Vendetta (7 page)

She laughed. “Sleeping. She had a long day. Do you want me to wake her?”

“No,” he pulled Zenya into his arms. “I’ll be here tomorrow. We’re all meeting up here, so I won’t have to go until after we meet here.”

“Ooh,” she smiled. “So I have you all to myself for at least another day. Whatever shall I do with you?”

“I can think of something,” he slid his hand down to her behind and pushed her flush against his body. He could think of a lot of things they could do tonight, all of those things involved being in bed with each other, making love until the sun came up.

“Hmm…have you talked to Drake?”

“You’re thinking about my brother right now?” He pulled back and looked into her eyes, onyx meeting his striking blue gaze.

“I’m worried about Geneva. How is she taking this?”

“I think he’s having the same conversation with her right about now. But I know he’s prepared her for this. He took on a more extensive role searching for Sabian and when he did that he kept Geneva in the loop. He might not be the one who found the bastard, but he’s very much dedicated to stopping him and she knows that.”

“I should call her.”

“Tonight?”

“No. I think tonight she’ll want to connect with her man just as much as I want to connect with mine. I’ll call her tomorrow. I can see if she wants to come stay here. I know she has some promotions with her album and all, but some time in Texas could be nice for her.”

“Then think about her in the morning,” he brushed his lips against her cheek. “Think about me tonight.” He captured her lips in an intense kiss, demanding her full attention in this moment, in their passion and in their love.

“I’m all yours,” she whispered breathlessly as she clutched his biceps, pulling him closer to her. “Make love to me, Mike; right here, right now.”

He hoisted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed, kissing her hotly, passionately, as if this kiss could be the last kiss they would ever share. He wouldn’t allow that. He would come back home.

This mission, like every other mission he had gone on before he retired, would be one he came home from. There was no way he, or any of the others, would be another one of Sabian’s victims. They were going to win this. They had to win this. They all had too much at stake to lose. Drake had Geneva. Gavin had London. And Thomas had Thena, not to mention the fact that his sisters needed him. Gavin might be the oldest, but there was no secret that Thomas was Eve’s heart and she had gone through hell recently; she needed him. If she lost him too she might not ever recover. Too many lives had already been destroyed, taken, exterminated by this mad man and he would not let the people in their life just be another notch on Sabian’s kill belt.

Chapter Six

“Y
ou’re early,” Thomas looked over the three people in front of him. Drake he knew. Valencia he knew. But the man standing beside her he didn’t know. The long sleek hair of the Japanese man was pulled back in a leather wrapped ponytail, and he looked as if he were ready to go to war.

“It happens,” Drake said.

“I don’t know you,” Thomas addressed the man with Valencia.

“This is JJ. He’s my father’s head man and unfortunately he and father decided I shouldn’t do this without one of our own here.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s a good guy,” she assured him.

“I see,” Thomas nodded. He knew Valencia could take care of herself. He knew her father had to know that as well, so why had he decided to send a protector for her? Did he know more about Sabian and his gang than they knew now? Would Valencia tell him on their way to Texas or was he supposed to just sit back and speculate?

“I haven’t had a chance to tell her yet.”

“Why not?” Drake folded his arms across his chest. “Do you think waiting was such a good idea?”

“You weren’t supposed to be here until later. We were busy last night.”

Drake held up his hand. “I don’t want to know.”

Thomas chuckled. “We were celebrating. You’re going to be a godfather to another little one,” he said.

“Are you…wow…really?”

“Yeah, she told me yesterday. So you can see why I haven’t had a chance to tell her yet.”

“Tell me what?” Thena rounded the corner with refreshments and placed them on the dining room table. “What’s going on?”

He looked at her, the uneasiness in the room shot up to the top of the ledger line. Perhaps he should have told her last night, but he didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good moment. When would have been a good time? After the first time they made love, or the fifth? Maybe between going down on her and picking out baby names would have been the ideal opportunity to discuss deadly missions. He just didn’t find the perfect time, and honestly he didn’t want to ruin the night by talking about his mission to go after the man who had nearly killed him once before.

“We’ve found him.” All he uttered was those three words because that was all he needed to say. She knew exactly who he was talking about. He could tell her awareness was sharp from the look in her eyes as she looked at the people sitting around the table.

“No,” she said sharply. “You can’t go.” She shook her head, tears already starting to form in her eyes.

Thomas understood Thena’s apprehension in seeing him leave her for this mission, but he expected her to understand. He had prepared her. He had told her once he had his chance he was going to take it; she knew that.

“Why can’t you just let this go? Why do you have to go after him? What if he kills you this time?” She sobbed as she clutched the fabric of his shirt and buried her head against his body. “I don’t want you to go.”

He looked to Drake and Valencia. They looked at him as if silently telling him he needed to tread cautiously. They had all left somebody behind. Geneva had been understanding of Drake’s need to leave and assist his friends, but he wondered if she, too, had been more concerned about this mission. Maybe she didn’t want him to go either. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Drake about Geneva’s reaction, or any of the other women’s reaction. Gavin was going to meet him in Boston instead of Texas now, and he wondered if he, too, had difficulty with his wife. London was a trooper, but he wondered if this new mission bothered her as well. He shouldn’t have asked his friends to help, but when he thought about it he realized he hadn’t asked. They had all made a vow from the day he started piecing things together and their government refused to help. They had sworn an oath to each other that they would stop this bastard, and none of them would easily walk away from that oath.

