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Beneath the Secrets

Beneath the Secrets

Part 4

By Lisa Renee Jones

Part of the Tall, Dark, and Deadly Series

Copyright 2013

Includes:

Sample excerpt from IF I WERE YOU, now optioned to STARZ for TV with Suzanne Todd producing (Alice in Wonderland, Austin Powers, Must Love Dogs and much more!)

Read about the TV show  HERE

Books in the series:

Secrets Exposed

Hot Secrets

Dangerous Secrets

Beneath the Secrets Serial:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the supplier and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at  lisarenjones@gmail.com

All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.  www.lisareneejones.com.

Table of Contents

Titlepage

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Bonus Book - Prologue

Bonus Book - Excerpt

Beneath the Secrets

PART 4:

***Begins EXACTLY where Part 3 leaves off***

Chapter One

“Where’s your innocent little secretary who isn’t a secretary at all—or she wouldn’t handle a gun so well?” Ignacio demanded.

Standing on the dock, the cold night wind whipping around him, Blake wanted to do some whipping of his own. On Ignacio. But since the asshole was his ticket to Alvarez right now, he’d refrain until a later date. “That’s like saying a lawyer can’t bake a cake,” Blake observed. “But then your brain seems to operate like a mud pie.”

Ignacio’s face reddened under the too-dim lighting along the wooden walkway to their right. “Where is she, asshole?”

“Kara’s…tied up,” he replied. “She couldn’t make it.”

“My uncle specifically said I was to transport you both. I’ll have to call him.”

Blake yanked his phone from his belt. “I’ll do it for you.”

“I’m here!”

Blake froze at the sound of Kara’s voice, every muscle in his body turning to ice and then heating with anger. How the fuck was she here, and why hadn’t he tied her up? And while he wasn’t on mic with his brothers, he was sure they were nearby and cursing, too. They all knew how dangerous this meeting could get and Kara had no business being involved. He’d flipping warned Kyle she was skilled and she’d proven it, clearly outsmarting him.

At the sound of Kara’s heels clattering over the wooden dock, Blake turned to stare at her, watching her hair and the red silk of her dress flutter around her. She looked sexy and feminine and a ripe target for a human-trafficking operation. What part of that didn’t she understand? Blake ground his teeth at the sight of two goons stepping behind her and stopping to guard the walkway, their weapons glinting in their shoulder holsters like shined silver despite the barely there light. There was no way he could get her out of this trip. She was here. It wouldn’t be easy, but he was damn sure going to try.

“I made it after all.” She stopped between him and Ignacio and shivered, hugging herself. “I forgot my jacket. I’m freezing.”

Blake almost laughed at her obvious attempt at playing the innocent little secretary after she’d clearly just outwitted one of the best damn men Walker Security had on their team. Innocent, and held a gun at one of the cartel member’s heads only hours before.

“Where exactly were you?” Ignacio demanded.

Blake grimaced and before Kara could reply, answered for her. “What the hell business is it of yours?”

Ignacio cut him a hard look, his gaze flicking over Blake’s jeans and leather jacket, before raking an obscene path down Kara’s body and back up. “She’s late, but at least she’s dressed for a meeting with Alvarez.”

Blake curled his fingers into his palms and told himself not to punch the living crap out of the man. He’d had a lot of urges to pummel people since meeting Kara, it seemed. Pulling her to his side and under his arm, he would keep her close. He didn’t give a damn how tough she thought she was—she didn’t belong here. If there was any way he could get her out of here, he would. He lifted his chin at Ignacio. “Just get us to Alvarez.”

“Gladly.” Ignacio’s lips twisted. “I’m going to enjoy how much he won’t like you and how much he will like her.” He glanced at Kara. “Give me your purse.”

Kara didn’t hesitate, handing it over to him. Of course, she was prepared. She’d been prepared for Kyle. She’d be prepared for Ignacio. “Ignore the lipstick,” Blake said dryly. “It’s not your shade.”

Ignacio grimaced. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was yours.”

“It is,” he said, unable to stop himself from staking his claim on Kara every chance he could find. “Every time I kiss it off her lips.”

Ignacio did a search and handed Kara back her purse. “Hold your hands to your sides.”

Blake pulled her tighter against him. “If you so much as think about touching her, that lipstick will be up your ass.”

“Better her lipstick than Alvarez’s foot. She has to be searched.”

“We’ll see about that.” Blake grabbed his phone and punched in Mendez’s number. It started to ring.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ignacio demanded.

“Calling your uncle.”

“Wait,” Ignacio bit out. “Hang up.”

Blake let the phone ring. “Why?”

“There’s a metal detector at the destination. We’ll use it.”

“You better be on your way to meet Alvarez,” Mendez barked into the phone, answering the call.

Blake eyed Ignacio. “Since your nephew and I just worked out our travel arrangements, we’re headed to see him.”

“Make sure you are,” Mendez spat, and the line went dead.

“Now what?” Blake asked, shoving his phone back onto his belt. He’d bet one of his balls, and he was as attached to both of them as he was to breathing, Kara had used that same drug she’d zapped him with on Kyle. He hoped like hell that she had some of it with her now. What he’d packed himself wasn’t going to make it through the detector.

Ignacio motioned toward the boat. “All aboard.”

Blake turned Kara toward the boat, keeping her so close her hip was pressed to his. “If you had any idea what I was thinking right now…” he murmured.

“If you had any idea what I’m thinking right now…” she countered.

“Where’s Kyle?”

“Asleep.”

Blake grunted. “Well, at least I won’t get shit from him about you pulling that crap on me anymore.”

She laughed; a soft, delicate sound that reminded him how female and how breakable she really could be. How much she didn’t belong here. “He gave you a hard time?”

“You have no idea,” Blake assured her as they stopped at the edge of the boat and he glanced behind him to find Ignacio talking to the goons. He eyed yet another goon on the deck and all but growled at Kara. “I should throw you in the water and make you swim for it.”

“If I go, you’re going with me.”

“Only because I’d be afraid you’d drown.”

She turned into him, pressing to her toes, her soft curves molded to his, her lips teasing his ear. “I won’t drown. I promise.”

His chest tightened at a promise that had nothing to do with his promise to throw her overboard. He wrapped an arm around her and buried his face in her neck. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Ignacio’s heavy steps warned of his approach. “And neither will I.” If they survived this, he’d be damn sure to tie her up and keep her safe, and that was a promise she could bank on.

He pulled back and motioned her forward. She glared at him, obviously reading between the lines, but Ignacio, with his men behind him, successfully ended their banter, stopping beside them. Kara stepped onto the boat, where another goon waited for them.

Blake followed Kara on board with Ignacio on his heels and things went downhill from there. “You two go into the cabin below,” Ignacio ordered, stepping to Blake’s side.

“Not a chance,” Blake said, all kinds of alarm bells going off.

Blake could feel movement behind him, more people joining them on the boat. Ignacio crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You won’t be allowed to see your destination, plain and simple.”

Going below deck with Ignacio above was beyond foolish. “We’ll ride on top.”

He flicked a look at Kara. “She’s freezing and topside isn’t an option.”

Blake was all about giving Kara his coat, but it was huge and heavy and he wasn’t so sure he wasn’t going to have her running here in a minute. “I’m claustrophobic,” she offered. “I’d rather be cold and topside.”

“We have a schedule,” Ignacio said, his tone clipped. “Inside the cabin, both of you.”

“Then Kara isn’t going,” Blake said, no compromise in his voice.

Kara opened her mouth to insert what was sure to be an objection, but was silenced by the sound of several guns being cocked from behind them. A gun pressed to the back of Blake’s head. “She stays,” Ignacio said, evil satisfaction in his eyes. “And while I’d hate to have to deliver you to Alvarez bleeding from a leg or shoulder, don’t think I won’t.”

Blake ground his teeth. Beneath the deck, they were blind. They wouldn’t know if they’d traveled a mile up the bay or headed out to sea, and the tracking device in his boot was short range at best.

“I’d like you to make my day special,” Ignacio added. “Stay where you are for another sixty seconds and give me a reason to put a bullet in you.”

Blake accepted the inevitable. He was going into that cabin and, damn it to hell, so was Kara.

Chapter Two

Talk about being locked up with a tiger who considered you prey. That was exactly how Kara felt with Blake on her heels as she headed down the stairs and into the small cabin. Instinctively she scanned the windowless space, taking in the mini kitchen, a couch attached to the wall, and a door to a bathroom before she whirled around to face her wild beast. And Blake was definitely a wild beast.

He stalked down the stairs toward her, anger etched in his handsome face. Unsurprisingly, the door slammed and locked behind him. They were officially caged, prisoners who could very well be headed to their death. Right now, though, Blake was headed for her. He didn’t stop until he stood toe to toe with her, but she didn’t back away. Not that there was anywhere to go.

His hands came down on her shoulders, the touch solid, the impact sending spirals of heat through her body. “You and I are going to have a talk.”

“Oh yes,” she assured him, biting back what she really wanted to say, all too aware they were likely being recorded, maybe even videotaped. “We will.”

