Page 79 of The Devil's Conflict

She shakes her head. “No. Most of the rest of the time they were all dying. Bullet, I’m not leaving, and I’m not hiding away. This isn’t the first time someone wanted me dead, and it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with the Russians either. In fact…” She trails off, and I feel her stiffen as her eyes clear a bit. Then her head lifts to mine. “Wait, remember how I said how I thought I knew that name you told me?” I nod. “I remember now. About five years ago, a message came in from an informant that was very close to the Pakhan who is running shit through the western states and as far east as Texas. I managed to decode it and shut down their pipeline with the information, we also managed to arrest a good forty high up men in the chain and managed to almost get enough evidence to get a warrant for the Pakhan. It was one of the biggest seizures in the United States’ history at the time.”

“That was you?” Shadow suddenly asks, eyes wide when I look over at him. “Shit, that was big enough that even I heard about it. No one would tell who it was though.”

“No one wanted it to get out, but I’m sure they figured it out. But one of the men that managed to escape capture was named Nikolai Egorov. He escaped back to Russia,” Thea explains.

And there clicks one more puzzle piece. “Fuck,” I grit out. “He’s probably the one who figured out you are and told Vlad.”

“But why would Vlad want her alive?” Arson demands. “It’s more likely he wants her dead so that she can’t spill secrets.”

“Or, he wants to use her to keep all the secrets,” Hulk suggests solemnly. “I mean, if she can decode them, she could code things for them too, right? And she has knowledge of theUS and their ports and things due to her job that would mean she would be able to help them avoid detection.”

“Or, another possibility is that Vlad is planning on giving her up to the Pakhan, since she was the one who ruined the operation in their mind,” Viper says, the implication heavy. Just the thought of it makes me want to whisk Thea away, but I manage to stay still.

“Vlad put out a hit contract on all the women but Thea,” Cryos announces as he rushes down the hall. “There’s messages on the cellphones collected from the men. I also have found some chatter being sent on some of the channels that Vlad and his men like to use. He hasn’t put a public hit on them, but if any of his men see the women or kids, they are to kill them, and send proof via photos or providing a body.”

The atmosphere in the room turns deadly. “And what did they say about Thea?” I ask, my jaw clenched as I stare at him.

Cryos glances at Thea and winces slightly before answering, “She’s to be brought to Vlad, alive, but the men are allowed to do what is needed to make that happen. She just has to arrive alive but not necessarily in one piece.”

The absolute rage inside me is burning out of control. I’m going to enjoy taking this fucker apart.

“Well, don’t I just feel so special,” Thea drawls with a chuckle. Then she looks up at me. “I think that means that I’m probably safer here with you than out there where they can track me down.” I agree, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. The last thing I want is for her to be here while we’re fighting and trying keep them at bay.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Bullet says briskly, standing. “All of you with women, other than Sniper, I want you to find out how quickly we can get your women and kids to where they are safe. Then, we’re going to need to start figuring out how we’re going to transport everyone without Vlad being able to trackthem. Then, we need to figure out our next move here. But we’ll discuss that in Church.”

“I’m going to call Talon Cross,” Viper announces. “He’s got some connections being a former SEAL, and we might be able to charter a jet to go and make a few stops.”

“And we have the Lincolns,” Shadow adds. “We’ve used them before and if we can’t go through them, they will have someone we can.”

Bullet nods. “Get to it, and let me know. I’m going to work on convincing Rose, but that will come once we know everyone is gone. She won’t leave until she knows they’re all safe.” Then he looks at me holding Thea. “Sniper, take your woman up and let her get some sleep. Theo, you’re guarding her until we’re finished.” When Thea opens her mouth to argue, I tighten my grip on her in warning and she shuts it, but sends me a cross look. Theo nods and steps forward. “In the meantime, get your asses in Church in an hour so we can figure shit out.” Then he heads toward the med bay, no doubt to check on Crypt who is still sedated and probably will be for a bit yet.

I turn and head up the steps, but stop when I reach the top of the stairs and look at Theo. “Give me an hour, Theo, then come up,” I tell him calmly. He looks a bit unsure, but then he nods and turns to walk away. I continue down the hallway, set Thea on her feet—but still holding her steady because she instantly starts swaying—and quickly open the door, scooping her back up to carry her inside and laying her on the bed.

Thea groans and closes her eyes. “This really is a much better bed than that one in the med bay. Pretty sure I have a bruise on my back from the metal of the gurney.” I just stare down at her, so many different emotions swirling inside me I don’t know what to say first, or how to react. She opens her eyes and stares up at me, her face going serious as we just look at each other.“If you want to yell at me, go ahead,” she finally offers. “I know you’re pissed.”

