by Amelia Autin
“What makes you say that? We were all—”
Alana mentally added the word he didn’t say: disguised. We were all disguised. Just as they were all disguised today. She smiled faintly. “I recognize his voice. Same way I recognized yours.”
He didn’t bother trying to deny it, but he didn’t confirm it verbally, either. The flash of admiration in his eyes, though, betrayed him.
A dark-haired man entered the cabin just then, and Jason introduced him by his first name, too. She wasn’t upset when she figured out why he wasn’t giving her last names...she didn’t have a need to know. And what she didn’t know she couldn’t inadvertently reveal.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Chao said politely before taking the seat at the helm and unlocking the controls.
“Him, too,” she mouthed at Jason. “He was the driver.”
“You’re entirely too perceptive, lang loi,” he murmured.
“And don’t you forget it,” she teased. “You’ll never be able to lie to me and get away with it.”
* * *
And just like that, Alana slid a verbal knife between Jason’s ribs again, all unaware. The knowledge that he had lied to her from day one hurt worse than the airbag that had punched the breath from his lungs earlier.
She must have read something in his set expression because her smile faltered. “I was just teasing, Jason. I know you’d never try to deceive me.”
He almost blurted out the truth then and there. “About that,” he began, but then Trevor walked in and the moment was lost. “Here you are, ma’am. Cell phone, keys and key fob.” He handed Alana’s belongings to her. To Jason he said, “All set,” as he took a seat across from them, and Jason nodded his understanding.
Cam, Luke and Logan suddenly crowded into the cabin, and Cam told Chao, “Good to go,” before taking a seat on the other side of Alana.
Chao started the engines immediately, and in less than a minute the Night Wind was pulling away from the now-listing Eight Tigers boat.
“Which one ran you off the road, Jason?” Cam asked in the manner of a man who was just making conversation. “Could you recognize him?”
Alana turned startled eyes on Jason. “Someone ran you off the road?” Before he could answer, the question cleared from her face. “Of course. That’s what you meant when you said you’d had a slight disagreement with a tree.”
“Thanks, Cam,” Jason said drily, glancing over Alana’s head at his friend and mouthing the words You’re toast at him. He removed his mask, debating what to tell Alana. Then his gaze slid to meet hers. “I was already at the DeWinters’ when you set off the beacon. I was on the road a couple of minutes later, and I was right behind the van that had you.”
“Oh, Jason.” She leaned thankfully against his undamaged shoulder. “I was praying when I was in the back of that van. Praying you’d rescue me again. I knew I shouldn’t count on it, but...I couldn’t help hoping.”
One corner of his mouth flicked upward in a half smile. “If they hadn’t run me off the road, they’d never even have gotten you on their boat in the first place.”
“One man against six?” There was a doubtful note in her voice.
“Are you questioning my manhood or my resolve?” he teased and was rewarded by a somewhat watery chuckle.
“They ran Jason off the road after they failed to stop him with bullets,” Cam volunteered in the voice of one who was merely trying to be helpful.
Alana’s hand tightened on his shirt. “They shot at you?”
“Thanks, Cam,” he repeated even more drily than before. To Alana he whispered softly in her ear, “They’d have to kill me to stop me, lang loi. Guess they figured that out.”
“Oh, Jason.”
Across the cabin Trevor glanced at his watch and stood, turning around to gaze through the open doorway at the rapidly receding Eight Tigers boat in the distance. No other craft were anywhere in sight. He tugged something from his pocket and Jason tightened his arm around Alana.
“Wait for it,” he said quietly.
Alana raised her head from his shoulder. “Wait for what?”
Trevor said matter-of-factly, “Three, two, one, boom,” and pressed the detonator button.
An explosion rocked the air, and the Eight Tigers boat disintegrated in a fireball. The ignited fuel in its tanks caused flames to dance atop the surface of the ocean for a few seconds...then they disappeared, one by one. Until all that was left was a black smudge in the distance and a cloud of smoke that quickly dispersed.
“You...you blew up their boat.” Shock was evident on Alana’s face.
He’d known it wouldn’t be easy for her to accept that RMM’s tactics were sometimes...problematic. But it was best she know now. It was one thing to tell her he and RMM broke the law on occasion. It was another thing for her to witness it firsthand. “Prostitution, drugs and pornography made using trafficked women paid for that boat,” he reminded her. “And we had to rescue you, no matter what it took.”
“Yes, but...”
“We fired on that boat. Rammed it. Boarded it. Took six men prisoner. That’s piracy and kidnapping, any way you look at it.” His voice was steady. “We couldn’t leave physical evidence behind. It’s bad enough there are six men in the hold who could testify against us...although in order to do that they’d have to admit kidnapping you. And they’d have to be able to identify us, which we’ve made sure they can’t do.” To make his point, he lifted the mask he’d removed earlier. “So as long as there’s no physical evidence...”
“You and RMM are in the clear. I understand.”
He searched her eyes for long moments, and she held his gaze. “I think you do understand,” he said finally. Unutterably relieved.
She nodded. “That’s why I want to join RMM.”
He did a double take. “What?”
