He turned to glare at his brother. “She thought I was a doctor. You get that? When I rushed into that church and took her out, she had no clue about what I’d become. When she sees me now, she still sees him.”
“Him who?” Ryan stood and stalked toward Nash.
“The dumbass kid she knew before!”
“Uh, hate to point out the obvious, but you are that dumbass. From where I’m standing—which is basically right in front of you—you’re even more of a dumbass now than you were then because you said the woman you are obsessed with, the woman who basically ruined you for everyone else—you said she confessed to still wanting you.”
Why had he overshared that with Ryan?
“And then you said, let me paraphrase here…” Ryan’s voice dropped as he growled, “‘Oh, great. Delighted you want me. And by the way, I kill people for shits and giggles.’”
“That is not what I said. I told her that I’d killed too many?—”
“Her ex is a psychotic killer! Why in the hell would you basically tell her you are the same as him? Newsflash. We are not the same. You and I target international monsters. People with victim sheets that stretch for miles. Serial bombers who are intent on chaos and destruction. Every target has been carefully researched and screened. We know that we are targeting monsters. Apprehension is the goal, but sometimes, those pricks try to take out others on their way down and we have no choice but to use deadly force. Did you explain all that to her?”
No.
Ryan sighed. “You’re sabotaging yourself because you’re afraid to take what you want so desperately.”
Dammit. Ryan was…
Right.
His brother was also not done. “In one breath, you say that only you can protect her. And then, in the next instant, you try to push her away. Hello, whiplash. Make up your freaking mind. Either you’re all in with her or?—”
“I’m always all in with her.” His hands had fisted. “I just wanted her to know what she was going to get with me.” Because if he had her again, then he could not walk away.
“You know what, bro? How about you keep some secrecy in your romance? Because right now, the goal is to keep her alive. Not make her want to run from us because she thinks that we’re bad guys, too.”
“Maybe I am bad for her.”
“You’re the woman’s number one protector at the moment. Because you repeatedly volunteered for the job. Your ass had better be good for her.” Ryan rolled back his shoulders. “We’re supposed to head out at 0600 tomorrow. I’m about to go crash. I will be taking the downstairs bedroom. I’m assuming you’ll be in the room right next to your lady?”
He assumed correctly. Nash turned to walk inside.
“There are no guarantees.” Ryan’s voice. Low. Far more serious than normal. “I don’t like this case. I don’t like this setup. I don’t like that our asses just sat at this cabin all day long. If Kurt Wellington truly is Typhon?—”
“He is,” Nash returned. “Delaney said that he was specifically called by that name.”
“Yeah, well, if he is the infamous Typhon, then you know he has serious reach. He has eyes everywhere. Maybe even in the CIA. And the stolen car you boosted was hauled off a little too late for my liking. Hopefully, those agents ditched it far, far away, otherwise, we could be tracked. Hunted too easily.” His gaze swept the darkness. “I don’t want to wake up to any surprises tonight.”
Neither did Nash. “I’m going to check on Delaney.” She’d gone to bed an hour before.
“Yeah, you do that. While you’re checking on her, how about you try to say sweet, gentle, soothing things? Let’s keep all references to being a killer on the down-low, shall we? Great plan. Fabulous talk.”
Nash flipped off his brother as he marched back into the cabin.
And as he headed for the stairs that led to her room, Nash tried to figure out sweet, gentle, and soothing things to say to Delaney.
Unfortunately, he didn’t tend to be an overly sweet, gentle, or soothing type of guy.
There was someone standing beside her bed.
Blearily, Delaney blinked her eyes as she tried to adjust to the darkness. She could definitely see a tall, shadowy form beside her bed and…had Ryan come into her room again? Because that shape did not belong to Nash. Not quite big enough. What did Ryan want this time? What was happening?—
A hard hand slapped over her mouth.
“We have to hurry up!” A low rumble. “Those jerks on the porch won’t be out there for long, and the men we disabled in the woods could get loose.”
