His Mysterious Ways

by Amanda Stevens

  Lights winked on in the downtown high-rises as the car whisked her through the maze of one-way streets. The driver let her off in front of one of the more impressive buildings, and before she could change her mind about the meeting, a woman stepped outside and beckoned for Melanie to follow. She took her straight up to Kruger’s office.

  He stood with his back to the door, staring out the window at the Houston skyline, and Melanie knocked softly to draw his attention. He turned and greeted her, then strode over to his desk. He waited for her to be seated and then he took a seat, as well.

  In spite of the spacious office, he was dressed much as he’d been the day she’d met him at his compound in Cartéga. Khaki pants and shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows.

  Melanie glanced around. The office was handsomely appointed with interesting artifacts and artwork, but there was not a single picture of Kruger’s family.

  “I suppose you’re wondering why I asked you down here,” he said.

  “I’m a little curious,” Melanie admitted.

  “I have a proposition for you.”

  She frowned. “What kind of proposition?”

  “We’ll get to that.” He sat back in his chair and regarded her for a long moment. “I think there are other things we need to discuss first.”

  “Such as?”

  His gaze searched her face. “You might be interested to learn that I knew your father, Melanie.”

  She caught her breath. “When?”

  “We met years ago, after he left Montauk. We were both working for an outfit in West Texas. That’s how I got my start in the oil business. Have you ever been to West Texas?”

  “I’ve never been anywhere in Texas except Houston.”

  He nodded. “It’s a pretty bleak place out there. The last frontier, some call it. Not a bad spot for a man who needs to disappear.”

  “How long was he there?”

  Kruger shrugged. “Not long. But bonds develop pretty fast in a place like that and they can sometimes last a lifetime. Your father came to trust me. Eventually, he opened up to me, told me everything. And in return, I made him a promise. If anything ever happened to him, I’d look after you.”

  Melanie gazed at him in astonishment. “Is that why you came to Montauk with Lassiter to rescue me?”

  “I would have done that, anyway.”

  And somehow Melanie knew that was true. “If my father told you everything, then you must have known who Bond was when he came to work for you.”

  “Not at first. But I began to have my suspicions. That’s why I hired Lassiter. I’d heard rumors about him. And after what your father told me, I had reason to believe those stories were true. If Lassiter could do what they said he could do, I thought he might be willing to help us.”

  Melanie thought about what Deacon Cage had told her that night. “It could have gone the other way, you know. He might have been willing to help Bond.”

  Kruger shook his head. “I pride myself on being able to sum a man up with just a handshake, and I knew after meeting Lassiter that he was someone we could trust.”

  “We?”

  His gaze on her deepened. “I made that promise, you know.”

  “I won’t hold you to it,” Melanie said. “Because you probably took on a whole lot more than you bargained for.”

  “How so?”

  “Just because Bond is dead doesn’t mean the danger is over. Someone else will take his place. And I don’t expect you to keep putting your life on the line for me. I don’t want you to.”

  “Your father is the one they really wanted, Melanie. He was the real danger to them. Bond was a madman with an obsession, but the others…they won’t risk exposing themselves as long as you don’t become a threat.”

  Her voice hardened. “You mean as long as I keep silent.”

  He leaned forward, his gaze on her very intense. “What if you did go public with what you know? Who would even believe you?”

  “When they see what I can do…”

  “Is that really what you want? Do you think your life would ever be your own after that?”

  “When has my life ever been my own, anyway?” she asked bitterly. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “So I’m just supposed to forget what they did to me?”

  “You could devote the rest of your life to finding a way to expose them. You could spend the rest of your life chasing shadows. But you’d always be looking over your shoulder. You’d always be wondering what waited for you around the next corner. You could let an obsession consume you as it did Angus Bond. Or, you know, you could get on with the rest of your life.”

  Melanie gazed down at her hands.

  “Which brings me back to my proposition,” he said softly. He picked up a folder from his desk and handed it to her.

  “What is it?”

  “Take a look inside.”

  She opened the folder and several brochures tumbled into her lap. The first one she picked up was from Baylor College of Medicine. She glanced up. “What’s this?”

  “Medical school,” he said. “Are you interested?”

  Everything inside Melanie went completely still. For the longest moment, she didn’t even dare breathe. “I don’t understand,” she finally managed.

  “I realize Baylor isn’t the school you’d originally planned on, but it’s an excellent facility and I do have a few strings I could pull down here. You’d be on your own after that, though. If you can’t cut it…” He shrugged.

  Melanie was too stunned to say anything for a moment. She bit her lip, not daring to believe that a dream could actually come true. “Why would you do this for me?”

  “Because everybody deserves a second chance,” he said quietly. “No one knows that better than I do.”

  Melanie still didn’t know what to say. Could she really do this? Could it really still happen for her?

  And who was she to even deserve such a chance?

  She, who had so easily thrown away her dream the first time.

