Knight Shift (Knight Ops Book 5)

by Em Petrova

  Or special forces.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and twisted her hands in her lap. Letting out a stuttering breath, she looked into his eyes. “Can I trust you? I… I’m probably dumb to even think of telling you this, but I’ve been alone with it for too long and… I’m scared.”

  That hot coal slammed into his chest wall, and damn if he didn’t want to encircle her in his arms and shield her from the world and whatever hell she was living.

  One thing he’d learned was to get somebody to talk, he needed to prove he was trustworthy.

  Trouble was, no ID badge came with the Knight Ops. And she wouldn’t know OFFSUS because it was a secret agency. He did, however, have a tattoo.

  Besides the full piece on his back, a tribal art depicting the sharp, angular wings of an archangel, he sported the Marines’ emblem over his heart.

  He slowly began to unbutton his black shirt, baring his torso to the waist so he could pull the fabric aside and reveal the EGA—the eagle, globe and anchor.

  She stared at him with wide eyes, and he was afraid to see some fear there, but she just stared at his fingers moving over the buttons. When she set eyes on the tattoo, her eyes cleared and she darted a look at him.

  “You’re a Marine.”

  He nodded.

  “Are you still active?”

  “Yes.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she dropped her head into her hands. “Thank God,” he thought he heard her mutter. Then she lifted her head and met his gaze, hers glassy with tears.

  “I saw a man murdered and now they’re after me.”

  Fuck, he knew it already, had read the damn file on her, but hearing it from her own lips stabbed him deep.

  * * * * *

  Her story spilled out in spurts and a series of backtracks to explain other parts of her life. When she concluded, she stared at Chaz and wondered if any of it made sense. Hell, it didn’t even make sense to herself.

  His direct gaze was calm and comforting, just like his presence right now. She was relieved to have shared her tale. But jittery because in soothing herself, she’d just made Chaz a target too.

  She looked down and twitched when he settled his big, warm hand over hers. The strength in those hands seemed amplified now that she knew he was a Marine. Each cord running up from his wrists and the veins snaking to his elbows shouted out power and hard work.

  “Let me begin by saying none of this is your fault,” he said quietly.

  Her chest tightened.

  “You can’t choose your family and it sounds like you did nothing wrong. But the most important thing is to get you safe and keep you safe.” He suddenly jammed his fingers through his hair. “Goddammit, I can’t believe you’ve been going out at night to places like Nuit with a bullseye on your back!”

  He got up to pace. The small motel room could never contain the muscle behind his strides, and he pivoted at the ugly, cheap dresser before he smashed through it and the wall both. She watched him, focused on his face, all hard planes, and his shirt open to his navel, still tucked into his sexy black trousers.

  He stopped in front of her. “I can hide you.”

  Her jaw dropped. “I don’t want to go through Witness Security. I’ve heard my father and his friends talking—” She stopped, realizing that wasn’t normal conversation in anyone else’s world. At the time, she’d taken their conversation as world affairs or a news story, but now the details seemed too ominous to not be fact.

  “I can hide you with my family.”

  She blinked up at him. “What?”

  “Nobody would dare fuck with a Knight. Six of us are in—” He broke off too, short of giving something away.

  He extended a hand to her. “Let’s go.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t stay with your family, but thank you for the offer. I couldn’t do that. I’ve already dragged you into a fight that isn’t yours, and I feel terrible. Thank you for listening to me. I couldn’t hold it all in anymore. I’ve been on my own with it for too long. But if you could help me find this Antonio, I would be able to get the bag and leave Louisiana. Start over.”

  He stared at her for ten solid seconds, each of which got her nerves jangling louder and louder. “That’s your plan?”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  Why was he looking at her like she was leaving him? She shook herself—now her imagination and the closeness she felt in telling Chaz her story was translating to something it wasn’t.

  She hardly knew this man.

