Cutter chuckled, “It sounds a lot like running to me.”
“I’m not ready to see him.”
“I’ll make you a deal. We’ll wait for them to get here. You give Blue five minutes. If at the end of five minutes you still want to run, I’ll personally escort you back to Virginia.”
“I couldn’t ask you to fly with me back east. I can fly alone,” I told him.
“Violet, it’s a fool’s bet.” He smiled. “You won’t need me to take you home.”
I seriously doubted that was the case, but I didn’t have much of choice considering I had no money, no credit cards, and no ID. I wasn’t going anywhere until someone helped me.
“Fine.” I huffed.
***
Two hours later Cutter had fed me lunch and my ID had been couriered over. I was a little more relaxed. I was grateful we’d be able to stay in the executive area of the small airport providing us privacy. With two black eyes, I didn’t want to be in the company of strangers. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the stares. I’d finally mustered up enough courage to look in the mirror and I wished I hadn’t. I looked horrible. The good news was, by some miracle my nose wasn’t broken.
Cutter was midsentence asking me how I liked Virginia when all the fine hairs on the back of my neck pricked in awareness. Before I had time to consider the feeling, Cutter spoke.
“There you are,” Cutter said, and stood, confirming my fear.
I didn’t want to turn around. I was afraid I’d do something stupid like profess my undying love or throw myself at Jaxon. Suddenly all the Motrin Cutter had been supplying me with was no longer working. My head was pounding, making it difficult to concentrate on what the men were saying.
“Vi, baby?” I slowly opened my eyes, not entirely sure when I’d closed them, to find Jaxon kneeling in front of me. “Sorry it took me so long to get here.”
The difference in him was startling. Gone was the menacing man covered in face paint, dressed in military jungle gear, and back was the man that had laid me down and made love to me. His statement finally registered, and I was confused. Why was he apologizing to me?
“Baby, don’t cry.” He pulled me into his strong arms while I cried into his chest, soaking his t-shirt with my tears. I don’t know how long I cried into his arms, but it felt good to let it all out.
“I’m so sorry.” Jaxon’s body went solid under mine, and he pulled me off his chest.
“Don’t. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“But it’s all my fault,” I started.
“Don’t go down that path, Violet. Nothing that’s happened is your fault.”
“But Eric…”
Jaxon once again stiffened, then quickly masked his emotions. “Died protecting us. He died a hero’s death.”
“But… how can you say that?” I asked. Eric was dead, and Jaxon was acting like it was any other day. “I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t. Come on, I rented a car. We’re gonna take a drive and I’ll explain everything,” he told me.
“A drive? With me? But you were so angry with me. You told Cutter to take me, you didn’t even want to look at me.”
“I’ll explain that, too. But I was never angry at you. Well, I was. When I first heard what you did, I wanted to tan your ass.”
My face flushed at the thought of him spanking me. Remembering the delicious night we’d spent together was really not appropriate at the moment, but I couldn’t stop my mind from going there.
“Here are her documents,” Cutter interrupted and handed the envelope to Jaxon.
Jaxon stood and offered his hand to the man that had saved me. “I never got to properly thank you,” he said.
“Glad Tex could get me there in time. Happy to help,” Cutter returned. “I got shit to do. I’ll see you around sometime.” Then he turned to me. “Take care of yourself, Violet, and remember what I told you. One minute at a time.”
“Thanks again, Cutter. And I’m sorry for thinking you were such a douchebag.”
He chuckled, then his face turned to granite. “Any man who tries to buy another person isn’t a man; he isn’t a douchebag either. He’s a vile piece of shit, and as far as I’m concerned should meet a slow and painful death.”
With a lift of his chin he walked to Zane and the two of them started speaking in low hushed voices I couldn’t hear. Declan took the opportunity to walk over to me and Jaxon. My brother pulled me in for a hug and the waterworks started again.
“I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t stop him before he got to you,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around me. “So fucking sorry he put his hands on you. I’m so damn proud of how strong you are.”
“I’m not strong, Declan. I knew as soon as I left that building I was going to break.”
“None of that matters now. You’re safe.”
We continued to hug until Jaxon cleared his throat. “You ready? Traffic is gonna be a nightmare.”
“I’ll see you when you get back to Maryland,” Declan told me.
“You’re staying?”
“Yeah, sis, I’m staying. I talked to Zane. I’m gonna be doing some part-time work with him.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that formed. “That will be great. Maybe I can move closer. It’s not like I have a job anymore.”
“You are moving closer,” Jaxon cut it.
“What?”
“When we get back. We’re going to Virginia, packing your shit, and you’re moving closer. I know this great old colonial that has six bedrooms. I’m sure there’s space for you there.”
“Huh?” What the hell was he talking about?
“Never mind. We’ll talk about it later,” Jaxon laughed, and tugged me to his side.
Zane was standing with Linc, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared at me. I gave him a tight smile but was too afraid to talk to him. Jaxon might’ve said he didn’t think Eric’s death was my fault, but Zane’s body language said something else entirely. Zane being the type of man you didn’t fuck with, I opted not to stop and chat with him.
