Rules In Deceit. Nichole Severn
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Название: Rules In Deceit
Автор: Nichole Severn
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon Heroes
isbn: 9781474094511
isbn:
“No thanks to your new bodyguard there.” Muffled static reached through his end of the line. “What number are you calling from?”
“A burner I picked up out of a box full of phones. Consider this my new number for the time being.” She chewed on the end of her thumbnail. They shouldn’t have left him behind. She could’ve fought Braxton harder, could’ve done something. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m good,” Vincent said. “Confirm you’re safe and give me permission to punch your ex in the face the next time I see him.”
“I’m safe. For now. And permission granted.” She dropped her hand and rolled her shoulders back. Pain shot through the right side of her rib cage, and she doubled over with a rough exhale. “But you’ll have to get in line.”
“Liz?” Vincent asked. “You okay?”
“Fine for someone who took an eight-foot oak door to the right side.” She breathed through the pain. “Listen, whoever set that bomb tried to finish the job in the garage. I pulled three slugs out of Elliot’s windshield, but I’m not sure how to hand them off to you without putting myself back in the open.”
“Stay put,” Vincent said. “I’ll have Anchorage PD’s crime scene unit check it out. Maybe we’ll get lucky on a stray casing. If that doesn’t work, we’ll set something up to get me those slugs. You should know, as of right now the Sovereign Army is taking credit for the bombing.”
“The privacy activists? Explosives aren’t usually their forte.” Headlines had taken over national news with the group’s intent to sell and publish congressmen and women’s browsing histories and darkest secrets, but setting a bomb at a security company? Although if the extremist group discovered she’d helped the federal government create a surveillance system to spy on them for the past year, who knew how far they’d escalate. Still, something about that didn’t sit well. A knock at the door pushed her pulse higher. Braxton. She nodded, even though Vincent couldn’t possibly see it, and turned as the bedroom door cracked open. “Thanks for the intel. Call me if you find anything else.”
She ended the call, nervous energy skittering up her spine.
Green-gray eyes locked on her and, suddenly, the last four months disappeared to the back of her mind. Braxton made his way inside, a white box in one hand and a steaming bowl of something intoxicating in the other. “Your team?”
“Yeah. Hope you don’t mind I borrowed one of your phones to make the call.” She tossed the burner onto the bed, crossing her arms over her midsection. Grinding her teeth, she fought against the pain ripping through her side. “Looks like Sovereign Army took credit for the bombing. Vincent’s sending Anchorage PD to analyze the scene in the garage. He’ll call back if he finds something. He’s very much looking forward to punching you in the face when he sees you again.”
“Fair enough.” A smile curled at one edge of his mouth, and his all-too-familiar pull hooked into her. Damn it. When would he stop affecting her like this? Braxton closed the space between them, coming within mere inches of her. Her breath caught in her throat as he maneuvered around her to set the bowl on the nightstand. Straightening, he backed away slowly, that mesmerizing gaze steady on her. “So now that there’s nothing more we can do tonight, take off your shirt.”
EXPERTS SAID TIME healed old wounds, but what the hell did they know? Braxton popped open the first aid kit beside him on the bed. How many times had he called her over the last month from this very same safe house only to hang up when she answered? Two? Five? Maybe more. She wouldn’t have spoken to him if he’d opened his mouth. That was clear now. More than likely, she would’ve demanded a trace on the call the second she’d realized who was on the other line and sent any resource available his way. His disappearance obviously hadn’t torn her apart as much as it had him. But, hell, he deserved it. Even if leaving had been to protect her.
“Excuse me?” Liz cradled her rib cage. Her features contorted but smoothed almost instantly. As though she’d caught herself in a moment of weakness.
Stubborn woman. On a scale from one to ten, he pegged her pain around a seven. Yet she hadn’t said a word. He’d noticed the way she favored that side, the small flinches in her expression. She’d been lucky to survive that explosion. If it weren’t for the very same oak door that’d possibly cracked her ribs protecting her from most of the shrapnel, she might not be standing here. The ache under his sternum, the one connected with the woman standing mere feet away, refused to subside as he studied the fast tick of her pulse at the base of her throat. “The only way for me to see if your ribs are broken is you taking off your shirt.”
“I’m fine. I’m sure it’s a rib out of place. It’ll either pop back when it’s ready, or this girl will kick it back where it belongs in the next few months.” She stared up at the ceiling, her fingers prodding into her side. Small lines creased her expression, and his gut clenched. In her next breath, she took back control. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re just looking for a way back under my shirt. Which isn’t going to happen.”
A laugh rumbled from deep in his chest. Exhaustion played a wicked game across her expression, but she’d keep going until they identified the unsub responsible for that bomb. That’d been one of the reasons he’d recommended her to Dalton Meyer for the Oversight project at the NSA two years ago. He’d studied her work programming drones for the small start-up company in Washington, DC, and admired her determination to get the job done. Nothing had changed in that respect. But sacrificing her health in the name of the investigation wouldn’t get them anywhere. “Can you blame a guy for trying?”
Her burst of laughter filled the room but cut off in her next breath. She doubled over, hiking her hand into her side.
“All right, enough stalling.” Braxton tossed the first aid kit onto the bed and propelled himself to his feet. “I’m taking a look at your ribs whether you like it or not.”
“Why?” Liz straightened slowly, pain evident on her features. “Unless you got your medical degree while you were in hiding?”
“Not exactly, but you learn a few things when you’re on your own and the government has plastered your face on the front page of the FBI’s website.” He feathered his fingertips under her shirt and lifted the black silk. Her sharp gasp quickened his pulse, and a rush of satisfaction shot through him. He’d always been able to change her breathing patterns with one touch. Nice to know some things hadn’t changed. Smooth skin slid against the rough calluses on his hand. And wasn’t that the perfect metaphor for their relationship—rough versus smooth. Bruises had already started darkening around her bottom rib on the right side. He studied her expression in his peripheral vision as he pressed his thumb into the bone. “It’s no way to live, though. Strange cities, fake names, avoiding human interaction.” Avoiding her. “Gets old real fast.”
“Well, now it looks like we have something in common.” She hissed as he prodded the third rib from the bottom. “Now I’m being hunted like an animal. Only this predator isn’t the federal government and has tried to blow me up and shoot me in the same day.”
He locked his jaw to cool the anger churning in his gut. If he hadn’t left, none of this would’ve happened.
“Nothing feels broken.” Braxton dropped his hand. Every cell in his body screamed for him to erase the worry lines from her СКАЧАТЬ