Mine to Have (Mine #5)(5)

Good-bye, dark past.

He had too many ghosts dodging his steps. It was way past time to start fresh some place new. He’d been counting down the days to this new life. Saving money. Planning every spare minute to turn his dreams into reality.

“Keep a hand on her,” Victor Monroe ordered as they headed toward the motel. Victor had already gotten the room for them. In a place like this, no questions would ever be asked. Privacy was a given.

Saxon kept a close hand on the woman. It was still dark outside, but as soon as they entered the little motel room and Victor flipped on the lights, the blonde whirled to stare at them both with her freaking amazing eyes. The greenest eyes he’d ever seen.

Her gaze darted between him and Victor, and he knew that neither one of them looked reassuring.

And he still had his hand on her.

“Ms. Ward,” Victor began in his smooth, I-Can-Take-Care-of-Shit voice, “I realize you’ve had a terrifying night, but we’re here to help you.”

She swallowed. And didn’t look reassured.

Maybe she’d try to knee Victor in the balls, too. That would be fun.

But when she backed away, retreating nervously, Saxon dropped his hold on her. There were two doors in that place. One led back to the parking lot. One led to the room next door—but if she tried to make a run for that connecting room, he’d be on her in an instant. Quite simply, there was nowhere for her to run.

“I-if you want to help me,” she said, “call the cops.”

Saxon liked her voice. Husky, rich. It made him think of tousled sheets and naked skin.

“Ma’am,” Victor drawled, “we are the cops.”

She blinked.

“I’m FBI Special Agent Victor Monroe, and this…” He waved his hand toward Saxon. “This man saved your life tonight.”

Saxon pulled up his shirt. The wire was chaffing him. He tossed the shirt aside and felt her eyes on his chest. He looked down and saw the small black wire and the black tape in the middle of his chest. With a quick yank, he tossed the wire at Victor. “Guessing you got everything?”

“My men will have Kurt Taggert in custody by dawn.”

Damn straight. Then his work was done. Hello, freedom. No more changing his hair color every few months for the undercover jobs, no more lies as he spent his days with the worst criminals in the U.S. Paradise is waiting for me.

He rubbed at the back of his neck, pushing away the tension there. When he looked up, Elizabeth’s eyes were on his chest. His lips quirked.

“You…you had on a wire?” Her gaze rose to meet his. “You’re FBI? I-I don’t believe it.”

Well, that was just insulting.

Victor slowly closed in on her. He pulled out his ID and offered it to Elizabeth. “We’re quite legit, Ms. Ward.”

Her shaking fingers closed around the ID, but she didn’t look away from Saxon. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”

And when should he have done that? “Before…or after I busted you out of The Blade?”

“I-in the alley. When we…when you—”

“When you were kissing me,” Saxon supplied. “Sweetheart, right then, my mouth was busy doing other things.”

Her cheeks stained bright red. That was cute. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush. The ladies he hung out with were usually long past the blushing stage.

“Ms. Ward…” Victor cleared his throat and pocketed his ID once more. “We’re going to need you to testify against Kurt Taggert.”

“Who?”

“That would be the jerk who put the gun to your head,” Saxon told her. He noticed that Victor was still standing close to Elizabeth. A bit too close. When he’d gotten the call from his buddy to move in, get the confession at The Blade, and to save the victim inside…he’d sure never expected the woman to be so…

Tempting.

“You’ll have to testify against him, Ms. Ward,” Victor continued. His blue eyes were fixed on Elizabeth. “Kurt Taggert was hired to kill you tonight, and if it weren’t for Saxon, well, you’d be dead now.”

She took a step back. “Hired to kill me? Me?” Her head shook, sending her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “Why would anyone want me dead?”

Why indeed? Her death would be such a waste. There were so many things Saxon could imagine doing with her delectable body.

“You’re lucky we had eyes on The Blade,” Victor told her with a slow nod. “We saw you being hauled in the back and I was able to send in a…rescue team.”

Her gaze was on Saxon once more.

He grinned. “That would be me.”

“You…you…FBI?” She sure seemed to be having trouble processing that bit of information. So maybe he looked a little rough around the edges. He worked undercover assignments for a reason. Because he fit so well in the darker parts of the world.

“We need names from you.” Victor started to pace around the small room. There wasn’t much furniture in the place. An old desk—one with its right front leg propped up on a book. A faded chair. A big bed. Nothing else. “Give us some suspects to run with here, Ms. Ward.”

“I don’t have suspects!” Her bare toes curled into the dark brown rug. “You know more than I do. I mean…how did you even know my name?”