"I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know, but it has to be this way."
"Yes. Okay." She squeezes her eyes shut a moment and then looks at me. "That day, at the car lot. Do you remember you told me your family died six years ago?"
"Yes. I remember."
"That was when it hit me that my father was murdered, and the man I"d known as my G.o.dfather had done it. That"s why I went into the bathroom. I melted down. I tried not to, but it doubled me over."
I pull her to me, holding her close. "I"m sorry. I was an a.s.s to you that day."
"Yeah. You were. A really big a.s.s." She inhales and lets it out. "Do you think . . . could my father be alive? Maybe they have him in a lab somewhere?"
I don"t know what to say to her. They killed my family. I know they killed her father. She shakes her head. "Never mind. I know he"s dead. Sheridan wouldn"t need me if he wasn"t." She buries her face in her hands and murmurs, "I just don"t want him to be."
I cup her face, forcing her gaze to mine, and I dare to say what I have not even allowed myself to think. "I know, Gia. I want my family to be alive, too. But we have each other, now. I know I pushed you away. I told you not to trust me. But it was only because I wanted you too much. And because I was, and am, falling in love with you."
"I am too," she whispers. "I"m falling-"
I kiss her, deep and slow, and when I finish, I murmur, "Don"t tell me you feel the same as I do. I don"t deserve that yet, but I swear to you, Gia, I will." I try to kiss her again and she presses her fingers to my mouth.
"Don"t try to be what you aren"t. That never works for people. They wake up and realize they can"t do it, and they leave."
They leave. It hits me then why she"d thrown my leaving Amy in my face earlier. She"s lost everyone in her life. Her mother and father, her unborn child and even the G.o.dparent she thought she"d had. And all I"ve done is tell her I"m leaving her, over and over and over again. "I"m not leaving."
"Until you do."
"Gia, I know you see how I left Amy. I know you heard how many times I said that we didn"t exist. I realize now that I"ve spent six years of my life aspiring to be a man worthy of the blame I felt I deserved for my parents" deaths, filling the holes inside of me with everything wrong, not knowing everything right was out there. And I know what"s right is you." I roll her to her back and she tangles fingers in my hair. "I can"t breathe when I think about losing you."
Her fingers curl on my jaw. "Then don"t talk yourself into leaving."
"I"m not going to take that fear from you with words. I"m just going to stay." My lips quirk. "No matter how many times you call me an a.s.shole, or how irritated I make you. We"ll fight and we"ll make up. And it"ll be good."
"You could just not be an a.s.shole," she suggests.
"I"m still me, sweetheart-so maybe I should just practice apologizing." I brush my lips over hers. "By doing what I"m going to do, and what I should have already done. Make love to you for all the right reasons, instead of f.u.c.king you for the wrong ones."
"Chad," she whispers, and I swallow my name on her lips, kissing her pa.s.sionately, intensely-licking into her mouth, tasting her, and then slowly undressing her, reveling in each new spot my tongue can travel. She moans, delicate, sweet moans that thicken my c.o.c.k and soften my heart.
By the time I toss the last piece of her clothing away and settle between her legs, finding her c.l.i.t, lapping at it, then sucking, she is already coming unglued. This is power. The only kind I need. I lift her legs over my shoulders, dip my fingers inside her, take her to the edge and back, and do it again. And finally, when I am hard and hot, and in need of her body wrapped snuggly around mine, I carry her to the bed, spreading her legs again and settling between them. I watch the pleasure ripple over her face when I bury myself inside her. Brushing my cheek against hers, I roughly promise, "I am definitely not going anywhere. And neither are you," thrusting into her a moment later.
That"s when the wildness starts, the frenzied hot need that has my hands under her hips, lifting her to drive deeper, to take more. Now we are f.u.c.king, and it"s the best d.a.m.n f.u.c.king of my life. Because she"s the best d.a.m.ned thing in my life. The woman who has pulled me back from the edge of h.e.l.l, where I wasn"t burning alive, but raising h.e.l.l of my own. Now, I"m putting it to rest.
But when I finally pull Gia into my arms and she falls asleep, I stare at the ceiling, with Jared on my mind. And I keep thinking about Gia disappearing at the coffee shop, and how I never once questioned her. Never once did I think she"d left and betrayed me. But I have always held back with Jared, telling myself it was about protecting him. He walked away from treasure hunting for honor. He was better than me. It doesn"t make sense. It just . . . doesn"t.
