Fatal Deception

by April Hunt

  “They threatened my grandfather.” Adrenaline coursed through Isa’s veins. “They know exactly where he is, and they blame me for screwing things up for them here in Beaver Ridge.”

  “I’ll get people on it right away, baby.” Roman caressed a stray hair off her face. “But are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “They’re planning something bigger than Beaver Ridge. You were right. This is all a show in the hopes of finding buyers…and they want to show people exactly what it’s capable of doing.”

  And if they did that, no one would be okay.

  * * *

  Roman dropped into the plush chair on the Steele Ops jet and released a string of curses his mother would’ve chastised him for had she heard, but one swear word wasn’t enough after last night.

  Two dozen wouldn’t do the fucking job.

  He couldn’t even wrap his head around the feelings that had ripped through him at seeing Isabel hunkered on the ground, bleeding and exhausted. If she hadn’t already knocked that Lina woman unconscious, Roman wasn’t sure what he would’ve done.

  “You did the right thing.” King lay sprawled on the couch, watching Roman like a damn hawk.

  “What thing is that?”

  “Not doing anything stupid.”

  Roman shot a glare at his friend that didn’t do shit. “You saw what those assholes did to her, right?”

  “Yep. And I saw what your woman gave right back to them. Kick-ass through and through. The two of you are a match made in heaven. And now that the authorities have that Lina chick in custody, we can all hopefully get some damn answers.”

  “We?” Roman wasn’t about to let his friend’s play on words go.

  King shrugged. “I got nothing else to do at the moment, and as pitiful as it sounds, I’d rather stare at your ugly mug for a few more days than stare at Garrett’s. You’re a few degrees more pleasant since Dr. Sexy came along, but that poor bastard hasn’t gotten laid in probably three years.”

  Roman snorted and shifted in his seat. His leg ached, and he rubbed it subconsciously. The fact that it only bothered him now was saying something, considering he’d hiked up and down a fucking mountain. He made a mental note to give his designer buddy a two-thumbs-up rating when all this was said and done.

  Jaz pushed King’s legs off the couch and sat. “I called Ryder. He and Tony are an hour out of Manassas, and Isa’s friend Maddy is already waiting for them and the samples at Tru Tech.”

  “Good.” Roman nodded. “At least one thing is working in our favor. Now if I could only change Doc’s mind about this family reunion.”

  “Well that’s just not going to happen.”

  At Isabel’s voice, they all turned to see her standing just outside of the bedroom. Dark circles framed her eyes, and bandages covered her wrists. She looked like hell warmed over but was still able to drill him with a disapproving look.

  “I’ll go to DC,” Isabel said adamantly. “I’ll finish what I started, and I’ll give those bastards a reason to be worried about me. But before I do that, I’m going to make damn sure my family is safe.”

  Roman crossed over to her, and as much as he wanted to touch her, he kept his hands to himself. “Do you trust me?”

  “Is that a trick question?” She took a moment to think about it. “To keep me safe? Yes. To find these jerk-offs and stop them before they do something horrible? Yes.”

  Fuck. Roman wanted to ask her what exactly she didn’t trust him to do, but it wasn’t the time or the place. “Then why can’t you trust me when I say that we’re not letting anything happen to your grandfather. Knox already sent someone from the team to Texas, and I can have Jaz on the way there in a matter of hours as backup.”

  “And I appreciate that. I do. But you don’t know my grandfather. If he thinks for one moment that anyone is there to babysit him, he’ll run them off with the shotgun he keeps above the mantel…and I’m not joking. I have to be there to explain it to him. I have to make him see reason.”

  “Phones really come in handy nowadays, and they can operate pretty much anywhere. Even safe bunkers.”

  Fuck. Roman realized it was the wrong thing to say the moment the words left his mouth.

  Isa’s glare turned molten as she stalked forward, stopping only when the faint trace of shampoo filled his nose. “That woman threatened my family. There is nothing—and no one—on this earth that’ll prevent me from doing whatever I can to protect him. And that includes you. And I would think you of all people would understand that.”

