Quick & Dangerous, page 21
Digging her nails into the palms of her hands until they made painful little half-moon trenches, she spun back around to face him. “All right, then, well, safe flight. Thanks again for getting me to my brothers.” Her breath blew out in a ragged shake. She had to get out of there before she lost it. “I’ll … see you around.” Oh God, how cliché.
She was out the door and back down the path as fast as her legs could carry her. She could go back to her family and let their love wash over her and take away the pain, or she could go to her own villa and cry until she fell asleep.
Her head hit the pillow two minutes later, and then the tears came.
How could she have been so foolish … again?
She’d given her heart to the wrong man once again, only this time, instead of getting her tangled up with a drug cartel and crime family, he’d shown her what a good man looks like, helped her trust again. Then he took her heart and crumpled it up in his big meaty fist and tossed it into the rubbish bin like it was a candy wrapper.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been crying, but when a knock came at her door, she discovered it was dark outside. The breeze lifted the drapes and carried the faint sound of the dance music from the lounge.
Prying herself up off her bed, she wiped at her eyes and straightened her dress. She probably looked like a godawful mess. Well, who the fuck cared? She was a godawful mess.
“Skyler?” called a female voice from behind the door. “You in there?”
Skyler opened the door to find her three sisters-in-law standing there with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“Figured you needed some girl time,” Heather said, pushing her way inside. Parker and Silver followed her. They made their way out to the veranda, and Heather made quick work of the cork, pouring two glasses and handing one to Skyler. “We’re the only two who can drink, so cheers.” She clinked her glass with Skyler’s without waiting for a response, then took a sip.
“So,” Parker said, taking a seat accompanied by a pregnant lady groan, “what the hell just happened?”
“Right,” Silver agreed, taking a seat in the hammock, her round belly peeking up over the sides like a beachball-shaped mountain. “Dish.”
Skyler took a seat across from Heather at the table and took a sip of her wine. “I honestly have no idea.”
“One minute we were all chatting around the table, getting to know our new sister, and the next minute Rob is gone and you’re scampering after him, then we never see either of you again,” Heather said, pulling the bottle of wine toward her and reading the label. “Shiiit, this is a good vintage.” She glanced at Parker. “Does Tate know you took the good stuff?”
Parker’s smile was sly and knowing. “What Tate doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Besides, Skyler deserves the good shit.”
Heather’s eyes went buggy. “This is good good shit.”
“Back to the topic at hand,” Silver said, rubbing her belly and kicking herself off to a gentle sway in the hammock. “What happened between you and Rob? Did you guys go off and have sex? Because that’s what we all thought. Took all three of us to calm your brothers down.”
Skyler made a face. “Why?”
“Because they’re alpha-holes who are uber protective of the women they love,” Heather said with an eye roll.
“And they didn’t want to picture their baby sister getting pounded from here to Kingdom Come by that hot hunk of SEAL meat,” Silver added.
“Down, girl,” Parker said with a laugh.
Silver fanned herself. “I can’t help it. It’s the hormones.”
“Lucky Warren,” Heather replied as she faced Skyler again. “You guys didn’t run off and have crazy sex?”
Skyler shook her head. “No. I ran after him. He was still on the phone. Then I followed him back to his villa and watched him pack. He’s either gone by now or arranging a flight out tomorrow.”
All three women’s faces were the exact same—utter confusion.
“What?”
“Why?”
“What the fuck?”
Skyler lifted her shoulder and drank more wine. “Said he had another mission and then he was headed home to Texas to the family ranch to help his parents.”
“And not so much as a see you later, thanks for the fuck?” Parker asked.
Skyler shook her head. “Nope.”
“Wow!” Heather shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so wrong about a first impression in my life. I thought he was a keeper.”
So did Skyler.
“Did he say what his mission was?” Silver asked.
“No.” She hated lying to her new sisters, but she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to know the truth. Rob hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with the details of his new mission. Did he know she’d overheard him?
“Did you ask him to come back here, to you?” Heather asked.
“No.”
“He doesn’t know that you’re madly in love with him, want to have his babies and raise them naked on the beach like you’re part of the cast of The Blue Lagoon?” Parker asked.
“No.”
Rob may not want babies. He’s afraid of them.
But she couldn’t say that out loud. Her new family was swimming with children and babies, and it wasn’t her place to tell them about Rob’s demons. He’d trusted her with his past, with what haunted him, and as much as she was hurting, she wouldn’t break his trust.
“Well, then go tell him!” Silver urged. She stopped her hammock and planted her feet on the ground. Her big, beautiful belly touched her knees, and she made another pregnant lady noise when she pushed herself back up to standing. “It’s the twenty-first century. You’re a woman who’s lived more than a lot of us. Act like that tough-as-nails bitch we know you are. Go after him. Tell him you want him. Put it on the line.”
Parker and Heather nodded.
“He may just be so in his own head and on the job that he can’t see past the nose on his face. We can all see the chemistry between you two. It’s not just one-sided. He loves you too,” Silver went on.
“Tate said there was a flight leaving tonight for Australia,” Parker said. “Rob might be trying to get on it. You should go find him and tell him how you feel before he goes.”
