If possible she went even more rigid. She took a step out the door and stopped. Quinn rose from the bed, unsure what to expect. Avery hadn’t dealt with her trauma yet. Eventually, she would.
In a ragged voice she said, “I couldn’t do it.”
“Couldn’t do what?”
“Overcome. I couldn’t conquer it.”
She trembled visibly now. Fighting an inner war. He wanted to fight it for her, but didn’t know how.
She spun around, eyes angry. “You know what? Forget it. They don’t get to win.”
As quickly as she turned she was gone. Quinn followed her out the back door, across the deck and down the steps onto the lawn, uncertain what to expect. He found it damn hard to stay one step ahead of this woman. She was as unpredictable as the weather. From the moment she took a step off that cliff he hadn’t been able to calculate her next move. He didn’t like it one damn bit. Put him behind enemy lines with an injured soldier and he was in his comfort zone. This felt like enemy territory, but the enemy was within Avery, unseen and volatile.
As she neared the water she dropped her towel. Quinn’s eyes drifted over her lean curves and long legs covered in bruises and welts. The woman had been through hell and now he had proof. Those marks weren’t from her fall.
He watched her go. She was strong and beautiful, a survivor. A woman he easily admired. If only she wasn’t so erratic.
Or so damned attractive.
He held back both lust and the urge to stop her as she charged into the lake. He let her do this. Whatever it was. Her steps slowed once she hit the water, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she picked up the pace, forcing her way through the deep, dark depths as if she had something to prove.
Hell, maybe she did.
Thunder growled a warning across the sky. Quinn took a step toward her then stopped. What the hell was he supposed to do? This seemed like something she needed to do. He just wished he knew exactly what that was.
Her head suddenly disappeared beneath the water. Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. She was going swimming now? The sky was almost black with the impending storm. It wouldn’t be long before it hit.
Fuck this. He was going in. The water was the last place they should be right now. A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky in confirmation. Why the hell hadn’t she come up for air yet? Whatever crazy thing she was trying to overcome was going to get her killed and that wasn’t happening on his watch.
Quinn ran into the water and dove in where it dropped off. Avery wouldn’t have known it dropped off so sharply or so close to shore. And if she wasn’t a very good swimmer…
Determined not to finish that thought, he dove deeper and searched the black depths for her red hair. Visibility was near zero as he scoured the rock and sand bottom. After a minute and a half he came up for air, then ducked back down. Nate, a former Navy SEAL, could hold his breath underwater for four minutes. Quinn would trade his lung capacity for his brother’s right now.
Panic built in his chest as he searched frantically for Avery. Where the hell was she?
Then he saw her. Floating a few feet from him. Her arms were spread, her eyes open and unblinking. Quinn swam to her, grabbed her by the waist and kicked to the surface. She didn’t fight him until they reached the grassy shore. Her fists pounded his chest as she struggled to be free.
“Christ, Avery,” he muttered and set her on her feet.
She tore out of his arms, face white, eyes haunted. Not for the first time he felt helpless. She battled inner demons and until she told him what those demons were, he couldn’t help her. He couldn’t fight an imaginary enemy. It pissed him off to no end that he couldn’t fix this.
He bent, picked up her towel and handed it to her. A saint he was not. If she continued to parade naked around him he was going to do something really stupid like taste those stubborn lips.
She grabbed it and wrapped it around her, then faced him with a militant stance he recognized from when his sister decided to stand her ground. Usually on something she knew they wouldn’t agree to.
When she spoke her voice was ragged, self-deprecating. “They won, that’s what’s wrong with me.” She stormed past him.
Quinn lifted his eyes to the sky. There was more than one storm brewing. He had a feeling when she broke, Avery’s was going to be much more dangerous than a little thunder and lightning.
Thunder cracked and he smirked. Yeah, his thoughts exactly. With a heavy burden on his shoulders, Quinn went in pursuit of Avery.
****
Quinn woke to the crack of thunder and rain pelting the windows. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with thumb and forefinger. Avery had locked herself in her room the rest of the night and he’d opted to sleep on the couch in case she needed him.
Lightning flashed. He leaned over and turned on the lamp before rising and walking into the kitchen to close the window above the sink. Exhaustion pricked his eyelids, yet he felt restless. Sleep had evaded him and tossing and turning on the sofa hadn’t given him anything but a twinge in his back. Tomorrow was the wake at the funeral home. It was going to be one hell of a day.
Outside the storm raged, much like the one inside him. What he wouldn’t give to rewind the clock and start over.
Quinn raked a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. Hell. Even if he could time travel it wouldn’t change anything. He would still take the job and his brother would still be dead.
No amount of wishing would change that.
Thunder boomed, rattling the windows. Quinn cocked his head, hearing something along with it. A second later the noise came again.
He bolted out of the room and into Avery’s. The choking sounds came again. Lightning flashed through the window, illuminating her pale face. Her mouth was open, her head thrown back as she gasped for air. The quilt was heaped on the floor and her body writhed beneath the sheets.
He crossed to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress, grabbed her flailing hands and pinned them at her sides.
“Avery!”
