by Cynthia Eden
Then he remembered that she’d put her hands on Saxon’s chest, tried to stop that blood flow, tried to save him.
But Saxon had been rushed away from the scene. The guy had started a new life, with a new name.
“Did he make it? He…he did, right? Because the way you talk about him—”
“He’s okay.” Careful words.
“And…the woman who was with him?”
Shit. This was the part that was the hardest for him.
“The woman…Elizabeth. I-I knew who she was the minute I saw her. Or rather, the minute I learned her name.”
His whole body went still. “What do you mean?”
“Elizabeth Ward. I heard my father raging about her before. Well, not her, but her mother. Her mother’s name definitely came up in conversation.”
“What did your dad say about her?”
“Oh, the usual. That she was a lying bitch who’d betrayed him. That she’d pay. That the whole family would pay.” Her smile was sad. “You know Luther Bates. Betray him once, and every member of your family will be tortured and killed as payback.”
Yeah, that was his MO. “So you…you knew that Luther ordered the hit on Elizabeth Ward and her family?” What else do you know about Elizabeth?
Like…do you know that Elizabeth is actually your half-sister? He was betting Zoe didn’t know. Because even Luther Bates hadn’t known that news, not until Victor had told the bastard.
“I found out after the fact…and by after, I mean when I was held prisoner and I was counting down the moments until the bomb exploded and I died.” Her sad smile faded. “My captor was the one to tell me. I guess he thought I didn’t fully understand just how much of a monster my dad was but…I knew.”
Victor was afraid that if he spoke right then, he would slip up. Give away too much. He’d—
“My father destroyed that woman’s family. I’m so sorry for what he did to her. And I…I hope Elizabeth is happy now. She was so in love with Saxon. I mean, that was obvious, just in the way she looked at him.”
And he remembered Jasmine’s words…
It’s in her eyes. In the way she watches you. Touches you.
“Zoe…”
“Did she get a happy ending?” Zoe turned back toward the windows—and the city. “Even if she didn’t, will you lie to me and say that she did? It would be nice to think that my father didn’t destroy her completely. Good to imagine her out in the world, smiling and having some kind of amazing life.”
He took a step toward her. Then another. He could see Zoe’s reflection in the glass. “She got a happy ending. She and Saxon are damn deliriously happy.” Saxon was like a new man.
“That’s good.” Her hand rose and pressed to the glass. “Nice to believe that some people can have that, you know?”
The woman was ripping out his heart. She didn’t know Elizabeth was her half-sister, Victor was certain of that now. Zoe stood there, looking alone, too fragile, and so sad. She had no idea that she wasn’t alone. She had family left in the world. Good family, not that twisted prick Luther Bates.
But I promised Luther I wouldn’t tell anyone about Elizabeth. I fucking swore to keep her secret so she could stay safe.
Zoe had a giant bull’s eye on her because the criminal world knew who she was to Luther. If anyone else found out about Elizabeth…
She’d be hunted, too.
The thick carpet swallowed his footsteps as he closed the last of the distance between them. His reflection joined hers in the glass. He wanted to reach out, wrap his arms around her, and pull her close.
He also wanted to tell her the truth.
Don’t trust me, baby. I am not worthy of you. You should kick my ass. You should—
“I envy you.” Her words were so soft that he had to strain to hear them.
“Why?”
“Because you have people who care about you.” She glanced back at him. “Michelle. Michelle Lane. She’s been my only friend for so long. The only one who cared about me. You want to know why I’m risking so much to find her? That’s why. Because she opened her heart to me. She helped me. She made me feel like a normal person for a while, and not just some pariah. Because being Luther’s daughter, I’ve been a pariah pretty much all my life.”
“We will find her.”
Her eyes closed. “I understand.” Her voice had gone even huskier.
“What? What do you understand?”
“How it all works.” She exhaled softly and her eyes opened as she turned to fully face him. “I know that you want information from me. And when I promised you anything in return for finding Michelle, I meant that. You want more details about Luther? You want me to turn on him?” Her lower lip trembled. “I’ll do it. I will. Just help me to find my only friend. Help me to bring her back alive.”
“She’s not your only friend,” he said.
A furrow appeared between her brows.
“I’m your fucking friend, too.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Zoe—”
“You’re my guard. You’re the Special Agent in charge of my case. You’re—”
He caught her hands. Pushed her back against the window and held her there, with her hands trapped on either side of her head. “This isn’t just about the case. We’re not just the case.” First Jasmine had said that shit—and hearing it from her had been bad enough. But for Zoe to say it…No. We are more. His head lowered over hers. “We’re lovers. That’s what we are.” His fingers had wrapped around her wrists. He held her captive right there, and as his mouth pressed to hers, Victor realized…
I never want to let her go.
He was so screwed.
***
Lauren McDaniel had only met FBI Assistant Director Percy Chase a few times—and each time, the guy had intimidated the hell out of her.
She stood in his office now, doing her best to look confident and poised, while the assistant director took turns glaring at her and Russell.
“Special Agent Monroe killed a man and then skipped town?” The assistant director’s face had gone red, a very, very dark red. “What. The. Hell?”
