 
# Vengeance

## (The SSU Book 1)

## Vanessa Kier

# Contents

Book Description

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Dear Reader

Excerpt from Betrayal

Also by Vanessa Kier

Acknowledgments

About the Author

## One stolen microchip. Two missions of vengeance. An international manhunt. Trust the wrong person and you're dead.

Former art history student Jenna Paterson vows revenge on her once beloved older brother, Kai, believing him responsible for the attack that killed their parents. But Kai has disappeared with a microchip containing deadly government research data.

Undercover agent Niko Andros will go to any length to get the microchip so he can trade it for his kidnapped aunt–including using Jenna as bait.

_Vengeance_ , Book One in the SSU series.

Copyright © 2013 by Vanessa Kier. All rights reserved.

Yes, I want to join the KierDevils!

www.vanessakier.com/join-kierdevils
This book is dedicated to my biggest fan,

my mom.

* * *

Mom, I wish you'd lived long enough

to see _Vengeance_ published.

I miss you!

# Chapter One

_Wednesday, Late Afternoon_

_Surgical Strike Unit Training Compound_

_Oregon_

Jenna Paterson had five minutes to rescue the hostage.

She nodded and her partner rammed open the door. With steady hands, Jenna pulled the pin on a flash grenade and lobbed it into the room. She quickly turned her head away, closing her eyes to protect her vision against the brilliant explosion. Then waited for her team leader to give the signal to enter. Thankfully, the shock of the grenade had startled the hostage inside into silence. Jenna had been afraid that one more minute of listening to the woman's terrified screams would throw her back to the night two years ago when she'd been attacked.

_Don't remember,_ she warned herself. _It's not the same. You're not the victim this time. Your job is to save this poor woman from further abuse at the hands of the terrorists._

Yet her body wasn't buying it. Her stomach tightened in dread and her mouth was as dry as the paint on a da Vinci. She pressed her back tightly against the cheap plasterboard wall of the hallway. Inhaled the scent of the grenade's fumes and underneath that, the nauseating mixture of fresh paint and fresh blood. She tightened her grip on her rifle and hoped the team leader would give the go-ahead before her nerves got the better of her.

_Stick to the plan,_ the voice inside her head chanted. _These are not the men who attacked you. That's not Kai in there._

Jenna clenched her teeth. She was better now. She was. She hadn't frozen during action since the last time they'd rescued a female prisoner in the middle of being raped.

"Go!" The voice of her team leader came clearly over the headset. At a nod from her partner, Jenna drew in a deep breath and counted to five. He went through the door first, high and to the left followed by Jenna rolling low and to the right.

The next minutes were a surrealistic blur. Muzzle flashes turned the lingering smoke from the grenade into a multicolored cloud. The hostage cried out in fear, not realizing she was being rescued. The terrorists grunted in pain, writhing in grotesque death dances as the bullets from Jenna's teammates found their targets.

Then, suddenly, silence. Jenna lay on her stomach, panting, her heart racing as she searched for another target. But the room was still.

Three short bursts from a whistle signaled the end of the exercise. The house lights came up and the experienced Surgical Strike Unit operators who'd been playing the terrorists rose to their feet, laser tagged vests glowing where they'd been "hit" by her team's fire.

One of the terrorists pulled off his baseball cap, revealing sweat-stained blond hair. For a second he looked so much like Kai that Jenna turned her weapon toward him before reality returned. Reeling from the close call, she quickly lowered her weapon.

Thank God the man hadn't noticed her targeting him. She never would have lived that one down. As she pushed hastily to her feet she snuck a glance at the rest of the room to make sure no one else had seen. And met the fierce chocolate eyes of Niko Andros.

Her heart stuttered. Didn't that figure? The one person who'd observed her slip was today's guest trainer, the man her classmates spoke about in awed whispers. The man who, with the predatory stillness of his body and the wary intelligence in his eyes, reminded Jenna of a falcon.

Jenna did her best to act casual, like nothing had happened, but Niko glanced from her weapon to the guy she'd almost shot and raised one eyebrow. Damn. She shrugged and forced a slight smile, hoping Niko would chalk her edginess up to adrenaline.

After holding her gaze for an uncomfortable moment, Niko's expression shifted from questioning to a banked heat that caused an alarming frisson of sexual awareness to shoot through her. Feeling her cheeks flush, she quickly turned away.

Her stomach churned with nausea. She couldn't handle this. Not now. Yes, she'd worked hard since the rape to get over her fear of being the object of a man's sexual interest. She couldn't train with guys and not expect to receive a few suggestive looks or comments. But until today she'd never felt anything but revulsion in response to a man's attention.

The doctors would say that her appreciation of Niko as a male was a positive step. Yet even as a brief image of her running her fingers through his short dark hair flashed in her mind, panic began a familiar beat in her veins.

She had to get out of here. Had to—

"Hey, you okay?" her partner Elliot asked. She nodded, unable to meet his eyes. Afraid he'd see her fear. Hoping he hadn't seen the look Niko had given her. What could she say? "I'm scared to death because for the first time in two years I'm actually feeling attraction toward a man, but all I can remember when I think of sex is pain and blood?" Yeah, that would go over well.

Thankfully, Elliot didn't push for a better answer. Ignoring her trembling legs, Jenna followed him and the rest of her teammates outside where their trainers waited to review the afternoon's exercise. One of a handful of privately run special operations groups that had sprung up in recent years, the Surgical Strike Unit, or SSU, had one of the best reputations for skilled operators in the world. Which meant their trainers accepted nothing but success.

The "terrorists" and the "hostage" moved into place in the center of the assembly area, then the senior trainer read out the statistics. Jenna had killed every one of her targets. She nodded, relieved that her nerves hadn't affected her performance and proud that she hadn't even hesitated this time. Not like during the exercise a month ago, when seeing the victim pinned face down under her attacker had thrown Jenna back to the night she and her family had been attacked. Trapped in memories, she'd lost awareness of the action around her. When the exercise had finished and the trainers turned up the lights it took them five minutes to bring her attention back to the present.

From his position in line with the other trainers, Niko mouthed "Good job" at her. Jenna managed a slight nod in response, then looked away before he sensed the panic his continued attention caused her.

Taking slow, deep breaths, Jenna told herself Niko wasn't a threat. Besides, she wouldn't see him again after today. Rumor had it that he'd been pulled out of deep cover in Afghanistan when his joint mission with the DEA had been compromised, but that Niko was headed back to Afghanistan the day after tomorrow to set things right.

So, all she had to do was avoid appearing too nervous for the rest of the afternoon, and she wouldn't have to worry about his effect on her any more. Thankfully, no one else on the team threatened to break her reputation for being impervious to emotion. After two years of struggling to keep herself together so she wouldn't be thrown out of the training program due to psychological instability, she couldn't afford to have her suitability as an operator questioned now. Not with only four months until graduation.

"Hey, Thompkins, you shot out my knee again, you moron," one of the trainees jibed. "I'm your partner, not a damn terrorist, man."

Thompkins shot his roommate a one-fingered salute. "If you'd moved your lazy ass out of the way you wouldn't have been shot."

The man next to Jenna snorted. "Right. That's what? Excuse number five hundred and twelve? Face it, you're never gonna be as good as Paterson, here. Beat by a girl."

"Yeah, she's accurate. When she doesn't freeze up and get herself killed," Thompkins groused.

There was an awkward pause as everyone's eyes turned to Jenna. "It only happened _once_ ," she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat at the unaccustomed attention. Her teammates didn't usually include her in their banter. "I'm not the one who just shot his partner for the second time this week."

Thompkins blinked in surprise over her retort. Usually she kept her mouth shut.

"Ha! Don't mess with Jenna, boys. She's got bite." Tracy Wardynski, the only other female in their training class, bumped her shoulder companionably against Jenna's.

Jenna allowed the contact, although it hinted at a camaraderie she didn't feel. The attack on her family had destroyed her ability to connect with others. Her heart was a cold, barren place with no room for anything but vengeance. Friendship was a risk she refused to take.

Yet she had to quell an inexplicable urge to glance over at Niko.

After the trainees and role-playing agents finished their reports, the senior trainer stepped to the center of the group, drawing everyone's attention.

"Well done, team," the trainer said. Then he gave them a dangerous smile that had all of them groaning. "Gear up and head to these coordinates," he barked, reading off longitude and latitude. "You have half an hour to get there. Starting...now!"

Jenna typed the coordinates into her watch, then sprinted down the trail with the rest of the trainees.

* * *

_Three Months Later_

"Run it again," head trainer Walter Grayson shouted to the exhausted group of trainees. "This time, Jacobs, don't treat Paterson like a damn china doll. She comes at you, you knock her down like Williams or Jones."

From his position off to the side of the training field, Ryker, the director of the Surgical Strike Unit watched the group run through a mock ambush. But Ryker wasn't here to evaluate the entire class. His eyes were only for Jenna Paterson. His chest tightened with pride as he watched her take an elbow to the gut, then counterattack with a series of blows that brought her opponent to his knees.

She'd never be as strong as most of the men and women in the group, she was naturally too slight, but years of dance training gave her quickness and flexibility. The detail-oriented art historian's eye she'd once used to recognize microscopic anomalies in a painting now gave her an advantage on the target range.

Ryker smiled as Jenna dodged around an opponent and took him down from behind. When he'd arrived at the public hospital in Newark, Delaware two years ago, twenty-four-year-old Jenna had been in intensive care. Partially scalped, throat slashed, back broken, and bleeding internally from a brutal rape. The doctors hadn't known if she'd survive. If she'd _wanted_ to survive. If she did live, they'd doubted she'd ever walk again.

Jenna _had_ almost died. Hours after she'd woken up in the hospital and learned she was the only survivor, she'd pulled her medical tubes out, hoping to kill herself and join her family. She'd briefly flatlined before the staff brought her back.

Ryker knew it was his fault. He hadn't warned her father of the danger in time. Since then, he'd done everything in his power to make it up to her. The moment she'd been stable enough, he'd moved her here to the SSU's medical and training facility. He'd spent hours by her bedside, urging her unconscious body to live. Telling her childhood stories of her father and of their time together in the military. He'd watched with admiration as she fought fiercely to overcome her injuries. Despite his misgivings, he'd honored her decision to apply to the SSU's operator training program, hoping the training would empower her and help her work through the trauma of the attack.

Yet even though Jenna was in the top ten percent of her class, Ryker wasn't convinced this was the life for her. He had trouble reconciling the smiling, energetic young woman she'd been before the attack to the grim, focused woman moving through today's exercise.

He walked over to Grayson. "How's she doing?"

They both knew he wasn't referring to Jenna's physical ability. Nobody watching her fight would guess she'd spent two months in a wheelchair. Or that she'd once been a sunny art history graduate student who taught dance classes on the side.

"Desensitization mostly worked," Grayson grunted. The grizzled, African American, former Army Sergeant dismissed the training class from the field with a nod. "Just average newbie mistakes so far. No fear of being approached from behind or grabbed by the throat. Okay pinned to the ground. Knife work remains her weakest skill, but she sucks it up and gets the job done." Grayson slanted a glance at Ryker. "Still think she's a walking time bomb. A girl don't survive what she did without getting good and mad. She's so calm, the boys call her Lady Zen." He shrugged.

Ryker watched Jenna finish the exercise, satisfied with her physical skill and her teamwork. Yet he shared Grayson's concern about her emotional state. Yes, the psychiatrists had cleared her for duty. They said there was no way to predict if Jenna would ever have a major emotional breakdown. She'd made it two years and only lost it a couple of times. She'd been solid for a good six months now.

Still...Ryker shook his head. Graduation was in a few weeks, but he wasn't ready to let Jenna go. Not even knowing that she'd initially be paired with an experienced agent on low-risk missions eased his mind.

His mouth twisted wryly. Who was he kidding? He never wanted Jenna out on assignment. She was his surrogate daughter. Her father, Eric, had been his best friend since they were three. Ryker had promised to keep Eric's children safe if anything happened to him. He'd failed Eric once. Eric, his wife, and their fourteen-year-old twins Isabel and Justin were dead. But Ryker could make good on his promise and keep Jenna safe.

He turned to leave, then paused.

"Tell Jenna I want her in my office in half an hour," he said. Maybe he wasn't ready to send her out into the world, but it had been a long time since they'd shared a meal. He'd see if he could convince her to have dinner with him so they could catch up.

* * *

Short hair still damp from her quick shower after training, Jenna walked through the administration building toward Ryker's office.

"You have Paterson's sister here," an unfamiliar male voice said from behind Ryker's partially opened door. "But you haven't used her once to draw Paterson out of hiding. Let her come with me to Moscow. When Paterson learns his sister is alive, he's guaranteed to show himself."

They'd found Kai! Jenna stopped, holding her breath as she waited for Ryker's response.

"No."

Ryker's denial catapulted Jenna into molten rage. She slammed her palms flat against the heavy oak door and shoved it open. The door bounced against the wall with a satisfying smack as she stormed into the office.

Ryker glanced at her with surprise, but didn't show any guilt for the refusal she'd overheard. The tight hand of betrayal closed around her throat, and for a moment she couldn't breathe. Then anger broke through, forcing air into her lungs.

"You know where Kai is," she snarled, flinging the words at Ryker. "But you weren't going to tell me, were you?"

"Who's this?" Ryker's guest demanded. Then he did a double-take, looking between Jenna and something on Ryker's desk. "Wait. _This_ is the sister?"

Jenna narrowed her eyes and gave the man the once-over. He was tall, probably a few inches over six feet. His rich, oak brown suit fit so perfectly it had to be custom tailored. His arrogant expression made her think of a king deigning to visit his peons.

Jenna was so not in the mood for dealing with an asshole. She took an aggressive step toward the stranger before Ryker cleared his throat and sanity returned. Turning her body slightly away from the man, but keeping him in her peripheral vision, she planted her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, then focused her attention on her boss.

Ryker sighed and stood up. "Mark Tonelli, meet Jenna Paterson, Kai Paterson's sister. Jenna, Tonelli is with the CIA. He just finished participating in one of our joint operations."

Jenna gave a brief smile in response to Tonelli's raised eyebrow.

"Tonelli, please give us a moment alone," Ryker said.

The man pursed his lips, but with a curt nod he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

"What's going on?" she demanded. Then she noticed what Tonelli had seen on Ryker's desk. A fax with Kai's picture on it. She snatched the fax before Ryker could stop her, waving it toward him as her anger flared back up. "You found Kai and weren't going to tell me? You promised to keep me in the loop!"

"I promised I'd let you know when we found Kai." Ryker nodded toward the fax in her hand. "One of our informants spotted Kai getting into a cab in Moscow this morning. However, I never promised to let you go after him."

Jenna flinched. "I...you...you..." She could barely think past her anger. "You know that's the only reason I entered the training program. So I'd be ready to take down Kai!"

Ryker raised his eyebrows. "Is that right? I don't remember seeing revenge listed as a motive in your paperwork. The SSU doesn't condone vigilante action, Jenna."

Dammit, how had he managed to twist the situation so that she appeared in the wrong? And why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut? She'd assumed Ryker understood her unspoken need to be active in Kai's capture when she asked to be kept aware if they found him. Putting it into words had been a mistake.

Kai had always accused her of being too impetuous for her own good, but she'd thought that tendency had died the night of the attack.

"Besides, you're still in training," Ryker continued. "You're not experienced enough to participate in this mission. It's too dangerous."

"But..." She struggled to come up with a legitimate reason he should include her. "Mr. Tonelli wants to use me as bait. How dangerous can that be?"

Ryker tapped a manila folder with his index finger. For a heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to lie to her. Then he sighed and something almost like fear crossed his face.

"Alvarez just got out of prison."

Jenna felt her jaw drop. "But—"

"I know." Ryker drummed his fingertips on the desk blotter. "Alvarez managed to blackmail a judge into commuting his life sentence. There's an ongoing investigation, and the judge is facing jail time, but what matters is that Alvarez is out and once again after Kai, and Nevsky's microchip. You know how brutal and ruthless Alvarez is. Can you honestly tell me you're ready to face potential capture and torture just to get back at Kai? We let everyone think you died in order to protect you, Jenna. You're the only witness to what happened to your family. Once Alvarez discovers you're alive, you'll become a target."

Screams echoed in her head, making her dizzy. But she couldn't let Ryker see her fear. She raised her chin. "I'm willing to take that risk."

Ryker's eyes bored into hers. "Unfortunately, I'm not. I—"

The phone on his desk rang. Ryker glanced down to check the caller id and his lips tightened. Shooting her an indecipherable look, he picked up the receiver. "Ryker here...Yes, sir...That's correct, sir. But...Yes, I understand. But I...No. No, sir. Good-bye."

Ryker hung up the phone and stared at his desk blotter, his jaw working as his fingers clenched and unclenched into fists.

"It seems Tonelli has been busy telling tales while he waited for us to finish," Ryker said without looking up. "I've just been given orders from one of our primary government funders to bring Kai back at any cost, including using you as bait. We need that microchip."

Jenna knew Kai wasn't just wanted for the murder of her parents and the twins. The SSU had sent him undercover to investigate charges of suspicious deaths at a top-secret government lab tasked with creating extraordinary spies and soldiers. While there, Kai had been approached by Alvarez to steal a microchip containing the backup of the project data. Before Kai could hand over the chip to Alvarez, the lab caught fire, killing the lead scientist, Dr. Nevsky. The security tape showed Kai fleeing the scene.

Not only was Kai a suspect in Dr. Nevsky's death, but it was assumed her brother was in possession of the microchip at the time of the fire. Jenna didn't care about the microchip. She just wanted Kai dead for what he'd done to their family.

Ryker raised his head and Jenna winced at the conflict she saw there. "If I let you accompany Tonelli, you have to promise you won't go after Alvarez."

Jenna nodded, heart racing with excitement. "I promise." Mexican crime lord Jaime Alvarez had sent the assassins who'd worked with Kai to kill her family. She didn't know how Alvarez had turned Kai against his family so thoroughly that he'd participated in their deaths, but Alvarez was next on her kill list after Kai. Right now, though, it was no great sacrifice to give her word. She knew Alvarez's vicious reputation and understood she wasn't ready to tackle him just yet.

"Thank you," Ryker said. "And please...be extra careful in Moscow. It's not just Alvarez's men who are the threat. Kai also poses a danger. You're the only witness to his presence in your house the night of the attack. By now he has to know there's a warrant out for his arrest. Be prepared for him to attack you."

Ryker straightened a few of the papers on his desk. "If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself. I failed you and your family once. I can't fail again."

The muscles in Jenna's throat ached with the effort not to cry. Sometimes she forgot that Ryker blamed himself for what happened that night.

It wasn't his fault he hadn't warned her family in time. While trying to recover an accidentally deleted voicemail, Ryker had discovered a deleted, unheard message that Alvarez planned an attack on Jenna's family. He'd immediately called her dad, but by then it had been too late.

Still...sometimes she did blame Ryker. If only he'd never lured Kai away from the CIA in the first place, maybe her brother would never have been involved with Alvarez.

And her family would still be alive.

Jenna fought the urge to squirm. It didn't sit well, keeping secrets from Ryker. He was the closest thing to family she had left. But her loyalty was now, and always would be, to the memories of her parents and the twins. Ryker might have guessed she wanted revenge against Kai, but he'd never let her go to Moscow if he knew she wanted Kai dead.

Ryker gestured for Jenna to sit, then pushed a button on his intercom and instructed his assistant to let Tonelli back in. The man settled himself gingerly on the empty chair, then adjusted the crease in his trousers.

Jenna wanted to roll her eyes. This was an agent? Of what? Fastidiousness? He reminded her of one of her former college professors, a man who'd worn a perfectly pressed three piece suit every day to class and was so obsessed with order, he'd arranged the blackboard chalk by size and thickness.

"Okay, Tonelli, your little power play worked. You've forced my hand. But be clear. This is the SSU's mission. Not the CIA's."

Even though he'd played into her hands, Jenna wanted to wipe the satisfied smirk off Tonelli's face.

"Jenna," Ryker continued, "Tonelli is fluent in Russian. He spent most of his childhood in Moscow." For the next several minutes they discussed logistics and formulated a plan.

"The girl has to follow my orders," Tonelli insisted. "And stay out of my way once Paterson surfaces."

Jenna opened her mouth to comment, but a sharp look from Ryker had her pressing her lips together instead.

"If you convince Paterson to turn himself in and give up the microchip," Ryker reminded them, "our extraction team will be on standby to bring Paterson back safely and take possession of the chip."

"Sir, the CIA is perfectly capable—" Tonelli began.

"No. We've been over this, Tonelli. You're serving strictly as a consultant. This is the SSU's project. Once you find Paterson, he's ours. Not the CIA's. We were tasked by both the Department of Defense and the CIA to investigate Nevsky's lab. The retrieval of the microchip is part of that assignment. And we will turn Paterson over to law enforcement once he's been safely debriefed." Then Ryker added, "Jenna, I'll clear this trip with your trainers. We'll work out how to get you caught up in time for graduation after you've completed your mission."

"Thank you."

Jenna was aware of Tonelli's barely concealed anger as they wrapped up their discussion. The second Ryker dismissed them, Tonelli stalked from the room.

Jenna thought about letting him go, but since they were going to be working closely together over the next several days, she wanted to clear the air. So she followed Tonelli out of the building and onto one of the compound's many stone-lined paths.

He slowed his steps as he reached a fork in the path, tilting his head as if trying to decide which direction to take—left to the picnic area and cottages beyond, or right to the medical offices. There was no doubt in her mind he was putting on a show. She wasn't making any effort to hide.

Ah, to hell with it. She sprinted past him then turned so quickly that he'd knock her down if he didn't stop.

He raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me, but you're in my way."

No kidding. That was the freaking point. Mentally rolling her eyes, she said, "Yes, I know." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You're the one who asked Ryker to let me accompany you to Moscow. So what's with the attitude?"

He looked her over, then let his lip curl.

Please. If he thought she'd wither under his disdain, he was way off base. The only thing she cared about was being the one who found Kai.

When he didn't answer, she tapped her foot in an exaggerated show of impatience. "Well?"

His jaw tightened. For a moment Jenna thought he was going to ignore her and push right on past. But then he indicated with a nod she should accompany him to the left and into the picnic area. Not checking to see if she obeyed, he chose a table far enough away from the path that no one would be able to overhear him.

With a quick swipe of his handkerchief he cleared a spot on the top of the picnic table and sat down, resting his feet on the seat.

Jenna halted a few feet away from him. Even sitting down, he towered over her five-foot-three frame. He stared at her, trying to intimidate her. But Jenna just regarded him steadily, waiting for his answer.

Finally, Tonelli scowled. "I don't care if you're Paterson's sister and Ryker's pet. In my book, you're useless except as bait. That means you do what I say, when I say it. And you stay out of my way."

"I'm not some helpless twit. I've been through the agent training program. I can—"

Tonelli held up his hand. "Little girl, don't lie to me. You haven't graduated yet." He slapped his hand against a mosquito on his neck, then glanced at the bloody remains of the insect with disgust.

"You're out of your league with this assignment. Alvarez has a reputation for being ruthless and brutal." Something not strong enough to be fear, but darker than wariness crossed Tonelli's expression.

She almost sympathized with him. She'd barely survived one attack by Alvarez's men. Yet no matter how much the idea of being captured terrified her, she'd risk anything to get back at Kai.

"As soon as Alvarez learns you're alive, his men will be after you," Tonelli continued. "And they won't be gentle. I'm your only protection."

Jenna barely resisted rolling her eyes. Come _on_. Like he could protect her if Alvarez sent men after her? Tonelli looked like he'd be more at home in a boardroom than in a physical fight. Her mind flashed back to an image of Niko Andros. Tough. Capable. She bet Niko could hold his own against Alvarez's ruthless thugs.

Jenna scowled. Since when did she need a man's help? She'd protect herself, thank you very much. Besides, she was only acting as bait. Not walking into a firefight.

Tonelli stood up. "As long as you obey me and stay out of trouble, we'll get along fine." His eyes once again flicked disdainfully from her head to her feet. "Oh, and don't bother to bring any of your own clothes. I'll buy you new ones once we're there so you...won't look like such a fashion disaster."

Okay. Enough of his sideways insults. Her cargo pants and long-sleeved t-shirt were comfortable and practical. So what if combined with her slight frame and her white, pixie-short hair she looked like a boy? All that mattered was her ability to get the job done.

When he took a step forward, she moved into him, hooked her foot around his leg, and flipped him onto his back. But a street fighter hid underneath Tonelli's expensive suit. He had her down on the ground and nearly subdued in seconds. It took every trick from her training to evade him and get the upper hand. Finally, though, she straddled him as he lay on his back, his hands pinned underneath him and her combat knife pressed just deep enough into his skin to raise color without breaking the surface.

"Don't underestimate me," she said quietly.

"Okay, you've some training." Tonelli's tone made it clear he was only humoring her, so Jenna leaned a little harder on the knife. "Maybe you're not completely helpless."

She nodded. But instead of standing up and giving him an opportunity to get back at her, she pressed her knife harder against his throat, then somersaulted over his shoulder, letting the knife scrape across his throat and cheek as she moved into a crouch.

Faster than she expected, his hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, causing her to pitch into an ungraceful face down heap with her arm twisted at a painful angle to keep her knife away from her body. One quick kick with her other foot, though, and Tonelli's grip loosened enough for her to wriggle free. She immediately leapt to her feet and dashed into the trees.

Once she was far enough away, she checked behind her. No sign of Tonelli.

She sighed. This was not the start of a promising partnership. But she'd work with the devil himself if it meant finding Kai.

* * *

By the time Jenna got back to her small cabin, she was shaking and shivering with reaction. Despite all her training, knives still made her sick with fear. She was usually able to shove her fear aside and get the job done. But then, until tonight she'd never pulled her knife on anyone outside of training.

She dropped her keys on the first try. She scooped them up, tightened her grip on them, and despite more fumbling managed on the second try to get the door unlocked and pushed open.

She stumbled inside, shoved the door closed, and fell to her knees. A second later she was almost knocked over by a jumping, barking mass of overexcited fur. She opened her arms and let her golden retriever, Monroe, lick her face.

"Hey, sweetie," she said, tightening her arms for a hug that had Monroe sitting down and whining in distress. He nuzzled closer, sensing her mood.

"Jenna did a bad thing, Monroe. I pulled a knife on someone who wasn't threatening me." Her voice cracked and she buried her face in Monroe's silky fur. She understood the importance of a knife in close combat. There was nothing wrong with using a knife to protect yourself or your teammates. But just now with Tonelli hadn't been about protecting anything but her ego. She'd been piqued and determined to get the upper hand. The next thing she knew, her knife was at his throat.

It made her stomach churn.

What kind of person had she become?

She shuddered. Memories of the night of the attack danced around the edges of her consciousness, begging to be brought forward. But she refused to think about the cold prick of steel against her skin or the hot rush of blood over her face.

Monroe gave a strangled bark, his sign that she was holding on too tight. "Sorry, sweetie." Shoving the memories back in the dark where they belonged, Jenna let Monroe go.

Her fingers instinctively reached for the braided leather around her wrist, all that remained of the leather necklace her younger sister, Isabel, had made for Jenna's twenty-second birthday. The necklace had stopped the assassin's knife from completely severing Jenna's throat. It was the reason she was here alone, instead of joined with the rest of her family in death.

She pushed slowly to her feet, suddenly exhausted. Then her eyes landed on the dust-covered wheelchair in the corner and her spine stiffened. Her chin went up.

Who was she? Exactly the person she'd needed to be in order to survive.

Cold. Hard. Ruthless. Efficient.

What mattered was that she was strong enough to complete her mission. As long as she achieved vengeance for her parents and the twins, nothing else mattered.

Feeling centered again, she strode toward the bathroom. She gulped a glass of water, cleaned off the dirt and grass from her tussle with Tonelli, then headed back to the front door.

The instant her fingers touched Monroe's leash, his whole body wriggled in anticipation. Watching his excitement, she froze. After years spent dreaming of finding Kai, she should be as eager as Monroe. Yet while she felt a low hum of anticipation at the idea of bringing Kai to justice, it was nowhere near the jittery, uncontainable fire of true excitement.

Shaking her head at her lack of reaction, she clipped the leash to Monroe's collar and headed toward the side of the compound that served as a private wildlife rehabilitation facility. Ryker and his medical team believed that full emotional and physical recovery depended on the patient being drawn into caring for others, whether human or animal. So, once the swelling in her back had gone down enough to make it safe for her to go places in her wheelchair, Jenna had been assigned to work at the wildlife rehabilitation center as part of her therapy. Now she went there whenever she felt the need for sanctuary.

