Mine To Protect (Mine #6) (7 page)

Okay. “Why did you join the FBI?”

Silence.

“Victor…”

“Because I would have made too good of a criminal.”

What?

The plane bounced, she squeezed his hand harder, and her attention stayed on him.

“I grew up hard,” Victor told her. His eyes seemed to turn darker with whatever memories he experienced. “I was on the street most days, and I spent plenty of nights literally fighting to survive.”

At those words, her gaze dipped to their joined hands. She looked at his knuckles—really looked at them—and saw the faint scars that lined his hands.

“The fights weren’t exactly sanctioned. You stayed in the ring until your opponent couldn’t move or until you were the one who got dragged out.”

That couldn’t be Victor’s life. He was…

That isn’t him.

“I was barely skirting the law most days. Going down a path I
shouldn’t
take. A path that was too easy, but I fucking didn’t want to end up a criminal. I had a choice. I figured, maybe if I was so good at the criminal life…if I could think like them…maybe I could stop some of them.”

Her breath left her in a quick rush. “So you risk your life every day—”

“Because I’ve seen firsthand just how many lives are destroyed by monsters. By men like…”

But he stopped.

She didn’t. “Men like my father.”

His head inclined toward her.

“Thank you for telling me,” she whispered.

Once more, he raised their joined hands to his mouth and pressed a quick kiss to her knuckles.

It took her a few moments to realize… “No more turbulence.”

“No. It’s stopped.”

But he didn’t let her hand go.

And she didn’t mind.

***

When the plane touched down in Vegas, Victor escorted Zoe out of the airport, and he found a sleek limo waiting for them.

His brows rose at the sight. Drake Archer was leaning against the back of that limo, dressed in a high-priced suit and wearing dark glasses. His blond hair was tousled, and a smirk rested on his face.

Drake smirked well.

He was a tough sonofabitch. Smart. Dangerous. Victor hadn’t much cared for him when they first met, mostly because Drake had been too interested in—

One of the limo’s back doors opened. “You think you can come to Vegas, use my husband’s jet and
not
call me?” Jasmine Archer demanded, her red hair shone under the airport lights.

Jasmine. Jazz. The closest thing to a sister he’d ever had.

Beside Victor, Zoe had stiffened. She probably wondered what in the hell was happening. He should explain things to her. Only—

Jasmine rushed forward and gave him a hug. “Seriously, I should kick your ass,” she muttered. “Coming to
our
town and not calling me. Trying to leave me out of the fun.”

“It’s not about fun.” Dammit. She wasn’t working with the FBI any longer. He was trying to keep her safe. “I’m working a case.”

Jasmine eased back. She glanced from him to Zoe, then back to him. Speculation glinted in her eyes. Then she smiled at Zoe, flashing the dimples that always made her look deceptively innocent, and offered her hand. “Hello, there. I’m Jasmine, Drake’s wife.”

Shock flashed across Zoe’s face. “I’m Zoe. Zoe—”

“She’s just Zoe,” Victor interrupted, knowing that he sounded too gruff, but he’d busted ass to give Jasmine a
safe
life. The last thing he wanted was for her to get too involved in the mess that was his case with Luther Bates. He tossed a glare at Drake. “I asked for the plane. The plane and a low profile.”

Drake shrugged.

Zoe was still shaking Jasmine’s hand.

Victor tugged her free of the other woman and pretty much pushed them all into the limo. Just standing around outside wasn’t the safest plan ever. When the door shut behind them and the driver started the car a few moments later, Victor tossed a hard glare at Drake. “Is it so much to ask that you keep Jasmine safe?”

Drake’s eyes turned to slits. “You know I’d give my life to protect her.”

Actually, yeah, the guy almost had done that very thing.

Jasmine cleared her throat. “We don’t have secrets, Vic.” Her fingers twined with Drake’s. “It’s kind of our thing.”

He could feel his cheeks flushing. Only Jasmine could do that to him. He’d met her so many years ago. When he’d been a different person. When
she
had been.

