Mayhem's Desire: Operation Mayhem

by Lindsay Cross

  “Hold on. I’ve got you.” She had no intention of allowing him to lay there and bleed to death. Not when he’d been defending her.

  Whitney lay on her stomach and reached for him. A bullet threw dirt on her arm and she yanked it back, her heart in her throat.

  “Whitney, you need to be careful who you associate with.”

  Whitney froze. “Reinhardt?”

  “That’s right. Now, if you don’t want me to finish your friend off, you’ll come out.” His voice was just as gravelly and disgusting as before. Grating down her spine like dulled nails covered in rust.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  Another bullet hit the ground, this one even closer to Juarez.

  “Stop! Just stop! I’ll come out.” She had to go out there. How could she live with herself if he killed Juarez?

  And Hicks…Hadn’t Juarez said he was on his way? What if Reinhardt shot him? She couldn’t even allow that thought to fully form. Whitney gulped past a huge boulder of fear and grabbed the tailgate of the car, trembling.

  If only she knew what to do. She’d never thought, never imagined being here. She’d even avoided action flicks because she didn’t like bloodshed.

  What would Hicks do?

  He’d calmly walk out there and shoot that bastard as easy as pie. But she didn’t have a gun, let alone the knowledge of how to use one.

  Whitney forced one foot in front of the other. She had to go out there, unarmed, if Juarez had a prayer. Allowing him to die simply because she’d allowed terror to rule her wasn’t an option.

  Even if she needed to pee her pants.

  She stopped at the corner of the car, as soon as she took another step she’d be in the open.

  Juarez moaned and tried to roll her way, but Whitney ignored him and took the final step, putting her fully in view of Reinhardt. She couldn’t see him – but she knew he was there, somewhere in the tree line in front of the car.

  “Come out,” she said, clenching her hands into fists to keep them from shaking so bad. Juarez grabbed her ankle and she jumped, almost screaming.

  “It’s okay,” she said. Then she gently pulled her foot from his grasp and put herself between him and the direction the bullets had come from.

  Reinhardt stepped from the foliage twenty feet away, a long black pistol aimed directly at her head. “Still playing the whore.”

  He shook his head, his ugly scarred face contorted with disgust.

  Whitney checked the need to run and locked her knees, fighting to appear calm when on the inside terror seized control. “Still dreaming about me, Bruno?”

  A dark flush rose up his pockmarked face and he took a step closer, bringing the black hole at the end of his barrel into stark clarity. No matter how much she attempted to keep her fear hidden, he must have sensed it because his lips twisted into a cruel smile. “I’ve been watching you. Wondering how a whore like you could snare the Senator.”

  Her hand circled her throat. “Watching me?”

  “That’s right.” Reinhardt licked his lip and an unholy gleam lit in his good eye. “I’ve watched you since the beginning. Had to make sure you didn’t spill your sob story for more money.”

  “You know I didn’t!”

  “So far.” He moved closer, the gap between them shrinking at an alarming rate. “But you will. Your kind always does.”

  “My kind?”

  “Whores. You’re all alike. My mother was a whore.” He kept advancing and each step stole more of her warmth, until a chill seemed to creep in to her bones.

  “Stop,” she said.

  “She whored around on my father, destroyed my life. If she hadn’t destroyed him, I wouldn’t have these scars.” Reinhardt jerked his hand in the direction of his face, his movements losing their normal finesse. “I wouldn’t have had to kill her.”

  Her heart stopped completely. “You killed your mother?”

  “Just like I’m going to kill you.”

  Whitney tried to watch the gun, but couldn’t tear her gaze from the maniacal gleam in his eye. He’d stopped moving near the front of the SUV, all his focus trained on her. “I tried to do it the clean way, have the team take you out, but you had to go and get a bodyguard. And I bet you thought you were safe, too, didn’t you? But you’ll never be safe from me. Not as long as you’re a threat.”

  His finger shifted from the barrel of the gun down to caress the trigger.

  This was it. All he had to do was twitch and she’d be dead.

