Janie remained in place, her skin pale. “Did you arrange the attack on my family?”
“No.” Zane dusted off his hands, wanting more than anything for her to believe him. He had to see that trust in her eyes again. It was shocking how much he missed it. “Suri and Kalin reached an agreement yesterday, but Suri decided to double-cross Kalin and kill you. I spent a good portion of the night coming up with a counterattack to get you to safety before a bomb took you out.”
She gasped. “At least Kalin doesn’t want me dead.” She pushed auburn hair out of her face.
Zane sighed. Why did she have to be so damn appealing? All he wanted to do was cuddle up with her by the fire and chat. Flirt. Maybe kiss and forget who he was and what he’d done. Yet instead, he had to go wage a fucking war and probably commit more acts to damage any humanity he still had. “Suri wants you dead, and he had no problem betraying Kalin.”
Janie blinked. “Please take me back. I have to know they’re all okay.” Vulnerability chased fear across her face.
Zane’s chest hurt. “I’m sure they’re okay, Jane. I’ll check on them as soon as I can.”
“Where are you going?” She glanced around the cabin as if looking for a way out.
“To protectmyfamily.” He wanted to touch her, to try to reassure her. How could he make her understand? “If Kalin gets to you, then my family is no longer necessary to Suri. I have to get them to safety.” And keep Janie safe. Nobody knew where she was. “This keeps you out of danger, too.” He needed her to trust him.
“I don’t want to be out of danger.” She shook her head. “I have a job to do, and hiding in the Alaskan wilderness won’t accomplish anything.”
“Just give me some time.” He brushed snow off his hair.
She reached him in two strides. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. We have to go back.”
He slid a knuckle down the side of her face. Silk and cream . . . softer than he could’ve ever imagined. “I’m sorry, Belle.” He closed his eyes and began to teleport, stopping short as pain ricocheted up his spine.
Maybe he should let his system recharge a little bit. If he destroyed his body, he’d be no good to anybody.
She shivered, while her lips remained a pale blue.
“Damn it.” He drew her toward the two chairs fronting the fireplace and gently pushed her into one. “At least warm up while we argue.” Keeping her hand, he settled into the other chair.
“Let’s not argue.” She flipped her hand under his and laced her fingers through his.
He bit back a smile. While she might not recognize the gesture as one of trust, he did, and it warmed him somewhere deep inside that was always cold. “I like that idea.”
She smiled, looking so pretty something hurt in his chest. “Let’s go back and make sure everyone is all right, and then we can go to headquarters and work on a plan with my uncle. We can save your family.”
Fuck, she was naïve. He tried to gentle his voice and not sound like a demon. “I know you think involving your family will help, but doing so will negate my bargaining power with Suri. I have to do this alone.”
Her fine eyebrows arched. “Isn’t that how you do everything? Alone?”
The soft question held a sharp edge. “No. Soldiers follow me, and I have a mother and two brothers.”
Janie began shaking her head before he’d finished speaking. “Do you work with them or around them? Protecting them without sharing what you’re doing?” Her eyes darkened. “What you’ve done?”
Either insightful or psychic, the woman had nailed him. He removed his hand and settled back in his chair. Away from her . . . and the truth. “I do what I have to do.”
She glanced down at her hand and frowned. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off from the chair and landed between his knees, her palms on his thighs. The fire lit her from behind, turning the highlights in her auburn hair into compelling flames. “Working alone gets you killed. The people in your life, the ones who love you, they need tosharein the burden. To help and to plan.”
Did she consider herself one of the people who loved him? “That’s sweet, Belle.”
Her fingers dug into his legs. “I’m not being sweet. This is smart, and you have to trust somebody at some time. Duty doesn’t always have to be painful.”
“Doesn’t it?” His voice lowered as he leaned toward her, his senses on alert. “When was the last time youshared? Stopped being a reassuring smart-ass and told somebody,anybody, how scared you are? How overwhelmed by fucking fate?”
Her eyes dilated, and her mouth opened and closed before she pushed out words. “That’s different.”
“Is it?” Taken aback and getting pissed at her accurately profiling him, he flattened her hands under his. “Look at the position you’ve put yourself in, trying to share. You’re on your knees, as vulnerable as a woman can be.” Shit. He could break her neck without flexing a muscle. The woman needed to realize her precarious position and back the hell off.
Instead, she lifted her head and stared him right in the eye. “I do understand my position, and I do realize how dangerous you are. Yet I’m willing to take the chance, to be fragile, to show you what trust looks like. What courage can look like.”