He, Jasmine, and their third damn Musketeer, Saxon Black. They should never have formed that weird ass family unit. They should have
hated
each other. Or at least, he and Saxon should have.

He and Saxon had been fighters, in a match that had been far from legal. They’d been kids, too big and too strong. Rough teens. Their job had been to pound each other until only one guy was left standing. Too bad he and Saxon had both been very good at giving punches—and taking them.

Their fight had gone on too long. And in the end, they’d both still been on their feet, staggering.

Everyone else had left. He and Saxon had been about to collapse, then Jasmine had appeared. She’d patched them up. Kept them both alive.

And the three of them…
for a long time, it was the three of us against the world.

But Jasmine was with Drake now. And Saxon…the guy had cut ties with the FBI and moved out to California…where he was currently settled with his new wife.

A wife who had some very, very personal ties to Zoe.
I can’t tell her about those ties.

More secrets. More lies.
Because that’s our thing.

Victor’s gaze darted around that darkened limo. Traveling via the private jet had definitely saved them a whole lot of time. Now the big goal would be to keep Zoe out of the spotlight. He cleared his throat and said, “The fewer folks who know Zoe is in Vegas, the better it is for her.”

“It’s pretty easy to disappear in Sin City,” Jasmine murmured. “I’ve certainly done that a time or two myself.”

Zoe leaned forward, her shoulder sliding against Victor’s arm. “That’s why we’re here, actually. One of my friends has disappeared. I came out to find her before but…” He felt her gaze land on him. “Someone cut that search sort.”

“Because I was trying to save your sweet ass,” he said, too aware that his voice had become a rough growl.

Drake gave a low laugh. “So…what? Something changed for you? You’re not worried about her sweet ass any longer?”

Drake could be such a bastard. If the guy didn’t make Jasmine so ridiculously happy…
I would totally kick his ass.

“We have a deal,” Zoe said, her voice soft but carrying easily in the back of that limo. “Victor promised to help me find her.”

Drake’s fingers tapped against his knee. “I’ve had some experience with Victor and his…deals.”

Was the guy still furious over their past? So Victor had lied to Drake. Betrayed him.
Let that shit go, man.

“Victor helps you…” Drake mused. “But what does Victor get out of that deal? What’s in it for him?”

I made her promise me anything.
Would she admit that? No, no, Victor didn’t think she’d reveal—

“That part is between us.” Again, her voice was still soft. “But I know I can count on Victor. He hasn’t let me down. In fact, he’s the reason I’m still alive.”

Jasmine was silent. A dangerous sign. Jazz was definitely
not
the silent type.

“Give me the name of the missing woman,” Drake said. “I’ll get my security team to start running down leads. If you’re trying to stay out of the spotlight, let them do most of the recon work while you take refuge in my hotel. Trust me, you’ll be safe there.”

“No offense,” Zoe said. “But trust isn’t going to enter the equation for me.”

“
I
trust him,” Victor told her. And he did. It wasn’t like he would have let the guy marry Jasmine otherwise. Drake Archer was ruthless, demanding, and dangerous, but he was also one of the good guys.

Semi-good, anyway.

“I trust him,” Victor repeated, lowering his voice, wanting Zoe to know that he wasn’t leading her into any kind of trap.

But I am. Sonofabitch, I am.

“Tell me the missing woman’s name,” Drake said.

Zoe hesitated. The car kept eating up the distance as it headed toward those bright Vegas lights. “Michelle,” she finally said. “Michelle Lane.”

Drake took them to a private entrance at the hotel. There were definite perks involved when you arrived with the hotel’s owner. A private entrance, a private elevator. A quick trip to a reserved suite on the top floor that kept them away from prying eyes.

Drake opened the door to the suite and escorted Zoe inside. Victor started to follow them, but Jasmine reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“What in the hell are you doing with Zoe Peters?”

Ah. Right. Figured that Jasmine would recognize her, even though he’d only let Zoe give her first name during the big introduction moment. Considering that Jazz had worked plenty of undercover assignments, she would have definitely been circulating with folks who knew Zoe…and her father, Luther Bates.

