Ruthless Game

CHAPTER 18

Rhianna Bonds was nothing at all like Rose expected her to be. She was incredibly beautiful, not at all the tough chick everyone implied that she was. Average height maybe, but there was nothing else average about her. She was stunning with her large, impossibly blue eyes and thick, curly black hair. There was so much hair that her braid was as thick as her shapely arms. She was not conventionally thin but had a figure one couldn’t ignore, with curving hips, rounded breasts, and an extremely small waist.

She was hugged and kissed and greeted as a long-lost sister. Rose noticed Javier was conspicuously missing. Rhianna didn’t ask where he was. She took Sebastian in her arms and looked at him with such love in her eyes, Rose wanted to cry. This was a woman who felt deeply. Again, Rose expected her to be like Javier, a cold, female version of the man. She radiated warmth. She was the kind of woman who would walk into a room and be noticed instantly. She wasn’t spy material; she was too striking.

Rose found out the hard way that Rhianna was not all looks. Training began almost right away, and Rhianna was a big part of that. It was grueling and unrelenting. Rose found out quickly that there was no reasonable way to nurse Sebastian and train with the hours she was putting in. Instead of quitting altogether, wanting the best start for him, she opted for pumping her breasts. It was a nightmare, but better that than the alternative of not training. She needed to become part of the team, needed them to know what she could do and that she was good at it. And she was. Soldiering was something she’d done since she was a child, and there was nothing too rough, too dangerous, or too difficult for her. She had discipline and a sense of duty. She discovered Rhianna did as well.

Jaimie sat and watched sometimes, feeding Sebastian his bottle as they ran through the urban techniques, the one thing Rose hadn’t trained in. Each man took his turn working with her. They often broke into smaller teams and pitted themselves against each other. The work was satisfying, and at night, she had Kane.

Kane’s body was always wrapped around her, protective, loving, and he woke her often, sometimes twice a night, as if he could never quite get enough of her. She loved lying in bed just listening to him sleep. Sometimes he fed the baby a bottle, watching as she climbed the sides of buildings and ran along the rooftops. Other times she fed the baby while he massaged her neck and gave her pointers.

She soaked up the training like a thirsty sponge. It felt so good to be active again, to feel like she belonged somewhere. This had been her world since she was a child, and she savored every minute she could be active. She found herself laughing more, talking animatedly with the team members, listening to them, and occasionally sharing some of her own knowledge.

Eventually, after nearly a month of nonstop training, it didn’t matter that she loved every second of her life; she still felt the need to walk down the street and breathe in the air. From the rooftops she found herself watching people going about their lives, envying them their freedom. It was Jaimie who suggested the three women go out shopping. Such a simple idea, yet Rose had to brace herself to ask—no tell—Kane that she was going to go out that afternoon.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked her, as if he already knew there was something wrong just by her silence.

Rose forced a smile. “Jamie, Rhianna, and I are going shopping. Just the three of us.” She stole a look at his face, those hard angles and planes, and her nerve nearly broke, but she persisted, trying to sound casual. He looked like she’d dropped a bomb. “I need to really get acquainted with the neighborhood, so it will be both fun as well as educational.”

“Fun?” He sounded like he’d never heard of the word. “Rose. There’s a price on your head.”

She dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “I need to do this, Kane.”

She’d forgotten that several of the team members as well as the two women had just finished working out. They appeared quite curious. Paul winked at her. Rose looked around the room. Every member of the team had arrived, as if Kane had put out some kind of SOS call—which he probably had. The men were looking at the three women—at her in particular—as if she’d lost her mind.

“You want to go where?” Kane asked through clenched teeth.

No, he definitely wasn’t happy. Rose sighed. He’d heard her, he wasn’t deaf, but she obligingly repeated herself, knowing he was asking for the benefit of the team members who might not have heard. “The three of us want to go shopping. Maybe to the market and a couple of the boutiques. Not far, Kane, it’s only a few blocks down.”

“If you’re really insisting on going, then we have to go with you.” He glared at Jaimie and Rhianna, as if they were to blame for her wanting to leave. “Jaimie knows she doesn’t go out without an escort.”

Rose refrained from rolling her eyes. “I’m not a two-year-old, Kane. I want to go shopping. It isn’t like Whitney’s going to have a team out there again. He’s been quiet. I believe him when he said to you that you ‘won’ the game. He’s not going to come after me, especially after losing so many of his men.”