When they reached the center's gate, Monroe sat down and whined in protest. She bent down and patted his head. "I know you hate being tied outside, sweetie. But you just can't go around chasing the birds. I promise I won't be long." Just long enough to finish centering herself by working with her favorite red-tailed hawk. She'd also have to make arrangements with Mary, one of the permanent wildlife center staff, to take care of Monroe while she was gone.

"We'll go run in the woods after, okay?" she said, giving Monroe one last pat. Straightening, she headed for the gate. Then stopped mid-step, hit with the realization that if things went according to plan, she'd never return to the SSU. This would be the last walk she ever took with Monroe. Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again.

From the day Ryker brought her the young golden retriever just out of service dog training, Monroe had been her rock. Her only source of comfort through the endless nights when her dreams echoed with screams and Kai's laughter.

Monroe would never betray her. Unlike Kai.

She hadn't wanted to believe that Kai had turned against his family. But a knife with Kai's fingerprints and Justin's blood had been found in the neighbors' doghouse. Yes, evidence could be planted. But during the attack she'd heard Kai's voice issue the command to kill from the next room. Then, after her escape attempt had failed and she lay in a twisted, broken heap on the concrete walk in the backyard, unable to move, barely able to breath, she'd seen Kai exit the house. Briefly silhouetted by the inside lights, his hard, cold expression had terrified her. It was the face of a killer. Not her loving, supportive older brother. She'd opened her mouth to scream his name, but thanks to the cut across her throat all that came out was a faint gurgle. Even that effort had been too much for her and she'd passed out.

Kai's face, and his laughter, had starred in her nightmares ever since.

And now, to achieve her vengeance, she'd have to give up Monroe. Her best friend.

She swallowed heavily. No. She wouldn't cry. This was about her parents and the twins. Not her. What she felt didn't matter. Monroe would be happy with Mary.

So she had to stop this feeling of loss. Right. Now.

Giving up the idea of working with the birds of prey tonight, she untied Monroe's leash and led him toward the woods. "C'mon, boy. I changed my mind. Let's go chase squirrels."

He barked happily and surged ahead, nearly yanking her off her feet. She ran to keep up with him, remembering the time when the doctors thought she'd never run again. How bleak those days had been.

The morning she'd wheeled herself underneath the rehabilitation center's wooden arch had been the pivotal moment of her recovery. The birds of prey quickly became her spiritual guides. They'd shown her the way out of the confusing tangle of rage, grief and fear left by the attack. She fit in with them in a way she no longer could with humans. The birds didn't look at her with pity. They didn't look at her scars with revulsion or morbid fascination.

The birds existed in a black and white world. Kill or be killed. If you weren't the hunter, you were the prey. She'd never again be prey. She was the hunter now.

And Kai was the prey.

# Chapter Two

_Thursday, Early Morning_

_Pasadena, California_

Niko Andros stared down at the newly-turned grave, tears clogging his throat. He hadn't consciously decided to aim his morning run toward the cemetery, but now that he was here, he was glad to have a chance to say good-bye to Pop away from the curious eyes of his family.

And even though he'd seen the open casket on display at the funeral home, there was a small part of Niko that still expected Pop to roll his wheelchair up to the grave and shout, "Just kidding!" He took a deep breath of early morning air and finally accepted the truth. This wasn't one of his father's infamous practical jokes. Pop really was gone.

He still couldn't believe his father had died of pneumonia, for Christ's sake. He'd always thought Pop would die on the job. Go down under a bullet or a knife.

Not be killed by a bacteria too tiny to see and too strong to fight.

He bowed his head and was surprised to find a Greek prayer for the dead rolling off his tongue. Moisture blurred his vision, but today's sky was clear, so he couldn't blame it on rain.

Finally, he raised his eyes and confronted the grave head-on.

"You were a hell of a guy, Pop," Niko said in Greek. "The DEA was lucky to have you as an agent and I'm damn proud to be your son. Wherever you are, I hope you understand that. I hope you're having a hell of a party. I'm sorry I didn't make it back in time to say good-bye."

Niko had been feverish, recovering from a bullet wound to the thigh while waiting for transport out of a remote Afghani village when Rafe, his younger brother and fellow SSU agent, had shown up and given him the news that Pop was critically ill. Rafe hadn't found Niko in time, though. Pop had died before their plane reached the States.

"I love you, Pop," he said softly.

Jesus, it was a good thing he was alone. His fellow SSU agents would bust a gut laughing if they caught him talking to a grave. Yet oddly, as the sun broke through the high-flying clouds and warmed his hair, he felt a degree of peace creep into him.

"Thanks, Pop." Niko gave a two-finger salute to the sky, then wiped the last of his tears away and turned to go.

He'd only gone a few steps when a black stretch limo with tinted windows pulled alongside him. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled and his hand went automatically to the pistol under his left arm.

His sixth sense knew who was in the car even before the window rolled down to reveal Jaime Alvarez's broad, gloating face. A familiar mix of shame, helplessness, and frustration surged through Niko. But then his brain kicked in, reminding him that he wasn't undercover any more. He'd never again have to stomp down his conscience as he followed Alvarez's orders.

"So, Niko, finally your father is dead," the crime lord said in Spanish. The corner of Alvarez's mouth deepened in a satisfied smile, but his eyes spoke of retribution. He'd ordered Leander Andros killed when Niko was thirteen, but the shooter's aim had been off and his dad had ended up paralyzed instead.

"Now who will protect your mother?" Alvarez said silkily.

Niko's skin flashed hot with fury. "Step out of the limo and we'll find out, _pendejo_."

Alvarez shook his head. "Ah, _hijo_ , how you wound me with your disrespect."

"I'm not your fucking son." He wanted to reach through the window and wipe the smug smile off Alvarez's face. His father had been a strong, honorable man who'd never stopped loving Niko, even when his son had been little better than the brutal, ruthless men he worked to bring down.

The crime lord's eyes glittered with malice. "I loved you like a son. You should have been my successor. My ultimate revenge against your family. Instead, you betrayed me." His nostrils flared and a vein ticked under his eye. "You, who spent time in prison, who knows what it is like to be locked in a cage like an animal—"

For the first time since he'd known Alvarez, Niko let all his hatred for the man show. He sent the man a cold smile. "It's precisely knowing where you were headed that kept me going all those years. Did you really think I'd come to respect you? To enjoy the life you led?"

"I gave you power. Money. Trust. In return, you dared—" Alvarez's voice cracked. "You _dared_ to turn me in to the authorities. For those ten years I spent behind bars, you will watch your family die."

Alvarez paused.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance." Alvarez's lips turned up in a chilling mockery of a smile. "I will enjoy watching you suffer. You remember how skilled I am at making death come slowly and with great pain, don't you, _hijo_?"

Niko kept his face impassive, though his instincts urged him to attack. Alvarez didn't make idle threats. Niko had hired guards for his family after the crime lord's release from prison, but he still felt a twist of fear in his gut at the implied danger.

Yet he knew better than to betray his fear by so much as a twitch of his eye. Instead, Niko crossed his arms over his chest and assumed a bored expression. "Yeah, well, your power is highly overrated, old man. You're not top dog any more. Go back to Mexico and dream of the good old days."

Alvarez reached up and briefly fingered the jagged remains of his left earlobe, a sign he wasn't feeling as confident as he appeared. Yet his next words gave none of his insecurity away.

"You won't be so disrespectful once you watch this DVD." Alvarez threw a slim box onto the grass at Niko's feet. "Sleep well, tonight, _hijo_...I will." The window slid up with a hiss and the limo moved away.

Niko let out the first full breath he'd taken since the limo pulled up. He'd been lying about Alvarez's decreased status. Since his imprisonment ten years ago, Alvarez had slowly regained much of his power even from within one of the United States' most secure prisons.

Until finally he'd been strong enough to blackmail a judge into reversing his sentence of life without parole. The judge had been arrested and the state attorney general was working on getting the sentence reinstated so they could put Alvarez back behind bars, but the damage was done.

Niko bent to retrieve the DVD, dread burning in his gut like three-day-old coffee. For Alvarez to gloat like he did, the contents were going to be bad.

Niko shoved the DVD in the pocket of his windbreaker. As he ran back toward his mother's house, the partially healed wound in his leg throbbed. But he was used to ignoring physical pain. What he needed to do now was pick up a double helping of Greek pastries to keep his mother and sister distracted. Because much as he hated jumping at Alvarez's command, instinct told him to view the DVD. Now.

Before the crime lord's latest evil got any worse.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Niko was safely locked inside his room while his sister Maria fussed in the kitchen preparing a breakfast tray for their mother. He pulled out his laptop and set it on the battered walnut desk he'd used as a kid. While he waited for it to boot up, he traced a set of grooves he'd carved into the wood to relieve the boredom of studying for his eighth grade biology midterm.

He shook his head. He'd never been a big fan of school, preferring movement over sitting still. These walls used to be covered with action photos. Sports stars. Rock stars. Cops.

As he hunted through his laptop case for his headphones, he wondered what his mother had done with the posters. Their absence was the only significant change since he'd left home. The walnut dresser, desk and bed frame were the same. Navy blue curtains still matched the quilted bedspread.

Out in the hallway, his mother's slow footsteps headed toward the kitchen. Niko's heart clenched, thinking about her lying alone in bed this morning, missing her husband and knowing that her sons would soon return to the dangerous work they thrived on.

He wished he could be different. Be the type of man who could do the domestic thing and be content to hang around the house, mowing the lawn and taking out the trash.

But a week of that would drive him crazy.

_Right. Like dealing with Alvarez is any better?_

Yeah, in some sick way it was. At least fighting Alvarez made him feel alive.

The headphones had fallen down to the bottom of his laptop case. He fished them out, plugged them in, and popped the DVD into the laptop's drive.

A woman's naked torso filled the screen. Open cuts made grotesque roadways across skin purpled with fresh bruises. Even before the camera panned out, Niko sucked in a breath, choking on denial. His finger pushed the pause button.

Aunt Madalena.

The woman his family thought was dead.

How the _fuck_ had Alvarez gotten to her? Niko had set her up in a cozy little cottage in the south of Spain, guarded by a team of highly competent men.

Shit.

Niko tunneled his fingers through his short hair, turned away from the screen, and paced across the room. He'd promised Aunt Madalena she'd be safe, God dammit. She'd made one innocent mistake more than a decade ago and ended up trapped as Alvarez's mistress.

After Alvarez had been sent to prison, she'd been too ashamed to return home, considering herself a tainted, ruined woman, no matter what Niko said to the contrary. She didn't want her family's pity. Or their censure. When she'd begged Niko to tell everyone she'd died, he'd reluctantly agreed and helped her establish a new life.

Her guards had better be fucking dead, or they'd wish they were when he got done with them.

He spun around and resumed watching the video.

On the monitor, Alvarez stepped into view holding a whip. "You remember what I used to do to the lovely Madalena when you misbehaved, Nikolos?"

The bitter taste of bile hit the back of Niko's throat.

Hell yeah, he remembered. Beatings. Sexual torture. Alvarez had used threat of punishment to Madalena as one of the ways to keep Niko in line, and vice versa.

Niko rubbed the scar on his right biceps. He'd tried several times to help his aunt escape, with no success until the raid that sent Alvarez to jail. And now he'd failed her again.

He forced back a stinging wave of guilt and returned his attention to the screen.

Alvarez lowered his arm. The whip cut deeply into the skin of his aunt's back. At her cry of pain, Niko took an involuntary step toward the laptop, shaking with the need to protect her.

"I have an offer for you, Nikolos." The crime lord's voice was thick with sexual pleasure.

"Yeah, I just bet you do," Niko muttered.

"My men have searched for almost two years, without success, for Kai Paterson. If you locate him before they do, and bring me both him and the microchip he stole from Dr. Nevsky's lab, then I will release your aunt."

Shit. His sources had been right. Alvarez was after the chip again.

The chip containing Nevsky's notes on his work toward creating extraordinary spies and soldiers.

Niko didn't know all the details of Nevsky's work; much of it was scientific mumbo-jumbo. But what he did know was bad enough. Nevsky's drugs, including new variations of steroids, supposedly increased muscle mass and endurance, reduced the need for sleep, and made the subject impervious to pain. Other rumored effects included increased speed, agility, and an enhanced ability for the subject's mind to process data.

Hypnosis combined with other drugs gave the scientists control over their subjects' thoughts and actions, creating mindless killing machines who obeyed their handlers' every command.

A perfect complement to Alvarez's own drug experiments. For decades, the crime lord had unsuccessfully looked for a formula that would give his men an advantage in his fight to take over the underworld of Latin America. With Nevsky's data, his dream would come true.

While undercover at the lab for the SSU, Paterson had been approached by Alvarez to steal the microchip containing the backup of the data. Shortly after, the lab burned down with Nevsky inside. Paterson had been caught on tape fleeing the scene and had disappeared. Everyone assumed Paterson had the chip, so he'd been hunted ever since.

Shit.

If Niko couldn't find another way to free Aunt Madalena, he'd have to go along with Alvarez's deal. Bring him Paterson and the chip.

But the minute Aunt Madalena was safe, he'd go back and kill the bastard. And turn the chip over to the SSU.

An ache in his fingers made Niko glance down. His fingers were clenched in a circle, as if he already had Alvarez's neck between his hands.

On the screen, Alvarez stroked the whip across Madalena's breasts. "Every day that you fail to deliver Paterson and the chip is another day that I get to enjoy my lovely Madalena. The dreams I had in prison lacked a certain...satisfaction," he purred. "I have ten years without her to make up for." He rubbed the tip of the whip into one of the cuts on Madalena's belly and Niko growled.

"You know how well-protected are my houses. You know that my contacts extend deep within law enforcement. If you try to rescue her, she will be tortured to death. If one of my other men succeed before you, her death will be agonizing. I trust you will not fail me, _hijo_."

The camera zoomed in on the pain-filled eyes of his aunt. But even after what she'd endured, her pride and strength shone through. And her anger. Her eyes seemed to send Niko a message, but before he could decide what it was, the screen went black.

Niko spun around, fury dyeing the edge of his vision red. The need to destroy something was so powerful, his entire body shook. But any loud noise would cause his mother to come running. Instead, he dropped to the floor and did rapid push-ups until he was dripping with sweat.

Only then did his anger slip away, replaced by cold determination. This time he wasn't going to fail his aunt. This time he was going to get her away from Alvarez.

No matter what it took.

Niko jumped to his feet and hit the shower. When he was done, he picked up his cell phone.

"Niko, I'm glad you called," Ryker said. "How's your family holding up?"

"Fine, sir." Although the SSU was severely overstretched, Ryker hadn't hesitated to give both Niko and Rafe as much time off as they needed for their father's funeral. "I've confirmed that Alvarez is obsessed with finding the chip...and Paterson," Niko said. "What's the status on our search?"

"Paterson was spotted in Moscow yesterday morning."

Niko sucked in a breath. This was too fucking perfect.

"The CIA's Russian expert, Mark Tonelli, just happened to be in my office when the fax with Paterson's picture came through. Because we don't have an agent with his contacts and fluency in Russian, I'm letting him head the hunt for Paterson." Ryker paused. "I'm sending Jenna Paterson, Kai's sister, along as bait. She's been here at the compound since the attack." He cleared his throat. "And she's almost finished the training course. In fact, you worked with her on that hostage rescue training exercise. She's the one codenamed Zen."

Niko remembered the girl with the spiky white hair and the amber eyes who'd grabbed his attention. Even now he felt an echoing punch of desire. Then he shook his head. Typical Ryker, letting an information bomb drop—one of the Patersons had survived the fatal attack—without elaborating or allowing room for comment.

"I know you're in mourning, but I'd like you to follow them. Intercept communications when Tonelli reaches out to the CIA." Ryker paused. "We can't let the CIA or any of the dozens of other interested governmental and criminal organizations get the chip."

Yeah, he remembered what a mess there'd been right after Paterson disappeared. Even en route to Afghanistan Niko had heard how the SSU had been tripping over competing interests.

"I want the chip," Ryker said. "But..."

The uncharacteristic hesitation surprised Niko.

Even through the phone, Niko could hear the rapid tempo of Ryker's fingers drumming against his desk. "Jenna's like a daughter to me," Ryker finally admitted. "I hate using her as bait. We need Kai and the chip secure, but not at the expense of her life. I don't know Kai's role in the attack on her family, but I have to consider the possibility that he's a threat to her. Keep her safe, Niko."

Niko's mind churned. Until he found out exactly where Alvarez had Aunt Madalena, he'd go to Moscow. Search for the chip and Paterson. He didn't mind using the man. After all, Paterson was wanted for murder. But to use his sister?

If the crime lord got his hands on the lady...shit. She'd soon be praying for death.

"I'm sending across Jenna's file," Ryker said. "Let me know if you have any questions. If you get into trouble in Moscow, call me. I have a few...friends...I can call in an emergency. But don't trust anyone at the SSU but myself or your brother. I think we have a mole."

Niko smiled. Ryker was known as a miracle maker. With contacts just about everywhere in the world, he'd pulled more than one of his people out of situations where others would have written the operator off as dead. Ryker's dedication to his employees was one of the main reasons Niko had left the DEA and joined the SSU. And why it chafed to lie to him.

But Ryker would want Alvarez captured and returned to prison. That wasn't good enough for Niko. It was time Niko's family was freed from the monster who'd tormented them for years.

And while he didn't think Alvarez was behind the mole within the SSU, he wasn't risking Aunt Madalena's life on it.

# Chapter Three

_Monday, Early Evening_

_Moscow, Russia_

Jenna grit her teeth and tried to keep a smile on her face as Mark Tonelli led her up the sidewalk toward yet another bar. Unlike the half dozen other establishments they'd visited today, no attempt had been made to dress up the outside of this place. There were no potted plants or exotic sculptures here. Just a wooden sign with black, faded lettering and a rusty metal bench facing the sidewalk.

Bleak as Jenna was beginning to feel now that they'd failed to locate anyone who'd seen her brother since the initial spotting. Still, this was the closest the SSU had come to finding Kai in two years. There was no way she was giving up yet.

As they turned up the path toward the entrance, the edge of Jenna's stiletto heel caught on a loose paving tile. She pitched forward.

"Watch it!" Mark yanked her out of her free fall and tightened his grip on her arm, practically dragging her onto the chipped concrete step and through the heavy wooden door.

Jenna tugged her arm free. "Quit snapping at me," she snarled for his ears only. "You're the one who insisted I wear these damn high heels!" She was sick and tired of his high-and-mighty attitude. Since they'd arrived the night before last, he'd been pulling her around town with as much disregard for her feelings or her comfort as if she were a blow-up doll.

The doorman stepped forward. His eyes as they scanned her were weary as a centenarian's, even though he couldn't be more than a few years older than her twenty-six. Jenna stifled a wave of pity and forced her aching cheek muscles into a coy smile.

When Ryker had said she'd be bait, she'd never imagined she'd be flashing cleavage and flirting with strangers, trying to get them to loosen their tongues.

"You're scrawny and ugly, but your boobs aren't bad," Mark had told her. "You have to fit the image of the flashy women I'm usually seen with, or my contacts will know something is off." Then he'd tossed her a push-up bra. "This will help."

It hadn't worked so far, and this was their second day canvassing the Moscow neighborhood where the informant had spotted Kai. Since Mark's infamous Moscow contacts had failed to locate her brother, his backup plan was to parade her around town while showing Kai's photo.

So far, zilch. And each time they left a bar without any information on Kai, Mark's smile tightened and Jenna's frustration grew.

They'd questioned the man who'd made the original report, but all he remembered was seeing a man with Kai's distinctive amber eyes getting into a taxi. The informant had been photographing a man standing on the curb and only realized after he'd printed the photo that Kai was the man in the reward notice.

Mark spoked to the doorman in Russian. Since Jenna didn't understand the language, she turned her attention to the interior of the bar. By habit, she made note of all possible exit routes—the two, high-set windows, the hallway leading to the restrooms and possibly a back entrance. Satisfied that she knew how to get out in an emergency, and where to watch for entering attackers, she took a deep breath. Then coughed at the bitter taste of cigarette smoke.

Through the stinging haze, dim light shone from iron lanterns set every few feet along the wall. Thick, dark slabs of wood, their surfaces worn to a greasy shine, formed the tables. Groups of rough-looking men and the occasional worn-down couple filled about half the tables. A few older men sat at the bar. Most everyone wore jeans or coveralls.

Mark's Yves St. Laurent suit and diamond-studded, gold pinky ring were totally out of place. Unfortunately, so was she. Her dress was a deep burgundy silk. The straps were nice and solid, maybe two-inches wide, but the square neck was so low-cut, her nipples threatened to pop out every time she inhaled. The dress ended mid-thigh and stuck to her like cling-wrap. She wore elbow-length gloves that matched the dress. A pillbox hat with a wisp of veil rested on her bright blonde wig.

"Kai will never recognize me in this ridiculous call-girl outfit," she'd pointed out when Mark presented her with her new wardrobe. "I wore funky, eclectic clothes, my hair was honey blonde not yellow, and I never wore this much makeup except for dance recitals."

"He's your big brother. If he has any protective instincts left he'll want to know why you're dressed like a whore."

"Or it will just make him more determined to kill me!"

Mark had shrugged. "Either way, you'll draw his attention, which is what we want." Then he'd handed her a rhinestone choker to hide the thick, raised scar across the center of her neck.

"Oh no," she'd protested. Since the attack she _hated_ anything pressing against her throat.

"This isn't about you," Mark had sneered. "Do you want to find your brother or not?"

She'd put on the damn choker, but if they didn't get any results today, then tomorrow she was insisting on a different strategy. One where she was allowed to dress the way she wanted in a t-shirt and cargo pants. She couldn't stand being on display any more.

The doorman responded to Mark's question and shook his head, but his gaze remained stuck on Jenna's well-exposed cleavage.

She shivered. Her skin felt both icy and burning. There was so much acid in her stomach, she was surprised it hadn't eaten a hole through the lining. Even before the attack this type of predatory scrutiny would have creeped her out. Now, each lecherous stare was like a muddy handprint on her bare skin. She felt so dirty, she'd half expected the water in her shower to run black last night.

Gritting her teeth at the doorman's ogling, Jenna fought the urge to run back to their hotel and hide under the covers. Her fingers itched to at least grab Mark's coat and use it to hide her body. Instead, she grabbed the confidence she'd slowly rebuilt in the two years since the attack and counted to a hundred in her head. In German.

When this was over, she was burning the damned push-up bra. No, better yet, she'd wrap it around Mark's smug neck and strangle him with it.

Mark barked out a question and flashed Kai's photo at the doorman. With a resigned sigh, the man pulled his eyes away from her chest. She watched his face as he examined the picture.

Nothing. Not a flicker of recognition.

Feeling the slight goose-pimpling of her skin that meant someone else was watching her, Jenna inched closer to Mark and scanned the patrons. No eyes stared back at her. Still, she wished Mark would hurry up. She wanted to get out of here.

When they'd left the SSU compound she'd had no idea that arriving in an unfamiliar culture would be so unsettling. She used to love to travel. Not understanding Russian, though, made her feel dependent. Being all-too-aware that her identity as Kai's sister attracted potentially deadly attention made her feel vulnerable. She wished her SSU teammates were here to back her up. Maybe then her stomach wouldn't be tied in enough knots to anchor the space shuttle.

Dammit, the calm she'd worked so hard to achieve since the attack was crumbling. Last night, after a ten-month hiatus, her nightmares had returned. Blood. Pain. Screams and helplessness.

Forcing the memories and emotions back into an imaginary safe box had left her shaking with exhaustion. She'd sat upright in the middle of her bed with every light on, teeth chattering with cold despite being wrapped in the heavy bedspread. Without Monroe's comforting presence at the foot of her bed, it had taken hours to calm herself down. She'd finally dropped into an exhausted sleep mere hours before the alarm clock went off.

Three laughing women pushed past Jenna, knocking against her as they headed into the bar with arms linked. Although she didn't understand what they were saying, deep friendship showed in their relaxed smiles and the teasing light in their eyes.

For a crazy, wistful moment, Jenna wanted to join their group. How long had it been since she'd been that carefree? Since she'd had girlfriends to hang out with? She'd been so focused on becoming strong enough to take on Kai, she'd ignored everything and everyone else in her life.

She mentally shook her head. Why was she suddenly having regrets now? Nothing she'd lost could compare to the twins losing all the potential of their young lives.

Mark laughed at something the doorman said, pulling her attention away from unproductive and unsettling questions. When she'd asked him last night what he was telling people about her he'd replied, "That you're my fiancée. Only you won't marry me without your brother's consent, since he's the head of the household. We're looking for your darling brother, but it seems he's disappeared. Anyone who sees those spooky, amber eyes of yours will know you're related and it might jog their memory."

Mark slapped the doorman on the back, then dipped his head like a king bestowing a royal favor. He turned toward her and placed his hand at the small of her back, ushering her further inside. Usually Mark's touch made her uneasy, but right now it made her feel protected from the hidden eyes.

They headed for the unoccupied end of the bar. Mark called the bartender over and showed him Kai's photo. The man crossed his arms and shook his head. Mark said something else and the bartender gave the photo a cursory second glance. " _Nyet_."

Mark shrugged and put the photo away.

The bartender darted a quick glance at Jenna, then turned around and pulled a bottle of vodka off the shelf behind him.

When they were seated at a table, Jenna murmured, "What did they say?"

"Nothing. They haven't seen your brother."

Jenna looked up and caught the bartender staring at her. He met her glance with a guilt-tinged scowl, then grabbed an empty glass off the bar and slopped some vodka into it.

For the first time in two years, she felt excitement sizzle across her skin.

Mark was lying. The bartender _had_ recognized the photo. If Mark wasn't going to share that information with her, she'd return later.

On her own.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jenna wobbled down the hallway from the ladies room. Her toes throbbed inside the tight, towering stilettos, making it hard to walk a straight line. To take her mind off the pain, she pictured herself back in the hotel room, kicking off her shoes and sinking her toes into the plush carpet.

A shadow fell across the hallway, turning it dark and yanking her attention away from her fantasy. She glanced up and all her senses went on alert.

A man the size of a refrigerator was walking toward her, taking up almost the entire width of the tiny corridor. She inched closer to the wall to let him go by, careful not to meet his eyes. But he didn't pass.

He stopped in front of her, grunted something in Russian, and pinned her against the wall with his body. His erection pressed against her stomach. One meaty fist trapped her arms over her head. Air left the man's mouth in rapid puffs, keeping time as his pelvis ground against her.

Jenna froze as memory shoved her back in time.

_It hurt, it hurt, it hurt!_

_She wanted to run, but the man had her pinned on her stomach, one hand pressing at the back of her neck, so her cheek was mashed into the living room carpet. She could hear her own panicked gasps underneath the man's excited panting._

_Please, make it stop!_

Fear clawed its desperate way up her throat, choking her. Bringing her back to the moment.

She opened her mouth to scream, to say no, but just like in her nightmares no sound came out. No! This couldn't be happening. But even though her lips formed screams and pleas for help, her voice refused to cooperate. It was like her throat had been cut all over again.

She tried to tug her arms free, but the man just tightened his grip until she thought her veins would burst. She tried to kick him, but his legs had hers trapped. Kept trying to force a scream past her lips without success.

Stupid! What good was her training if she lost focus long enough to get herself pinned?

The man's eyes watched with an eager smile as his free hand dipped under her neckline and squeezed her breast.

It was like being touched by damp sausages. Jenna sucked in her belly and pushed back against the wall, as if she could retract her body into a two-dimensional line. Once again she tried to scream, but barely managed a faint croak.

The man grinned, shooting a stream of alcohol-laden air her way. The scent hit the back of her throat and she gagged.

Jenna turned her head and frantically scanned the floor. Where was her purse? If she could grab it, she had a weapon inside. But she didn't see it anywhere.

The man pinched her nipple with his fingernails. She flinched and tried harder to squirm away. Formed the word "No" clearly with her lips even though no sound came out. Shook her head.

The man laughed.

Jenna's eyes darted to the entrance of the hallway. Dammit, why didn't someone help her? Couldn't anyone see what was happening?

Wasn't Mark worried that she was taking too long?

