Page 58 of Rescuing Rebel

Her eyes flash. “You’re going to ruin everything.”

When she surges against me, fury radiating off her slight frame, Blake steps forward instinctively. I halt him with a raised palm.

My gut twists even as bitterness wells up. “What exactly am I going to ruin?” I step closer, looming over her. “Helping monsters profit off innocence? Luring girls into slavery? Didn’t you get enough of that in Nicaragua?”

“That’s a low blow.”

“I call it how I see it. What did you do? Fuck Kaufman’s brains out? Did he remove the chains as long as you worked for him?”

“You sanctimonious bastard!” She surges up against me, eyes flashing emerald knives. “You know nothing about what I’ve sacrificed.”

“You’re right. I don’t know, but I do know this…”

All the old hunger and hurt I’ve tried to bury comes roaring back up my throat. Without thinking, I crush my mouth to hers, kissing her fiercely.

For one electrifying instant, she returns it with a passion that steals my breath. Then her teeth sink into my bottom lip, hard. I rear back with a curse, tasting blood, as she slaps me viciously across the face.

The guys let out low murmurs of protest but hold their positions.

We stand frozen, panting, poised on the brink of violence or something far more dangerous.

“Get out now, and we can both pretend this never happened.” Her voice wavers almost imperceptibly. She backs away slowly toward the door, eyes pleading with what her mouth can’t say.

I should stop her. Should rage or threaten to get the answers I crave. Instead, I wipe the blood from my mouth and nod tiredly.

“You could always tell the truth.” I grab her wrist before she can disappear. “Why are you here? I’m owed that much.” My voice drops to a dangerous whisper. “Unless you want me revealing who you are to your new friends.”

“You don’t have the balls to do that.” She wrenches her wrist out of my grip, but the unsteadiness in her voice reveals true fear.

I step close, crowding her. My tone turns deadly calm. “If you expose my team, I’ll tell Kaufmanhowwe know each other. Consider it Mutually Assured Destruction.”

For a second, her steely facade cracks. Fear and desperation flash in her eyes. “Ethan, please...” she whispers urgently. “You have to trust me. It’s not what it looks like.” She swallows hard. Her mask slips for a fleeting moment, revealing a torrent of emotions, but it’s back in place.

“Trust you the way you trust me?” I’m not giving her an inch.

“At least we agree on one thing.” Her tone holds an undercurrent of regret.

“What’s that?”

“You expose me, and I won’t hesitate to tell Kaufman about the Guardians. I’m sure he’ll be pleased as piss that a bunch of hostage rescuers are digging around inside Haven.” Without another word, she turns and is gone, leaving even more questions swirling in her wake.

At least I learned one thing from that horrible exchange. I let out a calm breath as Rebel disappears down the hall.

The team relaxes fractionally as the confrontation ends.

“You alright, boss?” Jeb asks, eyeing the blood on my mouth.

“I’m good.” I wipe it away.

This isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.

TWENTY-ONE

Rebel

I shouldn’t have doneit. I shouldn’t have tracked Ethan down. On the way to the control room, hands balled into fists, heart hammering wildly, I kept telling myself:‘Turn around. Turn around and run away.’

Yet, I kept moving.

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