“I’m keeping her alive,” he said, turning to stare down into her eyes.

“Bull. You’re using her.”

Now he was the one to turn his hand and grab her wrist. He pulled her away from the door. “What the hell?” His words were whispered. “Zoe might hear you!” Because
she
hadn’t been whispering.

“Good. Maybe the woman needs to hear me.” Jasmine jerked her hand free of him and glared—and no one could glare quite like her. Her eyes went all icy on him. “You do this. I’ve
seen
you do this crap in the field. You get all focused on the FBI and what it wants and you forget that real people are paying the price. Real people are getting hurt—”

“I’m helping her!”

She gave a hard shake of her head. “Victor, sell this story to someone who hasn’t known you as long as I have. Let me guess…you told her that the two of you were a team? That you’d help her to find her missing friend?”

“Seriously, Jazz, lower your voice!” He threw a quick glance over his shoulder. Luckily, Drake still had Zoe somewhere in the back of that suite.

“In return for your help, what will you get? You think you’ll get her to talk to her dad? Get some kind of family moment going so Luther Bates—Luther Fucking Killer Bates—will start playing friendly with the FBI?”

“He’s already talking to us.”

Her gaze widened. “Because you’re protecting her.”

Yeah. “He was
supposed
to keep cooperating. Supposed to turn on the other SOBs he’d worked with, but recently, he’s started pulling back. There’s some rumbles that he’s working to get a new trial. The guy thinks he’s going to get out.”

Her breath expelled in a quick rush. “You suspect he’s been stringing you along, huh? Just feeding you small fish as he bided his time.”

That was the fear, yeah. “So we need something big on the guy. We need to get the power and
make
him cooperate.”

Her attention shifted toward the suite. “I didn’t think Zoe was supposed to be involved in her father’s work.”

“She
isn’t.
” His immediate denial. And, yeah, maybe it was a hot denial.

Jasmine’s brows shot up at his response.

“Zoe isn’t a criminal. The FBI is
not
looking to bust her for anything.” Hell, no. “But…but we believe she may know a bit more about his activities.”

“Using her.” She nodded, looking sad. “How many lies have you already told that poor woman?”

“You don’t understand us.”

“There is no ‘us’ here. There’s you, doing your job, and then there’s Zoe…falling for you.”

His heartbeat quickened.

“Don’t act as if you don’t see it happening. It’s in her eyes. In the way she watches you. Touches you. Zoe doesn’t realize that it’s all just business for you, though. She doesn’t understand that when you have what you want, you’ll walk away.”

Walk away…from Zoe?

“God, Vic, how can you be so cruel? How can you hurt her like that?”

He took a step back. “Hurting Zoe isn’t part of my plan.”

“That’s the only way this ends. You get so caught up in the mission. In bringing down the bad guy. You don’t see the collateral damage that you leave in your wake.”

“I’m not hurting Zoe.” He wasn’t. He…didn’t want to hurt her. He…
Zoe can’t be hurt. I can make sure she’s okay. I can—

“Victor, I love you, but you are playing with too much fire on this one.”

He glanced over his shoulder once more. Only Zoe was there now. Staring at him with—
fuck me,
with hurt in her eyes. Her gaze slid from him to Jasmine, then back.

No, no, no. Victor immediately hurried to Zoe’s side. “I can explain.”

But she backed up a step.

“It’s okay.” The words came from Drake. “She’s his sister, just not one by blood.” A mocking laugh slipped from him. “You think I’d let my wife’s ex-lover borrow my jet? Hell, no.” He strode toward a watchful Jasmine. “He’s her family, and we all know…family can be a pain in the ass.”

Zoe’s lips curled in a weak smile. “You have no idea.”

Yeah, she’d rather dominate in any My-Family-Is-The-Worst game.

“You two get some rest,” Drake said, inclining his head toward them. “As soon as my team makes progress, I’ll contact you right away.” Then he and Jasmine were walking away. Their damn steps were even in perfect sync.

