Circle of Deception

by Carla Swafford

  “Edward. Please. You don’t understand. The people you’re dealing with are crazy. The Inferno wants the world to burn so they can bring about a new world order. You’ve always had a good head on your shoulders. Why be involved with a group who wants to destroy? You know they’ll fail but in the meantime will kill a lot of innocent people. You were never like that. You weren’t brought up that way.”

  Her brother threw back his head and laughed so hard, he wiped tears from his eyes. “I really don’t give a fuck what you think. Money is a big motivator, and they’re crazy enough to pay me big-time to help.” He motioned for his men to take them. “Lock them up, but separately this time. Abby is a little more talented in self-defense than I had thought. Her husband should show up soon.”

  There was nothing left to do but tell her brother the truth.

  “Remember the other day you wanted to know if Rurik worked for the government?”

  He lifted his hand to stop his men. “Yes. And you swore to me he doesn’t. So are you saying he does?”

  “He works for an organization called The Circle. They’re not part of the government, but you don’t want to cross them. They’ve taken an interest in stopping the manufacture and shipment of the bullets you’ve invented.” With Edward’s involvement, he or the Ericksons had to be the inventor.

  “The Circle? So what I suspected was right. I couldn’t find much about them on the Internet, but Brody came across quite a bit. The man knows ways of digging up information that amazes me. He’s an artist with a computer. I wish I had invented the guidance program for the bullets. But my partner was the genius who brought science fiction to reality. He understands he needs my help. While I have the marketing skills, I also had the connections.”

  “You’re saying Brody was the one who invented Hell’s Purifier? I don’t believe you. It had to be the Ericksons. They’re strange enough to be the type.”

  “What’s the type?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Super smart and doesn’t care for human life.”

  “Super smart. Yeah. I guess no one ever could call me super smart, but”—he nodded toward Jack—“why are you asking the questions instead of him?”

  She shrugged and hoped she could get him talking again. Better chance of Rex and Liam realizing they hadn’t returned yet. “You’re my brother. I’m simply trying to get you to see reason and tell me the truth about Hell’s Purifier.” She wanted him to tell her who the inventor was. He made it sound as if the genius was Brody.

  “Oh, I’m very reasonable if not pushed too far, and you’re pushing. Where’s your husband?”

  “Please let us go.” Her brother could always see through her.

  He stepped back and tilted his head. “Are you part of The Circle?”

  “No.” Jack struggled with the men holding him.

  “Yes,” she said at the same time, glaring at Jack.

  Edward pursed his lips and nodded. “That’s what I thought. Explains your disappearance and how much you’ve changed. Sorry, Abby, but if you’re going to play with the big boys, you have to pay the price.”

  “You’re going to kill your own sister?” Jack finally broke loose and slammed a fist into the man’s nose before another jumped him and pulled Jack away.

  A chill traveled down her spine. “If that’s the case, then it won’t hurt to let me know who the inventor is.” She turned back to Edward.

  “Even as a little kid you loved to ask questions. Drove me and Mom nuts when you never shut up. I can’t tell you how often you embarrassed us. It was bad enough you looked like some little orphan we picked up in a country south of the border.”

  His insults didn’t hurt as much as realizing her own brother hated her. They’d never been close, but she’d always admired him. The feeling obviously wasn’t mutual.

  “Hey, Brody, you going to hang out there or come in and tell Abby the truth? For some reason she won’t believe me. I guess she thinks a dumb jock is always a dumb jock,” Edward shouted.

  From his tone, she could tell he had little respect for the man. Why was it so hard for her to believe? Brody had successfully hidden an ammunitions plant from the government and The Circle. So why not believe he was the inventor?

  The doorway remained empty.

  “You self-centered sick fuck! Get in here!” Edward’s face flushed with anger as he edged over to the door, keeping his gun on Abby. He scrambled back when Brody walked in with Rex and Liam behind him, their guns aimed at his back.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. How can you mistreat the man who made you rich?” Rex jabbed the M4 into Brody’s back, pushing him farther into the room.