The man bent his head and shoved his face into her cleavage. Jenna bit his ear and kept her teeth together even as the man yelped and jerked back. The tip of his ear came off in her mouth and she spit it out.

He let her go to put his hands to his ear, cursing all the while. Jenna ignored him and darted down the hall. But her skirt was too tight and too short, and her heels were too high. She tripped, righted herself, then hiked up her skirt and ran.

_Please, let me make it—_

Something hard hit her in the back of the head, knocking her onto her hands and knees. Her hat tumbled to the dirt-encrusted floor. Silver dots danced in front of her eyes.

No. She had to get up.

The man kicked her in the butt, sending her sprawling onto her stomach, then reached down and grabbed her by the rhinestone choker. He yanked her up and into a headlock, his forearm pressing against her windpipe, cutting off her air.

The edges of the choker cut into her skin and her vision melted into a whirlpool of color. Her legs gave out. She was dimly aware that the only thing holding her upright was the pressure the man had on her throat.

She floated between consciousness and darkness.

_Fight! You have a mission. Don't give up. Don't leave your family unavenged._

The pain of her forehead hitting something cold and hard brought her back to herself. She opened her eyes. Her head was slammed once, twice onto the sharp edge of a faucet, then dropped into a basin full of water.

Sputtering, fighting another wave of dizziness, she levered herself out of the basin. She caught a glimpse of a urinal out of the corner of her eye before a wide palm slammed her head back into the water.

She held her breath and pushed her head up against his hand, trying to break free. But he only pressed harder.

So she let her body go limp.

Convinced she was done fighting, her attacker grabbed her hips and positioned them so they were pointing straight back.

He shoved her skirt up to her waist and tore off her panties. Jammed them into the water under her nose to help block the drain better.

Cool air slid across her buttocks. She felt him lower his zipper.

No! She would _not_ be raped again.

Patches of color flashed across her closed eyelids. If she didn't get air soon, she'd lose consciousness.

Her attacker stepped closer. He rubbed himself against her, bare flesh to bare flesh. In his excitement, his grip loosened.

Jenna lunged up. The back of her head smacked with a satisfying crunch against his face.

She spun to the side. He grabbed for her with one hand. She ducked and he overbalanced. She kicked the heel of her stiletto into the side of his kneecap, balled her fists together and hit him on the back of the neck. He staggered, but didn't fall.

So she hit him again. And again.

All the rage she'd been keeping inside broke free. She was done with being a victim. Done with feeling out of control.

She'd show this man she wasn't helpless. Not to mess with her.

She hadn't been able to successfully fight back the night of the attack, but this time she could. Venting her anger over what had been done, she hit him. Her blows hammered down in time with her rapid exhales. She ignored the punches from the man's fists that smashed against her head and torso.

"Hurt," she snarled as she kicked him, barely registering that her voice had returned. "I want you to hurt. Like you were going to hurt me. There! How does that feel? Or that?" The man slammed face down onto the floor but Jenna kept pummeling him.

"I. Am. Not. A. Victim!" she yelled.

A few moments later her blows stopped. Her body shuddered and she sank to her knees. Fighting back now didn't change the truth.

"They're dead. They're all dead," she sobbed. "And now I'm all alone!"

She hugged her chest and rocked back and forth. But she couldn't stop the ache. And she was so cold.

Cold and alone.

God, she missed her family so much!

Tears surged down her face.

Jenna collapsed to the floor and curled up in a fetal position.

"Don't leave me here alone!"

# Chapter Four

From his table at the back of the barroom, Niko kept one eye on Tonelli and one eye on the entrance to the back hall. Jenna had disappeared toward the restroom over ten minutes ago, but Tonelli was too busy flirting with a couple of young blondes in tight jeans to notice Jenna's extended absence.

Niko checked his watch again, unease gnawing at him. So far, no one had followed Jenna down the hall, but every man in the place had given her a long, assessing look as she passed. Hell, even Niko had been hit by a surge of lust at seeing her in that skintight dress. Odds were good that some asshole would make a move. And since Tonelli was too distracted to notice...

An older couple entered the room, arm-in-arm. When they registered the lack of empty tables, their faces fell and they turned to go. Niko checked for Jenna again, but she hadn't appeared. Waving his hand to catch the attention of the gentleman, Niko pointed to his table and stood up. The relief on the couple's face made Niko want to squirm.

The couple was within two feet of him when a rowdy occupant of the next table flung out his arm. He caught the woman on the shoulder and she fell against her companion.

Niko jumped forward to help them, but not in time to stop the couple from falling onto another table, sending glasses crashing to the floor. It took ten minutes to straighten everyone out, get someone to clean up the spilled drinks, and settle the couple at the table.

Niko accepted another round of thanks from the couple and stepped away. Drink in hand, he scanned the room. Still no sign of Jenna.

To hell with it. He set his drink on the bar and headed toward the restrooms. If Jenna just needed a break and was hiding from Tonelli, no harm. He'd apologize and go on his way. But something definitely didn't feel right, and Tonelli wasn't paying attention to anything but the tits in front of him.

Bastard.

The lighting in the hallway was dim, so Niko almost missed Jenna's purse lying against the wall. Fuck.

Niko slid his weapon from its shoulder holster and scanned the end of the hallway, making sure no one was hiding in the shadows. Assured he was alone, he reached down and snagged the purse, then strode to the ladies' room door and pushed it open.

Empty. He quickly checked the stalls, then exited and continued down the hallway. As he drew even with the men's room he heard quiet sobbing from inside.

Weapon leading, Niko slowly pushed open the door. Jenna lay curled in a fetal position on the floor by the sink. The battered body of a large man was sprawled face down an arm's length away from her.

Niko checked to make sure the rest of the room was clear before he stepped inside and holstered his weapon. He knelt beside the man to verify he was unconscious, then pulled a zip-tie from his pocket and secured the man's hands behind his back. Only then did he turn to Jenna. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed and she gave no sign she knew he'd entered the room.

She was rocking back and forth. Keening softly and occasionally murmuring something too garbled by tears for him to understand. Her hat was missing and the hair from her wig hung in a sodden mess around her face. The skirt of her dress was up around her waist, revealing a thin strand of ragged red elastic that was all that was left of her panties. He quickly glanced away, grateful that because she was positioned with her head closest to him, he hadn't seen anything more private than the curve of her ass. He didn't see any blood, but that didn't mean the bastard hadn't hurt her.

"Jenna," he said gently, trying to break through her crying. "Jenna, shhh. It's okay. You're safe now."

At first his words didn't seem to get through to her. Then her eyes flew open, revealing nothing but animal panic. Before he could stop her, Jenna scrambled away from him.

Her back bumped against the wall and she pushed to her feet.

Too fast. Her knees buckled.

Niko leapt forward just in time to get his arm around her before she hit the floor. He hauled her against him.

The bathroom door banged open. "What's going on?" a slurred voice demanded in Russian.

Niko glanced up. A skinny, balding man in coveralls was staring at the body on the floor with a mix of disgust and fascination.

"Call the police," Niko snapped in Russian. "Bastard tried to rape this woman."

The man raised rheumy eyes, taking in Jenna's limp body, which Niko could feel beginning to come to life. He had to get their visitor out of here before Jenna woke up and freaked out.

Niko scowled. "Go!"

The man backed out of the room not a moment too soon. Jenna opened her eyes and immediately started struggling.

"Easy, Jenna," Niko soothed. He loosened his hold and let her move away from him. Her foot slipped on the tile and he automatically reached forward to steady her. She flinched and darted out of reach, coming to rest with her back against the side of the stalls.

Her eyes were huge with pure, primal terror.

He held his hands up to show he didn't have a weapon and slowly took a step back.

"Jenna, you're safe, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Niko Andros with the SSU. Remember me? I was a guest trainer on the hostage rescue exercise. Ryker sent me as backup to you and Tonelli. You remember the safe word, yeah? Brontosaurus?"

For a long breath Niko didn't think his words were getting through to her. Then Jenna's body sagged and her lids flickered down to shield her eyes while she took in the information.

Niko watched a drop of water make its way from her sodden wig down to the point of her chin, then slip free. Jesus, she looked like hell. One cheek was red and puffy, her lip was split and there was a large square cut oozing blood in the center of her forehead that he couldn't figure out.

"How badly are you hurt, Jenna? Did he..." Shit. "Did the bastard rape you?"

Not meeting his eyes, Jenna shook her head. "I'm okay," she rasped so quietly he had to strain to hear her. "I stopped him before..." Her whole body shuddered and she wrapped her arms around her torso.

She was okay? Yeah, right. The shivers and her wild eyes gave the lie to her words. Her dress was still bunched around her waist and it didn't take much imagination to picture how close her attacker must have come to raping her before she'd fought him off. The asshole was lucky he was still breathing.

Dammit. He wanted to put his arms around her and let her lean on him, but being close to a male at this point would probably scare her. So Niko shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

Where the hell was Tonelli? Hadn't he managed to take his attention off the bimbos at the bar long enough to notice Jenna was missing?

Jenna eyed the body on the floor and chewed on her lower lip. "Is he dead?"

"Nah, he's alive. Too bad, really, the as—" Niko coughed. "The bastard doesn't deserve to live. But we can't afford to have you up on murder charges. It's going to be bad enough to get through the questions from the cops." Niko grabbed some paper towel from the dispenser and went to turn on the faucet. Her panties were jammed in the drain, holding back a small puddle of water.

Jesus H. Christ. Blinding rage blocked out the room for an instant.

Now he knew where the square mark on her forehead had come from. The faucet. The bastard had used the sink to stop her from fighting. Shit. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth until his temper was under control. He had to keep it together. Jenna needed him to stay rational and get her out of this mess. Another violent male would only add to her stress.

When he thought he could talk without sounding homicidal, he said, "Our story is that I interrupted the attempted rape and I beat the guy up." Niko fished the panties out of the drain, wrung them out, and put them in his coat pocket. Then he wet the paper towels and handed them to Jenna. "Wipe the blood off your hands. And don't look the cops in the eyes while they're here. They do better with subservient women." Any cop worth the name would take one look at Jenna's battered face and terrified eyes and see victim. Still, Niko wasn't taking any chances.

Jenna was leaving here with him. The sooner, the better.

Jenna scrubbed at her hands with the paper towel until it was pink, then moved over to the sink. She paused, staring at the faucet. Her bottom lip trembled.

"Here, let me wet you some more paper towels." He stepped forward, but she raised her chin and shook her head. Then she moved up to the sink and turned on the water.

Good girl. She still looked to be in shock, but she had the spine to keep going.

Niko knelt next to her attacker. "Don't watch," he told Jenna. When Jenna turned her back, Niko shook the man until he started to come around. Then he leaned in close and told the man in gutter Russian exactly what would happen if he assaulted another woman.

Certain he had the man's attention, he landed a few punches aimed at hard, bony places on the would-be rapist's body. He needed to make his hands appear to have been in a fight without leaving his blood on any of the bathroom's surfaces, just in case they ended up with a hyper-vigilant cop. When the skin over Niko's left index knuckle split, he let the man's face drop.

The man howled as his broken nose hit the floor, then blacked out.

Niko stood up and brushed his pants off. "Let me see your hands, Jenna."

Her knuckles were worse than his, dammit. Any idiot would take one look at them and tell she'd been whaling on something...or someone.

"Shit."

Jenna pulled her hands free. "Wait." She spotted her purse on the floor where he'd dropped it when he entered the bathroom.

"It was lying in the hallway," Niko explained. "That's how I knew something was wrong."

Jenna nodded absently. She opened the purse and dug around inside. A second later she pulled out a pair of elbow length gloves.

"Perfect."

Jenna pulled on the gloves. Then to his surprise she pulled a gun out of her purse. "I don't think the police will want to see me with this, will they?" she said, handing it to him. "Can you keep it for me?"

Why was he surprised? Of course she'd be packing. She considered herself an operator. He shook his head and slid the gun under his waistband.

The door banged open again. Niko turned, expecting to find the police. Instead, Mark Tonelli stood in the doorway. "About time you noticed something was wrong," Niko snarled.

"What's going on?" Tonelli rapidly took in the scene. With a barely contained sneer, he focused on Jenna. "What have you done?"

Niko bit back a growl and advanced on Tonelli. "She stopped this guy from raping her, that's what she's done. Some guardian you're turning out to be."

Tonelli flicked an annoyed glance his way, then ignored him. "Rape? Really?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I don't care how rough you like your sex, girl, we don't need negative attention like this. Who's going to want to talk to me about your brother if the police are sniffing around...umph!"

The base of Niko's hand connected with Tonelli's breastbone, knocking the bastard's wind out of him and sending him to the ground. Niko pulled his hand back, skin tingling slightly from the blow, and watched in satisfaction as Tonelli picked himself off the floor.

Jenna's face had gone even whiter at Tonelli's insult, but now she watched him with eyes gone flat and devoid of emotion.

"Who the hell are you?" Tonelli snapped when he regained his feet. Something flashed in his eyes and Niko realized that underneath the pricey suit lay the viciousness of a street fighter.

"Niko Andros."

Recognition flickered in Tonelli's eyes. And the hint of a challenge.

Niko adjusted his stance, ready to fight. For once he didn't mind his dangerous reputation. _Hell yeah_ , he thought. _Bring it on. I've got plenty left over for you, Tonelli._

But the man just shook his head and backed up.

Jenna shivered, reminding Niko of his top priority.

"I'm your backup from Ryker, but screw that. I'm taking over," Niko told Tonelli. "Jenna is coming with me."

That got Tonelli's attention. "Definitely not. Paterson is my mission. Jenna is my bait."

"Listen, asshole, you haven't found jack on Paterson. All you've done is put Jenna in danger." Niko gestured to the unconscious man. "Setting her up to be attacked by any drunken, sex-crazed idiot who could get her alone? Ryker's gonna nail your ass when he finds out. I'm just doing what he's going to order, anyway. Jenna comes with me. I can protect her better."

"Jenna? What do you say about this? You have no idea who this man is." Tonelli shot Jenna such a look of resentment and anger, Niko saw her mouth tighten. Her chin came up again.

_That's right, sweetheart. Don't take Tonelli's attitude._

Her eyes moved from Tonelli to Niko and back again.

"I'm staying with Niko," she said.

Niko felt a surge of satisfaction. Tonelli opened his mouth to protest, but the door opened again.

This time it was the police.

* * *

Jenna pressed her cheek against Niko's back as his motorcycle screamed through another tight turn. She hadn't wanted to get on the bike. Didn't want to have hard male muscles under her hands while her body hurt from another man's blows. But her training kicked in, forcing her to set aside her fear and focus on survival. So she'd mounted the bike and done her best to keep space between her body and Niko's.

Impossible. The man drove like the hounds of hell were after him, weaving in and out of the thick evening traffic, zipping down alleys and using sidewalks like personal shortcuts. She'd almost slid off the bike during the first turn, and since then had clung to Niko like a barnacle.

The bike leapt the curb and her arms clenched around the solid bulk of Niko's chest. Her muscles trembled with the effort to hold on and she knew that if they didn't reach their destination soon, there was a good chance she'd slip off the bike.

After what seemed like hours of interrogation by the police, then a brusque examination by a doctor, she was beyond exhausted. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head.

Instead, she was stuck on the back of this bike. Her life in the hands of a stranger.

A _male_ stranger.

_No, not a stranger_ , she reminded herself, remembering the way Niko's aura of lethal self-confidence had inspired awe and respect among not only the other SSU trainees, but the trainers as well. Still, despite Niko's admirable reputation, her volatile mix of shame, fear, and anger would have driven her out into the Moscow streets alone if Mark hadn't been so hard on her. She'd always been too impulsive.

Now that she was away from the bar, she'd calmed down enough to admit she was in no shape to go off on her own. And no matter what her pride insisted, she was better off with Niko. He was a hunter. Fierce, like the birds of prey she loved. Protective. Intriguing.

Unlike Mark, whose selfish viciousness made him untrustworthy.

She sucked in a breath as the bike zoomed through a narrow space between two trucks with just enough clearance that she felt the heat from the engines brush against her knees. And if she wasn't mistaken, that was the rumble of Niko's laughter vibrating beneath her hands.

Hunter and certifiable adrenaline junkie, she clarified.

She pressed her cheek harder against his back, feeling muscles tense with suppressed violence. But she took comfort in knowing his anger wasn't at her, but for her. Unlike Mark, whose verbal attack had shocked her. Yes, he was a chauvinist and never hid his dislike of her, but still...to imply that she'd wanted to be attacked?

She shuddered.

Niko hadn't looked at her with disgust. Or lust. Just concern and a casual, violent protectiveness. He thought she hadn't been looking when he roughed up her attacker, but she'd snuck a peek in the mirror. And she'd been...pleased. Even more satisfied with the quick way he'd retaliated against Mark.

Odd that she wasn't bothered by Niko's violence, but was still screaming inside over what she'd done to her attacker.

_Don't go there. You stopped before you killed him. That's what matters. Focus on what you have to do next._

Find Kai.

* * *

Niko turned the bike down a narrow street in a quiet neighborhood. He pulled over next to a thick stone wall and parked the bike.

"Jenna, are you okay?" He removed his sunglasses and turned his head.

Oh. Right. This was the part where she was supposed to get off the bike. But her arms were locked into place and it took considerable willpower to get them to drop away from his waist. She put shaky feet on the ground and tried to stand, but her knees buckled.

Niko put a steadying hand on her arm even as she reached out to catch herself against the bike. For a second she remembered the way her body had stirred with feminine interest back when she'd first met him. In some ways that made his appearance now even more difficult. She hated that he'd seen her weak and crying. She took a deep breath, made sure she had her balance, then shook off his hand. He stared at her a moment, as if waiting for her to pitch over in a dead faint.

Okay, so she did feel a bit dizzy. Still, she needed to show him right off that she had no intention of becoming dependent on his strength. Because Niko was the type of guy who would stand between her and the rest of the world, shielding her and offering her support.

Whether she wanted him to or not.

"I'm fine," she snapped, stepping away from the bike. With a little shrug, Niko walked by her side, directing her to a wood-and-iron gate that opened into a tiny courtyard. The gate swung shut behind them, cutting off the city noise as they stepped into a world where serenity ruled. Jenna took a deep breath of flower-scented air and felt the remnants of her fear trickle away.

A stone walkway interspersed with wrought iron benches meandered between flower beds. In the opposite corner a fountain bubbled merrily.

She trailed behind Niko up the path onto a wide, covered patio and through a beautifully carved wooden door. The narrow marble hallway was empty. Faint voices from a television program filtered down the corridor from the lobby.

Niko turned right up a narrow set of stairs. Two flights up and three doors down he stopped.

Jenna followed him into the sitting room of a suite, warily stopping just inside the door. Instinct refused to let her move too far into the room, keeping her closest to the only avenue of escape.

She glanced around the room and reeled back in shock, hand coming up to shield her vision. The overwhelmingly red décor hit her like a punch to the eye. Her artist's sensibilities bled with horror.

The couch had screaming red-and-orange striped upholstery. Straight ahead, red velvet drapes covered tall windows, matching the red in the flecked carpet. The only relief from the color theme were the cream walls.

It was bordello meets tsarist throne room meets...Jenna shuddered, not wanting to go further. "Ugh. The decorator deserves to be shot."

The corner of Niko's mouth quirked up. "Yeah, it's a bit much. You'll get used to it."

She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Um. That's not particularly reassuring."

"So." Niko opened a door to the left of the windows. "I'll clear my stuff out and you can have the bedroom." He crossed over to the closet and yanked out a worn black duffel bag.

"The SSU paid for a suite?" she asked.

Niko shrugged and carried the bag into the sitting room. "Not exactly," he muttered as he passed her, clearly embarrassed.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I...ah...thought...if something went wrong and I needed to keep you with me...that you'd...ah...feel more comfortable with your own room. No big deal," he added in a rush.

Oh. My. God. Niko was turning pink. How sweet. And he was totally right. Having her own space, particularly now when she could still smell her attacker on her clothes and body, was exactly what she needed.

"Thank you," she said thickly, forcing the words past the lump of emotion in her throat.

Niko shrugged again as he moved back into the bedroom and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. The light threw his face into angular shadows that emphasized his slightly hawkish nose and the hollows underneath his cheekbones. With his worn jeans and scuffed leather jacket, Niko looked the part of an operator—all tough edges, with the confident grace of a hunting cat.

She should have been feeling an increase in wariness, yet instead she felt protected. And touched by his embarrassment. She had the fleeting image of him slipping into the shadows, content to have his good deeds remain anonymous.

"The sheets haven't been changed since I got here, but it's only been two days. I don't have lice or any weird rashes, so you should be okay." He scowled at the bed, as if it didn't quite live up to his expectations. "You can sleep on top of the sheet if you want, only it gets a little chilly in here at night and you might want the extra warmth."

Still scowling, he pulled the covers down and fluffed the pillow.

Growing up, Jenna's mother used to turn down the bed for her and plump the pillows like that. To her horror, her bottom lip started to tremble.

"Dammit, I upset you." She heard the edge of male panic in his voice and almost smiled.

"Listen, let me go downstairs. I'm sure I can find some fresh sheets."

Jenna shook her head. "No. I don't mind sleeping on your sheets," she said. "It's just..." She shook her head and turned away, fighting back tears.

_Don't fall apart in front of Niko,_ she told herself. _You haven't cried in nearly two years. Don't you dare start now._

A drop of water slid from her hair down her back and she shivered, both from cold and from remembering the feeling of suffocation when her attacker shoved her face into the basin full of water.

Of course Niko noticed. He cursed in a language she didn't recognize. "You're wet and cold." He brushed past her and headed for another door. "Here's the bathroom. The towels are fresh. I'll call down for more when I need to shower." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "We need to get you cleaned up." His eyes slid impersonally over her, like a doctor checking out a patient. "Do you want help?"

"No! I..." She shook her head vigorously, then winced as the motion started her wounds throbbing. No matter how safe she felt with Niko, she didn't want any man's hands on her, even to clean her cuts. It had been bad enough suffering the knowing gazes of the male policemen and the doctor. "Thanks, but I'll manage okay on my own."

He nodded, eyes full of understanding. "Okay. While you shower, I'll find you some sweats to change into. Yell or thump on the door if you start feeling woozy. Then you can lie down while I get your things from Tonelli."

She nodded and headed into the bathroom. Once the door was closed and the lock engaged, she felt a slight lowering of her shoulders. Then the trembling started.

Knowing she was heading into more than just routine adrenaline letdown, and too exhausted to fight it, she quickly turned on the hot water in the bathtub, stripped out of her clothes, and submerged herself before her legs gave way.

Then, for the first time in two years, she fell completely apart.

# Chapter Five

_Monday, Night_

_Moscow, Russia_

Four hours later, Jenna stuffed her trembling hands into the pockets of her baggy pants. She hesitated at the base of the path to the bar, eyeing the door like it was the gateway to hell.

When Niko had led her out of the restroom, her only thought had been to get back to the hotel and into a steaming bath. She'd never wanted to see this place again.

She'd soaked for an hour, tears coursing down her face and sobs wracking her body. When she'd finally calmed down, she'd taken a shower and scrubbed her skin until it was tender. But it felt like her attacker was still with her, a phantom whose fingers continued to crawl across her skin.

Not only that, her mind was now stuck in a loop—bouncing back and forth between this afternoon's near-rape and the rape two years ago. Watching her mother being raped. Hearing Isabel's screams and Kai's laughter.

Her breathing started to come in shallow pants and she dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to stave off the impending panic attack.

No. She wouldn't remember. She had to stay strong. She closed her eyes, forcing the memories away. Searching for her place of calm, where nothing could hurt her and emotion was forbidden.

Her breathing evened out and she relaxed her fingers.

Someone bumped into her shoulder and her eyes flew open, stomach clenching as she braced for an attack.

But it was just a young couple heading to the bar. They shot her annoyed glances as they passed and spoke harshly to her in Russian.

Jenna followed them, her heart rate increasing with each step, until she thought the speed of it must be visible even through her layers of clothes. So much for fighting off panic.

_Relax.You're dressed as a boy. No one will recognize you. No one's going to hit on you. Lock the fear away._ Besides, tonight she had her weapons on her body, not in her purse. A knife was strapped to her ankle and a pistol rested in a custom-made holster under her left arm. Mark had raised an elegantly manicured eyebrow when she'd presented him with her weapons for clearance through customs, but she had to give him credit, after she'd pointed out that she might need to save his life if something went wrong he'd given in without protest.

Her tongue touched the cyanide cap on her back tooth. And if necessary, she had a way out no one knew about.

Still, even though she was armed, her stomach threatened to throw up the soup Niko had coaxed her to eat for dinner. Maybe she should just go back to the hotel.

No.

Kai could _not_ be allowed to go unpunished, no matter what it cost her.

Determination and anger propelled her up to the door just as a large group was ushered through. A different doorman was on duty this evening, yet Jenna knew her eyes were unique enough to be remembered. So she tugged her newsboy's hat lower, ignoring the pain as it scraped against the swollen cuts on her forehead from where she'd hit the faucet. Slouching in her worn army jacket, she hoped the doorman would only see a punk boy, if he noticed her at all.

She skirted around the laughing, jostling people and made it inside without challenge.

It was much more crowded tonight. She couldn't even see the wooden bar through the throng. She worked her way around the edges until she spotted an empty two-person table in the corner. Sitting away from the main flow of traffic, the table was protected from attack by walls on two sides, and provided a view of all the entrances. She dodged her way through the crowd, but no one else seemed intent on claiming the table. When she sat down, she realized why. Thanks to a broken leg, the table listed at a dangerously steep angle. So what. She wasn't here to eat, and she could easily hold her drink in her hand.

The waitress sauntered up, gave Jenna a quick once-over, and lost her friendly attitude. She barked something in Russian. Jenna pulled some money out of her pocket and set it on the table. Then, mentally crossing her fingers, she gave the hand gesture she'd seen the old men at the bar use when they signaled the bartender for vodka.

The waitress shrugged, grabbed the money, and walked away.

Jenna let out her breath and felt some of her tension ease. Two hurdles down. First, even though she didn't understand the Russian alphabet or street layout, she'd managed to find the bar again. All she'd had to do was hand the taxi driver the matchbook she'd tucked into her purse before the attack. He'd nodded in acknowledgement and she hadn't needed to speak a word.

Second, she hadn't been recognized.

Through a break in the crowd she saw that this afternoon's bartender was still on duty. She wished she could question him further about Kai, but not only would her voice give her away as female, if she spoke English she'd give away the fact she wasn't one of the locals. She'd only drummed up the courage to come to the bar alone by convincing herself no one would notice her. So she'd have to be content with watching the entrances to see if her brother showed up.

She scanned the people milling around. No one looked her way and a little more tension left her body. She scooted back into her chair, slumped her shoulders, and prepared to wait.

She wondered if she'd make it back to the room before Niko returned. He'd left again shortly after bringing her the soup, saying something about meeting with a local contact. She'd tucked a note into the picture frame by the door where he'd be sure to see it, explaining where she'd gone, and why.

A woman at a nearby table screamed with laughter.

Jenna stifled the urge to cover her ears with her hands until the shrill laughter faded. Instead, she carefully scanned the patrons. She hoped Kai showed up soon. She...

Uh-oh.

Mark Tonelli pushed his way through the people near the door. He glanced at the crowded bar, then sat down at a table that had just freed up near Jenna.

Damn it, what was he doing here?

She waited until his head was turned away from her, then pulled her cap down lower on her head. A few scoots shifted her chair until she could watch Mark without being obvious.

After about fifteen minutes, the bartender left his post. Mark got up and followed him into the back.

No fair. She wanted to hear what the bartender had to say, but even if she managed to get close enough to eavesdrop, she didn't understand Russian.

Cursing her ignorance, Jenna twirled her glass around on the table until a bit of vodka splashed out. She was mopping up the spill when Mark returned. The bartender must have said something encouraging, because Mark sat back down at his table, a smugly satisfied look on his face.

Full of cautious optimism, Jenna settled in to wait.

* * *

By one o'clock in the morning, Jenna was about ready to give up. The cigarette smoke made her head ache. Fighting to stay alert had her nerves stretched taut as a bowstring. Every time someone passed her table, she flinched.

Many of the patrons had moved on. With the thinned-out crowd, she was more conspicuous. Mark had been sending her increasingly suspicious glances for the past half an hour, but to her relief, he hadn't confronted her. Although how he'd recognize her, she had no idea. Her coat collar was turned up so that between it and the bottom of her cap appeared maybe an inch of skin. Maybe he just thought she looked suspicious in a general way.

