Alpha One (15 page)

“Or are we just going to pretend that it didn’t happen?”

Juliana gave a slow shake of her head. “I’m not that good at pretending.”

His gaze searched hers. “You’re mad because of the setup. I get that.”

Good for him.

“But I swear, I wouldn’t risk your life for anything. You’re my priority.”

She believed that. After all, wasn’t keeping her safe his job?

His fingers tightened around her wrist. “You’re just going to walk away, aren’t you?”

It was what he expected. She knew that. But there was more at stake right then.

Juliana had realized just how vulnerable she still was to Logan. He’d gotten into her heart once, and no matter how hard she tried, she’d never been able to shove him out.

She still cared for him, probably always would.

But she couldn’t let herself love him again. It was too dangerous. Too painful.

Take the pleasure he can give you.
A tempting whisper from inside.
Then you be the one to walk away.

Only, there was a problem with that plan. If she took him back to her bed, Juliana was afraid she might not want to walk away.

So she pulled her arm free, and before she gave in to that temptation, she headed up the stairs.

I can walk away now.

Juliana just wasn’t sure that walking away was what she really wanted.

* * *

D
IEGO SHOOK HIS HEAD
as he stared at the man seated in front of him. McLintock couldn’t even keep his head up anymore. Blood and sweat coated his body.

“I didn’t have anything to do with that explosion at the cemetery. I promise!” Ben McLintock mumbled, voice rasping. He’d already said this over and over, and Diego actually believed him.

Why keep lying at this point? McLintock had no one to protect. No family. No lover. The guy had always just been out for himself.

But if it hadn’t been McLintock... Diego’s eyes narrowed.

He waved the guard back and strolled toward McLintock. He put his hands on the other man’s shoulders and shoved him back. McLintock blinked blearily as Diego leaned in close. “This can all be over,” Diego promised him. “I just want to know who’s after Juliana James. I want to know who set that bomb in her car.” Who’d almost screwed his plans to hell.

I need that evidence.
Another loose end. There were too many.

“I...don’t know! I swear—I don’t...”

His hands tightened around McLintock’s thin shoulders. “Did you know that Mario over there—” he tilted his head toward the guard “—has one thing that he’s particularly good at? Death. He can kill in a hundred different ways. He
likes
killing.”

McLintock was crying. Had been for a while now.

Did he realize that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t get out alive? Probably not. People always clung to hope so desperately. Even when they had no reason for that hope.

“Did you see anything...anyone suspicious at the cemetery?” Diego pressed. “You rode over in that limo. Who was there when you got in it?”

“Just...the driver, Charles...”

The man wouldn’t have killed himself.

“Cops were...there.” McLintock licked his lips. Tried to hold up his sagging head. “Federal...agents. I thought—I thought everything was...safe.”

No place was safe.

With the cops swarming around, though, the person who’d planted that bomb would have needed good
access—an “in” at the mansion.

“I rode...in the car, just...me, Juliana and...Susan...”

Susan. Diego paused, remembering a woman with sleek blond hair and too-sharp eyes. He’d seen her before, with the senator.

He’d seen Susan, but she’d never seen him.

Aaron’s lover. Would a lover kill a daughter?

Yes.

“When it was time to leave the cemetery, why weren’t you in the limo?” This was the important question. From what he’d learned, Juliana had been about to climb into the limo. What about the other passengers?

“Susan...Susan said she wasn’t...feeling well.” The words were soft. Weak. The blood loss was definitely taking its toll on the man. “She...asked me...stay with...her. Wanted to get...some air. Said we could get...ride back...with someone else....”

Diego smiled. “Was that so hard?”

Looking confused, McLintock actually tried to smile back even as his eyes flickered closed.

Diego fired a hard glance at Mario. “Find the woman—this Susan. Bring her in to me.”

McLintock drunkenly shook his head. “No. Susan...didn’t do this... She doesn’t know anything about—”

“A man’s lover always knows him better than anyone else.” That was why Diego made a habit of not leaving his lovers alive. They’d just betray him if they lived.

