so small on that bed, her red hair a tangle of curls against the white pillow. The occasional beep from a monitor sounded in the room. The scent of flowers and medicine intertwined, causing his stomach to roll over.
“Your mother and my father should be here soon.”
“How did my mom handle it?” She closed her eyes, as if the effort to keep them open was too much.
Not being able to resist, he reached out for her hand, but instead, took a few strands of her hair. “She was upset at first, but once my father reassured her all was well, she was a little bit miffed. In fact, don’t be surprised if she gives you a piece of her mind.”
A small smile curved her lips. “My father was the diplomat. I look like him, but I act like her.”
He chuckled, even though it hurt. “Does my father know about that?”
“I expect your father knows about more than you know. He’s not a stupid man.”
Her smile faded and she opened her eyes. “What is it you’re avoiding, Hunter?”
He dropped her hair and looked at her. “Since they should be here within an hour, I’ll be leaving today.”
She didn’t say anything, only stared at him. He thought she might get mad, yell, curse, maybe cry, but he hadn’t expected silence.
“Ah, I can see you’re trying to work it out.” Indifference sounded in her voice, almost as if she were bored.
Anger at the situation, at her, burned in his gut. “What the bloody hell do you mean by that?”
“You expected a scene.”
He hated that she could read him so well.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes. You did. I may be a pain in the ass, but I’m not stupid, Hunter. You’re leaving for good.”
He wanted to curse at her, yell at her for acting like an unemotional twit. But he clenched his jaw.
“You definitely make it easy on a man.”
“Yeah, I guess it would be easy if there was a man in the room.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Watch yourself.”
“What are you going to do? Shoot me? Oh, sorry, too late.” Sarcasm threaded her words. “Listen, Hunter, go. Don’t feel guilty about being a coward.”
“I’m not a coward.”
“You are. And you have one thing wrong. I’m not easy on a man. You’re going to regret this, tomorrow, next week, next year, b
ut I’m not going to fight it. You want to be self-destructive? Go right ahead. I don’t have the time or the energy to waste on you.”
He stood and turned to leave.
“Before you leave, Hunter, just remember, you had this chance, and you fucked it up.”
Before punching the button to open the door, he paused, looked over his shoulder and said, “If you think I don’t know that, you aren’t as smart as I thought you were.”
Hunter opened the door and stepped into the corridor, resisting the urge to run back through the doorway and beg her forgiveness. Hollow pain shifted through him as the door slid shut. Masters sat in the same chair Hunter had left him in. He searched Hunter’s face for a second, then gave him a resigned look, telling Hunter that Masters knew what he’d just done. Before he could say anything, Hunter heard a shout down the hall.
Turning, he saw his father striding toward them, trying to keep up with a small woman. Before he could react, she threw herself into his arms and began crying.
“Tell me she’s okay.”
He studied the bent head of the woman who, despite her size, had almost pushed him over when she jumped at him. Threads of silver intermingled in the blonde hair that she’d had pulled back into a simple chignon. Bewildered, he looked up at his father. “John, meet Janet, Mila’s mother.”
Her arms tightened around his waist, and he patted her back awkwardly. “She’s fine, Ms. Simmons.”
She pulled her head back and stared up at him. Tears welled in her eyes. Red nose, dark circles under her eyes, and her fearful look didn’t diminish the beauty of Janet Simmons. She gave him a small smile. “Call me Janet.” She sniffled. “Thank you. She’s all I have left.”
“What am I?” his father asked.
She stepped away from Hunter and went into his father’s arms. “You’re my love. She’s my baby.”
Hunter’s father looked at him, his gaze never leaving his face. “I know exactly what you mean.
Uncomfortable, he shifted from one foot to the other. “This is Robbie Masters. He was there with me, helped get us out of the situation.”
“Someone is going to pay for putting our babies at risk, right, Franklin?” Janet’s voice had gone from tearful to bloodthirsty in a second. “I want someone’s head.”
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