Page 63 of Strangers in Love

“We’re burnt.” Eoin’s voice was sharp. “Even if the five of us could go back and take on whatever reinforcements were called in, we wouldn’t make it there and back, not with everyone looking for us now. No way will they think you guys weren’t with me on this.”

I appreciated his tact in not revealing that it was my fault we were being hunted, but it didn’t mean I liked what he was saying.

“Look,” the other man said. “We’ll just be putting everyone at risk if we try to go back now. They’ll be looking for a private outfit, which means the military has a better chance at surprising them than we do.”

I didn’t know if that was true, but I didn’t have any facts on which to base my opinion, so I kept it to myself.

“You can call Freedom from the plane,” Eoin reminded me. “She’ll want to know that you’re okay.”

“The longer we stand here, the more danger we’re all in,” the other man pointed out.

They were right. I couldn’t allow my emotions to influence me into making rash decisions that would hurt people.

I nodded and finished climbing the stairs. It was time to go home.

Forty-Three

Eoin

I didn’t believefor a minute that Aline would just accept that her part in all of this was over. She wouldn’t rest until everyone was home safe, and a long plane ride wasn’t going to do anything to slow her down. Even in the short amount of time I’d known her, I could see that she didn’t give up on anything.

I just hoped getting her out of the country would at least keep her safe while she poked the hornets’ nest. Then again, maybe Freedom had enough influence over Aline to talk some sense into her and get the crazy woman to listen to fucking logic.

I wasnotgoing back into that shitstorm because Aline had some sort of savior complex. I’d tie her ass to a chair first.

Once we were on board, Cain pulled up the steps and signaled to Fever, who disappeared into the cockpit, I assumed, to let Dave know we were ready to go. While I began to unload everything I’d carried from the hotel, Cain handed his sat phone over to Aline and explained how to use it. By the time he was done, I had all my weapons strapped down, and my bag stowed. The others had gotten here early enough to already have their stuff in place.

My part in this was essentially done. The plan was to have Freedom waiting at the airport so that we could hand Aline over to her as soon as we landed. While it sounded an awful lot like how we would’ve treated a minor in a similar situation, I wasn’t about to argue with it. If Aline had an issue with what happened once we hit the ground, she could take that up with Cain or her sister. They were in charge, not me.

A part of me pitied them if Aline decided she wanted to make an issue out of how we handled the situation. She had a sharp tongue.

And an eager one. My entire body warmed as that thought turned into memories of what she and I had done not too many hours ago.

Shit.

I picked the seat farthest away from where she sat and busied myself with getting buckled in. I really didn’t need to think of how completely I’d fucked things up last night. It’d been beyond stupid of me, and if I wasn’t careful, it could make a lot of problems. Not just for me, but for Cain’s agency too, and that was the last thing I wanted. Especially since I’d decided to talk to him about possibly joining up.

I had a feeling that fucking a client would be a strike against me. Though, technically, Aline wasn’t the client. Freedom was. But I doubted that distinction would save my ass if the Mercier women came after me. Better to forget about what’d happened and hope that Aline brushed it off as a one-night stand coming from an intense experience. Because that’s what it was.

As soon as Dave came over the intercom to let us know that we could unbuckle, Cain moved from where he’d been sitting on the other side of the cabin and took the chair in front of me. He swiveled it around before holding out a beer. He had one too, and since the boss was okay with it, I wasn’t about to turn it down. Not after everything we’d been through.

After we each took a drink, Cain leaned forward. “What happened?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What happened with you guys?”

Cain leaned back and sighed. He took another swig of his beer and rubbed his hand over his jaw. “When Bruce got to the second floor, I was in the main hallway right under him. Fever and Dez had taken the hall to the right.”

I nodded. I’d been the first to move off from the group, taking what I’d thought had been a short hallway with a dead end. If it had been, I would’ve gone back to join the others, but that hadn’t been the case.

“Dez said a man came out of a room when he and Fever were a few yards down the hall. That’s when the shooting started.” He took a long drink. “They took turns clearing the rooms and covering each other. Fever said they got five men between them, but neither of them saw anything except the room of shit the kidnappers had stashed.”

Behind me, I could hear Aline talking to Freedom but couldn’t make out the words. For all I knew, she was sharing everything that’d happened, including our mutual moment of insanity. I’d deal with that if I needed to, but until then, I wasn’t going to bring it up.

“Of course, the gunshots brought out all the cockroaches. Bruce took two down and continued his sweep. I had three and was near the end of my hall when you radioed to say you had Aline.”

That was right before I’d thrown her over my shoulder and carried her out of the building because she’d been standing in the line of fire, arguing with me. I should’ve been remembering how many shots I fired, how many men I’d killed, but the clearest thing in my mind was how the backs of her thighs had felt under my hand when I’d held her steady. How she’d grabbed my shirt.

Fortunately, at the time, I’d had my head in the game.

---