“What you’re going to do is exactly what the fuck I tell you to do.” He eased closer, whispering in her ear. “They cannot know you matter to me.” He leaned back and glared at her. “You’re here to do paperwork and fuck me. Nothing more. Understand?”

She knew his crudeness was an act. She knew he was trying to send a message to whoever was listening that he owned her that she wasn’t emotionally important, but she couldn’t completely keep it from cutting. “You know I do,” she bit out.

His gaze pierced hers for several more seconds, his handsome faced etched in anger, strands of dark hair falling loose from the tie at his nape, before he dropped his hands away from her. He turned away and Kara hugged herself, watching him shrug out of his jacket, forcing herself to inhale, trying to catch her breath. Why did this man always steal her breath?

Tossing the jacket onto the couch, he sank down on a cushion and patted the one on his other side. “Come sit. It won’t matter if we’re going a mile up the way or ten, they’ll make this a long ride to keep us disoriented.”

Kara told herself to do as he said, to play her role, but her feet didn’t seem to move. The truth was, she wanted to smack him for talking to her like she was his property. She shouldn’t, though—not when they were undercover—but beneath the facade of his being master and her his damnable puppy dog slave, was true anger. Both his and hers. He’d tried to shut her down tonight, to leave her behind when her sister was in trouble. He was pissed it didn’t work. She was pissed he’d pull such a thing.

“Kara,” he said softly, his tone a low command, a warning telling her to stay professional.

He wanted her to come to him. Fine. She’d be right there. Kara stalked toward him as he had her, and took pleasure in the flash of surprise in his face at her determined approach. She halted in front of him, this time her hands settled on his shoulders, and did her best to ignore the instant zip of heat through her body when she did.

Leaning closer, she pressed her lips to his ear, the spicy male scent of him teasing her nostrils and stirring a cluster of butterflies in her stomach. “You’ll survive this night because I won’t let anyone hurt you but me. That’s my privilege.”

His fingers laced into her hair and he gently, but insistently, tugged—forcing her to look at him. “And this is mine,” he declared a moment before his mouth covered hers, his tongue pressing past her lips, hot with demand, and he tasted hunger, passion, and possession. He was claiming her, and it wasn’t for the camera. She could feel the raw need in him, the near desperatation in each lush stroke of his tongue. Kara had no clue if that need was really for her or for an escape from the emotions this trip to meet Alvarez had stirred in him. It didn’t seem to matter. A mix of desire and attachment to this man rushed over her, through her. Whatever he needed, she wanted to give it to him.

Kara sank into the kiss, clinging to him, holding him close, silently telling him she wanted him, she needed him, and in that moment she admitted to herself what that truly meant. Needing him reached beyond this kiss, this trip. In such a short window of time, he’d climbed into her soul and become a part of her. She couldn’t lose him and her sister. She couldn’t lose either of them.

Kara shoved at his chest, tearing her mouth away from his, her chest heaving. “Damn you, Blake.” Again, her lips found his ear, a firestorm of emotions balling in her chest. “You made me feel what I’m feeling right now, and damn it, you aren’t quitting on me. Damn it, you will stay alive. For me. I need you to do it for me.”

“What are you feeling, Kara?” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

“Like I can’t lose you.”

He stiffened, not moving, not responding, and then, suddenly, his arms wrapped around her and he buried his face in her neck. “I promise to stay alive on one condition.”

Relief washed over her with his response, at the possibility he might actually try to survive what she knew he saw as a death mission. Moving to look up at him, she searched his face, looking for a sign he needed her, too. “What? What is it?”

Several heavy seconds thick with tension ticked by, his expression unreadable until a slow smile transformed his features. “You have to let me spank you.”

She barely contained a flinch at the unexpected question. She’d been hoping for an emotional connection, and he’d dodged it completely. His warning that he wasn’t the guy for her to count on replayed in her mind. Kara shoved away from him and when he let her, a chill raced down her spine and spread to her heart. He didn’t plan on staying around. She didn’t mean to him what he did to her. Damn it, why had she picked Blake to finally let her guard down with? Why?

Snatching up his jacket, she leaned against the wall at the end of the couch, and pulled her knees under the heavy weight of the leather. Physically distancing herself from Blake, as he’d emotionally distanced himself from her. Trying to survive herself now, when everything inside her felt like metal shards and broken glass.

Now in profile, Blake just sat there. She sat there. Seconds became minutes before he sank lower into the cushion, stretching his legs in front of him. Kara let her lashes lower, feeling the tension between them like a thick, icy blanket that only chilled her further. Helplessness filled her. All she could do now was sit and wonder if they would both share a destiny, if not a life, and end up as Blake had suggested—sinking in the bay in concrete blocks.

***

For an hour, Blake didn’t look or talk to Kara. He couldn’t look at her. If he did, he’d want to touch her and if he touched her, he’d make promises he couldn’t keep. Okay, he still wanted to touch her, but at least he wasn’t spilling out things he’d regret later. He wasn’t promising her either of them would survive this night. He wasn’t sure they would. All he could promise was his willingness to die to protect her. But promise to be there for her tomorrow? He couldn’t do it. Not this night. But for the first time in years, he did want to survive. He wanted to survive with Kara.

Slumped down on the couch of the godforsaken deathtrap of a boat cabin, with the soft, sweet scent of her teasing his nostrils, his fear for her safety was shredding his insides. It didn’t help that he’d created at least one hundred ways the rest of this evening could go wrong, and he could come up with a counter-move for only about twenty-five of them.

Abruptly, the doors to the cabin opened, and Blake cut Kara a quick look, taking in her long brown hair, her pale skin, her delicate features. Fear punched him in the chest. Damn it, she couldn’t die. “Don’t move or speak unless you have to,” he ordered her.

“And you don’t get killed or kill anyone before it’s time.”

Blake opened his mouth to reply, but footsteps sounded, forcing Blake’s gaze to the door where Ignacio tromped down the stairs with about as much grace as an elephant on a stepladder. Ignacio stopped in the center of the cabin, glancing between Blake and Kara, a crude glint in his eyes. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“We managed to control ourselves,” Blake assured him dryly, stretching lazily as he sat up, maintaining a facade of boredom. “We know how delicate your sensibilities are and all. Are we done joyriding?”

“Yes, Mr. Wright, you are.”

Blake’s gaze jerked to the man walking down the stairs, and the hair on his nape lifted at the sight of the tall, forty-something Latin man in a fitted gray suit who joined them in the cabin. Adrenaline rushed through Blake’s body and acid spilled over his taste buds. For several beats, Blake could barely process what was happening. Alvarez. Alvarez was fucking here, so close he could smell the evil wafting from him. A flash of Whitney’s lifeless face, the blood pouring from her throat, shook him to the core. Anger burned in his chest and he grappled for control. The ease at which he could jump Alvarez and kill him had him struggling to remember what the downside would be. Hatred bled through his body and he could feel it darkening his mind, reddening his anger. He wanted this man dead, and there was no guilt in him at the idea to hold it back.

Suddenly a hand was on his arm, spreading warmth through him, jerking him back with a familiar, calming quality. Kara. Kara was here. Don’t go get killed or kill anyone before it’s time. Her words replayed in his mind, pulling him back to reality, to a place where more than hate filled his heart, where she did. He couldn’t kill Alvarez. Not yet. He had to protect Kara and find her sister.

Blake blinked himself back into control, and not a moment too soon. Alvarez halted directly in front of him and the game was back on. Blake flicked a look up and down the kingpin. “Am I to assume the expensive monkey suit means you’re the boss?”

Amusement flashed over the arrogant asshole’s finely carved features. “I’m the boss no matter what I’m wearing, Mr. Wright.”

“Right,” Blake said flatly. “Had I known you were dressing up for me, I would have worn my new boots.”

“Seems Ignacio was right about you being a smartass,” Alvarez commented, his gaze shifting to Kara, his eyes drifting over her, and lingering on her hemline. “He also said Kara was quite beautiful.” Blake curled his fingers on his knees and decided Alvarez had three seconds before his eyeballs got ripped out. On the three count, the kingpin shifted his gaze away from Kara and added, “No wonder you keep her close.” He spoke of her, not to her. She, like all women, was subservient to this man. No better than a cold beer to be sold off during happy hour.

“She’s here because you requested she be here,” Blake commented. “What’s this about?”

“Business,” he replied. “What else is there?”

“Money,” Blake said. “That’s what I’m about.” He glanced around. “And comfort. This isn’t what I call comfort.”

“I never invite anyone into my kingdom without my personal assessment—and I must say, I found your performance during the boat ride uneventful, boring, and downright Oscar-worthy.” He lifted his chin at Ignacio. “Leave us.”

Ignacio headed for the doorway, unknowingly leaving Blake alone with the man he hated the most in this world and a woman he was pretty damn sure was becoming his world. Not the most stable of situations for any of them.

“So, Mr. Wright,” Alvarez said the instant the door shut, “back to your Oscar-winning performance. Your complete silence this past hour allowed me little opportunity to assess you or your relationship with Kara. While frustrating, it was also quite brilliant. You have my attention.”

