Kill List (Special Ops #8) (13 page)

Chogan placed a kiss on her forehead. “Thanks,” he said. “For making sure none of us committed outright murder.”

She laughed a real laugh this time. “God, I’m sorry,” she said between trying to catch her breath. “You guys are all awesome. I needed to laugh. Thanks, especially to you,” she sat up and wrapped her arms around him. She whispered softly in his ear. “Later you and I can, you know,” her teeth nipped his ear as she purred softly. He felt his body go live with sexual need. This close, her sweet citrus scent and soft feminine form had him hot and wanton.

“I like it hard, but I loved it soft too.”

His hand squeezed her waist hard. “There was nothing soft about it.”

She giggled. “Not that, my love. The way you made love to me…softly…I liked that too. We should do it again.” Her voice was a soft whisper but he knew the men could tell, if not from her, but from him, what words were most likely being exchanged even if they couldn’t hear them. He saw them, out the corner of his eye, exiting and D-camp sliding the door closed behind him.

“We can’t do this right now,” he strained to get those words out.

“Yes we can,” she said as she pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him. The woman could unbalance him, which was something nobody had really been able to do, but she had. She had mounted him just as swiftly and gotten his arms pinned above his head just as quickly. He could get free, but gods, he didn’t want to.

“We can do it right now, right here. In fact,” she slid the tip of her tongue over his lip. “I’m going to do it just fine,” she kissed him lower as her fingers tugged at his shirt as she tried to pull it from tucked in his pants.

“I’ll do it better than fine,” she said as she tackled the zipper on his pants. The woman was setting him on fire and all he wanted to do right now was strip her bare and sink into her. He gritted his teeth to control himself. She needed this control. She needed this and he would allow her to have it—for as long as he could anyway.

Chogan had gotten minimal sleep and Olivia knew part of that was because he was finely in tune with her body and every time she woke up he seemed to wake up too, but part of it was the fact that he and the men were rotationally keeping watch. Add her witch of a sister into the mix and things were more than uncomfortable for all of them. She had offered to test out the Taser again, and while Skip looked as if he were contemplating voting a yes on her doing it, the guys turned down her offer.

D-camp had been great. He was the one who took Keisha food. Olivia had figured she would do it, even though she wanted nothing to do with that woman, but the guys thought better of it. If Keisha needed anything it was D-camp who took care of it. Olivia was sure they picked him, not just because he volunteered, but because he was the only one of them Keisha was afraid of so she didn’t feel free to pull anything with him.

The day had been quiet, for the most part, and Olivia had sat off to the side downstairs and fell asleep in the chair a couple times. She had told Chogan the altitude would wear her down for a while and it was definitely doing that. The only difference now was that instead of sleeping all the way through like she had before, stress was keeping her limited to short bursts of nap time.

By nightfall things started to go downhill fast. Alarms started being tripped and the guys were back in high alert mode—if they had ever left it that is.

Chogan’s connections with this Autumn Kitsap had cleared the way with the local law. They knew about the dead cop, but due to Autumn and whatever powers she held, federal calls went to local powers that be and local law stayed off the property. To have such connections and such power amazed Olivia. She knew Chogan had made a lot of friends, allies, maybe even something stronger, but this was just amazing. He was calling in favors, and he was doing it for her. No man, since her own father, had cared that much about her safety, her life, and her happiness.

Chogan didn’t need to tell her to stay put because she wasn’t moving anyway. She was busy watching these men and their expert skills put to action, but mostly she was watching Chogan. He enthralled her. This was her man, her warrior, protector, lover and mate.

“Two in the west,” Skip said. “One just went off closer to the house.”

“That’s him,” Chogan said. The men didn’t question his assessment and while she wondered how he knew the one closer to the house was the assassin she didn’t ask.

“I’m on this,” Skip said and Tracer went with him. D-camp took the basement and Chogan gave her one look that told her he was vowing to end this here, now, tonight, and that she would be free afterwards. He vanished, not in one of those fantastical ways, just in the way a man on a mission would vanish—silently, cautiously, and determined to get end-game their way.

