Nash yanked off the ski mask that had been over the guy’s head.
Delaney nodded. “Hello, Jacob.” She’d thought that she recognized that screeching voice.
“You know him?” Nash demanded.
“Yes. Jacob works for Kurt. I’d often see him around, skulking in the shadows.”
“Well, well…” Nash began.
“I’m not saying a fucking word!” Jacob blasted. “And you’re both dead! Dead! Do you hear me? Dead!”
“Those were actually quite a few words that you just said.” Nash yanked Jacob up and brought him in so that they were nose to nose. Nash had to lean down toward Jacob, though, because the other man didn’t match his height. “And those were the wrong words to say. Because I get deeply pissed off when someone threatens the woman I love.”
The woman I love.
She shook her head. An instinctive denial. Nash didn’t love her. He did not.
Get a grip, woman. The declaration isn’t for you. He’s playing a role. This is the cover story for this insane mission. Now suck it up and stop freaking out.
“Delaney!” A thunderous roar of her name. Coming from outside. Outside as in—outside of the cabin. “Delaney!”
She hurried toward the window, dodging the broken glass. Most of the glass had flown outside of the window, but there were still quite a few chunks on the bedroom floor, and her feet were bare. Not like she wanted to get sliced.
Carefully, she poked her head out of that window just a bit.
She could see two shadowy forms on the ground. One standing. One crouching. The standing one had a gun pointed at the crouching figure.
“Good news!” Ryan called to her. “He’s still alive.”
Ryan was the one with the gun.
“Alive,” Ryan continued in his loud and chipper tone. “For the moment. But pretty soon, I’m thinking the idiot will be wishing that he hadn’t survived the fall.” Ryan shook his head and told the man, “You have no idea who you just fucked with.”
A shiver slid over her. Delaney eased away from the window. She wore only a thin t-shirt, panties, and a pair of cotton shorts. All of the clothes had been waiting in the room for her. The clothes had been fine while she was sleeping, but now Delaney felt way too exposed. She glanced back over her shoulder at Nash. His face was locked into tight, angry lines. His stare blazed with fury. And he had a knife to Jacob’s throat.
So, important point to fully understand—the Quinn brothers were decidedly dangerous and not afraid to kill. At all.
“You came for her?” Nash barked at his prey. “You broke into her bedroom? You were trying to hurt her?”
Jacob’s eyes had swollen to the size of saucers. “Who…the hell…are you?”
Nash smiled, and it was the coldest, scariest smile she’d ever seen in her life. “I’m the man who is going to marry Delaney.”
Another shiver shook her body. She grabbed a nearby robe and jerked it on.
“And I am the man who will kill anyone who tries to hurt her. So guess what’s about to happen to you?”
She wasn’t the only one shaking. Trembles ran over Jacob’s body, too.
“You stalked the wrong woman,” Nash informed him. “You stalked my Delaney.”
Her arms curled around her stomach. She’d never, ever seen Nash this way. Cold and terrifying. Deadly and intense. The CIA operative.
Not the boy who’d loved her. The young man with the dreams of being a trauma surgeon. This man…this man…
“Are you ready to die?” Nash asked Jacob.
A sob broke from her.
