With Every Breath (8 page)

And that reason was to seek justice for all the women who couldn't.

She was fully aware of the consequences of her actions. The betrayal her team would feel as she turned away from the creed they upheld, followed, seekers of justice. That she would be branded a murderer, outcast. Her sentence would be swift. She wouldn't plead not guilty. She wouldn't cut a deal. She wanted the maximum allowable sentence for the crime she planned to commit. Not only planned but would see through to the bitter end.

Because even a lifetime in jail wouldn't be long enough for her to atone for her many sins against so many beautiful, young, innocent women. Women whose lives had been traded for Eliza's so that Eliza could live in her fantasy world of being a pampered, loved-and-adored beyond measure princess by a sadistic monster who wouldn't know the meaning of love. A word—and the true meaning of the word—now that Eliza was acquainted with it, she was willing to do anything to protect, go to hell and back for. Never let evil taint the people she loved or let
her
love ever become a twisted macabre thing used to control and manipulate helpless, gullible people.

God save her soul. She winced even as she thought it. Because she had none. There was nothing to save. She was damned forever in the eyes of God and soon she'd be damned to the rest of the world, but worse, she'd be damned to the only people she'd ever allowed herself to truly care about. Their disappointment in her could very well do the one thing Thomas had tried to do—God, he'd tried—but she'd been too strong, too determined and fought every step of the way not to allow him to win. To break her.

This, the loss of the people she loved, would irrevocably break her when nothing else in her young life had been able to manage such a seemingly impossible feat.

“Before we wrap up, I'm introducing you all to the newest DSS recruits,” Caleb announced, yanking Eliza from her macabre thoughts.

Caleb made a sign and Beau opened the door of the meeting room and made a motion for the others to enter.

Eliza's eyes widened when the group of four men ambled through the door. They were the epitome of badass and if she weren't so deeply ensconced in worry and stressed out of her mind over her impending come to Jesus with Dane, her feminine appreciation would have kicked in full gear.

These were not your average guys off the street. They were legit. Professionals. Either ex-military or they had careers in cracking people's heads with a healthy dose of intimidation to boot. In other words, they were fucking perfect additions to DSS. And if they'd already been hired, then Dane would have tested their skills and they'd met his requirements, which meant they were the real deal. Big, muscled, mean looking men who could handle themselves in any situation.

Beau took over then, gesturing toward a really tall, bald African American man, muscled with not one inch of spare flesh on his body, dressed in fatigues and a very tight fitting t-shirt that looked as though it was painted on.

“This is Dex,” he said, not including a last name or if Dex was a shortened version of his given name.

But Dex was seriously hot with intense eyes that studied as his gaze swept the room. Her girly parts sighed and purred, ignoring the order to stand down and not react, but who was she kidding? The room was already filled with hot guys and enough testosterone to float a barge, but with the addition of four mouthwatering specimens of pure alpha male? She was
swimming
in it.

He remained silent, merely offering a lift of his chin to indicate his acknowledgment of the already existing members of DSS. Beau wasted no time going down the line.

“This is Zeke.”

Once again, feminine appreciation fully intact, she took in Zeke's appearance, noting that he wasn't as tall as Dex, but then Dex was taller than all of them, including the current members of DSS. She put Dex around six-six but Zeke was only a couple of inches shorter, which still made him much taller than the average male.

His hair was black as midnight and hung loosely to his shoulders in an unruly style that said he didn't bother with it and furthermore didn't give a fuck. It had a shine that made it appear blue-black, like a raven, and coupled with bronze skin and features that hinted of Native American ancestry convinced her that he shared at least some of the blood of his ancestors. But his eyes were a startling crystal blue, a sharp contrast that made him a work of art that someone couldn't help but stare at and appreciate.

He was a bit stockier than Dex, not quite as lean but no less muscled. He was just thicker and more solid, ropes of muscles over every body part visible. It didn't escape her notice that he bore scars and likely more on parts that were covered by his faded jeans, combat boots and black T that was a little looser fitting than Dex's.

