On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(105)

Evans seemed to enjoy having an audience. “I’ve got bigger plans than before. Do you have any idea how long I’ve had to take to gather this much ammonium nitrate without the feds coming down on my ass? I’ve gathered it from all over the country, using all of my followers. McVeigh used forty fifty-pound bags in Oklahoma City. I have three hundred.”

Three hundred bags of pure grade-A death when used in the most improper way. “I’m sure Warren here helped you hide that. How are you going to justify that, *? Do you know how many people he can kill with a bomb that big? Do you really think you can hide your ties to him forever?”

Evans grinned, a smile that on anyone else would indicate genuine joy. His joy was killing people and getting away with it. “I think that SAC Petty will continue to do what he needs to do. Or he’ll lose everything. Besides, his brother plans to run on a law and order platform. I’m giving him something to rail against. Everyone wins, Eve.”

Everyone except the people he killed. She knew who the true monster was. There was something deeply wrong with Michael Evans that began in his childhood. She’d studied him. His mother had fled her abusive husband, using a women’s shelter to hide from him. But she’d left her son behind. Michael had grown up listening to his father rail against whores and turning his abuse on his son.

Warren had grown up wealthy, with parents who doted on him. He knew exactly what he was doing. Evans was sick and deserved to be put down, but Warren was simply greedy. There was no defense for him. “You’re a traitor. Not just to your friends and your job. You’re a traitor to your country. I will not stop until I out you and your brother.”

“It won’t work.” Warren sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Evans walked up and put an arm around his partner in crime. “He’s mine, Eve. He has been since the minute we met over coffee and discussed blowing up that clinic. He facilitated my exit from the United States federal penal system, and it’s been a marriage made in heaven ever since. When he called me to let me know that Alexander had resurfaced, I was so excited. We have unfinished business. I heard about your divorce. So sad. I suppose he couldn’t handle the fact that another man had his woman.”

“I divorced him.” And she’d been stupid to do it. She could see it now. She’d been weak. She was Alex’s sub. It was her freaking job to tell her Dom what she needed. At the time, she’d been too scared to ask. She’d been scared of what he might say, but now she knew something she hadn’t before. Love—real love—required courage. It required her to speak out. It required her to fight for it.

A strange light came into his eyes. He looked a little like a fallen angel. It wasn’t hard to see why women flocked to him just based on his looks. But once he opened that mouth, he was the devil and she wondered if she hadn’t just given him an in. “Because you wanted me. You wanted what only I can give you.”

God, he was so wrong. Nausea built inside her. She didn’t know how she would handle it if he managed to put a hand on her. “I hate you. You have to know that. I can’t stand the thought of you. I love my Alex and we’re getting remarried because I finally realized something.”

He snarled a little. “And what is that, little whore?”

“I realized that he loves me no matter what. You gave me that. You forced me to realize something I might never have known. I might have gone to my grave wondering, but now I truly know. Most couples aren’t tested the way you did us. We know now. You took years from us, but you don’t get our forever. You can do anything you want, but I belong to him. My choice. I choose him. Always.” And forever more. There wasn’t time to worry. There was only time to love. She loved Alex. She wasn’t going to fight it. It didn’t matter if she was afraid. Her love was worth more than fear. Their relationship was worth fighting for. “It won’t work. You can’t break us. We went through your fire and we’re stronger now.”

Evans face had flushed as though he was anticipating the challenge. “Oh, but it will, dear. This time I will make sure you don’t get back to him. I only let you go the first time because I thought he would be so worried about you, he would ignore me. I made the mistake of underestimating his real obsession. As long as I keep you away from him, he’ll hunt for you and I can do my very important work.”

“Alex will find me.” He had to.

His hand came up, gesturing to the plane. “That airplane is going to take you to South America. You will disappear there. You’ll spend a few months at my private apartment, and then I have other plans for you. I always hoped this day would come. Though it’s a bit sudden, plans are already in place. Carlos?”

The man who had watched her spanking walked up, a leering smile on his face. “Hello, Amanda. Or should I call you Eve?”

You should call me the bitch who tagged you. He couldn’t know it yet, but he was his boss’s downfall. She kept quiet, not willing to engage any of them.

He reached out. She tried to back up, but Warren was behind her, keeping her from getting out of reach.

“I think you should be nice to me. Once Evans is done with you, I think he’ll let me have you. I have a brothel in Argentina. Your beauty will bring me much wealth.” His hand dragged down the side of her face, chilling her. Only Warren’s body blocked her from moving away.