Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14) (53 page)

Neither stopped him.

They were just too shocked.

This was NOT what they thought was going to happen. If anything, Callen had changed, and it was for the better.

“Go with him. I’ll take care of this,” he said, pointing at the run down cabin.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Go. He might not need us, but you need him.”

Elizabeth ran after her other husband. When she hopped into the vehicle, she was sure he was going to tell her to leave. Instead, again, he surprised her.

“Gum?” he offered, popping a stick into his mouth. He watched her with very calm eyes to see if she was going to lose it. Right now, he needed company, but he couldn’t let this get to him.

She took a piece. “Callen.”

“Let’s go, Lyzee. You should be off your feet a little today. You’re looking a little pale.”

She opened her mouth, and then closed it. Elizabeth didn't know what to say to him.

She was confused as hell.

Callen was holding up.

“Ready?” he asked, starting up the Denali.

“Yes.”

With that, he took off. Callen never looked back. He wouldn’t give the man who tormented him all those years the satisfaction.

It wasn’t happening.

This was the new phase of his life, and he wasn’t giving it up for two child-abusing bastards.

He was moving forward.

One way or another.

Ethan watched them drive away. He knew his brother. He was strong, but this still had to bother him. There was no way he was immune to his past.

No one was, and this was proof.

The killer was pointing that out to them, trying to teach them some sick and twisted lesson. Elizabeth had broken the law, and this started it, but Callen’s abuse and how Ethan had kicked the shit out of the dead man was someone’s way of pointing out that they were watched. It was some sick and twisted justice. This killer was built by hate. He could feel it.

It pissed him off.

When he found the killer, he didn't need to worry about Elizabeth putting a bullet in her brain.

Ethan was going to do it. For this one shot at them, he’d do it. The line was crossed and he was going to teach this asshole a lesson.

Willingly.

 
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

Damascus

Thursday

Late Afternoon

The matinee had been fun. They’d shared popcorn, had some soda, and snuck in a few kisses. It was like when they first started dating.

Chris felt like he was young again, and that did his heart good. Tomorrow, he was heading to FBI West so he could go back to work. As much as he loved being free every day, it was time to return to his mistress.

Work.

He couldn’t help it. The career had made him all those years ago. His wife was reaping the benefits of a happy man because he had that other half.

Chris had fulfillment. When it was taken away, that broke him. Now he’d do his job, love his family, and continue ahead. Elizabeth had given him a second chance, and this time, he wasn’t going to waste it.

There was renewed vigor in his step.

“Thank you for a great date,” he said, smiling across the table at his wife. “I hope we can do this more often.”

“I hope so too. I like date day.”

He grinned over his glasses. “I do too.”

He watched her face, and she seemed off. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he asked.

“A lot.”

“Want to share it?”

She leaned across the small bistro table and kissed him. “I want to tell you how sorry I am about what I did.”

As they sat there sipping cappuccino on a cold day, Chris knew his wife needed to get this off her chest. He’d let it go, but she needed to vent.

“Why did you do it?” he asked. “I mean, I know why you did it, but really, Cyra, there was no reason. I love you. I love Bethe. You both are my life. I think I’ve proved that. Like every other person on the planet, I have a job. If we weren’t rich, I’d have to work. Would you have threatened me then?”

She thought about it. “No.”

“That’s what upsets me. I worry that you really would have left and taken our daughter. I just lucked out and have money and a decent boss who didn't tell me I couldn’t come back.”

She shrugged. “I feel like I’ve let myself down. Maybe it’s because I was once a cop, and I know how hard that is, but I feel like I gave up.”

He knew where this was heading.

“So go back.”

She looked at him. “I can’t. We have a child.”

“You could go back if you wanted. I’d support your decision. I would never tell you to give up your dream. You chose to leave the FBI, honey. That wasn’t me forcing you. Look at Elizabeth. She runs the place and has all those kids. You could do it. We have the financial resources to pull it off. You have an advantage that many women don’t have. You can afford to decide if you want to work.”

She thought about it.

“We could get a nanny if need be. If we’re both traveling, we could have someone with Bethe. If not a stranger, then maybe she could hang at Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk.”

She didn't like that idea. Leaving her child would be hard. Did she really want to take that route?

“You’re right.”

“I know I am, but I also know that there has to be more behind what you did. You’re a very rational person, Cyra. Spill it.”

She put down her cup. “I also did it because I was jealous. I guess a part of me wondered if you’d pick me, or if you’d turn your back on me for her.”

He knew who ‘her’ was.

“This whole thing was about Elizabeth and our relationship?”

It was time to come clean.

“Yes. I’m jealous of what she has with you. She’s your best friend. I’m not.”

