by M. Malone
“You really think I’m going to trust you?”
The guy shrugged. “You don’t really have any choice.”
“I could end your boy and have a bullet in your skull before his body even hit the ground.”
The other guy looked at the one Rafe was holding. Ah so this one was the ringleader.
The guy said, “We need information she has. So I would rather neither of us dies at the moment.”
“Could have fooled me. You were choking her out when I walked in.”
“Well, she angered me. You know how it is with whores.”
Again with the stroking of the trigger, but he knew if he killed the guy in his arms, Diana would be gone. And that would be on him. He had to get his shit under control. He couldn’t let his emotions rule the moment.
The guy holding Diana smiled. “Easy now, killer. Let him go. Gun down. You can’t win this fight today. We’ll come for you both another day.”
“You can come for me all you want. But come near her, and I will put a bullet between your eyes.”
“You’re welcome to try. But in the meantime, gun down. Or little Miss Blond-tits-and-ass goes.”
Motherfucker. Diana’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “Rafe. Don’t.”
He wasn’t sure which one she was telling him not to do. Not kill the guy? Yeah, he was already with that program. Not to save her? She was crazy if she thought that. Like he could just walk away from her after everything? He fucking loved her. Which was inconvenient at best.
He put the safety back on and lowered the gun, letting the other guy fall to the floor. “You shoot her, and you don’t walk out of here. Neither does your brother. You make your choices.”
“Not to worry, I’ll be back for the both of you.” The other guy threw Diana down on the ground with enough force to make her bounce.
Rafe sprinted toward her while the other man dragged his brother out the door. Rafe wanted to go for his gun, to shoot the retreating forms, but Diana was his concern now.
She groaned as she tried to sit up. “How did you find me?”
He held her gently even as he systematically checked her for wounds. She would have severe bruising on her neck tomorrow. “I tagged you with something when you were at my place. While we were… busy.”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you fucking serious?”
“You can yell at me for that later. I’m taking you somewhere safe. You need to be checked out better. Right now you can talk a little, but I don’t know how long that’ll last. The bruising on your neck is ugly.”
“I can’t come with you. You heard him. They’re going to keep searching for me. I have to go. I need to run.” Then she frowned as if she remembered something. “Did you erase the flash drive?”
He swallowed and then nodded. “Yes. I have a device that lifted the data off of it while it was still on you.”
“How did you know I’d have it on me?”
“I figured you came to either give it back or blackmail me. And since you’re on the run, the safest place to hide it would be on you. I took a calculated risk.”
Her lips trembled. “How am I going to get out of this?”
He stared down at her and brushed a lock of hair off her face. “With me. I’m going help you get out of whatever this is. But first you and I are due to have a long conversation.”
Chapter Six
It had been a long time since Diana had felt this kind of pain. She reached up to touch her throat only to have her hand tapped by the doctor examining her.
“You will experience a significant amount of pain and bruising. We’re giving you a shot to help with that, and I’ll leave you a prescription to take over the next few days while you’re healing.”
Diana nodded that she understood. Rafe had really known what he was talking about when he predicted that she wouldn’t be able to talk soon. Luckily, he’d called for a doctor as soon as he’d gotten her to safety because her throat had swollen so much she’d feared she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
“Did you have any questions for me?” The doctor held out the notepad they’d been using so she could respond to his questions.
She’d already forgotten his name, but he was handsome with kind eyes. Rafe had mentioned something about a helicopter, so she could only imagine that he’d had to fly him in from somewhere. He hadn’t looked at all surprised when he arrived to find Rafe with a woman who looked like she’d been beaten. Diana couldn’t help wondering what his usual patients looked like. Did he only work on shady underworld characters? Just what kind of doctor was he?
After she shook her head that she didn’t have any other questions, the doctor turned away to clean up the syringe he’d used to give her the shot and the gauze he’d used to wipe up the blood.
“How is she doing, Doc?” Rafe appeared in the doorway. He’d changed his shirt since the one he was wearing earlier had blood on it.
Blood from the slice on his neck that he’d gotten saving her life.
She couldn’t imagine why he’d go to so much trouble for her. If things had been reversed and someone had stolen from her and kicked her in the balls, she’d have dropped them off at the nearest emergency room and never looked back. But Rafe didn’t even seem all that angry with her. Maybe seeing her almost get killed had made him sentimental.
Shame swept through her, and she couldn’t even meet his eyes. The whole time he talked to the doctor in soft tones, he kept glancing over at her. Diana could only imagine what he was thinking, that she was nothing but trouble and probably way more work than she was worth.
Rafe had been so open with her, and the downside of that was she couldn’t pretend not to know how he felt. Rafe had been in the trenches for a long time. The only thing he really wanted was to live a normal life. A safe life. The kind of life where he didn’t have to worry about people trying to kill him and where he could go visit his sister and be an uncle to her baby. Even if he said the right things, she knew the truth.
Rafe didn’t want this headache in his life. Diana was nothing more than walking, talking baggage. Hunted by her own family and descended from a monster. What could she possibly offer him other than a mess?