He shot her another glance as he settled back at his table after visiting the men's room. Jenna shivered. She'd barely sipped her drink tonight, terrified of having to use the bathroom. Just thinking about walking down that corridor again made her throat close up and her stomach cramp.

_Coward. What if Kai shows up in that hallway? Will you be too afraid to go after him?_

She shoved the table away and surged to her feet.

How could she call herself an operator if she couldn't face her demons? How was she supposed to survive long enough to get her revenge if she fell apart the first time she ran into trouble?

To hell with being afraid. She strode toward the restroom. Of their own accord, her feet slowed as she reached the hallway. Walking the last few feet felt like pushing through molasses.

She reached the place where she'd been pinned to the wall and her stomach lurched.

_Remember, you fought him off. You escaped. Focus on the positive._

Inhale. Exhale. Push forward.

Now she faced the door. The corridor was deserted. She took a deep breath. Reached a shaking hand forward...

_You can do this._

And opened the door.

The bathroom was empty, but her mind populated it with her attacker. Remembered the chill of the water and the suffocating feeling as her air ran out.

Silver spots danced before her eyes and she threw a hand out, bracing herself against the edge of the door.

She didn't want to go inside. Thought she might fall completely apart if she had to.

But how could she respect herself if she didn't?

_Just two steps. That's enough to prove you can do it._

And she did it. Slid first her left, then her right foot into the room. She was sweating by the time she was done, but she stood fully inside, with the door closed.

Her eyes darted from the sink, to the floor, and back.

Tamp down the fear. The shame. The fury. Lock all emotions away. _You survived. That's what you do. You're a survivor._

_Think strong._

She forced herself to stay in the room for two minutes. To think about what had happened. To acknowledge and then accept that she'd gone over the line in the way she'd hurt her attacker.

She'd be stronger next time.

Then she allowed herself to leave.

When she stepped out into the hallway, a figure to her left near the back entrance caught her eye.

Jenna turned her head for a better view. And froze. A man with a stocking cap pulled low on his forehead walked almost timidly down the hallway toward her. His eyes were focused on the floor, denying her a chance to see his eyes, but her whole body stilled nonetheless. There was something familiar about the shape of the man's head. Something familiar about the angle of his jaw and the way he held his body.

Kai? Adrenaline poured into her system. Colors became brighter. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke became tangier.

What she could see of the man's face was thin almost to the point of gaunt. And he didn't have Kai's confident walk.

But still, instinct had her stepping forward.

The man sensed her presence and looked up.

And Jenna found herself staring into a familiar pair of golden eyes.

Kai!

The scene canted to the left, as if she was on the pitching deck of a ship. When her equilibrium returned, the man—no, Kai!— had already spun around.

He bolted back down the hallway and out an unpainted metal door.

Jenna charged after him, then stopped just before setting foot into the alley behind the bar. She swiveled her head, searching for danger, searching for Kai.

No one. Dammit, where was he?

There! To her left, walking swiftly away.

Jenna's throat worked as she struggled to call out.

She didn't even manage a croak.

Tears of frustration blurred her vision and she swiped them away. The psychologists said guilt stopped her from being able to use her voice in traumatic situations, but this wasn't traumatic. It was triumphant. She'd found Kai. Why couldn't she use her voice now?

She started to follow Kai, but he abruptly changed direction and headed back toward her, chased by shouts echoing from the end of the alley. Jenna reached out her hand as Kai dashed past, but he didn't even look her way.

She ran after him. No way was he getting away from her.

He threw a quick glance over his shoulder as he ran.

_That's right. I'm coming after you, you bastard! You're going to pay for what you did._

But his focus was on something behind her. Jenna peeked back. Four bulky men wearing black jeans and windbreakers were chasing them.

No. Chasing Kai. She was just in the way.

Well, tough. Kai was hers.

Jenna put on a burst of speed and almost managed to grab Kai's jacket just as he reached the end of the alley. At the last second, Kai skirted to the left and her hand met only air.

No!

Her eyes were on Kai so she didn't see the broken wooden crate until her feet had already collided with it. The impact pitched her forward.

As she fell, she tucked and rolled, landing on her back in the middle of a garbage-strewn puddle.

She immediately jumped up.

A fist collided with the side of her head, knocking off her hat and sending her back to the ground. She swept out her feet, knocking her attacker down. As he fell, she grabbed a broken board from the shattered crate and slammed it into his head.

She rolled and once again pushed to her feet. And barely dodged the charge of another man. She stepped quickly to the side and grabbed his arm.

A quick twist and he too, was on the ground. She spun around, checking for the location of the other two men she'd seen in the alley.

One was on the ground. As she watched, the other thug grappled with a man with frizzy blond hair.

The newcomer was fast. He ducked a blow that would have dislocated his jaw, drove his shoulder into the man's sternum, and followed his opponent to the ground.

She didn't wait to see who won. She raced to the end of the alley and onto the busy street. Dammit, which way had Kai gone?

Picking randomly, she chose left. She hadn't gone more than a few paces when a taxi pulled over to the curb a block ahead. A man stepped forward, quickly opened the door and slid inside. For just an instant, Jenna saw his face.

Kai!

She tore after him, but the taxi pulled away before she could get its license plate number, leaving Jenna standing in the street, her jaw slack with disappointment, her hands clenched into impotent fists.

God, she'd been so close!

Jenna fought back tears. This was only a temporary setback. Now that she had proof Kai was here, she could find him again.

She glanced back toward the alley to see if anyone had followed her. Nope, all clear. She started in the direction the taxi had been taking. Not because she thought she'd see it again, but because there looked to be a busy intersection up ahead. She had a piece of note paper in her pocket with the address for Niko's hotel. She'd flag down a taxi and head back.

A few steps later, some sixth sense had her looking back over her shoulder.

Two pale blond men in black suits were closing in on her. They weren't anyone she'd seen in the alley, but the cold way they focused on her let her know she didn't want them to get any closer.

Ahead of her, at the end of the block, a black town car idled at a red light. Such cars were common on the streets, but this one sat a little too close to the side of the road.

Uh-oh. The men were herding her toward the car.

Jenna checked her options. On her right was the long, unbroken expanse of a building. By the time the building ended at the streetlight the men would have caught up with her.

If she ran and they chased her, they'd grab her before the corner. Her legs weren't long enough to make her head start last.

So that left bolting into the street.

She—

Too late. Hands grabbed her upper arms, pinching just the right nerve to send excruciating pain down to her fingers. Jenna ignored the stars dancing across her vision and twisted against their hold.

No way in hell were they dragging her into that car.

But her struggles didn't loosen the men's hold. They only made the pain worse. She planted her feet on the sidewalk and tried to slow the men down, but they just jerked her forward as if she weighed nothing.

Up ahead, the door to the black car opened.

_Think, dammit. There has to be—_

A black racing motorcycle jumped the curb and plowed into the closest of Jenna's abductors, knocking the man over. He didn't release his grip and dragged Jenna down with him, which caused her second abductor to lose his balance and also fall.

The driver of the bike skidded it into a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and drove back toward Jenna and her captors. The man on her left wasn't moving, but the man on the right still had a death grip on her arm.

Jenna slammed her free hand into his nose. That finally made him let go. She followed up by hits to his ear and his throat, then scrambled to her feet and ran.

Right toward the open door of the town car.

Oops.

She pivoted and headed in the opposite direction.

The motorcycle cut her off.

She glanced behind her. The men were climbing unsteadily to their feet. One of them reached inside his jacket where a shoulder holster would sit.

The driver of the motorcycle, with his sleek black racing helmet, black jacket and black jeans, didn't look any safer. He revved the engine and she made a dash for the street.

# Chapter Six

The motorcycle caught up with her easily, blocking her path. The driver raised his visor and held out his hand.

"Easy, Jenna. It's just me." Niko's deep male voice could barely be heard over the sound of the engine. "I thought you'd recognize the bike."

A bullet ricocheted off the pavement inches from her leg.

Jenna took Niko's hand and settled onto the back of the motorcycle.

The bike swerved into traffic and Jenna hugged Niko's waist as he weaved through the flow of cars like a stunt driver in a James Bond movie. Déjà vu anyone?

"Here, hide your hair." Niko passed her a New York Yankees baseball cap. She stuck it on backwards. It was slightly too big and she winced as it slid down onto the cuts on her forehead, but she didn't want to let go with both hands to tighten the strap.

Her arms still hurt from the nerve pressure her would-be captors had applied and she was afraid she was going to lose her hold, so she pressed her face against Niko's back, gripped harder with her thighs, and mentally crossed her fingers for luck.

As they sped through the night, she tried not to resent the fact that being rescued by Niko was becoming a habit.

* * *

Mark Tonelli gingerly pushed himself into a seated position, then used the wall of the alley to help stabilize him as he stood up. He swiped under his nose and his hand came away covered in blood.

God _damn_ it.

He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at his nose, grimacing against the pain. It wasn't broken, but it was going to be sore for a while.

Blood stains dotted the front of his suit. Another suit ruined, thanks to the Paterson girl.

She'd surprised him again. He hadn't thought she'd picked up on the bartender's body language this afternoon when he'd looked at her brother's picture. The bartender confirmed seeing Paterson last evening, but hadn't expected the man to return.

Somehow the girl managed to get herself back to the bar without speaking Russian.

He hadn't recognized the young man sitting a few tables away as Jenna, but instinct had told him to keep an eye on the boy. So when he'd taken too long visiting the men's room, Mark had gone to investigate. And found a chase in progress.

The boy's hat had come off during the fight in the alley, revealing Jenna's spiky white hair. Which meant the man she'd been chasing had been her brother.

Dammit, he'd been so close!

But Paterson had disappeared again and so had the girl, chased by four thugs in suits shouting to each other in Spanish. Alvarez's men.

He'd followed, but something had sent the men in suits fleeing back into the alley. One of the men recognized Mark as the man who'd been seen around town with Jenna. They'd grabbed him and even though Mark had fought using every dirty trick he'd learned as a street kid in Moscow, Alvarez's men had overpowered him. When they realized he had nothing to tell them, they'd slammed his head into the wall and he'd blacked out.

He tested to see if the blood had stopped yet. It had.

He'd fully expected to wake up a prisoner of Alvarez's men. Instead, he was relieved to find himself alone in the alley. The only sounds were muted traffic and conversation from the distant streets, and the occasional skitter of a piece of trash across the pavement. Sounds that were all too familiar, calling forth memories he'd much rather forget.

At age eight his mother moved them to her hometown of Moscow, unable to bear living in Boston after the mob hit on Mark's father, a prominent judge. For a couple of months they'd lived in relative comfort, but his mother had always been frail and unable to work. After the money ran out, Mark had worked the streets, willing to do anything to scrounge enough money to pay their meager rent. Once his stepfather had entered the picture and their financial situation improved, Mark immersed himself in the good life and vowed never to be powerless again.

He refused to take tonight's defeat as a sign his luck was turning for the worse. No matter what it took, he would find Paterson and retrieve the chip.

His cell phone vibrated against his thigh. Mark strode away from the back door of the bar before pulling the phone out.

"I hope you have good news," CIA Director of In-House Projects Wayne Jamieson barked when Mark answered the call.

He winced. "No, sir. Paterson got away. Alvarez's men almost nabbed him."

There was a disgusted grunt on the other end of the line. "And the girl?"

Mark thought about lying, but the man probably had other assets in the city and he couldn't afford to be caught in a lie. "She ran after her brother." He froze as the door of the bar opened. But it was just an employee dumping out a trash can. When the door closed, Mark added, "Earlier this evening the girl joined forces with an SSU agent named Niko Andros. No big loss, she was a liability. Too much trouble. I'll do better on my own."

"You want to join Kerberos, yet you can't handle one inexperienced girl?" Jamieson paused, but Mark knew he didn't really expect an answer. "If you don't have any luck finding Paterson on your own, then I expect you to get her away from Andros and use her again as bait. Bring me that chip, or no Kerberos. And no name."

Mark clenched his teeth. It had been a mistake to let Jamieson know how desperately he wanted the name of the man who'd ordered the hit on his father. A man so well hidden, so high up in the government that Mark hadn't even realized the top ranking mobster he'd killed hadn't been the instigator. After years of peace, believing his father avenged, Mark had been shocked when Jamieson stepped forward with proof that the real mastermind lived on. All Jamieson wanted in return for revealing the name and assisting Mark in bringing the man down was Nevsky's chip.

But for all the work he was doing, Mark had made it clear he wanted more than just the name. He expected an invitation into Kerberos, Jamieson's elite, unfettered black ops group. Mark liked the idea of being untouchable. Of joining a group tasked with defending the country in any way necessary regardless of laws or morals.

Jamieson had reluctantly agreed that if Mark brought him the chip, he'd be worthy of joining Kerberos.

Mark would kidnap the girl away from Andros if necessary to reel in Paterson and get the chip. But first he'd try it alone.

The dull thump of a headache began to pulse behind Mark's eyes. "I can handle it, sir. I won't fail."

"Be sure of it."

* * *

Kai Paterson let himself into his cramped, one-room apartment in a worn down, working class Moscow neighborhood. No matter the time of day, the place always smelled of cabbage soup and garlic from his neighbors' kitchens. Still, he preferred that to the cigarette smoke and alcohol fumes he'd endured waiting hours in bars for his quarry to show up.

He lifted his keys to the hook by the door, dismayed to find his hand trembling with earthquake ferocity. Damn. Between the shakes and this bone-deep cold, he couldn't deny it any longer.

The malaria was back.

Although the shaking wasn't one-hundred percent due to illness, was it? Tonight he'd come too damn close to being picked up in that alley. And it hadn't been just Alvarez's men. There had been at least two Russian agents and one American.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. After two years, it seemed his luck was finally running out. The run of bad fortune had started last month, when he'd tracked one of his parents' killers into the jungles of Indonesia. He'd been captured by a local warlord and spent ten days of hell in the man's prison before being freed by a government raid.

He'd been out-of-his head with malaria and so weak from daily beatings he couldn't even sit up. The following three days in the hospital were a blur of foreign voices and feverish dreams. When his head had finally cleared, he'd known that as an American, he was no more than a pawn in the regional political games, his life in danger no matter who had possession of him.

The minute he could walk without dizziness sending him to his knees, he'd matched the Indonesian names on his medical chart to medication labels, taken as many bottles as he could carry, and fled.

Now he pulled out two different packets of pills, grabbed one of each and chased them down with some water. He had no idea if the dosage or timing was correct. His Indonesian wasn't fluent enough to understand the complicated medical language. But the pills seemed to help, and he was desperate not to be bedridden.

Not yet. He hadn't completed his mission.

Kai gulped the rest of his water and kicked off his shoes. The floor was cold, but he didn't bother turning on the ancient heating system. He rubbed his eyes, wishing he was on a beach in the Caribbean with nothing more pressing on his mind than the decision to swim or nap.

The return of the malaria was just the latest in his string of bad luck. Last week he'd ripped the last pair of colored contacts he used to hide his damnably distinctive amber eyes. When he'd finally located a shop that could order him a new set, they'd told him the lenses would take at least seven days to arrive.

He should have given up and left Moscow then. But the few times he'd worked here in the past he'd been in disguise, and the manhunt that had been so fierce right after the attack on his family had died down, so he'd taken a chance that no one would recognize him.

But somehow, someone _had_ recognized him. The men in the alley were proof of that.

Which meant he was running out of time.

Kai toyed with the idea of making some tea in his tiny kitchen, but even the thought exhausted him. Instead, he lay down on the thin mattress on the floor. He wrapped a blanket around his body and prayed for his teeth to stop chattering.

A door slammed downstairs, accompanied by an angry bellow. He tensed, then slowly relaxed when there was no creak of footsteps on the rickety stairs. No one had followed him home tonight, he was sure of it. He'd taken twice as many precautions as usual.

He pulled the blanket closer against a new wave of chills. Staying here was a risk he'd have to take. If he went looking for other shelter tonight and collapsed, he'd be in even more danger.

As the chills subsided, Kai sighed and tried to get comfortable on the thin mattress. He was afraid to go to sleep. The last couple of nights, his dreams had been fevered and nightmarish.

He was even starting to hallucinate during his waking hours.

Because no way had that really been Jenna back in the bar. Despite the rumors going around that a woman dressed as a whore and claiming to be his sister had been asking about him. A woman accompanied by a man whose description matched Mark Tonelli, of all people.

It was no surprise that the CIA was also after the chip, but passing a woman off as Jenna was a low blow.

Even if, for a moment, the golden brown eyes of the boy in the corridor had seemed so familiar he'd been convinced it was his sister underneath the disguise.

Yet Jenna had been incapable of the intense hatred the boy directed at him.

So yeah, he'd been imagining things. Jen-shine was dead. Killed along with the rest of his family.

And it was his fault.

# Chapter Seven

Niko pulled the bike into its parking spot and killed the engine. He sat in silence for a long moment, trying to rein in his temper. Then Jenna scrambled off the seat and he almost sighed in relief. Having her pressed against him felt too good. And totally wrong.

She'd nearly been raped this afternoon. Had come within a hairsbreadth of being kidnapped back in that alley. Yet his damn dick didn't care. Too much adrenaline was flooding his system and sex was a mighty fine outlet.

"Rape victim, asshole," he muttered.

Disgusted with himself, and still blindingly furious that Jenna had put her life in danger, he dismounted and yanked off his helmet.

Jenna's mouth formed an O of recognition at his blond wig. "Yeah, sweetheart, that was me in the alley saving your butt from Alvarez's men," he growled. And it had been close. Too damn close.

"Don't say a word," he warned. "You're only going to piss me off and this is no place for a fight."

Hurt flashed in her eyes at the harshness of his tone. Tough. "Come on." He strode into the hotel, aware of Jenna struggling to keep pace behind him.

Once inside their suite, Niko turned on her.

"What the _fuck_ did you think you were doing, heading back to that bar by yourself?"

Jenna notched up her chin. "It was something I had to do," she snapped. "Alone."

"Fuck alone. Didn't Tonelli tell you who's out there looking for you? Hoping to use you as bait?" He took a step toward her.

She glared back at him.

"It needed to be done," she replied. Her eyes narrowed. "Unless, of course, you think I can't handle myself because I'm a woman?"

"Yeah, right. Play the friggin' gender card." Niko shook his head. "You handled yourself tonight, okay? You can be proud. That's not my point."

She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips.

"My point," Niko continued, "is that an operator who wants to stay alive doesn't go into a danger zone without backup and an exit strategy." He stepped into her personal space. "And under no circumstances do you walk alone into a situation where you don't understand the native language and have no way to call for help!"

Jenna flinched.

And Niko's cell phone rang.

With a snarl, he pivoted and yanked the phone from his pocket. "Andros."

"What's this about you taking Jenna away from Tonelli?" Ryker demanded.

Niko rolled his eyes and put the phone on speaker. In a few short sentences, he explained what happened.

Ryker let loose with a long string of inventive curses, and Jenna raised her eyebrow.

"Uh...you're on speakerphone, boss. Jenna's with me."

Silence. Then, "Sorry about that, Jenna. Are you okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank God. I don't care how you got separated from Tonelli, but stay with Niko."

She shot Niko a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Understood, sir." After a pause, she continued, "I saw Kai. He looked at me, then ran."

"Did he recognize you?" Ryker asked. "Or did he think you're one of the others hunting him?"

Jenna's expression grew thoughtful. "I thought he recognized me, but I was disguised as a boy. It's possible he didn't know it was me...except...he met my glance and my eye color isn't exactly common."

"Niko?"

"I saw a man running from the alley. Could have been anyone. I didn't get close enough to see his eyes."

"Hmm. Our analysts have been picking up a lot of chatter from your location. Locals, your uncle, foreign government agencies. Everyone's excited. That would fit if Paterson has reappeared."

Yeah, but what were the odds Paterson had been spotted by one of the other searchers in addition to the SSU's informant? Niko bet either Tonelli's CIA pals had somehow tipped off the other parties, or Ryker was right and the SSU had a mole.

There was a long silence. "Jenna, if Kai ran from you, then you're no use as bait," Ryker said. "With so many other parties interested in using you as leverage against your brother, it's too dangerous for you in Moscow. I want you back at the compound immediately. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Despite her agreement, her eyes flashed with anger.

"Right. Think of Niko as your bodyguard until you're back. Niko, I need to talk to you privately, so take me off speakerphone."

"Done."

Niko watched Jenna storm into the bathroom and close the door. Something told him getting her on a plane and back to the SSU wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Half an hour later, Niko paced around the suite's sitting room like a caged tiger waiting for dinner. He was freaked out, having Jenna here. Not because of the men after her. He knew he could protect her.

The problem was that his body still remembered how good it felt to have her softness pressed against his back and it wanted more. What if she got a hint of his thoughts? He didn't want to scare her. He'd cut off his right nut before he hurt, or even frightened, her in any way.

He rubbed the base of his neck. Hell.

How was Jenna going to react, now that it was night? Even with her having a separate bedroom, would she lie awake, afraid of being attacked?

Yet he couldn't leave her alone in the suite. Not after he'd recognized one of Alvarez's men in the alley. Not after the Russians had nearly kidnapped her off the street.

The corner of his eye twitched. What the hell was the matter with him? He knew how to control himself. He'd make damn sure—

Jenna opened the bathroom door.

Ah...fuck.

A totally inappropriate wave of lust nearly sent him to his knees. Shit. Where'd all the air go?

Jenna's freshly scrubbed skin was porcelain pure. Her short, spiky white hair left the delicate lines of her face bare. With her petite frame dwarfed by his sweats, she should have looked like a child. Instead, she looked fragile and mysteriously feminine. He couldn't remember ever seeing a more arresting woman.

Jenna met his gaze.

Man, he could get lost in her eyes. They were the color of honey touched by the sun. Beautiful, yet so bleak he wanted to cry. Shower her with kisses until she smiled.

For a second he thought he saw an answering heat in her eyes, then she flinched and took a step back.

He immediately shuttered his expression, but it was too late.

Jenna backed up another step until she was in the doorway, holding on to the edge of the bathroom door like it was a lifeline.

Jesus, what kind of sick bastard was he? After today's attack, the woman needed space. Maybe a little platonic comforting. But here he was, hard as a board, fighting the compulsion to pull her into his arms, press his nose against the side of her neck, and find out what Jenna Paterson smelled like fresh out of the shower.

He held up his hands to show he wasn't going to attack and retreated to the far side of the couch, giving Jenna plenty of room to bolt to her room if she wanted.

But she seemed frozen in place, eyeing him like a doe watching an approaching wolf.

He ran his hands through his hair. "Shit. I'm sorry, Jenna. You have nothing to worry about from me. Nothing, you understand?" He met her eyes and tried to will her to trust him. "You're an attractive woman. As a man, I responded to that. But I will never, ever make a move on you. Particularly not with your history."

Jenna's eyes flared wide in panic. "My...history?" she croaked. Her already pale face turned ashen and her fingers gripped the edge of the door so hard, he was surprised she didn't dent the wood.

Ah, man, could he possibly screw this up any further? "You know..." He rubbed his neck, wishing he could rewind the scene and take back his words. "The attack against your family. The rape..."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Even from halfway across the room he could hear the air shudder on its way in.

He waited tensely for her to ream him a new one. Or to launch into hysterics.

She did neither, just continued sucking in great gulps of air. With each inhalation, her spine seemed to straighten. Finally, her eyes opened.

They were completely, coldly, blank.

Je-sus. He'd seen men in combat do this. Shut down their emotions from one moment to the next in order to survive.

Acid burned in his stomach. He'd triggered this, damn it, but how was he supposed to know she was still sensitive about the rape? It had been two years. She'd been given the all-clear from the SSU's psychiatrists.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I..." She shook her head. She was still so tense the air vibrated.

"No, _I_ owe _you_ an apology. I didn't mean to panic you." He paused, knowing the right thing to do, but reluctant to let Jenna out of his sight. "Your room has a lock on the inside, but I can get you a completely separate room if that will make you feel safer."

It wouldn't _be_ safer. Not with so many agents looking for her. But if she needed her own space, he'd find a way to make it happen without putting her at risk.

Jenna thought about it, then shook her head. "No. I'll settle down. Besides, I'm armed." She lifted the sleeve of his sweatshirt to reveal a thin leather bracelet dotted with beads circling her wrist just below a sheathed knife. She turned around and raised the back of the sweatshirt, revealing the sexy, _bare_ curve of her low back.

Niko nearly groaned out loud. Didn't Jenna have any mercy? The weapon that grabbed Niko's attention wasn't made of steel, but of flesh. Lord help him, he wanted to drop to his knees and put his arms around her. Show her that a man could be gentle with a woman by placing a tender kiss right above the spot where her waistband dipped. Just next to where...her pistol rested.

Finally, his lust-clogged brain tuned in to reality. Weapons. Safety.

Right.

He turned away and scrubbed a hand over his face, grateful that Jenna was facing away from him. This time she wouldn't be able to pick up on his thoughts.

He hoped.

Jesus. It was the stress over Aunt Madalena. Had to be. There was no other explanation why he felt so off-center. He'd never reacted so inappropriately to a woman before.

Jenna snapped to get his attention. He squeezed his eyes closed briefly, hoping she wouldn't be able to see his thoughts in his eyes when he faced her.

"I'm sorry I freaked before. I know you won't hurt me," she said. "I don't need another room."

"Great. I mean, good. That's good, because you're absolutely safe with me. Your bedroom doesn't have hall access, so if anyone finds us, they'll have to deal with me first." He took another couple of steps away from Jenna. "So...I'm going to clean up. You go on to bed. You get scared or nervous, knock against the wall and I'll come running, okay?"

Jenna nodded and moved toward the bedroom. But she still looked on edge.

Dammit, he wanted to hug her. To tell her no one was going to hurt her again.

But life had shown him such promises were worthless. So he grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom, hoping Jenna would be asleep when he finished.

* * *

_Monday, Evening_

_Washington, D.C._

Ryker set the handset back on its cradle. He tapped his index finger against his lips, processing what he'd just learned and running possible outcomes. Of all the people he'd expected to be first on the scene, Alvarez's men hadn't been it. Niko wouldn't have called them, and everything Tonelli knew went right to the CIA.

So was the SSU's mole reporting to Alvarez? Or was someone at the CIA on the crime lord's payroll?

Either way, Jenna was in more danger than he'd expected. The temper Ryker usually kept hidden threatened to burst free. If anything happened to Jenna, both Tonelli and Andros could kiss their careers good-bye.

He ran his hand over his hair, as if his head was a magic lamp and by rubbing it he could grant Jenna immediate passage back to the SSU compound, where he could keep her safe.

He did not want her anywhere near Alvarez. The crime lord was deadly and brutal, particularly to women. And despite her promise to the contrary, she was stubborn enough to go after Alvarez if Kai eluded her grasp.

Ryker sighed. Unfortunately, Kai was potentially as big a threat. Kai had left a message for him two days before the attack on his family, snarling about his cover being blown and threatening that if Ryker sent assassins after his family the way he'd sent them after Kai, there'd be hell to pay.

Ryker hadn't received the message in time and it was sheer accident that he'd been surfing through deleted phone messages searching for a particular phone number and stumbled across the message. He'd called Eric Paterson right away and told him to evacuate his family.

When no one showed up to meet him at the airport rendezvous, Ryker had headed out to the house, but he'd been too late.

He'd arrived just as the coroner's van pulled up. In his grief, he'd turned away and his gaze had collided with a familiar pair of amber eyes. Kai had held his stare for a long, hate-filled minute before he disappeared into the crowd.

It was the last Ryker had seen of the man he'd once considered a friend. And despite his gut's denial, he had to accept the possibility that Kai had been involved in the killings. Perhaps not willingly. He could have been strung out on one of Alvarez's designer drugs, or even under Nevsky's mind-control formula.

Whatever the case, Kai was as much a potential threat to Jenna as Alvarez.

But if anyone could keep her safe, it was Niko.

His gaze fell on one of the pictures in the open file folder in front of him. The photo had been taken the summer before the attack. Jenna and her sister Isabel were in their backyard, dressed almost identically in t-shirts and jean shorts. They were dancing a tango, hamming it up and grinning at the camera. Jenna looked young and vibrantly happy.

It was his fault that carefree girl was gone forever, replaced by a grim, focused woman who knew more about pain and grief than most people could bear.

He closed the file and turned his chair around, staring out the window at the small rooftop garden of the building next door.