“Pissed isn’t even the right word, Athena,” I tell her starkly, deciding it’s probably best to get that out right now. “I know you were outside, and I’m not pissed about that, but I am pissed you fucking put yourself in harm’s way. You protecting the women, I get that, that was your job, but the coming back out instead of following orders to go into the safe room, you’re fucking right I’m pissed about that.”

“I wasn’t going to stand by and watch everyone get shot at,” she says in a far calmer voice than I expect. Her eyes are glazed over with temper, pain, and frustration. “That is not what I’m trained to do, and you know it.”

“I know that,” I yell, unable to contain the anger anymore. “Do you not think I don’t fucking know that, Thea? I was fucking terrified the entire time because I had no idea where you were. I couldn’t see you and bullets were flying everywhere. The only reason I wasn’t losing my mind was because Viper yelled out that he saw you with the women and the kids. But that doesn’t change the fact that I watched you throw yourself into Bullet and take that fucking bullet.” I end that on a roar. My chest heaves with each breath as I stare at her. “Do you know the terror I felt in that moment, Thea? No, of course you don’t, but I swear to God my heart stopped. I thought after everything, I lost you. I’ve seen countless people die and I’ve never felt this before.” I move so that I brace both fists on the bed and lean over her. “I saw the blood, Thea, and I swear to God I thought you were fucking dead.”

Her face softens and she eases up onto one good elbow, before sitting up. I ease away to give her room, but not by much. With her good hand, she cups my face in her hand. “Grayson,” she whispers, eyes searching mine. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I wasn’t going to let him die. But I’m here, andother than a gunshot wound that aches like a son of a bitch, I’m okay. I’m alive, and it’s going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me. I promise.” She leans forward and presses her lips to mine, and I force myself to hold back and not clutch her close like I want to.

“Don’t you ever put yourself in that kind of situation again, Thea,” I warn her. “It’s my job to protect you, not?—”

“Uh-uh, nope,” she interrupts, dropping her hand and glaring at me. “No, we’re not doing this I-man-you-woman bullshit. I already told you, that isn’t me, and you either accept me for who I am or you don’t. If we were in a situation where I needed you to watch my back, fine, but this time, I was watching yours, and by extension, your President’s. There is no one person running the show in this relationship, Sniper. It’s partners or nothing. I’ve done the whole thing where I am told what to do and forgotten as I’m part of the team, and I’m not doing it with you. I get that I can’t help with MC stuff, and I’m not going to ask to, but when it comes to moments like what happened today, where I’m in a position I can help, then damn straight I’m going to help. I am not a run-of-the-mill civilian. I am trained by some of the best, including you, once upon a time, and that means that what happened today, is exactly what I’ve trained and dealt with before in the past. You don’t get to cheapen that because of some macho-bullshit. Because if you’re going to do that, then we will be over before we really started.”

The seriousness in her gaze has a sliver of panic sliding down my spine, but I ignore it. “I can’t lose you, Thea,” I tell her fiercely. “Do you not understand that you hold my heart and everything about me in your hands? If I lose you, I will become the exact man that I don’t want to be anymore. I will be cold, and I will annihilate anyone and anything in my path that dared to hurt you, that dared to fail you.”

Some of the anger in her eyes disappears. “Grayson, I’m not going anywhere. Do you know how hard my team tried to break me? Tried to kill me? And I’m still here. I don’t give up. I fight. And I will fight to be with you every damn day. You made me that way. You pushed me hard when we met. I hated and loved you for it. And now, you pushed me into this by making me join the security team. But, even as pissed as I was, it was the best thing I could have done. Because it showed me what a real team looks like. The kind that actually care for each other, and have each other’s back. You’ve showed me what it’s like to have women around me who care enough about me to spend time with me and not just try to use the information to best me in some way. And you showed me I don’t have to be alone. I have you, and that’s all I really need. I need you in my corner, like you have been through the years in one way or another. Even if it was just the memory of your words that pushed me harder, to push past the weak points when I wanted to give up. You say that you can’t lose me, Grayson, but I can’t lose you either.

“I felt my own fear seeing you standing there next to Bullet knowing the shooter was going to fire. I was guessing it was Bullet, but what if it wasn’t? If it wasn’t him, then you would be dead right now. Because I would not have reached you in time.” Her voice catches, and my heart sinks as her eyes fill with tears. “And I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, Grayson.”

“That will not happen, Thea,” I tell her, and damn it all to hell, I’m going to have to hurt her, but I can’t be far away from her anymore. As gently as I can, I pick her up and sit down on the bed, with her in my lap, holding her as tightly as I dare. She lets out a hiss of pain, but she doesn’t push me away. “I’m sorry, baby girl, I don’t want to hurt you, but I need to hold you right now.”

“I’m fine,” she says with a hard swallow. “The pain is easing anyway.” She lays her head on my shoulder, her good arm looped around my back and holding me.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” I murmur.

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