Silver Fire (Guardians) (33 page)

Apparently Justin Bishop had no intention of releasing Dr. Leroux. Stoltz’s lips curled in disgust. The perverted man had tried to rape the poor girl and had gotten himself killed in the process. This information was relayed to him by his inside man, Stan Morgan. It was fortunate he had sent Morgan to shadow Bishop and function as a backup. Bishop and Opperman had proven to be invaluable to his operations, but something about Bishop always made him uneasy.

His man Morgan was a transporter. He moved things from A to B, no questions asked. If Blackstone had not provided him with Yuri Demko, that would have been a big problem because Dr. Leroux would have been a means to an end, and Stoltz would have no problem taking the nuclear scientist by force. Stoltz wondered if Morgan transported people too. Somehow, he doubted it because the man had a twisted sense of morality.

 
Exhaling deeply, he focused his attention back on the plane as the steps were lowered. Some of his private military contractors stepped off, the fourth person out was Morgan carrying two metallic suitcases. The person behind him was Yuri Demko, on loan from Blackstone International, lugging a third suitcase and a small briefcase.

The two men stopped in front of him.

“Demko, Morgan, good to see you both,” Stoltz nodded briefly.

“All three devices delivered as promised, Mr. Stoltz,” Morgan said.
 

Demko lowered the suitcase and handed the briefcase to him. “The Leroux research.”

“We brought whatever equipment we could fit on the plane,” Morgan stated. “The rest had to be destroyed at the take-off site.”

Stoltz shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. It would be a while before we could build another of these bombs. Opperman has warned me that the spooks at the CIA are sniffing around.”

Morgan nodded. “This is it then. Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Stoltz.”

“Are you sure you do not want to stay on for the next phase? I need men with your skills,” Stoltz said.

“I’m just a transporter, sir,” Morgan replied quietly.

“Shame. Well, if you change your mind.”

Stan Morgan nodded and walked over to where their personal belongings were being unloaded, grabbed his bags and left.

Turning to Yuri Demko, Damian said, “It’s a shame we had to pull out immediately from the barn-lab. With Dr. Leroux present, we could have verified everything quickly.”

Demko shifted uncomfortably. “Bishop treated the women poorly.”

“Yes, that was unfortunate,” Damian said. “But it’s done. And the sooner you and Blackstone get over what had happened because of Justin Bishop, the better. We have work to do. The mines of Lesotho are waiting.”

***

They brought Beth home after two days in the hospital. Sophie had wanted to stay with her at Stephen’s house, but Derek was unrelenting about having her stay overnight in a place where no solid security was installed. The threat from Justin Bishop was over and intel indicated that Damian Stoltz was in possession of three zefinium bomb devices and had no further interest in Sophie, but Derek had not recovered emotionally from her kidnapping. Though he was probably smothering her with his overprotectiveness, he did not give a fuck.
 

Derek watched Sophie fawn over her friend, who was tucked in the recliner in the living room. Stephen ordered pizza for everyone. Despite Sophie saying that everything was okay between her and Beth, he sensed an underlying tension between them. And Sophie’s solicitousness hinted at a guilt that would not go away.
 

 
After the initial awkwardness of sleeping in the same bed together that first night, Derek and Sophie slowly worked their way back to a warm intimacy. He had not pushed her further than heavy kissing. Derek was even hesitant to touch her breasts. Sophie was making it hard for him to retain his self-control with the way she squirmed against him when they kissed. She clearly wanted more, but until he knew what damage Bishop had done, he wasn’t going to risk further intimacy. Grabbing a couple of beers from the refrigerator, he sighed as he remembered their conversation the night before.

They had been watching a romantic comedy on TV when he noticed Sophie had a weird look on her face. As if she was disgusted with herself.

“What’s wrong, Angel?”

“I couldn’t get Justin out of my mind.”

That hit Derek right in his solar plexus. But instead of blowing up at her, he calmly asked her to elaborate.

“It’s the most unsettling feeling. He looked at me as if I’ve betrayed him when I stabbed him with the screwdriver.”

“You’re wondering if you’ve developed Stockholm all over again,” Derek said tightly.