After another few minutes, Rafe clapped the doctor on the back. “Thanks for coming so quickly, Dr. Breckner. I appreciate it.”
“Anything for Blake Security. Keep an eye on that bruising.” With a friendly wave for Diana, the doctor left.
She moved over slightly so Rafe could sit next to her on the bed. His fingers touched her cheek gently. When she tried to kiss his cheek, he turned away. Diana blinked back tears. She shouldn’t be surprised. Rafe had every reason to be completely over this relationship. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt that he’d gotten over her that fast. He didn’t even want to say goodbye?
“Don’t cry. I don’t like it.” Rafe thumbed away the tears on her cheeks. Diana tried to wrench her face out of his hands, but his fingers were threaded too tightly into her hair.
He looked her square in the eye. “I know what you’re thinking.” Diana rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “Your face is an open book. It’s not a rejection. I just don’t want to hurt you.”
Diana nodded, but it pissed her off that he could read her every thought on her face. There were so many things she could never share with him, mainly for his own safety. It didn’t stop her from wishing things were different though. She could only imagine a world where she could tell him everything and he could do the same. It was a level of trust that she’d never even dreamed of having with a man.
He continued. “I’ll always want you, Diana. But more than that, I want you to trust me. I know there’s so much more that you haven’t told me. Who were those guys? What did they want? How did they find you?”
When Diana turned her face away, Rafe blew out a breath. “You’re not ready to tell me those things. Yet. But I hope that one day you will. I’m going to show you that you can trust me. But first we need to get you in bed.”
&nbs
p; Diana shook her head violently at the thought of being vulnerable while she slept. There was no way to know where Hans and Jakob were right now. Were they planning another attack? What if they came while they were asleep? All the agitation made her blood pulse, and she instinctively put a hand to her throat.
“Hey, take it easy. No one is going to get to you here. Not on my watch. I’ve got it covered. Unless you anticipate them coming back with an army? You would know better than I would.” He looked at her pointedly.
Diana shook her head. Hans and Jakob wouldn’t dare involve anyone else. They considered this a personal family matter. They had two objectives: to get her back to marry Boris and to get that diamond. They’d be pissed that she’d slipped them, but they wouldn’t think she’d warrant an army. After all, she was ultimately disposable. Besides, they’d be too afraid their enemies would try to cut a side deal and get the Jewel of the Sea for themselves.
“Good. With the hurting I put on those two, they aren’t mounting any attacks tonight. If they do, this time I won’t hesitate to take them out.”
Diana shivered at the thought. She should probably feel a little more than apathy at the thought of her brothers being killed, but after the sick things Hans had told her today, she didn’t know what to think. He’d wanted to sell her. And not to any Russian oligarch. To Boris. She’d seen the kinds of horrors Boris partook in. The things he did to women.
That any man could do that to any woman was terrible enough, but the fact that Hans wanted to do that to his own flesh and blood? It was a close call, but her brothers were almost as bad as her father. No. They’re worse. At least her father did it for money. They seemed to get off on the idea.
What kind of monsters had her father raised? And what the hell did that say about her? It wasn’t just for his safety that she didn’t want Rafe to know the men they’d encountered earlier were her brothers. There was a part of her that hated the idea of him thinking she was anything like the rest of her twisted family. Right now she was just Diana, the girl he’d rescued and wanted to protect. If she had her way, he’d never know her as anything else.
The idea took root, and Diana wondered if it could be that simple. Could this be a new beginning for her? Luckily, she’d been smart enough to start socking her money away in untraceable accounts, something her father had encouraged her to do. But Rafe could help her set up a whole new identity, to disappear for real. This Diana could be her future, if she was brave enough to take a chance.
Rafe lifted her carefully and then set her on her feet in the bathroom. He turned on the shower and then yanked his shirt over his head. Diana pulled her own shirt off carefully, trying not to make contact with her neck. Once they were both nude, she followed Rafe into the shower and stood, docile as a child, while he washed her.
She started awake as he was rinsing her and then again as he was drying her outside the shower. Nothing seemed real, like a haze had fallen over her vision and she was observing the scene from afar. It was so confusing when she, by all rights, didn’t deserve this treatment from him. He should have been at least a little annoyed that she’d hurt him and then he’d had to fight two men to save her. But there was no indication that Rafe resented having to come to her rescue. He made it seem as if being there for her was exactly what he wanted to do. No man had ever taken care of her like this or treated her so gently. It was something she could get used to so easily if she wasn’t careful.
She had to let him know. Maybe if she warned him, he’d take the threat seriously. “Rafe.” Shit, that hurt. And she was tired… so tired. “Danger. Broth— Van—” But her eyes wouldn’t stay open, and her damn throat didn’t work.
“Shhh. Don’t talk. Whatever it is can wait until you’re better.”
As Rafe placed her gently beneath the covers and kissed her on the forehead, Diana allowed herself to snuggle in the glow of his love and care. But she knew the truth, just like she had known it all along, deep down. Her brothers would eventually come for her and Rafe. And this time they’d be prepared. She had to do what she could to protect him. And that meant leaving him behind.
