You Only Love Twice (10 page)

“Tag, I’m going to ask you not to kill my cousin,” Simon
said calmly. “Let’s murder this one instead.” He had his hands on the one who
had captured him.

“Or we can kill them all,” Tag promised. “I think that might
be the best solution.”

“Is she your lover?” Jesse wasn’t so sure anyone had to die.
Ten seemed more like a desperate man than a leader trying to get back a team
member.

There was only the slightest movement of his eyes before he
replied. “It’s none of your business, Murdoch. Just produce her or I’ll kill
everyone you love.”

That one expression made him wonder. His eyes had rolled
back just slightly as though the question was too disgusting to answer. He
would have expected his eyes to flare or soften at the thought of his lover.

Only one way to find out. “I think I’ll keep her for myself.
She likes to talk during sex. I think if I just fuck her a couple more times,
I’ll probably figure out everything I need to know.”

“You raped her?” Ten’s face had gone a mottled red.

Again, that response didn’t feel like it was coming from a
man who was pissed someone had taken what was his. More like a man who had
something to protect, some responsibility he had to perform. And why would he
go straight to rape? Jesse decided to push it a little further. He really
wanted to see if the man would break. If he could get Ten to break, they would
have the advantage again—and the danger would be off Sean, who had a kid and
had left the business and should never have to deal with having a gun at his
head again. “I didn’t have to, man. She begged me for it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Tag asked, looking at him like he was
the dumbest of all asses.

But Ten dropped everything and charged.

Well, that answered one question. This was very personal for
Tennessee Smith, and he was about to get his ass kicked. He prayed he could
hold onto his sanity long enough to fight back.

* * * *

Phoebe heard the lock open with a satisfying snick. So her
skills weren’t as rusty as she’d thought. She’d made the torque wrench and pick
out of office supplies from Erin’s very sparse desk. The whole office looked
like no one was home. There were no pictures, no little knickknacks. Erin
Argent’s desktop was empty with the exception of a computer monitor and a
charging station for her cell phone. Inside the desk wasn’t better. Phoebe had
found gun oil and some cloths and a few office supplies, like the unopened box
of paper clips that had become Phoebe’s lock picking set. Other than that, it
looked like Erin lived like a Spartan.

She got the door open just as a loud bang shook through the
walls. She shrank back for a second before the acrid smell hit her nostrils.

Flashbang. Shit. She was going to kill her brother. That was
so much damn overkill. She was just about to run toward the lobby when she
heard a cry.

Oh, god. The babies. The babies were here and Phoebe had no
idea what Ten had told his men to do. Fear gripped her. She knew her brother
wouldn’t ever take an innocent life but bad shit happened in the middle of
battle. The idea that any of those precious babies could be lost made her sick,
forced her feet to run toward that sound. She ran past the kitchen, catching
the barest glimpse of Sean Taggart there. If he was worried, it didn’t show.
His head was down and he was cutting something in that quick manner chefs used.

Another cry pulled Phoebe away. It was a high-pitched little
baby wail. She started to turn the corner when she heard a man talking. British
accent. Simon Weston.

“I’m moving. You don’t have to get rough. Just leave the
children alone,” Weston was saying in a perfectly reasonable voice.

Phoebe glanced around the corner just in time to see
Charlotte Taggart start after the big guy who had Weston.

Phoebe slipped down the hall and into the room they had just
come from. Avery, Grace, and Serena were huddled in the back corner with the
children while Eve leveled a gun at Phoebe’s head.

Phoebe could have had it out of her hands in about two point
three seconds, but she wasn’t here to fight. “Is everyone all right? Please
tell me they didn’t hurt the babies.”

Eve stared for a moment and then lowered the gun. “We’re
fine. I don’t know where the others are. Charlotte is following Simon. I
couldn’t stop her. If anything happens to her…”

“It’s my fault. I know. Just barricade the door. They don’t
want to hurt anyone. They just want to get me and go.”

“Then you should really go,” Eve replied with icy eyes.

