“I’m sorry.” He frowned. “How old were you when they passed?”
She glanced down at her hands. “I was twelve. My sister was four years old.”
Rogue’s frown deepened. “Your sister? Is she part of Onyx?”
Keira’s bottom lip trembled. “No.”
“Did she die with your parents in the crash?”
Keira shook her head, a single tear trailing down her cheek. “She died on my watch.” She swiped at the tear, lifted her chin and pressed her lips together. “I couldn’t keep her safe. I failed her when she needed me most.”
Rogue stood, took Keira’s hand and brought her to her feet and into his arms. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” She demanded, her body stiff, her hands resting against his chest. “You’re not the one who didn’t get her somewhere safe. You’re not the one who didn’t keep them from drugging her to death. I was the one who should’ve made sure she was all right. It’s my fault she never saw her ninth birthday. It’s my fault she’ll never be a teenager, drive a car or fall in love.” The last words came out on a sob.
Rogue held her loosely, his arms around her but not holding her tightly. If she wanted to be free, all she had to do was step back.
Her body trembled, the stiffness melting away as she leaned into him, pressing her cheek against his chest. Her body shook with her silent sobs. Her tears soaked through the fabric of his shirt.
He didn’t say anything, just held her for as long as she needed a shoulder to cry on, another human to lean on. Rogue suspected it had been a long time since she’d had anyone hold her like he was holding her—a long time since she’d cried for her sister.
Finally, she lifted her head, her eyes red-rimmed and damp. “You shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be involved with me.”
“It’s too late. I’m here and staying until we figure this out.” He brushed his thumb across her tear-soaked cheeks.
“Helping me could get you killed.” Her fingers curled into his T-shirt. “I barely lived through losing my sister, an innocent with her whole life in front of her. I don’t know if I could live with myself if something happened to you because of me.”
“I’m not scared.” His thumb swept across her lips.
She stared up into his eyes. “I am,” she whispered. “For you.”
He smiled and brushed his mouth across hers, his arms tightening around her as he pulled her closer.
Her hands slid up his chest and wrapped around his neck as she rose on her toes, deepening the kiss.
When his tongue swept across the seam of her lips, she opened to him.
He lost himself in that kiss, wanting it to last forever, losing himself in the warmth of her body pressed against his.
A vibrating rattle jerked Rogue back from the edge of reason to the danger at hand. He looked to see the burner phone rattling against the end table where he’d set it down next to his beer.
As much as he wanted to continue kissing Keira, he had to answer the call. Rogue grabbed the burner phone and received the incoming call.
“Rogue, Royce here. Are you and the target surviving?”
Rogue released the breath he’d been holding, relieved the sat phone hadn’t been compromised. “Hey, Royce. Yeah, we’re okay.”
“I’m glad you had the foresight to bring more than one of your phones. I tried your previous burner number a couple of times with no response. Swede tracked it to Oklahoma. Are you in Oklahoma?”
Rogue’s lips quirked. “No, I’m not in Oklahoma. I dumped the burner in the back of a pickup with Oklahoma tags in case the burn team had locked onto it.”
“Smart,” Royce said. “We’ll remove that number from our files.”
“Have you learned anything more about Strickland, Kaufman and the Onyx project?” Rogue asked.
Keira leaned close, pressing her ear against the hand holding the cell phone.
Rogue angled the cell phone outward, allowing her to hear the conversation.
