So, screw Ryan’s offer. When it came to Delaney’s protection, Nash would be the one in charge.
Chapter Seven
She did not expect Jezebel Jenkins.
Ten minutes after overhearing that Ryan feared she would fuck over Nash and that apparently, Nash should just fuck her, Delaney sat in the den of a wooden cabin. A cabin that, Nash had informed her, was nestled in Tennessee. A safe house with top-of-the-line security.
Delaney pressed her hands to the tops of her thighs as she forced her back to remain ramrod straight. Did it look as if she’d just been making out with Nash upstairs? Were her lips swollen? Her cheeks flushed?
She could have stopped him. Could have just said “no” and he would have backed off. Had she done that? Nope. Instead, she’d grabbed onto him as tightly as she could. Delaney had kissed him with every bit of passion inside of her.
She’d let her control vanish, and she’d given into the raw need that she’d always felt for Nash. Seriously, after all this time, shouldn’t that need have faded some? But it hadn’t. He’d put those big, strong hands on her, he’d put that wicked mouth on hers, and she’d practically imploded.
Desire had obliterated every other thought. She’d just wanted to kiss him. To pretend that her heart had never been shattered. That he still cared. That they had a chance together.
And then Ryan had pounded at the door. And she’d had to rush down the stairs to this meeting with…their boss?
Jezebel Jenkins had entered the cabin with two guards—both men who physically dominated Jezebel’s petite frame. The woman appeared to be in her early sixties. Faint tendrils of gray showed in the darkness of her hair, hair that had been pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. The woman moved with the easy grace that you’d expect from a ballerina. And her stare? That darkness was ice cold.
Very few lines showed on her face. Only determination. Intelligence. Calculation.
She paused in front of Delaney. “Are you willing to die for your country?”
Delaney opened her mouth. That question had just come from absolutely nowhere.
“Her dying is not on the agenda,” Nash snapped before she could reply. “Come on, Jez, she’s a civilian. Let’s get her the hell out of the line of fire and come up with a plan of action.”
Jez cut her gaze toward Nash. “She is the plan of action.”
Delaney did not particularly like the sound of that. She wet her lips and swore that she tasted Nash. I should not have made out with him.
But she had, and her body still ached. Her thighs trembled. I had my legs wrapped around him. His heavy dick shoved against me. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
This was so not the time to be having those particular thoughts.
Jezebel’s coal-black stare returned to her. “Your groom tracked you to the motel where you and Nash were staying. I have intelligence that indicates Kurt Wellington is desperate to get you back.” She pointed vaguely to Nash. “The current orders are that Nash should be taken down. Shot on sight. Stabbed. Dismembered. Whatever.” No accent entered her voice. No emotion showed on her face.
But plenty of emotions surged through Delaney. The strongest emotion was fear. Followed closely by rage. “Nash can’t die!” Kurt had wanted him dismembered? What fresh hell was this?
“I’m not planning on dying,” Nash groused. “Jez, you’re trying to manipulate her.”
“Am I the type to manipulate?” Jezebel asked with an innocent blink of her eyes. “How could you ever say such a thing about me? That hurts. Deeply.” Small pearl earrings were the only jewelry she wore.
Ryan snorted at Jezebel’s response. Then tried to smother a laugh.
Jezebel fired him a quick glance. “Does something amuse you? Is it the idea of dismemberment?”
He shook his head. “I was laughing because, of course, you don’t manipulate. Not you, Jez. Why on earth would you do something like that?”
A nod from Jezebel. Her focus shifted back to Delaney. “Kurt Wellington wants you back, alive.”
As to that…“I’m not actually under the impression that it’s me he wants. I believe he is more interested in my inheritance.”
“Because your grandfather’s criminal operation would be beneficial to him? Yes, I suppose that could be part of your appeal.”
Oh, great. So was it just common knowledge now that her grandfather had been in bed with criminal elements? How come someone hadn’t clued her in to this situation much, much sooner?
Had the CIA been monitoring her family? Her? And for how long? Worried and horrified, she darted a glance at Nash, but his stone-faced expression told her nothing. Stomach knotting, she concentrated on Jezebel once more.