He'd never apologized to Jenna. It had been his decision to send Kai undercover at Nevsky's lab. He was the one who'd authorized Kai to work with Alvarez when her brother had been approached about stealing the chip containing the program's data.

Time and again he'd questioned whether he should have sent an agent without a family. If Ryker had sent another agent, Kai's family would still be alive. Yet Kai's biochemistry degree had made him uniquely qualified to fit in at the highly specialized lab.

Ryker had lost more than just a damn fine agent in Eric Paterson. He'd lost his closest friend.

An ache radiated up his jaw and he realized he'd been clenching his teeth. Ryker opened his mouth and made chewing motions until the ache stopped.

He couldn't ask for absolution until the chip was found and destroyed. Too many innocent people had already died because of it. If Alvarez got his hands on the chip and recreated the program, more innocents would die at the hands of his extraordinary, mind-controlled army.

The weight of responsibility pushed him deeper into his chair. Even if he hadn't promised to be Jenna's guardian if anything happened to her father, Ryker would do anything to protect her. She was the daughter he'd never had.

Once she was back at the compound, he was placing her under constant supervision. She wasn't going anywhere until after this was all over. She'd already experienced too much violence in her young life.

Ryker swiveled around to face his desk. This time he reached for a different file. Several men from law enforcement and the military who'd been declared dead had shown up alive in the Adirondack Mountains. Witnesses reported exceptional strength and volcanic rage that made the men nearly impossible to stop.

Those symptoms too closely resembled the side effects of Nevsky's drugs. Ryker feared some of Nevsky's data had survived the fire that killed the scientist. He needed to find out where the men had disappeared to after their supposed deaths.

If another lab was continuing Nevsky's experiments, it would have to be destroyed.

The world already had enough monsters.

* * *

_Tuesday, Early Morning_

_Moscow, Russia_

Jenna jerked upright in bed. She couldn't see! It was dark. Why was it dark? It wasn't supposed to be dark. The walls pressed in around her, suffocating her, choking her with her own fear.

_Oh, God. Let me see, let me see, let me see!_

Her lungs felt like they were going to implode as she desperately patted the area in front of her, then swung her arms forward, trying to find the lamp. Something heavy crashed to the floor.

_No. Please, let me see. Help!_

She had to find the light. She couldn't bear—

"Easy, Jenna." The male voice sent her rocketing off the bed. Her foot tangled in the bedspread and she tumbled to the floor.

_Have to get away. Get to safety._

The light went on, the sudden brightness a shock to her eyes.

"You're safe, Jenna. Okay? You're safe. Safe."

She blinked several times until her eyes adjusted. She was in a red room. Not the box of her nightmare. A box with no light, where all she felt was pain. Where she could hear the screams of her family yet was powerless to save them.

Jenna glanced frantically around. She didn't recognize this room. She leapt to her feet and bolted for the door.

"It's okay, Jenna," the voice said again. "You don't have to run. You're safe. I'm Niko, remember? From the SSU. We talked to Ryker last night. He said for you to stick with me. You're in my hotel room. In Moscow."

Jenna froze.

Niko. She remembered now. He'd found her in the restroom. Helped her escape those men in the alley. He'd attended one of her training sessions back at the SSU.

Ashamed that he'd seen her panic, she focused her eyes on the floor and greedily drew air into her starved lungs.

"You with me, Jenna?"

She nodded. Then screwed up her courage and looked at him.

Niko's eyes were steady on hers. Although she searched, she didn't see any sign of pity. Just understanding. And a palpable calm. She held his gaze and let his strength pulse into her.

"You know you're safe, yeah?"

She nodded again.

"Okay."

She expected him to ask about the nightmare. He didn't.

What an overwhelming relief. She didn't talk about the nightmare with anyone. Not even the shrinks.

The bottom line was that she was afraid of the dark. She needed to be able to see her surroundings at all times, otherwise she panicked, particularly when she woke from nightmares.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She'd left the light on when she'd fallen asleep, but she was so used to living alone, she hadn't thought to warn Niko.

The poor guy stood on the other side of the room, as far from her as he could get, his body relaxed, his hands dangling in an unthreatening position. The bedside lamp lay broken on the floor.

She felt like an idiot. A scared, weak child.

Jenna gulped air and wrapped her arms around her chest. She was so cold. It always took her hours to get warm again after a nightmare. She bit down on her molars to stop her teeth from chattering.

"Damn. You're cold. Climb back into bed. I'll turn up the heater. You can have one of the blankets from the sofa bed. I'm warm enough."

The problem was, she didn't want to go back to bed. She was afraid of another nightmare. But it also wasn't fair to stand here, keeping Niko awake.

"Can I keep the light on?" she asked.

Niko's eyes flickered to the lit floor lamp next to the door. "Damn. I'm sorry. I checked on you before I turned in. Turning out the light was instinct. Of course you can keep the light on. Is there anything else you need? A hot drink? Music?"

She was about to shake her head, when she realized there was something she wanted. She didn't want to be alone. Maybe, if Niko stayed over by the door for a bit, she'd relax enough to fall back asleep without dreaming.

An image flashed into her mind of him climbing into bed next to her and holding her through the night, his warmth and strength protecting her. But the uneasy fluttering in her stomach stopped her from putting that into words. Instead, she asked, "Would you mind staying here for a little while? Maybe...talk to me until I fall asleep?"

Surprise flickered across his face, then his eyes softened with understanding and just a hint of relief that she'd given him a task to fulfill. "Yeah, I can do that. Just let me get the blanket."

Five minutes later he'd disposed of the broken lamp, draped the extra blanket across the bed, and tucked Jenna back under the covers. Then Niko settled cross-legged on the floor just inside the door.

"What do you want me to talk about?" he asked.

She shrugged, then realized he probably couldn't see the gesture underneath all the blankets. "I don't care," she said. "Just don't make it violent or scary."

He raised his brows in an "as-if" expression. "Okay. So...there was this man in Afghanistan who had a three-legged goat..."

Jenna closed her eyes and let his words flow over her as he recounted the misadventures of the man and his goat. He had a surprisingly good voice. Deep and mellow, like Niko himself.

No, wait, Niko was mellow but he wasn't dark. No. That wasn't right either. She frowned sleepily, trying to work her way to her real meaning. Before she succeeded, she drifted off.

# Chapter Eight

_Tuesday, Late Morning_

_Moscow, Russia_

When Jenna awoke the next morning, she once again didn't know where she was. She bolted upright in panic, until the red décor brought it all back to her.

Niko's hotel room.

She sank back against the pillows and squeezed her eyes shut as memories of the attack in the restroom flooded back. Her quick, shallow breaths competed with the banging of the radiator to form a riot of noise that made her press her hands over her ears.

That only served to isolate her with the memories. Bringing back her attacker's alcohol sour smell, the way his touch caused something deep inside her to whimper and cower.

But unlike the night her family was killed, yesterday she hadn't been left broken and helpless. She'd fought back.

It had taken a while to get past her fear, but she'd saved herself.

And almost killed a man. What kind of monster had she turned into?

_This is why Grayson never completely trusted me. He knew the fallout from the attack hadn't fully hit me yet. He always said I was a time bomb waiting to go off._

Yet Niko hadn't been horrified by what she'd done. Angry on her behalf. Sympathetic. But she didn't remember anything even hinting at revulsion in his eyes.

Which meant what, exactly? She didn't know him well enough to say. But her gut said it was a compliment.

Besides, she hadn't killed her attacker. The only person she planned on killing was Kai, after he told her why he'd ordered their family killed.

_Kai!_

She jerked into a seated position. She'd seen Kai at the bar.

What was she doing, wasting time lazing in bed? She had a mission to complete.

She swung her feet onto the floor. Winced as her entire body shouted in protest, muscles and tissue sore and damaged from the attack.

Well, tough. All she needed was some ibuprofen and she'd be ready to move. What was important was getting back on the streets and searching for Kai.

She retrieved her pistol from under the pillow, gave it a safety check, and slipped it into her waistband. Then, wobbling only a little bit, she made her way over to her suitcase. She frowned at the meager contents.

Her clothing options were nil. All that remained in the case was a selection of sexy lingerie. She'd only brought the one casual change of clothes that she'd been wearing last night, and she had no clue where they'd disappeared to after she'd tossed them on the bathroom floor. If Niko was smart, he'd burned them, given that they'd reeked of garbage from her fall in the alley.

The remaining clothes had been sexy dresses, and Niko wisely hadn't brought any of them over when he brought her things.

But that meant her current choice of clothes was what she was wearing. Niko's sweats.

She couldn't go out looking for Kai like this.

She'd just have to ask Niko to buy her some clothes. She fished some bills out of the interior pocket of her suitcase. Mark hadn't given her any money to use, but she'd brought some emergency cash in both dollars and rubles. It should be enough to buy her another outfit.

Money in hand, she pulled open the door to the sitting room.

The sofa gave no evidence of having been turned into a bed, or slept on in any way. The bathroom door was open, the space beyond empty.

Niko was gone.

* * *

Mark Tonelli pushed impatiently through the crowded Moscow market toward the spot where he was to meet his contact.

Kai Paterson was on the run, thanks to an inept chase by his freak of a sister.

There were so many people looking for Paterson, Mark was worried he might not find the man first. As he'd left the alley last night he'd recognized men from both the KGB and CIA staking out the bar. Who knew what other groups were in town?

Mark dodged a child waving a sweet roll, narrowly avoiding a sticky hand grasping for his trousers.

Paterson was his, dammit. He had no intention of letting anyone else, even the other CIA operatives, get anywhere near the man. His contact's information had better be good. He didn't have time to waste.

Up ahead, at a narrow booth selling hot tea, a familiar rail-thin man sipped at a steaming cup.

Good. Petrovsky was on time. The small time gangster was an old friend. Mark knew there was no one more likely to be able to find Paterson. And to help smuggle Paterson out of the country once the man was in Mark's possession.

* * *

Jenna was staring out the window at the street below when the corridor door opened. She spun to the side, weapon aimed at the intruder.

"Whoa. Don't shoot." Niko held his hands up, brown paper bags dangling above his head. "It's just me."

Nerves taut and heart hammering, Jenna sucked in a breath and lowered her weapon. She stepped back to give Niko room to enter while she put the pistol back in its holster. "Where did you go?"

"To get breakfast. Didn't you see my note?"

Seeing her look of confusion, Niko glanced around the room. "Here it is." He bent down and retrieved a piece of paper peeking out from under the sofa. His faded jeans molded to the taut muscles of his powerful legs as he bent down, reminding her of the strength of her assailant. A faint frisson of fear ran through her. Niko blocked her path to the door. Her heartbeat, which had returned to its normal rhythm, began to pound again.

"The air from the heater must have blown the note off the coffee table," Niko said, standing up and handing her a piece of hotel stationery.

_Gone to get food. Back soon._

Such a mundane note, yet it steadied her nerves. She blew out a breath. O-kay. So, she still had some lingering fear from yesterday's attack. She'd get over it.

Niko wasn't a threat. He'd been nothing but considerate and gentle to her. Fiercely protective.

She tucked the note in her pocket. As if on cue, her stomach growled. "Did you say breakfast?"

Niko chuckled and held up a paper bag. "Yes ma'am." He set the bag on the desk and began pulling out items and unwrapping them.

The enticing aromas made her impatient. She crowded close to Niko, trying to see what was in the bags. But she couldn't identify the pastries. "What did you get?"

"Right. Sorry. The things that look like rolls with shiny brown outsides are _pirozhki_ filled with egg and scallion. The open-faced round buns are _vatrushki_ with farmer's cheese and raisins and the other round pastries are _syrniki_ or fried cottage cheese. That container has sour cream, and the thermos contains hot tea."

Niko grabbed one of the shiny rolls, spread sour cream on it, and sat down on the easy chair.

Jenna leaned over the desk, inhaling the tantalizing scent of yeast and onions. She'd never seen Russian pastries before. Breakfast with Mark had been toast and coffee. She grabbed one of each pastry, placed them on one of the paper wrappings, added sour cream, then sat cross-legged on the bed.

She bit quickly into what she thought he'd called a _vatrushki_. She made a low sound of approval in the back of her throat as the creamy center hit her taste buds.

Niko chuckled. "Good, huh?"

She nodded. As she ate, she found herself wondering about this man who'd taken her under his protection. How he'd come to the SSU. How he knew Moscow so well.

But those questions weren't what interested her most. She pointed to the black mourning band that circled his biceps over his shirt but had previously been hidden by his coat, probably to avoid unwanted attention when he was out. "Who did you lose?"

Niko turned his roll over in his hand, then pursed his lips. "My father."

His grief was so palpable, Jenna's breath froze in her lungs. Pain threatened to squeeze her heart to a stop. The grief she'd buried so deep she'd thought it was dead, began to stir.

_No!_ If the grief awoke, she'd be lost. She balled her hands into fists until the sting of her nails against her palms pushed back the emotions.

Niko, thank God, was too caught up in his own memories to notice her struggle for control.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "How did he die?"

"Pneumonia." Niko shoved the crumpled wrappings from his meal into a ball and tossed it at the wastebasket.

So much grief. So much regret. Jenna's throat tightened. She reached out and Niko flinched. He surged to his feet and turned his back to her, stalking over to the small desk.

Jenna retracted her hand, trying to ignore the faint bite of rejection. She hadn't intended to reach for him, but some long dead instinct had moved her hand without her thinking about it. Otherwise, she never would have attempted to offer comfort.

She knew how much easier it was to ignore your grief and bury it if people left you alone.

Niko snatched up a pad of paper and a pen. "So. Ryker wants you back at the compound. I can probably get you on a flight this afternoon." When he turned back around to face her, all traces of sadness were gone.

Jenna popped the last piece of _vatrushki_ into her mouth. "No. I'm not leaving until I find Kai."

"Not your call. Didn't you hear Ryker? Everyone is after you. Russian and American intelligence. Alvarez's men. No matter how much training you've had, your inexperience makes you vulnerable." Niko glanced at the cuts on her forehead.

"I have to risk it. He's my brother. I have to be the one who finds him." And she refused to be controlled by fear.

"Yeah, see, you're not the one who gets to decide that. Ryker's in charge of this op. He says you go home. You scared your brother away. What good are you going to be in finding him?"

Fury incinerated Jenna's delight over the pastries.

Hell, no. Kai was here in Moscow. She wasn't leaving until he was dead. She surged to her feet, drew her pistol and aimed it at Niko's forehead.

Niko raised an eyebrow and tapped the pen against the arm of the chair. Then, quicker than her eye could follow, he launched himself at her. He shoved her gun hand up and away as they fell, rolling so she ended up face down on top of him.

His arm encircled her neck and his legs had hers trapped. She struggled, but couldn't get free.

And Niko had possession of the gun. She heard the click as he ejected the magazine, and sagged against him in defeat.

"First thing your trainers should have taught you," Niko said against her ear. "Is never pull a gun unless you're ready to use it."

Who said she hadn't been ready to use it? She tried to dig an elbow into him, but she couldn't get the right angle. Furious and frustrated, she tried again to slip free.

Niko rolled so he was on top. His hips met hers and Jenna's breath turned to ice. But Niko pushed to his feet before the panic could grow.

"Second thing," he said, stepping away from her. "Never underestimate an opponent."

She clambered to her feet and glared at him. She hated the way his chiding tone made her feel six years old again and in trouble with her parents. "I'm not leaving until I find Kai," she snapped. "You can try and send me home, but I'll find a way to escape."

The change that came over Niko was scary. His eyes just went dead. And his face lost all hint of human kindness.

Jenna shivered and fought against the urge to step back.

"If I decide you're going home, there's nothing you can do to stop me from putting you on a plane—willing or not." His voice was flat and cold.

Jenna lost the fight for defiance and stepped away from him. Was this the man whose soft, rhythmic voice had lulled her to sleep last night?

"We clear?"

Jenna swallowed nervously and nodded.

Niko ran his hands down his face, and suddenly the man she'd begun to trust was back. "Just so happens, I disagree with Ryker." His tone was conversational, as if nothing unusual had just occurred between them.

She fought disorientation. Took a deep breath to help her body step down from the edge.

Niko reached for his tea. "As long as you cooperate, I won't send you back to the SSU. Your brother may have run from you, but when he has time to think, he'll want to make some kind of contact. We'll just be more subtle than Tonelli about letting your brother know we want to talk."

"Okay." She'd agree to anything if it helped her find Kai. "What do we do first?"

"After last night, your brother knows he's being hunted. He'll go underground. I hate to say it, but Tonelli has better contacts in Moscow than I do. He spent part of his childhood here, plus the CIA stationed him here for a half dozen years. He's more fluent in the various Russian dialects than I am. The search will go faster with his help."

Jenna grimaced. But she nodded, conceding his point. "How come you speak Russian, anyway? I heard you were in Afghanistan."

"Yeah, well, there were a couple of old Soviet defectors living near our village in Afghanistan. They were hungry for contact with the West, so I spent a lot of time with them." He shrugged. "I'm good at languages, and you never know what will come in handy on the next assignment."

"So what languages do you speak?"

"Greek, from my dad. Spanish, from my mom. Russian. Pashto. Some Dari. A bit of German and French."

"Wow. I thought I was doing well knowing three other languages." Her throat tightened on a wave of nostalgia for the carefree art history student she'd been, eager to travel to museums across the world. For her junior year abroad she'd attended a program in Italy, and she'd also done two summer internships in Germany. Watching the variations in body language, discovering local art forms, and trying out her foreign language skills had been a fantastic adventure. Her gaze dropped to the floor and she cleared her throat.

"So, when you swear," she said. "Is that Greek or Pashto?"

"Greek."

She filed that away for future reference. "Okay, we'll contact Tonelli and then..." Wait a second. She wasn't going anywhere without clothes. She looked around and spotted her money on the table. "Um...Sorry, but first I need something more than just your sweats to wear." She held out a fistful of rubles. "Could you please buy me some clothes?"

Niko waved away her money. "I'll put it on the SSU's tab." His eyes roamed over her body, assessing her with a clinical impartiality. "Write down your sizes and I'll see what I can find."

There wasn't a smidgeon of masculine appreciation in his eyes this morning.

She couldn't blame him. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, there was nothing about her current appearance to draw a man. Her amber eyes no longer sparkled, but were solemn and dull as a dirt-encrusted coin. Cold, even. Her face was grim, almost gaunt. Her body was little more than muscle and bone.

Hardly feminine.

And even though it had no relevance to her hunt, her formerly dormant female pride gave a huff of resentment, remembering the scorn on Mark's face when he'd called her scrawny and ugly. Hating the idea that Niko might see her the same way. Not wanting to accept that the heat she'd seen in his eyes last night had been a fluke.

Because...because...Jenna mentally shook her head, too afraid to pursue that thought.

What did it matter what she looked like? All that mattered was finding Kai.

* * *

_Wednesday, Afternoon_

_Moscow, Russia_

Niko walked warily down the street. This morning, the receptionist at an eye clinic had recognized Paterson's picture. She'd said Jenna's brother wore a hat and dark tinted glasses, but she recognized his mouth. Paterson had dropped off a prescription for colored contact lenses last week. And picked up the lenses less than an hour before.

Unfortunately, the woman hadn't seen which way Paterson went when he exited. So for the past three hours, Niko and Jenna had been walking up and down the nearby streets, showing her brother's photo to every person they could find. With no success.

The address Paterson had put down on the clinic's registration form turned out to be the address of a shoe store. No surprise there.

Although Jenna hadn't said anything, he knew she was equally frustrated at their lack of progress. They'd tried to reach Tonelli yesterday, but the man had already checked out of his hotel and wasn't answering his cell phone.

So Niko had turned to the SSU's research department. One of the research assistants e-mailed him a map of Moscow neighborhoods with highlights on the seedier ones. If Niko were on the run, that's where he'd hide. In a place where his neighbors were too busy existing to notice what he looked like, or what hours he came and went.

None of those neighborhoods had yielded results, though. They were now canvassing the second-best choices. Such as this worn-at-the-edges but still faintly prosperous street, with its mix of apartments and stores and a steady flow of people.

An unremarkable neighborhood, except for the tingling of Niko's instincts. And the presence of two pairs of agents staking out the street's main intersection while cautiously watching each other.

Niko would lay odds one pair were American and the others Russian.

No big surprise. Whoever retrieved Nevsky's chip from Paterson would have the ability to create invincible soldiers.

Or monsters. Depending on your point of view.

Up ahead, three of Alvarez's men lounged against the side of a building, looking completely out of place. Even a two-year-old could tell these men didn't belong here.

But they provided a sharp reminder that if Niko didn't find the damn chip first, Aunt Madalena would remain Alvarez's prisoner. He'd sent out word to his contacts to find out where Alvarez was holding her, but that would take time. Most of Alvarez's properties had been seized during the multi-government raid that sent the crime lord to prison. Alvarez was too smart to buy new properties outright, which meant more investigation. More time.

Time his aunt didn't have.

Last night, he'd dreamed of his aunt. Of watching her being tortured. He'd woken up shaking and drenched in sweat. And more determined than ever to find Paterson. Because for now, trading the chip was his best bet of getting his aunt away from Alvarez.

Niko tugged his hat lower over his face. He wanted to stay off of Alvarez's radar until Jenna was out of the picture. After five years undercover with Alvarez, too many of his men knew Niko by sight. Which was why he'd used a wig when going after Jenna last night and why they both were disguised now. Still, he wasn't taking any chances, so he slowed down.

Beside him, Jenna's shoulders slumped in relief. Damn it, he'd been pushing her too hard. He reduced his pace even more.

He'd seen her limping on and off today, although she tried to hide her uneven gait. He'd had to throw away her wet, garbage-soaked sneakers, but hadn't been able to find the right size replacement. She probably had blisters. He should—

Halfway down the block, Mark Tonelli stepped onto the street. Show time. No wonder the street was lousy with agents.

Jenna spotted Tonelli and sped up.

"Easy," Niko muttered. "Don't rush or you'll spook him. He's got people on his tail."

Jenna shot him a glance heavy with frustration, but did as he said.

"Hold up a sec." Niko stopped to look in a shop window. In his peripheral vision he saw two of Alvarez's men enter the apartment building Tonelli had exited, while the third man went after Tonelli.

The other agents took up positions at the front of the building, but didn't go in.

Shit. Even though he and Jenna were disguised, he didn't want to walk through the front door in plain sight of everyone. But if there was a back entrance...

He sized up the neighboring buildings and decided that the tearoom half a block down was their best bet for getting to any back alley unnoticed.

And damn if he wasn't right. The rear door of the tearoom opened onto a narrow access lane. He led Jenna toward the apartment building, keeping to the shadows, gun held loosely at his side.

No one guarded the back door of the apartment building. He pushed it open and found that it led into a storage room. Jenna followed him inside, weapon out.

He was just about to step into the lobby when footsteps sounded above them, stomping down the stairs. Niko thrust his arm out to stop Jenna from moving any farther. He shifted so his back was against the wall, with part of the lobby visible out of the corner of his eye.

Jenna mirrored his actions, melting against the wall on the other side of the doorframe.

One of the approaching men cursed Paterson's lineage in a thick Mexican accent. "How am I going to explain to _el jefe_ that we missed the _gringo_ by hours?" he muttered. "He'll kill me."

The men reached the lobby and pounded on a door at the base of the stairs.

Jenna glanced at Niko and he realized that from her vantage point, she couldn't see as much of the lobby as he could. _Manager's office_ , he mouthed.

She nodded.

A man's petulant shout answered the pounding. A moment later, a scrawny man in a heavy coat opened the door.

"When did the man in 4D move out?" one of Alvarez's men demanded in atrocious Russian.

"Don't know," the manager said with a shrug. "The key was in my box this morning."

"This the man?" The burly man on the right shoved a photo at the manager.

"Maybe." He squinted at the picture. "He wore a hat and sunglasses, but I made him take the glasses off and show me his eyes. I don't want any addicts here." He shrugged. "Eyes look right. Gold. Like a cat."

Jenna's eyes, bright with excitement, flicked to Niko's.

"Why is everyone looking for this man?" the manager demanded.

"None of your business." The shorter of Alvarez's men whipped his hand up and shot the manager between the eyes.

At the muffled pop of the silenced weapon, Jenna spun toward the door into the lobby, pistol raised.

Shit.

Niko lunged for her, but Alvarez's men had already seen her. The shooter spun and fired. Jenna dove to the floor.

Niko fired and the shooter went down. The other man got off a couple of shots toward Jenna before Niko's return fire sent him running for the front door.

Niko let him go. He'd hit the man in the leg and upper back, making him an easy target for the agents down the street. He was no longer Niko's concern.

Niko dashed out of the storage room and slid to his knees next to Jenna. She lay motionless on the floor, bleeding from the left side of her head and her left upper arm.

Ah man. Ah _fuck_.

Niko felt for a pulse. Dammit, he should have sent her home. But he'd thought she'd be safe with him. And every minute not searching for Paterson was a minute of pain for Aunt Madalena.

Jenna groaned and opened her eyes.

Thank you, God.

# Chapter Nine

_Wednesday, Morning_

_Andes Mountains, Peru_

Jaime Alvarez sat in a plush armchair, looking out the windowed alcove of his bedroom to the rich Andean valley below. He'd initially chosen Peru for the site of his retreat because he'd thought it was distant enough to offer protection from the United States authorities.

Yet this window, like much of the mountain-top fortress, had been restored at great cost after the joint U.S. DEA and Peruvian special forces raid ten years ago. His jaw clenched and his face flushed, caught in the memory of gunfire and mortars destroying his refuge, followed by the humiliation of being dragged away in handcuffs.

All Niko's fault.

" _Jefe_?" The disembodied voice of Pedro Delgado floated out of the speakerphone resting on the low, glass coffee table in front of his chair.

" _Sí_ , make your report."

Alvarez listened with barely contained fury as his employee tried to wrap his failure up in excuses and fancy words. "Pedro," he chided softly, "Why am I paying your exorbitant salary if you cannot complete such a simple mission?"

On the other end of the line, Pedro stammered, trying to figure out a way to answer that wouldn't get him further in trouble.

"I gave you a very simple task. Find Kai Paterson. You had him in your sights, but lost him. You found his apartment, but he had already vacated. You let Emilio kill the building manager, and now Emilio is dead." He paused, letting the man sweat.

"I do not pay you to be slow, my friend. I pay you to get results." Alvarez stared at the mist-covered mountains across the valley, only half listening to Pedro's frantic apologies and wild promises to do better next time. The man would have to be eliminated. Failure was unacceptable.

Alvarez sighed. Too bad. Pedro's mother, a distant aunt, was high-strung. Yet she held great influence in key political circles in Mexico. He'd have to compensate her well for her loss.

And hope that Niko succeeded in bringing him Paterson and the chip.

Finally, one of Pedro's comments caught his attention. "Repeat that."

"Another man also looks for Paterson. Mark Tonelli. For a few days, he had with him a woman. The story they were spreading was that she was looking for her brother to give his blessing on her marriage. The people they talked to said the photograph they displayed matched Paterson. And the woman had the same golden eyes."

Alvarez was suddenly on his feet. _Impossible._ He turned his back on the window, as if he could deny the words already spoken.

There must be a mistake. Everyone had died in the attack on Paterson's family. He'd been assured of it.

He took a deep breath and turned again to the view. For a long while he let the silence remain unbroken, watching a condor circle just above the tree line as he pulled his temper back into line. He could not allow himself to be distracted by anger. And yet...

After two long years, Kai Paterson and Nevsky's chip were finally within reach. Soon he would restart Nevsky's program. Within a year he'd possess the army of unbeatable soldiers he needed to take over the underworld of both South and Latin America.

He himself would possess superior strength and intelligence. No one would dare oppose him. He would be untouchable.

He pulled his rosary from his pocket and ran the ebony beads through his fingers, the faint clicking of the beads a soothing counterpoint to his racing thoughts. If Paterson's sister lived, his men had lied to him. Someone would die for that mistake.

At the same time...if the girl was alive, she'd make excellent bait.

Jago Salazar was the only living member of the hit team. Alvarez would call and demand to know if the girl survived.

"Since you can't find Paterson," he told Pedro. "Find the woman and bring her to me." Even if she was an impostor, it might be possible to fool Paterson into coming out of hiding.

"Yes, _jefe_. Thank you, _jefe_." Usually Alvarez enjoyed the effect he had on his employees. Yet today the fawning gratitude in Pedro's voice turned his stomach. Did the man have no pride? No sense of self-respect to give him a will of his own?