  Isa stormed back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

  Jaz glared at him.

  King’s mouth opened and closed again before he finally shook his head.

  “What?” Roman demanded of his friends. “What the hell are those looks for?”

  Jaz rolled her eyes. “Because you’re a freakin’ moron.”

  “I’m a moron?”

  Jaz glanced to King. “Isn’t that what I just said?”

  King shrugged. “Sounded like it to me.”

  Roman’s fists clenched at his side. “I’m a moron for wanting to keep her safe?”

  “No. For thinking there was the slightest chance Isa would let you get away with your I-am-caveman routine,” Jaz clarified. “You two are primo examples why, much to my mother’s dislike, I choose to stay single and free to mingle.”

  “You won’t be single and mingling once we get to Texas,” Roman couldn’t help but throw out. His comment earned him a glare from the Marine sniper. Petty payback for her moron comment, but he’d take it. “You have a problem with playing a part to keep Isa’s grandfather safe?”

  “You know I don’t…as long as it’s Ryder who’s playing my co-pilot. I’d even take him over the other choice.” Jaz jabbed her finger at King.

  King laughed. “Don’t look at me. I’m not an official part of the team.”

  Roman smirked. “And Ryder has been out in the field for a while. He could use the rest.”

  Jaz leaned forward. “I’m telling you right here, right now, if anyone other than Ryder is waiting for us at that Texas airport, I’m putting hazard pay on my time sheet. Feigning a relationship with your brother is one thing. Feigning one with Tank is something entirely different.”

  “Not my choice. That’s all on Knox, but whoever it is, you need to make it work, because Isa’s said multiple times that her grandfather won’t take being watched over very well. To make your job easier, you better sell the whole engaged friends of Isabel looking for a wedding venue spiel. Even if your co-pilot is Tank.”

  Jaz emitted a low growl. She was irritated. Isabel was pissed. So far he was batting one hundred, and that was just fine with him. If it meant getting shit done and keeping Isabel safe, he’d do whatever it took.

  Even transforming back into the assholish prick he’d been before he met her.

  Chapter

  Seventeen

  Before getting off the plane, Isa had spent no less than four hours on the phone with Maddy and Tony, walking them through the step-by-step process required to receive the new samples from Beaver Ridge into the Legion. As much as it killed Isa to relinquish some of that control, the rest was up to them. They knew what they were doing, and Maddy was more than able to prep samples and initiate trials. The GHO had gotten boots down in Alaska to help the people of Beaver Ridge.

  Now Isa needed to focus on her grandfather, because no way would she leave him vulnerable to Blue Eyes, aka Mace, and without Jaz and Tank watching over him, that’s exactly what he would be. If he didn’t tell them to get lost altogether.

  Tilting her face skyward, Isa soaked up the warm Texas sun. Scents of hay and clean, fresh air permeated the air and immediately transported her back to a time when the weight of the world wasn’t balanced on her shoulders. On either side of them, rolling fields filled with herds of Angus cattle stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a gorgeous sight, one Roman hadn’t spared a second glance since the plane touched down.


  She had that in common with the fields.

  Roman no longer looked at her like the woman he couldn’t wait to devour. He barely looked at her at all, and when he did, an odd detachment glazed over his eyes, making it difficult for her to breathe. And talk to her?

  Forget it.

  He’d effectively buried her Roman in some untouchable place and brought back the broody, cocky Steele Ops operative from their first meeting. He’d barely said anything on their drive, and when he did it was to bark out a command or a warning.

  No, Isa mentally scolded herself. He was never my Roman…or my anything.

  He’d been the man to give her a few toe-curling orgasms. That was it. That was all it could be. She knew it logically, but something inside was reluctant to agree.

  “You guys are clear about why you’re there at Mari’s Sanctuary?” Isa snuck a glance at the “happy” couple sitting in the far corners of the back seat. “Because I wasn’t kidding…if my grandfather gets the slightest whiff we’re trying to pull something over on him, he’ll send us right out the door.”

