Mastering the Devil (Rush Series Book 4) (5 page)

“I didn’t know you were staying here,” she said.

“I’m not really, I… I just needed to be close to the hospital,” he said. “Can I buy you a drink as payment for helping me yesterday?”

“Absolutely! A margarita,” she told the bartender.
Turning back to Alex, she asked, “How’s your friend?”

Taking a long sip of his drink, he finally said, “Better, I think.”

“Was she already discharged?” she asked, as she smiled appreciatively at the bartender for the drink.

He shook his head. “No, not yet. A couple more days, I think,” he replied. Wanting to change the subject, he asked her, “How long have you worked
in Mexico?”

“What? Don’t you think I’m a native,” she said with a laugh.

“Well, your Brooklyn accent does kinda give you away,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s me
who has the accent, just so you know,” she said in mock consternation.

He smiled, but it slid away as his mind traveled back to the hospital and the banged up woman there.
Dammit
! It took him a moment to realize the doctor was talking again.

“I’m not from Brooklyn,
I’m actually from Manhattan. Don’t let my father hear you get that mixed up. And I don’t actually work for the hospital. I’m volunteering with Doctors Without Borders for the summer… which my father also hates, by the way,” she said with a laugh.

Alex turned at her easy laugh. Why couldn’t he fall for a woman like this? She was beautiful, smart, funny, and didn’t appear to have a trunk-load of baggage. He looked into her clear blue eyes… it’d be so easy. He could see she was attracted to him.
He wasn’t being arrogant, just experienced in reading the signals. He could feel the simmer in the air could see the pulse in her neck beating out a fast pace. He studied her blonde head as she turned to suck the greenish drink through the straw… so very easy. And maybe if he hadn’t just left Devon so battered and beaten, he might have considered it.

He turned his head back to the bartender. “Can I get my check, please?” He couldn’t do it… to her
, or to Devon. Turning back to her, he said, “Well, I need to check into the hotel and then head back to the hospital. I hope to run into you again sometime.”

“Thanks for the drink. I’m sure I’ll see you at the hospital,” she replied, with a small smile.

Tossing the rest of his drink, he slid off the stool and made his way to the lobby. He decided he really needed to catch a couple hours sleep before heading back to the hospital. He also needed to let Rush know he’d be tied up with Devon for a bit. He couldn’t let her go off by herself. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her that he could have prevented.

He slugged his way up to his room, missing the comfort and luxury of Rush’s suites. Slipping out of his clothes, he took a quick shower, toweled off
, and slid within the sheets without bothering with any clothes. He forced his mind to settle and finally sheer exhaustion pulled him into sleep.

~M~

Devon Montanez lay staring up at the ceiling, her head pounding… her heart aching. She thought about all that Cash had finally told her - Scott Rifkin and Nick Ochco both dead. She and Cash were so lucky, that could have been them. Was her step-father behind the explosion? Was he targeting her? She didn’t know. The only thing she was one hundred percent sure of, was that she had to get her mother from him, somehow, some way. Guilt slashed at her insides. If it was actually proven Miguel was after
her
specifically and it’d led to the other two agents’ death, she didn’t know if she could live with it. There’d already been so much hurt by that man on her behalf.

Her lips trembled as Cash’s last words branded themselves into her brain.
If she turned her head, she could still smell Alex’s scent in her hair, but she didn’t turn her head. She didn’t need the smell to be reminded of him. He was always just off in the periphery of her mind… like a shadow or a ghost. He lingered there, safely ensconced in her memory. She remembered the touch of his hand as it skidded across her skin, the feel of his lips pressed firmly against her own, and the sensual slide of his body into hers.

She
’d missed him so much. She’d never known she could love someone like this – that it could be this all-consuming. But he was done. That’s what he’d told Cash. She swallowed at the lump in her throat. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to depend on the stability of him in her life. She’d not had any illusions that he’d probably had other woman during the past five years, she’d been the one to refuse the relationship, so technically they’d never actually been together exclusively. But for her, there’d been no other… only Alex, her Cowboy.

Her mind switched back to
her immediate problem. She couldn’t focus on the hurt of losing Alex. She had to concentrate on her mother and Miguel Munoz, the bane of her existence. That man had destroyed everything in her life. He’d had her father killed so he could force her mother into a heinous marriage with him. He’d tried to
give
her to Lex Vega, one of his
associates
. He’d been instrumental in her best friend, Roman, getting killed… and of course, he had her mother – had stolen her away and hidden her.

She’d wished more than once that she’d just let her step-father give her to Lex Vega. Maybe the lives of those she’d loved would have been easier… ma
ybe Roman would still be alive. Stinging pain scoured her insides. She flinched when she tried to turn onto her side. She felt alone and vulnerable, more so now than ever. She longed to have Alex’s strong arms wrapped around, whispering words of comfort and strength into ear. Longed to snuggle her battered body into his rock-hard, firm body. Longed for his wicked laugh and calming murmurings. She blinked into the dimness as her swirling thoughts firmed into a solid resolve.

~M~

Alex felt as if he’d just placed his head down on the pillow, when a noise jolted him from a deep sleep. Zipping to attention, he strained in the complete darkness of the room to figure out what had awakened him. He listened intently to his surroundings.

Then he heard it, a soft tapping on his door. He glanced over at the red-glowing numbers of the clock; two-thirty. Who’d be knocking at this door…. fear assaulted him. Only two people knew where he was: Cash Devlin and Ensley Ingram. In either case, it wouldn’t be good, but he’d prefer the second to the first, as Cash could only mean something bad
about Devon. He slipped from the bed and pulled on his trousers.