“You told me that if a woman trained as you train, if she was as dedicated to the cause as you were...you’d let a woman join your ranks.”
He stared helplessly. “Yes, but...”
“You said the members only recruit their trusted friends. What I just witnessed is something no one outside of RMM has ever seen. Which means you trust me.”
Shock held him silent for a minute until he acknowledged Alana was right. He did trust her. Not just personally, but professionally. Still... “That doesn’t mean you’re physically up to the challenge, though.”
“I’ve been training for the past six weeks. Ever since I went to Zakhar. Running. Lifting weights. Hand-to-hand combat, too—I asked Juliana, and she assigned the head of her security team to work with me, Captain Mateja-Jones.” She smiled in self-deprecation. “I’ll never be as good as Angelina. But I’m a lot better prepared than I was when I started out.”
His thoughts swirling, all Jason could think of was Alana putting herself at risk the way he did. Gambling with her life. His first reaction—absolutely not!—was purely selfish. Because he couldn’t bear the idea of anything happening to her. Because he’d give his own life to keep her safe.
But...did he have the right to make that decision for her?
“You don’t have to decide now. I need more training before I’ll be ready. I just wanted you to understand how I feel. I’m not asking because I love you and I want to share this with you...although I do love you and I do want to share this part of your life.” She smiled faintly. “I want to join RMM because of what it stands for. You were called to do this work, Jason. It’s a moral calling. You can’t not do whatever you can to protect the innocent. I feel the same way.”
Chapter 20
The Night Wind docked just long enough to offload Jason and Alana, then it took off again for parts unknown. Unknown to you, maybe, she told herself. I’m sure Jason knows where they’re going.
She’d already fi
gured out the other RMM men couldn’t just walk off the boat as if nothing had happened—they had to remove the disguising camouflage face paint before they could be seen in public, for one thing. Not to mention they had to do something with the six men in the hold. And they had to do it in such a way that the prisoners couldn’t identify the RMM members.
“Superficial” was all Trevor had replied when Jason had asked about the men’s injuries, something she’d wondered about, too. She’d seen blood on at least two of them, so it was good to know it wasn’t something serious.
Jason had radioed someone shortly after the other boat had been destroyed, and he’d told her that person would call the DeWinters to let them know she was safe. But as soon as they were in cell tower range, he’d texted his sister and she’d texted Dirk. Then she’d had to laugh when she received his reply.
Aren’t you glad now you didn’t make him grovel yesterday?
Alana started walking up the dock as soon as they were off the Night Wind, but Jason caught her hand. “Hang on a second,” he told her. “There’s a car waiting for us, but I have something to say first.”
When she turned around at his request, however, he didn’t say anything for the longest time. Just stared down at her as one emotion after another flitted across his face. Love was there. Matched by a desire that mirrored hers for him. And a yearning that tore at her heart. Finally he said in a tight voice, “I can’t let you go. I thought I could. I thought I could let you choose. But I can’t. I can’t.”
“Jason...”
“No. Hear me out. There are things I need to tell you. Things I hope will make you understand why I don’t want children. But after today I know I can’t let you go. Ever. So if not having children is a deal breaker for you—”
“It’s not that, Jason,” she interrupted. “Honest.” Perfect opening, she thought, but once again he stopped her...this time with a kiss. Then another. And another. Until they were both so aroused their breathing was ragged.
“Love me,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. “You have to love me, because God help me, I love you.”
“I do, Jason. Oh, I do.” All at once she heard Dirk’s words in her mind again. There’s a gaping hole in Jason’s psyche, and I don’t know if the woman exists who could fill that void. Who could love him enough to heal him.
And in that instant she knew this wasn’t the time to tell him about the baby. First she needed Jason to believe she loved him for him. Then...when he felt secure in her love—a week from now, or two or three, or however long it took—then she’d tell him. And she’d explain that it was because she loved him she wanted this baby so desperately.
So when he said, “If you love me, then...will you marry me, lang loi?” in a voice he couldn’t possibly know betrayed just how unsure he was, she merely nodded. Then kissed him with everything she had in her. Wanting to convince him she loved him the way he needed to be loved...so she could heal him.
* * *
Jason took Alana to a private clinic instead of a public hospital. She was whisked into an examining room almost before she’d finished filling out her paperwork, but not before Jason was taken for his own examination...at her insistence. “I’m not going in unless you agree,” she said stubbornly. “X-rays, stitches and whatever else needs doing.”
Secretly relieved he didn’t argue with her, Alana had watched him vanish through the waiting room door less than half a minute before her own name was called.
She changed into the examining gown common to doctors’ offices in the US. But unlike the US, she didn’t have long to wait before the doctor appeared, a smiling Chinese woman in her mid-to late-fifties, whose English was as impeccable as her own.
Alana insisted, “I’m fine. I know I’m fine.” Then she took a deep breath and confided, “But I’m pregnant. Not quite seven weeks. All I really need to know is if I should worry about the effects of chloroform on my baby.”
Confusion played over the doctor’s face as she glanced down at the admitting form, on which Alana had deliberately left off any mention of her pregnancy...because Jason had been sitting right next to her, watching her every move as she filled it out.