  Tank slid a mischievous look toward his seat partner. “We’re here because my wife-to-be is in bridezilla mode and keeps changing her mind about the wedding venue. A month ago, it was a beach wedding. Three weeks ago, it was a cruise ship. Last week, it was a vineyard. Now we’re here.”

  Jaz drilled him with a glare. “Maybe instead of changing the venue I need to change the groom.”

  “We’re in steer country.” Tank gestured out to the vast golden field flying by the window. “Now’s your chance, chére.”

  Isa muttered, “Maybe we should take the risk he’ll run us off the sanctuary.”

  Roman shot his teammates a warning glare. “They’ll be fine…and if they’re not, they can consider themselves working this assignment pro bono.”

  That seemed to shut the duo up for the moment. Truth was, Isa wasn’t worried about Tank and Jaz giving something away. It was her. The smart thing to do would be let the professionals keep her grandfather safe while she went back to DC and the Legion, but she needed to see him.

  She needed to hug him, to tease him for not keeping his beard kempt, and harp on him for eating regular bacon instead of a low-fat turkey variety. That meant putting on her best acting hat and praying he’d lost some of that all-knowing power he’d possessed when she’d been a teen.

  Roman turned off the main road and onto the pot-holed dirt lane that led the way to the sanctuary. Her smile came reflexively as a gorgeous black mare galloped along the left side of the fencing, keeping up with the bouncing car. On the other side, horses grazed in the open fields, and far off in the distance, someone led a group of trail riders, the small, thin line looking like a collection of nesting dolls on the horizon.

  Home sweet home. White with golden shutters that matched the fields, the two-story farmhouse was adorned by flower boxes at each window, their contents blooming with vibrant purple and red blossoms. Her grandmother’s favorite colors.

  The veranda where they’d sit every evening, cold glasses of lemonade in their hands, still housed the handmade swing and a handful of the world’s coziest rocking chairs. She couldn’t even count the number of times she’d sat on that swing with Olly, their gazes tilted up to the starry sky.

  “Focus on the present, Isabel,” Isa murmured as a reminder to herself.

  As they pulled to a stop in front of the house, a plume of dirt and dust rose around the car, but it didn’t obscure the view of her grandfather stepping onto the porch, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

  Pushing a smile to her face, Isa leapt from the car and rushed the steps, straight into a waiting hug.

  “You look like a breath of fresh air, sweetheart.” Carlos Santiago smiled down at her. That familiar twinkle in his eye never ceased to put a real smile on Isa’s face. “So beautiful. And so much like your grandma.”

  “And you…” Isa sniffed before locking her grandfather in a stern glare. “Have you been smoking cigars again? What did your doctor tell you about that?”

  Her grandfather’s grin was partially masked by his white mustache. “When company brings a gift, I can’t refuse. That would be rude, and we’re all about manners in this house. Speaking of…” He stuck his hand out in greeting—to Roman. “Carlos Santiago.”

  Roman shook it. “Roman Steele, sir. It’s good to meet you.”

  They made their rounds of introductions, Jaz and Tank sticking to their script.

  “It looks as though everyone’s had quite a day.” Her grandfather nudged them all to the house. “Why don’t we get everyone set up in their rooms before seeing about dinner?”

  Isa’s grandfather led them into her childhood home, where he made a point to show Roman his room—conveniently on the opposite end of the hall from Isa’s. Tank and Jaz got one to share, and it took everything Isa had not to burst into laughter at the look of pure disgust on the female operative’s face.

  “Isa.” Jaz’s hand caught hers before she slipped into her room.

  “Breathe, Jaz.” Isa took a deep breath. “One baby step at a time. Freshen up for dinner. Eat. And then make Tank sleep on the floor. If it’s any consolation, I think my grandfather still keeps that barn cat around that likes slipping into the house and leaving presents on the floor.”

  “Tank would be sleeping in a litter box.” A slow smile crept onto the operative’s face. “I like that.”

  “Good. Now hold on to that thought.”

