You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(30)

Taggart released her. “Be careful. He really does go a little crazy when he’s in this state.”

Ten and Case stood ten feet from Jesse like he was a dangerous lion they didn’t want to touch but couldn’t let get away because he might eat all the villagers. The only good news was everyone seemed to have stopped fighting. They were too busy watching what was going on with Jesse.

“Phoebe, get back. That’s an order,” Ten commanded.

She’d never been really good at taking orders. It was easier to ignore Ten than to argue with him. “Jesse, it’s me. It’s Phoebe.”

“Softly,” Weston explained. “He’ll respond to the feminine side, not to someone in charge. Make yourself vulnerable to him. It worked before with Chelsea and he has a deeper connection with you. Let him hear the Phoebe he cares about.”

He didn’t look anything like the Jesse she knew so well. His eyes were wild, sweat covering his brow though it was nice and cool in the office. It was the blood on his mouth that completed the transformation.

Still, she didn’t hesitate.

“Hey, Jesse.” She moved toward him and he backed up, looking between the men.

“Damn it, Phoebe. Get back,” Ten ordered.

“You get back, Ten. You got us in this situation. I have to get us out,” she argued Ten’s way.

Jesse looked down and found the one thing he really didn’t need. Ten’s gun had dropped. Jesse got it in his hands and started pointing it around, speaking in rapid-fire Farsi.

“He’s telling everyone to get back,” Ten translated. Ten spoke a little in the same language, but that caused Jesse to start to stalk his way.

She couldn’t let that happen. The way Ten stilled let her know that Ten hadn’t come in with blanks. She lowered her voice, softening it. “Jesse, please. Please help me.”

“You have to get closer to him,” Simon advised.

“Shit. I’m going to get killed.” Ian lowered his voice and said something Phoebe didn’t understand.

Jesse’s eyes flared and suddenly that gun was being pointed at Taggart and Jesse was dragging Phoebe behind him.

“He didn’t mean it,” Simon explained quietly. “Jesse, you’re in Dallas. This is Simon and Ian. Ian would never hurt the girl. He just wanted to get your attention.”

So Ian had threatened her in Farsi and that had brought out Jesse’s protective instincts. Maybe it was time to bring out some other instincts. She wrapped her arms around his lean waist and brought her body against his. “Please, Jesse. I need you to come back to me.”

She let her hands move up his chest and felt his breath hitch. Yes, she was getting to him.

“Please, Jesse. You promised. You promised you would take care of me.” She went up on her toes and let her mouth rest against the outer edge of his ear. “I could take care of you, too.”

“That’s disgusting,” Ten muttered under his breath.

But Jesse pulled her around so she was cradled against his chest. He stared down at her and she reached up to wipe the blood off his face. “Phoebe?”

God, she was going to miss him. “Yes.”

It took him a moment, as though he needed time to move from one place to another, one time to another. “I’m sorry.”

She nodded, enjoying the closeness. It felt good to be in his arms as herself, with no untruths between them. “I am, too.”

“Are you all right?” Taggart asked.

Jesse’s arm tightened around her. His eyes found the floor and she could practically feel the shame rolling off him. “I’m here. I’m sorry. I forgot for a minute.”

“You’re fine.” She understood PTSD. Maybe not in the way Jesse experienced it, but she remembered how even after she moved into the big house in Virginia, she’d slept with a knife under her pillow, and she’d almost taken Jamie’s head off one night. “Ten deserved it.”

Her brother stepped forward, holding his left arm. “He bit me. The little f*cker bit me. And he told me how much you liked him f*cking you. He’s a liar because I know damn well you wouldn’t sleep with him.”

She felt her whole body go hot and she tried to step away from Jesse. She didn’t want Ten to know how close she’d come to betraying Jamie. He wouldn’t understand. She didn’t understand. She’d promised to be faithful to him and Jesse shook that vow.

“Did she call Ten her brother?” Charlotte asked. “I thought Ten was alone.”

Taggart stepped up, handing Charlotte his SIG. “Are we done with the preliminaries? We can get to the explanations later.”

Ten’s body seemed to swell as he faced off. “Yeah, we’re ready to get on to the main event, son.”

“Oh, I am so not your son, but I’ll show you that I’m definitely your better, you son of a bitch. You think you can walk into my house?”

“You threatened to kill my sister,” Ten growled. “You think I didn’t know what you meant with that phone call?”

“Does it matter that he didn’t hurt me?” Phoebe tried.

Charlotte moved in. “Nope. I think we need to let those two hash this out like men, and by men I mean ridiculously immature boys. Come on. I think we could all use a drink after this. Well, I can’t, but I can find the Scotch for the rest of you.” She winced as Li started things off by getting to his feet and immediately punching Case Taggart.