Leaving the security
bar on the door, he opened it slowly. He peered into the lighted hall and at first didn’t see anyone. Then a small, feminine figure came into view wearing dark pants, a black jacket, with her dark hair fed through the hole in the back of her cap, forming a ponytail.

“Devon?
What the hell?” he asked, as he shut the door, removed the security bar, and re-opened it.

Now that she was
there and seeing him face to face, her confidence faltered. He’d been clear from the very beginning, he didn’t want to be involved with her if she chose to stay in the I.D.E.A. But this time was different… it felt final.

She tilted her head
, took in his immense presence – his mussed blonde hair, eyes as green as sea glass, his bared muscular torso - and swallowed hard as she realized what she was losing… what she’d already lost. She wasn’t exactly sure how she’d envisioned their future playing out, but deep down, she’d always had the hope they’d find their way back to each other. She loved him, it was that simple, and it had gutted her each time she’d been forced to let him go. Not that he’d ever actually been hers to let go. They’d never had that level of commitment between them. But she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’d never find another man she’d love more than him. When he did nothing more than brush a finger over her brow, her insides burned.

Her lips quivered and she pressed them together. She opened
them to explain why she was outside his hotel room door at this time of night, but nothing but a whimpering sob came out.

Alex watched the play of emotion run over her battered features. His chest felt tight and his heart thudded
hard. When she opened her mouth and a pitiful whimper wafted in the air between them, all his previous anger vanished. This was Devon… his Little Devil. He didn’t like seeing her hurting, especially at his hand. Inhaling deeply, he gathered her carefully into his arms, and moved back far enough to shut the door. Then he did just what she’d wanted, he rocked her gently, pressed kisses against her head, and whispered calming reassurances against her ear as she cried out all the hurt at the loss of her co-workers and the loss of him.

When her sobs lessened to hiccupping sighs, he pulled back to stare down into her tear-streaked face.
Leaving one arm wrapped around her waist, he raised a hand and gently brushed the tears from her cheeks, his chest so tight, he struggled to breath.

Staring down into her vulnerable face, his need to protect her reared up. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She hesitated, before slowly shaking her head. “I don’t know how to let you go,” she finally said, on a whispering, hiccupping sob.

He inhaled slowly. “Oh, Little Devil,” he said, as he pulled the cap off
, that had gotten skewed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I said. I just hate seeing you like this. The job is so dangerous, the agency so treacherous, and I so desperately want to keep you safe.”

She leaned her forehead against his chest. “Scott Rifkin and Nick Ochco are dead. They died during the explo
sion, when the house collapsed.” She took in a shuddering breath.

He brushed her hair behind her shoulder and pressed his lips against the
crown of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It’s really hard when you lose someone in the field.”

She lifted watery eyes up to his. “What if it was because of me?” she whispered raggedly.

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Because of you?”

“If they got killed because Miguel was after me?” she said, dread dripping off every word.

His heart twisted in his chest at the thought of that monster anywhere near her. “It still wouldn’t be your fault. But I hope you can now see how dangerous he is and can be.”

“I’ve always known,” she said softly.

“And yet, you were going to go off on your own… in your condition, to confront him?”

She exhaled as their old battle rose back up. She raised her gaze up to meet his levelly and asked, “If
Miguel had…
someone
you loved, would you allow it, or would you keep trying to go after them… no matter the cost to you?” She’d almost said
if he had me
, but she didn’t know if she’d matter enough to him for him to search for her.

He stared down at her for a long time before answering. Slowly, he brushed his fingers against her cheekbone, being mindful of her injuries. “Devon, I’ve always understood why you do what you do… what drives you, and if I knew with a certainty that
your mother was alive, I’d be right by your side.” He allowed his hands to fall to his sides and stepped away from her, turned his back to her, and ran both hands through his hair, before interlocking his fingers behind his neck. The beauty of his massive shoulders made her catch her breath.

So caught up in his bared body, she almost missed his words. “I’ve already buried one wife, I don’t want to bury someone else I care about,” he said.

She drew in a quick breath that caused her ribs to hurt. “A wife?”

He turned to face once more. “It was a long time ago… long before I met you. She killed herself. It hurt and I thought I’d never get over it… and then I met you. I don’t want to lose you like that… not if I can help it.”

She blinked as she finally understood his resistance to her being in the I.D.E.A. She struggled to squash the jealousy she felt for the other woman he’d loved enough to marry. She’d never doubted he’d had other women, but she’d taken comfort in the fact, that he’d always come back to her eventually. Not liking the distance between them, she moved up behind him and pressed her body as close as she could to his, pressing her lips against the smooth plains of his back. “If there’d been a chance you could have saved your wife - any chance… would you have taken it?” she asked, as she nuzzled her face against his bare skin.

Slowly his lungs filled as he drew breath into his body. “You’re determined to do this… no matter what I say, aren’t you?” he asked.

She only nodded her head against his back and wrapped her good arm around his waist, waiting for his next words… waiting for him to push away from her again… she began trying to store up strength for the coming pain.

H
e turned slowly, so as not to jostle her injuries, and surrounded her with his arms once more. She looked up to stare into his face, trying to memorize it in case this was the last time she would see it. Her body tensed as he contemplated her silently for several long agonizing moments.

He brushed the backs of his fingers gently over her bruised cheek. “Don’t you know it
’s hard to move forward in life if you’re continually looking behind yourself?