by Em Petrova
A glance back showed him the house was up in flames, one corner engulfed and fire shooting from a window that had exploded outward.
Lennon looked around the vehicle. “Where the fuck’s Vincent?”
Jess slammed on the brakes, and they looked at each other.
“I saw him take off back to the house. He doesn’t want to be rescued. Goddammit!” Nash punched the seat in front of him.
“Holy hell, I didn’t expect this,” Jess said quietly.
“Drive!” Nash demanded.
As they pealed through the streets, his chest burned with more anger than he’d felt in a long fucking time.
How was he going to break the news to Nevaeh that her brother had chosen to turn back?
Chapter Seven
Nevaeh stared at the gray wall of her cubicle. Nothing added up. It had been a week since she’d come back from Mexico—a week since Ranger Ops had gone in after Antonio—and still no word.
In some circles, no news was good news, but she couldn’t image that was the case here.
Thankfully she hadn’t told her parents where she was headed, and that protected them now. She couldn’t imagine getting their hopes up only to dash them away. They’d suffered enough heartbreak over the years.
Her vision blurred. She blinked and the gray wall came back into focus.
When Penn had put her on the plane back to Texas, he’d assured her everything would be all right. But he’d lied, hadn’t he? Something had gone horribly wrong, and they hadn’t found her brother.
Or it was something worse.
She didn’t want to think on that too long, so she turned her attention back to her desk and the work spread out on the surface. Stacks of paperwork she couldn’t concentrate on to save her life. Yet, she couldn’t take any more time off work.
“Oh, you’re back.” A familiar voice made her turn to see one of the ladies from another department standing at her cubicle. The woman was nice enough, though she had a way of wanting a chat when Nevaeh was busiest, or in this case, most unwilling to talk. She also was known to eat the nastiest lunches she brought with her, leftovers from her dinners the night before, and she stunk up the lunchroom so often that Nevaeh now took lunch at her desk.
Nevaeh offered as much of a smile as she could muster under the circumstances. “Yes, this is my first day back.”
“You don’t look like you got much of a tan on your vacation.”
“Oh. I’m a believer in sunscreen.”
“Ah. Good to see you.” The woman moved on, and Nevaeh was glad she hadn’t probed her further. The topic of her trip was one she did not wish to discuss. What was there to say anyway? I ended up being protected by a special ops unit who was looking for my brother, fell for a gorgeous captain on the team and then left with the promise that they were going to get Antonio back from the guys who kidnapped him ten years ago…
She moved some papers around and calculated some sums for a project. Then she ended up staring at the wall again. Her cubicle was near the breakroom, and the odor of asparagus wafted out, letting her know her coworker was microwaving her meal. Nevaeh’s stomach twisted, and she reached for her ice water.
She was worthless here at work, but she couldn’t go home either. Facing her parents with a mopey face would only alert them that something had happened, and she wasn’t ready to talk about it.
When she drew the crackers serving as her own lunch out of her desk drawer, she pulled up a search engine on her phone. For a moment, she considered searching for information on Antonio. But what could possibly be new in his case? She’d hear about it first if there was anything.
Instead, she punched in Nash Sullivan.
A photo of him in the Texas Ranger gear of hat and boots hit her screen, and she gulped back a gasp of emotion. Seeing those dark eyes, so serious, and that solemn mouth of his, had her stomach doing flip-flops. Why did she have to have such a reaction to the man? Even in another decade, she wouldn’t have forgotten the way Nash made her feel.
He’d peeled away so much of her armor, that protective layer had kept her heart shielded all this time. It was still there in a sense but thinking of Nash already had her feeling more vulnerable—as if she could finally reveal her true inner softness to someone.
To Nash.
She read over the few details there were associated with Nash, but it only said he was a lieutenant in the Texas Rangers division in Houston and then Waco.
She pressed her lips together and closed out of the page. Her crackers lay on her desk, untouched. She took up staring at her wall again. What had happened when they went after Antonio? Something must have gone wrong—was Nash okay? Or the others? Was Antonio?
It was too much to linger on. She stood and went through the office, responding to the friendly waves she got from some of her coworkers even as she wanted to snarl at them to leave her alone.
When she got outside, it was raining, something rare for this time of year. But the cooler air was welcome on her face, and she breathed in deeply, trying to gather her emotions.
The entire ordeal was confusing as hell. One minute she was excited about getting her brother back after all this time, and that was shot through with moments of total arousal thinking about Nash.
Standing under the overhang of the roof, she stayed out of the worst of the wet, but the droplets speckled her forearms, cooling her flesh, which she could use right now. Thinking about Nash had her entirely too worked up.
It was a short affair, born of her need for comfort and Nash’s need to offer it. Nothing was real, not the emotions weaving through her heart and not the hope of ever seeing him again. Most likely, she’d find another pair of Texas Rangers on her doorstep telling her they still knew nothing of Antonio. It was something she’d learned to live with years ago, and could again, given the time. But she probably wouldn’t ever set eyes on Nash Sullivan again. He’d be someone lingering only in her dreams, making her wake burning with the fire of his remembered touch.
