by Cynthia Eden
“Um, Harper,” came Antony’s slightly nervous voice from the backseat. “You are aware of the speed limit—”
“And since you’re the tech guy who probably dug into my background extensively before meeting me, you are aware that I was trained to drive by one of the best race car drivers in Italy. I can handle my speed. Handle myself. And keep you two safe.” She never took her eyes off the road. Her hands were loose around the wheel, and her posture was perfect. “Priority one is to get the hell away from here. I want Roman secured at his house immediately. So why don’t you just settle down back there, Antony? Or, you know what? Do something useful. Make sure an ambulance is one the way for the limo driver.”
Roman heard Antony calling for an ambulance, though he was sure the people back at the scene had already called for help. A moment later, he also heard Antony talking to someone—Eric? Dex?—and giving an update on what had happened.
“You’re alive,” Roman said. Obvious, yes. And…his voice was too rough.
“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” Harper wanted to know. “Try having some faith in me.”
It wasn’t about faith. It was about fear. “The car exploded. It flipped into the air. The flames were in the back.” That nightmare scene was playing through his head over and over again.
“Yes, they were in the back. Good thing I was riding up front. Actually…” She bit her lower lip. “I was the one driving.”
“What? But—but you got in the back.” He could not take his eyes off her profile.
From the back seat, Antony coughed. “I saw you get in the back, too,” he said. “What did you do, lower the privacy screen and crawl through?”
She whipped to the right. “No, I didn’t crawl through the privacy screen. While you two were heading for the SUV, I decided to just move up front. I walked up there, all normal-like, I assure you. It had been a while since I drove a limo, and I was tense and didn’t feel like sitting alone in the back, so I asked the driver if I could take over. He let me, and now I’m alive. Wins all around.” The words were flippant, but her voice was flat.
Roman wanted to haul her into his arms. Never let go. Instead, he forced himself to look back to Antony. “Why the hell wasn’t that limo checked for a bomb?”
“It was. Dex had agents at the airport. Undercover, you know? They screened the car.”
“Then they did a really shitty job of that screen.” If the agents hadn’t been bought off.
“I’m on it,” Antony assured him. “Already texted Dex. We’ll figure out what happened.”
“I am not impressed,” Harper declared. “Dex and his agents have me feeling very underwhelmed.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Antony mumbled.
“You do that,” she urged.
Roman had been checking the road around them for a tail. Actually, he’d been getting his dumb ass in gear so he could make sure Harper stayed safe. Hard because he was so focused on just her.
Flames. Fear. Harper.
He couldn’t remember ever being so scared. Not even when he’d been tortured. When he’d been sure he was moments away from death. This was all different—because it was her.
“I expected more from the CIA,” Harper added. “Such a letdown.”
Silence. Then Antony laughed. “What?”
“I am not in the mood for more secrets. CIA.” She shot a fast glance into the rearview mirror. “You think I don’t get who Dex works for? Who you work for?”
“He works for Dex,” Roman told her.
“Your accent is good, Roman. Generally, you sound very American. But every now and then…when you’re stressed or, you know…like really, really involved in something…”
What did she mean…really, really involved in—
“Your accent slips. You stop sounding quite so American. Go a little more guttural. Rougher. I’d say Eastern European.”
Roman’s lips parted, but he didn’t speak. He couldn’t. He’d fucked up. He hadn’t even realized it.
Really, really involved in…
“Sex,” Harper told him helpfully. “You lost the American accent during sex. Guess it’s hard to focus on holding a mask then, hmm?”
When he had sex with her, yes, it was hard to focus on anything else but the extreme pleasure he felt.
“Since you’re so chummy with Dex and the man has all this classified BS that he likes to spout, it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. When we first met, I thought you were former military, but I was wrong. You’re a former spy.”
Still not exactly the truth. Not a full lie, either, though.
“Please, don’t confirm or deny. You can both sit there in silence. Do you. Be fabulous. But, you know, considering that I was just in a car that caught on fire and flipped, I think I should at least get the courtesy of something. It was quite stressful for the flames to be at my back while broken glass and metal chunks were all around me, and I had to haul Travis out of the driver’s side window.”
Roman’s heart shoved too fast against his chest. “You do deserve an explanation.” Hell, yes, she did. “You’ll get one.” They were almost to his home.
“Um, Roman…” Antony’s voice sounded strangled. “I don’t know about that being the best idea. We still need to have that private talk of ours.”
“She almost died.” And he’d almost lost everything. His mind. His heart. Hell, he had no soul. That was long gone. “We all know that bomb was meant for me.” Must have been a bomb. “They thought I’d be in the back with her. They thought they’d take me out.” His enemies hadn’t cared if Harper died, too.
“Why are these people after you? Why are they working so hard to get to you? Do you have secrets on them? Intel? What?” Harper’s questions were rapid-fire.
Once more, his gaze swept the area for attackers. “They want to kill me,” he replied simply. “Because I’m the bad guy, sweetheart. I’m the bastard. I hurt them, and now, they want to hurt me.”
“That’s…not true.” Her voice was halting.