“Fine, we’ll go.”

“You have to stay here and watch Sebastian so I don’t worry about him,” Rose objected.

Something dangerous flickered in the depths of his eyes. “Paul can watch him. Right, Paul?” His tone suggested Paul give the right answer.

“No problem,” Paul said instantly, ignoring the way the three women glared at him.

“That’s not the point,” Jaimie said. “We want to do the woman thing. We’ve been cooped up with men long enough. We need some woman time.”

“I don’t like this one bit,” Kane groused. “Why the sudden need to bond?”

Jaimie laughed. “You’re becoming one of those very annoying males, like Mack. You don’t want to be like Mack, do you?”

“Hey!” Mack objected. “I think he’s showing good sense. The three of you ought to be locked up somewhere.”

“A padded cell,” Gideon suggested under his breath.

Jaimie glared at him. “You’re not helping the cause.”

Rose noticed that Rhianna didn’t say a single word. She kept her eyes on Javier’s face. He was in the shadows as usual, barely able to be seen. His face was a carved mask, inscrutable. He said nothing at all, but his fingers tapped his thigh, and the movement was mesmerizing, as if all his pent-up emotion was controlled only by those rhythmic taps.

Rose could feel the burning heat from Kane’s piercing eyes. She sighed and held up her hand. “I realize that all of you are just trying to protect us, but we have to be able to live our lives. I haven’t been out of here in six weeks. That’s a long time. Yes, I’ve been active, but while I enjoy the company, I’d like to experience freedom. I’ve been a prisoner my entire life, and walking through a marketplace is an amazing treat for me.”

She kept her gaze locked with Kane’s. In the end, his opinion was all that mattered to her. He shook his head, and she could see fear there—and determination.

“Damn it, Rose. If something happens to you ...” He trailed off and turned away from her, but not before she saw the burst of emotion cross his face.

“Nothing will happen.” Javier stood up abruptly.

“Damn it,” Kane said again without looking at her. “Gideon, you and Ethan have the rooftops. Stay inside the marketplace. We can cover them easily there.”

“I wanted to go into the little boutique and look at clothes. It’s two blocks down,” Rose insisted. “Kane, I have to feel like I can breathe.”

Kane closed his eyes briefly and swept his arm around her, dragging her close to him. “I know, Rose. I don’t want you to feel as if you’re a prisoner here. I didn’t know you were feeling that way. Jaimie goes out, yes, but she doesn’t have a price on her head.”

“It’s been quiet for weeks; Jaimie said so,” Rose pointed out. “She’s got all the information pouring in. They stopped talking about me.”

She hated the tension between them. Kane’s easy smile was gone, and his fingers dug into her hip as though he could tie them together through sheer physical contact. She didn’t try to pull away from him, afraid he would think she wasn’t happy. She was. She loved her life with him, everything about it, but she had to take the next step and go out into the world. If she couldn’t, then how could Sebastian?

Kane shook his head again. Rose laid her palm over his chest, right over his thundering heart. She looked up at him, willing him to look down at her, into her eyes, and see that she loved him beyond all else. This wasn’t about their life together, but about needs. The need to walk through a crowd of people or go into a store and shop for her own clothes—things she’d never been able to do. She wanted those things for herself. Maybe she was being greedy, but it mattered that he understood.

“You know the team has to go with you.”

“Around us. Not with us,” Rose corrected. “We’re trained soldiers, Kane. Civilians aren’t going to hurt us.”

“They’re the worst because you don’t expect it,” Kane corrected. “I should be with you, Rose, close, the first time.”

She sighed. “If that’s what you need to do, Kane.”

“For God’s sake, Kane,” Javier hissed. “She’s got Rhianna with her. What the hell is going to happen to her with Rhee beside her the entire time?”

Rhianna looked more shocked than anyone else. Her gaze jumped to Javier’s face, but it was impossible to read his expression. He never so much as glanced at her.

“I didn’t think of that,” Kane admitted. He looked rueful, raking his hand through his hair. “Sorry, Rhee. I know you can look after her.”

Rose suppressed the urge to stomp her foot. Rhianna had obviously earned their respect out in the field; she hadn’t. “We’ll be fine, Kane. The three of us can kick some serious butt if we have to, and with Gideon and Ethan on the rooftops, nothing can happen.”

