Seize (St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders) Book 2: Erotic Romance (11 page)

Chapter 10

Mia woke to
an empty bed. Empty for a while, given its coolness. Sitting up, she glanced to the window. The sun was rising, so it must be around seven. She stretched and reached for her new hairbrush. No reason not to look halfway decent.

Downstairs she found Augie and Gloria at the dining room table. Augie sat in a chair staring into the screen of a laptop while Gloria stood next to him doing the same.

“My vote is for option B; it’s a more direct route.” Gloria said.

Augie’s eyes greeted hers. “Morning. Will you make us some breakfast?”

Another command. “Okay.”

“FYI, if Gloria eats eggs, she’ll blow up like the Goodyear blimp.”

“The what?”

“You know, the Hindenburg.”

“Shut up, Augie. Where the hell’s she going to find eggs anyway?”

“She’s very resourceful, in case you haven’t noticed. We had bread last night.”

“Option B
is
the more direct route.”

How strange to be spoken
about
but not
at
when you were in the same room. Mia needed caffeine. Surely there was coffee to be had in this place. And where could she get her hands on some eggs? She’d love to see that gorgeous, exotic face swell up. Remembering the basement filled with goodies, she headed that way. She found coffee, evaporated milk, and biscuit mix on the shelves. To her delight, there were frozen blueberries and pan sausage. They’d be enjoying a nice breakfast, sans eggs.

Determined to establish some sense of normalcy, Mia set about cooking and brewing coffee. Since they were at the far end of the dining room table, she set everything up on the opposite end. Never once did they acknowledge her. All they did was look at the laptop and talk about routes and plans. What the hell were they scheming?

With the table set, she took a seat at what would be considered the head. They still hadn’t noticed her spread. She cleared her throat. “Excuse me. Take a break and come eat please.”

Augie inventoried the smorgasbord she’d prepared and smiled. “Wow, looks great.” He took the chair next to her and lifted her hand to his lips. “You certainly are inventive. I love that about you.”

His words of praise left her staggered. The man was hot and cold, no middle ground. He’d ignored her all morning, not giving away anything of his feelings about last night, when it was all she could think about.

From her standing position, Gloria had a shot of their entire exchange. Her arched brow slowly lowered as her eyes narrowed and she set her intense gaze on Mia. She took her seat and poured orange juice all around while Mia served the coffee. They ate the muffins adding jam she’d found in the basement. The sausage tasted wild and earthy, and for a moment they all existed in a sea of harmony. It was the perfect way to begin the day.

“Mia, we have plans.” Augie wiped at his mouth with a paper towel. “We’re going to get loaded up and head back into town. You’re going to stay with Gloria at a motel; she’ll keep you safe. If I’m not back within four hours, she’ll drive you to Louisiana to hook up with Eve and Clay.”

He delivered the words as if he were giving a book report. Her eyes were too wide, but she couldn’t help it.
If I’m not back …
Why wouldn’t he be back?

“What are you going to be doing, where will you be, why would you not come back?”

His eyes bored into hers, and she realized there would be no compromise.

“It’s just a backup plan, Mia. I’m sure nothing is going to happen, but we need to be prepared in case it does.”

Maybe she was being selfish, but in that moment she resented Evie for putting Augie in this position. If he were to get hurt trying to obtain Evie’s stupid divorce, she’d never survive it. It seemed silly for her to think that way, but she’d come to greatly care for him, this man who left everything behind to come so far to rescue her. She wished they could just leave now and head to Louisiana. She couldn’t wait to see his hometown, for him to show her his favorite haunts and restaurants. Of course, she had no assurances he’d be doing any of those things, but she hoped like hell he would.

*

En route back the way they had come, Augie eyed Mia through the rearview mirror. She stared out the window and occasionally nervously chewed at her bottom lip. Things had gotten way out of hand with her. He couldn’t believe he’d come so close to having sex with her.
Intercourse
, that is. Some would consider what they’d done to be sex. He’d wanted to pump into her, and she’d wanted him, but he had to be stronger than their desire. The only problem was, now that he’d had a taste of her, his brain wouldn’t stop peppering him with visions of her at the height of her desire, no matter how hard he tried to keep those visions at bay. Mia’s skin, slick with the sweat of their exertion; Mia’s body bowed, the veins in her neck throbbing from the strain; Mia’s sex swollen as he massaged her with his tongue. Fuck! He shook his head and swerved a little with that last image.

“Everything okay?” Gloria was in the front seat, navigating.

“Yeah. Some debris in the road.” And now he was lying to Gloria.

Mia leaned forward and cleared her throat. “So how do you two know each other so well?”

He felt Gloria’s eyes on him, but his never left Mia’s in the mirror.

“We were in the field together. Afghanistan.” Augie said.

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Gloria, you did field work? That must have been tough.”

She pivoted toward Mia. “Why? Because I’m a woman?”

Mia shrugged. “Well, yeah.”

“I’ll have you know I’m just as strong if not stronger in spirit than any man.”

Mia’s jaw dropped.

“Enough with the uber feminism. I don’t think Mia’s accusing you of being weak because you’re a woman.”

Mia shook her head. “Not at all. I think it’s amazing. I was just imaging myself as best I could in your situation, concluding that I wouldn’t be successful.”

“You would have been,” Augie said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. You’d have surpassed them all.”

She met his eyes in the mirror as they shared the moment.

“I saved Augie’s ass more than once.”

“And I in turn saved yours.”

“
Once
.”

“Once.”

“So after that you guys were together?”

Damn, but she didn’t mince words. Ever. He could understand her curiosity, and it was within her rights to know the answers since he’d taken advantage of her body the way he had.

“We were. For about a year.”

She turned to stare out her window again. Gloria kept eyes on them both.