He knew she wanted his words to be a lie. And wasn’t that why he hadn’t wanted her to learn who he really was? “I’m afraid that it is.”
He was bad. Evil. Just like his father.
***
“This is insanity.” Antony shut the door to Roman’s study. Harper was upstairs, changing out of her torn and smoky clothes.
Because she was in a damn fire. An explosion.
She didn’t have extra clothes at his place, but he was sure the folks at Wilde would be sending more over to her. When they’d arrived, two agents had been guarding the perimeter of his house.
Eric had installed the security system himself. It was supposed to be the most secure system in the world. Better than Fort Knox. No one should get to Harper while she was there.
And while she’s safe, I will destroy those bastards.
“Are you even listening to me?” Antony yanked at the collar of his shirt. His glasses were off-kilter on his nose.
“No,” Roman replied honestly. “I’m not.” He gripped the back of the chair in front of him. “I keep seeing the car explode. I keep thinking about Harper and I—”
“She’s not going to stay with you.”
His hold tightened. “I’m not asking you for love life advice.”
Antony hurried toward him. “I don’t know how long we have before she’s done changing, and this isn’t how I wanted to say things. Just blurting isn’t my style.” He winced. “I am also very much not good at this emotional stuff. I tend to avoid entanglements whenever possible. Emotions are messy.”
Roman just stared at him.
“I get that you think you need to come clean with her. But you can’t tell her who you really are. Who your father was. She’ll hate you when she learns the truth. She’ll run from you. That will just make protecting her harder right now. The people after you have latched onto her. They want to use her against you, obviously. So we need to keep her close.”
“I inte
nd to keep her close.” His knuckles had turned white. “I already told her that I was the one who’d done bad things. She didn’t run then. Harper isn’t the running type. She isn’t—”
“She went to Europe when she turned eighteen.”
“Yes, yes, I know that—Dex told me.”
“Dex left out big pieces.” Antony yanked off his glasses. “Who the hell knows why? He needs to stop the games.”
“Why did she go to Europe?”
“She wanted to visit her dad’s grave. Her mom met him when she was a college student. Got swept off her feet by a dark and dangerous stranger. He…he was killed right in front of Harper’s mother. Gunned down in the street.”
“Fuck.”
“Harper’s mother came back home. Had Harper but…she gave her up. The mother’s family was afraid of what had happened in Europe. Afraid that trouble would come after them.”
“Because of the baby?”
“Because it was a mess.” Antony put his glasses back on. “Because Harper’s father was a spy. He tried to recruit her mom, too. Fell in love while he was seducing her. Tried to get out and just got dead when his cover was blown. Harper’s mother was being hunted. She knew it, and that’s why she ran home to the US. She had her baby in the hospital and disappeared. Maybe she thought she’d come back for the baby later, I don’t know. But there was no later. She didn’t go back. She kept running. Invented a whole new life for herself. One that didn’t include Harper.”
Smiling Harper. Harper who could light up a room.
A life that didn’t include her? It would be dark. Cold. Empty.
“Her mother died when Harper was seventeen. Heart attack. When Harper turned eighteen and started looking for her parents, they were both gone.” Grim. “So she headed to Europe. She didn’t know her father was a spy back when her parents met. I still don’t think she knows.”
He hated the pain she must have felt. And, damn, but he could understand. He and Harper were so much more alike than he’d realized. But while he’d turned cold and hard, she’d stayed warm. Caring. Good.
Roman’s mother had never been in his life. She’d run from his bastard of a father. He’d always wanted to find her, but by the time he’d had the chance, it had been too late. She’d been killed—
“You’re not getting what I’m saying, Roman. Her father was a spy.”
“Yeah, so are you. So was I. Harper won’t turn from me because of—”
“He was gunned down in the street to send a message.”
“I heard you.” Was Harper done changing? He craned to look around Antony.
“By your father.”
“What?” He’d misheard. He must have misheard. There was no way—
“All evidence uncovered by the CIA indicates that your father was the shooter. He was amassing quite a bit of power in those days, he could have hired the hit out to someone, but our intel indicates he chose to do the job himself. He wanted to send a message. No matter how high he rose, if you turned on him, he would come for you.” Antony shook his head. “I’m sorry. Dex should have told you not to get involved with her. It won’t end well. When she finds out the truth—”
A light knock rapped at the door. Then, “I’m coming in. No more secrets.” Harper swung open the door. Stood on the threshold, wearing one of Roman’s shirts. A blue dress shirt that she’d rolled up to her elbows. The bottom of the shirt fell below her thighs. She looked delicate and sexy and—
A million miles out of my reach.
Roman knew Antony was right. When Harper found out the truth, she would hate him. She’d grown up without a family…Because my family destroyed hers.
“Roman?” Her eyes widened. Then she was immediately rushing straight to him. Her hands rose and pressed to his chest. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
He could not tell her. There was no way he could open his mouth and say, “Sorry, sweetheart. I just found out that my dad killed yours. Shot him in the street. Your mother was terrified so she ran. You lost everything because of my family.”
