Absolution (7 page)

“You want to take her to Beirut,” she finished for him with a frown. “To my father’s house.”

He nodded. “Ben and Sam are already over there.” Ben was an ex-Ranger and Sam his CIA communications expert fiancé. “Ben’s twin, Rhys, 49

Kaylea Cross

and his other half, Neveah, are flying in tomorrow.

He’s ex-Delta and she’s a trauma surgeon,” he added for Rayne’s benefit. “If Emily goes, that’ll give her Ben as a medic and Neveah as a physician to oversee her treatment. I checked, and Nev is well qualified and familiar with treating cancer patients. Ben will assist where he’s needed, but I’ll conference with them and Emily’s doctors to make sure we’re all on the same page. And if you go,” he said to Bryn,

“she’ll have the support she needs.”

Indecision warred in Bryn’s dark eyes as she stared at him. He realized he was asking a lot of her.

She’d already been through so much, and to go back to Beirut where Tehrazzi had set off the bomb resulting in their kidnapping and ultimately caused her father’s death was not something he asked lightly. But Bryn was as brave as they came, and she also loved Emily like a sister. He was counting on that part to win out because she was the obvious key to Emily agreeing to go. Plus, Dec had already approved the idea of her going to her dad’s place and was going to call her later on to talk with her.

Luke wasn’t leaving anything to chance this time. If he had to stack his deck and manipulate the situation to get what he wanted, so be it.

“Ben’s got that whole place re-wired,” he added to sway Bryn even more. “He’s retained the old staff that passed our security screening, and it’s locked down tight.”

“Are they setting up headquarters there or something?” she asked.

“Coms, mostly.”

Rayne’s eyes hardened. “So you
are
going back into the field over there,” he said accusingly, his scowl telling him what a piece of shit Luke was for disrupting Emily and then walking away again.

“As soon as I get the word I’m waiting for.” And it couldn’t come soon enough. The urgency grating 50

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on his nerves wouldn’t go away.

“You want Mom to pull up stakes and fly to the other side of the world so she’ll be
safe
?”

“That’s right,” Luke said, responding to the edge in his son’s voice with one of his own. “Things haven’t always been easy between us, but I still care about what happens to her. I’m going to talk to someone in the Agency and get all the logistics taken care of. Medication, equipment, all that.” He held Rayne’s hazel-green gaze. “I think it’s the best solution for now.” A long, pregnant pause followed.

“Shit,” Rayne finally said with a shake of his head. “She’s not gonna like it.”

“No, she’s not,” Bryn agreed.

“Maybe not,” Luke said, “but it’s better than her staying here alone.”

Rayne clenched his jaw. “Damn, I wish I could stay with her longer.”

Bryn laid a hand on his arm. “It’s all right. You know I’ll take care of her.”

“We all will,” Luke put in.

After a moment’s pause, Rayne glanced at him.

“Want me to talk to her?”

“No, I’ll do it. But first I’ve got some calls to make. I’ll tell her when I come back later tonight.”

Bryn made a wry face. “Well, good luck with that.”

****

Her mind was so full of static she couldn’t think straight.

Only another few days left until her next chemo treatment, and she dreaded it. The doctors were trying to be optimistic about her chances, but she knew what the probable outcome was. She’d watched her mother suffer endlessly through the same course 51

Kaylea Cross

of treatments nine years ago, dying a slow, painful death. She’d taken every treatment her doctors had recommended in the hopes of a miracle, and died regardless, stripped of her dignity along with everything else.

Was the hell really worth it? The side-effects from the chemo decreased what quality of life she had left, so should she bother? It hadn’t done her mother any good. If it merely bought her time and prolonged her agony, she’d just as soon quit now.

The dancing flames soothed her a bit, but couldn’t ease the deep anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Some of it was because of the cancer, but mostly because Luke was due back soon. How sad that she dreaded seeing him again. He’d been her whole world once. Her best friend and her white knight.

The first time she’d met him he’d saved her.

Staring into the flames, she thought about the night that changed her life forever. After a frantic call from the sister she was estranged from, she’d gone to pick her up at a bar in town. To rescue her from her abusive alcoholic boyfriend for the umpteenth time. Emily could almost feel the muggy air on her skin as she closed her eyes and let her mind drift back in time to that humid August night.

She still remembered the shock of the hot pavement when the boyfriend had thrown her to the ground in the bar parking lot. She’d brought her hands up to shield her face, bracing to have her teeth and nose broken as he towered over her with a drawn back fist. But the blow never landed.

Coming out of nowhere, Luke had put him into a headlock. And when she’d looked up into his fathomless eyes that first time, something deep inside her had stilled.

“Go on inside,” he told her in a quiet drawl, as
though wrestling a man six inches taller and thirty
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pounds heavier was no more bothersome than
restraining a child in the throes of a tantrum.

When he came into the bar later he strode right
over to her, his dark gaze scanning her face, and she
felt its touch all over her body. “You all right,
ma’am?” He handed her the purse she’d dropped in
the parking lot.

“Y-yes.” She swallowed, gathering her thoughts.

“Thank you so much.”

“Nothing to thank me for. I’m just glad I got
there in time.”

He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in
her life. And those eyes of his, so deep and
mysterious. Mesmerizing. He smiled, and the warmth
lit up the coffee-colored depths of his eyes and
revealed a hint of straight white teeth. “I’m Luke,” he
said, offering his hand.

She glanced down at it, so strong and dark
compared to her own, and when she touched him she
almost gasped at the heat of his skin. But instead of
releasing her, he kept his hand wrapped around hers.

His smile widened.

“And you are?” he prompted.

Her face went red. “Emily.” Standing there
staring at him, she might as well have been struck by
lightning.

