Trusting the Bodyguard. Kimberly Meter Van

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ become unbearable. Marissa’s only escape had been work, the one place Ruben was not allowed access. The day Mercedes had decided to end the relationship, Marissa had nearly cried with joy. Looking back, she realized what fools they’d been to think it would be that easy.

      “Did he hurt you?” he asked, then clarified. “Physically.”

      She resisted the urge to touch her bruised face. Technically, Ruben hadn’t lifted a finger. He had enough people around to do his dirty work. Upstairs the baby whimpered and she shot up. “Jenna’s awake. I have to go get her.”

      Without waiting for his permission, she flew up the stairs and cuddled Jenna’s sweet, pudgy body against her own. “Good morning, mija,” she whispered against her niece’s crown and offered a word of gratitude to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, then prepared to return downstairs to the man who would settle for nothing but the truth.

      The problem was, the truth was something he was likely to wish he didn’t know. God knows, she wished she could forget.

      ARCHER DELIBERATELY KEPT his attention far from Marissa’s retreating backside as she hurried to get the baby. At one time, he’d thought their babies would be the ones she’d be tending but that hadn’t worked out so well. He gulped the rest of his coffee and then stood, unable to sit still any longer. His nerves were drawn tight and he was getting that edge that he always did at the start of an assignment. All that was missing was the actual assignment. And if the doc were to be believed…he was a long way from getting an assignment anytime soon. He swore and absently rubbed at his injury.

      “What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

      Marissa’s voice at his back made him turn to face her. He waved away the concern he saw there, uncomfortable with the way it made him want it. “It’s nothing,” he said brusquely. He gestured toward the baby. “Does she need anything?”

      She eyed him hesitantly, as if doing an internal question-and-answer session to see how the conversation might turn out in real time, then nodded. “Diapers and milk.”

      “Milk I’ve got,” he said. “Diapers I don’t.”

      Her full, sensual mouth—he’d never quite forgotten how it felt sliding across his own—twisted in a wry grin. “Well, I’d have been surprised to hear otherwise. Is there a store close by I could go to? I need to pick up a few other things, too, before we take off.”

      He ignored the part where she mentioned leaving and grabbed a magnetic notepad from the refrigerator door. She was crazy if she thought he was going to let her leave when there was a murdering drug lord on her back. Plus there was the not-so-small detail that she’d kidnapped a toddler to deal with. It was best to keep her close for the time being. “What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”

      “I don’t need you to do that,” she protested. “I have money and a car. I just need directions.”

      “Marissa…stop being stubborn. You need supplies. I will get them for you. End of story.”

      “Is this how it’s going to be?” she demanded. “You giving orders like some drill sergeant? I didn’t come here so you could boss me around. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself—”

      “If that were the case you wouldn’t have broken into my house with nothing more than the clothes on your back and the piss and vinegar in your blood,” he cut in, ignoring the flash of wounded pride that followed. He couldn’t afford to be moved by that beautiful face. It was bad enough that she had haunted his dreams and made him a miserable bastard during the day for the past three years. He sure as hell didn’t need to let her get further under his skin. He grabbed his keys and pointed a finger at her. “Don’t leave. I’ll be back in an hour.” He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t take kindly to his instruction.

      “I don’t appreciate being told what to do and when to do it. I’m not a child, nor your wife. I can come and go as I see fit.”

      True. But he wasn’t going to see her get killed over this mess she’d gotten herself into. That was the last thing he needed on his conscience. He hardened his voice to drive the point home. “You’re on the run with a kid that doesn’t belong to you. All it will take is one phone call and your pretty little ass will be sitting in prison and that baby will return to her father.”

      Her eyes watered. “You would do that to me?” her whispered voice cut at him. “You would turn me in?”

      “Yes.”

      He’d crushed her. He could see it in her face. He looked away so he wouldn’t have to see it anymore. “It’s not going to come to that. You’ll stay because I’m the only one you can trust, Rissa,” he said, his nickname for her flowing from his mouth too naturally for comfort. “Just stay put, will you?” he bit out before slamming the door behind him.

      He used the drive to town to place a few phone calls. He needed background information on this Ruben guy. With any luck the man had a record and an active warrant but even as he thought it, he knew his luck wouldn’t be that good. Guys like Ruben slid in and out of bad situations on the power of their own slime and often came out the other side smelling like a rose and looking none the worse for their experience.

      “I need a favor,” he said, adjusting his Bluetooth device for a better position in his ear.

      “Aren’t you supposed to be resting or something like that?” Rico Harley said drily. “Heard Doc didn’t give you the green light. Tough break. The downtime must be killing you.”

      Rico, a fellow special ops agent who was recruited by the FBI at the same time as Archer, was the kind of man who was wicked smart and just a little on the damaged side. Made him perfect for the kind of assignments they were given. Archer also knew that Rico wouldn’t mind doing a little background for him. Rico liked to break the rules even more so than Archer.

      “I need you to run a name.”

      “Dating again?” Rico returned indolently.

      “Cut the crap. This is serious.”

      “What’s the name?” Rico said, all business.

      “Ruben Ortiz, rumor has it he runs Oaktown Boyz. Name ring any bells?”

      “East Side Oakland Oaktown Boyz?”

      “The very same.”

      “That’s some sick shit. What you into?”

      He hesitated then relented. Rico was solid. “Not me. A friend.”

      Rico’s bark of laughter made him growl. “Now I know you’re lying. You ain’t got friends.”

      “Just run the damn name, funny boy.”

      “Why can’t you do it? You’ve got clearance.”

      “Not right now I don’t. If word gets out I was anywhere near the building Doc won’t ever clear me. That sick SOB is just loving the fact that I’m out of commission.”

      “You might be right. For a doc, he’s a sadistic asshole, ain’t he?”

      Rico’s easy laughter cracked a reluctant grin from Archer. “So can you do me this favor? СКАЧАТЬ