Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) (12 page)

The car felt uneven and pieces of concrete and car parts littered the road. He wasn’t sure part of the car didn’t hang over the edge of the bridge. Just the thought of that had anxiety punching his gut. “Barely.”

He looked up and saw two cars parked ahead of him. People poured out with terror on their faces. He glanced around and realized they’d spun around and now sat on the opposite side of the road, facing the wrong direction. A quick scan sent a pain shooting up his neck. Shane ignored it as he looked for the truck.

He undid the seat belt and reached for his gun. As soon as his hand touched it he dropped his arm again. The people surrounding the car were shouting about the police coming and asking Makena if they were okay.

Friendlies, not hostiles. Someone might have seen something, could possibly identify the driver of the truck. Shane vowed to ask all those important questions once the ache in his side eased. He leaned his head against the seat and said a quick thank-you to the universe for keeping them from going over the edge. He knew how to escape a flooding car, but that didn’t mean he wanted to practice the skill.

His head rolled on the headrest and he looked at Makena. “We should have gone the long way.”

She reached over and took his hand. “Next time.”

He’d spent his entire life thinking he didn’t have an ounce of luck. Anything that could go wrong did. He’d had to earn all he possessed the hard way. But he looked at her, felt her warm hand in his and decided he might be lucky after all.

Chapter Fourteen

Cam grabbed two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and handed one each to Makena and Shane along with pain pills. “You two need to work on the concept of date night.”

“We like adventure.” Makena appreciated Cam’s attempts to lessen the tension. Not that it worked. To be fair, an entire comedy team working round the clock couldn’t restore a sense of calm at this moment.

She’d been a shaking mess at the crash site a few hours ago. It had taken two people to shoehorn her out of the car. The slam into the sidewall had caved it in. When the fresh air hit her, she’d thought her control would come whizzing back. Then she’d seen the black skid marks along the bridge walls and realized how close they’d come to being trapped in an underwater grave. It was a miracle she hadn’t thrown up her lunch.

Connor and Cam buzzed around the safe house. They’d come with medical supplies. Connor insisted they visit some doctor she’d never heard of. Shane refused. She figured she’d go if he did. And truth was, he’d sustained the most injuries. She’d gotten thrown around and her insides jumbled, but except for the knock to her head and a sore elbow, she was okay. She’d be a bruise from head to toe tomorrow, but now stiffness was the main issue.

From Shane’s scowl she guessed he wasn’t happy about his injuries. “This isn’t funny.”

Nothing about the last week rose to the level of funny, but if she didn’t laugh she might cry, and she could not tolerate the idea of curling up in the corner. She glanced over at Connor. He hovered over his laptop. Was on his phone. Asked question after question. Seemed like overkill to her.

“His neck hurts,” she said, referring to Shane.

“I’m fine.”

“He will be.” Connor nodded in her direction. “What about you?”

“Everything aches. I should be one throbbing pain by tomorrow morning.”

Cam laughed. “Sounds like fun.”

“We need to focus.” Shane got off the barstool, probably too fast, because he grimaced the second he moved. “This last attack went too far.”

“Getting hit by a car is worse than being shot at?” Not in her book. It all mashed together, making every hour dreary. She watched Shane pace around the small space in front of the stove and realized there had been a few nonawful hours.

Shane scowled at her. “I’m serious.”

So was she, but she didn’t belabor the point. “Do you think we were followed from Tyler’s house? If so, we should let him know.”

Silence greeted her question. She’d expected more. A noise of some type. Agreement, maybe. Sure, they didn’t know Tyler and Shane clearly didn’t like him, but they protected. That was what the Corcoran Team did. They rushed in when others ran away. They didn’t leave people behind or put them in harm’s way.

Finally Cam spoke up. “Know what?”

“That the people launching these attacks know where he lives.” It seemed simple enough to her. Tyler could walk into a trap or be the newest victim of a shooting.

They all looked at each other this time. Men frowning and acting confused—not her favorite thing and certainly not expected.

“Don’t we already know that?” Connor shifted in his chair, leaning back as he delivered the question with measured words. “He claims someone broke into his house. You saw the aftermath.”

She caught the doubt. Connor’s tone never changed, only his word choice. The fact that neither Cam nor Shane jumped in to correct him couldn’t be good. “Claims?”

Shane started to shake his head, then winced. “Let this topic go.”