  She, who had not even had the courage to face Lassiter before she’d gotten on that plane in Cartéga because she hadn’t wanted to see the same look in his eyes that she’d seen in another man’s eyes.

  But Lassiter wasn’t Andrew. And Melanie wasn’t the same person who’d let a man’s rejection devastate her. She was stronger than that now.

  “I’ll need some time to think about it,” she murmured. But what was there to think about? She wanted this more than anything in the world. Well, almost more than anything.

  “You’ll have plenty of time to think about it on your flight to Cartéga,” Kruger said.

  Melanie glanced up in surprise. “Cartéga?”

  “All the arrangements have been made, but you need to hurry.” Kruger rose as if signaling that their meeting had come to an end. “The jet is refueled and waiting on the tarmac.”

  Melanie’s heart threatened to beat its way out of her chest. She was going to Cartéga?

  “I don’t understand any of this,” she said in confusion.

  “It’s simple, Melanie. You and Lassiter have some unfinished business.”

  “But…what about medical school?”

  “What about it?”

  “I thought—”

  “Don’t think,” Kruger said. “Just go.”

  Melanie was backing toward the door. “What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

  “What if he does?”

  “We had an agreement. When it’s over, it’s over.”

  “What if it’s not over?”

  “I can’t just show up down there. What would I say to him?”

  “You’ll figure it out. Now go.”

  Melanie started for the door, then turned back. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you. For everything.”

  “Seeing you look the way you look right now is all the thanks I need.” He drew a breath. “You’re an amazing young woman, Melanie. Your father would have been very proud of you.”

&nbs
p; Her gaze lifted to his and she saw it then, something warm and familiar in those vivid blue depths. Something she’d been searching for her whole life.

  She took an involuntary step toward him, but something else in his eyes stopped her. A warning that reminded her as long as her father remained dead, she would be safe.

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “I wish I could have told him how much I loved him,” she whispered.

  Kruger’s eyes glistened with emotion. “He knew, Melanie. He knew.”

  THE TWO-HOUR FLIGHT from Houston to San Cristóbal passed in a blur for Melanie. There were so many things to think about. So many things to worry about—like the look on Lassiter’s face when he saw her.

  A car was waiting for her at the airport for the final leg to Santa Elena, and the driver’s instructions were to take her all the way out to the compound. But Melanie asked to be dropped off at the hotel, instead. She needed some time before she saw Lassiter.

  She still had no idea what she was going to say to him. Or what to expect from him. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted from their relationship. Marriage? Kids? The whole nine yards in suburbia?

  She still couldn’t picture either of them leading that kind of life, but she was finding it more and more difficult to imagine her life without him.

  HE CAME AWAKE suddenly.

  A dark silhouette stood over his bed. In the split second before Lassiter recognized who it was, his instincts kicked in, and he slammed her down on the bed, trapping her between his knees.

  Melanie’s eyes blazed in outrage. “What the hell…?”

  At the sound of her voice, he eased his hold, but he didn’t release her. “I thought I told you not to sneak up on a man while he’s sleeping.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve never been good with warnings.”

  She was dressed all in black, and even in the darkness, Lassiter could see her luscious curves beneath the skintight outfit, the rise and fall of her breasts.

  His hands were on her before he could stop himself.

  She grabbed his wrist. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Searching you for weapons,” he said grimly.

  “You think I’d come here armed? I’m not that stupid, Lassiter. I came here to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  She hesitated again, as if unsure why she was there. “I may be going to medical school. I thought you might like to know.”

  Medical school? It sure as hell hadn’t taken her long to get on with the rest of her life. It had been, what? All of three days since she’d left Santa Elena. Left without a word, damn her.

  Lassiter knew he should be happy for her, and a part of him was. He’d seen her with Angel. He knew that in spite of everything she’d been through—or maybe because of it—she was capable of great compassion. She had a gift that shouldn’t be squandered. Certainly not on the likes of him.

  But at the same time, he hadn’t expected her to be quite so blasé about their parting.

  “Congratulations,” he said, and meant it.

  “Thanks.”

  She licked her lips, and Lassiter thought she seemed a little nervous. Unusually reticent.

  “There’s another reason I came, Lassiter.”

  He felt his pulse quicken in spite of himself. “What?”

  “I think we have some unfinished business, you and me.”

  He lifted a brow. “You could have fooled me. Leaving without saying goodbye pretty much said it all as far as I was concerned.”

  Melanie was amazed to hear an undercurrent of anger in his tone. And maybe even a little hurt. But then that would mean…

  One step at a time, she reminded herself.

  “I left without saying goodbye because I thought that was the way you wanted it. No strings, no commitments, no promises. When I asked you that day at the bridge what would happen to us once we learned the truth, do you remember what you said? You said you weren’t looking for anything permanent. When your job with Kruger was over, you’d be moving on to the next. And then the next. In your line of work, you don’t think much about the future, and you sure as hell don’t make promises you know you won’t keep. Has anything changed since then?”