“I’ll be in the street. Lucas too,” Javier pointed out, some of the tension easing from his voice. “Lucas can blend. He’s a freaking ghost out there.”

“This is the way we have to live, isn’t it?” Rose said.

“We’re used to it,” Jaimie said. “This has been our lives since we were little, Rose. We practically lived on the streets most of the time, and we had to look out for one another. It just feels normal after a while.”

“And right,” Rhianna said. Again she glanced at Javier and then looked away. “Being alone is no fun when you know no one has your back. Looking out for one another is what family does, and we’re a tight family.”

Rose looked around the room at all the faces. They weren’t her sisters, the women she’d grown up with, but they were offering her a home. A real home. She found herself smiling. “I think I can live with knowing I’m always surrounded by people willing to help me. I hope you know I would do the same for you.”

She looked Kane right in the eye when she said it. He persisted in thinking she was a fragile little flower that needed protection.

I know better, baby. It’s just that you’ve become my world. When a man’s had nothing, and he finds that one woman who owns his heart, it’s damned hard not to lock her away from any danger.

But you know better.

Logic doesn’t enter into this, he denied. “Go then, Rose. But Rhianna, you don’t leave her side. Not for one damned minute.”

Javier stirred, drawing attention, but he subsided when Rose shook her head. “That’s not fair, Kane, and you know it. Rhianna is not less than I am. We’ll all look out for each other.”

Rhianna burst out laughing. “We’re going to the market, Kane, not to a war zone. We’re highly trained professionals. They’re freakin’ drug dealers. Sheesh. Have you all lost your minds? Come on, Rose. Let’s get out of here.”

Gideon and Ethan rushed up the stairs toward the rooftops. Lucas left the room. Rose put Sebastian in Kane’s arms.

“You can do this, Kane. I’ll sometimes have to watch him while you go out without me. You have to be comfortable knowing the team will look after me, just as they look after you.”

“Damn it, Rose.”

She laughed. “You seem to be stuck on that little theme.”

He caught her chin and kissed her hard, kissed her until her heart was pounding and her knees were weak.

“Just come back to us,” he demanded. “And for your information, it’s bullshit for me to be relegated to babysitter when you’re putting yourself on the line.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For your information, it isn’t called babysitting when it’s your own child. Sebastian is far more at risk than I am.”

“I don’t think so, Rose, not anymore. I think Whitney believes I won his game by stopping him from taking both of you. But he wants you back.”

“If you really can’t stand this, Kane, then we’ll do it your way,” Rose capitulated.

Kane was far too distressed for her to try to prove a point. Sebastian would be safe with Paul. She trusted him. If it meant that much to Kane to guard her back, then she needed to concede to him this one thing. Over time, when nothing happened, he’d mellow out—she hoped.

“I really can’t stand it.” Kane jumped on that, knowing she expected him to reassure her that he would be fine staying at home. “I need to be out on the street watching over you.” No way in hell was that going to happen. She could think it all she liked, but if she walked out that door, he was going to be shadowing her every step of the way. If she really knew him, she would have known that.

Rose made a face at him and turned away without arguing, which, in his opinion, she should have done in the first place. It would have saved a hell of a lot of time. What kind of man did she think he was? He protected his own. She was his woman, and when she put her life at risk, he was going to be guarding her precious little ass whether she liked it or not.

Mack leaned close. “You have steam coming up out your ears.”

“Why the hell do they have to be so fucking unreasonable?” Kane demanded.

Mack shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong man, Kane. I haven’t figured out anything yet, and I doubt if I ever will. None of them make sense to me, but I have to give you kudos for trying to discuss it with her. There were a couple of times I thought you might explode, but you didn’t show it.”

Lucas, you in place? Javier’s voice filled their minds even as he walked beside them, trailing behind the three women at a more leisurely pace. “Personally,” he told them aloud, “I think the only answer is to lock them up. It’s a matter of sanity.”

“Then what was that bullshit about Rhianna?” Kane snapped. “It wasn’t helpful.”

“Hell. What difference did it make? It got the argument over, and everyone knew, with the exception of Rose, that she wasn’t getting out the door without you.” Javier shrugged. “It saved time. And it’s the truth, not bullshit. Rhianna can get the job done.”