There was too much betrayal in the world.

His father had taught him that lesson early on. In Mexico, his father had amassed a fortune by dealing in the darkness. The law hadn’t applied to him. But...he’d always been so good to Diego. Given him a good life, nice clothes, toys. A home.

Diego had known his father was a dangerous man, but he’d trusted him. A boy trusted his father.

Until that night...
He’d heard screams. He’d followed the cries. Found his mother dying, and his father—covered in her blood.

“She was selling me out!”
His father had wiped the bloody blade of his knife on his pants.
“Trying to make a deal with those Americans... She was going to take you away from me!”

His mother had looked like a beautiful angel. Lying on the ground, her white nightgown stained red.

“No one will take you from me!”
his father had snarled.
“They think they can use you against me, make me weak!”

His father had been so good to him before.

But Diego had seen the real man that night.

No one is good.

His father had stalked toward him with his knife. The knife he’d used to kill Diego’s mother.
“No one can use you against me.”

And he’d known that his father had snapped. He’d cried as he looked at his mother and he’d realized—
He’s going to kill me, too.

Only, Diego hadn’t been ready to die.

They’d fought. The knife had cut into Diego’s flesh. He still had the long scar on his stomach, a permanent reminder.

Trust no one.
Especially not those close to you.

But Diego hadn’t died. At twelve, Diego had killed his father. Then when he’d walked out of that house, covered in blood, with the bodies of his mother and father behind him...

El Diablo.

His father’s men had given him a new name—and they’d feared him. Everyone had.

Diego realized that he was staring down at McLintock. The man was barely breathing, and the hope was almost painful to see in his bleary eyes.

Giving a slow nod, Diego stepped back. “You’ve given me the information that I needed.” And he was sure that Susan would be coming to join him very soon.

“You’ll let me go? Please?” The man’s voice was thready, so weak. No man should talk like that. Diego barely held his disgust in check. No man should beg. His father hadn’t begged.

“The knife,” Diego said as he opened his hand. Without any hesitation, Mario gave him the blade.

McLintock sighed raggedly. Did he think Diego was going to cut his bonds and let him go?

“You’re free,” Diego told him and drove the knife right into McLintock’s heart.

When he turned away from the body, he saw the fear...the respect...in Mario’s eyes.

El Diablo.

As long as there was fear, he didn’t need trust or loyalty.

Chapter Eight

The bathroom door opened, sending tendrils of steam drifting into the bedroom. Juliana walked out wrapped in a towel, with her wet hair sliding over her shoulders.

The woman was every fantasy he’d ever had. Just seeing her—arousal flooded through Logan, hardening his flesh for her.

She was looking down when she entered the bedroom, but after just an instant, she seemed to sense him. Juliana glanced up and froze.

Maybe he should be a gentleman and turn away while she dressed. Juliana was probably used to gentlemen. The guys who spoke to her so softly, held her hand and greeted her with flowers.

And didn’t constantly think about ripping her clothes away—or her towel—and taking her in a wild rush of lust and greedy need.

The gentleman role wasn’t for him.

So Logan kept watching and enjoying that world-class view.

Juliana’s eyes narrowed to dark slits, and even that seemed sexy. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” In fact, this was going on his highlight reel for later.

Her lips tightened. He liked her lips soft. Wet. Open. On his.

“Why are you in here, Logan?”

Because I want you.
He’d had a taste before, and it had just left him craving more. Their time was limited. He knew that. As soon as the nightmare ended, Juliana would walk away and not look back.

Why couldn’t he have her just once more? Before the real world ripped them apart. He needed more memories to get him through the dark and bloody nights that would come.

When he was in hell, her memory got him through the fire.

But he pushed back the flames and said, “I thought you needed to know...Ben McLintock is missing.” Syd had called with the news just a few minutes before.

“Missing?”