Listening to the rain soothed her. What she had to do was appreciate the time she’d shared with Nash. As far as Antonio went, it was important to be grateful that anybody would even continue a search for her brother. The Ranger Ops team had put their lives on the line for him—for her and her parents. For that, she was thankful.
And in some ways, the experience had left her with the realization that she really needed to search for some happiness for herself. She ran her hands over her forearms, wiping off the raindrops.
The journey—and Nash—had taught her a lot in a short time.
If she didn’t grab hold of life and make it better, who would?
* * * * *
“Back in Texas and shit just keeps getting better and better,” Nash muttered as he and his men gathered around the table. Their poses might vary, but they all eyed him the same way.
Woody sat with his elbows on the table and his hands in his hair. “It’s not our fault he didn’t want to return, man. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. It was what I feared could happen, and it fucking did.” Nash still felt like punching shit.
“It happens all the time—people getting kidnapped and forced into a new life grow accustomed to it and won’t leave.” Lennon had suffered a nasty bump on the head but only had a mild concussion and had spent his time back on American soil at his local drinking hangout with his twin. Linc didn’t look like he’d imbibed a single drop of alcohol, though—the man was as bright and alert as ever. If a gunman stepped into this room right now, Linc would be the first to draw his weapon.
Jess pushed out a sigh. “It’s not what any family wants to hear. Have you talked to the Vincents yet, Sully?”
Nash ground his teeth. “No.” He didn’t have any reason to wait, other than he wanted to make a thousand percent certain that Antonio hadn’t come searching for them to get him out of Mexico. But he hadn’t. Cavanagh and Woody had seen him with their own eyes, back with Lopez, though after the fire, they were in a differ
ent location.
The mission was dead. A dead fucking body wrapped in plastic and duct tape and reeking of despair.
He shook his head. He hadn’t told Nevaeh because he couldn’t face her. How to tell the woman that he’d raised her hopes for nothing and now it was best to consider her brother dead, after all? He might as well be—he was dead to his birth family.
The table was silent as Sully thought over his role here. He looked up. “I’ll go over there and talk to her this afternoon. But there’s more, guys.”
“Why am I getting a heavy feeling here, like our dad just took away Christmas?” Woody’s joke didn’t hold a bit of humor.
“It started with the comms unit. I reported to Downs that I need new equipment, and he told me that Homeland doesn’t think we need the Ranger Ops unit at all—that Knight Ops is enough for the South.”
They stared at him. Cavanagh pushed away from the table. “For fuck sakes!”
“Are you fucking serious, man? Where were the Knights when we were at the Sabine up to our asses in explosives? I didn’t see them anywhere, did you, Jess?” Woody looked to his teammate.
“Dude, this is bullshit. So if Homeland is sayin’ we aren’t essential to OFFSUS, then what does that mean for Ranger Ops?” Lennon, even despite the blow to the head, was still sharp enough to ask the all-important question.
Nash gave a light shake of his head. “It means we continue to operate as usual until we’re told our fun as ended.”
“Shit. So much for fucking job security.” Cavanagh stood, walked to the window and stood staring out of the slits in the blinds.
“Look, I know it doesn’t make for great morale, but we have to make the most of it. We’re still a unit, we’re still fucking in charge of saving the world, okay?” Nash stood too. “I’ll be in touch. Don’t go far. I have a bad feeling about those ten units dispatched to Fort Worth.”
He got several nods of agreement to his command, but he didn’t stick around. He had his own mission, and that was paying a visit to Nevaeh. She deserved as much—he should have done it days ago. He’d just been reluctant to deliver the bad news until he had a final verdict on the matter.
Antonio was never coming home. He’d made his choice.
Nash checked the time and then slid behind the wheel of his Jeep. Describing the dread he felt wasn’t even possible.
Just get it over with.
He knew where Nevaeh worked. Interrupting her during the day wasn’t on his agenda, but he planned to wait in the parking lot and take her someplace quiet in order to break the news. He’d done such a thing many times in his past as a Texas Ranger and before that working as a state trooper. He’d told many people their loved ones had died in crashes or shootings—but not once had it been involving a person he knew.
Or had been intimate with.
He drove into the parking lot of her workplace and looked up at the windows, wondering if she had a nice office. With her quiet manner, he could see her sitting in front of a computer crunching numbers all day. He also knew that she chose to hide from the world, and accounting was the perfect vocation to do that. Yet what he knew about Nevaeh was so different.
She was strong, smart… and could be downright mouthy.
The thought brought a smile to his lips. He searched the parking lot for her vehicle and spotted the small red car with a sassy spoiler. He parked a couple spaces down from it and then cut the engine. Time passed. He wished he could say he wasn’t sitting there with a hard-on, reliving all their moments together down in Mexico, but he fucking was.
Dammit, how was he going to keep his hands off her when he saw her again? Looking into her eyes would be the end of him. In the week since he’d seen her, he realized something big.