Rafe called on every bit of his training to maintain a calm, cool façade in front of Diana. She was exhausted and in pain. The last thing she needed right now was to see him rage. So he’d tried to lock it down, to save it for when he needed it. Such as when he tracked down the son of a bitch who’d had his hands around her throat a few hours again.
He took another deep breath and brushed a stray lock of silky hair off her forehead. She’d fallen asleep so fast it was almost as if she’d turned off a light switch. That was the sleep of the trusting. No one he knew slept like that.
It warmed him that she trusted him enough that she could relax in his presence instantly without a second thought. But then he told himself not to take it as too much of a compliment. No doubt she was exhausted from her brush with death.
The bruising around her neck stood out against her pale skin, every mottled discoloration an insult. That motherfucker has to die, Rafe thought. Diana was a tiny thing, and even though she had this crazy idea that she was a badass, she was an angel, through and through. He rubbed his chest, right over his breastbone, no longer able to hold back the nightmarish images that had plagued him on the whole drive while he’d been tracking Diana this afternoon. A million scenarios had played in his mind as he’d hoped that she wouldn’t get into any trouble before he could reach her.
It was a dirty trick that she’d pulled, kicking him in the family jewels, but he couldn’t even be too angry.
It was exactly what he used to tell Lucia to do.
The thought of his sister made him think of the man she was married to, his former protégé. Exactly the kind of man with the resources to help him right now. He’d worked so hard to push down the part of him he was ashamed of. The part of him that didn’t even flinch at killing. He never enjoyed it. He wasn’t like some of the others in ORUS, but for the most part, he slept just fine when he took a piece off the board.
He went out to the living room, leaving the door to the bedroom cracked slightly so Diana would have some light from the hallway if she woke up frightened. He pulled out his cell phone and called Noah. His brother-in-law answered on the first ring.
“The tracker came in handy. I was almost too late, in fact,” he said before Noah even said anything.
After a brief pause, Noah cursed. “Shit. How bad is it?”
“Bad. The guys who had her had some training. Not ORUS level but definitely not your run-of-the-mill thugs.”
Noah’s sigh over the line reflected how Rafe was feeling. From the moment they’d met when he’d been assigned to mentor the younger man, there had been an immediate kinship. Noah had been his brother long before he’d married Lucia. He knew that he would always have his back and do whatever he could to help Rafe out, even when it meant the possibility of trouble being brought to his doorstep.
“I need Matthias.” He didn’t need to say anything else.
“You got it. Whatever you need, man.”
Rafe sighed. The problem was he didn’t actually know what he needed. This was unfamiliar territory for him. He always knew what he was doing, always had a plan. Then a tiny, blond slip of a woman had come into his life and thrown him off-balance.
And he loved it.
“Not sure what I need yet. Matthias already ran her, and I know the ID is fairly fresh. So that’s a red flag, but there’s something I’m missing. She tried to tell me something earlier, but she passed out before I could get it out of her. I don’t feel safe with her here.”
“Bring her here,” Noah said. No hesitation.
Rafe couldn’t even respond for a moment. This was the meaning of family. People who were there for you without question, even when it might be difficult. He knew without a doubt that Noah would fight beside him to the death to protect Diana just because Rafe cared about her.
“I’ll do that. Thank you.”
“Any time. I’ll have Mat
thias on the watch for you. He’ll let you in.”
After hanging up with Noah, Rafe packed a bag for himself and another for Diana. He could stay at home, but for how long? The truth was he didn’t know exactly how compromised his security was from what Diana had done. And even if it was okay, why tempt fate? And he was pretty sure Ian knew where to find him if he was the threat. It was better if he had backup. When he was a younger man, and a dumber man, he’d have stayed put hoping for a fight. But now that he was older and wiser, he actually had something to live for. Something he wanted to protect.
Rafe took their bags down first and secured them in the back of his SUV. Then he came back for Diana. She was so tired that she barely moved as he dressed her in a lightweight sweater and a pair of leggings.
Diana opened her eyes several times as he carried her down in the elevator and then out the garage entrance. Once he had her belted in, he tucked a small pillow under her chin. She smiled softly and closed her eyes again.
Rafe got in the driver’s seat, and as he pulled out, he kept his gaze trained on his surroundings and the rearview mirror, looking for any unfamiliar vehicles that might be following them. It was a short drive, but he took a roundabout route, just in case he was being followed. He glanced over at Diana, happy to see that she was still sleeping soundly.
When she woke, she might not be too happy with him, but for now she was safe and content. He could relax once they were at the penthouse. Nobody was getting in there. Except you that one time.
The information that Diana had on him could have only come from two sources: ORUS or the FBI. They were the only ones who would have known about his presence on the Vandergraff job that put him in close proximity to that damn diamond.
Plus with Alan’s little visit, hell, that couldn’t be a coincidence. Rafe wasn’t sure whom he could trust right now. And until he was sure, he was only going to trust family. Even if that family included a few trained killers.
So that was where he was heading. To family. To home.