Beneath the Secrets Part 3(13)

“I won’t,” Royce agreed. “You have my word.”

“And mine,” Luke added.

“And mine,” Kyle said, appearing in the doorway.

“We’ll talk it through, Kara,” Royce added. “We’ll come up with a way to save her. We won’t let her be sacrificed.”

Kara didn’t have to study their faces to believe them. She had this overwhelming sense of commitment from these men, commitment like she’d not even felt from her own FBI unit, a sense of family coming together. A sense she hadn’t felt in a very long time and, unbidden, her eyes started to burn. “Thank you,” she whispered, and damn—the burn was getting worse and it seemed to have spread from her eyes to her chest. “And, for the record, I’m not going to let Blake sacrifice himself either.”

Blake moved in front of her, his back to his brothers, his eyes meeting hers. He took the gun from her and set it on the bed. “Kara,” he whispered softly, wiping away a tear that had slid down her cheek. “We’re going to save her.” There was shuffling behind them and a murmur before Kara heard the door shut and knew they were alone.

She never cried, but she felt a waterfall coming and the last thing she needed was Blake thinking she was weak. He’d use any excuse to keep her out of this thing with Alvarez, and she wasn’t letting that happen.

Kara cut her gaze from his. “I need to shower and put my clothes on.” She started to scoot off the bed. “There are too many men running around here.” Darting toward the bathroom, she didn’t look back, thankful Blake actually let her escape. The minute she was inside, she shut the door and turned on the shower, impatiently waiting for it to heat. She wanted under the water where her tears would be hidden. Where, for just a few minutes, she could let go.

Stepping under the hot water, emotions erupted and she sobbed. Body-shaking, intense sobs she couldn’t control. Her sister was all she had. She couldn’t lose her. She couldn’t lose her. But she knew the chances of getting her back were small. So very small. It hurt. It hurt so much and she fought against the memories of losing her family. She didn’t think about it. She didn’t go there.

Abruptly, the shower curtain ripped backwards and Blake, now naked again, stepped inside and pulled her against him. “Kara—”

“You can’t die,” she croaked in a sob, her fists balling on his chest. “You made me care about you when I haven’t let myself care about anyone but my sister. You made me care, and damn it, you’re begging to die. And don’t say you aren’t. You are. You feel guilty about something. You want to die and feel like you did it making some assumed wrong right.”

He stroked wet hair from her face. “I’m here.”

“For how long? How long, Blake?”

He studied, and then softly prodded, “How old were you?”

She didn’t have to ask what he meant. The tears burned in her eyes again. “Seventeen. Myla was fifteen.”

“Myla’s your sister?”

“Yes. We lived in North Carolina and we woke to the roar of motorcycles. My parents hid us in a small hole in the basement wall. We barely fit. They wouldn’t fit, Blake. I heard the gunshots. I heard them and I knew…I knew they were dead, but I was strong for Myla. I kept her quiet. I kept her from…” She dropped her head to his chest and the damn sobs just wouldn’t let go. “I can’t lose her.”

His hand slid to the back of her head. “If there’s a way to get her back. I will,” he promised.

If there’s a way. Kara sucked in a breath and looked at him. “Thank you for being honest, for not saying you’ll get her back no matter what. We both know the chances. They aren’t good, but I have to try.”

“And we will. With every resource and piece of energy we have, we will.”

She believed him. She wasn’t alone in this anymore. At least for now…at least until Blake left, too.





Chapter Six


An hour after Kara had her meltdown in the shower, she and Blake walked into the hotel restaurant and headed toward the table, where Royce and Luke were waiting on them. The idea was that they would calmly talk through how to deal with their “situation”, as Royce had called it. Kara was pretty sure she’d bump heads with big brother again, and she’d done her best with her bag of makeup to hide the effects of her tears and feel pulled together. Not that anyone would notice her face. The t-shirt she’d borrowed from Tami was way too low cut for her taste, though it seemed Blake’s “Navy SEALs” t-shirt was getting the attention of several women at a table they were passing. Or maybe it was just Blake who had their attention. He certainly had hers.

Both Luke and Royce stood up when Kara and Blake arrived at the table and, with a murmur of greetings, Kara settled into the seat next to Blake, directly across from Royce. Somehow she thought having Blake and Royce sitting across from each other—a head-on confrontation waiting to happen—didn’t work. At least, not for her and Luke.

The waitress stopped to fill their coffee cups and take their orders, and Blake’s hand settled possessively, warmly, on her leg. The brothers exchanged a few comments, more manly jokes than anything, and Kara covered Blake’s hand with hers. There was a new intimacy between them, a sense of being together, not just wanting to strip each other naked. For the first time in her adult life, she’d let a man slip inside her life. No. Inside her heart. It felt both wonderful and terrifying. She and Blake were bonded in pain, she thought, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was a good or bad thing.