Still she fought against him. Breath wheezed in and out of her lungs. An asthma attack? She began to cough, her hip slamming into his as she fought against him.
Suddenly, she went rigid, her back arched, her eyes rolling back in her head. Just as quickly she collapsed against him, eyes closed, her breaths evening out. Quinn stared at her in the lightning flashes, uncertain what to make of the episode, of what to do.
His grip eased on her wrists. With a small moan she rolled into him, her breathing back to normal. He leaned over and braced his elbows on his knees.
Thunder cracked, shaking the cabin. Avery jumped in her sleep, jolting the bed.
“Quinn?”
At the sound of her husky voice, he looked over his shoulder to see her frowning at him.
He started to rise, but she caught him by the forearm. “No.”
“You were having a nightmare so I came in.”
Lightning flashed through the window, showcasing her tousled hair and haunted eyes. She looked vulnerable. Not since he’d pulled her out of the river had she looked like this. She kept her game face on, hiding her suffering and locking it away so no one would see. Tonight, he saw what she worked so hard to bury.
“I should go.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut and let go of his arm. “Yes,” she agreed and rolled over so her back was to him. But not before he saw the loneliness in her eyes.
There was longing there, written in the lines on her face, but she refused to ask him to stay. He sensed her need, but they both knew they shouldn’t act on it. Not with her fiancé waiting for her back home. Why hadn’t she asked to contact him? He couldn’t let her do it, but he found it odd she hadn’t asked.
Caught between right and wrong, Quinn lay down next to her. She immediately rolled into him, her head tucked into his chest, her body a mere inch away. He closed the distance and pulled her close. She curled into him and slid her arm around his waist to hold tight.
After a few minutes her trembling stopped and she relaxed against him.
Quinn simply held her. Truth be told, he was in no hurry to leave. She felt damn good in his arms. Soft and feminine.
For tonight he would stay.
Tomorrow, he would do the right thing.
****
Dani bolted upright in bed, her chest heaving. She looked around the guest room, lit by the lamp she had left on before going to bed. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep in the master bedroom.
Thunder rattled the windows, making her jump and clamp a hand over her mouth so Evan wouldn’t hear her. She hated storms. They were loud and violent. Unpredictable. Everything she wasn’t.
Another round of rumbling and lightning flashes had her out of bed and heading for the bathroom. Trying to do it without noise was a task because even the slightest sound would bring Evan charging to her rescue. She loved the Wolff brothers like they were her own, but their over-protectiveness was stifling. They hadn’t allowed her a moment’s peace since…well, since. Not that she wanted to be alone. The thought terrified her, but she couldn’t really deal with one of the brothers always hovering.
A sob built in her throat. Deal. Yeah. How was she supposed to deal with the death of her fiancé two weeks before they were supposed to be married? Two weeks before he would give her a surprise trip to Ireland. She wasn’t supposed to know, but Cedar Falls was a small town and even though he had booked the trip three counties away, people talked. Especially with a best friend as a travel agent. Not the agent Ryan used, but a friend of the woman he’d booked through.
Wasn’t it so like Ryan to secretly plan a trip to the one place she had always wanted to go? In high school she’d traced her family tree back to the boat that brought her ancestors over from Ireland in the late 1800’s. It started out a school project and turned into a journey of discovery. Ryan helped her find websites on the internet and even made a few calls for her when she was too shy to do it.
That was who he was. Always charming, always willing to help.
The sob escaped her lips just as she crossed the hall and swung the door closed. The ache in her heart brought her to her knees in the middle of the guest bathroom. Tears flowed down her cheeks as Ryan’s handsome face filled her head. How she loved his smile. So friendly and comforting. He always seemed to know what she needed, even when she didn’t.
Dani stuffed a fist in her mouth to stifle her sobs. God, how she wished Ryan was here to wrap his arms around her and make everything better. He could always make her troubles and worries go away with a simple hug.
“Ryan,” she whispered brokenly, bending over and wrapping her arms around her waist. In her mind she heard him whisper to her that it was going to be okay. That she would make it through this.
Something scraped outside the door and she froze. A light knock.
“Dani? You okay?”
Evan. She couldn’t let him see her like this. He would try and make it better and right now she didn’t want someone to fix her. She rose to her feet and cleared her throat. “Um, just getting a drink. Go back to bed, I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.” His gentle, compassionate voice came through the door and made her want to throw something. It wasn’t his fault. Evan was the most patient, kindest man she ever met outside of Ryan, but he wasn’t Ryan and it made her angry.
“I’m going right back to bed. You don’t have to worry.” She wanted to scream at him to go away and leave her alone, but she had never spoken a mean word to anyone in her life. It wasn’t how her parents raised her.
A pause. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
His shadow crossed in front of the door and she knew he had gone even though she didn’t hear his footsteps. None of the Wolff brothers made any noise when they moved and they all stood over six feet tall. If she hadn’t grown up with them she imagined she would be intimidated by the skill. How many times had Ryan scared the life out of her by sneaking up on her? He’d only laughed when she jumped a foot off the ground.
More tears threatened.
Dani stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Dark circles ringed her eyes, her skin pale and drawn. She looked like she hadn’t slept in months.
