Delta Salvation (Phantom Force, Book 1) (23 page)

Her heart stopped and started with his words. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I love you, too. I’m tired of running. Of being scared...and just everything. Except you. You’re the only good thing that’s ever happened to me. I need to pinch myself to make sure I’m awake and not dreaming.”

He lifted off her. “Let’s go shower. Coyle’s spaghetti will taste better reheated.”

She looked down. “You didn’t wear a condom?”

“I’m playing for keeps. I wanted to prove to you this isn’t a ploy, or some bullshit game. A man only makes love to the woman he wants forever without one.” Naked honesty met her stare.

“I’m on the shot.”

He shrugged massive shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go before they begin pounding on the door.” Kai held his hand out, knowing she’d follow him anywhere.

“You realize that shower is not very big, right?” She stood, a whisper of air between them.

“Well, I guess we’ll be real close,” he murmured wickedly.

****

K
ai left Alexa to finish drying her hair. He couldn’t believe she thought he would give her up in exchange for Tyler. He walked into the security room, coming to a halt at the sight that met his eyes.

“Hello, Rowan. Find anything interesting?” Kai leaned against the wall, the smell of spices had his stomach growling.

Pointing at the phones, Rowan looked up. “You got a picture text from an unknown number with our friend Tyler looking way too healthy for my tastes.”

“Did the others fill you in on what he,” Kai nodded at the phone, “wanted in exchange?”

Rowan snorted. “Yeah, like any man worth his salt would give up his woman for a man, even one the likes of that piece of trash.”

“What’s the plan?” Kai asked, knowing Rowan had one.

Electric blue eyes blinked up at him. “A little yippee-ki-yay motherfuckers sounds about right.”

“Damn, you been watching too many Die Hard movies.” Rowan always did like to blow shit up. Kai clapped his hands together, the need to do something and do it now rushed through him.

The back of his neck tickled, not the itch that let him know danger was near, but that Alexa was. He turned to see her standing in the hall. He held his hand out.

“We’re gonna warm up some leftovers,” he announced.

“How do you know there are any left? Haven’t you heard how much growing boys eat?” Rowan patted his flat belly.

Kai flipped him the finger. “There better be.”

Laughing, Rowan turned back to the bank of computers. “I’m sure Jaqui put some aside.”

He knew Alexa was aware of the undercurrents flowing between them. The full truth was heavy in the air. They weren’t guests in a cabin, but they could pretend for a few. In a dark room he could make her forget for a short time.

In the kitchen they found two plates already prepared and waiting for them inside the large fridge. Alexa placed napkins and silverware on the granite counter, a smile playing about her lips. He caught her eye, the thought of the last time they’d both eaten in the space written on her face clear. “Damn, I won’t be able to walk if you keep looking at me like that.”

She winked. “That makes two of us.”

They ate in companionable silence, while he wondered when the next strike would be. He knew there would be, it was just a matter of when, not if.

“Heads up. We have some new intel that you might want to see.” Rowan’s booming voice interrupted his musing.

“You go ahead. I’ll clean up then watch a movie if that’s okay? I promise I won’t open the doors for anything.” She held her hand up as if she was swearing an oath.

Rowan came into the room. “I hadn’t thought of installing blinds or curtains. That was a bad on my part. While y’all were busy, me and the boys did a little improv with the decorating.” Rowan’s grin said he knew just what they’d been busy doing.

Alexa’s face turned a nice shade of red, but she nodded. “I’m assuming since you are a guy and all, you have cable?”

Laughing, Rowan nodded. “Oh, yeah. Can’t have a home without that. Help yourself.”

Kai got up, but couldn’t stop himself from stealing a kiss before following Rowan. He knew Coyle and Sully were also in the Great Room. More than likely they were already watching something, or reading on one of their many devices. He wondered where Jaqui had gotten off to, but figured she was off resting, or on her computer. She and Tay made a perfect pair if the two would quit bitching to and about each other long enough.

Jaqui sat in one of the chairs, her computer had images flashing across the screen at lightning speed. “What’s going on?” Kai looked for the other members of their team.