And yet, while I could reason away many things, no one else knew where I was when Meg found me. No one else. It"s then that I know we can"t just wait anymore for something to happen, digging through paperwork, waiting for answers. h.e.l.l can"t be put to rest until we shove Sheridan and Rollin Scott inside the hole.
"Gia, wake up."
She shifts and lifts her head and then jolts upright. "What"s wrong?"
"Nothing. Just the opposite. Get dressed. We need to make plans."
"Plans?"
"Yes," I say, grabbing my jeans and pulling them on. "I said we were going to end this, and we are. Can you make a flawed but convincing prototype of the cylinder?"
"Maybe. I have the schematics."
"Where?"
"Several remote electronic storage accounts, and a lockbox in Texas."
"That might be all that we need." I motion her forward. "Hurry. Get dressed."
She scrambles to the end of the bed, rushing to the pile of her clothes by the chaise lounge. "What are you thinking, Chad?"
"I"ll explain once we get everyone together. I"m still piecing it all together in my head."
Five minutes later, Gia and I enter the kitchen to find Amy, Liam, and Tellar at the table, with no signs of taking a break. When all eyes go to Gia, she holds up her hands. "Yes, my father created the cylinder. Sheridan killed him and befriended me. I never knew the cylinder existed. I fully intend to protect my father"s legacy by not allowing it to destroy the world. That"s all for now." She motions to me and sits down.
I lean on the back of a chair. "And that about sums up the prelude to a realization that just hit me. That work for everyone?"
Tellar gives Gia a steely look. "Why didn"t you tell us all of this before?"
Gia bristles slightly and then lets her self-confessed nervous habit of being a smarta.s.s rise to the challenge. "I was busy being poisoned with a.r.s.enic by the man who killed my father."
"Okaaaay then," Tellar says. "Works for me."
"I"m satisfied," Liam states.
"Good," I say, claiming my seat. "Let"s talk about a new strategy. We set Rollin aside. We can deal with Sheridan first, and we do that by going straight to the Chinese."
Tellar leans forward, glaring at me. "What are you drinking? They"re far more dangerous than Sheridan and Rollin, and we have nothing to offer them."
"Actually, we do," I reply. "Gia has her father"s journal with notes and equations related to the cylinder, and a schematic for an early prototype."
"Both will keep the most brilliant of scientists swimming in circles," Gia adds. "My father coded it so it only meant something to him. It"s a jumbled confusing mess to everyone else."
"Sheridan had the journal for six years, and no one he hired ever figured that out," I add, leaning forward. "The plan is, we offer them the journal and schematic in exchange for crushing Sheridan and his consortium, and Rollin along with them."
Liam shakes his head. "We don"t know how much Sheridan has told the Chinese. There is no guarantee they"ll settle for a journal and schematics. It"s too risky."
"It would be if I were talking about going to Sheridan"s people," I agree. "But I"m talking about one of the many radical groups tired of government oppression."
Amy"s eyes go wide. "Radicals? That sounds dangerous."
"We left dangerous for vicious six years ago, sis," I remind her. "It"s time to get our lives back."
"All the more reason that I don"t want you in added danger," she insists. "We can"t be sure Sheridan"s Chinese contacts don"t know who you are. Why wouldn"t they just come directly after you once Sheridan is out of the picture?"
"No way would Sheridan tell them who I am," I say, "or who Gia is, for that matter. If Sheridan disclosed his sources, the Chinese would bypa.s.s him, and his payday."
"I"d agree with that," Liam adds. "I have zero concern that Sheridan gave away his sources. The man is giving away power. He wants guaranteed cash, and that means the cylinder goes direct from him to them."
"I"m actually surprised he"s giving up the power," Gia comments. "Knowing him, I was certain that"s what he was after."
"Money is power," Liam says, "and at some point he had to realize that no matter how cautiously that cylinder might be released to the public, it will rock the economic world as we know it. We can"t tell the Chinese the prototype works."
"No one but Chad has ever seen the cylinder," Gia replies, "including me. For all anyone knows, what we"re giving them is all there is."
He gives a nod and glances in my direction. "It"s a good plan. I have connections in China, people I trust that can connect you with the right people-but then what? We need a clear-cut plan."
"It goes through me," I say. "No one else. I offer them what we have in exchange for what they have."
"How do they get to Rollin if we can"t?" he asks.
"Jared," I say tightly. "I believe he"s working both sides. If I call Sheridan and tell him I have the cylinder, Rollin will find out and counteroffer. I"ll let the Chinese know what I"m doing and coordinate the timelines."