Her hand went to the mirror. If she didn’t get some sleep she would get sick. And she needed to be strong for Ellen right now. Ryan would want her to be strong for his mom.
She opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a prescription bottle.
“Just tonight,” she murmured and popped the cap.
****
The crack of dawn brought blessedly cooler temps and drier air. Ellen Wolff poured a second cup of coffee and wandered onto the back porch. The tall oak and maple trees shadowing the house dripped with morning dew and remnants of last night’s storm. Her bare feet splashed lightly in the puddles of water left on the deck.
She stopped at the railing to sip her coffee and stare out across the quiet lake. Not so much as a ripple across the glassy surface. The turbulence had gone, leaving serenity in its wake. This was her favorite time of the day. That moment between night and day before the world woke up.
But today she didn’t feel the promise of a new day. For tomorrow she would bury her youngest son.
Bitterness rose up in her throat. A mother shouldn’t have to bury her son. She certainly wasn’t supposed to outlive any of her children. But, she didn’t live in a bubble. Wolff Securities took her boys to dangerous places to do dangerous things. She knew that. Accepted it, because she loved them and wanted them to be happy. Their job was risky, but her boys had been taking risks before they were out of diapers. Most weeks one of them came home with a broken this, sprained that. She had learned years ago not to panic at the sight of blood. With six boys she had no choice. It was that or spend every waking moment worrying.
Ryan had been the clumsiest of all of them. Always tripping over his own two feet in a rush to keep up with his older brothers. Most times they let him tag along. Quinn was the one who nudged her aside when the boys were too old for Band-Aids and a kiss to make it better. As the oldest, he always took care of his siblings, watching over them like a mother hen, even when he got into trouble right alongside them. It really was no surprise he became an EMT and then a pararescueman. His need to rescue others had developed at an early age.
She still remembered the time Nate—no, Kell, jumped from a tree limb into the lake on a dare and broke his ankle. Lucky it wasn’t his neck. Quinn carried him all the way home with four brothers and Bailey, only six at the time, trailing behind. Like little soldiers they marched up the driveway to face her and Frank. A smile touched her lips. Ryan had been the first to fess up to the truth that they’d disobeyed. He never could keep a secret. Quinn had stood in front of them, chin raised, accepting the blame for all of them. As he had two nights ago.
Ellen sat down on the porch swing with a sigh. She owed her oldest son an apology. Frank had gently pointed that out in bed last night. Not that he needed to. She knew what she had to do. It wasn’t Quinn’s fault her youngest son was gone. They all knew the risks. Even Dani, who couldn’t see reason right now. The poor girl was supposed to be married in two weeks. Nothing in the world could take away that pain. Right now Dani needed their love and support.
A weight settled on her shoulders as she sipped her coffee and watched the sunrise over the lake. The moment would pass soon enough and then she would be at the funeral home accepting condolences.
It was going to be a long, dreadful two days.
****
Quinn woke to the bleep of his cell phone. He reached for it on the bedside table and realized he wasn’t in his bedroom, but in the guest room. With Avery, who slept beside him, her arm around his waist, her head tucked into his shoulder. Her copper hair tickled his chest as she shifted and draped one shapely leg over his.
He stifled a groan and carefully disengaged her body from his so he could climb out of bed. She let out a soft so
und of discord before settling on his pillow. Satisfied he hadn’t woken her, Quinn strode into the living room and snatched his phone off the coffee table.
“Are these all the photos Avery took?”
Shea.
“Yes.”
In this case he told the truth. He’d had Chris go through them before he sent them to Shea to make sure none of them were of use to her. They didn’t have the resources Shea did, but their database searches came up with zilch. As far as Quinn was concerned they were simply grunts in Diakameli’s army.
“Damn. There’s not much here I can use.”
“Then our business is done.”
“I was so sure—what? Oh, yeah, I won’t call again. Goodbye, Quinn. Oh, and, thank you.”
The line went dead.
He disconnected and strode into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. As it brewed he leaned against the counter, deep in thought.
He’d slept in the guest room with Avery the past two nights. A bad fucking idea. It put him dangerously close to breaking Rule Number One. He didn’t cross that line. Ever. The temptation had never been there until now. Avery provided enticement like no women ever had. Despite her stubborn, unpredictable nature, she stirred his blood.
And if that didn’t make him the world’s biggest fool he didn’t know what did. Except kissing her, you fool. He already had one foot over the line. Hell, half his damned body. The wrong half. And if he wasn’t careful he was going to blow this and get her killed.
With a shake of his head he turned and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. He needed his head examined. If his brothers found out what he’d done—still wanted to do—they would kick his ass. Twice. Then bench him from another mission until he was thinking straight. And they’d be damned right to do it.
He slammed the cup on the counter. What the hell was it about Avery, anyway? She didn’t throw herself at him. Hell, she couldn’t even admit she needed a hand. The woman was proud and stubborn and in truth, damned irritating. And full of secrets she wouldn’t share. She did stupid things that scared the crap out of him. Like the stunt in the shower, and in the lake, and he couldn’t forget her trying to leave without telling him. Not to mention her fiancé she never talked about.
Maximum Risk Page 10