“Absolutely not. It’s just that he wanted me to feel something for him,” Sophie explained. “To...to love him.”

“He had an odd way of showing it. He hit you,” Derek said furiously. He had noticed the bruise on her face after she had showered that first night she was back. He just stroked the bluish mark but did not ask her how she got it.
 

“Derek, I know I shouldn’t feel guilty. I am relieved he is gone, but having him bleed all over me is messing with my head. He was about to...he was about to...” Sophie broke off, her breath hitching.

“He was about to what, Sophie?” Derek prodded gently.

“You could say I premeditated his end,” Sophie continued. “I was so freaked out the first day he had me strip in front of him.”

Rage thrummed through his veins as he listened to Sophie telling him how Bishop had molested her.
 

“Derek,” Sophie asked nervously. “Should I stop? You look a bit—”

“I feel like killing Bishop all over again, but I’m fine,” Derek replied tersely. “Sophie, I’d rather you tell me everything and get it out of your system.”

Huffing deeply, Sophie continued without looking at him. “He hit me when I scratched his face. Before I knew it, he had my shorts and underwear off.” Sophie paused. “Ow, Derek, you’re squeezing my hand too tight.”

He had not even realized he was gripping her hand. He loosened his hold and grunted, “Go on.”

“He kissed me. He begged me to kiss him back and to love him. I did not want him inside me.” Sophie closed her eyes briefly. “I distracted him by pretending I was responding to him. He was about to take me when I stabbed him. It was too sick, everything was so sick.”

It was. Derek felt bile rise to his throat at the thought that Bishop had nearly violated Sophie in the worst possible way. He had a hunch something like that had happened, but actually hearing her tell the story was too much for him to hold in. Derek stood up—at first he just paced around the living room to get a grip on his fury, but even Sophie’s soothing voice was not enough to calm the raging inferno of anger inside him. He punched the wall twice, putting two holes into the dry wall. He stopped only when Sophie ran to him and embraced him from behind, telling him in that sweet, melodious voice of hers that:
she was fine, she was fine
.
That she was with him now.
 

Derek snapped back to the present and sighed again. Yes, that was slick, Lockwood, he berated himself. Sophie had been comforting him last night when he should have been tending to her. Sophie wasn’t one who liked cuddling much in bed, but feeling the need to soothe him, she let him hold her all night. They were a tangle of limbs, her leg in between his, her face buried under his chin, her front flushed with his. When she pulled away this morning, he heard her groan when they were all sweaty in between.
 

“Sophie’s all mama hen,” Stephen interrupted his thoughts. “Quite a role reversal.”

“Yeah.”

“How are you holding up?”

Derek snorted. “What do you mean? I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh,” Stephen replied, eyeing him shrewdly. “Our Sophie has been through a lot. When I saw you at the hospital, you looked like a man who had been to hell and back. You’re not looking much better today. Less dark circles under your eyes, but something is still bugging you. Heck, Sophie looks more refreshed than you do.”

“Some issues I need to deal with on my own,” Derek replied gruffly.

“You’re blaming yourself for what happened?”
 

Derek did not answer.

“Or is being with Sophie too complicated for you?”
 

“Fuck no. Hell no,” Derek said with conviction. “Stephen, I’m an overprotective son of a bitch and if someone I care about gets kidnapped, molested and almost raped, that fucks with my head and it’ll take me some time to get over it, but I will. I’m having difficulty adjusting to a situation where I can’t be as easygoing as I used to be. With Sophie, nothing is easy. She’s damned complicated, not only in her past, but her life is shit right now. But I’m willing to work for it, work for making her life less complicated, slay her demons—”

“Have you told her you love her?”

“No.” Derek huffed in irritation. Was that how he appeared to everyone? A lovesick fool? “Not any good time lately after everything that had gone down.”