“I couldn’t put it on the form,” Alana explained. “He—the baby’s father—doesn’t know yet, and I...this wasn’t the time to tell him. But I have to know if my baby’s okay.”
“I think so, but let me confirm,” the doctor said, sitting down and logging on to the computer in the examination room. The next five minutes were the longest of Alana’s life, and she’d never prayed as hard as she was praying then. Finally the doctor swiveled around and said, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Especially if your exposure was relatively short.”
“A minute or two at the most. Just enough to knock me out temporarily.”
“Then I wouldn’t worry about it.” The doctor’s smile held understanding. “But let’s give you a full exam anyway, all right?”
Alana sighed with relief. “Okay.”
When the doctor was done she removed her latex gloves, saying, “A-okay on the baby front. How about you? Morning sickness yet?” When Alana shook her head, the doctor explained, “It usually starts around six weeks, but every woman is different. And some women never experience it at all. You might be one of the lucky ones.”
She made a few notations on Alana’s chart, and without raising her head asked, “Have you seen an ob-gyn yet?”
“No, I...there hasn’t been time. I just found out about a week ago, and...”
“And you’re still in a bit of a shock.”
“Well...yes.”
“Don’t wait too long. You’ll want to start on prenatal vitamins right away.” The doctor jotted down a name and phone number on a pad of paper, then ripped off the page and handed it to her. “Give her a call. She’s one of the best ob-gyns in Hong Kong. Her patients swear by her. She’s so much in demand I don’t think she’s accepting new patients at the moment, but mention my name and she’ll take you as a favor to me.”
Touched, Alana smiled her gratitude. “Thanks.”
“So...” the doctor continued, “I assume I shouldn’t congratulate Jason on his impending fatherhood just yet? Oh, don’t worry,” she reassured a suddenly alarmed Alana. “You’re my patient. Anything you tell me is confidential, including this.”
“You know Jason? Personally, I mean?” She hadn’t known she was going to ask the question...until it popped out of her mouth. Then she realized she’d just confirmed he was the father, something she hadn’t planned on telling anyone else until she told Jason.
“His mother is one of my best friends, so I’ve known Jason since before he was born.”
“Oh.”
“I assume that’s why he brought you to me, because he knows me and trusts me. He doesn’t trust many people. Understandable, of course, under the circumstances.”
Under the circumstances? That seemed an odd sort of thing for the doctor to say...unless she knew about Jason and RMM. Alana almost asked her what she meant, then stopped herself. Jason had trusted her with the knowledge of his illegal activities. She wasn’t about to let on to someone else that she knew...even if that other person knew about them, too.
The doctor stood and held out her hand to shake Alana’s. “For what it’s worth, Jason’s a wonderful man...and I’m not just saying that because his mother’s my friend. So don’t be afraid to tell him about the baby. Soon. He might surprise you.”
* * *
Much as Jason yearned to take Alana to his condo and make love to her all night long, two things stopped him. First, he needed to rendezvous tonight with Cam and the other RMM men from the rescue this morning, to discuss their plans for bringing down the Eight Tigers once and for all.
Second, and more important, Alana needed time to recover from today. She might insist she
was fine, and the doctor might have given her a clean bill of health. But no way was she up to the prolonged bout of lovemaking he’d planned. And he didn’t trust himself to be able to stop once he started. Easier not to start at all.
So he took her home to the DeWinters’ estate. Where he said hello to his sister and brother-in-law in less than thirty seconds and led Alana out to the gazebo shielded from the main house by a bower of hibiscus bushes and bougainvillea.
He wanted to do it right this time. Formal proposal. Formal betrothal. He wanted to place his ring on her finger and know she belonged to him the way he belonged to her...until the breath left his body. And maybe even beyond that. Because the way his heart was pounding now, even heaven wouldn’t be heaven unless Alana was there. Unless he could see her smile and know that all was right in his world.
This time she did more than nod.
“I’d be honored to be your wife,” she whispered, holding out her hand so he could slip the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly...a good omen. And he noted without comment the tiniest tremor in her hand. Not as if she was unsure or afraid, but as if this was the fulfillment of her secret hopes and dreams, too, the way it was for him.
One kiss, he promised himself. But one kiss wasn’t enough. One kiss would never be enough. When he finally let Alana go he was hard and aching and wanted nothing more than to take her right there in the gazebo.
She murmured something, but the rushing blood in his veins blocked her words. “What did you say?”
Her fingers tightened on his sleeves. “I said don’t ever do this to me again.” She laughed shakily. “Don’t kiss me as if ‘and’ is on the agenda in a place where ‘and’ is impossible.”
That made him laugh. “Never again,” he promised her. “But I’m not the only one to blame here. You kissed me back.”
“I know.” A wistful smile touched her lips. “I should have known better. I should have remembered you make me forget everything when you kiss me.”
An admission that could only be answered with another mind-blowing kiss. “Enough,” he said, finally tearing his lips away from hers. And though he’d told himself he wouldn’t ask, the words were out before he could stop them. “Next month? Will you marry me next month? I’ve waited forever already.”