“Shut the door, Swift,” Rowan instructed.

His neck itched.

“Alright.” He shut the door, then leaned against the steel frame. “What gives?”

“The Smirnov’s are here. Like within striking distance of here,” Jaqui pointed to the screen. “And so are our little friends.” She pointed out what appeared to be nothing more than blobs on the computer.

“How did you come to that conclusion?” Rowan moved forward.

She snorted, clicking the mouse with her right hand. The images that came up amazed him. “If you know what to look for and where to look, you can find anything, if you have the proper equipment.” She looked up. “Thank you United States Gov.” Jaqui made it sound like a prayer.

Rowan pointed at the couple on the opposite side of the property before pointing to the larger group. “Do they know that they are here as well?”

Rowan rocked back in the chair. “I’d think they arranged it.”

Kai ran his hand across the back of his neck. “Why? I don’t understand. If Alexa is their child, then why did they give her up? Why now come back into the picture?”

“Could be they thought it was safer to do so at the time. From what Jaqui has found, the Smirnov’s were high level Russian officials who pissed off the wrong people. They came to America seeking amnesty and from what we found were given it, until they betrayed someone, or someone felt they did. Around that time Alexa must’ve been a young child, and they decided leaving her here as an orphan was better than taking her on the run with them.” Rowan shrugged his shoulders, looking to Jaqui to confirm his words.

“Yeah, a young girl in the foster system is much better off. Why was she never adopted?” He wondered at that since first meeting her.

Jaqui looked up. “She wouldn’t speak for the first two years in care. They thought she was deaf and mute.”

He wanted to go out and hold Alexa close and ask what had happened to make her pretend she was that way. His heart ached for the young girl who’d lost everything.

“Now, they what? Plan to come back and be all parenty?” he growled.

Rowan laughed. “Who the fuck knows. I’m assuming they feel guilty, or hell maybe they truly believed she was safe all these years. It wasn’t until she was attacked and hospitalized that she was entered in the system again. She literally flew under the radar all these years. Her attack was quite brutal, and she needed blood, which is rare, and it hit off all kinds of markers in the FBI and CIA, which then set about the triggers we are now dealing with. Her parents clearly had a system in place that would let them know if someone was looking into them, and vice versa, the syndicate who nabbed your girl the other day.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed at the name. “So we are dealing with the fucking mafia or some shit now?”

Jaqui nodded. “Yeah, her parents weren’t the squeaky clean Mr. and Mrs. Robinson type.”

Which totally explained the LV luggage and high end clothing they both sported, not to mention the ability to disappear and not be found. Still, how could they leave their only child in poverty?

“If she’d stayed with them, she wouldn’t be the woman she is today. Remember that, my friend.” Rowan turned back to monitor the images.

“Is this real time, or is there a lag between them?” He needed to keep his head in the game.

“I’ve got guys in the field that none of them will know are there until it’s way too late,” Rowan assured him.

He put his hand on the door. “I need to tell her what we’ve found. I can’t let her go on without knowing all the details of her past.” He let out a deep gush of air.

Sympathy flashed in the blue eyes across from him. Jaqui’s shoulders stiffened, but she kept quiet.

Kai left the two, entering the large room where Alexa sat curled up in an overstuffed chair watching a documentary with Coyle and Sully. Her eyes lit up as he walked in, and he hated to be the one to dim that glow. He held out his hand. “Come with me. There’s been some new information.”

She swallowed. “Okay. Thanks for letting me watch this with you guys. Now I know I never want to be
Naked and Alone
, especially for television purposes, even if it means dropping the pesky thirty pounds fashion says I should.”

“Girl, you are perfect just like that. All hips and curves like a woman should be. Those skinny women on them magazines,” he shook his head. “They look good, if you like that sort. Me, I like to have a little cushion beneath me. If that one tells you any different, you come to me and I’ll treat you right.” Sully winked, pointing at Kai.

Kai pulled Alexa to him. “Get your own woman. This one is taken, and yes, she is exactly how I want her. Mine.” He kissed her in front of both men.

“Get a room,” Sully groaned.