If only Pedro was more like Niko. Even though Niko had been only nineteen when he'd joined the organization, he'd never groveled or begged for mercy during his initiation. Alvarez respected him for that. Unfortunately, men of such strong character were rare.

And Niko's strength had allowed him to keep his traitorous nature hidden.

"Do not fail again, Pedro." Ignoring the man's fervent promises, Alvarez disconnected the call. He walked over to his bed and pulled the silk rope on the wall that triggered an alert throughout the mansion's corridors. The old-fashioned manner of summoning his mistress gave him a rush of power.

Five minutes later, the bedroom door opened to reveal a tall, graceful woman. Despite her maturity, her coal-black hair showed only a touch of silver at the temples. Today she wore it in a simple coil at the base of her elegant neck.

"You wished to see me?" Her voice was smooth, cultured, and devoid of any emotion.

He briefly wondered what her true feelings for him were. She never showed a hint of emotion unless they were in one of their special sessions.

"Yes. Lock the door and disrobe, my love."

Ah, there. A flash of fear crossed her face before she turned to slide home the deadbolt. His blood quickened and he felt himself grow hard. During his ten years in prison, he'd often fantasized about Madalena Andros. Even though it had been twelve years since he'd first forced her to become his mistress, every time she came to him, the rush he got from dominating her grew stronger.

The years away from her had honed his need to a painful edge. As he stepped toward her, he wished her husband were still alive to watch his regal Madalena bleed and scream like a common whore.

It was the only time he regretted putting Anastasio Andros in the ground.

* * *

Madalena Andros applied a new coat of lipstick with shaking hands, a trick she'd mastered years ago. For just over ten years she'd been safe. Jaime Alvarez had been in prison and she'd made a new life for herself far away from his depraved world. But within days of his release, armed men had burst into her little house in Spain and dragged her back to the monster.

The lipstick slipped out of her hand and fell into the basin with a clatter. She flinched, staring at the bright red smear on the porcelain. Unlike twelve years ago, when she'd naively bartered one night in Alvarez's bed for the release of her husband, believing Alvarez would uphold his end of the deal, she now knew the man's character.

Alvarez had broken his promise back then. He hadn't chained her or locked her in a cell in order to have his way with her. No. He'd simply found her weakness and ruthlessly exploited it. He'd told her that unless she played the part of willing mistress, he'd torture and kill one of the maids.

She hadn't believed him. Her husband Tasi had shielded her from his life as a DEA agent, so she'd still believed in the innate goodness of all people.

She'd called Alvarez's bluff. She'd spat on him and told him she'd never be his mistress.

The lipstick in the basin seemed to waver as she struggled against tears.

That night Alvarez had dragged a young girl of only sixteen into the room. Madalena had been forced to watch while he...

She put a hand to her throat, choking on the memory. When death had come for the girl, Madalena had cried with relief. And she'd given in to Alvarez.

The next time her defiance reared its head, Alvarez brought her husband out of his cell. She suffered through days of watching Alvarez torture her beloved before he died, taking with him all her will to escape. She'd tried to anger Alvarez so he'd lose his temper and kill her, too, but he was too clever.

So she continued to exist in hell. Until months later, Niko arrived, part of Alvarez's entourage. She'd understood the only reason he'd joined with Alvarez was to get revenge for the shooting that paralyzed his father. Niko had been shocked to see her and had snuck in to visit her as soon as possible, at terrible risk to his life. She'd told him her story and warned him to stay away, but like all men in their family, Niko was stubborn. He'd eventually worn down her resistance and convinced her to let him help her escape. When they were betrayed, it was Niko who suffered.

He never understood why she fought his additional attempts to get her free. But she had too many deaths on her conscience already, she refused to add his.

Finally, though, Alvarez had been arrested and she'd been free. Dishonored and living in self-imposed exile, but her own woman. And she'd finally stopped having recurring nightmares. She'd vowed never again to be under the control of another man. Death was better than Alvarez's form of enslavement.

So when the crime lord's men had showed up at her cottage two weeks ago, she'd fought them with the desperation of a wild animal cornered by hunters. When they'd subdued her and she understood she had no chance of escape, she'd done everything in her power to stir them into a killing rage.

She'd failed.

Once again, she was powerless. A sexual slave. Used by Alvarez in that video as bait for Niko.

The woman in the mirror watched her with sunken, despair-filled eyes. Hopelessness was a great pressure inside her, choking off her air until she was so dizzy, she swayed on her feet. She grabbed onto the edges of the sink to steady herself.

After ten years of sweet freedom, captivity was intolerable.

Yet freedom was no longer enough. She wanted Niko safe. And Alvarez dead.

But before he died, she wanted vengeance for every time Alvarez laid a hand on her. For every time he'd hurt Niko. For every death he'd caused to keep her in line.

She picked the lipstick out of the basin, wiped it off with a tissue, and put it in her purse. The fresh wounds on her body throbbed and she knew it was going to be difficult to get through the rest of the day without wincing. This had been one of the most violent sessions with Alvarez she could remember.

Yet she was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her pain.

She ran the tap and gulped down a glass of water, wincing a little as the water hit her raw throat. One of the first lessons she'd learned was that Alvarez went easier on her the louder she screamed.

It was the only time she showed any emotion. He was always so consumed by his male lust, he didn't realize she was screaming in anger, not fear.

She blotted her lipstick with a fresh tissue, then headed back into the bedroom. She'd overheard a little bit of his phone call earlier. Enough to know that something important was happening.

This time, she wasn't going to meekly go along with his plans. She would not let Alvarez kill Niko. For now she would wait, gathering information until it was time to act. Until, finally, she could destroy Alvarez and save the world from his viciousness.

# Chapter Ten

_Friday, Morning_

_Helsinki, Finland_

Kai closed the door of the log cabin behind him. With a grateful moan, he let his heavy backpack sink to the floor. For the first time since he left Moscow, the itchy feeling between his shoulder blades was gone.

He'd done it.

Made it out of Moscow without being caught. It had been dangerously close, though. He'd spent Tuesday in his apartment, fighting through first the chills and then the fever of malaria. His fever finally broke late Tuesday night. Just after midnight he'd packed his meager belongings and vacated his apartment. He'd still been weak, so he'd found an isolated park bench and dozed until business hours. Then he'd headed off to pick up his contact lenses.

Only then had he felt he had a chance of making it out of the city without being recognized. He'd put the lenses in, changed clothes behind a dumpster, and bought food at an open-air market.

Still, even with his eyes finally disguised, he took evasive maneuvers throughout the day, stopping frequently to rest because his strength was still sub-par. As soon as he finished his last task, he'd headed to the train station. That had been almost forty hours ago.

Kai walked over to the two large picture windows. It was still early in the tourist season, so there were only a few other guests at this small resort. The communal lawn was deserted, but he pulled the curtains anyway. He'd chosen this place for its privacy and its quiet.

He took stock of the room. The walls were bright, shiny pine, and the simple furnishings were done in soothing shades of blue. Yes, he could relax here. Finally recover from the malaria.

He bent to retrieve his pack and noticed that his hand had bled through its bandage again. He carried the pack into the bathroom and pulled out his first aid kit.

Before he'd left Moscow he'd made one more attempt to find the man he'd been hunting, one of Dr. Nevsky's former assistants. He'd gone to the man's apartment and when no one answered his loud knocking, he'd broken in.

The air inside had been stale, with no signs of recent occupancy. The place had been neat as a pin—no garbage in the bin, no dishes left out—and the bed had been stripped. A search yielded no travel books or diary to tell him where the man had gone. No notes relating to his work on Nevsky's project.

And no sign in red letters proclaiming, "Nevsky told me where he hid the microchip and here are the directions."

He'd tamped down his disappointment and turned to leave when a loud thump from the apartment above had startled him. His hand jerked and knocked against a vase. He'd grabbed the vase in time to stop it from hitting the floor, but in the process he'd cut his hand on the ragged corner of the metal table the vase had been sitting on.

He pulled off the stained bandage, rinsed the cut at the base of his thumb with water, and applied some antiseptic. It looked like he'd be adding another scar to the spider web of white marks already crisscrossing his hands and circling his wrists. A souvenir from his time in the Indonesian warlord's prison. A reminder of the way Kai's contact had been tortured to death for nothing more than supporting the wrong person.

Fighting back a surge of anger, Kai tossed the dirty bandage in the trash and wrapped fresh gauze around his hand. He was tired of running. Sick of being too late to save the people in his life.

He tied off the bandage with more force than necessary.

He'd dreamed of his family these past two nights. Only this time there had been something new. Jenna's disembodied eyes had stared at him, incandescent with hatred. Moving toward him until he ran.

And that was when he woke up. God, he'd give anything to have Jenna alive, even if she hated him.

His bandaging done, he carried his pack into the high-ceilinged living room and threw it onto one of the neatly made double beds. He stretched out on the other bed. He needed to go out again to stock up on food, but first he needed sleep.

His eyes closed, shutting out the room. For an instant it felt as if he were falling, until his inner ear normalized. He'd spent too many hours rocking on trains, first from Moscow to St. Petersburg and then from St. Petersburg to Helsinki.

Kai opened his eyes and stared helplessly at the ceiling. He was so frustrated by his continued failure to find the microchip, sometimes he wondered why he kept going. And he was so tired. Not just physically, but mentally. How he wished he could turn the hunt over to someone else. But he was the only SSU agent who'd been assigned to work with Nevsky. He was the only one who'd know if the data on the chip was genuine.

And right now, he was the only one he trusted to destroy the chip. He didn't even trust Ryker and the SSU. Because he'd seen Ryker the night of the attack on his family. The man had ignored Kai's warning to protect his family until too late. Whether deliberately, or through carelessness, Kai didn't know. He didn't care. Ryker had been given plenty of warning. Now his family was dead, and Ryker was on his vengeance list.

But first he had to find the damn chip. Without it, he'd spend the rest of his life on the run.

* * *

_Early Saturday, Just After Midnight_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

"Wake up, Jenna. We're here." The driver's door of the Jeep opened, letting in a cold blast of air before it swung shut with a thump.

Jenna lifted her head from the window and blinked groggily, trying to see through the darkness. Floodlights illuminated a patch of lawn and the front of a wood cabin. Pine trees stood sentry at the edge of the lot.

Uncertainty jabbed at her breastbone. She was in the middle of nowhere, with a man she barely knew, and no way to call for help.

Was she nuts?

She took a deep breath.

No. Despite having known Niko only a few days, she wasn't afraid of him. He'd done nothing but try to protect her. It was her own fault she was hurt.

More importantly, Ryker trusted him.

She yawned, then sat all the way up. The motion jarred her wounded arm and sent pain slicing through her skull. She bit back a groan. Ryker had been furious when Niko called him from Moscow to ask the name of a doctor who could treat her and wouldn't report her wounds to the authorities. Niko had talked fast, trying to reassure their boss that the bullet wounds on her scalp and arm were minor.

Ryker didn't buy it. Even through the speakerphone his icy reply sent chills down her spine. It took Jenna snapping out answers to Ryker's probing questions to convince the man she didn't need a hospital. But finally he'd given Niko the name and number of a local doctor willing to make discreet house calls.

What he'd said next, though, had shocked Jenna.

"Don't bring her back to the compound," Ryker had said. "I'm convinced we have a mole. We can't chance Jenna's location leaking out. Now that it's known she's alive, everyone wants her as bait for her brother. Don't even tell me where she is. Just take her someplace safe."

After the call ended, Niko had told her about his cabin. "My real name isn't on the deed," Niko said. "I bought it with some reward money from the DEA. No one will find you."

Which is how she ended up here, in the middle of the Montana wilderness.

She turned her head gently side to side, trying to loosen a crick in her neck.

God, she'd been so revved up when she left for Moscow. Convinced she'd find Kai and finally achieve her vengeance. Yet she was no closer now to completing her mission than before.

And with the first stage of the hunt over, she felt...empty. Depressed?

She frowned. No. She was just tired. Tomorrow she'd feel better.

She needed to find Kai and end this thing. She was tired of waiting. Tired of living in limbo.

The passenger door opened, letting in the clean, crisp scent of pine, and the warm, subtle spice that was Niko. He bent down to look at her. "Good, you're awake." He held out his hand. "Come, milady, your room awaits you."

She fought back a small smile at his words and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Then Niko grabbed a suitcase with each hand and headed across the lawn.

Jenna started to follow, then paused, listening to the symphony of crickets chirping. She'd missed the sound while in Moscow. Two years living at the SSU compound surrounded by wilderness and she was more comfortable with trees and insects buzzing than buildings and horns honking. She sighed in pleasure. Tilting her head back, she took a deep lungful of air, bringing the peace of the night into her body.

And let her tension melt away on the exhale.

Niko bent down to set the suitcases on the front porch. His jeans pulled across the taut muscles of his butt and Jenna felt an entirely female tingle of appreciation. She'd always liked—

She tore her gaze away. Dammit, what was she _doing_? She didn't respond to men like this. Not since the night her family was attacked.

But between the fit of his jeans, his black sweatshirt and his dark hair, Niko looked as dangerous and sexy as a pirate. Any woman would notice.

_Not me. That part of my life is over._

Yet she had to admit that admiring Niko proved the trauma from the restroom attack had faded.

As he turned the key in the lock, Niko glanced back at her over his shoulder. The spotlight from the house threw sinister shadows across his face, reminding her yet again that she didn't know this man, not really.

And yet...on a very primitive level, she trusted him. A very frightening thought. Because trust led to caring, and caring led to pain.

The only way she'd survived these past two years was to care about no one and nothing beyond her revenge. She was never again going to experience the agony of losing someone she cared about.

She couldn't...she _wouldn't_ weaken now.

A chorus of barking exploded inside the cabin. With a smile teasing her lips, Jenna crossed the lawn and joined Niko on the porch.

"Don't be afraid of the dogs," he told her. The frantic barking was now mixed with eager whines. "They're enthusiastic, but they won't hurt you. My housekeeper must have brought them up when I told her we'd arrive tonight."

Jenna nodded, and Niko pushed open the door.

He was instantly surrounded by a circle of wriggling, leaping fur. His rich, deep laughter cut through the thin night air and wrapped itself around her like a cloak.

Her throat tightened on a wave of wistfulness. She missed Monroe. Missed old Molly, the golden retriever she'd had growing up. Thank God Molly had died peacefully of old age a year before the attack.

A black and white Border Collie broke free of the circle around Niko and came bounding over to her. She snuffled around Jenna's feet then stuck her nose in Jenna's crotch.

"Callie! Stop that. Heel," Niko called. The dog returned to Niko and sat obediently at his feet, looking fully pleased with herself. "Sorry about that."

Jenna smiled to let him know it was okay.

Niko settled the dogs in a high-ceilinged, open-beamed great room, then led Jenna up the long, winding staircase to the second floor. She could almost feel her energy seeping away each time she lifted her foot. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, taking a step required Herculean effort.

"This is your room." Niko stopped in front of a door at the far end of the hallway, poked his head inside, then gestured for her to enter. He set her suitcase at the foot of the bed.

The walls were unfinished split pine that glowed golden in the lamplight. From the red and yellow handmade quilt on the queen bed to the loose potpourri in rustic pottery bowls, the room was cozy and cheerful.

Two large windows flanking the bed would provide an escape route, if necessary.

She inhaled and caught the scent of cinnamon and clove. She shot Niko a glance out of the corner of her eye. He hardly seemed the type to be setting out potpourri. Maybe he had a woman in his life.

Wait. Hadn't he said something about a housekeeper?

And wasn't that strange? Niko struck her as someone who'd prefer to take care of himself.

"The bathroom is through here." Niko opened a door to the left and turned on a light. "There are clean towels and soap and stuff. If you need anything, let me know in the morning. Danuta, my housekeeper, can pick it up next time she heads to town."

"All I need right now is a shower and about twelve hours of sleep," Jenna told him. Even though she was exhausted, her arm stiff and her wounds throbbing, she couldn't bear the thought of slipping dirty between the nice clean sheets.

They'd been on the road for over twenty-four hours, yet Niko looked like he could keep going for another twenty-four. "Aren't you tired?"

"Hell, yeah, but I'm used to getting by on little or no sleep." His hand lifted, as if to touch her cheek.

Jenna held her breath, waiting for his touch, not sure if she feared it or craved it. A few inches before he reached her skin, she flinched and took a hasty step back. His hand dropped back down to his side.

He cleared his throat and glanced away, but not before she saw something flash in his eyes that looked remarkably like hurt. "Thanks for coming home with me, Jenna. For trusting me. I'll do my best to make sure you don't regret it."

Jenna tipped her head in acknowledgement.

"Okay, then. Sleep as late as you want. You have the medicine the doctor prescribed?"

She nodded. The doctor had given her both an antibiotic and a painkiller. She didn't like prescription pain meds, but she'd taken them on the trip here so she could sleep.

"Good. There's ibuprofen and aspirin in the medicine cabinet if you need it. Do you..." His eyes darted around the room, avoiding her. "Do you need any help getting undressed?"

Good God. He was doing it again. Just like in Moscow, the tough SSU agent was blushing.

Jenna shook her head. She'd worn this outfit precisely because it was easy to get in and out of by herself.

"Right. So...good-night, then."

Jenna closed the door and exhaled slowly. Dammit. For an instant, she'd thought Niko would be able to touch her without a problem. She sighed. Part of her wished he'd touched her anyway. It might have been nice to feel his hand against her cheek. To share a moment of warmth with him.

She sank down on the bed, riding a wave of despair. The last time someone had touched her out of concern and caring had been Before. Before she'd seen her attacker's knife coming toward her face. Before the sharp edge bit into her scalp and blood ran into her eyes.

Her fingers massaged the ridge of scar tissue running across her hairline. Everyone claimed she was lucky to be alive. It didn't feel that way. Sometimes, when her control slipped, the combination of memories, fury and grief threatened to drive her mad.

Her hand dropped to her side and she pushed to her feet. Mark and Niko were right. Despite her training, she wasn't as prepared for this violent world Kai moved in as she'd thought. All the training she'd suffered through to get over the fears left by the attack—of being helpless, of being raped, of having someone's hand move toward her face—had fallen apart under pressure. She'd even had a panic attack back in Moscow when the doctor had moved in to examine her scalp.

Stress? Exhaustion? It didn't matter. She needed to toughen up. And she hoped Niko was man enough to help.

# Chapter Eleven

_Saturday, Afternoon_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

Niko was sprawled in his favorite chair in the great room, dogs at his feet, reviewing Kai Paterson's SSU file when Jenna came downstairs that afternoon.

The dogs bounded over to greet her and Jenna bent down to scratch the three canine heads, lips tilting up in one of the few genuine smiles he'd seen from her.

Jenna looked better today, her face not quite as pale, the circles under her eyes not as dark. Yet she still looked fragile.

He tilted his head. No, that wasn't quite right. Fragile implied weak. Jenna's inner strength and determination made her anything but weak.

She looked...finely honed. That was it. Her face was a harsh study in bone and muscle, as if a freshly sharpened knife had been used to cut away any extra flesh, leaving just the foundation of her once vibrant beauty.

His libido didn't care. It still thought this tough, waif-like woman was damn attractive.

Then Jenna sank to her knees to give Callie a one-armed hug and something entirely non-sexual, but much more potent twisted through his gut.

_Uh-oh._

"You, like dogs, huh?" Stupid question. Her file said she had a golden retriever. But better to focus on dogs than on this inappropriate attraction.

"Yes," she said. "I have a dog back at the SSU compound. Monroe. A golden retriever. And we had a golden growing up. Molly. She loved people, but was protective and a barker until she got to know you. If she..." Her mouth flattened and she lowered her eyes. Callie rolled over onto her back and nudged Jenna's hand. With a sad shrug, Jenna rubbed Callie's belly.

Niko waited for Jenna to pull her thoughts together. When she didn't continue, he prodded, "I thought they found a dog's body in the driveway after the attack."

Jenna nodded. "That was Jimmy D, our neighbor's pit bull. He...saved my life that night." Her eyes grew dark with emotion.

Niko held his breath, willing her to go on, even though hearing about the attack in her own words was going to hurt.

"Mama fought them so fiercely, my attacker reached over to help subdue her. She screamed at me to run, then they...they killed her. I couldn't speak. I stared at her, wishing the life would come back into her eyes." Jenna's hands clenched on her thighs. "The men began arguing over whose fault it was. I took advantage of my attacker's distraction, slid free from underneath him, and ran."

Since the petting had stopped, Callie flopped onto her belly and laid her head in Jenna's lap, her eyes begging for attention. Jenna stroked Callie's ears a moment, then continued, "But I only got as far as the back door before one of the men caught me. He shoved me and I fell down the porch stairs."

Jesus. That's why she'd been found outside while the others were inside. He'd seen the photos of the house. The back porch had six steep wooden stairs leading down to a concrete walk. According to her file, the fall had broken her back and caused swelling that resulted in months of paralysis.

"The man pinned me down and..." her voice broke and Niko felt a pain in his chest.

"And...he...started to scalp me." Jenna's hand trembled. Callie whined and nudged Jenna with her nose. But Jenna was too lost in her memories to notice.

"Jimmy D attacked, knocking the man off me. But the man got his hands around Jimmy D and broke his neck." Jenna fingered the worn leather bracelet on her left wrist.

Even across the room, Niko saw the way her fingers trembled. His hands clenched into fists. God, he wished he could go back and protect both dog and woman.

"The other man yelled from inside that he heard sirens, so my attacker yanked my head back and slit my throat."

Niko bit back a curse. "Your bracelet...that's from the necklace that stopped the knife?" She was damn lucky to be alive. The report said the blade snagged on one of the stone beads, preventing the cut from reaching killing depth.

Jenna nodded as she stroked Callie's head, her eyes lowered. Which was probably for the best. He expected the sympathy she'd see in his face would piss her off.

But _Madre de Dios_ , hearing her tell the story with that hint of repressed sorrow and pain was like taking a punch to the gut. He'd witnessed a lot of violence in his life, but the photos of what had been done to her family still made him sick.

He wished there were some words of comfort he could give her, but knew nothing could compensate for what she'd suffered. What she'd lost.

And if she continued to search for her brother, she could end up in a whole lot more hurt. Not just from Alvarez. No one knew Paterson's attitude toward Jenna. If he'd actually been part of the team that killed their family, what was to say he wouldn't try to kill his sister?

Did Jenna really have the heart to fight back against her brother?

Remembering the sunny, laughing girl from the pre-attack photos, Niko didn't believe for a second she'd react fast enough to protect herself from her brother. Which meant Niko had to convince her to give up and leave the search to him.

* * *

Half an hour later, watching Jenna finish the last bite of quiche his housekeeper had left warming for her, Niko knew he was in trouble. He'd never guessed watching a woman eat could turn him on. But damn if he wasn't semi-hard.

Jenna's mouth was the only part of her that wasn't sparse. The unpainted, full curves of her lips mesmerized him. Made his mind go in directions he couldn't afford to think about, let alone put into practice.

He stared at the apple core in his hand. He'd picked the thing up as a way to direct his thoughts away from the erotic sight of the fork passing into Jenna's mouth. Instead, each time he'd bit into the apple he'd thought about nibbling on her plump bottom lip. Or on the perfect "m" of her upper lip.

All that was left of the apple was the very core. He'd stripped it of every edible piece of flesh. Disgusted, he stood up and tossed the core in the trash. "Come on. I'll give you a tour."

Yeah, a tour would be good. It would force him to walk in front of her. Nothing erotic about that, was there?

Wrong. After just a few steps his back tingled. He swore he could feel her eyes running up his spine, leaving heat in their wake.

_Stop dreaming._

He'd stared at her a little too long in the kitchen, but Jenna hadn't acknowledged his obvious attraction. Thank God.

If he wasn't careful, he was going to scare her. He'd met too many women in Afghanistan who'd been raped as a part of war. Some of them never regained comfort around men. Never reclaimed their sexuality. Jenna deserved better than that, and he wasn't going to send her into a panic attack by letting her see how badly he wanted her.

Jenna wasn't afraid of him. He should be satisfied with that.

Instead, he wanted her to look up at him grinning with delight. Brimming with life like the girl in the pre-attack photos. Sharing her vitality and her sexuality. With him.

_Cut it out, asshole. She doesn't need that from you. Besides, Aunt Madalena is what matters._

He felt a familiar tightness in his chest. None of his contacts had been able to determine where Alvarez was holding his aunt. The bastard was completely off the radar.

God. Niko rubbed the scar on his biceps. He hated doing nothing, knowing Alvarez was using Aunt Madalena in his sick games.

The minute he found out where she was, the _second_ he figured out a rescue plan that didn't require Paterson or the chip, he was out of here.

Without Jenna.

* * *

_Saturday, Evening_

_Andes Mountains, Peru_

" _Jefe, lo siento. Por favor...clemencia..._ " Jago Salazar's face was an unrecognizable pulp of blood and torn flesh, his words barely intelligible as they passed through his split, swollen lips.

Alvarez spat, the wad landing on Salazar's forehead and running into his eyes. "You lied to me. I asked you why you hadn't brought back a hostage and you told me everyone had died. But Jenna Paterson survived."

" _Pero, jefe_...It's not my fault. Bernardo and Efrain thought the other was keeping a living hostage...Bernardo cut the girl's throat without checking if it was okay...I thought she was dead... _la policia_ were coming."

"The time for excuses is past. Do not tell me that taking thirty seconds to verify Bernardo's kill would have landed you in jail. I put you in charge of the hit because I trusted you to see it done right!" Alvarez slammed the whip handle into Salazar's battered cheek, smiling at the man's cry of pain.

"You ran away like a dog with a tail between its legs. So you will die with the dogs." Alvarez beckoned with his index finger. The two men standing behind Salazar grabbed his arms and lifted his battered body off the marble terrace.

The man screamed, a combination of terror and agony that ricocheted off the white walls of the mansion, brushed past the men assembled on the wide terrace, and disappeared across the lawn.

"This is what happens to men who fail to follow orders and then lie about it." Alvarez paced beside the men carrying his former employee. He kept his face serene to impress them with his control. Inside, his anger was a serpent eating away at his heart. Jago had been with him from the beginning. One of the few men he called friend. His betrayal cut deep.

Yet it made punishing Jago even more important, for it showed the other men that he didn't play favorites. And it reminded them of the consequences should they lie to him.

To their left, a wire enclosure stretched up from the ground, ending about three feet below the terrace. Scenting blood, the dogs inside snarled and leapt, trying to reach the men.

" _Jefe_ , no!" Salazar screamed. "It was long ago. Haven't I proven my loyalty since then?"

At Alvarez's nod, his men tossed Salazar to the dogs.

Alvarez watched the hounds tear into Jago's body, trying to guess which tender portions the dogs would eat first. He listened to the wet, sucking sounds of flesh tearing and licked his lips. The scent of feces rose from the enclosure, mingling with the coppery smell of blood, but even such a foul odor failed to diminish the pleasure coursing through him. He felt gloriously alive. And heavily aroused.

He stood at the edge of the terrace until all that was left were bones and chunks of meat no longer recognizably human.

His men stood farther back on the terrace, too afraid to leave, but scared to come any closer in case he suddenly decided the dogs needed a second victim.

Good.

Examples were so much better at maintaining discipline than words, and it was important that his men see he'd lost none of his power while in prison. He let a satisfied smile dance across his lips as he returned to his table and his interrupted dinner. He lifted his wineglass, sniffed deeply to clear his nose of the scent of death, and took a long swallow.

Perfect.

He eyed the shaking man standing in front of him. "You will find Kai Paterson's sister and you will bring her to me, understood?"

Pedro Delgado nodded.

"Good. I would hate to lose you as I lost Jago." Alvarez handed the man a manila file.

"I will locate her, _jefe_. What about the brother?"

"No longer your responsibility. I've assigned another team to find him."

As the man walked away, Alvarez rang for Madalena.

* * *

_Saturday, Evening_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

"There is apple pie warming in the oven," Danuta, Niko's housekeeper said as she slipped on her coat. "I will be making waffles in the morning."

"Thanks, Danuta."

Danuta kissed Niko on the cheek, smiled at Jenna, then let herself out the back door. A gust of chilly air swirled into the kitchen, and Jenna shivered.

The lingering smile on Niko's face caused something dark to spiral through her system. Jenna frowned, trying to identify the emotion and why Danuta triggered it.

