Blind Faith (25 page)

“Yeah.” She took another piece of paper from the bag. “Here are the results of the amnio that show he’s

a boy and that he’s yours.” She’d insisted on the report in case her mother and the commander were lying

in order to trap Nate. “It’s conclusive.” Of course, they could’ve easily doctored the test.

“I know.” Nate scanned the paper. “I’m not sure how I know, but now that I can focus on him in there,

I can tell he’s mine. Don’t ask me how.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I just want him to be mine. I don’t

know.”

Audrey nodded. The Gray brothers harbored gifts nobody could explain, so why question it? Besides,

deep in her heart, she knew the baby was his. Sometimes you just knew, and the explanation from Isobel

had made sense. “Besides that, I accessed the secured headquarters and found some interesting

information.” She tugged out the printout from her mother’s office.

Nate stilled, every muscle along his chest clenching visibly beneath his T-shirt. “You what?”

Audrey sat up straighter. “Um, I broke into my mother’s computer.”

Nate’s gaze lasered in on her, making her feel like a specimen squirming on a slide. “How did you gain

access to her office?”

“I, ah, stole her key card.” Audrey swallowed, but once she started confessing, she couldn’t stop. “I

knocked out the doctor and stole his, too. After that, I just went through secured doors until a soldier found

me and escorted me to my mother’s office.”

Nate paled. He went from bronze to ghostlike in less than a second. “You knocked out a doctor.”

Lurching over to the overstuffed chair, Nate fell like an anchor. “Then you snuck into a secured area.” He

dropped his head into his hands. “That’s where a soldier found you.”

“Um, yeah.” The roast beef sandwich in the other room seemed to be calling her name. Hopefully there

weren’t any tomatoes on it.

“Are. You. Crazy?” Nate kept his head down and his voice low, but a tenor of raw fire whipped

through the words.

“Maybe a little.” Audrey wiped her hand over her head. Based on her parentage alone, there was a fair

to middle chance she had some insanity in her. “Don’t panic here, Nate. The good news is that I’m fine, and

I found information about the computer program that will deactivate your codes.”

Man, she was way too calm. Must still be the shock. Plus, even after eating that entire sandwich, she

was still hungry. “Relax.”

“Relax?” He leaped to his feet, steam all but shooting from his ears. “You’re incredibly lucky you’re

pregnant right now, because I’d like nothing better than to flip you over my knee and paddle your butt.

You’d be so sore you couldn’t sit until Christmas.”

“You’re mad?” What in the world was wrong with him? She’d found valuable information, and he

hadn’t even glanced at it. Anger whirled through her like a tornado, so she stood. “Listen, buddy. I did what

I had to do, and you’d better get on board. We’re in this fight together, and you’re gonna need me to get

you access. Deal with it.”

“Deal with it?” Red spread across his rugged cheekbones.

Yeah, he was bewildered and pissed.

“Yes.” Audrey blew out air.

“Oh, baby. You’re on your way to a safe house the second we pack you a bag.” His voice lowered to a

softness with no give.

“Think, Nate.” She drew in air, trying to keep from punching him in the face. Could the baby hear yet?

If so, she didn’t want him hearing her become violent. “I’m your way in to save your brothers. That’s your

goal.”

He shook his head in slow motion, his gaze tapping hers, raw determination stamping an already hard

face. “You and the baby are my
only
goal. If you don’t understand that one simple fact, then you never

really understood me.”

She stepped back. Yes, she’d expected him to go caveman protective, but she had underestimated the

primal being at the core of Nathan. “What about your brothers?”

“The second I get you safe, I’ll figure out a way to get the codes. But
nothing
happens until you’re

secured.”

“Nate.” She drew on every ounce of patience she’d cultivated through the years. “We’re in this together.

I need you alive as much as I need this baby to live. Do you honestly think I can protect him myself while

on the run from the commander?” Yeah, she was smart, and she had contingency plans. But the

commander had an army, and someday, he’d find her. “I need you alive. I need the Gray brothers alive.”

She needed all the help she could get.

“Dean brothers.” Nate still hadn’t moved, but she knew he could launch at any second.

“Huh?” She frowned.

“Dean brothers. We took a last name years ago—only family gets to know it. That kid in there? He’s a

Dean.” Nate eyed her stomach with a fierce possessiveness.

“Good name.” Great name, in fact. Much better than hers, considering she shared it with a sociopath.

“Glad you like it. You’ll be wearing it soon.” Nate finally glanced down at the paper in his hands.

She coughed and fought the urge to fall to the sofa. “Excuse me?”

Nate answered without stopping reading. “I, ah, think we should get married.”

Well, if that wasn’t the most romantic proposal on record. “Why? What does a piece of paper have to

do with anything, Nate Dean?” Yeah, it felt good to slap a last name on that one.

He stilled, vulnerability digging hollows under his cheekbones. “Nothing, really. But, I mean, I

would’ve wanted my parents to be married, if I’d had parents. I mean, right?”

This side of him tore her apart. All of a sudden she could see the lost little boy who just wanted a family

and didn’t want to learn how to kill. “I guess. How about we think about it?” She shrugged, her mind

whirling.

“There’s a good chance I won’t make it past the next few weeks.” His voice lowered with pain. “I’d like

for the kid to know I wanted him and gave him a name. That he mattered.”

Audrey lifted her head as comprehension dawned. Nate had always wanted to matter, which is probably

why he’d taken such good care of his brothers. “This kid will know he matters. I promise.”

“Okay. Good.” He glanced down at the paper again. “This is excellent. It describes the computer

program that sends out the wireless code to deactivate the chips.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t find the actual code.” Yet.

