His eyes glowed with a savage light. They gleamed in triumph, and his smile was one of complete satisfaction. It was the look of the victor in a hard-fough
t battle. Only she hadn’t been a difficult conquest.
Whatever this was between them. Whatever the dangers e dor they faced. Whatever happened tomorrow. Today, they were bound by a nearly silent agreement. A bond that perhaps had formed even before they’d met and most assuredly had been cemented when he’d pulled her back from the brink of death.
What mattered was that right now she wasn’t alone. She was no longer running blindly and scared out of her mind. It was time to take a stand, and this man would be there beside her.
How could she lose?
CHAPTER 20
“WHAT do we do, Rio?” Grace asked from her perch on the couch.
She was settled in the corner, sitting cross-legged and surrounded by plump pillows. It was her nest, one she’d burrowed into and had no desire to leave anytime soon.
The others filtered through periodically. Diego had gone for a swim and Grace had gotten quite a view of the man in swim trunks. From the looks of him, he maintained a tight fitness regimen. Not that the other men could ever be considered lacking in the physique department, but Diego was…He was beautiful to look at.
Terrence had ambled through after Diego, wearing a muscle shirt and gym shorts. Her eyes had bugged at the huge tree trunks he had for arms. Hell, his muscles had muscles. He didn’t walk so much as he swaggered and not from innate cockiness. No, the man was simply so big that he just sort of swayed when he moved.
Decker, Alton and Browning were on patrol, or so Diego had thrown out when he’d passed through the kitchen.
Rio looked up from where he stood in the kitchen chopping vegetables on a cutting board. It was amazing how this badass warrior looked so comfortable doing such domestic things like puttering around the kitchen. And one thing she’d quickly noticed was that he was meticulous in his care of all of his things. Whether it was a towel hanging correctly in the bathroom or fingerprints being wiped from the refrigerator.
He never let anything just sit out. Furthermore, it was as if he had his men trained according to his expectations because they carried their weight. The team reminded her of a well-oiled machine. Smooth. Seamless. Almost as if they read one another’s minds.
The thought made her smile. Maybe they were the ones with telepathy. Wouldn’t that be a kick?
“Grace?”
She blinked and refocused on Rio, who was staring expectantly at her. It was obviously not the first time he’d said her name, judging by the look on his face. While she’d been analyzing him and his men, he’d been trying to get her attention.
“There you are,” he said when she found his gaze.
She flushed. “Sorry. What did you say?”
He shook his head in amusement. “You asked me what we were going to do. I merely asked what you were referring to.”
She frowned a moment, not really remembering what her point had been. But then as she reflected on all she’d observed with his men and the fact that everything seemed so ordinary and everyday, she realized that was the point.
She waved a hand, gesturing around the room as if somehow that would signify her thoughts. “I was asking what we do. Now, I mean. We left the U.S. We came here. What now? When do I see Shea? You mentioned safe, but will I ever be safe? As much as I appreciate what you and your team have done—I’ll never forget—you can’t keep me here forever in some bubble. You have a life. I don’t have much of one, but one day I’d like to.”
Rio walked around the counter. She thought he was going to come over to where she saunimame, judgt, but he simply leaned his back against the bar, thumbs tucked into his jeans pockets as he studied her.
“It’s a good question. I’m not entirely certain yet.”
Her brow furrowed. That hadn’t been what she thought he would say. But then he hadn’t lied to her. Not once. He hadn’t shielded her from the truth no matter how harsh it may be. He didn’t offer false hope and he didn’t talk around issues.
She hugged one of the pillows to her chest and leaned forward until her chin rested atop the harder edge of the cushion. “Are we leaving again?”
Somehow the thought of leaving this place made her anxiety level rise sharply. Which was stupid considering she’d been there less than twenty-four hours. But she felt safe here. And safe hadn’t been a word she could use to describe her feelings in a long damn time. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be able to relax her guard for five minutes.
Rio shook his head. “No. At least not yet. I have some feelers out. I’m calling in a few favors. Right now what I know is that Titan is after you. I warned Sam so he could make sure that Shea is safe and they’re prepared for anything.”
Her brows came together in a scrunch. “Sam. He’s your boss, right? The one who kind of runs KGI? Isn’t he Nathan’s older brother?” And then a completely unrelated thought occurred to her. It blindsided her and momentarily paralyzed her.
She glanced up at Rio, her fingers knotted into tight balls. “Is Shea married already? You said she and Nathan were together. That he loved her.”
The idea of having missed her sister’s wedding was more than she could bear. It took everything she had not to break down into a torrent of tears. The only thing holding her back was the knowledge that if she started, there would be no stopping. It would be the last straw. Further proof that she and Shea led completely separate lives now.