Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (123 page)

He sat against the wall, facing out, and pulled out a knife. The walls of the Mayan ruins felt like they were closing in on me as I watched him sharpen it. The light was starting to finally fade, but I could still make out the outline of the soldiers patrolling the ancient stone steps, waiting.

Waiting for anyone who might be on their way to rescue me.

From trouble. Again.

If I ever made it out of here, I was going to be in some trouble with my husband.

Again.

My captor sniffed in disgust. “Americans,” he said, watching his blade. “I wish our countries were further apart—you annoy me. Always pretending to be helpful and to do the right thing, when all you really do is buy our cheap goods and our drugs and then blame us for ruining this part of the continent. Hypocrites.” He spat. “You and your hybrid cars and your McDonalds. You make no sense. You think
our
country’s a mess? Huh?”

He worked on making his knife sharper.

I wasn’t sure why he was doing that, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to find out.

Still, that didn’t stop me from opening up my big mouth. “Um…sir?” I asked. “I don’t personally buy your country’s cheap goods or drugs. And I don’t blame your country for our continent’s problems. Although I would probably have second thoughts about vacationing here again. But the ruins are fabulous.”

He looked up from his knife with a furrowed brow and scowled at me.

I gulped. “I’m just saying. Sir.” Sometimes, as in most of the time, I didn’t shut my mouth when I really should.

“You know what else I don’t like about Americans?” he asked.

I shook my head.
No.
But I had a bad feeling I was about to find out.

“They think everyone’s entitled to an opinion,” he said, and the last thing I saw was his rather large, dirty fist, on its way to punching me out.

MATTHEW

There were trees just to the edge of the plaza; we stopped there and surveyed our surroundings. A giant pyramid rose up in front of us, crumbling stairs leading to the tower, where there was a small, enclosed temple. I could see three guards patrolling the perimeter of the esplanade.

“I’m sure we’re woefully outnumbered,” John said calmly. “Not that that’s ever stopped us before.”

“Where do you think we should go in?” I asked. There were other ruins and temples spread out on the esplanade, around the large pyramid, but I was pretty sure Ramirez’s men were already infesting all of those places.

“I think he’s got them up there. In
El Castillo
,” John said, pointing to the top of the enormous pyramid before us. “That would be the safest vantage point for him. He can see everything. Plus, it would be nearly impossible for us to get up there without getting shot.”

Just then we heard yelling—the voice was female. It was Liberty. I couldn’t make out her words, but I knew it was her.
But where was Mer?
There was more yelling, some coming from Liberty and some from a man. I couldn’t understand anything; the guards were running for the pyramid, their guns out, ready to shoot. My heart was thudding so hard I felt it in my head.
No,
I thought,
no, no, no.

Because this couldn’t be the end.

“Let’s go,” John said, taking advantage of the fact that the men were moving towards the other side, out of sight. “Cover me.”

I watched for a moment as he ran from the trees to the pyramid in plain sight. And then I followed him, my head still pounding. I was aching inside; it was as if I could feel Meredith near me. But she was woefully out of reach. We leaned against the stones, breathing hard from our sprint.

“We have to go up to the top,” John said, motioning to the steep incline. “One of us, alone. There are stairs on each side. These ones don’t look they’re our best bet. Let’s go around the side,” he said, motioning to the opposite way the guards had gone. We crept around the pyramid, warily watching the ruins for signs of Ramirez’s men.

And that’s when I saw her. Just a glimpse. She was sprinting down the path, a machine gun clutched awkwardly in her hands.

I was about to scream her name when John put his hand over my mouth. He knew me too well. “We have to get them both out,” he said quietly. “My wife’s still here.”

I nodded, and he removed his hand. “Now go follow her. I’ll cover you.”

“No,” I said, my jaw clenching. “Let’s get Liberty first.”

John’s blue eyes opened in surprise. “I can do it myself. Go get your wife.”

“Oh, I will,” I said and checked my gun. “Right after we get yours.”

LIBERTY

It was like there was someone talking to me, but I couldn’t really understand.

It must be John. He probably wanted me to get up and go running or something annoying like that.

Just get me a coffee,
I thought grumpily.
Stop talking.