“If that’s supposed to give me a hard-on, it doesn’t.” Killing him was another story.

Surprise and a flash of irritation registered on Alvarez’s face. “You do know who I am, I assume?” There was an arrogant bite to his tone.

“We’ve covered this. I get it. You run the show, but I’m not part of the show. I’m contract. Free as a bird in a blue sky, and I plan to keep it that way.”

“I have no problem with you being ‘as free as a bird in a blue sky’ as long as it’s my blue sky.”

“That’s not happening.”

“You like money. I’ll make you a rich man.”

“Why do you want to make me anything?” Blake asked.

“Because I have a puzzle missing a piece. I think you’re that piece.”

“The only puzzle I fit is my own.”

“Your Oscar-winning performance we just discussed says you fit wherever you want to fit. I need people who know how to stay off the radar. You do. I also need people who know how to problem solve.” His gaze shifted abruptly to Kara, his dark eyes narrowing on her. “I understand you saved us from a potential disaster with the feds.” It wasn’t a question.

“I did what I had to do,” Kara replied, her tone as steady as if she were talking to a grocery store attendant, not the worst, most deadly kingpin.

“Au contraire,” Alvarez disagreed. “You didn’t have to do anything but run.”

“I’m smart enough to know that anything that happens while I’m working for you, and perhaps even after, will come back on me. Protecting you means protecting me.”

“You could have helped the feds,” he observed.

“If you’re on their radar, so am I,” Kara answered coolly. “And besides, the government isn’t paying my bills. You are.”

He studied her, and each second felt like nails on a chalkboard grating on Blake’s nerves before Alvarez replied, “Indeed,” and then looked at Blake. “Find out who is stealing from me in the next two weeks and there’s half a million in it for you. Since Kara seems to work well with you, her compensation is in your hands. If you succeed, then we’ll talk about a bigger paycheck and bigger role in my operation.”

“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.”

Kara looked away and scanned the side street they took, lined with residential buildings, looking for trouble. She felt guilty over Kyle, but he’d be fine, she reminded herself. Her sister might not be, though. If it were Kyle’s sister, she was willing to bet he’d have done the same thing she had. And Blake too, damn it.

Blake ended the call. “Luke has eyes on us. He’s got a car coming to pick us up.”

“Did they get a trace on our boat?” she asked anxiously.

He gave a disgusted shake of his head. “We went too far out of range. The tracking device I have on me wasn’t powerful enough.”

The implications stabbed at her heart. “That’s not the answer I wanted.” They were no closer to finding her sister.

“You and me both, sweetheart,” Blake assured her. “They’re working on better technology and some off-the-record Coast Guard support.”

Kara stopped walking. “But—”

“A friend of one of our men. He’ll keep things off the feds’ radar, and we need water support.”

“You’re sure you can trust him?”

“I’m positive.”

He sounded confident. He looked confident. And while she felt uncertain about much about Blake and his brothers, after tonight, she was crystal clear on his mindset. “Since you want Alvarez’s blood too much to risk the feds or the ATF slowing things down, I’ll trust you on this one.” She started to turn away but Blake had other ideas. Before Kara knew his intent, he’d maneuvered her into a small alcove between buildings, out of the wind. Suddenly, she had a concrete wall at her back and his hard body pressed to her front. Heat rushed over her at his nearness, desire burning in her belly.

Frustrated that she wanted a man who’d betrayed her, Kara shoved his chest. “Stop manhandling me, Blake, because I swear to you, I have nothing to hide anymore. I’m going to start fighting back.”

“Do you fucking look like your sister, Kara?” he demanded, a beam of moonlight stroking the angry lines of his face.

“No,” she hissed, and—no longer forced by an audience to fight the hurt and anger he’d created in her—she let it fly. “My sister’s taller, prettier, and missing. Obviously you didn’t remember that fact when you tried to kill the man who can give her back to me.” Her lips tightened. “Or maybe you just didn’t care.”

He ignored her accusations and focused on his own. “Alvarez sure as hell thought you looked familiar.”

“Alvarez was just playing a power game. Getting inside his close circle is my way to my sister, and you knew that. You knew and still you were going to kill him.”

“To keep him from finding out who you are and killing you.”

She jabbed her finger in his chest. “Don’t use me as an excuse to carry out your grand plan. I know the risks and it’s my decision to take them.”

“My ‘grand plan’, as you call it, is to keep you alive. I didn’t forget your sister. You have to be alive to welcome her home, Kara.” He leaned in, his hands on the wall beside her head, a familiar pose she’d come to expect from him. His way of caging her, controlling her. “You ask me to stay alive for you, and then you tempt fate with your own life. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

He hit a raw nerve. She wanted to be more to him than a temporary escape until he killed Alvarez. She wanted him to feel what she did, but now she knew he didn’t. Not after tonight. “I asked you to stay alive for me and what did you reply? I have to let you spank me.”

“That was my way of saying I was with you in that moment.”

The moment they were having sex. It was all sex and escape to him. “That was you avoiding commitment.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and she instantly felt like a deer in the headlights. Kara tried to duck under his arm. He tightened his legs around hers, holding her in place.

Her fingers curled on his chest. “Let me out of here, Blake. I need out.”

“Not until we’re done talking.”

“We’re done. I’m done.”

“I’m not,” he said, but the sound of a car pulling up behind him sent him whirling around, and Kara didn’t miss the way he sheltered her with his body, ready to take a bullet for her, before he relaxed and turned back. “It’s our ride, and yes, we’re leaving—but be clear, Kara. We’re far from done with this.”

“You’re such an arrogant, bossy asshole.”

“If protecting you makes me an asshole, then I’ll happily be the biggest asshole of your life, sweetheart.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the alcove and toward the black sedan waiting on them, like she was his property. She wasn’t his damn property and he had her fuming.

Blake opened the back door for her and she wanted inside, she wanted a private room where she could blast him, once and for all, but just as he was about to slide in, he grabbed the lapels of his coat she was wearing and pulled her hard against him. “Just remember, Kara. I’m the asshole who’d die to protect you.”

He leaned in to kiss her and she nipped his bottom lip just hard enough to let him know he wasn’t in charge. His lips quirked, wicked heat and amusement dancing in his eyes. “You can take you anger out on me in bed tonight.”

“Who says I’m going to be in your bed?”

“Me, sweetheart. You can count on it. And me, Kara.”

“Yes,” she whispered, and she didn’t have it in her to hold back. “I can always count on you to fuck me, Blake, but that’s all you ever promise. I need more.” More than she believed he could give her after tonight.

“Blake, man,” the driver called out, a voice Kara didn’t recognize. “Come the hell on.”

Kara shoved out of Blake’s arms and he let her, and a silent part of her cried out in protest. He’d said nothing about her desire for “more”. Feeling like a wounded puppy, she slid inside the car and as far away from Blake as possible, shrugging out of his jacket and setting it between them.

Blake settled into the seat and shut the door. “Kara, meet our driver, Jesse. He works for Walker Security.”

Jesse lifted a hand. “For the record, I’m smarter than Kyle and Blake. I won’t get drugged. No toilet hugging for me.”

“Funny man,” Blake grumbled. “Just drive the car.”

Kara cringed. Obviously everyone knew about Kyle now. Of course they did. She’d have a bucket load of cranky men to face soon.

Jesse pulled the car away from the curb and Blake moved the jacket, scooting closer to Kara and pulling her tight against his side, his leg molding hers, his hand possessively on her knee. Tingling sensations raced up her thigh to her sex, and guilt twisted in Kara’s gut. How could she want a man who didn’t care if her sister lived or died?

Kara reached for Blake’s hand, intending to move it from her leg, only to have his fingers flex on her knee and her hand rest over his. The contact triggered a flashback of him telling her about Whitney’s death. She remembered the torment she’d seen in his eyes at least a hundred times, and she knew why. Guilt. He blamed himself for not saving Whitney. Kara squeezed her eyes shut, recognizing that her emotional pain over her sister had made her blind to his pain over Whitney tonight. Killing Alvarez was all Blake had lived for these past two years, and thinking back to the boat, he’d had plenty of chances to make that fantasy reality. But he hadn’t, and if he’d really intended to, he would have. God, she was such a fool. He’d contained that desperate need, for her.

Kara turned to face him. He seemed to have turned at the same moment, and his hands slid into her hair, framing her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her hands covering his. “I’m just…my sister and—”

“Make sure you can handle what ‘more’ means before you ask for it, Kara.” His mouth came down on hers, his tongue parting her lips, delving deep, and she tasted more than desire on his lips. She tasted absolute need in him, and that need was for her. And for just a few moments, she wanted to block out the world and lose herself in Blake. But the world didn’t like that idea.

Jesse cleared his throat. “Hate to break up the back seat loving, you two,” he said. “But we have company.”