Jaxon and I had almost made it to the door when Linc jogged over and scared the hell out of me when he pulled me to his chest and lowered his head to whisper in my ear.
“Twice now you’ve saved my wife’s life. I’m forever in your debt. You ever need anything it’s yours. Anything. Anytime.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My throat was clogged, and I didn’t want to turn into a babbling fool again. Instead, I nodded in acknowledgement and hugged him back.
“You have your own fucking woman, let go of mine,” Jaxon growled and Linc laughed.
“Give him hell,” he told me, then let go.
His woman? What the hell was that about?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jaxon
The decision to drive Violet up to Los Angeles for a few days was a gut reaction to what had happened. But the more I thought about it, the more it became clear we both needed this time. Together. Just the two of us. Call it instinct, but I also didn’t think she could handle being on the same plane that was transporting Eric’s body. It was hard enough for the rest of us knowing Eric was in the cargo hold in a pine box. That knowledge would’ve sent Violet into a tailspin. The next few days were going to be eye opening for her. Even though she’d worked at the Agency, she still had a lack of understanding about combat and the men that willingly put themselves in harm’s way. Those were the very reasons Ortega was able to exploit her the way he had.
I settled us in the Mustang convertible I’d rented, giving her a baseball cap and sunglasses. I had to say, she looked fucking hot in mirrored aviators and my black death dealers hat. We hit the 5 North and she leaned her head back with her face to the sky. It was a beautiful sunny Southern California day, not a cloud in the sky and temperatures hovering around eighty. An hour into our drive we’d passed the 405 interchange and traffic nearly came to a stop.
Nothing says welcome home like the 405.
<
br /> “You hungry?” I asked.
“I could use a snack,” she answered.
I thought about driving up to Long Beach to stop, but with the traffic it would be another hour. I took the exit for the John Wayne Airport and hoped the café at the end of the runway was still open. It had been years since I’d been in this area. Shit pops up and closes down in California faster than a whore turns a john. But I was happy to see the Runway Café parking lot was jam packed when we pulled in. I remembered the bruising on Violet’s face, mentally kicking my own ass for not thinking about it sooner and deliberated pulling through a fast food joint. There was no way she’d want to go into a restaurant right now.
But we were here, and I was starving. “Stay here. I’ll grab us something and we can park by the tarmac and watch the planes land while we eat.”
“Okay.”
I made quick work of our lunch order and was back out to her and parking the car away from pedestrian traffic in under ten minutes. She popped a fry in her mouth and washed it down with her mint chocolate shake. When she pulled the straw from her sexy mouth, she smiled.
“That is the best shake I’ve ever had,” she told me.
“They are good.”
We ate in comfortable silence. When she’d finished her fries, she turned in her seat to face me.
“Can I ask you something?”
Damn! I was hoping to postpone this conversation a few more hours.
“Sure.”
“You…um…said you weren’t angry with me. But from where I was standing, you were looking at me like you hated me.”
I took a minute and I tried to gather my thoughts. This was too important to fuck up.
“First, I was never mad at you. I need you to understand that. However, I was angry, beyond angry. I’ve never experienced emotion in battle. I turn everything off. Emotions get you into trouble when you’re in the thick of a firefight. My mind is solely focused on the mission in front of me. I don’t have the luxury of feelings when bullets are flying my way. Yesterday, seeing you hurt and in danger, I couldn’t turn off my feelings. All I could think about was protecting you. Protecting you from getting hurt any more than you were. Protecting you from Ortega. But mostly protecting you from me. I didn’t want you to see that side of me. I just wanted you out of harm’s way and safe.”
“What side of you?” she asked.
“The cold and calculating man that gets sent into battle. The man that has no remorse, no hesitation, no regret when doling out punishment and death. There are some parts of me I never want you to see.”
“That’s not fair.”
“What’s not?”
“That you get to hold a part of yourself away from me. Especially when in large part it makes you the man you are, the man I care about. I don’t want you to hide pieces from me. Would you like it if I held parts of myself back?”
That was a good question and there was only one answer.
“Fuck no.”
“Then don’t ever do it to me again,” she scolded. “What happened to Ortega?”
“Would you accept this is one of those times I’m trying to protect you and drop it?” I asked.
“No.”
Damn. She was so cute when she was acting tough. It reminded me of the first time she strolled into Zane’s house while he was kitted out, looking like he stepped off the battlefield. She’d held her own then, too.
“He’s dead.”
“How?” she sighed, as if my lack of details annoyed her.
“Seriously? He’s dead. You don’t need the blow by blow.”
She was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again. When she did, she didn’t take her eyes off the runway in front of us.
“I need to know. I can’t explain why, but I’ll try. He took something from me. He hit me. He scared me. He tried to sell me as a sex slave. He stripped me of my clothes and my dignity. He let his men gawk at me in my bra and panties. Cutter saw me like that. Cutter watched him slap me. I’d thought he’d bought me and I had to lie to myself that I could take it, I could be strong. But I knew I was going to crack and crumble when I left that room. I don’t think I’m a vengeful person, but I have to know what happened to him.”