Liam taps the table. "That only works if you"re right about Jared."
"He"s the only one who knew where I was in order to insert Meg into my life, and yet Sheridan is the one who kidnapped me."
"But he showed Amy a picture of Rollin with Meg," Tellar argues.
"To gain my trust," Amy says, her voice strained. "That picture and Chad"s voice mail convinced me to trust Jared, and to share things Chad meant for my eyes only."
"He"s a master manipulator," I say, a low growl of anger permeating my tone at just how deep and long his betrayal runs.
"Someone tried to grab me in Denver," Gia says. "Jared knew I was there. He must have told Rollin, and Rollin thought I knew something that might help him win the race against his father."
"Exactly," I say. "And he left Jared with me, trying to get my secret."
"And if he couldn"t," Gia says, finishing my thought, "he figured he"d trap you and Amy together and use her to make you talk."
Amy pales. "If we make this deal, do I dare believe this is over? That we"ll be safe?"
My eyes meet Liam"s and we share a look of torment. We both want to say yes, but neither of us is willing to build her up and risk tearing her down again.
"It means we have hope," Gia says, taking her hand, "and that"s more than we had yesterday." She glances around the room. "Let"s call China."
TWENTY.
WE AGREE THAT I"M the only one to be identified to the Chinese, for everyone"s safety. With this in mind, Liam makes phone calls to his contacts in China and cautiously puts out feelers with people he trusts, who he knows will limit his involvement. Once he"s made the calls, though, we can do nothing but hole up in the safe house and wait. And wait, we do. For three long days we are all climbing the walls, but finally Liam"s contacts pay off. We are given the contact information for a high-ranking, English-speaking leader in a powerful radical opposition group. Finally, it"s time to put our plan into play, and the ball is in my court.
We gather in the War Room, with me at the head of the table, Liam at the opposite end, and Gia, Amy, and Tellar present as well. A piece of paper sits before me with the name and number of the contact we need, written in Liam"s neat, controlled handwriting. Phone in hand, I hesitate and do not dial, but it"s not about doubt or regret. Instead I simply inhale on a moment that is about these people around me, the tension in their faces, the nervous energy emanating from them. And what I feel-the unity, the support-is something I have not felt since I sat at a table with Amy and my parents. I trust these people. Really trust them, and it makes me realize that no matter how I craved having a confidant, a friend, in Jared, it was more about not being alone than it was about trust. Alone isn"t better. I knew that even then.
Resolved to carry this through to the bittersweet moment of what some call justice, and what I call revenge, I punch in the number. There are three rings before a man with a heavy accent answers and I introduce myself.
"I"ve been expecting you, Chad," he says and laughs, quite amused, as he adds, "I am Chen, but I am sure you know this already. Explain what it is that makes you reach across the world."
I share our situation, explaining how Sheridan and Rollin Scott are working on the cylinder with a Chinese diplomat we already know from Liam"s sources this man despises. "I have the schematic for the most recent prototype, and the notes from the scientist who created them."
"Where is this scientist?" Chen asks.
"Dead. Sheridan and Rollin didn"t want to share the profits."
"And you have these things how?"
"I"m in love with his daughter, who Sheridan and Rollin just tried to kill as well."
"Why kill the daughter?"
"To convince me to hand over the information she did not want released."
"But she is willing now?"
"She almost died. She wants this over."
He is silent a moment. "Why are you offering this to me?"
"Revenge. Sheridan and Rollin Scott want this. They can"t have it, and neither can anyone supporting them."
He is silent a moment. "How much?"
"The complete destruction of Sheridan Scott, Rollin Scott, and the consortium supporting Sheridan"s operation."
"No money?"
"I have money."
"Hmmmm, yes. Revenge and blood, these are the riches of many a man. Send me the items. If am pleased, I will give you your revenge."
"I"ll give you half the journal and half the schematic up front. The rest after you deliver your part of the deal."
He pauses-one beat, two. "Transfer the doc.u.ments to me electronically. If I am pleased we will make our deal." He gives me an e-mail address. "I"ll be in contact if I am interested."
"Wait," I say when it"s clear he"s about to hang up. "Seventy-two hours, or I give it to someone else."
"Ninety-six hours."
"Fine," I agree.
The line goes dead and I set the phone down, wasting no time keying my computer to life, but feeling the expectant stares of everyone around me. "He wants the doc.u.ments electronically transferred," I announce, glancing up. "He"ll be in contact if he"s interested."