Blind Faith

by Rebecca Zanetti

  That one minor, sarcastic move dashed any silly dream she’d harbored of his finding her. Rescuing her. Declaring he still loved her and offering her a chance at a life with him.

  At the realization, a very welcomed anger swept away her panic. She lifted her flute and silently toasted him, taking a deep drink and keeping his gaze, no matter how much the contact stung. Then, with a gentle smile, she turned to the men and excused herself.

  Slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, she maneuvered around people, her hips nearly swaying. After five years of physical therapy, she almost walked without a limp. The high heels were in celebration of her doctor’s visit two weeks earlier, where the doctor proclaimed her leg was as good as it was going to get.

  Now all she needed was a confirmation that her last surgery three months ago had repaired her internally and she could finally relax. Concentrating on walking smoothly, she made her way toward the dance floor and to him.

  Even as she kept up a calm façade, her mind raced. He had to get out of there. Didn’t he realize the commander still hunted him? For years she’d figured she’d be the bait to bring Nathan back, but she hadn’t thought he was stupid enough to seek her out. Especially in public.

  The commander would have no problem causing a scene if it meant reclaiming one of the Gray brothers.

  She reached Nate’s side and almost recoiled from the heat and familiar scent of the man. Male and spice, something undeniably dangerous—Nathan. All Nathan.

  Instead, she held out a hand as if they’d never met. As if he didn’t still occupy every dream she had after falling into an exhausted sleep. “Hello. I’m Audrey.”

  Nathan’s hand engulfed hers in a touch so familiar her heart broke all over again, even while desire unfurled inside her abdomen. “Jason McGovern. I work for the Neoland Corporation as a lobbyist.”

  Ah. Good choice. Several executives from flush technology firms were in attendance at the ball. Audrey extracted her hand and forced an interested smile as she studied him. He had inserted brown contacts to mask his unusual gray eyes, but the longer brown hair seemed to be his. She had wondered if he would grow it out after escaping the military group that had raised him. A shadow lined his jaw, also looking natural. He’d definitely hardened even more in the five years they’d been apart. “Your disguise doesn’t hide much,” she whispered.

  He lifted a muscled shoulder that revealed the true predator lurking beneath the classic jacket. “I’m done hiding.”

  Those three innocuous words flared her neurons awake in terror. He had to stay underground, away from the commander and his men. “You can’t beat them.” Nobody could beat them. “Leave now, Nathan. Please.” She needed him alive, even if he hated her. The world had to keep him in it.

  “Now, Audrey, you actually sound like you care.” He claimed her flute and finished the remaining champagne in two drinks, his lips covering the same spot she’d used. The hard cords of his neck flexed.

  Feminine awareness zinged through her body and pebbled her nipples. The man had always been dangerous, yet an edge lived in him now that was as appealing as it was deadly. That edge tempted her on a primal level she’d hoped had disappeared when he had. Apparently not.

  To mask her unwelcome desire, she moved to go. “Well, enjoy your night.” She expected him to stop her retreat and wasn’t surprised when his calloused hand wrapped around her bare upper arm, but she hadn’t anticipated his next words.

  “Let’s dance.” He turned her toward the dance floor.

  She balked. “No.” She couldn’t dance with him, couldn’t be touched by him.

  “Yes.” His hold slid down to the back of her elbow, and he ushered her toward where the orchestra was playing “I Will Wait for You” by Michel Legrand. The warmth in Nate’s touch flared her nerves to life in an erotic need she’d worked hard to overcome.

  She could either cause a scene or go along with him. Didn’t he understand if she protested, he’d be a dead man?

  He turned and pulled her into his arms.

  The bittersweet moment her body met his stole her breath away, while memories of passion and love assailed her. For the briefest of times, she’d belonged in the safe circle of his arms. The only time in her life she’d been truly happy and not alone. Ah, the dreams she’d spun, even though she’d known better.

  Happily-ever-after didn’t exist for her. Hell, it didn’t exist for anybody.

