by Dawn Ryder
“Zoe?” Roni peered intently at the screen. “You look rough, girl.”
Zoe put a hand up to her face, realizing her hair was like a fuzzy cloud all around her head. “Ah … well … I wasn’t thinking of my vanity when I woke up. Are you okay?”
Roni had settled back in her chair. “Sure am. But I’m having of a hell of a time choosing a new name. You need to help me when you’re feeling better.”
“Ah … what are you talking about?”
Mercer turned the tablet so Roni could see him. “She’ll call you back.”
“Bye, Zoe.”
Roni’s voice filled the air before Mercer tapped the screen to kill the call. He set the tablet aside.
“What was she talking about?”
“She’s being relocated,” Mercer explained. “As soon as you wake up a little more, you’ll see the necessity.”
“I’m awake.”
He was watching her, his dark gaze as keen as always. Intuitive. Sharp. His lips set into a satisfied grin.
“That’s right, Zoe.” He flattened his hands on either side of her. “I’m right here, baby. And I’m not going anywhere.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss against her mouth. Maybe there were reasons why she shouldn’t have kissed him back, but honestly, none of them got past the rush of sensation that flooded her. The scent of his skin was the missing component to her being able to truly rest. She reached for him, trying to pull him close, but her fingers were weak. A little whimper escaped her as she struggled to rise off the pillows and press herself into his embrace. She was desperate for the contact. So weary of being alone.
“I’ve got you, baby.”
He shifted and turned, moving onto the bed and lying back so that she could lay her head on his shoulder. She sighed as she curled up against him, held securely to his side as the sound of his heart filled her head.
There.
That was so much better.
* * *
Sunlight.
Zoe was pretty sure she smelled it before she opened her eyes. She had to reach up and brush her tangled hair out of her face but the reward was a window full of sparkling sunshine. She smiled, relief slamming into her. She didn’t know the details but obviously, things were sorting themselves out. No more secret hideout, and she wasn’t in the prison wing of the hospital.
But her relief was short-lived.
She scanned the room, looking for any hint of Mercer.
Nothing.
It hurt. She swallowed and crawled out of the bed. Her legs were a little weak but she made it into the bathroom.
She needed a shower.
And to shave her legs.
And … brush her teeth.
She forced herself to keep adding things to her list, to keep her mind occupied. Now wasn’t the time to think. At least not about Mercer. She needed some coffee first.
In fact, she was thinking about it so hard, she smelled the java. Rich. Dark. Hot. She exited the shower and grabbed a towel, rubbing it over her skin before she opened the closet in search of something to wear. It wasn’t going to be hard to find it, either. The double-wide closet only had three things in it. Hanging up were leggings, a lightweight tunic top, and a mystery bag that yielded underwear.
All in her size and favorite cut.
Well, she expected no less from such a covert team.
They really were the best.
She’d always known Mercer was too good to be sticking around.
“You coming out of there?”
She jumped, losing her balance and falling against the side of the closet with a thud.
The door went sliding all the way open, the sunlight hitting the back of a figure she was pretty sure she’d recognize when she was 103.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled. “Just clumsy.”
Zoe started to push away from the wall but stopped, trying to absorb the sight of him.
“Yeah, I’m still here.”
He reached out and captured her hand, using the grip to gently pull her out of the closet.
“Um … I can see that.” It was far from the poised response she wanted to make. As in, really far off. But the closet felt too confined with him in it. Her awareness of him was kicking in, as it always did.
There was a mug on the bathroom countertop with steam rising from it. She made a little hum of appreciation before lifting it to her lips and feeding her need for caffeine.
“Careful.” Mercer took it from her before she’d taken more than a few sips. Zoe glared at him, pretty sure she was going to start pouting unless he gave it back. But her belly suddenly clenched, the coffee hitting her stomach like acid.
Mercer lifted the mug away. “You’ll want to eat a little something before having any more coffee. You’ve been out for the better part of two days.”
“Two days?” No wonder her brain felt frozen.
“Better than forever.” Mercer sat the mug down and considered her. “Considering you charged into the line of fire.”
His jaw tightened, disapproval flickering in his eyes. Zoe lifted her chin.
“If you think I’m going to apologize for going after Roni…”
“I’ll settle for you recognizing how much danger it put you in.”
She snorted at him and propped her hand onto her hip. “No. Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just such a naive little thing.”
He didn’t care for her flippant tone and she didn’t like his glowering. She reached past him and captured the coffee mug off the counter. She took another sip from it as she walked out of the bathroom.
He was following her. Not that she heard him. Of course not. The damn man walked like a cat.
She’d made it into the kitchen with its breakfast nook before she snapped. Waking up to him gone was actually better than having him there. She’d expected him to be gone. Now she had to deal with just how deeply he affected her.
She had no clue where to start.
“Don’t think I’m going to take a lecture from you,” she warned him.
He was exactly where she’d expected him to be. On her six.
His expression was tight but his lips curved as her comment hit him. “Don’t think I won’t tell you how foolish it was for you to take on Tim without me.”