“He believes that other hitmen are after Zoe,” Russell said, his voice calm and easy, as if he wasn’t even a little bit intimidated by the big boss.
I’m plenty intimidated. But she was doing her best to follow Russell’s lead.
“Of course, they’re after her! With two million dollars on her head, I’m tempted to kill the woman myself.”
Her façade crumbled a bit at those words, and Lauren knew her gaze had widened.
The assistant director threw up his hands. The overhead light gleamed off his balding head. “It was a joke! Shit! Luther Bates can put most of the East Coast crime families out of business in one giant swoop—the guy just has to roll on them. Zoe is the key to him rolling. That means she’s worth far more than two million dollars to me. She’s worth everything.” He sat down at his desk and huffed out a heavy breath. “Do we have a name for the dead man?”
Russell stepped forward and put a manila file down on the Percy’s desk. “We do. Kyle Lawrence. Guy was ex-military, an Army sniper, so his prints turned up in the system. Seems like Uncle Sam taught the guy some valuable skills…”
Percy flipped open the file. “Then he went freelance.”
“Lawrence didn’t usually go for up-close kills, but I’m guessing after he missed the first time with Zoe Peters, he realized he had to step up his game.”
Percy grunted. “But his game ended.” His gaze scanned the report. “So who is the power player here? Who’s the one offering up the two million? Got to be one of Luther’s former, uh, associates.” He leaned back in his chair. “Luther should freaking realize if he cooperates with us, we can shut that asshole down before he offers up more money on Zoe’s head.”
Lauren cleared her throat. “Maybe…maybe he doesn’t care what happens to Zoe. Or at least, he doesn’t care as much as you think.”
As soon a
s she spoke, Percy’s gaze zeroed in on her.
But it was Russell who spoke next. “Lawrence looked familiar to me—me and Vic. So I did some digging. Once upon a time, the guy was hired muscle for Bates. But when Bates went to prison, Lawrence went off grid.”
“One of Luther’s ex-goons went after the guy’s daughter?” Percy asked in disbelief. “What did the guy want—Luther to send the full force of his power raining down on him?”
“I think,” Russell muttered, “he just wanted the two million. And he didn’t care that he was screwing over his ex-boss to get the money.”
Percy nodded, obviously buying that story.
I don’t agree. Lauren straightened her shoulders—more than they were already straightened. “I did my research on Zoe Peters. Luther was hardly involved in her life at all. They’ve barely spoken since she became an adult. Why are you both so convinced that he’s going to keep cooperating if we protect her?”
“I’m convinced,” Percy said, his words clipped, “because Victor has an agreement with the guy.”
Lauren bit her lip. “But what if Luther is just jerking him around? Using Agent Monroe? Using all of us?”
But Russell was shaking his head. “No. Not happening. No one uses Victor.”
Perhaps, but… “We’re not talking about some petty criminal. We’re talking about a criminal mastermind.” She inched closer to Percy. “He had plants at the FBI. Agents who were working with him. Is it really such a stretch to think that he could be manipulating us all now? Redirecting our attention?”
“The bastard has been meeting with a new lawyer in the last few months,” Percy mumbled, rubbing his jaw. “We’ve known for a while that Luther thinks he’s getting his ass out of prison. We’ve been watching for an escape attempt, but it looks like the guy must think he has some legal leg room to use in order to garner himself a new trial.”
Russell stiffened. “You don’t seriously think any judge in his right mind would ever let that guy out?”
Percy suddenly looked very, very weary. “I think Luther Bates has plenty of tricks left up his sleeve. That’s why we need Victor to turn Zoe so badly. She is our last shot with him. Victor builds her trust, he gets her on our side and then we see just what damage she can really do to her father.”
Lauren glanced between the two men. “So you don’t think it’s possible that Luther Bates could be the man who sent Lawrence to kill Zoe? You don’t believe he could be the one who put out a hit on his daughter?” Maybe he wanted to stop her from turning on him.
Percy’s gaze suddenly sharpened on her. “I think there are no limits to what Luther Bates will or will not do.”
Okay, that was—
“And I think the FBI’s main focus needs to be protecting Zoe. Turning Zoe. Using her. Before we lose her.”
That sounded so…cold.
“We can’t let Luther get ahead of us.” He tapped his chin, considering. “Okay, okay…this is what I want. Find out all you can about Luther’s new lawyer.”
The lawyer? He didn’t want them to try and discover whether or not Luther had taken out a hit on his own daughter?
But the assistant director had already turned away from her and glanced toward his computer. He typed quickly, opening a new screen as he said, “The fellow has some fancy ass name…Xavier Thomas Winters.”
“Tom,” Russell said, sounding a bit surprised.
“Yeah, well,” Percy grumbled, “I sure hope the asshole goes by Tom. Xavier is—”
But Russell had already surged toward the assistant director’s desk. “You said he was Luther’s new lawyer, but Vic told me…he said that, a few years ago, a lawyer named Tom worked for Luther. The guy wanted Zoe to marry him.”
Surprise rippled across Percy’s face. Then he frowned at his computer scene. “That the same fucking guy?”