Chapter Four

It had taken them an hour to outsmart whoever was following them. Finally, Kara entered the elevator of the hotel they’d rented a room in earlier in the day. Blake followed her inside. Kara leaned against the wall, taking off her shoes, while Blake punched in their floor and leaned against the opposite wall. Their eyes locked and held, and suddenly, the elevator shrank, and the kiss in the car, the unspoken words and mixed emotions between them that they’d let simmer while running from the cartel, flamed back to life. But neither of them spoke, and she wondered if he was as afraid as she was that they’d end up fighting over the next step in the investigation. And they would. They both knew they would. Before that happened, she wanted to make sure he knew she regretted her reactions tonight.

The elevator dinged and they made their way to their room, and still they didn’t speak. Blake swiped the key and pushed open the door and Kara bit her bottom lip, hesitating with the sudden realization that Kyle was probably still here. They weren’t going to be alone at all, and a fight was definitely about to ensue. She glanced at Blake and he nodded. “Yes. He’s still here.”

She inhaled and let it out. Blake arched a brow when she still didn’t move. “Afraid to face the music?” he asked.

“That about sums it up.”

“Once it’s over, it’s over,” he reminded her.

“Right,” Kara said. “And getting it over with sounds good.” She headed into the room and dropped her shoes by the door. A few more steps inside and she just about swallowed her tongue at the sight of Royce sitting at the hotel desk, his big, burly body making it look like it was meant for a toddler. Luke lounged at a small round wooden table, his MacBook open on top. This was so not good. She needed to be her best to fight this much Walker-bred testosterone, and she wasn’t.

Kara stopped beside the nightstand, not sure what to say or do. Blake stepped to her side, shrugged out of his jacket, and tossed it on the bed. “Where’s Kyle?” he asked.

“Next door,” Royce said, abandoning a surveillance setup Kara assumed to be of the hotel, and rolled his chair around to face her, motioning to the open adjoining room.

Luke snorted. “He prefers privacy while heaving up his guts.”

Kara cringed. “I guess he’s pretty sick?”

Luke surprised her by looking amused rather than angry. “Let’s just say that he won’t live this down anytime soon, but he’ll live.”

“Interestingly enough,” Royce said, fixing a hard stare on Blake, “so did Alvarez.”

Blake leaned a shoulder against the wall, looking as cool as if they were talking about the weather, not the man who had his fiancée slaughtered. “Unfortunately, he not only survived, he thought Kara looked familiar.”

Royce narrowed his eyes on Kara. And man, what a stare that man had. “And why is that?” he asked, making her feel like a school kid reprimanded by the principle.

Kara opened her mouth to defend herself but Blake didn’t give her a chance. “She looks like her sister,” he said flatly, as if he knew for certain. Kara whirled on him, and anticipating her move, he pushed off the wall and faced off with her, and once again beat her to the punch. “He recognized you, Kara.”

“I told you I don’t look like my sister,” she rebutted, barely keeping her voice down, a sign she really didn’t have control right now. No. He did. He had the control. These men she didn’t even know were taking her life by storm.

“Alvarez sure thought you did, sweetheart.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know,” Blake ground out. “And so do you. Your cover’s blown.”

“If my cover’s blown, Blake, then by association, yours is, too.”

“I inherited you from Mendez as far as the cartel is concerned.”

Kara grimaced. “Oh, please. You’ve made sure they all know I’m in your bed.”

“Fucking you and caring about you are two different things.”

The crass words hit her like a blow and Kara stepped backwards. Clearly her romance fantasies were just that. Fantasies. “Right. Thanks for putting it into perspective.”

“Kara,” he said softly. “You took that wrong. I wasn’t talking about reality.”

“No? It seems pretty realistic to me.”

“You know—”

“Don’t,” she bit out. “Not now. Not here.”

Luke cleared his throat. “As much as I hate throwing myself into the obvious war zone, I’m with Blake, Kara. Your cover’s blown.”

Kara threw her hands in the air and turned to Luke. “Do all Walker men think they know it all? You just got here and you weren’t with us on the boat. How can you possibly say my cover is blown?”

Luke turned his computer screen around and Kara sucked in a breath at a large picture of her sister filling the screen. Her heart ached just seeing Myla’s face, and her fist balled over the ache. Blake grabbed her hand and pulled her hard against him, her hands settling on his chest. “You don’t look like her?” he demanded.

She glared at him, all too aware of the similarities between her and Myla. “It was a risk I had to take—and don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done it, too.”

“A risk you won’t be taking again.”

The command in his voice splintered along her nerve endings and she wasn’t letting an audience silence her tongue. “Like you said, Blake, sweetheart, fucking me is not caring about me. It also doesn’t give you ownership over me, no matter how much you seem to think it does. And for the last time, stop manhandling me and let me go—or I swear to you, Blake, I will give you a knee that will make sure you don’t fuck anyone anytime soon.”

Luke barked out laughter and Blake’s eyes sharpened on hers, burning hot with anger. “We’ll finish this when we’re alone.”

“No,” Kara snapped. “We’re just finished, Blake. The end.” She couldn’t fight for her sister while on this rollercoaster of emotions he kept her riding.

“We aren’t even close to finished.”

“Kara!”

Kara jerked around at the roar of her name to find Kyle slumped in the doorway, his blond hair standing on end, his skin a kind of bluish color. “What the hell did you do to me?” he demanded before he gagged and disappeared back into the other room.

Male laugher followed him, but Kara didn’t think it was funny at all. She’d done what she had to tonight, for both her sister, and for Blake—but Kyle had paid the price. She tried to push away from Blake and go after Kyle, but Blake captured her arms, forcing her to look at him. “He’s pretty furious right now, Kara,” he warned.

“I can handle furious, especially when it’s deserved. And if you’re afraid I’m going to run out of the other door, I’m not. I know you’d come after me.”

“Yes,” he said softly, his eyes simmering with heat and promise. “I would and I’d catch you. Don’t forget that.”

He let go of her and Kara all but ran away, needing out of this Walker-filled room to get a grip on herself, but Royce didn’t let her. He stood up and stepped in front of her. “You’re a good agent, Kara,” he said, towering over her by about a mile. “You know when it’s time to let go of a cover.”

“If it were your brother—”

“I’d stay alive to keep fighting for him.”

Air rushed from her lungs. “I’m not giving up on my sister.”

“Neither are we.”

“Help us find her from behind the scenes,” Luke suggested. “You’ll know everything that’s happening.”

“We’re in this all the way,” Royce promised. “We would be no matter what, but you’re with Blake. That makes you family.”

A rush of unfamiliar emotions all but doubled Kara over. She wasn’t sure what impacted her more. Her doubt about being with Blake after tonight’s events or the use of the word family. She had no family. She wasn’t sure she had Blake. She wasn’t sure she had Myla.

A loud moan coming from the other room was the escape Kara claimed. “I need to go check on Kyle.” It was lame but it was all she had.

Royce stared at her another few seconds and then stepped aside. Kara wasted no time darting away, and damn it, her eyes were burning. She didn’t even know what she was feeling, just that it was powerful and she couldn’t control it any more than anything else lately, it seemed. What was it about Walker men that did this to her?

Inside the next room, Kyle was nowhere in sight and she kept moving toward the bathroom, needing to do something, anything, to keep from crumbling. Rounding the doorway, she found Kyle sitting against the wall between the toilet and the sink, head against the wall, eyes shut, knees lifted.

“Go away,” he groaned without opening his eyes.

Kara went to the tub and sat down. “You were screaming for me a few minutes ago.”

His lashes lifted and he fixed her in a bloodshot stare. “I fluctuate between capable of throttling you one minute to fantasizing about it while hanging over the toilet.”

“At least you have something to occupy your mind,” she said mildly, reaching for a soda on the sink and squatting down in front of him. “Drink. It’ll help.”

“You did hear the part about me wanting to throttle you, right?”

“Yes, but you’re less intimidating than three Walker brothers in one room, so I’ll take my chances. Drink.”

His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure how to take that, but I think you just insulted me.” He reached for the drink and gulped down several swallows before setting the can on the floor beside him. “You drugged me and now you come in and play nursemaid. Feeling guilty?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “But someone had to save Blake from himself.” And suddenly it occurred to Kara to be angry at Kyle and Blake’s brothers for letting him go after Alvarez. “Nobody else was doing it. You all just let him chase his death wish.” She started to get up but Kyle captured her arm and she grimaced. “What is it with you men manhandling me?”

“You think I’d let him go in there if I thought he was going to do something stupid?”

“You did let him.”

“He has himself in check. If I didn’t think so, I would have tied him down myself rather than let him go. Do you know about Whitney?”

“Yes.”

“Do you care about Blake?”

“Yes,” she said, and her chest tightened with the words, with her fear that Blake would go after Alvarez and end up dead. “Yes, very much.”

“Then recognize that if you’re with Blake, you’re with his past. It’s a part of who he is. Think about what Alvarez killing you would do to him. You shouldn’t have gone tonight.”

“You don’t seem to get it, Kyle. If I hadn’t have gone, he would have killed Alvarez and himself in the process.”

“Before he met you, yes. Now, no. I’m not buying that. Protecting you and finding your sister gave him a reason to live.”

“You weren’t there.”

“Did he kill Alvarez?”