“Since we’re getting so personal,” Gloria said, “I might ask what the hell is going on between the two of you. Don’t think I didn’t notice you two bunking together last night.”

“I won’t have her sleep where I can’t keep an eye on her.”

Gloria scratched her neck. “Please! You were walking around naked. I saw you make a trip to the bathroom in nothing but what the good Lord gave you.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m just saying, there is more to the two of you”—she pointed accusingly at him and then at Mia—“more than you’re letting on. More than you’re admitting to one another.”

Gloria was right. It would be hard to let Mia go once he reunited her with her sister. Did he want a relationship with her? His need for her was growing too strong. A thought that scared the shit out of him.

Mia leaned forward. “Will you pull over at that gas station?”

“Is everything okay?”

“I just need the restroom.” She was tight-lipped and avoiding eye contact.

Augie sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He pulled into the station and Mia jumped out of the car before it came to a full stop.

“Mia!”

She ran into the store.

“Christ, Gloria, will you go after her, make sure she’s okay?”

Shaking her head, Gloria took off.

He hadn’t planned this very well. His ex-girlfriend in the car on an overland drive with his current … his current what? Fuck it all to hell. He strode inside and bought a pack of Camels and a lighter.

Leaning against the car, he inhaled the tobacco’s soothing qualities long and deep. He’d be hearing from both Mia and Gloria about his nasty habit, but at this moment he didn’t care. He wouldn’t be getting back into the car until he’d smoked two.

He was just finishing number two when they approached. Mia broke off pieces of chocolate and put them into her mouth while Gloria sipped on a drink. Both women stared at him but said nothing of his smoking. He took one long last draw and stomped the butt out with his foot.

*

An hour and a half later they were at the motel. They’d purposely chosen it due to its proximity to Nicolas’s condo. Through recon, Augie had learned that the guy stayed at a condo in town during the week. The setup was perfect for what he had in mind. He dressed in the clothes Gloria had brought at his request—black cargo pants, black shirt, combat boots. He grabbed the pack she’d also brought and removed the items he wanted affixed to his person. From a chair in the corner of the room, Mia watched him with shallow breaths.

Dressed, he secured the pack to his body. He pointed at Mia. “Don’t leave for any reason. I plan to be back in a few hours. If I’m not back in four, you’ll flee with Gloria. She’ll get you to your sister and Clay.”

“Shut up!” She stood abruptly and stomped over to him. “Just shut up, Augie. I don’t like any part of this.” She paced in front of him, wringing her hands. “Why do you have to do this? Can’t you just mail him the damn papers to sign?”

“Mia, you know why I can’t do that.”

“But killing him isn’t the answer. You’ll be the one made to deal with the fallout for the rest of your life.” A shaky hand rose to cup her mouth as she coughed around a sob. “And that’s if you survive. What if he ambushes you? What if he’s expecting you? What if—”

He tugged her over to sit in a chair and took the one across from her. “Mia, he’s not expecting me. I’m going to do what has to be done. If I feel he’s not a threat, he’ll live. I have no problem letting him live out his days here in Canada, but he needs to assure me.”

“What if he won’t?”

“If he won’t, then he won’t live.”

She shook her head and her lip quivered. Her eyes closed tight and tears streamed down her face, meandering like a river. He looked at Gloria, who just shrugged.

“I’m gonna go get a bag of chips,” she said, leaving the room.

“Augie, please. Will you please promise to
try
to let him live?”

“He ordered you kidnapped. And with force. If you need a reminder, just look at the burns on your neck, burns that have screamed out at me every time I look at them. And what of Eve?”

She pressed her hand against her neck. “I know all that, but I don’t believe in murder. I’m so glad you came into my life—the sacrifices you’ve made to help me are beyond anything anyone has ever done for me—but if something happens to me, then it’s my time to go. I don’t want to forge life from death. I don’t want you to have to live with the emotional impact and the pain of the actions involved in killing a man. Knowing I contributed to your emotional pain would hurt me more than anything that could be done to me physically.”

He was speechless. The woman was unconditionally selfless. He’d never in his thirty-five years known anyone like her. She would risk her life to save a man responsible for almost having her killed. He didn’t know what to say.

Her concern for his wellbeing spoke volumes about how much she cared for him. He’d been in the business of helping people, but had never been cared for himself.

Mia stopped crying, bit her lip, and looked down at her feet.

Augie sat back in the chair. She was right. Hadn’t he even questioned all the senseless killing? Killing in the name of freedom. Killing disguised as protection. Killing for oil, land, and religion. He’d had enough. In that moment he realized he didn’t want to kill Nicolas. Probably couldn’t even go through with it. Damn, she may have just saved his life. He hadn’t had to kill in his line of work as a sheriff. The last time he’d taken a life was in that fucking desert.

Within a blink, soft, warm hands were around his neck, pulling him into her body with the fierceness of a protective mother bear.

“Augie, we can come up with a plan B together.” Trembling hands palmed his cheeks. “Please.”

He swallowed back the lump in his throat. Her emotion seeped from her and washed over him. He was too affected by her, but he was powerless to stop how she made him feel. “Yeah, okay,” he whispered, feeling dazed. But he also felt as if a hundred-pound weight had been plucked from his chest.

She leaned in and kissed his lips, deepening the kiss on a sigh.

The door banged open. “So are you going or what?” Gloria rolled her eyes at him as she closed the door with her foot.

“We’re going to make a new plan that doesn’t involve Augie murdering a man.”

“Are we seriously having second thoughts about killing that shitbag?”

“It’s not good for Augie’s recovery.”

“Recovery?”

Augie stood. “I haven’t killed since Afghanistan. I’m not sure it’s such a well-thought-out plan after all.