But now she sat there alone, wondering what she should do. Should she move? Should she find a safe hiding place like she had done on that day that sealed her fate and pushed her into hiding? Chogan hadn’t told her to stay put, but she got the feeling he wanted her to stay where he knew where she was so she sat there, trembling with fear for the men who were protecting her, for herself, and for the possible love she could lose. Chogan wouldn’t let her die, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t end up sacrificing his life to save hers.

She wrapped her arms around her knees. The only thing keeping her from burying her head upon them was her realization that she needed to be able to see what was coming at her. The thought hit her that she needed to be able to run too and she couldn’t do that as she sat.

The thought hit her, but a little too late. She hadn’t even gotten her feet off the couch when she saw that brute of a beast come from the shadows. His gun drawn and pointed at her with an eerie smile on his face. He had won. And if he had won then that meant Chogan and his men had either lost, or were too far away to help her.

She felt herself edging back and nearly climbing to the backrest of the sofa until her butt fell upon it. Her hands braced the sofa.

He chuckled. “Check mate,” his accent laced with victory and smugness.

She hadn’t seen it coming it happened so swiftly. Chogan had, without doubt or hesitation, come from behind the man and the blade he carried is what he used to silence the beast forever. One strike at his throat, one at his scalp.

Olivia gasped. That was the kind of kill she would see in a movie, not real life. Then again, everything that had come her way had been one big horrific movie—everything except for him, for their love—that was real.

“Chogan,” she looked up into his face. His eyes held a calm rage and satisfaction all at once.

“It’s over now,” he said freely. She leaped off the sofa and ran to him. Maybe now wasn’t the time to anchor her body to his, but she couldn’t resist.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” Thanks would never be enough. “Your friends?”

“Putting the trash in the cooler with the other guy. Calling in the locals. It’s over. You’re safe now. But Liv…”

“Yeah?” If he had bad news she was sure she would pass out.

“They are going to arrest your sister. Her admission to what she did to your parents, plus…well, the feds want her to turn on Cordova if they can get that, she might do time or she might get witness relocation, but either way, she isn’t walking away from what she’s done.”

She hugged him again and kissed his cheek. “I don’t care what happens to her, Chogan. I care about you. I care about us.”

He nodded with a smile. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

Two Days Later

Keisha got in the back of the police car. She knew she was in deep the moment the cops slapped the cuffs on her and told her why she was under arrest, but now they were saying the Feds wanted to talk to her. Maybe she could get Cordova to get her a good lawyer and she could walk free. It’s not as if they had any real evidence other than those military men—God knew military men weren’t all good guys. Maybe she could get sympathy with the judge, or the jury if it went that far.

She was glad to be leaving this boring place. There wasn’t a casino in sight and what could a woman possibly do up here without one of those—sit around and be bored all day? Yeah, her stupid sister would love that. She looked at the tree covered area and shook her head. Stupid mountain fools was all she could think, but as the deputy driving her slowed the car alongside another she was pleasantly pleased when she saw Cordova get out of the other car. Maybe these mountain people weren’t all that bad. This officer was going to accidently lose her and Cordova was going to rescue her.

Cordova sat in the back of the car with his leather jacket all bundled up. The man was attractive in his own way—maybe that air of danger and money was what made her find him sexy because he wasn’t exactly a male model or anything like that. But he had money, and power, and she liked that a lot.

“You were never smart, never smart at all.” He shook his head.

“He was going to pay me so I could pay you.” She put on her sweet voice thinking he would fall for it. Now that things hadn’t worked out she wouldn’t be able to pay him. Maybe she could make some other deal with him instead.

“Wrong. He paid me. How do you think he found you? You weren’t even supposed to live past Sunday. But since you have, know this, if you mention my name, my business, or anything about my family, prison will become a lot worse than hell for you.”

She gasped and her eyes flew wide.

“Those feds are going to try to offer you a deal, maybe even protection to rat me out but believe me when I say you won’t live past sundown that day if you say yes. Be smarter this time, Keisha, because what I can do to you…you won’t like it. I have people everywhere. Now,” he pointed out the window at the cop standing off to the other side of the street. “He’s going to get back in here and take you where you need to go. Remember what I said.”