Breaking away from Alexa’s lips, he made a smacking noise, sure to annoy the other two. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

He didn’t wait to hear what they said, leading Alexa back to the safe room.

“Okay, let me have it,” she said pulling her hand free from his.

Without pausing he explained what Rowan told him, watching her body begin to shake. He stepped forward, intending to pull her into his arms.

“No, I can handle this. I need to handle this.” She ran her hands up and down her arms.

“You’re not alone, Alexa.”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember not talking. I mean...it’s a blur those first few years. I was so young. My first memory was starting school. I was older than the other kids in kindergarten. They called me names, said I was stupid and that’s why I was too old to play their games. From that point on I didn’t even try,” she hiccupped on a sob.

Kai didn’t allow her to pull away from him. If he could go back in time, he’d beat all those snot nosed kids up who hurt her.

“I see that look in your eye, and I love you for it.” Laying her head on his chest, she sighed. “I haven’t thought of those years in forever. When I aged out of foster care I was only a sophomore. I sorta gave up on high school and got my GED. It was easier to attend those classes with people my age, than be eighteen and a sophomore.”

“I thought you went to senior prom?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “His senior prom. I mean I was old enough to be a senior, but technically I wasn’t.”

He was starting to understand her a little more. “You realize you’re like an onion, don’t you?”

She lifted her head, squinting up at him. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and wait for your reasoning.”

He kissed her nose. “With each layer you reveal, I appreciate you even more. You’re not a simple woman who is defined by a single thing, but a complexity of layers. All these things have sculpted and molded you into the fighter you are today. Much like an onion. You peel back a layer at a time, and by the time you get to the middle, you may be weeping, but by damn, it’s the best onion you’ll taste. And we both know how much I love tasting you.”

Chapter Fifteen

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A
lexa couldn’t stem the tears flowing from her eyes. Kai’s words melted her heart and any misgivings she may have had. This man reduced her to a puddle of goo, and put her back together with his words. He may think he was not good with words, but the man was a master at them.

“That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Stick with me, kid, I can do better than calling you an onion. Next week I’ll work on flowers,” he joked.

Three sharp buzz sounds interrupted them. “We better answer that, huh?”

Kai’s head nodded, but regret shadowed his features. “Duty is a bitch sometimes.”

She stepped back, hating to lose his warmth. “Should I stay in here, or can I go with you?”

He grabbed her hand. “Let’s see what’s going on and make decisions accordingly.”

The monitor next to the door showed Jaqui standing outside, a worried frown on her face. Kai raised his hand. “What’s up Jaq?”

“We’ve got movement and they’re both heading this way. Fast.”

“Shit!” Kai turned to look at her. “I need you to stay in here. Remember what I told you. Nobody but you or I in or out. Got me?”

Alexa nodded. “Got it. Kai, I need a weapon. I’m a sitting duck in here if for some reason they do get in.”

He shook his head, then stopped. He pulled the gun out of his holster. “You know how to shoot one of these?”

“I was learning at the compound. I may not be able to shoot the pin off the side of a barn, but I can shoot the head off someone within ten feet.”

“Good enough.” He showed her where the safety was, then gave her a hard kiss. “Listen, I trust everyone in the cabin with my life. I trust nobody but me with yours. Do you understand what I’m saying? You shoot first and ask questions later. Nobody is to come in here but me. If someone has access, it’s because they’ve broken in, and that is not good. Don’t come out unless I come get you or you’re given this code.” He put his lips next to her ear and whispered words almost too low for her to hear. Her face heated at the explicit words. “Trust me, I wouldn’t say that to anyone unless it was dire circumstances. Love you.” He kissed her one last time, then slipped out the door, securing it as he went. She watched on the monitor as he and Jaqui headed toward the security room.

She chewed on her thumb nail as she waited, sat on the bed, and waited some more. Waiting was not her strong point, and the not knowing was making her insane.

At the door, she went back to the monitor hoping to get a glimpse of someone walking by. The fact the room kept any sound from reaching her, was deafening in its silence. Sully’s big frame came into view with more weapons strapped on than she’d ever seen. She backed away, her hand against her chest.