  Whitney closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain.

  Suddenly, a shot rang out. She opened her eyes. Hicks had his hand around Reinhardt’s gun and shoved it up in the air. Reinhardt struggled but Hicks shoved him back, holding onto the pistol. Reinhardt went flying.

  Hicks crushed the gun in his hand and threw it to the side. Stalking Reinhardt like a true predator. Whitney couldn’t move, couldn’t even get her tongue to work. She stood in mute shock as Hicks picked him up off the ground.

  Reinhardt tried to kick out, but Hicks simply shifted his grip to one hand and grabbed Reinhardt’s leg with the other, twisting until he screamed in pain.

  “You’ll never threaten her again.” Hicks threw him to the ground and Reinhardt rolled to his side, groaning.

  Hicks turned his attention to her. “Are you okay?”

  She tried to nod, wasn’t sure if she pulled it off. All she could see was Hicks concerned gaze locked onto her.

  And then she saw something else. Something even more terrifying than Reinhardt’s gun trained on her head.

  Reinhardt was lifting another gun and taking aim at Hicks.

  “Hicks!” she screamed.

  A shot rang out. Reinhardt slumped to the ground. King emerged from the woods, a smoking pistol in his hands.

  Whitney’s knees buckled. Hicks lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground. “Whitney?”

  “He almost shot you,” she whispered brokenly.

  “He almost shot you, too.” He held her tight, burying his face against her neck.

  She finally got her fingers to work, long enough to latch onto his shoulders for support.

  She buried her face against his chest, wishing she could just climb inside him. “I was so worried about you.”

  Hicks chuckled, “Me? I wasn’t in any danger.”

  And then Whitney remembered the whole reason they were here. “Cory?”

  A dark thundercloud stormed across Hicks’s features, but he answered her. “He’s fine, and it appears you were right. He didn’t know about the hit. Reinhardt was pulling the strings all along.”

  Suddenly, Cory Keeling himself burst into the small clearing, dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a white T-shirt. When he saw them, he stopped and immediately bent over, his breathing ragged. “Is everyone okay?”

  Whitney glanced up at Hicks and then eased herself out of his arms so Cory could see her. “Everyone but your bodyguard.”

  Cory glanced down at the now very dead man on the ground and gulped. “I had no idea. Whitney, I am so sorry.” Cory moved closer but Hicks maneuvered between them, blocking Cory from getting close enough to touch her.

  “Did you know anything about this?”

  “No, tonight was the first I heard about it. You were supposed to be relocated and paid for the hassle. I had no idea.” Cory’s voice sounded so desperate and honest that Whitney had no doubt he was telling the truth.

  “Moved?”

  “To California. With my new role as head advisor on the council, I couldn’t risk anyone here finding out about you.”

  Whitney tried to shove Hicks out of the way and took a threatening step toward Cory. “You thought you could just relocate me across the country?”

  Hicks hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her back. “Settle down, tiger.”

  She tried to peel free of his grip, but it was like trying to chip away concrete with her fingernails. He didn’t budge. “I’m so sick and tired of people trying to control me.
I’m not moving across the country, Cory, whether you’re trying to have me murdered or not.”

  Cory went even paler, a feat that didn’t seem possible. Standing next to all these huge brawny warriors, he looked so small and weak in comparison.

  “I thought you would like it. The weather there’s much nicer, plus, I had an awesome new job lined up for you with the WHO.”

  Whitney blew a stray strand of long, dark hair out of her face and glared at him. “Are you still trying to convince me to move?”

  She felt a wave of annoyance from Hicks. “She’s not moving anywhere. Do you intend to return her money and her job?” Hicks finished in a threatening tone.

  “Of—of course. Perhaps a job in New York? It’s still closer…”

  Plastered against Hicks, her toes barely scraping the ground, Whitney crossed her arms over his huge muscular forearm. “I don’t want a job from you.”