It was hard to drag her gaze from Dex and Zeke because damn . . . But then Beau continued on.

“This is Shadow,” Beau said, indicating a man about Zeke's height, maybe an inch shorter. He had a quiet look about him and his features were solemn, giving nothing away. He had tats spiraling up both arms and she wondered whether he had tats in other places as well.

His hair was shortly cropped, military style, though a bit longer than regulation. Spiked on top, the color of chestnut. His eyes were green, lighter than Zack's, but he had a piercing gaze that pinned each of the DSS operatives as his attention moved to each in turn. When he got to Eliza, he stared what she thought was a longer time than he'd spent studying the others, but then she was paranoid. It wasn't as if he knew anything about her or rather only what Dane or Beau might have said and neither were indiscreet so their conversations had likely been confined to her skills and capabilities when it came to the job and she knew Dane had her back and would have made it clear she could handle herself.

But still, she wouldn't want to be a bad guy on the receiving end of that stare pinning them solidly in place. One that would likely have Shadow's prey tripping over themselves to spill whatever it was Shadow wanted to know.

He sported a tan but was obviously Caucasian, and like the others, he obviously had a strict workout regimen because there was nothing to indicate he was anything but in top form and shape. What was it Beau had said his name was? Shadow?

For some unknown reason she found herself opening her mouth before she thought better of it.

“Your name is Shadow?” she asked, lips pursed, one eyebrow lifted in question.

Then he grinned and it was one of those lazy, I-don't-give-a-fuck smiles that plainly said he wasn't used to explaining himself, but his eyes filled with amusement and Eliza sucked in her breath, because damn, her girly parts weren't just perked up and paying attention. They were fluttering wildly and screaming at her about her neglect of them.

“Forget I asked,” Eliza muttered.

“You have me at a disadvantage, darlin',” he drawled. “You know my name but I haven't been introduced to you.”

Her eyes narrowed because it was also obvious he was fucking with her. As if Dane wouldn't have gone over all the names of the DSS operatives and he most certainly would have given him her name and since she was the only female working at DSS aside from the receptionist, he knew damn well what her name was.

She let her displeasure show and bared her teeth, which served two purposes. One because she was genuinely annoyed but two, it would further allay Dane's worry since this was typical Eliza-like behavior and if she hadn't reacted this way he would have known she didn't have her shit together.

“Since you've been hired, you've been briefed, which means you know who everyone in this room is. So my suggestion is to not play fucking games, which are not only a waste of my time but of everyone else's too.”

Shadow's grin became broader, flashing a row of perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth and his eyes twinkled with ill-concealed amusement.

“Didn't say I didn't know your name. Said I hadn't been introduced to you. Call me old-fashioned but when it comes to the people I work with, people it's my job to protect and have their back and people I trust to watch mine, I'd rather the introduction be a little more personal.”

Damn. In a fucked-up way, he sort of made sense. Not dropping her glare, she relented.

“Eliza,” she said shortly. “Not that you didn't know,” she muttered under her breath.

Beside her, Dane shook silently, meaning he'd heard the last part.

“Shadow,” he returned politely. “But unless I missed my guess, seeing as how you were told my name, you weren't asking
if
Shadow was my name but rather if it was my real name and if not you wanna know how I came to be called it.”

Eliza gave a clipped nod because she so didn't have time for this even if she had enjoyed the show. Hello? Four mouthwateringly gorgeous hunks in the same room? Too bad she'd never have a chance to work with them, get to know them, decide how compatible they were as a team and if she could ever count on them or trust them in the way she did the men she already worked with.

“It's because that's what I am,” Shadow said in a serious tone, all amusement gone, replaced by a hardness you earned by doing bad shit, dangerous shit, and seeing bad shit that most people didn't even realize existed. “It was either Ghost or Shadow and seein' as how I didn't get a choice in having a nickname, I put a stop to Ghost for obvious reasons because I don't have any desire to die anytime soon, and I went with Shadow.”