Victor glanced away from the couple and back at Zoe. Her gaze was shadowed. Before he could speak, she turned around and headed back into the suite. Victor hurriedly followed her. He locked the door and ditched his coat. Then he took a moment to take off his holster and put the gun on the entrance table. “Zoe…”

She stilled. She was near the big windows that looked out over the bright Vegas lights.

“I want you to be clear on this. If you…if you heard Jasmine saying she loves me—”

“I caught that part.”

Okay. “She’s like a sister to me. I don’t have a real family. I mean, a blood family. Jasmine is
real.
She and Saxon Black—they are the only family I have.”

She turned toward him. “I remember Saxon.”

He sucked in a deep breath and knew that he had to tread very, very carefully here.

“Saxon,” she repeated the name, as if tasting it. “He was the other man who came to my rescue when that damn bomb was strapped to me. The two of you were quite a team. Rushing to the rescue.” She looked down at her hands. “Until he got shot.”

Then he remembered that she’d put her hands on Saxon’s chest, tried to stop that blood flow, tried to
save
him.

But Saxon had been rushed away from the scene. The guy had started a new life, with a new name.

“Did he make it? He…he did, right? Because the way you talk about him—”

“He’s okay.” Careful words.

“And…the woman who was with him?”

Shit.
This was the part that was the hardest for him.

“The woman…Elizabeth. I-I knew who she was the minute I saw her. Or rather, the minute I learned her name.”

His whole body went still. “What do you mean?”

“Elizabeth Ward. I heard my father raging about her before. Well, not her, but her mother. Her mother’s name
definitely
came up in conversation.”

“What did your dad say about her?”

“Oh, the usual. That she was a lying bitch who’d betrayed him. That she’d pay. That the whole family would pay.” Her smile was sad. “You know Luther Bates. Betray him once, and every member of your family will be tortured and killed as payback.”

Yeah, that was his MO. “So you…you knew that Luther ordered the hit on Elizabeth Ward and her family?”
What else do you know about Elizabeth?

Like…
do you know that Elizabeth is actually your half-sister?
He was betting Zoe
didn’t
know. Because even Luther Bates hadn’t known that news, not until Victor had told the bastard.

“I found out after the fact…and by after, I mean when I was held prisoner and I was counting down the moments until the bomb exploded and I died.” Her sad smile faded. “My captor was the one to tell me. I guess he thought I didn’t fully understand just how much of a monster my dad was but…I knew.”

Victor was afraid that if he spoke right then, he would slip up. Give away too much. He’d—

“My father destroyed that woman’s family. I’m so sorry for what he did to her. And I…I hope Elizabeth is happy now. She was so in love with Saxon. I mean, that was obvious, just in the way she looked at him.”

And he remembered Jasmine’s words…

It’s in her eyes. In the way she watches you. Touches you.

“Zoe…”

“Did she get a happy ending?” Zoe turned back toward the windows—and the city. “Even if she didn’t, will you lie to me and say that she did? It would be nice to think that my father didn’t destroy her completely. Good to imagine her out in the world, smiling and having some kind of amazing life.”

He took a step toward her. Then another. He could see Zoe’s reflection in the glass. “She got a happy ending. She and Saxon are damn deliriously happy.” Saxon was like a new man.

“That’s good.” Her hand rose and pressed to the glass. “Nice to believe that some people can have that, you know?”

The woman was ripping out his heart. She didn’t know Elizabeth was her half-sister, Victor was certain of that now. Zoe stood there, looking alone, too fragile, and so sad. She had no idea that she
wasn’t
alone. She had family left in the world. Good family, not that twisted prick Luther Bates.

But I promised Luther I wouldn’t tell anyone about Elizabeth. I fucking swore to keep her secret so she could stay safe.

Zoe had a giant bull’s eye on her because the criminal world knew who she was to Luther. If anyone else found out about Elizabeth…

She’d be hunted, too.

The thick carpet swallowed his footsteps as he closed the last of the distance between them. His reflection joined hers in the glass. He wanted to reach out, wrap his arms around her, and pull her close.