  Before she realized Edward had moved, he had an arm around her neck and his gun to her temple.

  “If you want your wife to live, you’ll put your gun down, Rurik. Or whatever your name is. Then again, I don’t give a damn what you call yourself.”

  Rex’s gaze shot to her and then to a point behind her, beyond Edward, in the opposite corner of where they held Jack. She heard Jack arguing with the men, and his voice remained in the same area of the room. Afraid to move and draw attention to whatever was going on, she kept her eyes on Rex. She needed to concentrate on talking her brother out of shooting her.

  The bang in the small room caused her eardrums to go numb for several seconds. When her brother’s hold became limp, she knew what had happened. Someone had shot him. She dropped to her knees next to Edward and touched the side of his neck with two fingers. Her hands shook so bad she wasn’t sure if that was the reason she didn’t feel a pulse.

  She looked up. She’d forgotten about Ty. He held a gun—she had no idea where he got it—and pointed it at the men holding Jack. The men, realizing their leader was dead and no help would be coming from Brody, dropped their hold.

  Jack kicked one fellow in the balls as he hit the other guy with a left hook. “You deserve it, assholes!”

  Ignoring the chaos around her, Abby clutched Edward’s shirt and pleaded, “Eddie, please hold on. We’ll get you some help.” She looked at the dear face she’d looked up to for so many years. His death would devastate her mom.

  “SWEETHEART, LET HIM go. The cleanup crew is here.”

  She looked around, her eyes scratchy and dry. How long had she been holding her brother’s head on her lap? She stood up and felt tears cooling on her face. The room began to swirl. Then she was in Rex’s arms, being carried out of the room.

  Weak and queasy, she cupped his cheek. “Put me down. You’ll break your stitches.”

  “Shh. I’m okay. Let me take care of you. Close your eyes. You don’t need to do anything. I got you.”

  “You don’t need to do that. I can walk.” Even to her ears, the protest was weak. She never remembered anyone saying they would take care of her. Sure, her mom cared enough to feed and clothe her, but her father had been the one who hugged her when she skinned her knee or celebrated with her when she brought home good grades. His office hours were too crazy for the day in, day out niceties and it wasn’t until she was older that she had realized what she missed out on.

  From what Rex had told her over the last few days, she wasn’t the only one who missed out—but in a different way. Having a father who beat and degraded him at every turn and a mother who turned a blind eye to the cruelties, she was surprised how kind and gentle he treated her.

  He kicked at the door leading out of the warehouse. Circle operatives scurried out of his way. She didn’t care what anyone thought of Rex carrying her. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder and soaked in his warmth.

  REX HUGGED HER closer. He never wanted to let her go. The thought of how close he’d come to losing her again terrified him.

  “I thought Ryker wasn’t going to help us,” she said so low he barely caught it.

  “It seems he decided to show up when he heard we’d gained control of the Inferno facility.” He couldn’t help a snort of derision. “We found the factory in the small building across from the warehouse. We got all the
equipment, including the plans and specs.”

  Her arms wrapped around his neck and she closed her eyes. She appeared to be uninterested in hearing any more about ammunitions and The Circle. “Where are you taking me?” He liked how she trusted him enough to do that.

  “Probably to bed for a week or more.”

  “That would be nice.” She rubbed her cheek against him.

  His chest swelled with a feeling so deep for this woman he was certain his heart would burst.

  Minutes passed with several Circle operatives asking if they could help, and one was brave enough to offer to take her from him. He growled. Were they so stupid to think he would let her go after what they’d been through? She’d squeezed tight, letting him know she wanted to stay with him. He liked that.

  “Hey, Rex.” Jack’s voice brought him to a stop.