  As Isa jumped into a hot shower and changed into clothes that didn’t scream road grunge, she almost forgot about what happened during the last forty-eight hours. She’d almost convinced herself this was a regular, everyday visit, and that she had brought friends home to see where she’d grown up.

  Her grandfather hadn’t touched her room throughout the years. The canopy bed had been replaced by an older, more sophisticated version, but the rest of the furnishings were the same. A white oval mirror hung over the dresser, photos from different times of her life tucked into its wicker frame.

  Smiling faces beamed into the camera, but Isa’s was always the brightest when the person standing next to her was Olly. She scanned the timeline of their relationship, from preteen birthday parties to high school graduation. In one, taken on a hot summer weekend during his first R&R weekend, she sat on his lap, her arms tangled around his neck as if unwilling to let him go.

  That’s how they’d been for most of their lives.

  Inseparable. Comfortable. Safe.

  Isa felt anything but safe and comfortable at the moment, but she put on a smile she hoped looked authentic and headed downstairs, where she found everyone on the back patio, her grandfather transporting a plate of stacked steaks to the table.

  “Let me help you with that, Abuelito.” Isa rushed forward, noting the patio was already set up for them to eat outside.

  “Nonsense. I got it. Sit down. All of you.”

  Isa was the last one to obey her grandfather, which meant she had no choice but to take the empty seat next to Roman. An enormous amount of food was passed around, and soon their plates were heaping—Tank’s more than anyone else’s.

  “This is incredible, Mr. Santiago,” Tank gushed through a mouthful of food.

  “Carlos, please.” Her grandfather casually spread apart a roll and slathered on an unhealthy amount of butter. “I figured we should all have full stomachs while you tell me what kind of trouble has followed you all the way out here to Texas.”

  Everyone froze, Roman with a juicy piece of steak an inch away from his mouth. Jaz’s gaze shot to Isa, and Isa simply stared at her grandfather.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Roman said carefully, “but what do you mean, trouble?”

  Carlos Santiago slowly set his roll back on his plate, his gaze sliding over each of them before slowly transferring between Roman and Isa.

  Crap-tastic. Isa wasn’t sure how, but he knew. “Abuelito, I—”

  “Ah-ah.” Her grandfather shushed her with a w
ave of his finger. “There’s no Abuelito-ing yourself out of this one, Isabel. I may be an old man, but I’m not oblivious. These two”—he pointed to Jaz and Tank—“look like they’d rather tear each other’s heads off than their clothes.”

  “And you…” He drilled a look at Roman. “You haven’t stopped looking around, even when your head is turned straight ahead. The only two types of men who do that are paranoid ones or ones who are expecting trouble to pop up around any corner.”

  Finally, Isa’s grandfather turned his attention to her. “But I think you were the most obvious, sweetheart. I’ve been begging you to come home for a visit for months and always get the same excuse. Work. And you show up now? With only a few hours’ warning? Like I said, I’m old, but I still can smell a bullshit story from acres away.”

  Isa exchanged a look with Roman.

  “It’s up to you, Doc.” Roman put the decision in her hands.

  Sighing, she turned back to her waiting grandfather. “Before I tell you anything, you have to promise to listen. Not just hear, Grandpa. Listen. Jaz, Tank, and Roman know what they’re talking about when it comes to keeping people safe.”

  “People?” Her grandfather latched onto her words quickly. “Or you?”

  “And you.” Isa told him everything—minus details about her scuffle with Lina. And with every additional piece of information, her grandfather’s frown grew. “But I don’t want you to worry. Jaz and Tank are staying here at the ranch to watch over things—and you—and I’ll be DC-bound in a few days to help Maddy in the lab. I’m not letting these people use FC-5 to terrorize anyone.”

  Her grandfather soaked up everything she told him before finally nodding. He looked at Roman. “If Tank and Jaz are staying here at Mari’s Sanctuary, I’m guessing that means you’ll be the one watching over Isabel?”

  Roman nodded. “Yes, sir. I am.”