“No, but—”

“Did he have the chance?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then I’m right. He’s in check. Before meeting you, Alvarez would have been dead the instant Blake set eyes on him.”

“He wanted to. He almost did.”

“But he didn’t. You shouldn’t have been there. You’re too close to this. You saved him, Kara. You brought him back to us, which is exactly why none of us are going to let you destroy him again.” He paled and let go of her arm to lean over the toilet. “Go. Get out of here.”

Destroy him? How and why would she destroy him? Kara backed away from Kyle and sat back down on the edge of the tub, waiting to ask those questions. When he sank back against the wall she handed him a towel. “You okay?”

He glanced at her and snatched the towel. “Can’t a guy throw up in peace? Why are you still here?”

“I wouldn’t hurt Blake.”

“Then don’t get killed. You die, you’ll take him with you.”

“I’m a federal agent, Kyle. I’m going to be in danger.”

“Believe me, I’m aware of that and so is he.”

Her hands went to the tub, steadying herself. “You think I’m bad for him.”

“I think you’re the best thing that could have happened to him.”

Baffled, she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s going to struggle with your job, but he’ll get through it—if you help him. But damn, woman, wake up. Alvarez killed Whitney. How do you think the idea of Alvarez killing you affects him? If you die, he’ll die with you. We’ll find your sister. I’ll find her. You have my word. I will not stop until I do.”

Kara blinked at the vehement declaration. This man whom she barely knew was vowing to save her sister. So were Blake’s brothers. And she believed them. She wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to take insane risks with no backup. Because of Blake. Kara pushed to her feet, realizing there was actually one big risk she had to take.

Without another word to Kyle, Kara rushed out of the bathroom and tracked a path to the other room, ready to tell Luke and Royce to get lost, only to find them gone. Blake sat on the edge of the mattress, fixing her with a tormented look that tore at her heart. She pulled the door shut behind her and rushed toward him, falling on her knees in front of him. She took a deep breath and then made her confession. “Blake, I…”

Chapter Five

“…I love you, and I’ve never said that to anyone. If you don’t—”

Blake slid his hands into Kara’s hair, pulling her lips to his, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, and she tasted like the love she’d proclaimed, like sweet surrender and a chance at happiness he never thought he’d know again. But no matter how much he wanted happiness to be as easy as a confession, it wasn’t.

He tore his mouth from hers, staring down at her, this woman who’d pulled him from a certain grave. She loved him and it was heaven, but it was also a hell he couldn’t escape. They couldn’t escape. His thumb stroked her cheek. “I love you, too, Kara, but you need to know what ‘more’ means with me.”

He watched relief wash over her expression, her body softening into his, as if she’d been on edge, as if she actually doubted his feelings. “Whatever you are, Blake,” she vowed, “whatever you have been or will be, I’m here. Like I’ve never been with anyone in my life.”

He wanted nothing more than those words, and to kiss her again, to make love to her and show her how much she meant to him, but it wasn’t that simple. He knew how messed up he was over Whitney and how deep that damage ran. How it had impacted not only who he was, but who he and Kara, would be together. He owed it to her to make sure she did, too.

Blake moved off the bed to join Kara on the floor. He moved behind her, his knees straddling her knees, so that she faced the bed, her back to his chest. He inhaled on regret, hating that for a few minutes, he was about to make her feel uncomfortable, but he had to do this. Without any preamble, no soft words, no seductive caresses, he tugged her dress up her body, over her head, and then tossed it away. Before her arms were even down, he reached for her bra and unhooked it, shoving it forward down her arms so she’d get rid of it. He wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t tender. He didn’t kiss her or caress her. He was what he’d been before her, what the hell of his life had made him. What she needed to fully understand.

Blake’s gaze skimmed a path over her body, his cock throbbing with the sight of her slender, perfect curves before settling on the thin strip of lace between the cheeks of her gorgeous backside. He reached for the delicate lace and he ripped it away. Kara gasped and he leaned forward, her hands gripping the sheets in front of her. His hands down beside hers, his mouth finding her ear. “I’m going to spank you, Kara.”

“What?” She gasped, trying to jerk around, but he had her pinned, pressed fully between him and the mattress.

“That’s right,” he said. “I’m going to spank you.”

“No,” she said, sounding urgent, almost panicked. “No. You aren’t.”

“Do you trust me, Kara?” he asked, resisting the urge to nibble on the delicate spot behind her ear. This wasn’t the time to be gentle. This wasn’t the time to show her how much he loved her. Not yet, but soon.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Blake, but—”

“There is no ‘but’. There is only trust or no trust.” The feel of her body pressed to his was driving him crazy and he curled his fingers around the sheets, forcing himself not to touch her. He couldn’t touch her. Not like this. Not until she understood what he was trying to tell her.

“I don’t understand why this is important.”

He didn’t miss the tremble of her voice, the shiver of her body against his. “It is,” he told her. “And I need you to say yes, Kara.”

Her head fell forward, the soft strands of her silky hair draping her face, and it took everything in him not to lean forward and inhale the sweet scent, to taste the salty sweetness of her skin. And he would taste her. Hell, he was going to lick every damn inch of her before this night was over. Just not right now. Right now he held his breath for her answer, the seconds ticking by like hours, until finally she whispered, “Yes. For you. Yes.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, letting the relief flow through him, absorbing the impact of how much trust she’d just given to him, promising himself he would never take that for granted. “Lean forward on the bed and flatten your arms and hands on the mattress.”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t do that. I need some control. I need to stay upright.”

Yes. She needed control. That was part of his message, part of why he needed her to understand where he was at inside, and what he’d become. He covered her hands with his on the bed. “Then promise to keep your hands right here. No matter what, don’t move them.”

“Yes. Okay. I promise.”

He began to pull away but she grabbed his wrists, pulling him forward. “Wait. Will it hurt?”

This time he let himself be gentle, nuzzling her neck, trying to calm the panic in her voice. “I would never hurt you.”

“I know that.” But still she held onto his arms.

“Then let go, Kara.”

“Let go,” she repeated, as if the words weren’t quite making it to her brain. “Okay.” Slowly, her grip loosened and she released him.

Blake’s hands settled on her slender waist and traveled downward to cup her backside. She stiffened instantly and he began a gentle caress of her cheeks. He could almost feel her holding her breath, almost taste her anticipation. He leaned in, pressing his face to her face, drawing in the sweet floral scent of her, and demanding, “What are you thinking? Exactly what is in your head right this moment? Say it. Say it now.”

“Blake,” she protested.

He squeezed her cheeks. “Now, Kara, or I’ll spank you this instant.”

“Nothing,” she panted. “Everything. I don’t know what is about to happen. I don’t know what to expect. I can’t believe I’m doing this or you’re doing this, and—”

Blake turned her around to face him, her back against the end of the bed, his legs caging her. “That’s what I was after,” he said, his hands resting on her shoulders.

“What?” she asked, looking confused. “What you were after? I don’t understand.”

“I’m not going to spank you. I was never going to spank you. I just needed you to feel what you just felt. I wanted you to experience that moment when you could think of nothing but what came next. That moment when nothing else could find its way into your head. That’s the kind of escape I’ve used to get through these past two years. It’s the only way I survived and I got it however I could get it. I lived on the edge and I pushed every limit I could push. Kara, I need you to know that’s how far gone I was over Whitney, because that’s how just the idea of losing you makes me. Your job is going to make me insane and I’m going to be overbearing and impossibly protective. I’ll try not to be, but I’ll fail sometimes. I might fail more than I don’t. We’ll fight. We’ll probably fight a lot.”

“I can handle it.” Her hands went to his face. “We’ll get through it. I promise, though, you didn’t have to do the whole spanking thing. I’m going to pay you back for that.”

“Kara—”

“I can handle it, Blake.”

He covered her hands with his and pulled them down between them. “Can you? Because, Kara, I can’t let you go back undercover with Alvarez. I won’t let you.”

“I’m okay with that. My cover is blown, and—”

Blake kissed her, swallowing the rest of her words, drinking them in, claiming them as he wanted to claim her, as he would claim her. She was his and he had no intention of ever letting her go. No intention of anyone taking her from him. His hands caressed her back, over her ribcage to skim her breasts, and her soft whimper drove him crazy.

He cupped her breasts, pushing them together to lean down and lick one nipple and then the next. Her fingers tunneled into his hair. “What do I have to do to get you naked?” she whispered. “Please tell me now.”

Blake’s lips curved and he glanced up at her, suckling one of the stiff peaks and then twirling his tongue around it. Her lashes fluttered. “Blake…” she panted, and then moaned.

He laced his fingers into her hair, hungrily kissing her one last time before pushing away from her to stand up to undress. Kara moved off of the floor, sitting on the edge of the mattress, her breasts high, her nipples tight little buds. His cock pulsed at the sight she made, urgency driving him to shove down his pants and boxers. And Kara seemed to sense his need, mercilessly egging him on, her beautiful green eyes sliding over his body, settling boldly on the thick pulse of his erection, and Blake groaned with the impact.