Kane knew it was the stark truth. Rhianna had grown up on the street, a hard, brutal life, and she was a survivor. She grew up clawing and fighting her way through the worst kinds of criminals as a child. Her body was a killing machine and her mind cool and brilliant. Everyone underestimated her in the same way they did Javier. She looked a certain way, and they took her at face value. No one would ever think she could be lethal. It was generally the last thought they had before they died.

Kane kept Rose in his sight, strolling down the street after her. She paused, and he saw her face light up. She threw her head back and took a deep breath. Had he been keeping her prisoner? It probably felt that way to her. He hadn’t deliberately locked her away from the world. The sun was out, and her hair shone almost blue black under the blaze. He loved the way she moved, flowing silk over concrete.

Fan out a little. Mack’s voice brought him up short. He was getting lost in Rose’s wonder, in the way she absorbed the outdoors and her freedom. She actually threw her arms out once, as if to embrace the world around her.

I should have seen how much she needed this, he confided to Mack.

Laughter floated back to him, turning heads around them. His body tightened. The three women were attracting a lot of attention. His eyes narrowed and his stomach settled. He loved watching her have fun, but that wasn’t his job. Keeping her safe was all that mattered. His attention had to be on the crowd, on their surroundings, not on Rose, as much as he would have liked to see her experience the freedom of having fun with friends.

Rose nudged Jaimie. “When do you get to the point of not being hyperaware of the team surrounding us?”

“Honestly,” Jaimie said, “it’s usually only a couple of them in the crowd and one on the roof. They’ve been at this since we were kids. Mack and Kane never wanted us to walk through a park without an escort. We lived in a pretty rough neighborhood.”

Rhianna nodded. “It was nice back then to know someone cared enough to look out for us. Jaimie had a mother, but she worked all the time. We spent a great deal of time alone.”

“What is it like having a mother?” Rose asked. “I never had one.”

Rhianna shrugged. “Jaimie would have to answer that. I never had one either.” She shifted her gaze to the crowd, her eyes seeking out a familiar face.

“My mother was awesome,” Jaimie said. “A best friend when I was young. I grew up too fast for her. Sometimes I felt as if I was a terrible disappointment, although I know in my heart I wasn’t. It was just that I never did the things most moms think about.”

Rose laughed. “I don’t know what moms think about. Me, I think about how fast I can take apart a weapon and put it back together again. Nice legacy to pass on to my child.”

“Your child will need it,” Rhianna pointed out. “Teaching him survival is the best thing you can ever do for him, Rose. Don’t let the rest of the world tell you any different.”

Rose smiled at her. “Thanks, Rhianna, that’s a nice thing to say. I’m totally winging it as far as the mother thing goes.”

“He’s beautiful,” Rhianna said. “I’ve never held a baby before. It was very different than I thought it would be.” She sent the other two women a wry smile. “I never even held a doll. Did you?”

Rose burst out laughing again. “Can you imagine Whitney giving us dolls? Hell no. You met him. He wouldn’t understand why a girl might want a doll. We were learning hand-to-hand combat, not playing with toys.”

“Not much preparation for his breeding program,” Jaimie said. “What did he think you were going to do once you had babies?”

“I think he planned to take them away from us and give them to professionals who would raise the ultimate soldier under his guidance,” Rose said.

“Someone needs to put a bullet in that man’s head,” Rhianna commented.

Rose loved the feeling of life pulsing around them in the marketplace. She identified half a dozen languages as they moved through the crowd. The place was alive with laughter. Two vendors argued politics. A husband and wife examined wares holding hands. Children raced down the rows, and parents chased after them.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Rose asked.

Rhianna grinned at her. “You really love this, don’t you?”

“Yes. It’s wonderful. Real people.”

“They’re real, all right. You see that man over there? The one lounging around looking hot with sunglasses and tight jeans?”

“Very hot,” Rose agreed.

“He’s looking for girls. Young girls with nowhere to go, starving for attention, hungry and scared. He’s a hawk, Rose, and he can spot one a mile out. The one over there, just in front of the row with all the flashy cool jewelry to draw kids is a drug dealer. That man over there beats the hell out of his wife, and those two kids are shoplifting, even though they’re wearing shoes that cost several hundred bucks a pair.”

“Rhianna!” Jaimie frowned at her.

“That’s what I see. I’m sorry, Rose. I shouldn’t have pointed them out to you. Just because it’s how I view the world, I shouldn’t put those images into your head.”