Harper wouldn’t just run away. She’d hate him.
Normally, he didn’t mind hate. Didn’t really care how others felt about him. But she was different.
When Roman didn’t answer, Harper’s head whipped toward Antony. “What did you do to him?”
“Me?” Antony’s eyes widened. “I didn’t do a thing to him!”
“Obviously, you did something. The man looks like he just lost his best friend!”
Roman’s chest burned. Why the hell wasn’t his mask in place? How was she seeing through him so easily? What the fuck was happening to him?
And he hadn’t lost his best friend…had he? He didn’t have a best friend. He didn’t let people close.
Except Harper was close. Harper was touching him. Warming him. Glaring because she wanted to protect him.
Lost a best friend? No. I think I lost even more than that.
“Tell me what you said to him,” Harper directed. “Tell me right now. I could kick your ass for upsetting Roman.”
“It’s been a real upsetting day for everyone.” Antony shuffled toward the bar in the corner, but he didn’t touch the drinks there. “The driver is resting comfortably in the hospital, by the way. Thought you might like that update.”
“Glad to hear it.” Her hands still pressed to Roman’s chest. “But I want to hear a whole lot more, too.” She looked back at Roman. Her right hand rose. Curled against his jaw. She stared into his eyes, and her own gaze narrowed. “No. Don’t do that.”
He backed away from her. Had to do it. “Do what?”
“Block me out. When I came into this room, I saw you. Don’t go throwing up your walls now. It’s far too late for that.”
It was too late. He should have never touched her. “I’m sorry.”
“Damn right, you should be.” A firm nod. “We’re in this together.” Her hands fell away—only—only for her right hand to reach for his. Her fingers curled around his. She held his hand. “We’re a team. A partner has your back. Always. I’ll have yours. You’ll have mine.”
Roman stared down at their joined hands.
“Now I want to know everything,” Harper ordered. “Tell me exactly what we’re dealing with here, and don’t even think of leaving anything out.”
Chapter Twelve
“Dex has given approval for you to receive certain information,” Antony allowed as he began to pace. “And your cooperation on this case is certainly appreciated.”
“So glad to be appreciated,” Harper replied breezily. Like it didn’t matter. Like she was totally fine and cool and handled near-death experiences every single day.
Lie. Lie. Lie. She wasn’t fine. She wasn’t in control. In fact, if she hadn’t been holding so tightly to Roman, Harper was afraid that she might have shattered into a million pieces. She could still feel the flames on her skin. At first, when she’d been driving the limo, Harper hadn’t even known what was happening. She and Travis had been listening to the radio. Talking. Small talk. The kind of talk that you forgot later because it doesn’t matter. Then the car had been flying. It had hurtled forward, and Travis had started screaming.
They’d slammed into the pavement. The car’s alarm had begun blaring. The seatbelt had bit into her shoulder, and the air bags had deployed. It had taken a moment for the fire to register, and when it had, she’d worried about a secondary explosion. Had the gas line already been hit? Did they only have moments before they were burned alive?
She’d dragged Travis out and heard the bellow of her own name. When she’d whipped around, Roman had been running toward the wreckage. She didn’t even remember racing toward him. She’d only known that she had to keep him safe.
“I was a spy.” Roman’s voice was halting.
Her hold tightened on him. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He blanched. For a second, she could have sworn that something very much resembling agony flashed across his face before he ras
ped, “I’d rather not.”
“Yes, well, you don’t have lots of options.” She moved even closer to him and lowered her voice as she said, “I don’t care, Roman. I don’t care about the past. I get that you must have taken dangerous jobs. That you made enemies. I’m not going to back away from this. I can handle whatever happened in your past.”
A muscle flexed along his jaw. “Baby, I’ve done things that would give you nightmares.”
She kept right on holding his stare. “Why are you trying to make me think you’re the villain?”
“Because I am.”
“Not to me.”
His gaze cut away from her. Landed on Antony. “Tell her what she needs to know.” Clipped. Angry. Roman pulled away from Harper. Paced across the room. A fire blazed in the massive hearth, and Roman gazed into the flames as if they were the most fascinating things on the face of the earth. His back was turned to Harper.
She wrapped her arms around her stomach. She felt as if he’d shut her out, and she didn’t like the feeling. Not one bit.
“So…” Antony took a few hesitant steps toward her. “Roman was recruited by Dex years ago. Roman had lots of European connections that were valuable, so for a time he worked, um…in a sense, I suppose you could think of him as a double agent.”
Roman was still staring into the fire.
“Only eventually, his role with the CIA was discovered. He was captured. His captors demanded that Dex surrender himself in exchange for Roman. Dex has a lot of power. Far more than you probably realize.”
She just waited.
“The exchange didn’t go as planned.” Antony winced. “In fact, I’d say it went very badly.”
“I’m going to need more than that.” Harper took a step toward the fire.
I can still feel the flames. Hear the crunch of metal.
She froze.
Antony quietly revealed, “Dex went for the exchange, only instead of giving up Roman, the bastards shot Dex and threw him in a river.”