  “I’ll help you find Antonio.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple slicing up and down his tanned throat. “And with anything else you need. If that means setting you up in another life, then I will. But you can’t stay here another night. You’ve already been here too long as it is.”

  “It’s why I was leaving,” she said.

  He reached out for her hand again, and this time she took it. His rough clasp around her fingers sent liquid heat pooling in her stomach as he pulled her to a stand. Then he picked up her bag, shooting a look at the safe she’d planned to abandon in the corner. “You got everything you need from this room?”

  “Yes.”

  He led her to the door. He shouldered it and they went outside and got on his bike. She held onto his waist without being told. Each curve they took, her body slipped against his in a way that had her wondering how it would have been to meet him under any other circumstances.

  To be a normal woman who could go out and laugh and eat waffles with a handsome man.

  Sometimes when he looked at her…

  Well, she couldn’t act on the lust she felt, could she? She had to remain focused on making good decisions and couldn’t possibly make any concerning her love life.

  When he rode into the dark countryside, she sucked in the fresh scents of foliage and watched the black leaves overhead. He drove down a back road that opened to a sprawling yard. In the background, she saw water glinting, diamonds of moonlight on the wavy surface of the bayou. The house was quaint with butter yellow light coming from the windows.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “My brother Ben’s place.”

  She tensed. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Chaz. It’s bad enough I involved you but bringing more people—”

  He covered her hand where it gripped his shirt over his hard abs and turned his head to say, “It’s okay. I’m just getting a key.”

  He cut the engine and climbed off the bike. “Stay here.”

  She quivered with nerves as she watched him walk to the door and then the door opened, emitting more yellow light. The welcoming home beckoned to her of a time when she had once felt safe. Would she ever feel that way again?

  The idea of leaving the state and starting over was a frightening one, but in ten years, she would be a different person. All of this would be behind her.

  A man stood in the doorway and a woman’s silhouette joined him. Then she realized she was holding a child.

  Her throat closed off. The last thing she wanted was to bring danger to these people.

  Chaz started toward her and the door of the house closed. Then he got back onto the bike and without a word, took off.

  They rode into New Orleans again to a section of the city she had never been to much. He rolled up to an apartment building and cut the engine. With a sigh of regret, she realized her palms had sweat through his shirt fabric. The poor man hadn’t signed up for all her insanity.

  “Nobody would think to look for you here.”

  She peered at the old historical building and thought he might be right. She could be safe here for a time.

  “Who does the apartment belong to?”

  “My co—” He broke off and started again. “My sister-in-law’s father owns the building and there’s an apartment open. C’mon.” He situated the bag he still had slung over one shoulder and drew her to the door. Inside, a faint glow of security lights revealed an old elevator and a walnut staircase. They took the stairs to
the third floor. The hall had only four doors, and Chaz went to one and used the key.

  When he opened the door and switched on the light, Fleur looked at the modern, renovated apartment with exposed brick walls and the original hardwood floors. Huge windows overlooked the city with an unhindered view.

  In the glass, she caught their wavy reflections and was shocked by how big he was standing next to her. She released his hand and moved into the apartment. “It’s beautiful. And I’m grateful. Thank you for bringing me here, Chaz. I can only stay a couple days, though, and then I’ll have to go somewhere else.”

  “Not alone you won’t.” He walked through the open space and vanished down a hallway. She followed to find a master bedroom, fully furnished with a wooden bed made in fresh shades of white bedding. “You’ll sleep here. I’ll take the couch.”

  She stared up at him, suddenly aware of how ruggedly handsome he was. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t noticed—many times—but being alone with him in a place that was far more of a home than anyplace she’d stayed in weeks gave her a feeling of playing house. Maybe it was seeing the domestic scene back at his brother’s place or the comfort Chaz brought just by being in her presence.

  “You don’t need to stay. I’ll be all right.”

  His jaw tightened, pulling on a tendon in the crease. “I’ll stay.”