I tried to keep my reaction in check, but hearing her sweet voice tell me the vile things he’d done to her made my blood boil all over again.
“Brace baby, because it ain’t pretty. We walked in, I located Ortega.” I stopped to take a deep breath and prayed I was giving her what she needed and not what was going to scar her. “He took one to the hand, then thigh. I wasn’t feeling extra generous and didn’t give him the manner of death he would’ve preferred. Instead, I took my time. I don’t want you to think I’ve ever taken pleasure in killing; however, this time there was a level of satisfaction when my blade punctured a few organs. He died the way he deserved, slow and painful. Let’s just say his face looked worse than the black eyes he gave you, and he died knowing what if felt like to be beaten while helpless.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and raised her face to the sun again. “Thank you for ending his life and making me safe.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
“You’ve never said that.” She giggled. “You always tell me nothing to thank me for.” She deepened her voice and tried to mock my typical answer.
“You ready to get back on the road?” I asked.
We still had another two hours, if not more, until we got to Cooper’s house and I was eager to see my brother.
“Will you talk to me about Eric?”
“Yes, but not here. We’ll talk about him tonight.”
I started the Mustang and took a moment to appreciate the rumble of the engine before I headed back to the freeway. The next hour was spent making small talk the best we could as the wind rushed past with the top down. Then it dawned on me, this was the first time I’d be alone with Violet out in the open. No thoughts of kidnappings, blackmailing, or terrorists. For a few days, we could do anything we wanted. There would be enough grief and sadness in the days to come. For now, I just needed to be; we both did.
Another hour later I pulled into the driveway of my brother’s house and took in Violet’s sleeping form. She looked so peaceful I hated to wake her. Cutter had said she did get some sleep on the plane from Brazil, but after everything she’d been through she needed to sleep for a week.
“Where are we?” she asked. With her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses, I hadn’t realized she was awake.
“Cooper’s house,” I told her.
“Your brother?” She sat up straight and took in the house in front of us. Cooper lived in a nice older neighborhood in Tarzana. He bought this particular house because it had a three-car garage. The two extra bays were used to fiddle on one of his many projects. I didn’t doubt that if I peeked inside there would be an old hot rod or muscle car torn apart. Ever since we were kids, my brother had been taking stuff apart and fixing it. Our dad tried to push him to get a degree in engineering, but Cooper refused. He explained it would no longer be fun if it was work.
On cue, the middle garage door opened, my brother appeared, and Violet shrunk into the seat. This was why I hadn’t told her where we were going. I didn’t want her to have time to over think meeting Cooper.
“Come on.”
“I can’t meet your brother,” she told me.
“Why not?”
“Umm… hellooo…. have you seen my face?” she asked, each word drawn out and sarcastic.
“I have. It’s beautiful.”
“I have two black eyes, Jaxon,” she huffed.
“And?” My answer may’ve been nonchalant but the reminder of her black eyes and how she’d received them made my skin heat and anger once again simmer.
“Jaxon.” Her plea broke my heart.
“Baby, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. The marks on your face are going to fade over time, but you know what won’t?” She shook her head. “Your strength. Your bravery. I hate t
hat you were hurt, and you have to look at the bruises for a few weeks, but you are beautiful, you are strong, and you don’t have a goddamned thing to be ashamed of. My brother knows what happened.”
“Okay.” I hated that she still sounded so defeated, but I wasn’t going to let her hide away.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Not really, but I don’t want to sit in the car all day.”
“Come here,” I told her.
“Come where?”
“Here.” I held up my hand and crooked my finger for her to come to me.
She leaned closer and I met her in the middle. Our kiss was soft and chaste, a touching of our lips, but it meant more than any kiss we’d shared. She was alive, she was safe, and now I could go about making her mine.
I got out and met her at the passenger side. When I grabbed her hand to guide her to the garage, the warmth of her hand in mine calmed my nerves. She was alive. The current that flowed between us confirmed what I already knew, she was mine.
“Yo!” I called into the space allowing my eyes to adjust to the lack of the blinding sunshine from outside. Cooper straightened and looked around the open hood of a ’69 Chevy Camaro. “Hope you’re planning on painting this piece of shit. It’s orange.”
“Say’s the man who dares to park a Ford in my driveway. That hunk of shit leaks oil, you’ll be out there with degreaser and a toothbrush. Come to think of it, I’ll pull ol’ Molly out there and you can hide the Ford in here. Don’t want the neighbors to complain about the trash.”
“Fuckin’ snob,” I laughed. “Cooper, this is Violet. Violet, this is my little brother Cooper.”
“Nice to meet you,” Violet said, and offered Cooper her hand. I was so proud of her.
Cooper looked at her, then her hand, then his, then back at her. “Babe, I got grease all over my hands. Come on in the house so I can wash up and give you a proper hello.”
“You mind not flirting with my woman?”
“Bro, if you think that was flirting, you’ve been out of the game for a long time old man. You wanna catch a woman as beautiful as Violet, you better step up your A game.”
Violet’s face flushed, and she smiled just as Cooper had intended.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Redeeming Violet (Kindle Worlds) Page 17