Blake closed the distance between them and went down on the mattress on top of her, laughing with a flashback of Denver. “What’s so funny?” she asked, her fingers lacing together at the back of his neck, and biting her lip as he settled thickly between her thighs.

“You drugged me,” he said incredulously. “How did I fall in love with the woman who drugged me?”

“I got your attention, didn’t I?” she asked, smiling, her voice thick with desire and sexy as hell.

He slid his cock along the seam of her sex, back and forth, until she was panting. “Do I have your attention?” he murmured, nipping her ear.

“Yes,” she whispered. “You most definitely have my attention.”

Blake rolled to his back and molded her on top of him. “You let me take your control a few minutes ago. I’ll give it to you now.”

Surprise slid over her face and she pressed on his shoulders, lifting herself so that her eyes met his. “No,” she said, suddenly serious. “I gave it to you.” She slid off of him, curling herself at his side, her fingers stroking his cheek. “I don’t need it. I just need you.”

Blake pressed her to her back, settling on top of her, staring down at her in wonder. He knew what a control freak she was. He knew how much she valued control. And he knew this was her way of telling him she could handle what was before them. That she was with him all the way and, if it was possible, he’d just fallen more in love with her. “We’ll share it,” he promised her. “We’ll share it, Kara.”

Her mouth curved playfully. “I’d like that very much. Can I tie you up and have my way with you?”

“Only if I can tie you up and have my wicked way with you.”

“You already did that. It’s my turn next.”

“Let me give you some incentive to give me an extra turn,” he suggested, stroking his cock along her sex. Teasing them both, and then driving into her, burying himself inside her, where he planned to spend a hell of a lot of the rest of his life. “How is that for incentive?”

“It’s a good start,” she teased.

“This is just a start, Kara,” he promised, and then he kissed her, silently vowing to make this the first night the first of forever. She was his. He wasn’t letting her go.

***

Kara’s day started with the wonderful feeling of being wrapped in Blake’s arms, and she had been amazed it was nearly noon when she’d looked at the hotel clock. Any guilt at the late hour that might have driven her out of bed faded when Blake gave her a reason—or two or three—to stay a little longer.

Now, at nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, freshly showered and dressed in dark jeans, a turquoise silk blouse, and black lace-up boots, Kara exited the bathroom, expecting to find only Blake. Instead, she was once again submerged in testosterone overload, with Blake, Royce, Luke, and Kyle all present, all eating hamburgers from a takeout joint.

“There has to be a fire code about this many men in one room,” Kara said, as Blake, who was sitting on the bed, wrapped his arm around her hip and pulled her close.

“Hungry?” he asked, glancing up at her, his long, dark hair damp and loose, framing brown eyes that said he wasn’t talking about food.

“Starving, actually,” she replied, barely containing a smile sure to make their flirtation more obvious.

“Kyle isn’t,” Luke said with a bark of laughter. “First time I’ve ever seen him miss a meal.”

Kara cast Kyle a closer inspection to realize he actually wasn’t eating. He was slumped over in a chair, his blond hair mussed, though he wasn’t quite as bluish. “You any better?”

“I’m sitting in a room without a toilet,” he said. “That’s an improvement, but I hear you’ve decided to be smart about Alvarez. I won’t throttle you.” He winked.

Kara laughed and Blake’s fingers flexed at her hip. “Something I need to know about you two?”

Kara grinned. “Don’t worry. I drugged you first. You’re my number one.”

“Kara,” Royce said, drawing her attention to where he’d claimed the desk as his own again. “We were just talking about how to get you out of the cartel without blowing Blake’s cover.”

“Yes, well,” she said, “I was thinking about that. Before we pull me out—”

“Kara,” Blake growled, turning her to face him.

“Relax,” she said, her hands settling on his shoulders. “I’m not suggesting I stay in.”

“You just said—”

“I didn’t say anything. You cut me off. I was going to say that I have access to Mendez’s office. It’s Saturday. We should go in and dig up everything we can before Monday morning.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near Mendez.”

“The offices are closed, Blake. I know my way around. You and I can go in, and if we’re caught we say we’re auditing the books to find the thief who’s stealing drugs from the operation.” Kara glanced around the room. “You all know it makes sense.” No one said anything and she grimaced. “Come on, someone say something.” Still nothing. Crickets. In fact, the big, brawny, overbearing Walker brothers, and Kyle along with them, looked like deer in the headlights. Kara refocused on Blake. “They know I’m right. They’re afraid of you.”

“If only you were,” he complained.

She ignored that comment. “Once I’m out, I’m out. This might be our last chance to get to certain information. We have to do this, Blake.”

Blake’s jaw flexed. “I don’t like this, Kara.”

“I know. But you’ll be with me. Nothing is going to go wrong.”

Chapter Six

“Any luck?”

Kara glanced up from the desk she was sitting at to find Blake, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt that stretched deliciously over his impressive chest, standing in the doorway of the human resources manager’s office she’d been searching for the past hour. She shook her head. “Nothing. I took pictures of the files for female employees who seemed like obvious targets for the trafficking operation, though.” Thankfully Kyle had hacked the computers, but pictures reinforced the evidence trail.

“Mendez’s office is clean,” he said, scrubbing his jaw, and while he was every bit the tall and dark, and gorgeous man she’d fallen in lust, and then love with, he practically radiated edginess. Her being here after Alvarez recognized her was making him crazy.

“I’ve only got a few more files and I’ll be done,” she promised. “We need to hit accounting before we go.”

“Great,” Blake said, looking relieved. “I’m headed to the lobby to dig through messages and then we’re out of here. Five minutes, Kara, and then we go to accounting. We’ve already been here too long in my book.” He disappeared and she quickly finished with two more files before she stood up.

Her cell phone rang and a chill ran down her spine. No one but Blake and the rest of his team had this number, and she was on mic and camera. They wouldn’t call her. She dug it from purse and glanced at the “unknown” number on her screen.

Swallowing hard, Kara answered the call and immediately heard, “Kara.”

Oh God. “Myla?” She started walking toward the door.

“Stop,” Myla said, sounding panicked. “Don’t leave the office. If you say anything to anyone right now Alvarez told them to kill me. And they said to tell you Blake’s at the reception desk and they have a gun pointed at him. They’ll kill him too, Kara.”

No. No. This wasn’t happening. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” a male voice said. “She’s fine but she won’t be if you aren’t downstairs at the back door sixty seconds after we hang up. And Kara—we have a camera on you, too. We’ll know if you dial, text, or call out. We’ll kill Blake first. That way you see the bloody results of your failure.” The line went dead.

Kara squeezed her eyes shut, and for the sake of Blake and Myla, she willed herself into “calm agent” mode, her mind racing. If she used the mic, Blake would hear and come to help, which would be sure to get him killed. She had to count on Kyle realizing something was off once she’d hit the stairwell, but she couldn’t let him know there was a problem any sooner. She had to get out of the building before they killed Blake. And what if they killed him anyway? She couldn’t think of that or she’d panic.

Somehow, she calmly walked out of the office and went to the exit door. Once she was inside the stairwell, she took off running. She had a tracking device in her boot, one that Kyle had assured Blake was about ten times better than the one he’d used on the boat. They’d find her. She’d be okay and she’d bring Myla home with her.

At the bottom of the stairwell, driven by her deadline of one minute, Kara burst out of the doorway and ran for the back exit, punching the red button and the glass. The instant she stepped outside, she was aware of the dumpster to her left—a moment before a man grabbed her. Another man was in front of her as she kicked, but they were too big, and the cloth one of them held found her mouth, fumes penetrating her senses. And just like that, everything went black.

***

“Meet me at the back exit now. Kara’s gone. Go now and I’ll meet you at the door.”

Blake went completely still at Kyle’s words for all of two seconds, before he took off running. “Do you have her on camera?”

“She took off down the stairwell and exited the back door, and—”

Blake was already in the stairwell, headed down the steps, and his heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. “And what? What happened?”

“Blake—”

What the fuck happened, Kyle?” he growled, jumping four steps to get to the next flight.

“Two guys grabbed her and a car pulled up and”—a pause—“she’s gone, Blake.”

Every nightmare he could possibly have came to life in that moment. His world spun. His stomach rolled and his muscles ached as he pushed harder down the stairs. Everything was a blur until he burst out of the back door of the building. The van his team was using waited with an open door. Blake was inside and it was moving before Luke shut the door behind him.

“Tell me you’re tracking her,” Blake said to Kyle, who was sitting at a computer panel. Kyle pointed out the beeping dot on a large screen mounted on the wall. “That’s her. They’ve got a lead on us but we’re gaining.”

“Royce and the rest of the team are falling in behind us now,” Jesse called from the driver’s seat.

Blake cut Kyle a damning look. “I thought we had the exterior of the building covered. How did someone get to her?”

“They came out from behind a dumpster,” Kyle explained. “We never caught them on camera before that.”

Blood rushed in his ears and he flexed his fingers, fighting the urge to shake Kyle for letting this happen. “How the fuck did we not see them? And why did she leave in the first place?”