Keisha felt her heart sink. The man she thought might help her had been willing to kill her all along. From what he said that assassin was going to kill her and he knew about it. As angry as that made her she wasn’t so sure she would listen to him. She would tell the Feds everything and they would protect her. Yeah, maybe she could get some special team like what Olivia had. She hated her sister, always had and always would, but if she could get military men to protect her then Keisha was sure what she had would make the Feds do the same for her. Yeah, that bastard Cordova should sip his last glass of Whisky because she was going to sing like the cliché canary. He was going down. She had set her mind firmly to that task and she wouldn’t fail.

Chapter Seven

“S
ix months,” he watched Liv as she moved around his kitchen as if she were floating on air. He hadn’t seen her this happy—ever really, but especially not since the hell she had found herself in. “I’m totally free.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I know. But…Liv…are you sure you’re okay. I mean your sister’s body was found a week after our wedding.”

“I know. But you know evil people always get their comeuppance and what she did to our parents is just unforgivable so I think Karma made sure she got hers in return. Now,” she tacked her hand to her waist. “I’m more worried about you. I’m sure they’re going to call you up to go do something dangerous again soon.”

“Nah.”

“Yeah right. You’re too good not to get a call.”

“I got one a month after our wedding. I turned it down. I put in my papers and everything just went through. Trust me, some people fought it hard, but a call to Autumn, and her connections helped push it through finally. So, I’m out—officially.”

“Yes!” She jumped up with her fist up in the air landed on her feet and did a little happy dance before her face turned serious. “Oh, I know you loved what you did.” She said in a tone that was supposed to be comforting as if he had lost his favorite job, but the look on her face, and that previous reaction, told him she was happy he was out.

He chuckled. “Faker. I know you’re happy. My parents are happy too. But maybe they aren’t as happy that I’m moving us to Arizona.”

“Arizona!?”

“Baby you are going back to school. You wanted to be a Vet and you’re going to be a Vet.”

“But…”

“You’re going.”

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

“Oh I know a man who knows a man who knows a woman who knows a man who has a security company in Scottsdale.” He heard the sharp, very dramatized exhausted yell before Olivia did a highly controlled faint to the floor before throwing her arm over her eyes.

“Security is dangerous.”

He laughed as he approached her and rested his body on top of hers. The woman should know better than to fall on her back in this kitchen. Their first time he had taken her against the wall, but the floor was a good place to get her naked and take her too.

“Aye,” he nodded. “But I’m really just going to be helping come up with new security systems and getting them installed. I’m not guarding anybody’s body but yours, love.”

“Oh,” she smiled up at him. “Good, because mine has become two so um…we’re pregnant.”

“Whoa!”

“I hope you really want this.”

“When did you…how long?”

She smiled. “I took the test this morning while you were gone and ran to the doctor, pretty much begged my way in and got conformation. She says I’m about five months.”

“Five months?”

“Yeah, flat as a pancake—but my but does look a little bigger don’t you think?”

“Five months…” he shook his head and placed his hand over her stomach.

“You don’t want him, or her?”

“I do. I definitely do. But babe, you and school…you can do both you know.”

“I know. And I think I will, but…”

“But?”

“You have to let me up so I can show you.”

He was reluctant to let her up but he did anyway. He watched as she walked over to the drawer and pulled something out of it. When she turned it over he saw the picture of the baby. She had worked hard to get this much information and he was sure of that.

“Does our baby have two heads?”

She started laughing so hard.

“This isn’t funny.”

“Yeah, it kind of is. No, our baby doesn’t have two heads. He’s just very much like you—protective. That head would be his sister’s head.” She pulled out another one. “See, two babies.”

“Two babies?!” Now maybe it was his time to faint. “Thank the gods.”

“For giving you very strong swimmers and me a very active set of ovaries?”

“Hell yes,” he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “We tell my parents and they might not let us out of New York.”

“Well I was just thinking about that.”

“You don’t want to go?”

“I do. I was just thinking Arizona is very Southwest yet still has plenty of artsy places where I am sure your father could open a store. There’s even universities he could open by…or who knows what he might want to get into stocking in his store. And with us having babies, I think we could get them both to move to a warmer climate. He could sell the New York store or keep ownership and find a way to manage both. What do you think?”

“I think you’ll never be able to get rid of my mother,” he laughed.

“Well see now that’s why I’m thinking we move them to Tucson and us to Scottsdale.”

He tossed his head back on a loud laugh. Yeah, life was going to be good—better than good. And he couldn’t wait to experience it with her.