  He ran a hand down his face as he glanced away. “No.”

  Melanie drew a deep breath. “I didn’t think so. And that’s why I left when I did. I thought it would be better for both of us to make a clean break. Not allow things to linger. No messy goodbyes. When it’s over, it’s over, right?”

  She could feel his eyes on her in the darkness. “So why did you come back?”

  “Because…it’s not over for me, Lassiter.”

  She could feel him pulling away from her, both physically and emotionally, and Melanie reached out to take his arm. “I came back here to say some things to you that you probably don’t want to hear. But I’m going to say them, anyway, because I don’t want to look back a year from now, or five years from now, and wonder if I did the right thing. Regret is a terrible thing to have to live with, Lassiter.”

  “Maybe. But there are worse.”

  Melanie almost lost her courage at that, but she drew another breath to steady her resolve. “The truth is, I care about you, Lassiter. And I think in your own way you care about me, too.”

  When he tried to pull away again, her hand tightened on his arm. “Just hear me out. And then if you still want to walk away, I won’t try to stop you. I’ll leave here and you’ll never see me again. And maybe that would be for the best. Maybe we both have too much emotional baggage to ever get past it. We’re both afraid of commitment, Lassiter, and it’s hard for us to trust. But if we could someday phase through those walls we’ve erected around our emotions, we might just discover something wonderful.”

  She could feel the muscles in his arm tense beneath her hand, but he didn’t try to pull away this time. She took that as a promising sign.

  “What I told you before about moving on to the next job, about not counting on the future. That hasn’t changed.” His voice was deep and ragged, as if he was trying to come to terms with something deeply painful to him. “That’s still what I do. That’s still who I am.”

  “I’m not asking you to change.”

  “So what are you proposing?” he asked almost angrily. “That I drag you with me from jungle to jungle? From one hellhole to the next? Because, believe me, Melanie, these accommodations are luxurious compared to most of the places I’ve been.”

  “You wouldn’t have to drag me,” she said. “I’d be able to keep up and you know it.”

  “What about medical school? I don’t want you to give it up for me.”

  “I don’t intend to.”

  “Then how would this thing ever work?” he asked in exasperation. “Even if I took a job with Kruger—”

  “Whoa, whoa, back up,” Melanie cut in. “What job?”

  He shrugged. “An offer’s been made, but I’m not saying I’m taking it.”

  “I understand.” But Melanie’s heart had begun to pound slowly, painfully.

  “But even if I did, you’d be back in the States, and I’d still be down here. The logistics would work against us.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something, Lassiter? We’re a little better at commuting than most people.”

  “You don’t like to phase,” he reminded her. “It’s not natural.”

  “I could learn to like it. Besides, you’re very good at it.”

  “It’s not going to be that easy, and you know it.”

  “I never said it would be easy. But, Lassiter, I think we should at least try. You know there’s something between us. Something special. Something real. Something that belongs just to us. Are we supposed to let it go without a fight?”

  “You don’t understand,” he said in a strange voice.

  “Then tell me.”

  He glanced away as if they were getting into territory he’d rather not explore. “I’ve done a lot of things in my life, Melanie. Experienced things most people
couldn’t begin to imagine. I’ve been in hand-to-hand combat situations. I’ve been trapped in a dead submarine hundreds of feet below the surface. I’ve faced death more times than any man has a right to. But nothing has ever scared me the way you do.”

  His words moved her deeply. “Why would someone like you be afraid of me?”

  “I answered that question once before, remember? I’m afraid of what I’d be willing to do to have you.”

  She put a hand to his face. “Haven’t you been listening to a word I said? You already have me. You don’t have to do anything except…kiss me.”

  And he did. So gently it made Melanie want to weep. But the tenderness didn’t surprise her. It had always been there.

  Just hold on tight. As long as you can feel my hand, you’ll be safe. I’ll watch out for you while you sleep.

  When Lassiter pulled away, he thumbed away a tear on her face. “I’ve never seen you cry before.”

  “A girl has a right to be emotional when she falls in love.”

  “Falls in love…”

  Melanie cupped his face and drew him back to her. “It scares me, too, Lassiter. But we’ll just take it one step at a time. One day at a time. Right now, you don’t even have to think about it if you don’t want to. For now, why don’t you just take advantage of the situation? Enjoy the fringe benefits.”

  “Which are?”

  There was nothing gentle about the way Melanie kissed him, about the way she wrapped her arms and legs around him and pressed her body against his.

  When he finally broke away this time, he was breathing hard. Extremely turned on. “If you keep doing that, things could get wild around here. Someone might hear us.”

  “I don’t care,” she whispered against his lips. “I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-3737-7

  HIS MYSTERIOUS WAYS

  Copyright © 2003 by Marilyn Medlock Amann.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.