“Yes you should. How will I teach Sebastian if I can’t tell him what dangers to look for?” Rose objected. “How in the world did you learn to spot those kinds of things?”

“Hard experience,” Rhianna’s voice was strictly neutral.

Rose heard the warning. Rhianna didn’t want to talk about her past. She glanced at the set face and remained silent.

Jaimie put her hand gently on Rhianna’s arm. “Rose was in a breeding program, Rhee. She’s been forced to do things and see things neither of us has ever had to face.”

Rhianna flashed Rose a small smile. “Sometimes I have a chip on my shoulder. You know, the woe-is-me-I’m-such-a-martyr complex. Ignore me.”

“Nice to know you’re human. When we train, I swear you’re a machine.”

Rhianna’s smile widened. “If any one of us is a machine, Rose, it’s you. You just had a baby, and you run circles around us.”

It was the first time any of them had complimented her that way. Kane endlessly told her how beautiful she was, but no one had mentioned her abilities in the field. No matter how hard she’d tried, how much she embraced the things they taught her, how fast she learned, or how many times she hit the target without a miss, no one had commented. She tried not to let the glow she felt show on her face. These women—and Kane’s team members—viewed their lives matter-of-factly. They didn’t give compliments; they took it for granted that if you trained and worked with them, that you were elite.

She found herself smiling. They’d accepted her not only into their family but as a member of their squad. She should have known. She had never been told she’d done a good job, she’d never been praised. If she succeeded or excelled at something, she moved on to the next task. Sometimes she felt being a soldier was bred in her bones, the very legacy Whitney wanted for her son. It was who she was, what she was, and she would never know anything different ... But Sebastian was going to have a choice, if she could possibly give it to him.

“Hey!” Jaimie threw her arm around Rose’s neck. “Stop thinking so much. We’re out here having fun. I want to go to that wicked cool boutique just down the street. I can’t believe I live next to it. It has the hottest boots of all time.”

“Of all time?” Rhianna’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ve got to see that. I’ve been around the world and visited every shoe shop I could find along the way. This shop has a lot of competition.”

“I love the boots you sent me from Milan.” Jaimie dropped her arm and walked in front of Rose, turning to walk backward so she could face her as she talked. “Rhianna and I both adore boots.”

“She has boot emergencies,” Rhianna explained. “Every now and then I get a frantic SOS from her, and wherever I am, I go out and find her a pair of supercute boots.”

Rose laughed. “I wear combat boots.”

Jaimie rolled her eyes and dropped back to her side. Rhianna closed in on the other side. “We noticed,” Jaimie said. “Hence the boot boutique. Seriously, Rose, you need us. We’re going to show you the true code all women should live by.”

“A pair of boots?” Rose asked skeptically.

Rhianna and Jaimie looked at each other and then burst out laughing, shaking their heads. “Not just a pair of boots,” Jaimie corrected. “The boots. Hot boots.”

Rose frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Just say it,” Rhianna advised. She leaned close to Rose and whispered in her ear. “Fuck-me boots.”

Rose’s mouth fell open in a gasp. “You two are terrible.”

“Try walking up to Kane in the boots we find you and nothing else,” Rhianna advised. “See what happens.”

“I think the same thing would happen if I walked up to him naked,” Rose pointed out.

Jaimie and Rhianna laughed again. “I think you’re right,” Jaimie said, “but it’s so fun to see that look in his eyes when you come striding in and sit on his lap. He’s so very appreciative.”

Rose bowed. “I’m willing to take direction.”

“Every woman should have a sexy red dress in her closet,” Rhianna added solemnly. “And a black one. It’s not only necessary to your soul but to your arsenal. And so are very hot boots.”

Rose laughed. “However did I survive without knowing this?”

“I have no idea,” Jaimie conceded. “But thankfully, you’re with us now, and we can show you the way.”

Rose looked down at her combat boots. “I can see I have a lot to learn.”

Jaimie touched Rose’s arm, and they moved into the shadows just outside the store, Jaimie positioning herself just in front of Rose, partially hiding her from the crowds of people on the street.

Rhianna didn’t break stride. Entering store now. Dove is outside. Eagle, it’s on you.

Roger that. Gideon’s voice was calm. She’s covered.

Rose choked back a protest at the ghastly name they’d given her. That had to be Kane’s idea of her. She was no dove, no matter that he persisted in underestimating her abilities—until they were in actual combat.

