No Place to Run (KGI #2)(26)

“He’ll kill me and our child as soon as he gets what he wants,” she said softly. “It’s why I had to finally come to you and hope you would offer me your protection no matter what your feelings might be for me. I can’t do it myself any longer. I almost died. Our child almost died. I’m no longer willing to take the chance of going it alone, even if it means bringing trouble to your front door.”

His eyes grew hard and determined. His jaw tightened in anger, but when he reached out to grasp her arm, his touch was gentle and soothing.

“There never should have been any doubt you could come to me. I may be mad as hell. I may feel like a dumbass, but that’s nothing next to your and our child’s safety. Did you honestly think I’d turn you away once you’d explained everything?”

He sounded incredulous, and once again she was struck by how unfair it all was. She was expected to trust him, but he wasn’t required to believe squat about her or her intentions.

“If I’d thought you’d turn me away, I wouldn’t be here,” she said evenly. “No, I didn’t immediately come here. For one, I had no way of knowing how long you’d be tied up in Mexico. Two, I had no way of knowing if anything would happen to you. Three, once you no longer served the purpose of luring me into the open for my father’s men to snatch, you’d be expendable. Now the clock is ticking because as of the minute I came to you, you’re expendable.”

“You really believe all that, don’t you?”

She turned away from him, her shoulders heaving with anger.

“I’m not an idiot, Sam. You may not think what I’ve done has been smart or that I’ve had the best plan, but you know what? It’s kept me alive so far. And you know what else? It’s kept you alive too.”

An impatient hiss escaped his lips, and then he gripped her shoulder and turned her back around to face him.

“Let’s get a few things straight here, okay? Just so there’s no further misunderstanding in the future. You will not make decisions in regard to your or the baby’s safety at my expense or in an effort to save me. That’s horse shit. My job—what I do—is protect people. From now on that’s you and our baby, Sophie. I’m protecting you both, and the best way you can help me do that is to listen to everything I tell you. Don’t make rash, emotional decisions. And be honest with me. Completely. From now on. Got it?”

She wanted to deck him for being a condescending jerk, but she could see he truly wasn’t attempting to talk down to her. He was in total command mode, and he was talking to her like he’d talk to one of his men. No nonsense and he expected compliance. She was sorely tempted to snap him a salute and rattle off a snarky “yes sir!”

“Now come here,” he said in a low voice.

The deep timbre sent a shiver down her skin. He sounded gruff and a little unsure, but there was also a compelling plea for her to come to him.

She went and he caught her in his arms, pulling her against his chest. Warm. He was so warm that his heat soaked into her pores and invaded her stiff muscles.

He felt so good, so absolutely right, that she could do nothing more than stand in the circle of his arms and bury her face in his neck.

“I’ll protect you, Sophie. We have a lot to work out, and we’ll get there. But first I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure no one ever touches you or our child. If you believe nothing else, believe this.”

“I do believe you,” she whispered. “It’s why I came.”

“I just wish you’d come sooner,” he said in a quiet voice.

“I’m here now.”

He nodded. “And you’re staying.”

He turned her toward the couch and urged her down once more. After making sure she was propped in a comfortable position, he carefully arranged the blankets around her.

“You need to rest and I’ve got to plan our way out of here. Donovan is doing some checking on our assassin. So if you’ll sit tight and let us do our thing, we’ll have you out of here as soon as possible.”

She tried to cover the yawn that threatened to crack her jaw, but gave up and surrendered halfway through.

He leaned in, kissed her forehead and then smoothed his hand down her face.

“Rest, Sophie, and trust me to protect you and our baby.”

She stared back up at him. “I do, Sam. I do.”

Nodding his satisfaction, he turned on his heel and headed out of the living room to find his brothers, and she was left alone, huddled under the blankets on the couch to ponder the mess she’d gotten the entire Kelly family in.

CHAPTER 10

“WHAT did you find out?” Sam demanded as soon as he returned to Donovan and Garrett.

Donovan looked up as Sam approached. “I ran the guy’s photo and prints through the CIA database.”

“And?”

“Interesting. He’s one of Mouton’s all right, but he was assigned to his brother’s security detail.”

“What’s so interesting about that?” Garrett asked.

“Well, the info I gathered suggested that Tomas is a token part of Alex’s network. He has no say, no power, and Alex ignores him as long as Tomas plays by the rules. Which are basically that he keeps his mouth shut and does whatever Alex tells him.

“Now, yeah this guy would have been chosen and hired and trained for that matter by Alex or his trusted head of security, but he wouldn’t have had any real power or responsibility other than to stick close to Tomas, and if I know Alex, the assassin probably reported to Alex, not Tomas.”