Russell glanced at Lauren. His face was grim. “I think we need to find out that shit, right now.”
And I think we need to find out who the hell wants Zoe dead. Who is pulling all the strings? But she was supposed to follow orders. Wasn’t that what a good agent did? So she said, “Any idea where this Xavier Winters is right now?”
Percy’s jaw hardened. “Yeah…He’s in Vegas.”
Chapter Eight
The desire she felt for Victor always surprised Zoe. It should be wrong to want someone so much, to need another person so completely.
When Victor’s lips touched hers, Zoe’s heart seemed to stutter for a moment in her chest. She opened her mouth to him, kissed him back with quick eagerness.
She didn’t like playing games. Didn’t like pretending. Life was so short. What was the point in pretending?
She wanted Victor. Wanted him with a hot lust that she hadn’t felt for others. Oh, sure, she’d been attracted to other men. She’d found pleasure with them. Tom had been a good lover but…
Victor is different. Everything is different with him.
When she’d seen him and Jasmine standing so close together, when Zoe had heard Jasmine say that she loved Victor…
I wanted to attack her. Not a normal reaction. She’d never felt jealousy before. Envy, yes, definitely. She’d envied the lives that others had. Envied their easy happiness.
But she’d never been jealous, not until she’d heard Jasmine speak so easily of love with Victor. Not until she’d seen…
Emotion, in his eyes. No shadows. No guarded expression. He cared for Jasmine. It was right there for me to see.
And Zoe had wanted Victor to look at her that way, too.
He licked her lower lip. His tongue thrust into her mouth as he tasted her. The glass was cold behind her back, and he was so incredibly hot. She could feel the hard length of his arousal pressed against her.
Her nipples were tight, aching. Just from a kiss.
His head lifted. His gleaming eyes met hers.
He still held her wrists captive. Still seemed to surround her with his heat and power. She stared at him, a thousand thoughts flying through her head.
Wrong man.
Wrong place.
Wrong life.
He was so wrong for her, in so many ways. But he was also the only man that had ever felt right. He’d saved her, again and again. Killed for her.
Was it any wonder that she was falling in love with him? “Victor…”
He kissed her again. A quick, hot, open-mouthed kiss.
This desire isn’t natural. Maybe…maybe the attraction for him was due to some kind of weird hero issue that she had. When your father was a villain, maybe you rebelled against him and that rebellion took the form of attaching to the good guys.
Victor had saved her life—at least twice, maybe three times—but she’d started to lose count. Perhaps that was why she wanted him so much.
Or maybe…
He nibbled on her lower lip.
Maybe it’s because he’s…Victor.
And she really wanted to just give in to her need. To make love with him, right then, right there but… “Let me go.”
He stiffened against her.
Then he instantly freed her hands and stepped back. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice stilted. “I didn’t mean—”
“I’m not staying here tonight.”
“What?”
“I’m sure Drake has a really wonderful team of security agents. Top notch, truly. But Michelle is my friend. I know her. I know the places she’d go to hang out. The places she’d go to hide. I have to search for her. I can’t just stay in this place, be in the lap of luxury with you, while she’s out there…” It wouldn’t be right. She’d come to Vegas before, looking for Michelle, but Zoe had been dragged back into hiding before she could find her friend.
No one will stop me this time.
“I want to stay with you.” That was the absolute truth. “I want to make love to you and tell the rest of the world to just fuck off, but Michelle…”
His expression said he understood. “She isn’t the rest of the world.”
“I can’t stay here, with you, while she could be out there…” Say it. “Dead.” Because that was what she feared the most. “I’ll keep a low profile.” It was the middle of the night—not like she was prancing around the city in the middle of broad daylight. “But I have to go out. I can’t let more time pass.”
He nodded. “Then I guess it’s time for us to go.” Victor turned and headed for the door. He put his holster back on, secured the weapon, and reached for his jacket.
She just stood there. “No arguments?”
“I don’t go back on deals that I made. Remember that, will you?”
Zoe hurried toward him. “Victor, I need you to know—”
He turned toward her, but as soon as she stared into his eyes, her words tumbled to a halt.
“What? What is it you want me to know?”
Zoe swallowed. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He smiled. She loved his smile. She just wished she could see it more often.
“For being a man I can trust.”
His smile faltered. “No, Zoe…”
She leaned onto her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” she said again.
Before he could reply, his phone started ringing. She felt the vibration against her. Victor swore and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the phone, then swore one more time when he saw the caller’s name. But he put the phone to his ear and answered, saying, “Russell, shit, we haven’t been in town long, but I was going to check in with you—” He turned away from her.
Her hands twisted together as she stood there, waiting.
“Who?” Victor barked. “Xavier what?”
Xavier. Her stomach knotted. That was a name she hadn’t heard in a very long time. Though, he’d never really enjoyed going by that name. He’d preferred…
“Tom.”
Her head snapped up and she found herself staring into Victor’s gleaming gaze. As he looked directly at her, Victor said, “Xavier Thomas Winters.”
She flinched.
“Yes,” his voice had gone cold. “I do believe that’s him.”