Luke turned her hand over, his eyes taking in the
road rash on her forearm from when Karen’s
boyfriend had thrown her onto the pavement. “We
should get you some ice.”

She must have nodded, because he set a
protective hand against the small of her back and
escorted her to an empty table. Her eyes followed his
every step as he walked away, admiring the width of
his shoulders and the play of muscle across his back
beneath his shirt. She was stunned by her reaction.

She wasn’t like this, didn’t respond to men this way.

But Luke was...magnetic.

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He came straight back with a glass of chilled
water and a bag filled with ice. He wrapped the bag
in a bar towel and took her arm in his big hands, his
care of her and the warmth of his touch setting off
flutters deep in her belly. She cleared her throat.

“Thank you again, for stepping in like that.”

“It was nothing.”

“I can’t imagine what you must think of me, with
that as a first impression.”

“I think you’re very brave.”

Emily glanced down at her water. “I’m not
brave.”

“Yeah you are. Bravery’s standing your ground
even though you’re afraid.”

She wanted to ask him what he did for a living,
but thought she knew. “Are you a Marine?”

Again, he smiled, his dark eyes full of secrets she
wanted to learn the answers to. “Navy.”

For some reason she couldn’t picture him on a
ship or aircraft carrier. “Pilot?”

Another shake of his head, amusement in his
gaze before it dropped to where he held the ice pack
against her elbow. “I’m training to be a SEAL.”

A SEAL? Her eyes widened.

Movement in her peripheral vision made her
turn her head. A group of men at a table across the
room were calling Luke over, and she suddenly
realized she’d taken him from his friends.

Withdrawing her arm from his gentle grip, she
cleared her throat. “Well, I should be going. I’ve
disrupted your evening enough—”

“They can wait.”

Emily met his eyes and stilled. “I feel badly for
keeping you away from your friends.”

“They can wait,” he repeated, and for the life of
her she couldn’t come up with a single excuse to go.

“I’ll drive you home when you’re ready to leave.”

She laughed. “Do people always do what you
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say?”

His slow smile set her pulse racing. “Usually.”

He withdrew his hand and settled back in his chair.

“Finish your ice water, Emily, and talk with me a
while. You’re safe with me.”

Even then she’d felt the truth in his words, Emily mused, fingers absently touching the fine scar beneath her left ear. How tragic that the breaking of that promise had wounded him far more deeply than her. That damn tiny scar was an everyday reminder of why she’d lost him. No matter what she’d said or done to convince him otherwise, he was too afraid of what he’d done to her that day in the kitchen, and he’d never come back. Deep down, she knew time could never heal some wounds. She closed her eyes against the sting of tears.

“You still up?”

Her eyes sprang open to find Rayne standing in the doorway. “Yes.”

Her son crossed the room and seated himself on the edge of the antique desk. “How you doing, gorgeous?”

She smiled at the charm he used so naturally.

Like his father did when he put his mind to it. “Fine.

Just tired.”

“You sure you’re up to this tonight?” His eyes were full of concern.

“I’m sure.” She patted his knee. “Where’s Christa?”

“Out with Bryn. We thought we’d go out for dinner and give you some space.”

They were all so thoughtful. “Don’t leave on my account.”

“Want me to stay?”

“No-no, I’ll be fine.” Tilting her head back, she admired him in silence. “I ever tell you how proud I am of you?”

“Once or twice.”

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Kaylea Cross

“You’re an incredible man, Rayne.”

“If I am, it’s because you made me that way.”

And he’d stay perched on the desk all night if necessary, ready to intercede on her behalf and protect her from Luke. But she didn’t need protection from him, and she never had. Only neither father nor son seemed to understand that.

Emily nudged his leg. “Go. Meet up with your girls and have a good time.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

As he left the room he paused, and the slight tightening of his features told her Luke had arrived.

She had mere seconds to tuck her feet beneath her and steel herself before he appeared at the study’s threshold. The sight of him hit her in the chest like a punch. Larger than life, way too handsome for words, with bittersweet chocolate eyes that had seen too much. The part of her that yearned to heal him filled her until it hurt to breathe.

Fighting not to fidget, she forced a smile. “Hi.”

She could be civil, at least.

“Hi,” he responded, glancing around the room for a moment before meeting her gaze. The look in his eyes made her lungs tighten. He remembered what had happened here. The last time they’d been alone in this room was thirteen years ago on the day Luke had shown up to haul Rayne off to Parris Island. They’d made love here, right up against the wall where a beach scene painted in oils now hung.

Had sex, she corrected, remembering how fast and ferocious it had been. So much anger and pain and love, all mixed together. Need and apology and that intense, insatiable hunger no one had ever been able to quench in her. But Luke could, and he always had.

He’d been her first lover and the love of her life, 56

Absolution

and no one had ever touched her heart since him.

For all the pleasure they’d given, the other two men she’d slept with might as well have not touched her at all. Through no fault of their own. Her body wanted Luke, and would never be satisfied with anyone else’s touch.

Staring up at him, she couldn’t help but think of all the other women he must have been with over the years. Luke was an intensely sexual man. He wouldn’t have gone too long between lovers. She pressed a hand to her middle to stem the violent roll of her stomach that thought caused.

While the memories swirled between them in the suddenly heavy air, she couldn’t break his gaze.

For a split second she caught the unguarded regret in his eyes before he masked it and came to sit on the corner of the desk exactly as Rayne had done.

Even their mannerisms were alike.

His dark stare was so penetrating she had trouble meeting his eyes. “How you feeling?” he asked in his low drawl that made her think of sweat-dampened sheets and tangled limbs.

“Fine.” It was her standard answer, and all she could say at the moment.