Page 29 of Meet Me In The Dark

Marcus tsked. “You know, I’ve done you several favors. You wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for me. I deserve a little gratitude for that instead of animosity, don’t you think?”

“When we’re all safe, I’ll consider it. You may be my partner’s brother, Marcus, but that doesn’t make you family.”

“You might be surprised how connected we become,” he murmured, his gaze faraway. Before Kara could puzzle out the cryptic statement, he cleared his throat and straightened the right cuff on his bespoke suit. “I know you have a meeting shortly. Be careful with this one...his demands are usually a bit...unprofessional in nature.”

With one final nod at each other, Marcus left them, a sense of foreboding remaining in the air.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Micah said. “Marcus isn’t someone you want as an enemy.”

Kara waved this off with one hand, rubbing Micah’s thigh with the other. “I have a lot of enemies, what’s one more? More importantly, are you okay?”

Micah's smile didn't reach his eyes, but he took Kara’s hand, flipped it, and threaded their fingers together. “We can only solve one problem at a time. And rescuing Luke and Conor is more pressing.”

Kara shook her head. She wasn’t going to let him avoid this conversation so easily. “Jack—Yacob—is another one of your brothers, isn’t he?”

Micah released a sigh, long suffering and worried. “We don’t have a relationship anymore, but I’m worried he’s following in my footsteps—with less successful results.” He smiled faintly. “I’m not sure how to help him.”

“Following in your footsteps? You mean the military? Or…”

Micah gave her a meaningful look. “Or.”

“Oh.” Kara digested this, deciding if she was okay with being a “successful result.” Well, she didn’t love the wording, but it was the truth.

“I didn’t realize kidnapping was a family tradition,” she teased.

Micah leaned over, kissing her forehead. “Stalking, I think.”

“Well, we did decide it was sexy,” she said.

So long ago, at that restaurant in New Orleans. God, so much had changed between them.

“It’s the only family tradition I like.” He cleared his throat, changing the subject. “Okay, let’s go over the plan again.”

“When Victor shows up, I play dumb, like I don’t know he’s planning on playing us. Marcus pays him his money, he gives us the coordinates, we hope no one sets off a bomb like last time, right?”

They’d gone over the plan on the short flight here. Victor von Truc was a friend and colleague of the Johnathans—and the CEO of the international commercial building company that the Johnathans had hired to build the facilities on all their illegal torture sites. Micah had intercepted a call between Victor and Elliot Johnathan discussing the recent use of one of their sites, but they hadn’t shared a location. If anyone knew where Luke and Conor were being held, it was Victor.

Micah nodded grimly. “It’s essential that he thinks I’m the only one who suspects him of anything.”

There was a stone in her stomach. “So there’s definitely a trap.”

Micah nodded. “Yes, but trust me. No matter what this weasel does, we can handle it together.”

We.

His sincerity softened her, eroding the stone in her stomach until it was nothing but sand, and then gone. In the past, she would’ve been left out. Now, they were a team—even if they couldn’t let Victor see that.

She ran her free hand through his hair.

“Okay,” Kara said. “I trust you.”

His blue eyes brightened, like sunlight shimmering over the ocean. His approval wrapped around her, safety and belonging a buffer between her and a world that wanted to hurt them.

“I’m glad to hear that, baby,” he said with so much tenderness. “And for what it’s worth, I trust you, too. We can do this.”

I trust you, too.

He'd never put so much faith in her. Had never made them a team before. He had now. As his words spread through her, something clicked into place for Kara—at the least helpful time possible, because Micah spotted something. He straightened and stood, releasing her hand.

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