  The music wound around them, through them, proclaiming a romance that couldn’t really exist. His heated palm settled at the small of her waist.

  Every instinct she had tempted her to slide against him, to burrow into his warmth. Her mind fought to keep her body calm, but her brain had never triumphed when dealing with Nathan. Her heart had ruled and in the end had been shattered.

  Not again.

  “Nate—”

  “Shhh.” He tightened his hold and drew her into an impressive erection.

  She gasped, her face heating, her sex convulsing. Blinking, she glanced up to see if the contact affected him, and stilled at the look in his eyes.

  Furious. The man was truly furious. Even with the contacts masking his eyes, his anger shone bright.

  She tried to step back but he kept her where he wanted her. Yeah, she knew she’d hurt him when she’d ended their relationship, but after nearly five years, he shouldn’t still be so mad. He’d had freedom for five years, which was a heck of a lot better than she’d had. She’d had pain and fear and uncertainty. She blinked. “What is wrong with you?”

  His impossibly hard jaw somehow hardened even more. “Oh, we’ll discuss that shortly.” Threat lived strongly in the calm words. “For now, we’re going to finish this dance. Then you’ll take the north exit and meet me in my car so we can talk.”

  “If I don’t?” she asked quietly, awareness quickening her breath.

  His hands flexed. “I know where you live, I know your daily routine in working for Senator Nash, and I know where you go when you need time alone. You can’t hide, you can’t outrun me—and you know it.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck rose. “How long have you been watching me?” More importantly, why hadn’t she noticed?

  “A week. Long enough to know the two apes near the doorway are following you, too. What’s up with that?” His hold tightened just enough to show his strength.

  She shrugged. “They haven’t made a move, so I’m not worrying about it.” Not true, and by the narrowing of Nate’s eyes, she knew he could still smell a lie a mile away. “The commander is having me followed.”

  Nate’s jaw clenched. “Why?”

  “Dunno.” They didn’t have time to discuss it. “You should go now.”

  “No.” He spun her, easily controlling their movements.

  Her leg hitched, and she stumbled against him.

  He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” None of his business, that was. “What do you want to talk about?”

  His gaze narrowed, and he spun her again. She tripped again. Her stupid leg didn’t move that way. She glanced toward the doorway and the two soldiers watching her. They’d straightened to alert stances. She tried to look normal.

  “What’s wrong with your leg?” Nate asked, brows furrowing.

  Oh, they were so not going into her injuries on the dance floor. “You almost sound like you care.” She threw his words back at him, gratified when his nostrils flared.

  His gaze probed deep, wandering down her neck. He blinked several times, his chest moving with a harsh intake of breath. “I like your dress,” he rumbled, his voice a low whisper.

  With his tight hold, she had no doubt the tops of her breasts were visible. “Nathan, don’t—”

  “Don’t what?” His gaze rose to her lips. A light of a different sort percolated through his angry eyes. She knew that look. Her body heated and her thighs softened. His erection jumped against her, and she bit down a groan.

  “One kiss, Audrey.”

  He
r eyes widened to let in more light. “No,” she breathed. One of his hands held hers, the other pressed against her back. Thank goodness. He couldn’t grab her and kiss her, no matter how appealing the thought. “Bad idea.”

  “I know.” Nate didn’t need hands. His lips met hers so quickly, she never saw him move.

  His mouth covered hers with no hesitancy, no question—as if he had every right to go deep. His tongue was savage and demanding, holding nothing back and accepting no evasion. He tasted of loneliness, anger, and lust. Hard, needy, demanding lust.

  The men at the door were watching.

  But her body didn’t care—instantly igniting instead of bolting. Her heart thundered in her ears, and she fell into his heat, uncaring of whether he caught her. He wrapped around her, his unyielding body holding her upright. He caressed her with his tongue, and she met him thrust for thrust, fierce pleasure lighting her on fire.

  She forgot where they were, who they were, everything but the desperate need he created.

  He broke the kiss, blatant male hunger crossing his face. His breath panted out even as he moved them in tune with the music.