She liked the serene young woman and her mischievous husband, Yousef. According to Niko, Yousef's family had played host to Niko while he was undercover. After their village in Afghanistan was destroyed, killing the rest of their family, the couple had decided to accompany Niko to Montana.

The couple now lived in a cozy cottage at the edge of Niko's property. In addition to keeping house for Niko, Danuta had an online business selling Afghan arts and crafts, and Yousef served as Niko's groundskeeper and hawk master.

Niko treated the couple as family. His eyes softened and his voice warmed when he spoke to them. Even when Niko was at his friendliest with Jenna, he never displayed those signs of deep affection.

_Oh, God. I'm jealous._

She blinked as her world tilted. She had no business being jealous of the affection Niko showed Danuta and Yousef. Jealousy implied emotion and she didn't do emotion. So what if Niko had protected and tended to her? If he'd opened his home to her? If his combination of strength and gentleness intrigued her? She didn't want ties to other people, ties that could hurt her.

Yet, for the first time in over a year she felt a hint of loneliness. She didn't have friends. Within two days of her arrival at the hospital, Ryker put word out that she'd died in the attack, cutting her off from the friends and distant relatives who could have helped her through her ordeal.

She understood Ryker had only been protecting her, but he'd also cut her off from the emotional support she'd desperately needed in those first days of recovery. By the time she'd left the hospital months later, she'd become so used to coping on her own, and was so focused on preparing herself for vengeance, she didn't have either the ability or the inclination to make friends.

Now here she was, jealous of the warm friendship Danuta and Yousef shared with Niko. Wishing he'd smile at her with that extra warmth.

_See, this is what happens when I have too much time on my hands. I start feeling sorry for myself._

Niko dumped a plate in front of her with a piece of apple pie big enough to feed a family of five, then scooped a huge mound of vanilla ice cream on top. "Uh, Niko? Is this your way of saying I need to gain weight? I can't eat all that!"

Niko's eyes held a hint of teasing, but his cell phone rang before he could reply. He turned to put the ice cream back in the freezer as he answered.

"Andros...Yeah. Great. Do me a favor. Call me back in five." Niko pocketed his phone.

"Make yourself at home," he told Jenna. "I've got to take this call."

Then he was gone, striding down the hallway toward his office.

And Jenna's loneliness returned threefold.

_Dammit._

Jenna stabbed her fork into the pie. What the hell was happening to her? Grief. Loneliness. Why were her emotions breaking free now, when she needed her head clear to go after Kai?

_That's right. Focus on Kai. Forget yourself._

With each bite, Jenna felt her control slip back into place.

A gleeful yip warned her mere seconds before the dogs barreled into the kitchen. One of the Afghan hounds slid on the throw rug covering the polished floor and crashed into Jenna's legs. Her arm swung out for balance and knocked the plate to the floor.

Callie dove on the pie and grabbed a piece of apple between her teeth before Jenna could stop her. Jenna reached down, trying to separate dog from dessert, but she overbalanced and fell onto the floor.

Now that she was at their level, the dogs decided to include her in their play. Jenna became the center of a nipping, growling, tugging pile of fur and teeth.

Then one of the hounds grabbed the fork in his mouth and took off in the direction Niko had gone. Wishing she could yell at the dog to stop, Jenna gave chase. She didn't want the dogs bothering Niko on his phone call.

Uh-oh. Too late.

The other hound had caught up with her mate and tackled him. Just as Jenna knelt down to pry the wrestling dogs apart, they slammed into the door to Niko's office.

It popped open.

"Just get me the location," Niko snapped. "The second you do, I'll be on a plane."

Jenna froze, forgetting the dogs, who rushed in to surround their master, trying with licks and wags to entice him to join their game.

_I'll_ be on a plane, she thought. Not _we'll_.

Niko was planning on going after Kai without her.

The anger that wasn't far from the surface since she'd left the SSU compound erupted.

# Chapter Twelve

Niko paced across the office as he listened to the report from private investigator and former journalist Gascon Laroux.

"I don't know where he's holding your aunt," Gascon said. "But it ain't Mexico. He's reacquired many of his old properties, but there's been no sign of him recently."

"Keep looking," Niko ordered. Sooner or later someone would give up Alvarez's location.

_Dios_ , the wait was killing him.

Gascon possessed an extensive network of contacts. Whatever properties Alvarez had buried under false names, Gascon would find them. Eventually.

But Aunt Madalena didn't have time.

"Try Peru," Niko said. "Even though that's where we captured him, he has emotional ties to the region. His original fortress was destroyed, but he may have rebuilt it or bought another. He—"

The door burst open and the dogs tumbled into the room.

Niko turned his back and stuck his finger in his ear, trying to hear Gascon over the excited yipping of the dogs. The man was making some sort of disclaimer.

"Just get me the location," Niko snapped. "The second you do, I'll be on a plane." He jabbed the disconnect button and tucked the phone into his pocket. Dammit, he wanted to be in on the search, but he was too well known south of the border. And Alvarez would be watching for him to try something.

Better to let the crime lord think he was playing along, searching for the chip and Paterson.

Callie whined and lay belly down on the floor, nose pointed toward the door. The other dogs nudged his hands, but when he didn't respond, they followed Callie's example.

The quiet in the room thickened. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Ah shit. He turned around, dreading what he was going to see.

Jenna stood in the doorway, face flushed with fury. Her chest rose and fell on jerky, angry breaths. Her eyes glittered.

Niko thought back over his conversation. She couldn't have heard anything before the dogs burst in. Nothing about Madalena. So what had her so—

"You're planning on going after Kai by yourself." Jenna flung the words at him. "Leaving me behind."

Hurt flashed in her eyes, kindling an answering spark of guilt in his chest.

Hell no. He wasn't going to feel sorry for Jenna. She wanted to think of herself as an operator? Great. Then she'd better grow a friggin' spine. "You're a liability," he said. So she thought this was about her brother? He'd play along. No way was he letting her in on the situation with his aunt.

Jenna flinched. "I thought we agreed. Kai's my brother. I have the right to go after him."

Niko shrugged. Using Jenna as bait was last on his list of options. "You're injured. I have a mission. If I get an opportunity before you're healed, I'm taking it."

Jenna's lips curled in a bitter snarl. "Leaving me trapped in the middle of nowhere with no way to hunt you down."

"You're not a damn prisoner. You can leave any time you like."

" _No_ one is getting to Kai before me," she shot back. Her golden eyes flashed fanatically bright. "If I have to hike out of here and hijack a plane, I will. Kai is mine!"

What the fuck?

She wasn't talking like a loving sister. More like a crazed bounty hunter. Sure, the SSU wanted Paterson on suspicion of murder and stealing the chip, but Jenna was supposed to be focused on bringing her brother in to make sure he was treated fairly.

Wasn't she?

He knew there was evidence pointing to her brother's involvement in the attack on her family. Ryker believed that made her brother a possible threat to Jenna. But if Jenna thought her brother was responsible for the killings, maybe _she_ was a threat to her _brother._

He fought back a snarl. Dammit, if that was the case, then Ryker was playing a dangerous game.

Jenna stepped toward him. "You could make me stronger. Train me to be tough enough so I'm not a liability." Her lip curled in bitterness. "But you're like everyone else. You see me as a victim. A freak. Not a partner."

Niko ran his hand through his hair. Stifled the urge to shake some sense into her. "Dammit, that's not it. Listen, I saw the pictures of you before the attack, okay? I've seen your file. You were like some fucking Pollyanna. All sunshine and laughter and do-gooder instincts. Now you're trying to tell me that you're some hard assed bitch? Get real."

He shook his head. "Sunshine, all those months of training don't mean squat if you can't keep emotion out of an op. You got shot in Moscow because you couldn't keep your compassion for the apartment manager under wraps. You pulled your weapon on me in the hotel room because I made you mad. With instincts like those, _no one_ can train you long enough to be as ruthless as you need to be."

Jenna paled and stepped back. "You have no idea what I've been through."

"Fucking cry me a river. I know women who have been through twice the amount of pain and loss as you. Get over it."

Her expression froze in shock. And hurt. "It changed me," she insisted.

"Compassion, sunshine. You didn't change as much as you think."

Her mouth settled into a mulish line.

He shook his head. What the hell had Ryker and the SSU trainers been doing? Coddling her? Well screw that. Training was supposed to strip away a person's defenses, leaving no hidden kernel of insecurity or emotional weakness to pop up later, putting a mission in jeopardy.

He didn't do coddling.

He leaned toward her. "You think you're such a hot operator? Not in my book. I wouldn't want you guarding my back."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't like that? Tough. You're a danger to yourself and to others. Hell yeah, I'm leaving you behind. Even if I have to tie you up and lock you in your room."

* * *

_Sunday, Night_

_Washington, D.C._

"Someone hacked into the database, looking for Jenna's records," Ryker told Niko over a secure phone line.

"Shit. Please tell me they didn't find anything."

"Nothing true," Ryker replied. He took extra precautions when it came to Jenna's safety. "Our records confirm that Jenna survived the attack against her family, but state she died in the hospital. There's even an authentic death certificate. However, the records also claim that we assigned Jenna's identity to another agent in order to use her as bait for reeling in Kai."

Niko made a sound that could have been approval, or an indication the younger man thought Ryker was nuts to put anything in a file, true or not. If Ryker could have given Jenna a brand new name, he would have. But she'd refused. And the sheer panic in her eyes at the suggestion had made him back off. She'd lost so much, he hadn't the heart to take her name away, too.

"Any idea who did it?" Niko asked. "Tonelli?"

"Doubtful. He's not known for his computer skills. It's more likely one of his CIA colleagues." But no one beat Ryker's computer security. His experts worked slightly ahead of the curve of new technology.

"We're trying to locate the hacker, but it's likely a dead end," Ryker continued. Truth was, he'd ordered his people not to look too hard into the breach. The intruder had intimate knowledge of the SSU's computer systems, including the back door Ryker had left open. If the hacker was who he thought, the information on Jenna wasn't going anywhere.

Still, "I'm more concerned than before about Jenna's safety," he told Niko. "I don't want her away from you."

"But—"

"That's an order, Andros. Jenna's your responsibility. You can't bring her back here, and if I hear that you've dumped her on someone else? You're fired." Ryker took a deep breath. "She's the daughter I never had. Keep her alive." He hung up before Niko could protest.

The threat of losing his job probably wasn't enough to keep Niko with Jenna, but reminding him that Ryker considered Jenna family should do it.

Niko understood protecting one's family.

* * *

_Monday, Morning_

_Outskirts of Helsinki_

In a small café on a bustling street on the outskirts of Helsinki, Kai Paterson watched as the information on his laptop screen blurred then swam into focus, blurred then focused again.

It took his tired brain several seconds to realize the screen wasn't malfunctioning. No, he had tears in his eyes. Tears he couldn't afford, because he couldn't draw attention to himself.

He read the words again.

Name of deceased: Jenna Paterson. Time of death: 11:03 a.m., May 14th.

The damn words wavered again and Kai closed his eyes against a wave of grief. It had been foolish to hope, but the amber eyes of the boy in the Moscow bar wouldn't leave him alone. He'd dreamed that Jenna was alive and woke with an urgent need to check for himself.

So he'd hacked into the SSU's computer, searching for the truth. His Ph.D. might be in biochemistry, with an emphasis on bioterrorism, but he also held a masters in computer science.

His hope had doubled when he discovered Ryker had left open the computer system's back door, the one set up to help agents who were so deep undercover they couldn't access SSU files through legitimate channels.

He hadn't checked the files two years ago after the attack, because he'd accessed the police files directly. But the minute he'd opened Jenna's SSU file, his heart sank.

The truth was that whoever that boy had been in Moscow, it hadn't been Jenna in disguise.

Jenna was truly dead.

And God, he wanted to kill the assassins all over again.

* * *

_Wednesday, Afternoon_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

Jenna completed another lap in the pool, either oblivious of Niko or ignoring him.

With a grunt of disgust, he threw his towel on a bench and settled in to wait for her to come out. No way in hell was he sharing the pool with her.

He scrubbed his hand over his hair and reminded himself that he wasn't the bad guy. Jenna was the one who'd been sulking around the past three days. From breakfast to lunch they enjoyed a truce, working together to sift through SSU reports about Paterson's activities before the night Nevsky died. Looking for something that the other agents assigned to find her brother had missed.

Searching for clues as to why he'd worked with Alvarez to have his family killed.

Each day, Jenna's tension grew with every hour, until by lunchtime he was afraid she would break. The second lunch was over, she bolted. And avoided him the rest of the day.

Or tried to. Somehow he always ended up where she was at least once an afternoon. Which meant he was fully aware that she was putting herself through grueling workouts.

That pissed him off. Every time he came across her working out, he had to turn away and bite back angry words. Fight the instinct to lock her in her bedroom and force her to rest until both her head and her arm were fully healed.

A fucking chauvinist reaction, but one he couldn't deny. Besides, there was only one reason she was pushing herself. She planned to go after her brother. With or without him.

And that terrified him.

Jenna performed a sleek underwater turn and pushed into the middle of the pool. He watched her slight form cut gracefully through the water.

Christ. Talk about an innocent among devils. What the hell had Ryker been thinking, letting her enter operator training? The program had two purposes. Sharpen the skills of operators coming in from other special ops organizations, and give new recruits a strong foundation before seasoning them on real-world missions with experienced agents.

It was not intended to take a frickin' art history student and turn her into Rambo. He didn't care how high Jenna had scored on marksmanship. He didn't care where she ranked in her class. Just because she'd survived a brutal attack didn't mean she had the heartlessness to succeed in this mission.

She wasn't capable of taking on Alvarez, the CIA, and whatever other organizations were now gunning for Paterson. And he'd meant what he said the other night.

He didn't trust Jenna to watch his back. He still wasn't sure if she was after her brother to keep him safe, or for some darker purpose.

He worked his jaw, knowing what he had to do and feeling the familiar burn of acid in his stomach. He had to prove to Jenna she was out of her element. Agree to train her, then frighten her so deeply, she'd give up any idea of going after her brother.

Dammit. He _hated_ violence against women. The thought of hurting Jenna made him want to howl in denial.

_It's for her own good. Think what will happen if Alvarez gets his hands on her. You want her to end up like Aunt Madalena?_

Niko closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and once again prepared himself to violate his own code of right and wrong in order to get the job done.

# Chapter Thirteen

_Wednesday, Night_

_Washington, D.C._

"You still have no idea why Paterson was in Moscow?" Niko demanded when Ryker answered his phone.

Ryker rubbed the top of his head. "No. He was alone when our guy spotted him, just like last year when we caught sight of Kai in Egypt."

"You think he's looking for a buyer for the chip?"

"At this point, I'm not ruling anything out. But it doesn't make sense. Why wait this long? Interest in the chip was highest right after Nevsky's death. He won't get as good a price today."

"Well something or someone in Moscow was important enough for him to risk having his eyes uncovered." Niko paused. "Jenna got the impression he was looking for someone at the bar, which gels with the bartender's story. Was Tonelli able to track Paterson out of the city?"

"No." Tonelli hadn't even mentioned finding Kai's apartment, which made Ryker wonder what else the man was holding back. So much for interagency cooperation.

Ryker sighed. He needed a break. Just about every government agency was jealous of private organizations like the SSU. And Ryker had more than his share of enemies from his time in government service. Enemies who plotted to bring the SSU down. Those enemies had launched an investigation of Nevsky's death and the fire that destroyed the scientist's lab and concluded that Kai, and therefore the SSU, were culpable. Fortunately, Ryker had powerful supporters who had fought by his side and kept the SSU alive.

With Alvarez actively seeking the microchip, the race to locate Nevsky's data had reignited. Too many organizations salivated over the prospect of using Nevsky's notes to create their own program for developing soldiers with extraordinary strength and spies with mental processing skills that rivaled a computer. Even Ryker's supporters had upped the ante. They wanted him to turn over the chip in exchange for not shutting the SSU down.

Ryker shook his head and refocused on the conversation with Niko. One thing at a time. "The last reliable sighting of Kai in Moscow was the receptionist you talked to at the eye clinic. I've increased the reward for any news on his whereabouts. But now that he's hiding his eyes again, he'll be harder to spot." At first, Ryker thought Kai's reappearance was a sign he was ready to turn himself in. But when Kai didn't contact him, there was nothing Ryker could do but order his men to bring the younger man in, even though Ryker didn't want to believe the evidence pointing to Kai's guilt.

Didn't want to believe that the hatred he'd seen in Kai's eyes the night of the attack meant Kai had gone rogue. That truth would destroy Jenna. Because despite her conviction that she'd both heard her brother's voice during the attack and seen him leaving the house, Ryker believed she secretly hoped to be proven wrong.

"Has Jenna remembered anything new to help you find Kai?" Ryker asked. She'd reported her observances right after the attack, but there was always a possibility that seeing her brother again would trigger new memories.

"No. She's having a hard time of it. She won't admit it, but it hurts her to remember how things were before the attack."

Ryker shifted the phone to his other ear. The psychiatrists had decided that Jenna had repressed certain memories in order to cope with her grief. He hated that it was now necessary for Niko to prod her into remembering. But they had to find Kai this time.

"Keep an eye on her," Ryker warned. "Don't push her so hard she snaps." Before Niko had a chance to reply, Ryker ended the call. He was afraid that if he stayed on the line, he'd be tempted to tell Niko to forget the whole thing and just let Jenna heal in peace.

Dangerous thought.

He picked up the small rake from the miniature Japanese garden sitting on his windowsill. He raked the sand into a pile, then smoothed it out, waiting for his mind to fall into similar order.

Until Kai reappeared, Jenna was safest with Niko. But as soon as Niko brought her out as bait, protecting her would be more than one man could manage.

It was time to determine how many others among his agents he could trust with her life.

* * *

_Thursday, Afternoon_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

After her usual post-lunch run, Jenna went searching for Niko. She finally found him in the gym.

He lay on a weight bench doing chest presses. His shirt was off and for several minutes Jenna just watched his muscles contract and release as he smoothly raised and lowered the bar.

As a dancer, she'd seen plenty of half-naked men in prime athletic condition. Even her SSU teammates had often been shirtless. Yet even so, Niko was superb. Mature in a way her classmates hadn't been. Hardened. Scarred. So compellingly male that she itched to touch the silky line of hair bisecting his abs. Wanted to run her fingers over the thick band tattooed around his right biceps. Even the tufts of hair under his arms seemed sexy.

From the speakers in the ceiling, Mick Jagger bemoaned a lack of satisfaction. Oh, God, for the first time in two years, she knew exactly how he felt.

The quick twist of desire in her belly held her a prisoner trembling at the door. She grabbed the doorframe on each side of her, holding herself up while her knees turned to putty.

No! This couldn't be happening to her. She didn't...she couldn't...She shook her head and took one terrified step back. Men were dangerous...She...She had to get out of here.

She backed up another step, hoping she could escape before Niko noticed her. She needed to get away. Figure out why her libido was suddenly back to work, when that was the dead last thing she wanted.

Before she could take another step, Niko settled the weight bar on its holder and sat up. She froze as he swiveled to face her and wiped the sweat off his face with a towel. His eyes were dark with concern as he searched her face. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged, hoping she was too far away for him to see the confusion that must be showing on her face. Afraid to look down in case stiff nipples were giving her away.

"Nothing's wrong," she mumbled, trying frantically to remember why she'd come to the gym in the first place. Oh. Right. She'd been looking for Niko.

"I just wanted to talk to you." She forced herself to meet his eyes. "I don't want to lose my training. I want you to fight me. I..."

_Come on, you can do this. Just tell him. You can't improve if you don't admit your weaknesses._ "In Moscow, I froze in terror when the man assaulted me in the hallway. It threw me back to the night my family was killed. I need to keep training, and fighting dirty, to make sure I don't freeze again. To work through situations with a sexual threat so I don't get trapped by fear and memories."

Niko stood up. She couldn't read his expression. Was he going to help her or not? After the way she'd been lusting after him, was it even wise to spend more time with him?

Yes. She'd just have to control herself. Finding Kai was all that mattered.

Niko turned his back to her and wiped down the bench, then the weight bar, before tossing the towel toward a laundry basket.

Then he swung around, fist flying toward her face. She barely ducked in time to avoid being hit in the eye. She overbalanced and stumbled backwards.

"Is this what you want?" he snarled.

Niko kept coming, the speed and ferocity of his blows almost too much for her to block, never mind counter. She'd never fought anyone as fast.

_Don't think about the pain from your arm. Sidestep. Watch it, his leg!_

She pirouetted out of the way of his roundhouse kick. But there was no way she could win standing up. His reach was longer than hers.

_There, an opening._

She slid underneath his swinging arm and tackled him. But Niko was ready for her. He grabbed her in a hug as he fell, twisting so that she ended on her belly beneath him.

Niko straddled her torso and yanked her head back by her hair. She felt the cold pressure of dulled steel against her throat, and suddenly she was back in her parents' living room as the assassin's blade bit into her skin.

_The knife sliced along her skull. Tears mingled with blood, forming a watery mess on the carpet._

_"Run, Jenna!" her mother yelled, her voice hoarse with pain, her skull a shiny red mess._

_Jenna twisted and bucked, trying to get her attacker off her. But he had her arms and legs pinned between his powerful thighs. He was pressed along her lower body, making her struggles ineffective._

_Please, no, she thought. I don't want to die._

"Easy, Jenna. I'm not going to hurt you."

Her attacker's weight lifted.

Jenna scrambled away from him, bumped into a wall, and used the hard surface to push herself upright. Then she ran. Believing herself at home, she dodged what should have been the sofa. Instead, she bumped into something solid that shouldn't be there and almost went down to her knees.

_No! Have to keep going._

She dashed forward and crashed into another wall. Her breathing hitched. She was trapped. They were coming for her. When they caught her, they were going to hurt her.

"Jenna?"

She jumped sideways at the voice and nearly fell over. Her hands patted the wall in front of her. Where was the door? She had to reach the door. She had to get into the backyard before the men caught her.

"Easy, Jenna. You're safe. It's okay. Everything's okay." She sensed the man walking toward her, but his words didn't make sense.

He was lying. He wanted to hurt her. She had to get away.

Her hands finally hit a door release bar and she stumbled into the sunshine. A few steps further and she collapsed onto her hands and knees, sobbing in relief.

She'd made it. She was safe.

A dog's excited barking snapped her back to reality.

This wasn't her family's backyard. She was on a long, sloping lawn. With woods on one side and the mountains beyond.

Niko's place.

Oh, God, what must he think of her, totally losing it like that?

Callie raced down the hill from the house and danced enthusiastically around her, wanting to play. When Jenna didn't respond to her wriggled invitation, Callie whined and pressed her nose into Jenna's hair.

Jenna turned, wrapped her arms around Callie and buried her face in the fur at the dog's neck.

Safety. Warmth. Acceptance.

Jenna squeezed Callie tight and waited for her tears to stop.

* * *

_Thursday, Night_

_Minsk, Belarus_

"Listen." Kai leaned forward and lowered his voice. He'd finally tracked the man he'd been searching for in Moscow to his sister's house in Belarus. Now they sat at a table in a tiny restaurant at the center of town. "I have to find the chip with Dr. Nevsky's notes before Alvarez does. Can't you remember anything that might help?" His voice thrummed with desperation. There were precious few names left on his list of associates of Dr. Nevsky. He needed answers from this man.

The man across from Kai glanced over his shoulder, but they were alone in the restaurant, the owner having disappeared into the back room fifteen minutes ago. "I don't know what else I can tell you. He was secretive. Trusted no one. None of us knew what the overall goal of the project was, or what the other groups were working on."

But Kai knew. He'd been in the restricted section of the lab. He'd read the notes recording amazing increases of physical strength and mental agility and the subsequent side effects. He'd seen men reduced to little more than raving beasts, mindlessly battering their heads against the walls of their cells trying to knock themselves unconscious to escape debilitating pain. Men whose bodies had been pumped so full of steroids, they resembled cartoon monsters. Men who weren't insane yet, but knew it was coming, their eyes pleading with Kai to help them.

He'd tried to set them free the night of the fire, but the self-destruct program that Nevsky set in motion locked down the cells. When the center of the lab exploded, Kai had been forced to leave the men behind and run. He'd barely made it to the exterior door before a second explosion caught him.

Some nights he dreamed of the men burning, screaming that he was responsible for their deaths.

He would do anything to make sure no one else retrieved Nevsky's notes and restarted his program.

"Did Dr. Nevsky have a lover? Any relatives?" Kai demanded, hating the note of pleading in his voice. But dammit, he needed a break.

"No—well, maybe." The man looked mournfully at his empty glass of vodka.

Kai sighed. The man might once have been a top-notch scientist, but now he was nothing more than a frightened drunk. Kai pushed his own drink across the table and winced as the man swallowed it so fast, liquid dribbled down his chin.

The man set the glass on the table with a reverent smile.

"Dr. Nevsky," Kai prompted. "Lovers? Relatives?"

"I don't know who he was going to see, but he used to disappear to Mexico for the weekend. Sometimes he'd be gone for a whole week."

"Where? How did he look when he returned?"

"I don't know where, exactly. He never said." The man's smile turned wistful. "But after his trips, he was definitely relaxed. Friendly, even. Too bad it only lasted about five minutes."

Lover. Had to be. For the first time in weeks, Kai felt the prick of excitement along his spine.

"When was the most recent trip before the fire?"

"Perhaps five, six weeks. But he didn't look so relaxed that time. More like smug."

Smug as in Nevsky knew the chip was safely hidden? Kai sent up a fervent prayer.

A group of men entered the restaurant, shouting loudly for the owner to help them celebrate their friend's upcoming marriage.

Kai questioned the man for a few minutes longer, but he had nothing else of interest to say. As the crowd grew noisier, Kai slipped outside. His initial flare of excitement was now a low simmer. Mexico was Alvarez's home turf.

He pulled his coat around his shoulders. With any luck, Alvarez didn't know about Nevsky's mistress. After all, the crime lord had been in prison when Nevsky made his jaunts to Mexico. It was possible the link between the woman and Nevsky had been missed.

If the woman existed. If Kai's informant had told the truth.

Not that it mattered. It was the most promising lead he'd had in years. He had to check it out. No matter the risk to Kai's own life.

He'd always known that some day he'd face Alvarez. The crime lord was the last name on Kai's retribution list. The one who'd ordered the attack on Kai's family. Maybe now was the time to stop running and finish his vengeance.

# Chapter Fourteen

_Thursday, Night_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

Niko stared at the television screen without seeing the images. Instead, he saw the panic on Jenna's face after he'd attacked her.

He massaged the scar on his biceps. Jesus, he felt like a shit. Jenna's medical file said she was psychologically stable. Her trainers said they'd eliminated her fear response to her physical triggers.

Wrong.

Niko pushed off of the couch and went to look out the window again. Almost two hours ago, Jenna had risen from the lawn and walked into the forest at the edge of his property, Callie at her heels.

And even though this was exactly the kind of scenario he hoped would convince Jenna to give up her search for her brother, he didn't like that she hadn't come back yet. The only reason he hadn't gone after her was that he was afraid of making things worse.

He'd attacked a woman.

Shit.

If Jenna didn't give up now, he'd have to do it again, and again, becoming more vicious with each attack until she understood she didn't belong in this world. Until she understood that the only way to stay alive was to stay here and let Niko find her brother.

But Christ, talk about shooting himself in the foot. Last night he'd received an e-mail from Alvarez containing another set of photos of Aunt Madalena, and a request for an update on his search for Paterson. This morning Gascon called with the news that he'd found Alvarez's location, but when he investigated further, he discovered Alvarez had moved Aunt Madalena hours before he arrived.

The dead last thing he should be doing was scaring Jenna away. If Paterson did surface and he couldn't flush the man into the open, he might still need her as bait.

Niko spun away from the window and headed toward the hallway, shutting off the television as he passed. He needed another workout. This time he'd try the pool. See if he could drown his burst of panic at the thought of Jenna falling into Alvarez's hands.

Aunt Madalena was all that should matter.

* * *

An hour later Jenna let herself into the house. She was exhausted despite the fact that she'd cried herself to sleep in the woods, cuddled up to Callie. Thank God the dog had stayed with her, because she'd never have made it safely back in the dark without the Border Collie's guidance.

Now all she wanted was a shower and her bed. Callie trotted ahead of her and detoured into the kitchen, but Jenna didn't even care that she'd missed dinner. As she walked down the hallway, the door that led to the underground walkway connecting the house to the training facility opened and Niko stepped through.