Babe,
he said,
wake up.

“Coffee,” I mumbled, trying to roll over. My head hurt. Bad. Did I have a hangover? John had bought a case of this really good wine, and maybe I’d had too much…

“Babe,” he said. “I’m going to pick you up and carry you down.” He lifted me gently.

“Am I drunk?” I mumbled. My head was throbbing. “Did I pass out?” I was so embarrassed. John always said I was a cheap date.

“You got knocked out,” Matthew said.

Matthew.
Hearing his voice made me think of something. Something bad, but I couldn’t remember just what. “I got so drunk somebody knocked me out?”

I heard John grunt under my weight as we moved. It felt like we were going down a long flight of stairs. That almost made me remember something, too, but it was unpleasant. It made a sour taste come into my mouth.

I opened one eye and then promptly shut it again, wishing I hadn’t. It was steep, stone stairs. Too steep.

And then suddenly, everything came back to me in a rush. Mexico. The Mayan ruins. Meredith. Ramirez, punching me out.

“Where is Ramirez? Why is it so quiet? Where’s Mer?” I yelled. “Oh my God, did you get Mer yet? Please tell me she’s safe! Please tell me—”

“We haven’t gotten her yet,” Matthew said, and I could hear the brittle strain in his voice. “But we saw her. We’re headed to her, now.”

“Why aren’t they shooting us?” I asked, keeping my eyes scrunched tight.

“We, uh…knocked a lot of them out,” John said.

“Knocked them out or killed them?” I asked.

“Babe. Just keep your eyes closed. Let’s get out of here.”

“What about Ramirez?” I asked.

“Oh, he’s alive,” John said. “I stole some handcuffs and left him attached to a pillar up there. That should be an interesting experience for him. Oh, and I punched him out. An eye for an eye, and all that.” His breath was coming in labored grunts.

“An eye for an eye is what got us into trouble in the first place,” I said.

“I know. I told him I was sorry about his wife. Right before I punched him out,” John said.

“I love you, babe,” I said, keeping my eyes shut tight.

***

The parking lot was still deserted. John set me down gently, and I looked up at him: he looked exhausted and worried, but he also looked relieved. I threw my arms around his neck, and he grabbed my hips, pulling me to him.

“I love that you’re brave, but I hate it when you try to be heroic,” he said and pressed his lips against my forehead.

Relief and yearning flowed through me at his touch, followed closely by panic. “I’m not a hero unless we can find Mer. Right now,” I said. I could see Matthew scanning the parking lot, his jaw clenched. He looked positively sick. I pulled back from my husband even though every part of me objected to that—I just wanted to burrow into his chest and wrap his strong, powerful arms around me—but we had to find her.

“The welcome center,” I said and started running towards the low building.

“Let me,” Matthew said. He cut in front of me and headed towards the building at a dead sprint, dust kicking up behind him.

He reached it and turned back to look at us quickly. John pulled out his gun and went to guard the entrance to the path. I stood there helplessly as Matthew went through the door.

MATTHEW

“Mer?” I called. It wasn’t until then that I heard the tears in my voice. I wiped my face—tears were, in fact, running down my face.

I’d been shot, stabbed, and tortured, but I’d only cried twice in my adult life. The day each one of my kids was born.

“Mer. It’s me,” I said. I held my breath. She had to be alive. My wife’s life wasn’t meant to end like this. She was light and goodness. She was a mom, and she was my whole life. I knew in my heart, right then, that I would give up everything else just to be with her.

If only I got the chance.

Then I heard something, some sort of movement from back behind one of the desks in the dark room. I made sure my gun was ready.

But then I saw a familiar hand, followed by another one, on top of the desk. And she pulled herself wearily up. “Some vacation,” she said, snorting.

And then she looked at me and burst out laughing, and then she was crying, all at the same time.

I rushed to her and swooped her into my arms, crushing her against me. I had to push both her gun and mine to the side. I couldn’t even talk. I just cried, too. She looked up at me through her own tears, and I could see the surprise on her face.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I said. It came out muffled and wet against her shoulder.