“I couldn’t take the chance. Not with Roni.”
“You don’t have to put up with him, sis.”
She jerked her head away from Mercer and found Bram standing in the doorway that connected the kitchen with the rest of the house.
“This team is staying right here, Magnus.” Saxon’s voice came through from the living room. Saxon was hunkered down on an edge of a pub highboy table, looking at the screen of a laptop. It was slightly ridiculous, given that she’d always seen him in a command center.
“Welcome to the new place,” Bram said softly. “We sort of had to relocate you.”
“Oh.” She blinked and looked back at her brother, realizing she was missing what was important. “You’re home.”
She was suddenly hugging him, trying to crush him against her.
“I’m home,” Bram said as he set her back a pace and considered her with a critical eye. “And none too soon, either.”
The tone of his voice sparked a memory. “Wait. Did you know about all this?” She waved a hand around the room at Saxon and Mercer.
Bram let out a low sigh.
“What the…” She bit back the word of profanity as she recalled Harley was in the room. “Just: What?”
“I didn’t know they were going to be utilizing the means they did.” Bram scowled at Mercer.
“Too bad,” Mercer shot back. “Here’s another news flash for you. I’m not leaving.”
“This is my family,” Bram declared. “At least until my father gets back. Until then, I’ll show you to the door if I want to.”
“I think Zoe will be making the call on that.”
Mercer stepped up and Bram met him happily. The pair of them glowered at each other as the tension
in the room tightened.
“I don’t think so.”
She was likely off her rocker but she stepped right between them, flattening her hands on each of them and shoving them back.
“You…” She pointed at Bram. “Are really late to the party. So stand back and wait for me to tell you how it’s going to go down.”
“And you…” Mercer had just started to smirk at Bram when she turned on him—but she felt her brain go blank, because he was still sinfully amazing to look at. Awareness was rippling through her, like a treasured memory or a song that just started up in her head.
“Did you say something about breakfast?”
It was a delay tactic. A cover-up for her lack of ability to think.
Liar.
I don’t want to think.
Later, she sat over her finished breakfast plate and nursed her coffee mug. She felt the gazes of the men in the house, Mercer’s most of all. She’d longed for him to be something she could respect, and fate had delivered just that.
So now what the fuck was she going to do?
Don’t I mean, what is Mercer planning to do?
Yes. That was exactly what she was afraid of discovering.
* * *
“You had to move, too?”
Roni offered her a dry chuckle. “That Agent Hale is mighty sure the only opinion that matters is his.”
“Oh yeah,” Zoe replied as she watched Roni through the screen on the tablet. “I’ve discovered that.”
“For what it’s worth,” Roni continued, “I appreciate you flipping him off and showing up to save me.”
“I’m really sorry about that, Roni.”
“Sorry for what?” Roni demanded. “I rather enjoyed seeing Tim get what was coming to him. Turd showed up, tracked mud across my living room, and taped me to a chair. Glad you dumped his tail into the fire. As for the condo, I’ve found another place. Special Agent Hale hooked me up with a good job, so all I need now is to pick out some new furniture.” Roni smiled. “That’s the fun part.”
“So what’s the name?”
“Le Cross.” Roni rolled it off her tongue. “Debra Le Cross.”
* * *
“Sis?”
Bram caught her investigating the kitchen. There were rosebushes beneath the kitchen window that had yellow roses on them. She’d been leaning over the large, farmhouse-style sink to look at them and enjoying the warm sun on her nose.
“Hope you like the house. I wanted to have it ready for you,” Bram said.
She turned around and leaned against the countertop. “A house is nothing without family. I’m just glad you’re home in one piece. I could have dealt with moving.”
“You handled enough.”
Bram had gotten their father’s blue eyes. A deep blue, like a Caribbean lagoon.
“I’m fine.” Her brother’s attention settled on her shoulder. “It’s not that bad, Bram. You aren’t the only member of this family who can take one for the team.”
“You weren’t on the team, Zoe,” Bram argued. “That’s what’s pissing me off. This guy…”
“Mercer.” She supplied.
Her brother’s eyes narrowed. “Let me kick him to the curb. I can handle looking out for you until this operation is mopped up.”
“Thanks, but I’ll look after myself.” She held up a finger when Bram opened his mouth to argue. “You have no idea how much I mean that, Bram. I’ve spent too much time being looked after. It’s my turn to deal with things my way.”
“I’m home, Zoe.”
And clearly feeling guilty. She bit back the first words that came to mind because she was just so damn happy to see her brother. But that didn’t mean she was going to roll over.
“I’m fine, Bram,” she said firmly. “And I will be dealing with Mercer.”
“You were an assignment to him.”
She flinched. Just couldn’t help it. “Did he tell you that?”
Honestly, it wasn’t any of her brother’s business. But she needed to know.
“I was read into the operation report,” Bram said.
Her cheeks heated. Report. Great. Just what she needed to know. She could have handled being mad. What made her turn around and head toward her bedroom was the fact that what she felt was hurt.