“Are you serious?” he asked, not quite sure he understood. He’d never been inappropriate with his boss. In fact, all the times when they were younger, she shut him right down. Her control had set the boundaries.

Now they were a family.

“Yes, and she’s intimidating.”

He laughed. “No, she’s really not. Elizabeth is the easiest person to love. She’s tough on the outside, but it’s all show. She’s gentle.”

She stared at him. “Are we talking about the same person? You know, the southern woman with the attitude and big hair?”

He laughed. “Yes, that would be the one in the same.”

“I think you’re insane. She’s far from gentle.”

Chris knew he needed a new approach. “When I first started at the FBI, the techs rode me. I was ready to quit. I went home every day, and I wanted it to be my last. When I met Elizabeth, she protected me. When people picked on me, she gave it back. When they tried to take me out, she had my back.”

Cyra listened to what he was saying.

“Trust me when I say that you’re only seeing one side of her. If you try harder, you’ll see that she’s not only that person. She’s more. I won’t go into details, Cyra, because it’s not my story to tell, but she’s been burned too. If you really tried to be her friend, she’d never hurt you. Elizabeth knows when someone is being genuine, and when someone is bullshitting her.”

She thought about it.

“Have you honestly really tried to be her friend? I know we go over there, but have you really made the attempt to be part of my family?”

Cyra pondered what he was saying. “Can I be brutally honest?”

He nodded.

“I don’t trust her near you.”

There.

It was said.

He laughed. “So you think I’m going to have some torrid affair behind your back with Elizabeth?”

“It may have crossed my mind.” She thought back to their first date, and how Chris watched Elizabeth with awe. It still bothered her. That Christmas party had set the tone, and she was worried.

“Well, I have news for you. I came first in her life. We met long before Ethan and Callen, and she managed to contain her unbridled lust for me. If it was going to happen, it would have already gone down. It never did.”

Cyra gave him the look. “Really, Christopher? That’s not helping me.”

He laughed. “Give her a chance. She’d offer up her life for you if it came down to it. Elizabeth loves with all her heart. You’re actually lucky.”

“How?”

“She loves me, so you don’t have to try and get in. She’ll love you just because I do. She’s my sister, Cyra, and that’s it. I’m not going to give her, or you, up. Yes, you’re my wife, but you’ll have to make it work. There are boundaries, and I don’t hurt the people I love—that’s both of you, plus Callen and Ethan. You need to trust me.”

“Are you giving me an ultimatum, Christopher?”

He thought about it. “In a way, I think I am. Don’t make me choose, Cyra. I’d never do that to you out of respect. Your brother hates my guts, and he makes my life hell, but I’d never ask you to walk away from him. You’re doing just that. It’s not fair.”

She got it.

“As for work, you should have your passion in life. If it’s not only being a mother, I support you.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll think about going back to being a cop.”

“You do that.”

They sipped their coffee.

“Do you feel better?” he asked.

Cyra got it off her chest. She wasn’t angry anymore. Now she got it. “Yeah, I think I do.”

 
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

In the morning, the next part of the plan would be put into play. As of yet, the Blackhawks didn't have a clue.

That’s what made this perfect.

The scene would be set.

Elizabeth was the center, but it was also about anyone who thought they could bully people.

Justice needed to be done.

In the end, someone had to pay for the crimes. Christopher Leonard helped bury the truth.

Doctor Pressman told the tale as he was being tortured. He sang like a little birdy.

Chris Leonard knew from the beginning. So, for that, he would have to pay a hefty price.

Someone had to die.

Blood needed to be shed.

Maybe then, Gabriel Rothschild would see that having Elizabeth Blackhawk and her husband in the FBI was a bad idea.

For him.

For them.

For anyone.

They were a menace.

Chapter FIFTEEN

Hotel

Callen handled everything as he and Elizabeth checked in. He signed all the paperwork, he carried up all their bags, and he even grabbed his wife some cookies.

It was sugar, but it was better than nothing. He was trying to plot out the rest of the day in his head. It was already the afternoon, and they had so much to do.

As he placed their bags in the rented living space, Elizabeth simply watched him. Her heart ached, and she didn't know what to do. When Callen broke, she knew how to patch him up.

Now?

She didn't have a clue.

On the outside, he looked perfectly fine. In fact, he looked distracted.

Elizabeth wasn’t quite sure how to reach him. Sitting on the couch, she kicked off her boots and then ran her hand over her belly.

“Shhhh, Timothy Wyler, it’s okay. Mommy loves you. I know you’re all stirred up.”

Callen watched her from the doorway.

She was suffering.