“Uniforms were on him, stationed at his house.” Because anyone who’d worked so closely with the senator was getting extra attention from the government and the cops. “But it looks like he slipped away.” Or rather, deliberately ditched the eyes on him and vanished.

She shook her head. “Ben? Ben ran away?”

Innocent men don’t run.
Logan bit the words back and tried to keep his gaze on her face. He shouldn’t have to say the words, anyway. Juliana would know the truth.

And sure enough, he saw the painful truth sink in for her. “The car bomb. You said...someone would have needed access to this house. The limo was here.”

Ben had been there. The guy had been given 24/7 access to everything the senator had.

Juliana’s hands lifted and she clutched the towel closer to her body. “You think...you think he set the car bomb.” Not a question.

“It’s a possibility.” One that Sydney was following up on with the authorities.

“He always seemed so nice.” Her words were dazed.

“Nice men can make perfect killers.” Because the nice veneer was so convincing. A way to fool others so you could get close.

He realized he was staring at the tops of her breasts. Logan cleared his throat. “We’ll find him.” The guy had either run on his own...or Guerrero had him. But either way, Logan’s team was tracking him now. Ben McLintock wasn’t going to just vanish. They wouldn’t let him.

He pulled in a breath and caught the scent of vanilla. The scent drifted from the open bathroom door. From Juliana. A sweet but sensual scent.

Logan spun around and headed for the door. “Get some sleep.” He sure as hell wouldn’t. He’d be thinking about her—what
should
have been.

“Logan.” Her voice stopped him at the door. His hand had lifted, and he fisted his fingers before slowly turning back to face her.

Juliana hadn’t moved from her spot just outside the bathroom. More steam drifted around her. Her skin gleamed, so smooth, so soft.

“You still look at me—” her chin lifted “—like you want—”

“To eat you alive.” Yeah, he knew how he looked. Starving. But Juliana had always made him that way. Desperate for what he wanted, for what he’d taken before.

Her hands were still at the top of the towel. “In Mexico, you told me that if I offered myself to you again...”

He couldn’t think about that night right then. Being close to her after all those years—he’d gone more than a little crazy.

“You said you’d take me,” she finished.

Logan didn’t speak.

“But I’ve changed my mind.”

His whole body had turned to stone.

“I’ve thought about what I want. What I don’t want.”

He couldn’t hear this.

“I know we don’t have forever. I know you’ll go back to—to wherever the next battle is, and I’ll go back to Biloxi when this is all over.”

Biloxi. Her home on the beach. He’d seen it before. After a battle that had taken two of his best friends. When he’d been broken and weak, he’d had to find her.

So he’d gone to her beach. He’d watched her from a distance, gotten stronger just from seeing her.

But he’d stayed in the shadows. After all, that was where he belonged.

“We don’t have forever,” Juliana said again, the words husky, “but we do have now.”

He took a step toward her and shook his head. No way had he just heard her say—

“But I’m not offering.”

Son of a—

“This time,
I’m
taking.” She dropped the towel. His mouth dried up. “I want you, and right now, I don’t care about the past or the future. Now—now is all that matters to me.”

She was all that mattered to him. Logan was already across the room. His hands were on her, greedy for the feel of her flesh. He pulled her against him, pressed his mouth to hers, thrust his tongue past her lips and tasted the paradise that waited.

The bed was steps away—steps that he didn’t remember taking. But they were falling, tumbling back, and he had her beneath him on the mattress.

He’d woken from hot, desperate dreams of her for years, and part of him wondered...
just a dream?

Then her nails bit into his back. Her legs slid over his hips and she pulled him closer.

No dream ever felt this good.

His mouth was still on hers because he had to keep tasting her. His hands were stroking her body because he needed to feel her silken flesh.

But she wasn’t just lying passive beneath him. Her body arched against him, and Juliana caught the hem of his shirt—and then she yanked the shirt off him.

Their lips broke apart and the shirt went flying. A wild smile pulled at his lips. Only Juliana. She was always—

His.