“I have to,” he said. He pried her away from his body just enough to look in her eyes. “And if you decide you don’t want to wait for me. If you decided not to be here—”

She placed her finger over his lips gently. “I’ll be here,” she swore to him. “We’ll be here,” she placed his hand over her belly. “Just make sure you come back to us alive.” She leaned into him and held him tight. “When do you leave?”

“In the morning,” he said.

“Then we still have tonight.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “We still have tonight.” And he would make sure that tonight he loved her harder, and deeper than ever before.

“I have a spare room. It’s not really big enough for all of you, but I can fix the couch up too.”

“No,” Drake said. “We all have rooms for the night.”

“Oh,” she nodded. “Good,” she whispered softly as she rested her head on Thomas’ chest.

“We’ll regroup later,” Drake said. “You need to be here right now.” They all stood. “Is Gavin still meeting us here?”

“Yes. He’s closer to Texas so he could have just met us there, but he’s insisting on coming here first.” He would say his brother was backwards, but he knew he wasn’t. There had to be a reason he wanted to come to Boston first. He wondered if Gavin had something at his place that he wanted to get. He hadn’t sold his home there, and he hadn’t leased it out. It sat there, empty and available to family when they came back to Boston, but never once was it ever fully occupied once Gavin left.

“We’ll get it together later and fill him in when he gets here,” Drake nodded.

Thomas knew they wanted to get the mission coordinated, but they all understood that he needed to be here for Thena tonight. He needed to hold her and assure her that he would return to his family. He had made that vow to himself that he would come back to her, to their baby. Tonight they would have each other and tomorrow he would go to war. The hunt for Sabian was nearly over and once it was, he planned to come home and be the husband and father he always wanted to be. Thena Davis would be Thena McGregor just as soon as he finished this—just as soon as he got the justice he had been working so hard to get.

He locked the door behind Drake and the others after they left and the second he returned to the dining room Thena threw her arms around his body. “Thena,” he said soothingly. “I know this isn’t easy, but I never lied to you.”

“I know,” she silenced him. “I knew what I signed on for when I fell in love with you. I knew this day might come, but I was secretly wishing it wouldn’t. I don’t want to lose you, Thomas. I just don’t. But I know this is something you have to do, and something I have to support you with. This hurts me, but I know the pain you’ve been in and I know this will help you heal—completely I hope.”

“It will,” he admitted because all those years of knowing Sabian was out there without having to pay for what he had done, for the lives he had claimed, for the worlds he had destroyed, was too much for him to bear. He wanted justice; he needed justice.

“I don’t want to be apart from you tonight, Thomas. I want to be connected to you in every way. Make love with me?” She looked up into his eyes, pleading with him to make this night about them and not about the mission ahead of him.

He lifted her from her feet and she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. He loved holding her like this, feeling her pressed so tightly against him that he could feel the heat coming off her body, smell her scent of arousal and nearly taste the delicious nectar that awaited him. He wanted to taste her, feel her, go so deep inside her that she never forgot the man who held her heart. Tonight he wanted it all.

He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently, slipping his tongue out to tease her plump lips before parting the soft flesh and dipping his tongue inside her mouth. She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. “I love you,” she said. “Don’t ever forget that. I love you with everything that I am, and everything that I will ever be. My heart is forever yours, Thomas.”

He felt his heart longing for her, wanting to connect completely, deeply, without any limitations. “I love you too, Thena. I will always love you. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Chapter Seven

“A
re we all ready?” Gavin looked around the table. The only person missing was Valencia’s guest—unwelcomed guest. Gavin hadn’t missed the tension in the room, as if Valencia really didn’t want this man following her around. He couldn’t understand why he was there in the first place. Valencia could take care of herself and her father had to know that. He could tell Valencia was just looking for an excuse to send JJ in a different direction and she found it when they learned of the possibility of a split faction cell somewhere in Washington.

“I told your father I would watch your back,” he had protested.

“You are,” she assured him. “We can’t move until I know if we’re going in the right direction. Check out Lynwood for me, let me know if my information is accurate.” He had agreed and left at two o’clock that morning. None of them knew where they were going because Valencia hadn’t told any of them yet. She played things close to her vest. He understood her reserve, admired it and respected it, but he didn’t like it. Gavin wanted to know all the details otherwise he was in the dark on a mission that could cost him his life. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to need to know intel, he just hated being on the outside.

“We’re ready,” Thomas said dryly.

“Is your head in this mission, Thomas? If it’s not then you need to throw in the towel and go home.” He could see the anger in his brother’s eyes, but what he said needed to be said. He was the last person fit to talk about potentially blowing a mission and getting himself and his team killed because he forgot the complexity of his mission, the importance of it. When he saw London being beaten he wanted to jump the rail and save her, but Drake and Sully had held him back. They both knew giving away their position would mean death for all of them, London included, but he hadn’t been thinking straight. And right now he wasn’t sure Thomas was either. He was thinking about Thena. They had left things on good terms, but his brother, whether he wanted to admit it or not, was fully committed to that woman and he, just like the rest of them, wanted to be with her right now. Finding out he was going to be a father was enough to put Thena and the baby first and foremost in his mind and right now that’s not where they needed to be.

“I’m ready,” he nearly barked. “If you have something to say then say it Gav.”

“Gentlemen,” Valencia interrupted. “Save the testosterone for the war.” She spread a set of knives out on the table, ran her finger along them as if trying to pick which one was best for her use.