Extreme Danger (McClouds & Friends #5)(38)

She waited, radiating disapproval, until he got himself under control. “Are you finished?” she asked. “Can we discuss this like adults?”

Becca had nerve, talking like that to a guy she took for a bad-ass criminal. “I was infiltrating that organization,” he said. “I’m not one of his thugs. I was under cover.”

She gazed at him, agape. The silence was sweet. He savored it, for as long as it lasted. Which wasn’t long.

“Oh. So by getting me out of there, you, ah—”

“Blew my cover? Wasted years of preparation? Trashed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring that motherf*cker down? Yes, yes, and yes. Lives were at stake, sweetheart. I traded them. For yours.”

Her eyes were huge, her mouth pursed into a shocked O.

“This evening, I was supposed to kill you,” he went on, his voice hard. “After the big festive gang-bang, of course. That would have been my entry fee to Zhoglo’s exclusive club. I had to get you out. So here we are, babe.”

She sucked in a shuddering breath, pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God. So you’re from the police—or some agency—?”

The flinch was involuntary. He could only hope she didn’t notice. “Not anymore,” he said. “I used to be.”

“Used to be?” She looked bewildered. “Then why are you doing this?”

“A lot of things went wrong.” The last thing he wanted to think about was that rotten, convoluted story of betrayal and torture and murder. “I’m working on my own.”

“Meaning?” She looked puzzled.

“I had my own personal reasons to investigate this prick. I’ve been waiting for years for a chance to get close to that bastard. I found one, it was cranking along, and ta da…you showed up, to take a dip in the pool.”

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “I am so sorry.”

“Me, too,” he muttered sourly. “What a f*ck-up.”

“A f*ck-up?” She sounded offended. “You saved my life!”

“I didn’t go to Frakes Island to save your life,” he pointed out. “Believe it or not.”

She chewed on that. “I’m sorry that I made difficulties for you.”

Difficulties? The woman had a talent for understatement.

A relatively tranquil twenty minutes passed before she piped up again. “Tell me the truth about something,” she said.

He hesitated. That sounded like a trap. “If I can,” he hedged.

“You were lying when you told me you’d take me to the police station, weren’t you? No way in hell would you do that. Because what you are doing is illegal, right? A rogue operation. And the powers that be would not be happy with you for doing it.”

He let out a short, explosive sigh. “That’s correct.”

She twisted her hands together. The blanket had fallen open, displaying her tits in all their lush, pear-shaped glory.

He jerked his gaze back to the road, focused on the yellow line. Like he had time for this juvenile shit.

“Don’t lie to me,” she said. “That’s something that I really hate.”

It’s not all about you, sweet cheeks. He stopped the caustic words just in time, and was congratulating himself for his uncharacteristic self-control when a stupid answer burst out of him. “I won’t,” he said.

That startled him. He didn’t even know if the words were true. What the hell. He would make them true. By keeping his big mouth shut.

He had to unload this chick, pronto. Before he did something really stupid. He could feel the momentum gathering in his balls.

“So…so what are you going to do with me, then?”

The quiver in her voice annoyed him. “Don’t know. Chain you to a radiator?” he snapped. “It may be the only way to keep you safe.”

She shot him a look as if he were Godzilla and shrank to half her size against the door. Fuck. “I was kidding, Becca,” he growled.

“I cannot believe you would kid about that right now.”

“So dock me a sensitivity point. I’m an *. By the way, I’ll take you wherever you want to go. Run to the cops if you want. The only way to stop you would be to lock you in my basement, but I’m tired and that sounds too f*cking stressful right now.”

“What a lovely sentiment,” she muttered.

“But be aware,” he went on grimly. “If you do go to the cops, that bastard will come for you. He will find you. And you will die. And so will I.”

“Thanks for the warning. That’s just great to know. Just great.” Her voice was burbling, hands over her face. Aw, shit. He hated tears.

He drove, trying not to listen to the pathetic sniffles and snorts from her hunched form. “Stop it,” he exploded. “I’m sorry!”

“Oh, piss off, you condescending bastard.”

He was comforted by the smackdown. He liked her feisty.

Chapter

11

Z hoglo stared down at the four blood-soaked corpses, his face expressionless. Anatoli had been with him for twenty years, faithful as a hound, and about as intelligent. But he had valued the man’s loyalty. Anatoli’s throat gaped open from ear to ear. Yevgeni’s too. Ivan had a bullet hole drilled between wide, startled blue eyes. A promising young man, intelligent and ferocious. And Yuri. Three hundred pounds of pure muscle, but his bulldog neck had been snapped like a baby chicken’s.