Deep, burning heartache.
* * *
“She doesn’t need you.”
Mercer was torn.
The need to follow Zoe was tearing at his insides. Bram’s voice, however, raised his hackles. He turned and faced off with Bram.
“It’s her call. Not yours,” he said.
“Excuse me, but this happens to be my family,” Bram argued.
Mercer stepped up closer to Bram. He caught a glimpse of Saxon moving in, just in case things got ugly.
“Your sister would be very dead by now without me,” Bram growled.
Mercer closed the gap even more so that they were almost nose-to-nose. “I won’t kiss anyone’s ass over my actions. My dedication runs as deep as yours, Captain. There was a job to do and it wasn’t pretty. I stepped up because of duty but it was the best damn assignment I ever got. Because it brought me here.”
“So take your pat on the shoulder, your glowing commendation, and pack out,” Bram snapped.
“Like hell. I’m not going anywhere,” Mercer bit back. “I might have gotten here by less-than-gentlemanly means but that doesn’t mean I don’t see what a gem your sister is. The reaction we have to each other is more than lust. I’m going to crawl on my knees if I have to but Zoe is going to listen to me.”
Bram’s face tightened. Mercer could see the man fighting back his temper. He suddenly turned and rammed his fist into the wall. The drywall didn’t have a chance of holding. He cussed as he laid his forehead on the wall and pulled his fist free.
“Fine.” He shook his head, still fighting his temper. “But what Zoe says, goes.”
Bram looked through the doorway at Saxon. “And why are you still here?”
Saxon offered him a lazy shrug. “I could give you a half-assed answer or just admit I’m making sure my man gets his day.”
Mercer looked at his team leader in surprise. Saxon offered him a half grin. “I might be guilty of having a stick up my ass, as Vitus claims, but I’m not a hundred percent dick.”
“Never would have guessed it,” Mercer said.
Saxon shrugged. “I know. Don’t let my secret out.” He pointed toward the bedroom Zoe had gone into. “Be a pal and get on with it. I really need a day off. Kagan’s impressed by our performance, which means he’s going to find some other case to stick us on.”
“You might have to count me off.”
Saxon nodded. “Another reason I’m hanging around.”
Mercer started down the hallway as Bram faced off with Saxon.
“I’m not unreasonable. I would have let them make their own choices,” Bram said, defending himself.
“You’re her big brother who hasn’t accepted the fact that she’s not nineteen anymore. I’d threaten to kick your ass if it was my sister, just on principle.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time if you’re not going to step up,” Bram growled.
A prickle of concern went through him but Mercer never faltered. His mission objective was ahead of him.
And he didn’t intend to fail.
* * *
Mercer rapped on the door and gave her three seconds before he pushed it in. Zoe didn’t have to turn around to see that it was him.
She knew it was him.
She felt it ripple across her skin. The awareness was like a sixth sense, there whether or not she wanted it to be. She was hardwired to notice him, to feel her knees go weak the second he entered the room.
“I didn’t say I was choosing you.”
Mercer shut the door firmly. The room instantly shrank. She raised her head, intent on fending off the sense of vulnerability trying to rattle her.
“I was just making sure Bram knows I won’t be ap
ologizing to him for making my own sexual decisions,” she said smoothly. “Or you either, for that matter.”
“Glad to hear it.”
He was too damn poised. Just as confident and arrogant as the first time she’d seen him.
And I’m getting just as bothered by it, too …
“No I’m not.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “You’re not what, Zoe?”
She cringed as she realized she’d spoken out loud. “I’m … just not.”
His lips twitched, but it wasn’t a nice sort of smile.
It was menacing.
So full of the confidence she’d always felt radiating off him. Her insides twisted, her skin heating. “I need some space.”
It was a last-ditch effort to hold on to her composure.
“Not a chance … baby.” He moved closer, the air thickening between them. “We’re going to have a discussion. One I’ve been waiting for you to be ready for.”
“Okay…” She sidestepped, gaining a precious few feet of space. Sure, she was hedging.
Which wasn’t retreating.
Oh right …
“Let’s get married.”
Her jaw dropped. She snapped it shut, trying not to look like an idiot. “I don’t think that’s … necessary.”
He took a step toward her and a shiver shot down her spine.
Part of her felt it was very necessary.
“Besides…” she stuttered out when he started to close the gap between them again. “I thought you had trust issues with me giving you my word.”
His expression tightened. “Don’t pick a fight to avoid facing the personal relationship between us. I’m mad about you going off to meet Tim without me. That’s a fact. It rips me up to think of you in any sort of situation that carries danger. The sight of you bleeding is branded into my memory, and that’s exactly why I know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I walk out of here. You’re different. I don’t know what the hell that means but I know being near you is like a punch in the gut.”
She was backed up against the wall. “But…” She put her hands out as she struggled to make sense of the riot of emotions surging through her. As usual, her thoughts were crumbling, her body coming to life. Everything she thought was making way for what she craved from him.
“My brain stops working when you’re this close.”