  “Enough. My team and I have collected enough evidence and retained two witnesses. From this day forward you and everyone associated with you will stay away from Whitney. If she walks into a restaurant and you’re eating there, you will leave. If she parks her car in a garage where you’re parked, you move your car, got it?” Hicks said.

  “Yes,” Keeling said hesitantly.

  Hicks continued, his torso vibrating against her back sending all sorts of warm tingling sensations throughout her body. “You will return all the money owed to her by tomorrow.”

  Keeling gulped. “What about her apartment and car? You said he took those too.”

  “She doesn’t need them.”

  Whitney stiffened—she didn’t need her car and a place to live? —but Hicks had that note in his voice, the one that said don’t fuck with me. Too bad she didn’t allow anyone to control her life. “I’ll take a new car. In my name. And this time, I’d like it to be white.”

  Hicks went rigid, but he could get over it. The sooner he learned he couldn’t call all the shots the better.

  Keeling glanced between them but nodded wisely. “Yes, of course, and I’ll return the money.”

  If she had all her money returned, she could easily lease a place until she figured out where she wanted to live. Maybe somewhere a little closer to Hicks…

  “Just so we’re clear, Senator, you’re going to pretend like Whitney never existed after tomorrow. If you so much as twitch in her direction, or if you fail to keep up your end of the promise, I will release everything to the press. Your career will be over, and I suspect your marriage will be too.” Hicks’s arm squeezed incrementally tighter as he spoke. Whitney tapped on it frantically, trying to get his attention so she could draw in a breath of air. He loosened his grip enough for her to breathe but not to escape.

  “We are clear. What about him?” Cory inclined his head in Reinhardt’s direction.

  “We’ll clean up the mess.” Hicks said.

  “No police?” Keeling asked.

  “For now, no,” Hicks said. “King, can you escort the senator back to his home?”

  Cory cast her a regretful look and then silently trailed behind King, disappearing into the growth of trees.

  Juarez moved into a sitting position, his hand pressed to his shoulder. “That bastard better be glad he’s already dead.”

  “Juarez!” She’d forgotten his injury in the tangle of craziness.

  “I’m fine. Just a little blood loss.”

  Hicks’ set her to the side and went to the car, returning with a first aid kit a moment later. “Be still. I’ll do a temporary patch until we can get you back to the Doc.”

  “What do I need to do?” she said as she moved closer to the pair.

  “Come hand me a gauze.” Hicks moved Juarez’s hand from what looked like a huge bloody hole near his shoulder and poured some clear liquid onto the wound. Juarez let out a howl of pain. “Warn me first next time.”

  “That makes it worse, now sit still.” Hicks sat the bottle down and took the roll of gauze from Whitney, quickly making a pad and wrapping a makeshift sling before helping Juarez into the back seat of the car.

  Once Juarez settled in the SUV, Whitney grabbed Hicks. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’s fine.”

  Whitney resisted the urge to wrap her arms around Hicks. She needed to get something straight with him first. He didn’t need to think he could make decisions for her. She had no intention of any one ever doing that again. “Why did you tell him no home and car? Those are kind of two necessities.”

  Hicks’s harsh expression fell away into one of hesitancy. “You don’t need either of those.”

  “Because they’re from him?”

  “Because I want you to live with me.”

  The earth fell out from under her. He wanted her to move in? They barely knew each other. She’d never lived with a man before—not even a roommate in college. Living together meant commitment and the longest relationship she’d ever had was with her favorite tube of mascara.

  But then again, she’d never had a tube of mascara as heart-stopping as Hicks. The way he was looking at her right now was enough to melt her on the spot. “I’d like that.”

  She would?

  The smile that lit Hicks’s face sealed the deal. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  21

  Whitney sat on a tiny stool next to Caroline’s bed, holding her hand and not sure how she’d ended up here. After they’d left Cory’s house, Hicks had brought her straight down here and basically dumped her, requesting Reaper come with him, leaving Whitney alone with the sleeping stranger.