He could see it. His eye caught the wedding rings on her left finger, and his heart ached. He was pushing her out, and it was wrong. They’d trusted him at the scene, and he needed to trust her too.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of his voice. “Sure, darlin’, what’s on your mind?”

“You.”

He crossed the room and sat beside her. When he took her hand in his, leaving gentle kisses across it, she broke.

The tears came.

They were hot and bitter.

Callen expected it. He knew Elizabeth loved him so much, and this had to shake her. It rattled him that she was weeping. Callen hated seeing her like this.

“Beautiful, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Callen. None of this is even close to being okay.”

He pulled her into his lap, and she curled into him. The scent of his cologne and the feel of his strength offered her peace. As his large hand covered his child growing in her womb, his touch soothed the jagged edges.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to make yourself sick again. I know what you saw horrified you, but you have to think of our son.”

She stared at him. “Horrified? Do you think that even comes close? I want to destroy everything around me. I want to go into that cabin and burn it to the ground. Horrified isn’t the word, Callen,” she said, pulling from his body.

“Disgusted?”

She paced, trying to stay calm. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel the flush rushing up her body. Their unborn child began reacting as her body was stressed to the max.

“Angry. I’m so damn angry!”

He stood, crossing to her. “What can I do to help you calm down? Do you want to box? Trash a hotel room? What?”

“I want you to tell me you’re angry too, and that you’re not swallowing this for me and Ethan. You’re too calm, Callen, and that’s scary. One of the things I love most about you is that you don’t hide your emotions. You share, and now it feels like you’re bottling it up.”

He lifted her chin. “Look into my eyes, Elizabeth. Do I look angry?”

She stared into the warmth. Elizabeth loved his deep chocolate brown eyes. They sent shivers down her spine. “No.”

“I’m tired. I’m fed up, and I’m irritated, but I’m not angry. I can’t explain it. I’m beyond it. I feel like this is a turning point for me. If I dare to go back there, I won’t get free. I did the self-loathing, and I did the pity party. I don’t want to live like that, but I understand this is hurting you.”

“Callen.”

He stopped her by kissing her softly on the mouth. The tenderness was the only way he could prove to her that he wasn’t angry.

He was simply being strong for his wife, his children, and his brother. This was who he wanted to be. Callen didn't want to be that abused, broken soul who screwed shit up. He wanted to be happy.

He needed that.

He deserved it.

Elizabeth fell into the kiss. It was warm, and it healed her. She’d never forget those horrible images, but Callen chose to give her something more to make it less brutal.

He was giving her love.

Sliding his hands into her hair, his mouth made love to hers. It plumbed the depths with gentle caresses that warmed them both. The lip lock helped her forget, and for that, she was eternally grateful.

Her arms went around his neck, and they stood there joined as one. When his hands slipped beneath her shirt, stroking her flesh, shivers crisscrossed her body.

Callen was undoing her.

“I want to make love to my wife,” he whispered. “I want to feel alive with you. Let that go and join me. Help me move forward,” he whispered, knowing she’d give him anything he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, still clinging to him.

Callen swept her off her feet.

Carrying her into the bedroom of the hotel suite, he placed her carefully on her feet. Elizabeth felt like precious glass, cherished, and protected.

“I love you. I don’t tell you enough, but I do.”

Her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt and she undid them. As Callen waited, her hands stroked his flesh. There was her name, the fox, and her face on his side. The ink told the tale.

There was the before.

And there was the after.

She finally got it. Callen was asking her to divide it in two parts—their past, which had its rocky moments, and their future, which had nothing but love and promise.

“I love you too, Callen James. I understand now. I get it. You need us to let it go so we can all heal.”

His eyes filled with emotion. “I do, Lyzee. I need my wife to see me as I am now, not then. I need you and Ethan to grow with me, not stay stagnant. I don’t know what’s coming in our future, but I know I need you by my side.”

She pushed his shirt from his shoulders. His body beneath it made her heart skip. She loved him more than anything. Only the two men in her life would ever own her heart.

They were the two keys to the lock.

“Make love to me, Callen. Put your hands all over me,” she begged.

He could do that.

He struggled with the buttons on her shirt, but somehow, he finally got them undone. When she stood there in her jeans, bra, and growing belly, his heart was pierced with love.

Here was his woman.

His wife.

The mother of his child.

Dropping to his knees, he kissed across her belly. When his mouth came to rest against the child they’d made, he whispered words of adoration to his son.

“I love you too. I’m blessed to be given another son.”

Her heart flipped. It always did when the two big strong men in her life did something so sweet.

Tugging her pants down, she stepped free of them. Callen ran his fingers down her leg just to feel her skin. It was always so soft. “I love touching you.”

“Feel free,” she murmured, tugging the hair tie free from the warm brown strands of his hair.