Mama Bear is much more appropriate!

Jaimie’s muffled laughter followed by Rhianna’s snort as she pulled open the door to the boutique and disappeared inside changed her mind. They were teasing her, offering her the tight camaraderie that only came when you relied on another to watch your back in a life-and-death situation.

It was only a minute before Rhianna spoke again. All clear.

Jaimie stepped forward and pulled open the door. Rose went through, and they were inside. Immediately they were just women again, having fun shopping for shoes. Rose found it comforting that the other two women slipped easily in and out of their roles. It meant she had a chance, someday, to be able to walk through a crowd and feel normal. If she could achieve that, maybe Sebastian had a chance after all.

The shoes were amazing. She’d never paid any attention at all to shoes, and now Rhianna and Jaimie were pointing out everything from elegant heels to really beautiful boots.

“You’ve got the money,” Jaimie pointed out. “Lily put money in a trust for each of the girls she grew up with. That includes you, Rose. It’s just sitting there. Granted, we’re using big bucks to buy up all the buildings around us and renovate them, but you have plenty to purchase a few special items for yourself. Like these awesome, never-to-be-found-again boots right here.” She held up a pair of butter-soft leather boots in a swirling olive green with a square cut toe and a bit of a heel. “What do you think?”

“Or these?” Rhianna held up a pair of bloodred boots that snaked up to the knee. “Short skirt or a pair of skinny jeans. Really dramatic.”

“You’d look dramatic in anything,” Jaimie pointed out, blowing her a kiss. “Try these on, Rose, they’ll go with a sexy outfit.”

“Sexy outfit?” Rose echoed faintly. “I don’t have a sexy outfit.”

“Lingerie,” Rhianna said. “You know, thong, corset, a see-through camisole.”

Rose shook her head. “I don’t have any of that.”

“Oh, girlfriend, you need help desperately,” Jaimie said, putting the boots down. “We’re in the wrong shop. We need to go somewhere else.”

You’ve got company. Two women. Both young. Look harmless enough, Gideon warned.

Look alive, Javier warned. One had a tattoo on her wrist. I just barely caught a glimpse of it, but it could be the Lopez cartel. They’ve spread through Arizona, Texas, and especially California.

“It would be a coincidence,” Rose said aloud.

Javier warned us some time ago that they had a hold close to here. It makes sense their women might shop here, Jaimie answered as the bell tinkled, signaling they weren’t alone.

Rose kept her back to them, while Rhianna and Jaimie turned slightly, observing the newcomers. Both girls were young, no more than early twenties, with dark, curly hair and sunglasses pushed over their faces. They talked low to each other, but all three women were enhanced and could hear the whispered exchange. Evidently one was certain her boyfriend was sleeping with another woman and wanted her friend, Imelda, to ask around. They ignored Rose, Rhianna, and Jaimie completely.

I think they’re more interested in what their boyfriends are doing than us, Jaimie said.

We could go to the lingerie store, Rose suggested, sticking with telepathy. How far away is it?

A few blocks, three more, I think, Jaimie said.

Over my dead body, Kane snapped. We’re not prepared yet. Buy your boots and get out of there.

Rhianna sighed. Have you ever noticed certain people are killjoys?

Rose laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. Kane was always going to be Kane. His idea of safe was anywhere close to him. She reached for the olive green boots, loving the feel of them. One of the newcomers reached for them at the same time. Rose smiled at her and let go.

“Go ahead. They’re beautiful.”

The girl’s smile was brief, but she took them to the attendant to ask for her size. Rhianna was already trying on the red boots, and Jaimie had chosen a pair of chocolate brown ones. Rose wandered around the store, looking at everything, a little shocked at the prices and how high the various heels were. “Can anyone really walk in these things?” She turned, lifting them up in the air.

Jaimie laughed. “Rhianna can,” she said.

“Really?” Rose asked, whirling around. Rhianna just grinned at her as she pulled off the red boots. “Without stumbling?”

“Piece of cake.”

“Look Irma,” Imelda said as she walked around the room, showing off the green boots.

Irma barely glanced at her friend; her attention on her cell phone, texting like crazy. Rose felt sorry for the girl. “They really are hot on you,” she commented. Even as she said it, she spotted the boots for her. She loved the look of them. Soft gray, a leather braid around the ankle and the top of the boot, knee high, with just enough of a heel to be called dress boots, but not so high she’d break her neck, she had to try them on.