Tears formed as she realized this was her good-bye. Coldness
from a woman she’d come to trust, but Phoebe was smart enough to know that a
person rarely got a second chance. The old Phoebe—the one before Jamie and Ten,
the one before Jesse—would have flipped her the bird and told her to fuck off.
It was best to hide pain behind pure disrespect. But this Phoebe was still so raw.

She simply nodded and looked at the women she’d belonged
with for such a brief time. She’d never had female friends before. They’d
become quite precious to her. “Take care of those babies. And Eve, I know
you’re scared, but you’re going to be such a good mom. That baby boy…he’s so
lucky.”

She started to leave but then felt a hand on her elbow. When
she turned, Eve pulled her in for a hug.

“You stay safe, Phoebe. You know that woman you became while
you were here, she was always inside you,” Eve whispered. “You don’t have to
lose her. Well, maybe some of the klutziness, but you don’t have to lose the
core of her.”

The core of Phoebe Graham had been a woman who helped the
people around her, who gave and gave and rarely requested anything back. When
she went back into her brother’s world, it would be different. She would sink
back into the personality she’d developed over years of service to the Agency.
She would guard herself, her emotions.

It struck her that the year she’d spent at McKay-Taggart had
been precious. It had been the first time in her life that she’d really made
friends. Jamie and Ten didn’t count. From the moment she’d met them, they’d
felt like family, and a very exclusive one. Their father had taught them to
trust no one outside the family, to let no one else in. They only had each
other, but for a brief time, Phoebe had Eve and Serena and Grace and the
others.

It had been nice to have a little community to help take
care of.

Grace stepped up and there were tears in her eyes. “Go on,
sweetie. I’m worried they’ll kill each other.”

She shook her head. “Te…the man who’s coming to get me
wouldn’t really kill anyone. This is his version of shock and awe. He won’t use
deadly force.”

“Yeah, well, no one told Ian, and whoever is out there is
about to get Ian’s version,” Serena said. “And he will definitely be looking to
kill someone.”

Shit. Ten was going to get everyone killed. Without another
word she turned and raced down the hall. She had to hurdle over a body encased
in a familiar black uniform. The big man had been dumped in front of the break
room. She didn’t see blood, but that didn’t mean one of her brother’s men
wasn’t dead. The minute the McKay-Taggart men figured out they were in trouble,
they would use any and all means to deal with the situation.

“Are you kidding me?”

Frustration dripped from Ian Taggart’s tone as she
approached the lobby.

And then she heard a hard thud and a sound that could only
be fists hitting a body.

“Stop it!” She simply yelled the words as she entered the
room. It didn’t matter who was fighting. It had to stop. They were supposed to
be allies and she’d ruined that, too.

It was worse than she’d imagined. Everywhere she looked
someone was pointing a gun at someone else or had Phoebe’s friends on their
backs. And the worst was the ball of rage that seemed to be made up of her
brother and Jesse.

So much for keeping his cover. His mask was off and she
could see the rage on his face. “Tennessee! Stop it!”

He punched out, twisting and turning with Jesse as they both
seemed intent on killing the other.

“Charlie, get the fuck out of here,” Big Tag commanded. “Do
you have any idea what kind of trouble you’re in? Dean, could you secure the
package better than Jesse did?”

Phoebe squared off against Jake Dean because she wasn’t
about to get locked in another office. “He could try, but I swear I’ll take out
his balls this time. Remember what I did to your hand, Dean? Back off. Come on,
Taggart. You know who I work for. Now can we try to keep those two from killing
each other?”

“You’re not going to run?” Taggart still had a hold on
Malone.

“There’s no reason to anymore,” she explained with a huff.
“I was trying to protect that dumbass in there.”

“Which one?”

She was just about done with Taggart. “My brother, you
idiot. I’m serious. The best thing to come out of my cover being blown all to
hell is the fact that I can have a serious talk with you about how you treat
Jesse. He’s not stupid. He’s smart. He’s way fucking smarter than you since he
knew all along I was working for Ten.”

“Your brother?” Tag’s hand came down as he released Malone.
“Ten is your brother?”

Yeah, she probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. “Not by
blood, but he’s my brother all the same. And he’s being a moron.” She looked
back over to where Ten and Jesse were. Jesse had caught sight of her and he
turned her way. That gave Ten just the distraction he needed. He charged at
Jesse. “Stop it! All of you.”

