Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(96)
He drew in a deep breath, dropped his head against the back of the couch and let out a long sigh. He glared at the ceiling, the muscles at the back of his jaw ticking in a way that said he didn’t much care for the logistics already setting up shop in his head. “You’re right.”
“Then you agree?”
It took forever before he answered, but when he did a cautious resolution filled his stormy gaze. “I’ll talk to my brothers.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
A day and a half later and Knox still hadn’t found any peace with Darya’s decision. Nearly forty hours’ worth of planning and surveillance with Beckett’s best men on the job plus Sergei’s on top of it. Their approach was dead on. Solid and well thought out. Fucking brilliant, really.
And he still hated the whole idea.
He turned into the parking lot fronting Darya’s apartment building, halfway tempted to pull a U-ey and head back to the loft. Darya sat in silence beside him. Usually, she’d man the radio and pepper him with random small talk about whichever bands came on, but today her posture had about as much give as a concrete post and her hands were fisted in her lap.
“We don’t have to do this,” he said for what had to be the twentieth time since they’d rolled out of bed. “They took the bait I set out online and I’ve got all the access I need to their servers to choke him financially. No one will think less of you if you opted for a technical attack. Hell, I’d be grateful.”
Whatever she’d been thinking about, she shrugged it off, turned to face him and covered his hand on the gear shift. “Ruslan’s here. We know where he’s staying and we have a plan. To back out would be foolish.”
Oh, they knew where he was staying. And about five minutes after Sergei had phoned in the details, Knox had access to the hotel’s servers and knew not only what room he was in, but what the cocksucker ordered for breakfast. “I still don’t see why Sergei didn’t take the shot at the airport.”
“He’s got one shot at this, Knox. You know that. Taking a risk like that out in the open would have been nearly impossible to cover. And if they tried and his shooter missed, Ruslan would have gotten right back on his plane and taken off. This is better. Easier to contain.”
Easier on cleanup maybe. Not so much on keeping Darya safe. Although, he’d felt a whole lot better after they’d learned Ruslan had landed at the same private airstrip Trevor used. Thanks to his brother’s connections, Ruslan didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of getting his bird back in the air. At least not until it got a little TLC from a qualified mechanic.
He whipped into the parking spot next to Darya’s red Challenger and popped the gear shift into Neutral. Thank God, Beck’s buddy Gia had agreed to jump into the operation they’d put together. No way he’d have kept from crawling out of his own skin without a top bodyguard like her watching Darya’s back. “Remember what I said about your car. We couldn’t check it without drawing attention from the guys watching your place, so stick to Gia’s ride.”
Darya nodded and grabbed her purse from between her feet on the floorboard. Cranked up to high to combat the stifling heat, the Audi’s AC pumped hard enough to stir her hair around her shoulders.
“We can’t talk about our plans again until I’ve swept your place for bugs,” he added. “You want to run through the drill one more time before we head in?”
Her lips curved in a tired, but sweet smile. “We’ve gone over it so many times I could recite it in my sleep.”
God, she was beautiful. Beautiful, smart and brave with the kindest heart he’d ever met. He curled his hand around the side of her neck. Her skin was damp against his palm, but whether it was from the oppressing heat or fear he couldn’t know. “I love you.”
She placed her hand over his, guided it to her mouth and kissed his palm. “It’s going to be okay. This time tomorrow we’ll be back at your loft and neither of us will have to think of this again.”
He’d think of it. Hell, things hadn’t even kicked into motion yet, but he already knew he’d have nightmares for months, if not years.
But right now she needed him strong and fully on board with the decision she’d made. She’d been right to call him on his promise. Haven women deserved to live the life they wanted and make the choices they deemed right every bit as much as the men did. If he couldn’t honor and support what she wanted, he didn’t deserve the future she offered. “This time tomorrow, I’ll have you tied to my bed and so boneless from me working your body, you won’t think at all.”
She grinned at that, a little of the lightness they’d lost since the day she’d seen Koschei on his screen shining through her grim focus. “I’m looking forward to that.” She leaned across the center console and kissed him, her winter rose scent flaming his fear of loss higher even as it calmed him. “Let’s hurry and get this over with so we can get started.”
Before she could pull away, he fisted his hand in her hair and took more of what she offered, slanting his mouth against hers and claiming her hard enough she’d feel it long after he was gone. Nothing came easier to him than kissing Darya. Not code. Not puzzles. Not even breathing. Just the thought of her lips against his—her taste on his tongue—disconnected him from reality and left him free to float on utter bliss.