“Ohmygod I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again,” she said. She was shaking. “Do you have Liberty?” I could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

“Yeah, she’s outside—”

Mer didn’t even wait for me to finish. She ran out of the building and smacked right into Liberty, pulling her into her arms and rocking her back and forth.

“I’m sorry I said mean things to you,” she said, sobbing. “You were so brave. Thank you for saving me.”

I saw Liberty’s face break into a surprised smile. “No problem,” Liberty said. Her voice sounded super-casual, but I could see the real happiness on her face.

Meredith pulled back. “Now let’s get the hell out of here. Is everyone armed?”

“Yeah, babe. You can give me your gun back.” I went to reach for it.

Meredith took a step back. “Oh,
hell
no,” she said and tucked the machine gun in at her side. “I may need this.”

“For what?” I asked her. “We’re all armed.”

“I’m keeping it,” she said, patting it.

I winced—I didn’t like her having that thing so close to her. “Why?” I asked.

“Because big guns help.” She beamed at Liberty. “A very wise friend taught me that.”

I frowned at Mer, just a little, and then decided that I didn’t care if she wanted to keep her gun for now. I was just so glad she was safe.

“How’re we going to get out of here?” Liberty asked, looking at John. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her close as we walked through the parking lot, towards the road.

“I have no idea,” he admitted.

“We have these,” Mer said, holding up her gun. I winced again, wanting to grab it from her—I didn’t want her to hurt herself—but I stopped. She knew how to fire a gun, and she’d gotten free from a very large number of heavily armed soldiers, without any help from me.

“So?” I asked, watching her face.

“So,” she said, wielding her gun, “I think we’ll manage to find a ride.”

***

Even though it was far from the smartest move, Liberty insisted that we go back to the resort. After we “hitched” a ride from a local in a truck—and when I say hitched, I mean we waved him over with our machine guns and he very agreeably drove us back to the resort—we stood on the sidewalk outside of the Estrella Maya.

“It’s so gorgeous,” Mer said, looking up at the soaring hotel. The stars were out now, twinkling above the building. “And we didn’t even have a chance to enjoy it.”

“We still owe you a vacation. Obviously,” John said, grinning at me.

“No thanks,” I said quickly.

“We’re good,” Mer said at the same time.

“We have to go see if Leo’s still in that closet,” Liberty said to John. “And get all of our stuff.”

John took out his phone and started texting. “I’ll get us on a flight as soon as I can.” He turned back to us. “I”m sure you want to get home as soon as possible.”

“I definitely need a vacation from my vacation,” I admitted.

***

Liberty made sure that Leo was brought to a hospital. We got into and out of the resort in record time—thanks in large part to the fact that we were clearly armed and dangerous.

“You never saw us,” I said to a group of workers who watched us warily.

One of the men raised his hands in surrender. “I never wanted to see you, anyway,” he said.

“Fair enough,” I said. The few resort guests that saw us, with our luggage and our machine guns, quickly grabbed their cocktails and fled for their rooms.

Once we were safely on the plane, I threw my arm around my wife’s shoulder. We were both sweaty and disheveled. Mer’s mascara had spread to various parts of her face, and I had dirt all over my shorts. Neither one of us did a thing about it, except order Bloody Marys.

“Longest. Day. Ever,” Meredith said and had a very large sip of her drink.

“Where…do you want to go on our next vacation?” I asked, grinning at her.

“A Ramada. In Miami,” she said, grinning back. “Or maybe a staycation would be good.”

“Yeah,” I said, leaning back. “A staycation might be just the thing. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

“Me too, babe,” Meredith said and put her hand on my leg. “Me too.”

In the end, we hadn’t sent them on another vacation.

We built them a house instead.

“You can’t do this,” Mer said, walking around the immaculate cape-style home, her fingers brushing the fabric of the chairs and the couch.

“It’s done. And it’s not a big deal,” I said and shrugged. “Do you…like it?” I’d been so excited to show her the house, I’d been on pins and needles.

“Liberty, are you crazy?” she asked. She rushed over to me and threw her arms around my neck. “It’s gorgeous. It’s the nicest house I’ve ever been in. Except for yours, and yours isn’t even a house. It’s a mansion.”