Redemption (Bennett Sisters Book 5) (22 page)

The thought of losing
Lydia
scared the crap out of him. She’d come to mean more to him than just an assignment. She’d gotten under his skin and into his heart. What little heart he had left. Her presence alone made the whole world a better place, and he was risking it all.

Rick drew in a deep breath and straightened. There was only one thing to do, and that was to tell her the truth. He dragged his feet back to his room, pulled out the duffle bag that he’d brought and started to shove his clothes inside. His heart was heavy. He knew she was going to hate him, and he couldn’t blame her.

Rick placed his bag by the door, pulled out a bottle of water, and downed the contents. His stomach was doing summersaults. This day threatened to be one of the worst in his life. If she didn’t forgive him, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

****

Lydia
had walked back with Briggs to her quarters with a bowl full of fruit. If it were up to
Jaime
,
Lydia
would have sat down and eaten a seven-course meal.
Lydia
knew what her body was capable of, and after such a traumatic experience, it didn’t involve consuming a bunch of food. She’d been happy when she’d spied the fruit and even happier that she’d been escorted by Briggs back to her room to eat it. The two men standing guard outside of her room reminded her of the danger she’d been in. They’d nodded as she passed.

There was a knock on her door. She pulled it open. Her mood lifted immediately. Rick always managed to put a smile on her face. He was the one man besides Briggs that she trusted with her life. “Hey you.” She backed up. “Come on in.”
Lydia
grabbed her bowl of fruit and sat down at the wooden table. “Want some fruit?”

Rick shook his head. “No.” He placed the revolver down on the table. “I just came to give you this.”

Lydia
glanced up at Rick. His whole body was tense. His lips pulled into a fine line.
Lydia
stood. “You aren’t staying for a while?”

Rick took
Lydia
’s hands into his and drew her against his body. “I’m afraid I can’t.”  He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.

She would have gotten lost in his kiss if the energy in the air wasn’t somewhat off. She couldn’t put her finger on the difference.
Lydia
pushed on his chest and glanced up into the crystal eyes that could see down into the depths of her soul. “Can’t or won’t?”

Rick dropped his hands and moved to the center of the living room. After seeing her one more time, the kiss was inevitable. He couldn’t resist kissing her one more time. He was selfish and he knew it. “I have to tell you something, and somehow I doubt you’re going to want me to stay.”

Lydia
’s heart dropped into her stomach. She didn’t like the sound of that. She walked to him and picked up his hand. “What are you talking about?”

He pulled his hand away and turned toward the only window in the room. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

Lydia
pulled in a deep breath before she said, “You’re breaking up with me?”

Rick shook his head and spun around to meet her gaze. “Not on your life.” He motioned for her to sit on the couch. “
Lydia
… I don’t know how to tell you this, and I’m sorry that I have to spring it on you now of all times.”

Lydia
wrapped her arms around her midsection. “Just tell me.” The energy in the air stirred. Her apprehension had her heart racing. No matter what he said, she’d deal with it. She was a Bennett after all, and everything would be fine.

He clasped his hands and lowered his head. “I’ve been hiding something from you.”

Lydia
stood.
Oh god, this can’t be good
. She could have accepted that from anyone but him. She’d given him her heart and soul, even if she hadn’t told him she loved him.
Lydia
knew he was about to crush her. Just the fact that he’d felt the need to lie to her had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. “Go on.”

Rick glanced up at her. “I’ve been tasked to keep tabs on you and learn everything there is to know about you.”

Lydia
dropped her arms. “I know. Mike asked you too. I get that.”

Rick stood. “You don’t understand.” He took a step toward her, and she backed up. “Mike having me look into your background may have started it, but the real reason I’m here is because I’m under direct orders from the FBI. At first they just wanted more information.” Rick took another step toward her. She threw up a wall of energy to stop him.

“What orders? What do they want from me?”

“I’ve been assigned to keep you under surveillance to make sure you aren’t a national security threat. My mission was to either recruit you or kill you. My boss didn’t want to risk that you’d end up in the wrong hands.”

Lydia
lifted her hand to her mouth and shook her head. “It was all a lie. You were only with me to keep easier tabs on me.”

Rick pushed against the energy wall and raised a brow. “I’m not going to hurt you,
Lydia
.”

The wall that had been holding him from advancing on her dissipated, and it hadn’t been her who let the energy drop.
Lydia
lifted a finger. “Did you just do that?”

Rick nodded. “That’s what I tried to explain yesterday. I can absorb the energy, just like you can manipulate it.” Rick stepped back and held up his hands. “I promise I would never hurt you.”

“You just did.”
Lydia
turned around, unable to look into his eyes. Her own were misty, and it took every ounce of her energy to hold back the tears from her broken heart.

Rick approached her. She couldn’t make herself turn around, even though his voice was right behind her. “
Lydia
, it started out as an assignment, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you.”

Lydia
spun around. Her heart was racing. Not because of his loving words, but from his audacity. “How can I believe a word you say?” She walked to the door and pulled it open. “Did someone find out? Is that why you told me?”

Rick remained silent.

Lydia
closed her eyes. “Just get out.”

Rick walked to her and pushed the door shut. “You know in your heart that I’m telling you the truth. I know you love me too.”

