On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(89)

“Hey, where’s my coffee?” Kristen asked. She rounded on Adam. “You bastard. Do you know what I’m like without coffee? Have you ever seen a badger? They look all cute and cuddly until some dumbass smokes it from its hole and then the claws and fangs are out. I’m about to grow claws and fangs, Adam.”

Adam held up his phone, dialing furiously. “Eve’s getting some from the common area. Look, I’ll have her get you some, too. Nice, badger. Good, badger. No smoke here.”

Kristen hissed his way.

Okay, someone really needed to get the girl some coffee.

“It went to voice mail. Did Eve leave her phone up here?” Adam asked.

“She always carries it.” Something crawled up his spine. Something was wrong.

Alex turned off the stove and walked to the door, every instinct in him screaming that he should find his wife.

“What is it?” Kristen was right behind him.

He pressed the door to the elevator, the fountain behind him not soothing at all now. Let her be on her way up. The doors are going to open and she’ll be there with her cup of coffee and I’ll be a paranoid idiot.

The doors slid open. No Eve. Just an empty elevator. His heart seized just a little.

“Adam, hold down the fort. I’ll be right back.” He got into the elevator. “I just want to check on Eve.”

Kristen hopped in before the door closed.

Alex took a long breath and prayed his instincts were wrong.





Chapter Fifteen


Eve breathed in the heavenly scent of coffee. This was what she needed. She needed to have a nice cup of coffee and a little breakfast and then she would be ready to work. She would sit on the couch in the living room, with its gorgeous views of the Atlantic, and snuggle unashamedly up to her husband and they would work through the problem.

Her husband. They’d gotten a divorce, but he’d always been her husband. He’d stayed close. He was just a man. Men were kind of dumb. She needed to remember that.

She was female, and that brought with it a certain amount of responsibility. She had to plainly state what she needed. Oh, it would be so much better if he would understand her needs, but his reasoning skills were hampered by a really large penis. She had to make adjustments.

Eve took a long breath. Oh, it felt so good to joke, even if only with herself.

The world was opening up again. It was like someone had pushed a button and suddenly she could see in color when the last several years had been a brutal black and white. Maybe, oh just maybe, she hadn’t been completely shattered. Maybe she’d just been a little broken and she could put the pieces back together. She would be held together with hot glue and hope, but she was alive.

In the end, that was all that mattered.

She walked out of the little kitchen in the common area. The floor was a lovely marble and everything about the building was elegant. She really loved it here. Perhaps she and Alex could get more than just a house in Dallas. Maybe they could find a lovely summer home. Or winter home. Or just a getaway house.

They had options.

She got to the end of the hall. The elevator was on her left, but she turned right, wanting to sit out by the pool that overlooked the Atlantic. At this time of the morning, she could watch dolphins playing. It was so peaceful. She pressed through the door. In this particular building, there were only two condos per level. All she had to do to reach the pool was to walk around the first floor’s giant lanai. A little walkway led to the pool area, and at the back of the pool, she could shout up to their balcony and get Alex to join her. He would come down with her breakfast and they could watch the dolphins play and enjoy the gorgeous sunrise.

Or she could text him. Although throwing stuff at the window sounded like more fun. She walked outside even though she knew she couldn’t get back in without help. She’d left her keys upstairs.

Master, please save your poor sub. She’s locked out and can’t get back in without her sweet Master.

Maybe she could get him in the hot tub. That would be fun.

The clean ocean air hit her, and she stopped for a moment, just breathing it in. Everything seemed possible again. A family. A life. Everything. It really was out there just waiting for her to decide she was brave enough to grab it.

She started to pass the lanai and it’s pretty little private gate. The first floor was a rental, Kristen had mentioned. Maybe they could take a look at it while they were here. The lanai looked huge, wrapping around the whole condo. It was like a kid run. She could just toss the kids out here and they would run themselves silly.

Kids. She and Alex could have babies. They didn’t have to come out of her womb. They only needed her love for her to be a mother. Hers and Alex’s. She could have a family.

She looked out over the parking lot and decided to just text. She’d never had a great throwing arm and the hurricane glass in the windows might just bounce anything she threw right back at her face. She pulled up Alex’s number and started to text.

And then she heard the tiniest squeak.

She started to turn, but felt something press against her spine.

“Drop the phone, sweetheart.”

She brought her leg up. She would bring her stiletto down on the bridge of his foot and start running, but her pink Ugg flip-flop did not have the same effect.

“Don’t try that again. I’m doing you a favor, Amanda. I’m trying to save you, but if you scream or try anything else, I won’t have another choice but to put a bullet in your spine.”