“I love these,” Rose said with a sigh.

Rhianna broke into an approving smile. “So do I. Try them on.”

Rose didn’t need any other encouragement. She had the clerk get her size and sank down into the plush chair to replace her combat boots with the soft leather ones. Never in her life had she had such a luxury. The boots were ridiculous for someone like her to own. Where in the world would she wear them? She ran her hand over the soft leather. But she really, really loved them. They felt wonderful, caressing her feet, surrounding them with sheer elegance.

She looked in the mirror, while Jaimie and Rhianna made approving noises. “I have nowhere to wear them, and nothing to wear them with, but I absolutely love them.”

Jaimie and Rhianna grinned at each other. “Major shopping time, Rose. Get the boots, and the next time we go out, we’ll find the perfect dress. Kane can take you out to dinner, and we’ll babysit.”

“And dancing,” Rhianna added.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Rose said.

“We’ll teach you,” Jaimie offered as Rose sat down to reluctantly remove the boots.

Get them, Kane said. If you want them, Rose, we’ll find somewhere nice to go.

She took a breath and looked at them. She had a child to care for, a home to keep safe. Did she need the boots? No, but she really wanted them. The temptation was extraordinary. Whitney would have been disgusted with her. That thought tipped her right over the edge. She had to get them, if just to prove to herself that she rejected fully his brainwashing.

You’ve got two gang members sitting on the curb directly across from the shop, and one trying to look inconspicuous lounging against the front of the building. He’s got on a coat and his hand is inside of it. A fourth is crossing the street and heading right into the store.

Gideon’s cool voice delivered the message. Without hesitation Rhianna crossed the store and jerked the cell phone from the persistently silent Irma standing beside the door.

“That was damn stupid of you,” she hissed. “You should have walked out of here while you had the chance.”

Irma tried to pull a razor blade from her hair. Rhianna’s elbow connected hard with her face. The crack was loud, and Irma dropped to the floor at her feet. “Get out of here,” she called to the clerk. “Use the back door. These women are gang members, and their men are just outside.” As she gave the order, she pulled out her wallet and flashed a badge of some sort.

Rose couldn’t see what it said, but the clerk turned and hurried out of the store. Rose caught Imelda’s wrist as she tried to run toward the door, calling out to the man moving swiftly toward them from across the street. Rose delivered a hard chop to the side of her neck, and the girl went down hard.

I’ve got the shot, Gideon said.

Let him come in, Rhianna protested. Too many civilians. His buddies probably have itchy trigger fingers. Rhianna stepped to the side of the door.

Rose noticed no one protested. Jaimie moved behind the counter, pulling her weapon from her boot. Rose took the opposite side of the door from Rhianna. She preferred her knife. She could throw fast and accurately. And knives were silent.

That’s Jose Cortina, a real badass. He’s the real deal, Rhianna. Favors a knife. Thinks he’s a ladies’man. Has a taste for hurting women and torturing anyone who thinks about crossing him. Javier informed them. He’ll smile at you, half turn away, and then turn and throw a knife. He’s a lefty.

The door burst open, and Jose strode in. Rhianna kicked the door closed and stepped in behind him. “Your girl sent you the wrong picture.”

Jose toed Irma’s limp body, spit on her, and then looked straight at Rose. “I don’t think so. You’re worth a cool million.”

He looked over his shoulder at Rhianna, his eyes widening in surprise as he took in her face and body. “My lucky day.”

“You think so? Your boys outside are having a bad one. Take a look.” Rhianna moved slightly to give Jose a better view of the street.

Jose shifted his gaze to peer over her shoulder. The two men who had casually been sitting on the curb were now slumped over, looking drunk. Blood dripped steadily into the gutter. The third man, the one armed with the semiautomatic, stumbled out into the street directly in front of a car. The car had no time to throw on its brakes, and the body flew up and over the hood, smashing the windshield. The gun clattered to the street.

“What the hell?” Jose turned back to Rose with a small smile. He turned as if to leave, his hand a blur.

Rhianna caught his wrist with surprising strength, stepping in close. Jose frowned down at the hilt of the knife sticking out of his chest. “What the hell?” he repeated and coughed blood. It bubbled up around his lips and dribbled down his chin. His knees buckled. Rhianna stepped back and let him fall.