Lydia
felt the fight leave her body. Her energy had been sucked right out of her. “I can’t believe that in one breath you tell me you lied and would have killed me and in the next you say you love me.”
Lydia
tilted her head. “Did you think that professing your love would make me forget all about the lie?”

Rick leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehand. “No, that wasn’t the reason I told you. I just needed you to know before I left.”

He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You deserve better, I just hope one day you can forgive me.”

He pulled the door open and walked out.

Lydia
fell to her knees. The tears she’d been holding back now ran down her face. She lifted her hand and covered her eyes. She hadn’t thought her life could get any more screwed up, but she’d been wrong. The one man she trusted, the one man who she’d risked her life for, had lied to her. And if that wasn’t enough, he loved her too. What was she supposed to do with that information?

Chapter 23

She didn’t know how long she stayed in that position. She didn’t have the energy to go to gun practice, but she knew that Briggs would be coming soon. Her phone vibrated on her hip. She pulled it out and looked down at the caller ID.
Emma.
She should have known.
Lydia
cleared her throat and dried her eyes then pulled off the best performance she’d ever given trying to convince her sister that everything was all right while she hid that her heart was breaking into a million pieces.

Lydia
replaced her phone and replayed the conversation with Rick for the millionth time, and it struck her like lightning to a tall tree.
Someone else knows
. Someone else was lying to her, and it was about time she found out who.
Lydia
hurried out of her room to Briggs’ door and pounded her fist against it. No answer.

The guards standing station outside her door watched her with a worried look in their eyes.
Lydia
narrowed hers. She absorbed the surrounding energy and tried her best to hold it in. The guards didn’t deserve her wrath. No, whoever else knew and hadn’t told her was going to be the recipient of a nice jolt.

Lydia
made her way to the dining hall. Screw the general’s orders to have someone accompany her. She felt like she could take on the world if it got in her way.
Lydia
pushed the dining hall doors with her mind, and they flew open. She found Briggs, Jaime, and Brody sitting at the opposite end of the room, all laughing as they sat eating their breakfast. She wondered if they’d all been in on Rick’s deceit.

She stormed over to the table and threw her palms down. The trays in front of each of them lifted from the table. “Which one of you knew?”

Briggs stood. “Knew what? What are you talking about?”

Jaime stood next to Briggs and placed her palm on
Lydia
’s arm.

“Don’t touch me.” She jerked her arm away. “Which one of you knew that Rick was lying to me?”

Briggs stepped in front of Jaime. “Just calm down,
Lydia
, and tell me what’s going on.”

She spun toward him. “Don’t you get it? I was his fucking mission. He lied about why he was here.”

Briggs took a step closer, and
Lydia
closed her eyes. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I don’t want to hurt you, Briggs.”

She opened her eyes. Briggs held up his palms. “You have to believe I didn’t know.”

Lydia
let out a breath. She knew that Briggs wouldn’t have betrayed her or her family. That left two. She turned toward Jaime and raised her brow.

Jaime held up her palms. “Don’t look at me. Rick and I have hardly been in the same room for more than a minute.”

It only took a second for
Lydia
to believe she spoke the truth. She turned toward Brody. His head was hung low.
No, not him too.
“Brody, tell me you didn’t know.”
Lydia
’s voice broke.

He raised his gaze to meet hers, and all she saw was pity looking back at her. He pushed from the table. “I knew he was hiding something, but I didn’t know what it was.” He held out a hand to her. “You have to believe me.”

Lydia
felt for the energy in her body. She narrowed her eyes and lifted Brody off the ground.

Briggs placed his palm on her arm. “Don’t.”

“Red, you know I can do that too,” Brody warned. “Put me down.”

Lydia
let him fall on his ass. He hit the concrete floor. He made no move to get up. She walked over to him and leaned down. “Stay the hell away from me.”

She spun on her heel and stomped out of the room back to her quarters, slamming the door shut behind her. How was she supposed to stay here? She couldn’t trust anyone.

Someone knocked on her door. She silently wished it was Rick and he was there to tell her it was a big joke. She pulled the door open, and her heart deflated again as she looked at Briggs.

“Grab your gear.”

She turned and poured a cup of coffee. “What are you talking about?”

He shut the door behind him. “Shooting practice.”

Lydia
let out a breath and lifted a hand to her heart. “Can’t we do it another day?”

Briggs grabbed her coffee thermos. He poured the rest of the pot into it. “Do you think that Floyd cares that you have a broken heart? Do you think that he’ll give you a day to rest to get over it?”

He took the mug from her hand and held it up to her lips. “He won’t, now drink up. If you want a
ny
possibility of getting the hell out of here, then we’re going to have to take the bastard down, and that means training you in something other than your gift.”

Lydia
’s mouth parted. The silent giant had never pushed her before. She understood what he was trying to say even if he didn’t come out and say it.
Put on your big girl panties and change things if you don’t like them.

“You’re a Bennett, for crying out loud. None of the Bennett women I know would let a broken heart stop them from removing a threat that could potentially affect their family.”

He was right. She knew he was. None of her sisters would succumb to depression over a man. No, they’d rise to the challenge to protect their family, and by god, she was one of them.
Lydia
downed her mug full of coffee and grabbed the thermos and the gun off the table. “Let’s go.”