  “You better stay away from me. You almost got Abby killed.” When they had started working together, Rex had hoped they would be able to act like brothers. But when Jack once again led Abby into danger, he knew it was never meant to be.

  “I know. I’ve really screwed up the last few days. I wouldn’t listen to anyone and well . . . I’m giving up command of the OS Sector.” Jack came around and stared at Abby. “She okay?”

  “She’s none of your business. And what I heard was Ryker suspended you.”

  “Well, that remains to be seen. He’s set up a committee to investigate the mission. Someone leaked our whereabouts, especially the time we were in the cavern, and though we stopped most of the shipments, two got out. They’ll need to track them down. The Inferno has them hidden somewhere. Brody should be helpful.”

  Rex shook his head. “I can’t believe Ryker brought that sick asshole into The Circle.”

  “We were all surprised, but you have to admit the man must be a genius to design something so futuristic. He’d come in handy. His knowledge might be the only bright spot in that mission.”

  “Yeah, the assignment was royally fucked up. At least we stopped the manufacturing. I heard the Ericksons got away.”

  “Yeah. We found a tunnel beneath the warehouse that came out two streets over,” Jack said.

  Rex didn’t give a damn about the rich bored couple who dabbled in ammunitions.

  “When are they burying Nic?” He found it hard to wrap his mind around the knowledge he’d never talk with her again. She’d wanted him to love her so bad but he couldn’t love her back. Not the way she wanted.

  Abby wiggled in his arms. When he looked down at the compassion and kindness shining from her chocolate eyes, he wanted to strip her and kiss every inch of her soft, sweet body. They needed to hurry and get to the hotel. Others would have to trace the shipments and hunt the Ericksons down; he and Abby needed a break. A long one.

  “Ryker had her cremated and her ashes flown to her grandmother in Kansas.”

  Damn. He didn’t know she had any family left or where her hometown was. He needed to pay more attention to those he cared for. He glanced down at Abby again. And those who he loved. Yep, time for a change.

  Rex started moving again.

  “Where’re you going?” Jack asked.

  “Abby and I need to recuperate, and the best way is for us to fly out to Las Vegas and really get married.”

  Pushing back a little to look him in the eye, she raised her eyebrows. “We are?”

  “Uh, about that . . . ,” Jack started to answer.

  No! Rex recognized that tone from his brother. Jack always acted so sorry whenever he screwed him over.

  “You better not tell me that you two got married and never divorced. I swear, Jack, if you tell me that, I’ll make sure Abby won’t have to file for one, because you’ll be dead.” Red, he saw red. Maybe he was about to have an aneurysm.

  “No, no, no. Actually, the papers you and Abby signed at the Elvis wedding, they were real.”

  “I signed my cover name. Signing as Rurik doesn’t make it valid.”

  “You know the insurance papers I got you to sign before the wedding? Remember I was in a hurry and there were about ten sheets?”

  “Yeah.” His jaw hurt from clenching his teeth.

  “The last sheet was a marriage certificate. I slipped that one in at the bottom of the stack when Abby signed.”

  Rex looked down at Abby. Her eyes were as wide and round as his. He liked the idea that they had actually been married for over a week. Only, he wanted a real honeymoon without dealing with a perverted high school crush of Abby’s or her crazy family.

  Turning his back to his brother, he asked Abby, “What do you think?”

  “About us being married?”

  He nodded. Words refused to come out. Would she say no? Would she want to divorce him? That didn’t feel fair. He hadn’t had a chance to be a real husband. But when had life been fair to him?

  “It’s all I ever wanted.” Her hand cupped his cheek as her thumb caressed the scar. For once in his life, it didn’t bother him. “What about you?”

  “I’ve loved you for so long, Abby. You’re my breath, my soul, my dream of all that’s good about the world.”

  “You love me?” Her voice cracked.

  How could the woman in his arms believe she was unlovable?

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I love you too.” Tears streamed down her face.