She sensed he was talking to Connor, but she didn’t care. “I want to know what you guys are thinking.”

“You don’t,” Shane said without giving her eye contact.

She sure did now. Inhaling as much air as possible, she tried to calm her flaring nerves and concentrate. “I have been shot at and almost drowned. The least you guys can do is not treat me like a little kid. I’m in this, so tell me.”

Shane glanced at Connor, who nodded. It took another few seconds of silence for Shane to start talking. “His military record doesn’t match the story he tells. Nothing he says makes sense.”

She sat down hard on the barstool next to Cam. “What?”

“We’ve been checking into the past of everyone on the website and all the files Tyler turned over.” Connor turned his laptop around to face her. “On the surface, Tyler is clean. On the surface, Jeff is dangerous and Frank is contrite.”

Cam took over. “The men you’re researching, that the site is researching, are mostly frauds. A few are clean. They embellish their records but nothing so extreme that it’s worth calling them out and humiliating them.”

She knew most of that, or had guessed it. But the phrase
on the surface
clued her in to bigger trouble. “But?”

“The man who came to your house and started all of this was on the loop with Jeff.” Shane exhaled. “In other words, all of these men are connected.”

They clearly thought they were saying something, but she could not follow what. “Didn’t we know that?”

“Many claim not to know each other.” Shane stopped as if weighing how much to say and how to say it. “They don’t live near each other or have any public contacts, but there are contacts. Behind the scenes and not through the usual channels, like emails and phone calls.”

“So this is some big conspiracy to wipe out the website.” She could believe that. Push bad men hard enough and they shoved back. Some of the men who had been uncovered didn’t have much left to lose. Going out by taking down the people who unveiled their lies would not be a surprise.

“Normally I would say yes, but there’s more than that.” Connor glanced at Shane.

He filled in the blank. “Tyler doesn’t appear to be who he claims to be.”

Anger rose inside her and she clamped it down. Her inclination was to rush to Tyler’s defense, get indignant on his behalf. He’d never been anything but good to her. But she looked around and saw the faces of men who cared about her and her brother. Men who wouldn’t lie. Men who clearly knew more than she did. “Explain that.”

“The suspicions are in pieces. All circumstantial.” Connor flipped the computer back to face him. “We can’t prove anything.”

“Yet,” Cam added.

“These guys are passing information back and forth and hiding it. When you peel the layers away, Tyler’s past looks more like the men he hunts than the people he purports to respect.” Shane visibly swallowed. “I don’t want you alone with him.”

No matter what she did, grab on to the counter or blink, she could not stop the spinning in her head. The facts swirled. Every word he said ran through her mind and she tried to grab on and analyze each one. She didn’t understand why Tyler would lie or how any of this could be true, but Shane’s stern expression told her it was.

Tyler was guilty of something, maybe just coloring the truth. She didn’t know, but the team would find out, and she would have to deal with the fallout.

“I hate being lied to.” That qualified as an understatement.

Shane walked over to her. There, in front of his friends and coworkers, he wrapped his arms around her. “We’ll find out that truth.”

And she knew he would.

* * *

S
HANE
PUSHED
INSIDE
her as his muscles trembled and his breath punched out of his lungs. The thin legs of the bed shook and the springs rattled. He ignored every noise except the soft growl coming from the back of Makena’s throat. He loved that sound.

Shifting his weight, he plunged again, in and out, slow and steady, until she grabbed on to his shoulders and tugged him closer. “Shane, now.”

“I want it to last.” He didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until they pulsed in his ears.

“I need to...” She threw her head back. “Please.”

Her shoulders rose off the bed and her ankles dug into the back of his thighs. He pressed her into the mattress as she wrapped her body around his. Friction had their bodies rubbing together, ratcheting up the need flowing through him.

It had been this way from the first time. All wild heat and pounding satisfaction. From her soft skin to every impressive curve, he could not get enough. For the first time in his life he wanted to crawl into bed with her and stay there. Forget work and responsibilities. Forget his past and every wrong turn he’d ever taken.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. “I can’t hold back.”

“Don’t.”

Before he even got the word out, her hips started bucking. Heavy breaths rocked her body as her lips skimmed over his chin. Energy spooled off her and wove its way around him. She clung to him, pressing her legs tighter against him. The tightness, the clenching, watching the orgasm rip through her, all combined to set him off. He wanted to wait, savor each pulse inside her, but his body had other ideas.