“You want to see this,” Kyle said, punching a keyboard. Another smaller screen lit up with an image of Kara. Blake squatted by Kyle, watching Kara take a call, and he saw the panic in her face, the calculation and fear in her eyes.

“Whatever they said to her, she felt like she couldn’t communicate with us,” Luke said.

“Thanks for pointing out the goddamn fucking obvious,” Blake spat. “Why don’t you point out how fucking stupid I was to let her come here today too, while you’re at it?”

“Blake—”

“Shut up, Luke. Just shut the fuck up.” Blake ran a hand through his hair and held it there. His scalp was splintering with pain. His chest was tight. Kara couldn’t die. Why the hell had he let her come today? Why? Why? Why? He was coming unglued at the seams. He leaned on the wall, fighting the adrenaline of fear and failing. He punched the wall and welcome pain radiated up his arm. Luke shouted something at him but he tuned it out. He was already throwing another fist. His knuckles hit steel and there was more pain, but it wasn’t enough to stop the image of Whitney bleeding out from the throat, or how her faced morphed into Kara’s. Kara. He was going to lose Kara, too. He reared back to hit the wall again and Luke grabbed his arm. Blake whirled on him and shoved him but Luke grabbed handfuls of his shirt.

“Blake, damn it,” Luke ground out. “Stop. Stop now.”

“If it were your wife, would you stop? Would you fucking stop, Luke?”

“You can’t save her if your hand is broken and you’re climbing out of your own skin. Get a grip, Blake. Get a fucking grip now.”

Blake sucked in a deep breath and let it out, and he suddenly became aware of his shaking. Jesus. He was shaking all over. He was out of control.  He inhaled, and slowly, somehow, pulled himself back from the edge. Luke seemed to realize it, loosening his hold on Blake’s shirt and letting it fall away.

Blake turned away from his brother and lifted the lid to a locker sitting beside the tech setup, pulling out a shoulder holster and two Glocks. The cold steel didn’t come close to matching the ice in his veins. He should have killed Alvarez when he had the chance. He was taking Kara back and making sure that bastard never took another breath.

***

Kara blinked awake to the sound of soft music playing and intense throbbing in her head. For a moment, she couldn’t remember what had happened, but a rush of memories filled her mind. She sat up and blinked and then blinked again. She had to be dreaming, because not only did she appear to be in a sitting area of an office with a fireplace crackling in a full orange glow to her right, but her sister was sitting across from her. And, impossibly, Myla didn’t look bruised and beaten. She looked perfectly fine. She was also sitting next to Alvarez, smiling up at him, her hand resting on his leg.

“Myla?” Kara whispered.

Myla turned, her green eyes lighting with excitement. “You’re awake.” She jumped up from her seat and rushed past the shiny mahogany coffee table separating them to throw her arms around Kara’s neck. “I’ve missed you.”

Kara hugged her sister and whispered, “What’s going on?”

Myla leaned back, her green eyes aglow, her long, silky brunette hair groomed to perfection. “I found out you were looking for me and I wanted you to know I’m okay. Kara, I’m in love. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

“In love? With who? Ignacio?”

Myla laughed, and Kara noted the dress her sister had on was a clearly very expensive silver sheath no waitress could afford. “Ignacio?” Myla asked. “Oh God, no.” She motioned to Alvarez.

Kara looked at Alvarez and gaped. He arched a brow. “Is there a problem, Kara?”

“Yes,” Kara said. “Yes, there is.” She turned to Myla. “We need to talk alone.”

“Michael is with me, Kara. I’m with him.”

“Michael?” Kara asked. “You call him by his first name?”

Myla took Kara’s hand. “I want you to come back with me. Spend some time with me and Michael and see what life can be like for us.”

“Back with you? Back where?”

“She can’t tell you that,” Alvarez said. “Not until we know you’re with us.”

“I’m not with you. I’ll never be with you.” Kara’s hands went to her sister’s face. “Listen to me. Whatever he threatened you with—”

“I love him, Kara. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Kara shook her head. “No.” Myla’s words didn’t ring true. Not in her tone. Not from her sister. Myla hated crime. She hated everything associated with its poison. “No, I don’t believe you. Our parents—”

“Michael would kill anyone who tried to hurt us.”

There was a coldness to her tone that Kara barely recognized from her sister. “Do you know who and what he is?”

“You don’t know all there is to know about him.” She took Kara’s hand again. “I need you in my life.”

“I can’t be in your life if you’re with him. I won’t.”

Tears suddenly pooled in Myla’s eyes. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you.” She wrapped her arms around Kara, holding her as if she was clinging for life.

“Please don’t stay with him,’ Kara whispered.

“I have to,” Myla whispered. “You have to see that.”

Was there torment in her words? Kara leaned back to try to read her sister, but Myla pushed away and stood up. “Goodbye, Kara,” she said, and the tears were gone.

Alvarez stepped beside Myla, taking her hand in his. “You will be escorted back to your hotel, Kara.”

Hotel? He’d said hotel, not apartment. He knew where she’d been staying? The door to the office opened and a man with a well-equipped shoulder holster stepped inside. Myla and Alvarez turned away and Kara’s heart lurched. “Myla, wait!”

Myla turned. “You’ll come?”

“No. Don’t go.”

“I have to go.” She walked toward the man with the gun and he held the door open.

Kara took a step forward, but the man stepped in front of Myla and Alvarez and placed his hand on his weapon. Law Enforcement 101 replayed in her mind. Bullets didn’t believe in second chances. All Kara could do was watch the door shut and feel helpless.

Seconds turned into minutes and she didn’t move. She just stood there, staring at the man with the gun, him staring back at her. Suddenly, a roaring sound filled the room, radiating through the ceiling. A helicopter. Myla was leaving on a helicopter. Panic rushed over Kara. She could never track Myla if she left by sky. Her mind raced, seeking a solution, but before she could come up with one, the door behind her burst open. The man guarding her whirled around and pulled his gun. A second later he was on the ground and Blake was holding the gun that had put him there.

“Myla!” Kara screamed, running towards him. “The chopper!”

Blake handed her a gun and Kara gladly accepted it, and in the process he grabbed her and kissed her. “Don’t ever fucking scare me like this again.”

“I’ll try,” she promised. “My sister, Blake. She’s with Alvarez on that chopper.” She took off for the hallway of what appeared to be an office building, with Blake on her heels.

“Here!” he shouted, pointing at a stairwell entry.

The charge up the four flights of steps was eternal, and they cleared the door and made their way to the roof too late. The chopper was lifting off. Kara slumped in defeat. “No. No. No.” She turned to Blake and shouted. “Alvarez is with her. He has her. He—” A blast sounded and Kara and Blake both turned to watch the chopper go up in flames.

Shock surged through Kara and the gun fell from her hand. She began to shake, and she couldn’t catch her breath. “No. No. Nononononono.” And then her knees gave way and she was falling. Blake caught her to him and she grabbed his shirt, tears streaming down her cheeks, a waterfall she couldn’t control. “Save her. Please. I…Please. Help her, Blake. You have to help her.”

He pulled her tight against him and hugged her, and she clung to him, the only strength she had left. “I’m here, Kara. I’m here.”

But Myla was gone.

Chapter Seven

After hours of officials swarming the secluded office building off the San Francisco shoreline, feeling hollow and stunned, Kara sat in the back seat of a van. Blake was beside her, practically attached to her side, acting like he’d never let her go again. And she needed that. She needed him. Without Blake, she wouldn’t even be sitting upright, trying to survive.

“Send it to my phone,” Kyle said and ended a call, punching a button on his cell and watching something on the screen.

“You okay?” Blake asked.

Kara teased a strand of his hair, wishing she could wash the torment from his eyes. It had killed him to think she might be dead. Like losing Myla was killing her. “Yes,” she whispered. “Because of you.”

“You need to see something,” Kyle said, moving to squat in front of them.

“When you say that it’s never good,” Blake said grumpily. “Not now.”

“This time it’s good,” Kyle insisted.

“Nothing can be good right now, Kyle,” Kara said, and when she thought she was done crying, her eyes burned all over again.

“Watch this,” Kyle insisted, shoving his phone at her and Blake.

“Kyle…” Blake started.

“Just watch,” Kyle repeated.

Blake grimaced and punched the “play” button. An image of Alvarez climbing into a car had Kara sitting up straighter, her heart racing as Myla appeared behind him and paused to glance up at the flame-filled sky. She whispered something Kara couldn’t make out and disappeared into the car. “Oh my God,” Kara murmured as the screen went blank, her gaze lifting to Kyle’s. “She’s alive? Myla’s alive?”

“She’s alive,” Kyle assured her. “The explosion was a setup to make us think she and Alvarez were dead.”

“How’d you get this?” Kara asked.

“As soon as we arrived,” he explained, “I set up surveillance and one of the cameras wouldn’t download. Luke just got it to roll.”

Kara looked at Blake, a new kind of pain filling her. “What is it?” he asked, stroking her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s not a prisoner.” It hurt her heart to say it out loud. “Myla’s with Alvarez by choice. She told me she loves him. She’s alive, but I’ve still lost her.”