Ten got Jesse on his back. “You think you can play around,
you little shit? You think you can fuck around with her? You’re going to learn
how we do things in my house.” He punched Jesse right in the face.

Jesse’s eyes went slightly glassy.

Tag shoved Malone out of the way and holstered his weapon.
“Ten, get the fuck off him. He doesn’t like being on his back. It’s a trigger.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t like a lot of things.” Ten reared back.
“I’m taking this fucker with me. I’m renditioning him. I have some questions I
can’t ask on American soil. Malone, tell Ace to fire up the chopper. How about
we head to the Middle East, Murdoch? I know you love it there.”

“You leave him alone.” She walked right up to her brother
and started to push him off, but Taggart caught her around her waist and hauled
her back.

“Don’t. He’s dangerous,” Taggart said. “Do you see that
light in his eyes? He’s not with us anymore.”

Sure enough, Jesse started to fight, but not in the
controlled way soldiers did. He thrashed, bucking Ten off him and rolling to
his knees. He looked up at Ten, snarling like an animal.

“Everyone move back,” Taggart said in a calm voice. “Si, if
you can work some magic here, I would appreciate it.”

“You’re being a little overdramatic,” Case Taggart said with
a roll of his eyes. “Step back, boss. I’ll handle him.”

Before anyone could say a thing, Case stepped close to Jesse
and Jesse pounced. He was on the bigger man, wrapping his hands around Case’s
throat and saying something in a foreign language. Phoebe didn’t speak any of
the Middle Eastern languages. She’d concentrated on Chinese and Korean and all
the subdialects.

“Jesse!” She called out for him when Ten jumped back in.

“You’re making things worse,” Weston growled.

“What’s he saying?” Phoebe winced as Ten got Jesse in a
chokehold. At least it would be over soon.

Or not. Jesse managed to move his head and catch Ten’s arm,
biting down enough to draw blood. Ten shouted and dropped back.

“He’s saying he’d rather die,” Taggart explained. “He’d
rather die than go back to being a dog. Someone’s dog. I don’t know all the
words. It’s been a long time.”

“Charlotte, will you talk to him? Chelsea was able to talk
him down last time,” Weston explained as Jesse turned on Ten.

Case started to walk up behind him, holding the butt of his
rifle up.

“Stop!” Phoebe used her most authoritative voice and pointed
a finger at Case. The man wouldn’t know subtlety if it bit him in the ass. “If
you hurt him, I will make sure your next assignment is in the ass end of
Africa. You’ll be pulling the leeches off your dick on a daily basis. Do you
understand me? Charlotte, stand back. I’ll do it. He’s my responsibility.”

It had been right there on the tip of her tongue to say
“he’s mine.” Every time someone questioned her rights to him, her damn alpha
girl seemed to come out. She had to watch it because he wasn’t hers. However,
she’d gotten him into this position and she would be the one to get him out.

Taggart released her. “Be careful. He really does go a
little crazy when he’s in this state.”

Ten and Case stood ten feet from Jesse like he was a
dangerous lion they didn’t want to touch but couldn’t let get away because he
might eat all the villagers. The only good news was everyone seemed to have
stopped fighting. They were too busy watching what was going on with Jesse.

“Phoebe, get back. That’s an order,” Ten commanded.

She’d never been really good at taking orders. It was easier
to ignore Ten than to argue with him. “Jesse, it’s me. It’s Phoebe.”

“Softly,” Weston explained. “He’ll respond to the feminine
side, not to someone in charge. Make yourself vulnerable to him. It worked
before with Chelsea and he has a deeper connection with you. Let him hear the
Phoebe he cares about.”

He didn’t look anything like the Jesse she knew so well. His
eyes were wild, sweat covering his brow though it was nice and cool in the
office. It was the blood on his mouth that completed the transformation.

Still, she didn’t hesitate.

“Hey, Jesse.” She moved toward him and he backed up, looking
between the men.

“Damn it, Phoebe. Get back,” Ten ordered.

“You get back, Ten. You got us in this situation. I have to
get us out,” she argued Ten’s way.