He wanted more with her. To pick her up and take her out to dinner. To park someplace secluded and look at the stars. All the things couples did while getting to know each other. They’d put the cart before the horse, so to speak, by sleeping together first, but that didn’t make his feelings any less obvious to him.
He glanced up as people began to file out of the office building. He sat forward, staring at the faces, none of which were Nevaeh’s. He was about to go searching for her, when she emerged, one of the last stragglers, carrying a purse and dressed in office attire of a slim skirt and a blouse. A closer look showed him that the buttons strained across her full breasts.
Hell, he was fully hard now.
He got out. When she spotted him, her eyes flew open wide. Her step faltered, and then she stopped, looking about to pass out.
“Fuck.” He rushed forward and took her by the arm. “Lean on me. Here.” He got her to his Jeep and helped her inside. When he jumped in the driver’s side, she sat with her hands knotted. He searched her gaze, seeing so many hopes and dreams he was about to dash. But also, she projected a resignation he wasn’t ready to address.
“Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water?” he asked.
She shook her head. Christ, she was stunning. Whether it was seeing her in her natural settings and knowing she was still drop-dead gorgeous or just his libido reacting to seeing her again, he didn’t know.
When she sank her teeth into her lower lip, he latched his gaze to her mouth. The feel of those plump lips… He nearly groaned.
“What did you find out? Nash, you can’t hold back anymore. I’ve been dying for a week, barely functioning. Just tell me he’s dead so I can work through it and go on living my life.”
His chest burned. Reaching across the console, he took her by the hand and squeezed it. “He’s not dead. But Nevaeh… We had him, and he turned back.”
There. It was out. He’d managed to say the words aloud.
For a moment, she just stared at him. God, he wanted to gather her to his chest and hold her. Before he could drag her across the seat into his lap, she spoke.
Her quiet words were barely audible. “He… turned back? He refused to come with you?”
Nash nodded. When she pulled her hand from his grasp, he realized he was frantically rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb in an effort to comfort her.
She raised a shaky hand to her face. “What does it mean now?”
He didn’t want to say the words, but her expression told him that she already knew it. She was only seeking confirmation.
“It means he remains where he is, and you do your best to move on with your life.”
She nodded, going pale. “What do I tell my parents?” Before he could think of how to answer, she said, “Maybe I’ll just leave it as is, say nothing. They still have hope that one day he will return to them, and I won’t dash that for them.”
“You know them best, darlin’.”
Her head snapped up, and she looked into his eyes. “Nash…”
“I’m so sorry, Nevaeh. So fucking sorry. I tried my best—I had him. I had him to the vehicle, but he turned and ran back into the building. I… failed. And I’m sorry.” His voice cracked, and it was her turn to offer comfort.
She grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers. Catching his eye, she said, “It isn’t your fault. You did everything you could. Now at least he knows we were still searching for him, that he wasn’t forgotten…” She broke off and straightened her spine in her tough-woman act. Well, she wasn’t doing it alone.
“Shit. C’mere.” Here he was, pulling her into his lap again. It seemed the perfect place for her, and his arms wrapping around her was the most natural thing in the world.
* * * * *
“Tell me what you’re thinking.” Nash’s voice was a low rumble in his chest.
“I’m shocked, to be sure. But… I’m not totally surprised. You warned me this could happen.” She looked up into his eyes. “I guess we just keep living our lives, as we have been. But I can move forward now, in a way I couldn’t really before. Just knowing he’s alive helps.”
“What about your parents? Will you tell them?” He traced the length of her spine with his fingertips, sending warmth throug
h her.
“I need to think more on that. Knowing he’s alive but doesn’t want to come home to them… that would probably break them even more. I’ll have to think of all angles before I decide.”
He nodded. “Good plan.”
“I’m sorry you risked your life. You didn’t fail, though, Nash. You and your men are amazing.”
Giving a slow shake of his head, he said, “I can’t believe you. You’re comforting me when it should be me comforting you. Dammit, I knew you were special, but this…” He leaned in and gently brushed his lips across hers, once, twice. Then he pulled away. “Now that this is over, I want to talk to you about other things.”
Those other things couldn’t be how her body was reacting to sitting in his lap, could it? That dark heat she knew so well when it came to Nash was slithering low through her body again, curling between her thighs like the most forbidden and exciting touch.
She felt breathless when she answered, “What things?”
“Well, for one, I want to see you. Get to know you. I know where you work and what you drive, but I don’t know how you drive or how you look when you crunch numbers. I don’t know if you enjoy your job.”
Touched that he would want to learn these things, she smiled. “I do like my job. Sometimes the people try me, but that’s every office environment, right?”
“It’s any job, yeah. But I have to say these guys I’m working with…” He looked into her eyes, and she felt closer to him yet. “We had a sort of breakthrough. A bonding moment back there in Mexico.”
“Tell me about it.”
“My communication device stopped working when we got in there, and I was giving orders only by using hand signals, which meant we couldn’t exactly operate the way we’d planned by spreading out. But by the time things really got intense, the guys were all using the hand signals. It became a language we were all in tune with.”