Callen stood and pushed his jeans from his body. Next were his boxers. He was hard and needed his woman’s touch. When she stroked him with gentle fingertips, it set the mood for their lovemaking.

He was going to take his time.

Scooping her up, he carried her to the bed. As he crawled on his knees, Callen gently placed her in the center of the bed. Staring down at his wife, he was overwhelmed with love. “You steal my breath when I look at you. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Elizabeth, but I’m so blessed.”

“You were born, Callen. That’s what you did to deserve me. That’s all it took. From the minute Wyler made you, our fate was sealed. You were meant to be mine.”

It made his heart quake. Her words turned him upside down and inside out. She never saw him as anything less than worthy, and that helped him heal.

“You’re the reason I’m strong. You make me want to be a better man, a worthy husband, and a good father. You bring that out in me, Elizabeth. You’re the key to my heart.”

She tugged him down.

Callen placed his body alongside hers to make love to his woman. As his hands wandered, she drove him wild with dizzying kisses that heated his blood.

“Lyzee,” he whispered.

She didn't stop. Her mouth stole his breath, as she slid her silky leg up his body.

His fingers slid across the panties that hid the treasure he craved. While she kissed him senseless, he tugged them down. The hitch in her breath told the tale.

She wanted him.

That miracle always astounded him.

Pulling free from her mouth, he trailed down her body, across his child, and to the wetness that he craved to taste. Tugging the black silk down, he freed her.

His erection throbbed at what was there waiting for him. The need welled up, and he wanted to take, but instead, Callen opted to give.

He wanted to share what lived in him.

He found her with the tip of his tongue, and he drove her to delirium. With each lick, stroke, and lap, she shook.

This was bliss.

This was home.

Getting lost in her body was the best thing ever.

As he drove Elizabeth up and over, quickly forcing her into the first orgasm, she shouted his name. It sounded like heaven to his ears.

He was home.

She was his salvation—
whether she knew it or not.

“More,” she whispered, burying her hands in his hair. She held on as he gave all he had. His tongue swirled across that sensitive spot, sending shivers down her spine.

Her legs shook.

She craved more.

Callen held nothing back. As she writhed beneath his mouth, he could feel the heat building in his body. He couldn’t wait to slide into the wet warmth.

It called to him.

She crested again, the need still not satiated. Callen lit her aflame with love and heat. When she came, he slowly slid up her body, stealing a kiss.

“I could do that all day,” he whispered, as she breathed heavily. “It never gets old.”

Elizabeth rolled with him, forcing him to his back. She wanted to feel him buried in her body more than she wanted to breathe. She wanted him to fill all the voids that this case had created.

As he lay there, on his back, he stared up at his angel. She was radiant. Her hair fell around her face, her breasts were lush and full, and then there was his child.

For that alone, he could weep.

As she straddled his hips, rubbing her body against his, he moaned. This was his favorite part.

She was going to ride him.

Callen’s hands went to her hips. As she got him into position, he was helpless but to watch. The slide down was always the most erotic thing for him. He could remember when they first came together.

That one moment stole his thoughts.

It still did, countless times later.

“Ready?” she asked, running her fingers over the chiseled bones in his cheek.

He nodded. “Yes!”

She took her time, working him into her body. She was tight and wet.

Callen wanted to cum from that alone. As she sheathed all of him, his breath quickened.

“This never gets old.”

She laughed. “I’m getting old.”

“You’re getting perfect.”

Elizabeth braced her hands on his chest and began moving. She loved him because of his heart, and she cherished him because he never saw her less than perfect.

Then she got it.

She’d seen him as broken, and that cheated him. From that moment out, she’d do what he did. Find perfection in the visibly flawed. They had their moments of faltering, but Callen always saw the good in it.

She wanted to be like him.

Elizabeth knew she had a lot to learn, and Callen would teach her.

As she rode, his face said it all. The slow pace was killing him.

“Angel,” he begged as she slowed down. “Shit! Don’t stop.”

She rode his body, getting lost in the sexiness of his husky words. Callen was very expressive in bed, and she loved that. Elizabeth pulled him up so he was sitting. As she bounced in his lap, their mouths met, their child trapped between them.

Callen moaned as she undid him.

The kiss pushed him closer to the edge. As her hands wound into his hair, holding him pressed to her body, she bit his lower lip.

The unexpected kiss of pain pushed him from the edge. All the need in him ruptured out, filling her body. Callen came, and came hard.

Elizabeth fell with him. The pleasure overtook her, pulling her under. As they shook together, wrapped around each other, Callen laid back.

They cuddled much like they always did after sex. It was warm, soothing, and cathartic. It was like that warm sweater on a chilly day, and he loved it.