  He passed her the bag which held everything she owned and enough money to buy herself a new identity. But still, it wasn’t enough. She’d need to go out and find another card game soon.

  Chaz pointed to the adjoining bathroom that looked like a sultan’s palace compared to the rat hole she’d been using in the motel. “Have a long soak. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”

  His gaze traveled downward over her breasts and waist, lingering on her hips before he turned to go. Her heart pounded hard at the look he’d given her. As if he’d undressed her with his dark eyes and left her naked, exposed.

  She thought about that look as she turned on the hot water and undressed. And as she trailed the washcloth over her bare flesh.

  After a hot bath, she was too exhausted to act on anything even if she wanted to. Emotions and fear had wiped her out, so she fell into the big, comfortable bed and slept. When she woke, Chaz was gone but Fleur found two strange women in the living room watching home improvement shows.

  Chapter Four

  First thing Chaz did was report the movement to Colonel Jackson—and then gotten a hell of an earful when the man told him off for taking her to the building he owned. Chaz didn’t bother apologizing, because he wasn’t sorry. The only thing he was sorry for was not telling Fleur the truth about why he was watching over her.

  Say it like it is, man—investigating her.

  He’d hardly slept, dozing on and off and waking often to check on Fleur. Knowing she was in the next room, fresh from a hot bath, her skin probably fragrant with scented goodies that his sister-in-law Dahlia had left here…

  He had to snap out of these thoughts. She was off-limits, period. Though his gut instinct was Fleur was innocent… but OFFSUS might have something to say about that.

  Then about three a.m., he’d gotten the call from Knight Ops to scramble. And sure as fuck, he had to leave her alone. At least she was in a safe place—as long as she didn’t go out.

  Goddammit, he knew she wouldn’t stay put either.

  He got his brothers back on the phone, en route to pick him up.

  “What the fuck do you want now?” Ben’s hard tone held a hint of amusement.

  “I need someone to stay with her.”

  A beat of silence and then… “Jeeeezus. You got balls, Chaz.”

  “I’m asking, brother to brother. Send Elise over to sit with Fleur.” Sean’s wife was special ops too and knew enough to protect Fleur if it came to it.

  Sean groaned over speakerphone. “You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do about this woman. And you’re not just hauling my wife out of the house—you’re waking my son and Maman too when she has to get up to babysit.”

  “I’ll owe you one,” Chaz said.

  “And you’ll get Dahlia as well,” Ben said, “which means you owe me too.”

  Chaz considered digging through a drawer and finding a piece of paper to scribble a note to Fleur but what would he even say? In the end, he left the apartment and climbed into the Knight Ops SUV. As soon as he got in, he sank into his own musings for long minutes.

  “Earth to Chaz. Better listen up, man.” Rocko elbowed him in the ribs, breaking him from his thoughts. He tuned in to the talk going on around them.

  Ben was talking from the driver’s seat, filling them in on this mission. Chaz came in late, but what his brother was saying landed like a nuclear bomb.

  “We’re going to the Suttons’ plantation?” He almost came out of the seat.

  Ben glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Welcome to the conversation, brother. Glad to have you on board.”

  “What the fuck?” Chaz demanded, not swayed from his brother’s tone.

  “Yeah, we’re going after your girlfriend’s father tonight. And hoping all his friends are with him. Intel says there’s been activity on the plantation.”

  “Goddammit,” Chaz bit off. His mind whirling around the information he’d just been smacked upside the head with.

  “What the hell do you know that we don’t, man?” Ben barked.

  His pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting to think around the details and find some sort of order.

  “She told me a story about how she witnessed the murder of her friend—her father’s man. And that there’s a guy named Antonio who has a bag she’s supposed to retrieve.”

  “How the hell do you get us into this shit, Chaz? We should have one mission—to get in that door and take men out of it. Not be ass-deep in something that’s better left to an OFFSUS agent.” Ben’s face was red with anger.