  She softened against him, allowing him to lead so she didn’t collapse. Her mind whirled, and she shook her head to regain reality. “Nathan, what do you want?” The question emerged as a breathless plea she failed to mask.

  That quickly, all hints of desire slid from his face. His chin hardened. “Want? I want to know what happened to the child you were carrying five years ago when you ripped out my heart. Where’s my baby, Audrey?”

  Chapter 2

  Nathan settled against the leather seat in the SUV, his gaze on the side entrance to the ballroom as rain smashed down on the windshield. Even though he’d expected some kind of reaction, the slam to the gut upon touching Audrey again had stolen his breath away. For a few moments he was a lovesick kid again who had hopes for a future with the girl beyond his dreams. After the song had ended, he’d had to walk away to pull himself together. Now, waiting outside for her, he settled himself.

  He felt nothing.

  She hadn’t answered his direct question about the baby and had instead spun away from him. That time he’d let her go.

  But the second he had her alone, she was going to tell him the truth.

  Cold and purposeful, he’d follow his mission parameters and get the information he needed from Audrey. First, he’d find his kid. Less than a week ago, he and his brothers had found Audrey’s mother’s video diary where the woman claimed Audrey was pregnant with Nate’s child. It had been recorded five years ago, before he’d escaped from the military group that had created him.

  He’d instantly set out to find Audrey. After a week of following her, he knew the kid didn’t live with her. Had she actually given birth and left a child to the monsters who’d created Nate? That couldn’t be possible.

  The nearly desperate hope that filled him at the thought of a child ached somewhere deep in his gut, making a mockery of his lack of feelings. So badly, he wanted a kid. Wanted his brothers to have kids. Matt and Shane had found love, and they should be able to have families. Real ones like they’d all seen on television so long ago.

  They could create families and have what they’d never experienced as kids. Could be part of something good, and maybe have their bloodlines live on. Sure, they’d been created by monsters, but if they created something good, couldn’t that balance out their past?

  Maybe someday that good would outshine all the bad they’d done.

  But he wondered, since he hadn’t seen a child this past week, had the video been wrong? Was there ever a child? If so, how could Audrey not tell him?

  Yeah, he wasn’t exactly a good guy, considering the missions he’d taken. He knew dozens of ways to kill somebody. But he’d let Audrey in, and she should’ve known he’d love a child. He would’ve protected that child with everything he was. A surprising loss flooded him, at both her lack of trust and the idea that maybe no kid existed. All he needed was the truth from Audrey either way. Once that was confirmed, Nate would gain her cooperation in obtaining access to the computer codes that would save his brothers’ lives.

  Rain continued beating down on the windshield, the darkness swirling around outside. Of course, his senses were enhanced, and his vision rivaled a wild animal’s. In fact, he heard Audrey’s heels clicking toward the door right before she pushed it open. A slight hitch slowed her gait, and he wondered again how she’d hurt her leg.

  Not that he cared. He couldn’t care—not again. His brothers came first, and saving them was his only mission. Probably his last mission.

  Yet when Audrey stepped out into the deluge, he instantly slipped out of the SUV and hurried to open the passenger side door, his large hand protecting her head from the rain. After she’d settled her legs into his front seat, he shut the door, senses tuned in to their surroundings. So far, nobody had followed her out.

  Good.

  Stretching back inside the vehicle, he paused. “Give me your phone.”

  She started and swung toward him. “I didn’t bring one tonight.”

  He measured her breathing with his ears and listened for her steady heartbeat. She was telling the truth. “Why not?”

  She shrugged. “GPS. Why make it easy for them?”

  What in the world was she talking about? “Who?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” She squinted out at the pouring rain. “Are we staying here?”

  “No.” He maneuvered into traffic and quickly drove away from the ballroom.

  The vehicle filled with her scent of gardenias and woman. He’d seen her naked, he’d tasted her freshly washed skin, and he knew without a doubt that the scent was all her. No perfumes… all female. Once again, the sweetness threatened to drop him to his knees.