“No,” he said. “He’s brainwashed her. We’ll get her back.” He slid a hand to her neck and rested his forehead against hers. “You and me, sweetheart. We’ll find a way.”

***

The ringing of a cell phone pierced the silence of the dark hotel room and beside her, Blake groaned and reached for it on the nightstand. Two days had passed since she last saw Myla, and every clue to finding her again had come up empty. It was as if her sister and Alvarez had really died in that crash.

Kara sat up as Blake murmured, “Yeah,” into the phone and climbed out of bed. Now that she was awake, the image of the helicopter blowing up played in her mind again, as it had a million times over. It didn’t matter that Myla hadn’t been in the explosion. Kara kept reliving the moment she thought she was, the moment she was sure her sister was dead.

In nothing but Blake’s shirt, Kara stepped onto the chilly balcony and rested her hands on the rail, staring out at the twinkling lights of the Golden Gate Bridge without really seeing them. How could Myla put her through so much hell? Did her sister really love Alvarez that much and her so little?

The door opened behind her and Blake slipped a robe over her shoulders. “You’re going to freeze. What are you doing out here?”

Kara slipped her arms into the giant terry garment and turned to let him tie it, noting he’d thrown on nothing but a t-shirt with his boxers. “You’re going to freeze, too.”

“I’m not worried about me,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. “I’m worried about you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Who called at whatever ungodly hour this is?”

“Two o’clock,” he supplied, “and it was Royce. The Coast Guard picked up Ignacio off the coast of Mexico on a boat full of drugged women. He’s singing like a bird. The feds are raiding Mendez’s operation tomorrow and closing down the entire restaurant chain.”

“And Alvarez won’t be anywhere near here when it happens.” Which meant neither would her sister. “I don’t know how I’m going to find Myla, and do I keep trying? She doesn’t want to be saved.”

“You save her anyway. That’s what siblings are for. They look out for you, when you don’t look out for yourself. And I would know, since mine live in the same building with me and never let me forget it.”

“You live in the same building as your brothers?”

“Separate units, but the same building. Walker Security is on the bottom floor.” He stroked a hand down her hair. “Kara, I want you to come to New York with me and consider working for Walker Security.”

“Work for you?”

“Work with me. Live with me.” His eyes softened. “Marry me.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “Marry you?”

“I know we haven’t known each other long, but I know all I need to know about you, Kara. But if you need time, you have it. I’ll ask you every day until you say yes, starting with today.” He went down on one knee. “Marry me, Kara.”

She smiled. “That sounded like an order.”

He smiled, a devastatingly sexy smile, and stood up, pulling her hard against him. “To hell with asking. I’m going to make you my wife.”

Kara wrapped her arms around his neck. “You know I don’t take orders well.”

“Take this one, Kara.” His voice was husky, roughened with emotion.

And once again a Walker brother made her eyes burn. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll—” He kissed her and Kara melted into this man who’d changed her life. This man who would never let her be alone again. This man who would be her husband.

***

Kyle had promised Kara he’d find her sister, and he’d meant it. Now, after two days of trying to decipher the audio on Myla’s video, he’d given up and called on his buddy, Jason, a twenty-seven-year-old tech genius who worked at the FBI lab, for help. Now, only a few hours after he’d handed over the tape to Jason, he was standing in Jason’s Virginia apartment, waiting for the playback.

“I’ve got visual and audio,” Jason explained. “I zoomed in on the woman’s face so you can get a better look at her eyes when she says the words. You know, the eyes are the windows to the soul.”

“Just punch the damn button,” Kyle ordered.

Jason hit a button and Myla’s image appeared on screen, zoomed in on her face, as promised. There was a look of complete anguish Kyle hadn’t been able to make out on the fuzzy video before this any more than he could her words. But this time he not only saw the pain in her face, he heard her words as she whispered, I’m so sorry, Kara.

“I’ll be damned,” Kyle muttered, scrubbing the light blond stubble he’d let sprout on his jaw. Could Myla be protecting Kara from Alvarez? Was she a victim in survival mode? Was this how she’d kept from being one of the women sold off to the highest bidder?

He glanced at Jason. “Replay it.” He watched it again. And again. After a half dozen views, with the tape in hand, he headed to his rental car. Once he was inside, he sat behind the wheel and stared ahead before he turned on the engine. “Hang in there, Myla. I’m coming for you.”

Kyle and Myla’s story coming soon. And want more Blake? He’s featured in  BEING ME and REVEALING US.

And now a look at IF I WERE YOU….

Book 1 of THE INSIDE OUT SERIES

OPTIONED TO STARZ for cable TV with

Suzanne Todd(Alice in Wonderland w/Johnny Depp)

producing

One day I was a high school teacher on summer break, leading a relatively uneventful but happy life. Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires. It all began when my neighbor thrust a key to a storage unit at me. She’d bought it to make extra money after watching some storage auction show. Now she was on her way to the airport to elope with a man she barely knew, and she needed me to clear out the unit before the lease expired.

Soon, I was standing inside a small room that held the intimate details of another woman’s life, feeling uncomfortable, as if I was invading her privacy. Why had she let these items so neatly packed, possessions that she clearly cared about deeply, be lost at an auction? Driven to find out by some unnamed force, I began to dig, to discover this woman’s life, and yes, read her journals—-dark, erotic journals that I had no business reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I read on obsessively, living out fantasies through her words that I’d never dare experience on my own, compelled by the three men in her life, none of whom had names. I read onward until the last terrifying dark entry left me certain that something had happened to this woman. I had to find her and be sure she was okay.

Before long, I was taking her job for the summer at the art gallery, living her life, and she was nowhere to be found. I was becoming someone I didn’t know. I was becoming her.

The dark, passion it becomes…

Now, I am working at a prestigious gallery, where I have always dreamed of being, and I’ve been delivered to the doorstep of several men, all of which I envision as one I’ve read about in the journal. But there is one man that will call to me, that will awaken me in ways I never believed possible. That man is the ruggedly sexy artist, Chris Merit, who wants to paint me. He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing, but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. Chris is dark, and so are his desires, but I cannot turn away. He is damaged beneath his confident good looks and need for control, and in some way, I feel he needs me. I need him.

All I know for certain is that he knows me like I don’t even know me, and he says I know him. Still, I keep asking myself — do I know him? Did he know her, the journal writer, and where is she? And why doesn’t it seem to matter anymore? There is just him and me, and the burn for more.

Excerpt:

We begin our walk, faster this time, and the cold wind has nothing on the chill between us. Conversation is non-existent, and I have no clue how to break the silence, or if I should even try. I dare a peek at his profile several times, fighting the wind blowing hair over my eyes, but he doesn’t acknowledge me. Why won’t he look at me? Several times, I open my mouth to speak but words simply won’t leave my lips.

We are almost to the gallery, and a knot has formed in my stomach at the prospect of an awkward goodbye, when he suddenly grabs me and pulls me into a small enclave of a deserted office rental. Before I can fully grasp what is happening, I am against the wall, hidden from the street and he is in front of me, enclosing me in the tiny space. I blink up into his burning stare and I think I might combust. His scent, his warmth, his hard body, is all around me, but he is not touching me. I want him to touch me.

He presses his hand to the concrete wall above my head when I want it on my body. “You don’t belong here, Sara.”

The words are unexpected, a hard punch in the chest. “What? I don’t understand.”

“This job is wrong for you.”

I shake my head. I don’t belong? Coming from Chris, an established artist, I feel inferior, rejected. “You asked me why I wasn’t following my heart. Why I wasn’t pursuing what I love. I am. That’s what I’m doing.”

“I didn’t think you’d do it in this place.”

This place. I don’t know what he’s telling me. Does he mean this gallery? This city? Has he judged me not worthy of his inner circle?

“Look, Sara.” He hesitates, and lifts his head to the sky, seeming to struggle for words before fixing me with a turbulent look. “I’m trying to protect you here. This world you’ve strayed into is filled with dark, messed up, arrogant assholes who will play with your mind and use you until there is nothing else left for you to recognize in yourself.”

“Are you one of those dark, messed up, arrogant assholes?”

He stares down at me, and I barely recognize the hard lines of his face, the glint in his eyes, as belonging to the man I’ve just had lunch with. His gaze sweeps my lips, lingers, and the swell of response and longing in me is instant, overwhelming. He reaches up and strokes his thumb over my bottom lip. Every nerve ending in my body responds and it’s all I can do not to touch him, to grab his hand, but something holds me back. I am lost in this man, in his stare, in some spellbinding, dark whirlwind of…what? Lust, desire, torment? Seconds tick eternally and so does the silence. I want to hold him, to stop whatever I sense is coming but I cannot.

“I’m worse.” He pushes off the wall, and is gone. He is gone. I am alone against the wall, aching with a fire that has nothing to do with the meal we shared. My lashes flutter, my fingers touch my lip where he touched me. He has warned me away from Mark, from the gallery, from him, and he has failed. I cannot turn away. I am here and I am going nowhere.

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Джонс Лиза Рене Beneath the Secrets