  “Right now, I am that OFFSUS agent too. Why the hell Jackson left it to me is anyone’s guess, but I didn’t volunteer for this crap. I wanted to go to the beach, remember? Jackson fucking sent me after her. And I’ll tell you right now, I don’t believe she’s involved with her father’s crimes in any way. She can’t be pretending with me.”

  “No?” Ben eyed him.

  “No.”

  “Who’s to say she isn’t good at snowing people over, man?” Ben shook his head. “Fucking blind to a pretty face every damn time.”

  “Fuck off, Ben. That’s not the case.”

  “Seriously? Let me guess—34-24-34?”

  “If you weren’t driving, I’d punch you in the fucking throat for even suggesting that what this woman looks like is influencing my decisions. If I’ve learned anything in Knight Ops, it’s human behavior. And she is not fucking pretending!”

  Sean covered his cell with a hand. “Guys, I’m trying to talk to my wife here.”

  “Why the hell do you have a cell when it’s against rules?” Chaz barked.

  Sean leveled a look at him. “To check in on my wife, asshole. And for the record, she just made it to the apartment and Fleur’s all right. Elise said she knew all of this. My wife is scary-good at finding things out, man.”

  “I hate to break into this discussion, guys, but it sounds to me like she might be setting us up. We’re all walking into a trap,” Dylan said.

  “Get Bo on the phone, Sean. Send his ass over to the apartment,” Ben commanded.

  Their fellow OFFSUS special forces guy would be all the protection the women needed. And if necessary, he could call in his own team.

  “Hold on here. Let’s think this through,” Rocko drawled in his Louisiana bayou boy, laid-back way. “This could be two separate cases. Just because the woman is related to the man we’re after doesn’t mean she knew what he was doing. And OFFSUS has a reason for getting Chaz on her trail—nobody would be better at keeping her safe. And if he earns her trust, she’ll tell him what she does know.”

  “Exactly. If you want more information, tal
k to Jackson, because I’m caught in the middle,” Chaz said.

  “There ya go. Call Jackson.” Rocko sat back in his seat and stretched an arm over the back as if it was all that easy and problem solved.

  Chaz remained silent, mulling over the fact that his team was pissed off at him for something above his pay scale. He hadn’t asked to have Fleur Sutton dumped on him. Though now he was glad it was him—Rocko was right that no one could be better at keeping her safe.

  “All right, Bo is ten minutes out,” Sean said.

  Ben still didn’t relax.

  “Look, what we know is to our advantage. We get into a tough spot with this Sutton guy and we use our knowledge about his daughter against him,” Chaz said even though it gave him a sinking stomach to think of using Fleur in any way.

  “He’s right,” Dylan added and the others agreed.

  Ben looked at him in the rearview again. “One thing goes sideways and this is all on your ass.”

  “I’ll take the heat.” Even if it meant getting kicked off the team. Roades had been on probation and reinstated after a time and if Chaz was lucky, he’d only get a slap on the wrist too.

  “You didn’t tell me when you stopped by the house for the key to the apartment about all of this. You can’t keep your cock in your pants and suddenly it’s fucking up our entire mission,” Ben said.

  “I haven’t fucked her.”

  Chaz’s statement left behind silence.

  They turned to stare at him. “Say that again, bro?” Sean asked.

  “I. Haven’t. Fucked. Her.” Chaz’s irritation level was at an all-time high, which was saying a lot after growing up in the Knight family.

  “Damn, the kid’s losing his touch,” Roades said with a shake of his head and a quirked smile.

  “Who’s calling who a kid? I’m older than you,” Chaz snapped. “Now everybody shut the fuck up. Let’s raid this plantation and complete the mission.”

  “And I’ll get Bo to interrogate your woman,” Sean said.

  “No. Fleur is mine,” he barked, cutting off his brother.

  They all stared at him, and he had to admit he sounded like a man who’d claimed his woman.