You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(90)

Jesse stared ahead, not wanting to look back at her. “I know I f*cked up.”

She moved around to stand in front of him, and there were tears in her eyes when she reached for him, her hands cupping his face as she stared up. “I will not let him hurt you. Do you understand me?” She wrapped her arms around him and suddenly he was held tight. “I won’t ever let him hurt you. God, Jesse, he’s here. I talked to him, didn’t I? That’s what Ten said. It was the only reason you would do that. I won’t let him get near you. I promise. You’re safe, Jesse. You’re safe.”

It took him a moment to take in her words, to understand that he wasn’t being rejected. He was being pulled close. Her feminine body offering protection and comfort to his masculine one. He’d f*cked up and she was promising to take care of him.

She was crying for him.

He let go, not of her, never of her. He let go of the idea that it was wrong to cry. He wouldn’t do it in public or with his friends. But he could with her. She was safety and affection and acceptance.

A shudder went through his body and he let himself cry because he’d thought the nightmare was over, because it had never really gone away until this moment when she began to take some of the burden from him.

He laid his head on her shoulders, finally safe in her arms.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN





Phoebe sighed as she stepped out of the room the next morning. Ten was on her immediately, as though he’d waited all night for the chance. He might have. He might have paced outside her bedroom door all night long, waiting for the shot at taking a hunk out of her flesh. He’d probably listened, trying to hear if they were fighting or f*cking.

They’d done neither. She’d held him and then they’d gone to bed, his head on her breast, his arms wound around her.

He’d needed intimacy the night before. He’d needed to know she was there with him.

“Good morning.” The best way to deal with Ten was to brazen through. If she gave him a moment’s weakness, he would pounce like the predator he was. She nodded in his direction and then walked straight toward the coffee, letting her nose lead the way.

Ten followed, hard on her heels. “Good morning? Are you f*cking kidding me?”

“Nope. I’m being an optimist this morning.” It wasn’t true. She was sick to her stomach because she knew the op was almost over and so was her time with Jesse.

Unless he meant what he’d said and he really could forgive her. She wasn’t sure she could risk it. It might be better to know he still cared about her than to risk everything and lose it all. Maybe they could still see each other. She would have her work and he would have his and they could spend their free time together.

Because a week or two a year was better than nothing, right? Until he found the woman who wasn’t too damaged and he got married and had kids. Yeah, it would be great.

“Damn it, Phoebe. Do you understand what happened last night?” Ten followed her into the living area of the suite where a long table had been set with a buffet overflowing with fruit and yogurt and eggs, small pastries, and even a row of perfectly made crepes with whipped cream.

She just poured a cup of coffee. She didn’t really have much of an appetite. “I understand that Jesse had to face something most of us can’t even conceive.”

“He completely lost it.”

“Maybe, but I think in this case, it’s understandable. He heard that voice again. It was the voice that did it.” They hadn’t talked about it, just held on to each other, but it was the only thing that made sense. Phoebe had been well aware of where the camera was, but any subtle attempts to turn them had been rebuffed by the very elegant Mr. al Fareed.

Even when she hadn’t realized who he was, he’d scared her. Not in a run and hide sense, but she’d known he was a predator. Her instincts had flared the minute he stepped in her way.

It was in his face. He was actually an attractive man when she considered his features on a separate basis. He had everything it took to be quite handsome. Until she got to the eyes. His eyes were flat. Obsidian and flat, like a reptile’s. She’d seen those eyes in a crocodile or a shark. They held no hint of humanity or compassion. No humor.

Ten sighed and sank down into one of the chairs. It was easy to see the toll the last few days had taken on him. “Yeah. At least I think so. One minute I was watching you and the next he was taking off. Tell me it wasn’t as bad as it looked on the monitors.”

She wished she could. “The good news is it was contained to the back of the ballroom. He didn’t get very far in, but at least a third of the people there were well aware something odd was happening.”

“Then everyone knows.”

The gossip would spread very quickly. “Probably.” There was an upside to this particular clusterf*ck. “It’s all right, Ten. Jesse needs to stay up here now. We should keep him out of the line of sight. We know who our target is. Now the rest of us gather intel on the al Fareed brothers.”

“Which one was it?”

Oh, he was so not going to love her answer. “I don’t know. His badge simply said Mr. al Fareed. Do you have pictures?”

“They’re practically twins,” Ten said with a grimace as he reached for his tablet. He slid his finger across the screen and passed it to her.