  He released her legs, pressed her against the side of a building, and kissed her. He didn’t give a damn who saw them. The woman deserved so much better, but he wanted a soul-deep kiss. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his cock, with only a layer of cotton material between them. “Let’s get out of here before I take you against the wall.”

  “I wouldn’t mind that, but I’m with you. I’d rather do that in privacy. Making love in front of everyone is a little more than I can handle.” She stroked his cock through his pants. “And this is more than any woman can handle.”

  He chuckled and picked her up, heading to any vehicle he could commandeer, then to Birmingham and their hotel.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  * * *

  ABBY OPTED FOR a long champagne-colored lace gown. The little chapel in Las Vegas was what everyone expected, and it certainly delivered with lots of doves and white bows. It reminded her of her first wedding to Rex, but this time, they knew they were in love.

  After a week of sensual bliss in the Birmingham hotel, Rex had insisted they go on to Las Vegas and make certain Jack couldn’t come back later and claim once again that the wedding was a hoax and they really weren’t married.

  They were officially married thirty minutes ago. The only witnesses were Collin, Olivia, and Charlie.

  Her husband chatted with Lewis Johnson, aka Elvis, the same man who officiated their first wedding. Apparently, he was a real ordained minister and associated with several churches in at least six different states, including Alabama and Nevada.

  “Hello, beautiful.” Rex leaned over and kissed her, thoroughly.

  Her face heated up. “Mercy, you do know how to greet a gal.” She’d gone to repair her hair after Rex had speared his fingers into it when they’d kissed at the altar.

  The minister discreetly moved away.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with us moving to Seattle?”

  She smiled, as she didn’t care where they lived or what they did as long as they could remain together.

  He’d decided to give up his position in The Circle. After Ryker refused to help save the two of them, he said he couldn’t trust the man. She knew he also wanted to be as far away from Jack as possible. Collin and Olivia had started arranging adoptions for children from the Pacific countries and Far East. The Seattle office would need people to handle investigations and security for moving the children to the States. All done legally, of course.

  She and Rex were as good as orphans themselves. Her mother refused to talk to her anymore. She blamed Abby for her brother’s death. Others tried to explain she had nothing to do with it, but she refused to listen. To protect Suzie and T
ommy’s only source of income, the official report was that Edward had died in the line of duty. A hero’s death. So her mother believed he died trying to pull her butt out of the fire.

  And Rex refused to return Jack’s calls. He claimed his older brother had used up all the chances he had to redeem the past.

  “Olivia said Jack has been assigned to the Birmingham Sector and is stationed in the little town of Sand City. Ironic, isn’t it?” She suspected he asked for it, as he felt such guilt over Nic’s death.

  “I heard the suite we’re booked in has a balcony. I want to see what it looks like at night too.” The grin he gave her warned she would be holding on to the railing for dear life while he brought her to climax over and over again.

  She accepted his abrupt change of subject to avoid talking about his brother.

  “There is something romantic about balconies.” The flare of heat in his eyes nearly satisfied her need to give as good as he dealt.

  With a crook of her finger, she grinned as he leaned down for her to whisper in his ear, “I don’t have any panties on.”

  He jerked his head back to look her in the eyes. “Damn, you don’t play fair at all.”

  “Not when it comes to you. I want you hard and ready to go when we reach the hotel room.”

  His arms scooped her up and he threw her over his shoulder.

  “What about our guests?”

  “They’ll understand.”

  As soon as the limousine door closed behind them, Rex said something to the driver in a low tone, and the driver closed the privacy window as he pulled away from the curb.

  “What are you up to, Mr. Drago?”

  “Well, Mrs. Drago, there’s no way in hell I’m waiting to reach that balcony. I’ve never made love in a limo before, and there’s nothing like the present to see how it feels. Having you waiting for me all naked and ready for my touch . . . I may kill someone if they get in the way.”

  “Oh, Mr. Drago. You read my mind.”