“I don’t know, Derek,” Stephen replied sagely. “Maybe now is the best time to tell her.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Derek waited in the car while Sophie ran into the DC Tattler building where Beth worked. It had been a week since he got her back. Most of Sophie’s focus was getting Beth back to normal, and it had not taken long for the feisty reporter to return to work. Maybe now Sophie could give him some attention. Not that he was complaining. Sophie was in his bed every night and after that blowup he had a few days ago where he redecorated the wall of his condo, they had eased into a companionable relationship. Oh, there was plenty of sexual tension, and he had a feeling they were each waiting for the other to make the first move, but Derek wanted Sophie to have the power to dictate when they had sex again. The choice had been taken from her once and had been nearly taken away from her again—Derek was giving her control.
 

The truth was, even without sex, Derek enjoyed being with Sophie immensely. He loved her intelligence, he loved teasing her—she was easily flustered especially when he and Beth devolved into their less than politically correct conversations. He loved how her gray eyes squinted at him when she was annoyed at him.
 

He.

Just.
 

Loved.
 

Her.
 

And he loved how she would cuddle up to him so trustingly now, just folding her svelte frame on his lap and snuggling close.
 

Yes, he was not easygoing when it came to Sophie. He had never felt so ferociously protective of anyone in his life. He didn’t know if it was because of all the danger she had inadvertently embroiled herself in or because he had found someone he wanted to keep forever. He was afraid of anything that would hurt her or take her from him. He knew he was being irrational, but he had seen this behavior before in the way Jack was with Maia, and Derek completely understood it now.

He tapped the steering wheel impatiently. He felt uneasy whenever she was out of his sight. He knew this paranoia would eventually fade, but her kidnapping was still too recent and there was still the matter of the zee bombs. He had stopped at AGS a couple of times this week whenever Sophie was visiting with Beth, and she had not wanted him around. Viktor had told him they identified the location of the zee bombs along with the intended targets and were very close to having a strategy in place. The CIA was assembling a team of Guardians and their own paramilitary. Derek was going in as a specialist, working with the person assigned to deactivate the bomb. Tactical exercises should begin in the next week or so.
 

The CIA had caught chatter that the attack would be imminent in the next two weeks. Damian Stoltz was purposely appearing in public events in Johannesburg to throw off their spooks and show that he was business as usual and had not done anything warranting suspicion. But there were intercepted transmissions that indicated that yes, the bombing would be happening soon.

The passenger door opened as Sophie got into the SUV.
 

“Beth all good?”

“She’s fantastic! I think she’s more herself now,” Sophie said, her eyes sparkling. “I think all those drugs made her depressed. But now she’s on to her next assignment.”

Derek snorted. “She writes gossip.”

Sophie glared at him.
Yes, she’s adorable even when she’s pissed at him
, Derek thought as he maneuvered their vehicle into traffic.

“She also writes for DC Voice,” Sophie informed him smugly. “She uses a pseudonym.”

“What? That political propaganda bullshit?”

“It’s not bullshit,” Sophie retorted. “It keeps the politicians on their toes.”

“It’s subversive and anti-government,” Derek scoffed. “No wonder she uses a pseudonym, what with the libelous garbage they print.”

Her jaw jutted out stubbornly, but she did not say anything and looked out the window instead.

Derek grinned and reached out to touch her chin, but she pulled away. “Hey.” His grin turned into chuckle. “Angel, I was just teasing.”

“You’re a dickhead!” Sophie muttered.

“You’re just so cute when you get riled.” He was looking at the road, but he could tell she rolled her eyes. “So you’re up for a movie, baby?”

“We just went out to dinner last night,” Sophie reminded him. “Is this date-Sophie-to-death week?”

“Nah, I just like spoiling you,” Derek said. Shit. He felt his heart twitch when he said that. He was gone for her, this beautiful woman with silver-gray eyes.

“Yes, I would love to watch a movie,” Sophie said. “I want a bucket of popcorn.”

“You got it, Angel.”

***

“That movie was horrible,” Sophie declared when they got back to the condo. The movie they watched had received mixed reviews and starred an aging Hollywood actor who had a string of blockbusters of that particular franchise. But as far as she was concerned, he needed to quit while he was ahead. The previous one was really good. This was plain ripped-off, overly-used plot and all.

“No it wasn’t,” Derek said. “That car chase was incredibly high-octane.”