Eliza continued to meet his gaze steadily, though she'd relaxed because something told her this guy was solid and again, had seen and experienced shit, and he carried more baggage and had more demons than most.

“If I don't want you to know I'm around, you won't,” he said matter-of-factly. There was no arrogance. He wasn't bragging or boasting. He was just stating the truth and she believed him. “My specialty is getting into places most people can't, collecting intel or retrieving something that needs retrieving and then disappearing with no one ever knowin' I was there.”

“We could use that,” Eliza murmured.

Shadow grinned again. “Yeah, seein' as I'm here, guess you do.”

Beau cleared his throat and went on to the last man. “This is Knight.”

Eliza's gaze left Shadow and settled on the last man Beau had introduced. Her first thought was that his was likely not a nickname or at least not in the sense he was considered a knight in shining armor, because there was nothing about him that resembled a romance novel hero or even a hero period.

His features were stony, giving nothing away. He was the shortest one of the group, but considering the others well exceeded six feet, Knight was likely about an inch over that. His hair was long, as in it obviously hadn't been cut in years and it was a look he'd cultivated a very long time. He had it pulled back and secured with a leather tie.

Dark but not as dark as Zeke's midnight hair, but darker than the chestnut brown of Shadow's short hair. He had eyes to match, so dark it was hard to distinguish his pupils from the irises. It gave him a menacing air, which wasn't aided by the couldn't-crack-a-stone-on-his-face set to his features. She wondered if he ever smiled but then decided probably not since it might well fracture the rest of his face.

He barely acknowledged the people he was being introduced to. His gaze quickly passed over each in turn before returning his attention to Beau.

Eliza wondered what his specialty was, but then other than Shadow, none of the others had been forthcoming in what it was they did, but DSS needed men who could handle themselves in any situation and be prepared and trained for anything. From all appearances Dane had chosen well.

It was Dane's job to vet, interview and see what all prospective new hires were made of. He was good at it. The Devereauxs never questioned his choices. If they passed muster with Dane, they were hired. Period.

“Now that introductions are over, if everyone will sit back, we have a few other things to go over before we adjourn,” Beau said.

There were a few unsuppressed groans and likely twice as many suppressed groans because the hope had been the introduction of the new operatives would end the boring-as-fuck meeting.

For once, Eliza was grateful it wasn't over just yet. She needed a few more precious minutes to prepare herself to face her partner, a man she considered her closest friend and her only confidant. And then lie through her teeth to him.

SIX

DANE
bit his tongue and stifled his impatience. He was every bit as eager to get bullshit over with as everyone else was. Yeah, he got that his new recruits needed to be introduced and integrated into the fold, but now was not the time when everyone was bored as fuck, impatient and ready to blow this joint. The others hadn't exactly rolled out the welcome mat for Dex, Zeke, Shadow and Knight. Not that the men would give a fuck. But still, mentally he arranged a better time to meet up with the newest operatives so everyone could receive their assignments and who each of the new guys would be assigned to during training he didn't expect to last more than a few weeks at most.

He'd hired guys who were smart, knew their shit, didn't have egos and had what it took to get the job done. He hadn't hired men who needed hand-holding and an A to Z instructional manual. He needed men who could learn under fire, adapt and overcome any obstacle. And he'd chosen well. They'd all passed a series of very rigorous, intense tests, not only determining their physical skills but also their intelligence. Their ability to make split-second decisions, the ability to think quick on their feet, and how they reacted to the unexpected. He'd been impressed, and he wasn't a man who was easily impressed. He had no doubt the men he'd hired would fit in seamlessly into DSS with no dick sizing or pissing matches, because just as he hadn't hired men with egos and something to prove, neither did anyone currently working with him suffer any such issue. All of the men—and Eliza—were confident without being too confident and had no problem calling in backup when they knew they were in over their heads or were outmatched or outnumbered.