The tightness that had been building inside him let go. His muscles stiffened the second before they released. Unable to hold his sore neck up for one more second, he let his head drop. Buried his face in her shoulder and breathed in as the orgasm overtook him.

When his hips stopped moving, he collapsed, careful not to drop his full weight on top of her. Lifting off and out of her qualified as the sweetest torture, but then he was next to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her body curled up against his side.

He dropped an arm over his face and closed his eyes. “That should not be so good.” Nothing should feel that good.

She laughed and the sound vibrated against his skin. “Because I’m Holt’s sister?”

Shane lifted his arm and stared down into her flushed face. “Because much more of that and I’ll need a hospital.”

“Challenge accepted.” She leaned her head against his chest again.

This he could handle. The hot during and quiet after. He’d never really experienced the combination before. He loved feeling frenetic and out of control, but this, the part where he combed his fingers through her hair and drifted off to sleep, was new.

He never talked about this, but with her the temptation proved stronger than his will to put it all behind him. “Losing my marriage doubled me over.”

She stiffened against him. “Do you miss her?”

“That’s not what I mean.” He didn’t know how to explain and worried that even if he managed to put the right words together he might still sound like a jerk. “I liked the
idea
of being married.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on her hand. “I don’t get it.”

“Marriage meant family and security. It meant I managed to accomplish something.” But he couldn’t hold it together. “But I failed, and it knocked me off stride. I kept thinking that the divorce said something about who I was.”

“You married the wrong person. That’s all.” She pressed her other palm against his chest. “You guys both wanted an out, but that’s not enough. Marriage as escape can only go so far if there’s nothing fundamental holding it up.”

“You can’t deny that the danger of my job is a huge stumbling block to anything long term and meaningful.”

She nodded. “You better tell Connor and his wife. Talk to all the other guys on the team and explain that the love they feel now means nothing and that they should run.”

“Okay, I get—”

“And then call my brother and tell him to leave Lindsey on the West Coast.” Makena made a face. “He shouldn’t waste his time building a life with her.”

She made it sound so easy. So did the guys on the team. You fell, you accepted it and you tried to minimize the risks. It helped if you found a woman strong enough and determined enough to stand up and face the danger on her own terms.

“You should have been a lawyer.” Because she made it all sound possible.

“I’m happy right here.” She kissed his chest. “With you.”

“I’m sorry you heard about the Tyler suspicions like that, with Cam and Connor standing right there.” He rubbed a thumb over her forehead, then down her nose to her mouth. “I wanted to give you that information in pieces.”

“I’m pretty tough, you know.” She raked her nails over his nipple, lightly but enough to get the nerves underneath jumping.

He flattened her hand under his. “Toughest woman I know.”

“That’s probably an overstatement.”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “The woman I’ve been watching has handled every awful thing thrown her way and kept standing. She’s overcome her fear and stood up to Jeff, who is a guy no woman should have to deal with.”

“We should call Holt.”

Shane hadn’t been expecting that conversation change. “Really?”

“If I can handle gunmen, I can handle an overprotective brother with a list of questions to ask.”

“You’re tougher than I am.” Shane dreaded Holt’s reaction. They knew so much about each other. Shane couldn’t hide or smooth over anything. Holt would know exactly what kind of man wanted his sister, and Shane did not see that as a good thing. “But you’re right. It’s time.”

“You’re going to admit we’ve been sharing a bed?” She whistled. “Brave man.”

“I think the word
dating
sounds less likely to get me killed.” But not by much. Holt had made it clear Makena was off-limits. If Shane wanted to bumble around, sleep with other women and never get serious, Holt was fine with that, but Makena could not be another number.

She wasn’t.

Her eyes widened. “Is that what we’re doing?”

Good question. He honestly didn’t know. “We can use whatever word you want. I just know I don’t want it to end.”

He’d finally said it. Admitted it to himself and to her. The walls didn’t crumble and the earth didn’t open up and swallow him. He’d survived the truth, that being a lone wolf grew exhausting as the days passed, and with her he wanted more.

She moved up his body until her lips hovered over his. “Good, because we’re not over.”

The words shot through him. Instead of running and panicking, he settled in and enjoyed. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Her fingers slipped into his hair. “Why don’t you show me how grateful you are?”

“Done.”