The second she nodded, he allowed himself to succumbto the weight of his regret. He fell to his knees, and Lawrence’s weapon dropped from his nerveless fingers. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Angel casually shove Ben’s weapon into the waistband of his jeans before stepping over the body.
Two men dead in ten seconds. Just that easy.
He had been right the first time. Ithadbeen the angel of death that had appeared behind Ben. But ifAngel deserved that designation, then surely Christian did too.
“Damnit!” His anguish felt like a hard, sharp nail lodged in his throat. No, not a nail. A railroad spike. “Damnit!”
“They came here to kill us,” Ace said quietly, putting a hand on Christian’s shoulder.
“At first I thought they were covering their tracks, taking out the witnesses who saw Ben shoot that pilot,” Rusty said.“But then there was that look on Lawrence’s face when you told him the pilot was still alive.”
Yes. Christian remembered it well. It was the moment he had gotten his first inkling of just how gruesomely this night would end.
“He was crazy,” Ace said. “You could see it in his eyes. All he wanted was blood, revenge for something that wasn’t even your fault.”
“But it was my fault, don’tyou see?” That railroad spike twisted in Christian’s throat. “If not for my failed mission, their brother would still be alive. Same for their mother and father.”
“Christian, you can’t—” Ace began, but Christian tuned him out.
He glanced numbly at his arm, blinking at the deep furrow Lawrence’s bullet had cut through the fabric of his sweater. The ragged edges glistened with his blood,but the round had only grazed him.
That didn’t seem right, did it? Two men were dead and he was only grazed?
His mind immediately hit on his mother, on the regret and the self-condemnation that had slowly eaten her from the inside out. Strange that besides their dark hair and the subtle dimple in their chinsthatwould be the thing they had in common and—
“Christian?”
He lookedup to see Emily standing beside him. So beautiful and sweet with her dark eyes and wild, wind-blown hair. She knelt in front of him and took his face in her hands. It was only when the cool kiss of her soft palms landed on his cheeks that he felt the wetness there. Was he crying?
“You arenotto blame for any of this. You hear me?”
He tried to look away, but she gave his head a shake,forcing his eyes back to hers.
“There are a lot of people at fault here. The SAS. Lawrence and Ben. But not you.Youdidn’t do anything wrong. So don’t get sad. Getmad!Iam!” Despite the cold, her face was mottled red. “I’m so fuckingmadon your behalf!”
And though he would not have thought it possible, he felt a somber smile tug at his lips. Dear, sweet,ferociousEmily. A tigress.Histigress.
A part of him knew she was right, knew the words she spoke were the truth. But another part of him figured he was a tad bit right too. At least some of it had to rest on his shoulders.
“Emily…” Her name was an invocation, a prayer.
Once and for all, she proved she was a mind reader and pulled him into her arms. She claimed his mouth in a kiss that tried to heal all thethings that were broken and hurting inside him. Lithe arms crushed him to her, because she was Emily and she knew he needed her strength in this moment of doubt and despair.
He thought he heard a phone ring, but the tornado of emotions swirling inside him and tossing sharp, painful debris at his head made it impossible to concentrate. It wasn’t until he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder thatreality—and a bit of sanity—returned.
“I hate to do this,” Ace said, “but I have Boss on the line. He has good news. At least, I think it’s good news.”
Christian regretfully released Emily’s lips. But he didn’t releaseher. No. He needed to keep hold of her.
“Seems Philippe’s partner was able to get here earlier than planned.” Ace held the phone against his chest. “She’s waiting atthe airport and wants to know when we can get there so she can submit a takeoff time to air traffic control.”
Christian glanced around at the carnage, at the…death. Such senseless death.
“Right-oh.” He nodded, wanting nothing more than to leave merry ol’ England behind. Once again, the place had proved the undoing of him. “Let’s get the bloody hell off this sodding island, shall we?”
