Лиза Джонс - Beneath the Secrets

“I’m contract and I plan to stay that way. If you can’t live with that, then you might as well find someone else now.”

“I can be highly persuasive.”

“Aren’t we just two peas in a pod, then? Because so can I. How do I reach you when I have a list of your thieves?”

“Mendez.”

“And if he’s part of the problem?”

Alvarez considered Blake for several lingering moments, before he said, “I’ll contact you.” His eyes moved back to Kara and narrowed slightly, before he announced, “You remind me of someone.” And then he turned away and started to walk.

The air in Blake’s lungs lodged at what had to be a reference to Kara looking like her sister. Warning bells went off in his head. Ignacio had mentioned metal detectors, which they’d never encountered, which meant Ignacio had expected them to go on to Alvarez’s home. Blake had to assume the worst, that Alvarez had recognized Kara, and had ended this night early. In other words, they were as good as dead.

The kingpin headed up the steps and Blake reached for his boot, ready to yank out a blade he’d hidden inside a leather flap. Suddenly, Kara was squatting at his feet, her hand covering his. “No,” she ordered in a hissed whisper. “This isn’t the end game.”

Blake tried to get up but Kara used her body to block him. The door slammed shut and Blake cursed, picking Kara up and moving her out of his way, and then charging for the door. It was locked and he tried to kick it open. He had to get them out of here. For all he knew, they were the only ones left on a boat about to be blown to pieces.

Abruptly, the cabin door burst open and Ignacio shoved a gun in Blake’s face—and for once, Blake was damn glad to see Ignacio. They were not alone and the boat was not about to be blown up. “What the hell are you doing pounding on the door?” Ignacio barked.

“Kara wants a Diet Sprite,” Blake explained dryly. “You didn’t answer when we knocked nicely.”

“A Diet Sprite?” Ignacio asked.

“It’s called Sprite Zero,” Kara commented from behind Blake. “But anything diet works. The boat movement is making me sick.”

Ignacio grimaced. “I don’t know what you two are trying to prove, but you aren’t funny, either of you. So either sit down and shut up or I’ll have you tied up.” He backed away and slammed the door shut. Blake turned to Kara and their eyes locked, fury radiating from the depths of hers. Yeah, well, he’d show her fury when they got off this boat. Now that he believed they were going to make it out of this alive, he was downright pissed about her drugging Kyle and showing up here tonight.

Blake moved to the couch and sat down. When Kara just stood there glaring at him, he shackled her wrist and pulled her to stand in front of him. “Save it for later, sweetheart,” he warned.

The glint in her green eyes said she didn’t want to do any such thing. She was furious that he’d wanted to kill Alvarez before they had her sister back. What she didn’t understand was that he’d save her at all costs, even his own life. Regardless of his reasons, of logic that had made sense, seeing the contempt in her eyes didn’t sit well. In fact, it pretty much sucker-punched him right in the face.

His gaze lowered to where his hand circled her wrist, and he realized right then that he didn’t want to let her go. Not now or ever. Just touching her did funny things to his chest, and this left him with a decision to make. He had to put distance between the two of them before things got complicated, or he had to hold her close and never let go. Who was he kidding? The decision was made the day he met her. This woman had woken him up from the dead. He wasn’t letting her go.

Blake pulled her to sit next to him and he could almost feel her wrestling for control. She was downright furious with him and the one thing he knew for certain was that she was only going to get more so. She was out of this mission, end of conversation. She wasn’t risking her life again and he’d make sure of it, no matter what that meant. The boat might be secure, but an explosion between him and Kara was imminent.

Chapter Three

The sickening sway of the boat, mixed with the tension between her and Blake, had stretched nearly an hour according to Kara’s cell phone clock, but it felt like an eternity. Each second passing should have given her the peace of mind they’d survive this trip, but it didn’t, and she had Blake to thank for that. His willingness to kill Alvarez, the only person she could be certain could deliver her sister back to her, cut deeply. She’d opened up to Blake. She’d told him her torment over losing her family and her need to save her only sister, and he’d dismissed it in a blink of an eye. And for what? Vengeance. He’d lost someone and didn’t care if she did, too.

She glanced at his profile, cursing the flutter in her stomach created in her by just looking at him. Once again she wondered why, of all the men she’d encountered in her life, her work, that it had to be a man with a death wish that got to her. But then, maybe she understood. What did she have left without her sister? Him? No. She didn’t have him. Not for more than sex and a spanking if she wanted one. He could hold his breath forever. There would be no spanking. There would be no more anything for them. After what he’d pulled tonight, that should feel like the right choice.

Why didn’t it?

Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and Kara jumped to her feet, aware of Blake doing the same beside her. Ignacio appeared and didn’t make even one wise remark, which struck her as unusual. Ignacio didn’t seem likely to miss a chance to prove he was “boss” to everyone, especially Blake.

Whatever the reason, Ignacio was quick to tell them they were back in San Francisco. In fact, he seemed like he couldn’t get them off the boat fast enough.

“Ignacio sure was eager to get rid of us,” Blake muttered as they stepped onto the dock, a deep scowl on his face.

“There was something he didn’t want us to see,” Kara agreed, putting her anger at Blake aside and letting the agent in her take over. “Either drugs or girls, I assume.”

“Something was off with him,” he said as they tracked a fast pace down the dock toward the parking lot.

“Like your priorities tonight,” she commented. Okay, so maybe she didn’t put her anger aside.

He didn’t comment. He didn’t even look at her. That only ticked her off more. In order to work with him, she had to know she could trust him—and right now, she didn’t. His betrayal bit so hard that she was only remotely aware of the cold wind crashing over them, lifting her dark hair from her shoulders and piercing the thin layer of her silk dress.

Beside her, Blake shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. The tender protectiveness of the act, so unfamiliar to her, punched at her heart, and for a moment—just a moment—her anger wavered. Coat or no coat, he’d tried to hold her hostage tonight and followed that up by trying to kill the one man certain to have answers about her sister.

“Keep walking,” Blake ordered as they approached his truck in the parking lot. “No way in hell are we getting into a truck that could have been tampered with.”

So much for her assumption that they’d had a surveillance team in place. Apparently the truck hadn’t been a priority—but then, she wouldn’t know. It wasn’t like she’d been included in the plans for tonight, and even if she wanted to ask him what had been, Blake was already punching a button on his cell phone. “Tell me you tracked us and whatever boat met up with ours,” he said into the phone. He cursed. “It was Alvarez. He met us on the boat and pretty much said he was testing us to take us deeper into his operation.” He paused and listened. “No, I didn’t kill him. And don’t ask questions I don’t have time to answer. Yeah. I know. We’ll meet you at the hotel. I left the truck at the dock. I wasn’t taking any chances it was wired. Yeah. Good. Hurry.” He listened again and glanced at her. “It was a drug she got from an FBI lab. He’ll be okay in the morning.”