  Whitney thought back to how her sister had read to Quantum while he’d been unconscious. “I know we haven’t met yet, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m Hicks’ girlfriend. Looks like me and you are going to get to be roomies.” She tried to interject some happiness in her voice but faltered. Talking to someone who didn’t talk back left her feeling strange, but if it helped bring Caroline back to her fiancée, then she would talk all night. “I’m Melissa’s sister; she’s the who’s been taking care of you. Hicks helped me take care of a little problem that sprung up. I hear you saved Reaper’s life, too. Hard to imagine a man like that needing saving.” Whitney whispered conspiratorially, “he’s a pretty formidable guy.”

  “Is it the scars?”

  Whitney’s stomach jumped up into her throat, and she almost fell backward off the stool. Caroline opened her eyes, revealing the clearest blue color Whitney had ever seen.

  “You’re awake. I need to get Melissa.”

  “She’ll be in here soon enough. So, you’re scared of my husband?”

  Whitney’s cheeks heated. It was one thing to think him terrifying, another thing altogether to tell his fiancée.

  He had to be seven feet tall and battle-scarred all to hell. But that wasn’t even the scary part. It was his cold black eyes. They seemed soulless.

  Except when he looked at Caroline.

  Then they were filled with utter devotion.

  “It’s all right, he has that effect on everyone, but he’s a big softy.

  “If you say so,” Whitney said. A man like that might be soft around his fiancée, but he’d be hard as granite with everyone else.

  “So, you and Hicks, huh?”

  “Yeah, we’re together.” Whitney faltered, suddenly feeling like an outsider trying to step into a close-knit circle of friends. What if Caroline didn’t like her? The last thing she wanted to do was cause any drama. But then, Hicks was worth the fight.

  “Good. Hicks is a good man. I think you’ll be what he needs to loosen up a little.” Caroline winked. “Plus, the more females we have here, the better. No offense, but I’ve missed girl talk, and your sister doesn’t have much free time.”

  Whitney settled back onto the stool. “What you mean to say is my sister is like talking to a brick wall. Believe me, I know. She’s great with the research stuff but terrible at anything other than a book or a computer.”

  Caroline’s hand suddenly co
vered her own. “Want me to give you the secret to Hicks?”

  Whitney’s ears perked up. “Spill.”

  The door opened and both women fell silent. Melissa, flanked by Reaper and Hicks entered the room. When Reaper saw Caroline was awake, the rest of them no longer existed and he made a beeline for the bed. Whitney stepped back as fast as she could. Reaper immediately filled her vacated seat and covered Caroline’s tiny hand with his.

  Whitney went to Hicks, sliding her arm around his muscular waist in a way that felt as natural as breathing. “Everything okay?”

  “It is now.” Hicks squeezed her close and Whitney snuggled in his arms, savoring his strength and support. She knew she should be afraid of jumping in so fast and of falling so hard, but no matter how she tried to will herself to be logical, she couldn’t. She’d never felt so protected and loved.

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “And now that we’ve got some free time, I think it’s time to get you better acquainted with my bed.”

  An explosion of heat scorched across her core and she melted against him. “I think you’re right. I didn’t get to see nearly enough of it.”

  Melissa stopped checking Caroline’s monitors and cleared her throat. “I got the lab results back from all the bloodwork.”

  Reaper’s gaze flashed with emotion and he leaned over Caroline as if he could shield her. His entire existence centered on her.

  Whitney studied Hicks, wondering if he looked at her the same way. As if sensing her, he glanced down and his dark blue eyes locked with hers. At that moment, the world fell away, leaving just her and Hicks. Tendrils of heat bloomed in her chest and spread down her body. He was looking at her the same way, like she was his everything.

  Hicks feathered a light kiss across her lips. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Reaper’s deep voice broke into their haze of passion. “What is it? What’s wrong? Was it a bad reaction to the serum?”

  Melissa clutched her clipboard to her chest. “In a way. Caroline’s body is changing.”

  “Why are you being so cryptic? Just tell us.” Reaper shot to his feet.

  “Caroline is pregnant.”

  Caroline gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Reaper collapsed onto the stool behind him, his flushed face draining of color. “How is that possible?”