Page 62 of Taken By the Convicts
She relaxed. “We should get you out of those clothes.”
Ivan yanked her against his chest. “Are you offering to help? I mean, I aminjured.”
“Injured?” Jayce said. “Your pride perhaps, but nothing else. Don’t take pity on him, Melina. He’s baiting you.”
“And doing a good job of it,” she remarked, her eyes holding Ivan so easily. Hell, he was falling for her.Hadfallen for her.
A snowball blindsided him. Jayce, the asshole, started running. Ivan took off after him, quickly catching up and tackling him to the ground. He shoved handfuls of snow down Jayce’s shirt.
“I surrender!” Jayce yelled, but Ivan continued. He felt like he was a kid again. His lungs contracting fast and hard to pull in air, and the damn pain had gone away. Ivan looked up to check on Melina.
She was leaning against Zev, his hand over her mouth, keeping her quiet. Immediately, Ivan checked the ridge, looking for what had caused Zev to quiet Melina.
Zev’s hand moved from Melina. “We’re good,” he said. “Just being cautious. Men shouting is nothing. A female’s voice. . .”
Ivan nodded. Zev had good instincts, and he’d reminded Ivan he had a job to do, which didn’t include playing like a kid. Ivan offered Jayce a hand up. “You’re in charge until I return.”
“Where are you going?” Melina said.
“I need to relieve Crusher. He needs to have some fun for a change.”
“Funny, that’s what he said about you recently,” Melina said as another smile lit her face.
A strange peace settled over Ivan when he realized he no longer felt jealous of Crusher. The man had Melina’s heart, but he wasn’t the only one. She had enough love for all of them. As Ivan glanced at the three contented faces around him, it finally sank in. Somehow, over the past two weeks since Melina returned to the bunker, they’d become a unit.
Chapter Sixteen
MELINA
“Why did The Company make Zev a Level 5?” Melina asked Jayce as she unloaded the latest provisions he brought to the bunker.
“Rumor has it he killed three guards during a robbery. Not sure what or where, but he’s a murderer, like most of the population here.”
“No, he’s not,” she said, shaking her head. She couldn’t explain it, but Zev didn’t belong here. Then again, neither did she. Or Ivan. And she had no idea about Reece. She had accepted his mating ring, and she didn’t even know why he’d been sent to Veenith. Not that it mattered. She knew who Reece was on the inside. And if he wanted her to know about his past, he’d tell her.
“How about you, Jayce? What crime did you commit?”
“Murder.”
“Oh.” She had to let that one sink in.
“You look shocked.” His whimsy of a moment before quickly disappeared. “You don’t think I’m capable because I don’t have as many muscles as Ivan or Crusher?”
Jayce was well-built and had more muscles than many of the men on Veenith, not that she’d met many, just a few who’d come in for treatment in the med-center. But there was something about his green eyes that soothed her. Maybe it was how they reminded her of the green hills of home.
Sure, Jayce held a lot of anger bottled up inside of him, but he wasn’t a killer, not in his heart. Then again, she didn’t think Reece or Ivan had the capacity to kill either, but they had. If Jayce had told her three or even two weeks ago that he’d murdered someone, she would have believed him, but she’d seen a different side to him since then, outside in the snow. Playful, teasing, carefree.
Around Ivan, Jayce remained vigilant, ready to follow the soldier’s every command, even those he frowned on. He held immense respect for Ivan. Or maybe it was loyalty? Either way, Jayce was protective of Ivan, and yet he seemed to hold back from Ivan every time Ivan sought answers. Melina didn’t even know the questions Ivan asked, only that Jayce had closed a part of himself off to him.
“Now that I know you better, I can’t imagine you killing anyone.”
“You think you know me?” he said, his voice raised as he barreled toward her.
She steeled herself, hoping she was right, that he wouldn’t hurt her. She’d seen his gentler side, the part of him desperate to connect with her.
“I don’t think you let anyone know the real Jayce,” she said. “Not even Ivan.”
Green eyes held her a moment longer before he slammed his hands down on the counter on either side of her, caging her. “Why should I?”