“This is a good start, and Shane will be able to duplicate the program.” Nathan tossed the paper onto the

chair. He scrubbed both hands down his face. “We have to deactivate these chips. We just have to.”

* * *

cold metal from his gun offering comfort in his hand. He wanted to go outside and start taking out the men

watching his family, but for now, he needed to stay close and not tip his hand. Soon, he’d wreak havoc. In

the other room, two heartbeats thrummed. One slower as Audrey slept, and one faster. The baby. His baby.

He’d already searched on the Internet the correct speed of a baby’s heartbeat, and his was doing fine. A

baby. Talk about changing the game midway through the second half.

The love he felt for the forming body held enough weight to crush him, so intense was the need to

protect. The intense craving to live, to have a future to see the miracle he’d been given was new and not

what he ever would’ve expected based on his past.

When he’d arrived in town, he’d been crushed the baby from five years ago hadn’t survived. But now?

Now he had another chance. With Audrey. With a kid he could love and protect—and teach football, not

fighting.

His spine hurt in an unconscious reminder of the device set to kill him.

He couldn’t die. He had to live. For Audrey and the baby.

Hope was a terrible thing, because it was crushed so easily. Yet he couldn’t protect himself from hoping

a little.

How odd that he’d used a condom with Audrey, and she’d ended up pregnant with his kid anyway. But

the betrayal from her mother and the doctors infuriated him. How dare they use her like that?

He scrubbed both hands down his face. What did Audrey really feel about the baby? She had to be

angry and hurt that she’d been taken advantage of, and she had to be scared. Did it matter to her that the

babe was created in a lab instead of naturally? He hadn’t been created or conceived naturally, and look how

he’d turned out.

A killing machine.

But his kid would be different.

Intensity lived within him and always had. But he’d tempered his natural fire in order to calm Matt and

protect Shane and Jory. Now, with his own child being threatened, nothing on earth would temper him.

Ever again.

His feelings for his child’s mother were even more confusing. He’d loved Audrey Madison from the

first second she’d flashed those innocent baby blues at him, and he wasn’t a guy who loved twice. He’d

always known that fact with a certainty that had helped him take risks in the field since he figured he’d

never have a chance with Audrey again.

Talk about a new chance. Now she carried his child, which made his hands shake and his ears heat. If

anything happened to either Audrey or the baby, more than his body would die. He’d never figured on

having a soul, but for the first time, as he sensed the existence of his child with a preternatural surety, he

wondered. If he did have a soul, it was encased in Audrey and that baby. Losing them would be worse than

any death the commander might devise.

The cabin he’d commandeered wouldn’t be a safe enough place to hide Audrey. She’d made some good

arguments earlier, but the idea of her returning to the facility shot cold sweat down his back.

But he had to survive, and he did need her help to do it. How could he risk her in such a manner? How

could he not?

His life had always been such a straight line, and he’d never questioned his place on the path—until

now.

Audrey had been correct. Smart and tough, the woman would give the commander a good chase, but

ultimately, he’d find her. Nate had always intended on taking out the man, but now, more than ever, he

needed to end the organization. Cripple it, kill it, so nobody could threaten his child or Audrey.

He’d do his damnedest to survive, but odds still weren’t good. His only chance was to clear the path for

Audrey.

So he sat down, opened his laptop, and made the one call he
never
thought he’d make.

His older brother took shape on the screen, concern gleaming in his familiar gray eyes. “Nate?” Matt

asked.

“I need help, Mattie.”

Chapter 20

Across the country from Washington, DC, on a rural ranch outside of Rebel, Montana, Mathew Dean

drummed his fingers on the kitchen table, waiting until the shocked silence ended. His brother, Shane, sat to

his right, and the woman who held his heart, Laney Jacobs, sat to his left. Josie Dean, Shane’s wife, sat next

to her husband.

“Pregnant?” Josie whispered, her pixie-cut blond hair swishing when she shook her head. “Really

pregnant? Are we sure it’s Nate’s baby?” So much hope lived in Josie’s tone that Matt’s heart thumped.

“Yes.” Matt reached out and grounded himself by slipping his fingers through Laney’s. “Nate has the

amnio results, and he also has a sense of the baby and can hear a heartbeat. Chances are good it’s Nate’s

kid, considering the scientific exploration and past history.”

“Wow.” Shane leaned back in his chair and drew in a deep breath. He smiled, showing dimples that

might be charming in any other face. In Shane, they appeared dangerous. “We can have kids.”

Matt nodded, surprised by the emotion welling inside him. Through him. They could have kids.

Laney tightened her grip on his hand, as if she felt his turmoil. “This is wonderful news.” Her voice,

cultured and sweet, served to calm him as nothing else on earth. “After all the failed tests from Dr. Madison,

it turns out the Dean brothers can have kids—with the right woman.” She snorted and shook her head.

“Who knew?”

Matt chuckled. Her sense of humor always eased his stress. However, he seriously doubted his sperm

could tell the difference between eggs, but what the hell. Maybe God did give a shit and was actually

looking out for them.

Shane rested muscled forearms on the heavy oak table. “Nate honestly asked for help?”

Yeah. For the first time in, well, ever. “Yes.” Matt eyed Laney. “He needs us to prepare for Audrey to

come here.” Three days ago, Matt would’ve said no way. Now? Things were different.

“Of course,” Laney said, as always waiting patiently. “What else?”

“Shane and I are going to DC in an hour.”

Shane narrowed his eyes. “No way did Nate ask that.”

“No.” Matt shook his head.

“I can be ready in ten minutes.” Shane pushed back from the table.

Laney nodded, intelligence shining in her brown eyes. “Good plan. I’ll get my bag in case you need help

—we can leave Josie in charge of the ranch.”