  He’d loved her. Completely.

  “Put on your seat belt,” he said quietly, making a left turn.

  “Yours isn’t on.”

  Of course his wasn’t on. If something happened, he needed access to his weapon and the availability to jump out of the car already firing. Yet the safest course for Audrey was to be belted in. “Now, Audrey.”

  From his peripheral vision, he could see her blink. Could almost feel her mind spinning as she decided whether to defy or humor him.

  She hesitated one second too long.

  Pulling to the side of the quiet street, he reached over her and grasped the belt. His forearm brushed her breasts, and his groin flared to life. A quick click of the buckle, and he drove the car back onto the road.

  “Become a take-charge bully, have you?” she muttered, crossing her legs.

  He cut a look at her that felt hard. “Yes. You might want to remember that.” He’d been trained by the best in the world at intimidation.

  So when she rolled her stunning blue eyes, he stilled. The woman knew how well he’d been trained, and she understood some of his heightened abilities. After she’d betrayed him, how could she not fear him? At least a little?

  She cleared her throat. “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere to talk.” He turned down a side street, heading for a motel across the Washington Bridge.

  “We can talk here,” she said, glancing at her watch. “It’s late, and I have work tomorrow.”

  He gave a short nod. “How did you escape the men watching you?”

  She lifted a creamy shoulder. “I just went out the back door. They weren’t expecting the move because I haven’t done anything unpredictable for the two weeks they’ve been tailing me.”

  Smart. Uncomfortably so. “Have you been planning something unpredictable?” he asked.

  “No, but a girl likes to keep all options open.”

  Was she as calm as she appeared? Tuning in his senses, the ones beyond normal, he took note of her increased heart rate and rapid breathing. Though she looked calm, her body was rioting. Not as in control as she seemed, but he appreciated her nearly bored façade. His Audrey had grown up in the last five years. “I prefer
you alone and contained when we speak,” he said. Yeah, he meant to sound threatening.

  Her sigh echoed with irritation. “Listen, Nate—”

  “No. We’ll talk in a few minutes.”

  “Fine.” She turned to watch the streetlights brighten and then dim outside the car, effectively ignoring him.

  Several minutes later, he turned into a dive of a motel, parking by the last room on the bottom floor. Audrey reached for her door, and he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Stay in the vehicle.” Jumping out, he shut his door and listened through the storm.

  No close-by heartbeats, no sense of danger. Good.

  Crossing in front of the car, he opened her door and held out a hand to assist her.

  She glanced at his hand and gingerly slid her palm against his. A shiver wandered up her arm, and she stepped out of the car. Tentatively. Waiting for a moment, she tested her balance in those heels on the cracked concrete and released his hand.

  “What’s wrong with your leg?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” She hunched her bare shoulders against the rain, and he herded her toward the doorway to room 112.

  Unlocking it, he stepped inside, holding out a hand for her to wait. A quick smell and listen proved nobody had been in the room. “Come in.”

  He ushered her inside and shut the door. Ratty orange shag carpet covered the floors, and a maroon flowered bedspread covered the king-sized bed. Two dented chairs perched next to a particleboard table. The television was circa 1980 and the prints on the walls were of dogs playing golf. Not poker… golf.

  Audrey glanced around the room and at the bed before turning toward him. “It smells like death in here.”

  “Not even close.” The room stank like smoke and sweat, not death. He’d been around enough death to know the difference. “Have a seat.”

  She swallowed and glanced at the rickety chairs but didn’t move. “Okay.”

  “You won’t need a tetanus shot,” he said. “Probably.” The woman was clearly used to much finer things. He glanced down at her form. The black dress hugged her body, revealing the tops of her incredible breasts. The heels elongated her legs in a way that made him want them wrapped around his hips. She’d tossed her dark hair up on her head, revealing a slender and vulnerable neck. High cheekbones, full mouth, and eyes that defied description as merely blue, Audrey had grown even more beautiful in the five years since he’d last touched her.