Could she? Could she be like Scarlett and confess her love to Rob? Or would he rebuff her like Rhett had and head home, leaving her heartbroken and unable to think about it until tomorrow?”
“You won’t know how he feels unless you try,” Silver urged, resting her hand on Skyler’s shoulder. “And if he turns you down—which he won’t—we’ll be here to help you pick up the pieces. There are plenty of hot, single men we can set you up with.”
“That’s right,” Parker said, smiling at Skyler from across the table. “We’re family. We’re your sisters.”
Skyler’s heart swelled from how much love was pouring out from the women around her.
She had brothers.
She had sisters.
She had a family.
“Go to him,” Parker encouraged. “Go now, before he catches the shuttle to the airport.”
Skyler pushed herself up from her seat with a nod, drained her wine glass and smiled at the women in front of her. “Okay. I will.”
“Good,” Heather said, sipping her own wine. “And good luck.”
Skyler opened the door to her villa but called back a “thanks” right before it shut, then she took off in a sprint down the path toward Rob’s villa.
God, how she hoped she wasn’t too late.
Chapter 21
Rob
“Thanks,” Rob said to Janessa at the front desk of the hotel reception as he handed over the key card for his room. “I had a great stay.”
“Hopefully next time you can stay longer.” Janessa’s smile was so big and real he could tell she genuinely loved her job. “The Hibiscus really is the place for relaxation.”
“I’m not sure I know what that is,” he joked.
“Then you definitely need to come back.”
“We’ll see.”
“Have a safe flight, Mr. Cahill.”
With a small nod, he stuffed his wallet and phone into his pocket, slung his backpack over his shoulder, then made his way toward the shuttle. He’d managed to grab the last flight on Pacific Wave to Darwin. From Darwin he would fly to France. Aaron was putting together a team of the best in the biz, and they were going to meet Rob at the house he’d rented in Paris. They had just over a week to get organized. A week to plan their attack.
It was dark now, and his flight left in two hours. He needed to get a move on. But the ragged breath and determined footsteps behind him made him halt.
“Rob!”
He spun around to find Skyler jogging up the path, her blonde hair streaming behind her, along with her bright blue skirt. It was just like that day on the beach when she’d run up behind him, only this time there was no sun shining through her hair creating a halo of gold. Instead it was the moon, and the way it hit her lithe frame and illuminated her features made his whole body still.
She slowed down as she approached him, her chest heaving with spent effort.
“You’re not leaving without saying goodbye, are you?” she asked, her eyes blinking up at him with equal parts hurt and anger.
“I have a flight,” he said, hating how much he knew he was hurting her. But it was for the best.
“I know. But it doesn’t mean you can’t say goodbye first. Here.” She held out his Swiss Army Knife. The one she’d taken from him the first night they’d slept together. “Tell me when I’ll see you again.”
That was the thing. He didn’t know when or if she’d ever see him again. It was part of the reason he hated goodbyes so much. They were so finite. So final. He’d said goodbye too many times to friends, only to never see them again. He hated goodbyes.
He shook his head and pushed the knife back toward her, closing her slender fingers around it. “Keep it.”
She was staring up at him, and something haunted lurked behind her eyes. “I know why you’re going.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re going to take out the Rubio Cartel, aren’t you?”
His jaw twitched, but he didn’t say anything.
“That call earlier. That was Aaron, wasn’t it? Don’t lie to me. I heard you making plans.”
He bit the inside of his cheek. He figured she’d heard something. She was no dummy and had probably put two and two together in a matter of seconds.
Fury flared in her emerald eyes under the light of the moon. “Tell me, damn it. I have a right to know. No head games, remember. It goes both ways.”
“Yes.” Fuck, he couldn’t bring her into this. The less she knew, the better, but the look in her eyes gutted him. Like a knife through and through. He didn’t want to leave her. Fuck no. He wanted to scoop her up, carry her back to his villa and keep her naked in his bed for a week. But she wasn’t safe. Not truly. Not now that Aaron had found the flash drive Nico was going to give to Skyler. If Pierre Rubio thought she had that footage of him, he’d hunt her down until his last dying breath.
Rob planned to make that last breath happen very soon.
“Talk to me,” she whispered, bunching her fists at her sides. She was trying so hard to be tough. To be strong. He knew he’d hurt her earlier with how dismissive he’d been, but it was just easier this way. If she hated him, she wouldn’t miss him. It would be easier for her to start over if she wasn’t waiting for him to return … if he returned.
The lump in his throat refused to disappear no matter how many times he tried to swallow it. “Aaron found the flash drive.”
Her mouth opened in a gasp.
“He went to Café Rosalie and scoured the place. Found it in the bathroom taped under the sink cabinet on the backside of the drain.”
Curiosity burned in her gaze. “What was on it?” Her words did not mirror the fear in her eyes. She wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her. “What was on it?” she asked again, this time with a touch more conviction.
“Nico had hacked into Pierre Rubio’s home computer. He turned on the camera remotely and recorded Pierre in his office.”
Not as much surprise as anticipated registered on her face. She knew Nico was capable of doing it. The question was, was she? Had she ever gone that far in a hack? Did he really want to know the answer to that?