He also wanted to tell her the truth.

Don’t trust me, baby. I am not worthy of you. You should kick my ass. You should—

“I envy you.” Her words were so soft that he had to strain to hear them.

“Why?”

“Because you have people who care about you.” She glanced back at him. “Michelle. Michelle Lane. She’s been my only friend for so long. The only one who cared about me. You want to know why I’m risking so much to find her? That’s why. Because she opened her heart to me. She helped me. She made me feel like a normal person for a while, and not just some pariah. Because being Luther’s daughter, I’ve been a pariah pretty much all my life.”

“We will find her.”

Her eyes closed. “I understand.” Her voice had gone even huskier.

“What? What do you understand?”

“How it all works.” She exhaled softly and her eyes opened as she turned to fully face him. “I know that you want information from me. And when I promised you
anything
in return for finding Michelle, I meant that. You want more details about Luther? You want me to turn on him?” Her lower lip trembled. “I’ll do it. I will. Just help me to find my only friend. Help me to bring her back alive.”

“She’s not your only friend,” he said.

A furrow appeared between her brows.

“I’m your fucking friend, too.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Zoe—”

“You’re my guard. You’re the Special Agent in charge of my case. You’re—”

He caught her hands. Pushed her back against the window and held her there, with her hands trapped on either side of her head. “This isn’t just about the case. We’re not just the case.” First Jasmine had said that shit—and hearing it from her had been bad enough. But for Zoe to say it…
No. We are more.
His head lowered over hers. “We’re lovers. That’s what we are.” His fingers had wrapped around her wrists. He held her captive right there, and as his mouth pressed to hers, Victor realized…

I never want to let her go.

He was so screwed.

***

Lauren McDaniel had only met FBI Assistant Director Percy Chase a few times—and each time, the guy had intimidated the hell out of her.

She stood in his office now, doing her best to look confident and poised, while the assistant director took turns glaring at her and Russell.

“Special Agent Monroe
killed
a man and then skipped town?” The assistant director’s face had gone red, a very, very dark red. “What. The. Hell?”

“He believes that other hitmen are after Zoe,” Russell said, his voice calm and easy, as if he wasn’t even a little bit intimidated by the big boss.

I’m plenty intimidated.
But she was doing her best to follow Russell’s lead.

“Of course, they’re after her! With two million dollars on her head, I’m tempted to kill the woman myself.”

Her façade crumbled a bit at those words, and Lauren knew her gaze had widened.

The assistant director threw up his hands. The overhead light gleamed off his balding head. “It was a joke! Shit! Luther Bates can put most of the East Coast crime families out of business in one giant swoop—the guy just has to roll on them. Zoe is the key to him rolling. That means she’s worth far more than two million dollars to me. She’s worth everything.” He sat down at his desk and huffed out a heavy breath. “Do we have a name for the dead man?”

Russell stepped forward and put a manila file down on the Percy’s desk. “We do. Kyle Lawrence. Guy was ex-military, an Army sniper, so his prints turned up in the system. Seems like Uncle Sam taught the guy some valuable skills…”

Percy flipped open the file. “Then he went freelance.”

“Lawrence didn’t usually go for up-close kills, but I’m guessing after he missed the first time with Zoe Peters, he realized he had to step up his game.”

Percy grunted. “But his game ended.” His gaze scanned the report. “So who is the power player here? Who’s the one offering up the two million? Got to be one of Luther’s former, uh, associates.” He leaned back in his chair. “Luther should freaking realize if he cooperates with us, we can shut that asshole down before he offers up more money on Zoe’s head.”

Lauren cleared her throat. “Maybe…maybe he doesn’t care what happens to Zoe. Or at least, he doesn’t care as much as you think.”

As soon as she spoke, Percy’s gaze zeroed in on her.

But it was Russell who spoke next. “Lawrence looked familiar to me—me and Vic. So I did some digging. Once upon a time, the guy was hired muscle for Bates. But when Bates went to prison, Lawrence went off grid.”