“What did he record?”
Bile burned at the back of Rob’s throat. Fuck, he didn’t want to say it out loud. He just wanted to end the son of a bitch. End his life, end his reign, end the threat he posed to Skyler ... to the world.
“Rob?” She took a step forward and gripped the fabric of his shirt, tugging on it just above his heart. “What was on that flash drive?”
He took a deep breath and shut his eyes, he couldn’t look at her when he told her what kind of sick, perverted, fuck Rubio truly was.
She shook her fist full of his shirt. “Tell me.”
“We believe Nico was using the flash drive as leverage to get out of paying Pierre back the money he stole from him. Or he was blackmailing Pierre. Maybe both. Probably both. But then when Pierre found out Nico had given the flash drive to you, or told you where it was, Nico’s life was no longer valuable.”
“Do you think Nico set me up on purpose?”
Rob shook his head. “I have no idea. It would be smart. Deflect the blame, make them come after you instead.” He snorted. “Didn’t really work out in Nico’s favor whatever his plan had been.”
“You haven’t answered my question. What was on the flash drive?”
Fuck, he hoped she’d forget about that. Clenching his molars until his back teeth ached, he exhaled through his nose and finally spoke. “Pierre Rubio liked little boys. He had them brought to his office, where he abused and raped them. The man has some very, very sick proclivities. He also invited other men, men in power, in government to enjoy his victims as well.
Her fingers tightened around his shirt until her knuckles were white. Her breath rattled, but she didn’t say anything.
“Nico had enough of the disgusting footage to ruin Rubio. Ruin his marriage, ruin his reputation, ruin his life. He’s looking at major jail time if he’s convicted. And the other men in those videos could be taken down as well. We’re looking at at least eight other people being convicted. Possibly more if Aaron can figure out who they are. This could potentially take down the fucking French government.” Aaron had sent him the list of the all the faces in the videos he was able to successfully get face recognition. Shit was about to hit the fan in France and there wasn’t going to be an area of the government left clean by the time it was all over.
Disbelief still shone in her eye. “But … he’s a notorious playboy … has a mistress in every city.”
Rob nodded. “Right. And the idea that he’s into little boys would blow that reputation to smithereens. His mistresses would leave him; so would his wife. His kids would disown him. It would ruin him. He’s also a very vocal bigot and homophobe, and a lot of his victims were minority boys of color.”
Her eyes went wide as dinner plates. “So you’re going to take him out?”
“If he thinks you have the footage, you’re not safe. Not even here. And being here just endangers your family. He and his entire cartel need to be destroyed.”
“What about the other men? Won’t they just come after me too?”
He was quiet.
“You’re taking them out too?” she whispered, horror replacing the disbelief.
“They hurt children. Raped children. Nobody deserves to live after that,” he said without any inflection. There would be no mercy. Men who hurt innocent children didn’t deserve any.
Her jaw clenched tight and her eyes narrowed on him, now filled with determination and confidence. “I should come with you. I can help. I can hack into Rubio’s compound and disable the security cameras. Turn off the power. I can hack into the government server. I’ve done it before.” Oh fuck, he did not need to know that. “I can find out where the other men will be so you can ambush them. Maybe see if several of them will be in one place at the same time. Toss a grenade in and finish them all at once. Blow the place up.” He fought the urge to roll his eyes. What kind of showboating vigilante did she think he was? “I got you into this mess, I should be there to help get us out.”
Never in a million years would he put her life in jeopardy. If she stepped foot back in France before Rubio was eliminated, before all the men on that video were taken out, she’d be a dead woman. She belonged here with her new family where she was safe … well, safer than she would be in France. Rob would never forgive himself if even a hair on her gorgeous head was hurt. He had to leave her here. He had to go alone, meet up with his team and together they’d take out Rubio and his organization. Take out the threat.
He cupped her cheek, tilting her chin up to look at him, so all she saw was him. All she saw was the fear and conviction in his eyes. She needed to know that he meant every word he was about to say. “No, Skyler.”
Her chin quivered and tears welled up in those impossible green eyes. Fuck, she was going to destroy him.
He exhaled and swallowed, shaking his head. “No, sweetheart, you can’t come with me. You wouldn’t be safe in France. If Rubio got wind that you were back in the country, he’d do everything in his power to find you. You saw the lengths he was willing to go to find you. They’re desperate. Backed into a corner. There’s no telling what they’ll do, who they’ll hurt to save their own hides. I need you to stay here so I can go and do my job, eliminate the threat with the knowledge that you are safe with your family. It would kill me if something happened to you.” And he meant it. He would die a thousand deaths if Rubio got to Skyler because Rob hadn’t done his job and kept her safe.
She dropped her hands but not before rubbing the tears out of her eyes so they wouldn’t fall. “Will you come back when you’re done?”
“Querida,” he breathed, “I have to go.” He couldn’t promise anything, because if he did promise her something and broke that promise he might as well stop breathing. He would never forgive himself for breaking her heart, even from beyond the grave. So it was better not to promise anything and hope she understood why he couldn’t.