His hair was damp and despite the towel around his neck, rivulets of water streaked his light blue t-shirt. "Hey, you're back," he said. "You okay?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry I panicked," she said. "It won't happen again. I'll be better tomorrow."

Niko shook his head. "This afternoon proved you're not cut out for this. I'm not training you any further."

"Hell no." Her hands clenched into fists. "Don't you see? My panic attack makes it more important than ever that you work with me." She took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, Grayson and the other trainers got me to the point where I didn't panic in that position. I..." She shrugged. What could she tell Niko? That the timing of his attack had been the problem?

Right. That would go over well. _"Gee, Niko, your attack caught me at a particularly vulnerable moment. See, because I was lusting after your body, the first time I've felt desire like that since I was raped, my emotional defenses were down when you hit me. So when I found myself on my belly with your knife at my throat, the memories came roaring back."_

She almost snorted. Not good enough. She should have immediately shut down her sexual reaction to Niko. Then his attack would have been just another training incident. But really, how was she supposed to know Niko would attack instantly? Or that he had a knife on him?

Wait a second.

She narrowed her eyes. "You were working out without a shirt and there was no way you had a weapon under those flimsy shorts. Where'd the knife come from?"

"I'm always armed, or have a weapon within reach. The knife was under my towel."

Huh.

"I'm still a bit edgy around knives," she admitted. "You can help me overcome that."

"What part of 'I'm not training you any further' didn't you understand?" Niko snapped. "You left the compound thinking you were ready to bring in your brother. Now you've suddenly realized it won't be so easy and you want my help. Tough shit. You're not confident? Stay here. Let the pros handle this. Let me bring in your brother."

Jenna took a deep breath. "Stop trying to get me to back down. Ryker texted me earlier. We're in this together or you lose your job."

Niko scowled.

"But I guess you didn't count on me finding out the details of your assignment." She shot him a smug smile.

Niko sighed and muttered something angry in Greek. "You're right," he said. "Ryker overrode my protests. He wants us to stick together."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "So. This is the way it's going down. You'll continue to work with me to find your brother. Then we'll go after him. Together. We'll let you be seen in safe, controlled locations where there's minimal danger. Situations where you won't need any better fighting skills than you already have."

Jenna started to protest, but Niko cut her off with an impatient motion of his hand. "Do you really understand the danger? If Alvarez's men or any of the other players searching for your brother get their hands on you, they won't be gentle. They'll hurt you and make it public, counting on your brother to come out of hiding to save you. Hell, if someone grabbed my sister and hurt her, I'd walk over coals to get her back."

Jenna locked her knees against a wave of grief. Kai didn't care enough to save her. Not any more. If he'd had his way, she'd already be dead.

No one was stopping her from going after Kai. Particularly not Niko.

Callie, sensing the tension between her master and Jenna, whined and slunk from the room.

"What happens if you die?" Jenna asked, and had the satisfaction of watching him flinch. "I can't stay here forever. Ryker says it's not safe for me at the SSU compound. Alvarez or someone else will get me unless I'm stronger. Train me. Help me regain my detachment."

Niko sucked in a sharp breath, then let it hiss out between clenched teeth. "I'll spar with you to keep your skills current, but I'm not fucking teaching you how to smother your emotions like some goddamn assassin, got it?"

"What I get is that you're a narrow-minded, chauvinist bastard," she shot back.

Niko moved in close, the dark intensity of his expression making her take a step back. She licked her lips. Her fear this morning hadn't been all about memories. She'd been frightened of Niko. Of the cold, lethal side to him she'd only seen a glimpse of and never expected to have turned against her.

Niko snorted and shook his head. "Look at you. I barely invaded your space just now and you stepped back. Hell, the night we arrived here, you flinched when I reached out to touch your cheek."

He took another step forward, but Jenna's back was against the wall. So she raised her chin and centered herself, preparing for an attack.

"I don't care how much you've been trained. You're still an innocent," Niko told her.

He was so close she could feel his breath against her face. Smell the slightly spicy, slightly salty scent of his skin. And her fear melted away under a wash of heat.

Oh, God, not again! Why couldn't she look away from the full bottom curve of his lip? Why did she have to imagine what his lip would feel like under her tongue?

Niko's dark eyes held hers as he bent closer, bringing his mouth to her ear. She shivered as he breath caressed the sensitive lobe.

"Stay innocent, Jenna. Don't enter my world. Don't put yourself in a position where you have to kill. It will destroy your soul."

She shook her head. His warning was pointless. Her soul had been destroyed the night of the attack.

"Too late." If he didn't agree to train her, it was time for her to leave.

"You're really determined to see this through?" Niko demanded.

Jenna nodded. And this time when he attacked, she was ready for him. His arm came up, aiming for her windpipe, but she blocked it with her forearm. She followed up by stomping on his foot and shoving her palm toward his nose.

He spun easily away, turning to face her with his hands out in a placating gesture. His eyes searched hers.

She let her anger and determination fill her and willed Niko to understand. "I will do this," she said. "With or without your help. I don't have a choice."

Finally, after a long, tense moment, Niko nodded.

* * *

Niko wasn't surprised when Jenna's screams shattered the midnight quiet. Hell, after what had happened that afternoon, he'd been expecting her nightmares to return. He closed Kai Paterson's file and stood up from his desk. No matter how many times he scoured the information, he still didn't have a lead on the man's location.

Another scream echoed through the house. The dogs nosed at the office door, whining to get out. To be allowed to go and comfort Jenna.

Like he wanted to. But couldn't.

Niko clenched his hands into fists. He had Jenna right where he needed her. Scared. With any luck, tomorrow she'd back down and give up the hunt.

So the worst thing he could do tonight would be to open the door and take the stairs to the upper level two at a time. But damn if he didn't find himself outside of Jenna's room, hand on the doorknob. He could hear her gasping. Hear little mewls of fear.

_If you open that door, you better be prepared to rub her face in the fact that even in sleep she's falling apart. Don't you fucking offer her comfort or sympathy._

Niko yanked open the door and strode inside. He slapped the light on, then cursed.

Jenna's hands pushed frantically at the covers, desperately trying to free herself of the tangled sheets. Her eyes were squeezed shut in a face twisted with agony. Tears coursed down her cheeks. Her lips moved silently, begging for help, for the pain to stop. Animal cries of distress broke free of her throat and burrowed deep into Niko's soul.

Goddamn it, he couldn't let her suffer like this. It tore him apart. There was no way he could use this against her.

"Jenna, you're alright," he crooned. "You're dreaming. Wake up, Jenna. You're safe." He reached the bed and knelt beside her, keeping up a steady stream of reassurances. But she was too caught up in the dream to notice.

He grabbed her hands in one of his. Then, while she fought him, he yanked the covers free and pulled her into his arms. He shifted so that his back was to the bed and let her full weight settle on his lap. "Shh. You're safe. You're safe. Wake up, Jenna."

Gradually her body relaxed and she stopped fighting him. But she didn't wake up. Just sighed and slipped into a quiet sleep.

Niko let his cheek rest against her hair as he held her. Dammit, his own cheeks were damp. He no longer woke to his own nightmares each time he slept, but even after ten years the horror of what he'd endured, what he'd done undercover to convince Alvarez he could be trusted, still haunted him at his weakest moments.

He'd always fought the nightmares alone. Yeah, his family supported him, but he'd never been able to reach out. There'd been too much shame. Too much he couldn't forgive himself for. Too much he didn't want his family to know in case it caused them nightmares as well.

So he'd struggled through on his own.

Jenna didn't have a loving family behind her. He tightened his arms around her and rocked her gently. And even though he knew it undermined his goal of getting her to leave the hunt for her brother, he vowed that she wouldn't have to suffer through another nightmare alone. Not while under his roof.

* * *

_Sunday, Morning_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

For the third morning in a row, Jenna awoke in Niko's arms. This morning they were in the rocking chair in the corner of her bedroom. As before, she was sitting on Niko's lap with her head on his chest and his arms encircling her. The dogs dozed at their feet.

That first morning, shame and embarrassment had swamped her. She'd been afraid to look in Niko's eyes. Afraid of seeing pity. Instead, he'd acted like nothing unusual happened. Like he held women in the aftermath of nightmares all the time.

She'd come to relish these rare moments of quiet. Here in the haven of his arms, she wasn't at odds with Niko. Here she felt safe. Cherished.

Not alone for the first time in years.

"Good morning." Niko's voice vibrated his chest under her ear. She started to pull back, but this morning he didn't let her go. Instead, he tightened his arms and asked the question she'd been dreading.

"Jenna, what do you dream?"

She shook her head. No. She wouldn't talk about it. She'd never talked about it. She'd tried to force herself not to remember, but when that failed, she'd made a vow she'd keep her shame and guilt locked inside.

So she pushed her hands against his chest, trying to break free.

But Niko's arms had turned into an unbreakable cage. "You claim you're strong enough to go after your brother," he chided. "But your dreams prove otherwise. Until you deal with what's in your head, you'll always be in danger of falling apart. No amount of denial, of trying to run from the memories, of trying to dull the pain with exhaustion will help. You'll keep on waking up screaming for mercy."

He spoke so clearly about what she was going through that she jerked her head back and finally met his eyes. What she saw shocked her. A bone-deep understanding. Not pity. Not sympathy. Instead, she saw the echo of similar pain.

Something had happened to Niko that brought his own nightmares. Yet somehow she knew he'd worked through it.

"How did you do it?" she asked. Niko's arms loosened and she slid off his lap to stand facing him. The dogs shifted out of her way, but were too used to the tension between her and Niko by now to pay any attention.

"How did you get past the nightmares?"

Niko's eyes narrowed. "Nope. You don't get to psychoanalyze me. This is about you. I've been patient. I haven't pushed for an explanation. But I'm demanding one now. You want to continue our training, you'll tell me what you dream that leaves you screaming."

She thought about running. She really did. But some instinct told her Niko was serious. And that if she ran, he just might throw her out.

She wasn't ready to leave here. Leave him.

As soon as the thought formed, she flinched. Niko couldn't matter to her. She wouldn't let him matter. Maybe if she told him the truth, he'd push her away and then he'd stop crowding her heart.

But the thought of telling someone about her nightmares made her knees weak. Needing space from Niko, she walked over to the bed and perched on the edge of the mattress.

Then, avoiding eye contact, she began to talk.

* * *

God, she was killing him. Niko had seen the crime scene photos. Read the reports she'd given the cops. Heard her briefly talk about that night. But still, listening to her explain her nightmares was one of the hardest things he'd done.

"I dream of screams. Of pain. Not my own. My family's. Sometimes I'm in a box. It's dark. I can't see, but I can hear their screams. I try to escape, to help them, but only succeed in bloodying myself. Other times I'm running. Screaming their names. Trying to reach them in time. But I never do.

"Tonight was more memory than dream. I was pinned on my stomach with my head turned toward Mama. Crying and begging the men not to hurt her. Just like before, the men laughed at me and hurt Mama more."

Jenna crossed her arms over her chest and rocked back and forth, looking so lost and forlorn it took every drop of strength Niko had not to go to her. But he sensed she wasn't done, and he knew she had to get it all out if she was ever going to heal.

Finally, her arms uncrossed and she began to talk again.

"It's the sounds that are the worst. Isabel's frightened whimpers. Dad's angry bellow. Justin's strangled cry, as if he was trying to be brave and not make a sound. Mama's stoic hiss. The grunts of pleasure from the men as they hurt us."

He wondered if she had any idea how expressive her face was. How the helplessness and grief in those huge amber eyes ripped his heart out.

"If I'd been stronger, or faster, I would have escaped. I would have gotten help. And they'd be alive. By the time my chance came to run, it was too late. Mama and Isabel were already dead, their lifeless eyes staring at me through veils of blood."

Jenna bit her lip. "I didn't want to die like that. So I ran. Not even stopping to check the other room to see if Justin or Dad were still alive. I just ran like a coward...And I still didn't get away."

She didn't say it, but he could hear the underlying belief. Living was her punishment for failing to save her family.

He shook his head and pushed to his feet. Her eyes were still glued to the floor, so she started when he pulled her into his arms. She fought him, but damn, he needed to feel her against him. Needed to feel her vitality.

She'd come so close to death. But she'd fought free. Survived. Alone. Cut off from all friends. With no one to hold her and tell her how strong she was.

"You're so courageous," he murmured, his throat tight and his voice hoarse with emotion. "Nothing that happened during the attack was your fault. You did everything right." The words spilled out of him in a jumbled mix of Greek, Spanish and English. "Your family knew you loved them. They wouldn't blame you for living. They'd be proud of you. As proud as I am that you survived."

As Jenna listened, she gradually stopped fighting him. Her arms didn't go around him. He understood that she wouldn't allow herself that liberty. But at least her body relaxed against his again.

He vowed that one day she'd turn to him for comfort. Demand he give her what she needed to soothe the pain inside.

He carried her back over to the rocking chair. He didn't blame her for trying to turn herself into a warrior. She would have needed a way to avoid feeling like a victim.

Christ. It was a fucking miracle she hadn't turned as cold and ruthless as the assassins. Even if she was afraid to admit it, she still possessed a warm and generous heart.

As desperate as he was to protect her, to make sure she never lost that core of compassion, he understood now how fragile her control was. If joining the hunt for her brother was the path she'd chosen for healing, he couldn't deny her that right.

God help them both.

# Chapter Fifteen

_Saturday, Night_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

Niko had to get out of the house. He locked his office door, grabbed his car keys, and headed toward the front door. For the past week he'd spent eight hours every day training Jenna. She'd thrown herself one hundred percent into the workouts and he could tell why she'd been in the top of her class. The flexibility and quickness she'd developed as a dancer gave a boost to her hand-to-hand work.

He'd made a point of making sure that at least once every session he pinned her beneath him, but she hadn't had another panic attack. Of course, that could be because her subconscious now realized he wouldn't hurt her. But he sure as hell couldn't send her out into a group of strangers with instructions for them to pin her, just to make certain her training held under real-world conditions.

The true problem was his physical reaction to her. Her nightmares continued, and every night ended with him holding her. It was creating a strange intimacy between them.

One that was beginning to take on erotic overtones. The drowsy scent of her skin. The way her hand kneaded his chest while she slept. The way her head tucked perfectly under his chin. Having her in his arms had become as addictive as a narcotic.

And twice as dangerous.

This afternoon when he'd pinned her, he'd grown hard. And for a split second, she'd pushed back against him. His heart had nearly stopped, then her hands had broken free of his grasp, she'd yanked his hair, and the spell had broken.

But damn, he had to get away from her before he did something stupid like try to kiss her. It was bad enough that she'd wormed inside him with her frightened cries in the night. Letting her any closer would be a disaster. Because she might never be ready to have a man touch her the way he burned to touch her.

Jenna was sitting in the great room as he passed through. The dogs sat at her feet as she read another damn biography of some great secret agent.

"I'm going into town for a bit," He called out as he passed through. "Lock the door behind me. If anything spooks you, Yousef and Danuta's number is on the list by the phone."

He needed a drink and a fight. A fight where he wasn't holding back, afraid of doing serious damage to Jenna. She was so much slighter than he was. And the scab from her gunshot wound reminded him too strongly of what she'd been through.

So he was heading to The Hole, a rough-and-tumble bar where he was guaranteed liquor that burned and a fight that would leave him limping.

He had his hand on the doorknob when Jenna called, "I want to go with you."

Niko pretended he hadn't heard and pulled open the door.

Jenna followed him onto the porch. "Take me with you."

He shook his head. "Hell, no. I'm in no mood to play babysitter tonight." He lengthened his stride.

But Jenna hadn't closed the front door behind her and the dogs came into the yard, yipping and weaving around his legs.

Jenna darted forward and grabbed for the car keys. He held on, but she snuck her fingers in between his and pushed the button that released the locks. With the dogs hampering his progress, he couldn't catch her as she dashed for the car.

She was sitting smugly in the passenger seat, belt already fastened, when he returned from putting the dogs inside.

He considered giving up and locking himself in his office for the rest of the night, but the buzz in his veins let him know that was a bad idea. He needed a release, and if having Jenna along was the price he had to pay, so be it. He'd just walk away from her at the bar.

He slid behind the wheel, then reached over the back seat and grabbed the cowboy hat he kept there. Turning back around, he shoved the hat down on Jenna's head. "Wear this," he growled. "Otherwise some smartass will use your white hair as a reason to pick a fight."

He jammed the stick shift into reverse and backed out of his driveway with a spray of gravel. Once on the road, he glanced at Jenna out of the corner of his eye. Damn, he was so screwed. She looked adorable underneath his too-large hat.

He shot her an assessing look. Her t-shirt wasn't skin tight, but it clung to her curves in an unmistakably feminine way. At least she had on jeans, instead of a skirt, but the sneakers were going to make her stand out in a room full of cowboy boots.

Hell. He'd get all the trouble he craved just keeping men away from her.

Half an hour later, the Jeep's headlights slid across the grimy, pockmarked logs of The Hole. Niko shut off the ignition and uneasy silence filled the car.

"Rules," he finally gritted out, angry because he knew he couldn't abandon her to this crowd. Wishing he'd forced her to stay behind, because his temper was already razor sharp and only bound to get worse. "You stay by my side. You don't talk unless it's a whisper only I can hear. You don't meet anyone's eye. _Anyone._ This is a violent, volatile group. Always spoiling for a fight. You're not going to give it to them, got it?" Any night without at least three brawls at The Hole was considered a slow night.

Jenna nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's go." Niko stepped out of the Jeep. As he led Jenna across the parking lot, his eyes were drawn to the broken neon sign swinging like a guillotine over the door. It flashed red, throwing the door first into shadow, then devilish light. Shit. He wasn't superstitious, but he was tempted to turn around, throw Jenna in the Jeep and hightail it home.

Jenna's head swiveled from side to side, taking in the assortment of Harleys, muscle cars and monster trucks. Acting like a fucking tourist.

Christ, this was a mistake.

His fingers tightened on Jenna's arm. She glanced up at him, her eyes bright with excitement, and tugged him forward.

Mentally crossing his fingers, Niko ducked under the sign and stepped into the bar. The roar of noise hit him like a freight train. He looked over and saw Jenna grimace.

Decades ago the bar had been a family restaurant called The Watering Hole. These days the former dining room was a game room. Pool tables and dart boards bumped shoulders around the perimeter, but the main attraction was in the center of the room.

A small enclosure raised slightly off the floor like a boxing ring, and surrounded by chicken wire instead of ropes, was barely visible between gaps in the crowd. The feathers in the air announced that a cock fight was in progress.

Cocks, dogs, rats or people. If an animal could fight, this was the place to bring it. Over the years there had been several attempts to shut the illegal operation down. All of them had failed.

The crowd roared. Bookies exchanged money. Niko steered Jenna into the less crowded bar area. Travis Tritt's "Ten Feet Tall And Bulletproof" blared from the jukebox. Cowboys at a corner table were shouting along, smacking their beer glasses on the tabletop in time with the music.

There were a few empty stools at the far end of the bar. Niko got them settled and signaled the bartender for a couple of beers. He leaned forward and said against Jenna's ear, "Take only small sips of beer. You need to stay alert in this crowd."

Jenna nodded.

"And stop looking around like a bug-eyed tourist. You're going to draw attention to us. Use the mirror over the bar to see what's going on behind you, but don't act interested. Pretend you've seen this all before and you're bored."

She gave a slight nod and closed her eyes a little, so that it looked like she was falling asleep. It was better than her huge oh-golly-gee eyes, but he still felt attention on them. Of course, Jenna was one of only a handful of women in the bar, and two of those were working girls, so she was bound to get attention even though her outfit was simple and no-nonsense.

Niko completed his own scan of the mirror and caught several of the regulars checking out the new blood. He stared them down.

Jesus, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Fascinated, Jenna watched the patrons interact with one another. She didn't see what Niko was so worried about. The crowd was boisterous, but not angry.

Then the crowd in the other room broke up and a surge of people pushed against the bar.

A bull of a man squeezed between her and the cowboy on her right, his bulk nearly pushing her off her barstool. When the man turned back toward the middle of the room, drink in hand, a little devil whispered in Jenna's ear. She kicked out and drove the man staggering against the cowboy.

The man she'd kicked came up swinging, but she was already off her stool and dancing back. He roared as his fist missed her, but hit a woman trying to reach the bar. Her companion snarled and his arm shot out. He missed his target but hit Jenna on the side of her head.

She went down as chaos erupted.

Someone's foot landed on Jenna's shin. She yanked her leg free and climbed quickly to her feet.

An elbow flew out of the mass of moving bodies and connected with her jaw. Jenna staggered back a step. Silver lights danced across her vision. She punched out blindly and was rewarded by a bellow and a toppling body that opened up a bit of space.

Her vision cleared in time for her to duck another punch. Her eyes met the blood-crazed gaze of a man with a wildly curling beard. And that's when it happened.

What started out as mischief combined with a need to show Niko that she wasn't helpless, turned darker. Angry. Just like in the restroom in Moscow.

Men had hurt her family. Had hurt her. Now it was her turn to give out pain.

She'd never again be a victim. She was strong. She had the power to make that man with the gaudy red vest get out of her way. So she did, using her heel to smash into his kneecap when he grabbed for her.

He went down. Jenna moved through the crowd lashing out ferociously. Lost in the thrill of the fight.

* * *

Niko was going to kill Jenna. He shoved his fist into a soft gut. Swung his other elbow out and up and felt it connect with cartilage.

_You're not going to give it to them,_ he'd ordered. _He_ was the one who'd needed to throw a few punches, but he'd resigned himself to just watching. Knowing that even with Jenna's training, taking on a bunch of drunk, belligerent assholes was stupid. Surviving a bar fight depended as much on luck as on skill.

So what did Jenna do? She started a fucking fight.

Knuckles connected with his ear and Niko staggered into the bar. He shook his head and waited for the ringing in his ears to settle.

He'd gotten the fight he wanted, and he'd damn sure be enjoying himself if he wasn't so worried about Jenna.

The crowd started to thin, the energy winding down. It was time to get out, find Jenna, and drag her home before the cops arrived. He threaded his way through the fight, ducking and weaving, pushing people out of his way as he headed for the back of the room.

Finally he stepped away from the crowd into open space. He scanned the few patrons who weren't brawling, looking for Jenna.

She wasn't there.

Shit.

He was about to wade back into the fight when a body was ejected from between two burly cowboys. The fighter crashed onto a table and came up swinging.

The men at the table held their beers in one hand and grabbed the fighter's arms with their free hands, trying to keep the fighter down.

And as Niko drew closer, he understood why.

Jesus H. Christ. He was going to puke. The fighter was Jenna and her face was coated in blood. Exactly how she'd looked in the photos taken after the attack. How each member of her family had looked.

But what stopped him cold was the way she was snarling and struggling against the men's grips, trying to get back into the fight.

What the fuck was wrong with her?

"Jenna?" It took three tries before she caught onto the fact that he was calling her name.

She blinked and her eyes lost some of their wildness.

"You can let her go," Niko told the men. "I've got it."

The men shared a glance, then shrugged and released Jenna.

She slid off the table. Her arms moved and Niko stepped forward, afraid she was going to take a swing at the men. But she just shot them a glare over her shoulder and shook out her arms.

Niko herded her into a quiet corner. Blood trickled from cuts and scrapes on her face, including a new slice running from her forehead into her hairline. Fuck. Someone had pulled a knife on her. Niko clenched his jaw as he fought back the fierce urge to kill the person who'd hurt her. But she needed his help, so he forced himself to stay calm. Her white hair was dark with blood, meaning there had to be another wound on her scalp.

"Does your head hurt?" he demanded, taking her skull in his hands and running his fingers lightly through her hair, searching for the wound. "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No." Jenna sounded sulky and slightly breathless.

His fingers found the source of all the blood. Shit. Her gunshot wound had reopened.

His wave of relief barely had time to register before it got slammed out of the way by anger. "Do you have _any_ fucking idea how stupid that was, starting a bar fight? Not to mention you're recovering from two freaking gunshot wounds!"

Jenna bared her teeth and shot him a glare full of attitude. "Get over it. I needed to test myself." She raised her chin defiantly. "You've been babying me."

"Babying you? Babying you!" He swabbed a finger through the blood on her scalp and shoved it in front of her eyes. "You really think I'm the kind of monster who can draw blood from a woman who's no threat to me? You think—"

The jukebox blasted into a rocking rendition of "Boot Scootin' Boogie," reminding him of where they were.

O-kay. He needed to calm down. She was hurt. No matter that she looked mean as a bobcat, ready to snap his fingers off if he got too close. She needed gentle treatment, not yelling. And they were in public. He needed to get his temper back under control.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When the urge to shake some sense into Jenna passed, he tilted her head up so he could check her pupils.

Equal in size. Not over dilated.

A couple loads of tension slid off his shoulders.

"Come on, let's get you home." Before he did something stupid like wade back into the mob and beat the shit out of every person who'd touched her.

He grabbed Jenna's hand—fuck, even her _hands_ were a bloody mess—and dragged her out of the bar. Once he was behind the wheel of his Jeep, he let his temper loose on the road, taking the winding mountain road at suicide speed.

# Chapter Sixteen

Somewhere along the ride home Jenna's anger morphed into excitement. Pride. She walked into Niko's cabin feeling more alive than she'd felt in years. Colors jumped her. Smells dueled for dominance. Sounds pierced her eardrums. Energy raced around her bloodstream at the speed of light, making it impossible to stay still.

She jigged as she walked. Moved her head side to side as if she were listening to music.

She'd kicked butt tonight. It had been so easy to start the fight. And she hadn't panicked! Nope, not her. She'd let anger take control and after that, nothing could hurt her.

God, she felt fantastic! She'd needed this so much.

All week she'd been growing increasingly frustrated and angry because there was still no news on Kai. The SSU's searchers hadn't found so much as a trace of him, and despite wracking her brain, she couldn't come up with any information likely to pinpoint his whereabouts.

Every night before the nightmares woke her, she dreamt about finding Kai. About serving vengeance and finding peace.

Being unable to act drove her crazy.

And her sessions with Niko only made it worse. True to his word, he sparred with her, but she'd been acutely aware that he was holding back.

Sometimes she came close to taking him down, but Niko was relentless, ruthless, and unpredictable. He always managed to best her. No matter how well she fought, he never praised her. Mostly, he looked disgusted.

Even tonight he wasn't happy for her.

Well, tough. She was so electric, even his rain-drenched mood couldn't dim her. She was the queen of the world tonight. And she wanted to celebrate. For the first time since the attack, she felt like dancing. She turned to Niko, about to suggest—

"Come on," he ordered gruffly. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Geesh," she muttered as she followed him upstairs. "Who put a bug up your butt?" _Although,_ she thought, tilting her head to the side to better watch his body as he climbed the stairs in front of her, _Niko's butt is very fine._ Eyeing the taut muscles as they worked beneath his jeans, she wondered what he'd do if she leaned up and nipped him.

Ohmigod. She clapped her hand over her mouth. Her feet jammed into the stairs so hard, she overbalanced and almost toppled backwards.

Where the heck had that thought come from? She'd never wanted to put her teeth on a man before. Yet...she really did want her mouth on Niko. The thought totally turned her on.

God, she should have seen this coming. The other reason their sparring sessions left her frustrated was her growing attraction to him.

Since that night in Moscow she'd been intensely aware of Niko as a male. Waking in his arms each morning, her cheek against his heart, was a new source of comfort. And the close contact of their training sessions left her hot from more than just exertion.

Well, why shouldn't she act on her attraction? Just for tonight. If she could seduce him, it would certainly discharge her excess energy. And prove she'd fully healed from the attack.

Then tomorrow she'd lock her desire away again, so it wouldn't interfere with her mission. But tonight was about her.

"Jenna? You coming?"

She rolled her eyes up at Niko, knowing she must look like an idiot, standing in the middle of the stairs with her hand over her mouth. She let her arm drop and nodded.

Then she followed his sexy butt up the stairs.

Niko had the basin half full with steaming water when she walked into the guest bathroom. He'd lined up face cloths, antiseptic and bandages along the side of the sink.

"Sit." He pointed to the other side of the counter.

Feeling strangely awkward, like a teenager forced to sit next to the boy she had a crush on but was scared to death to talk to, Jenna hopped up and sat on the edge of the Formica.

Niko tested the water with his finger and nodded in satisfaction. Her mouth went dry as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing muscular forearms sprinkled lightly with dark hair and intersected by white scars.

Tiny butterflies started fluttering in her stomach as she was hit with another wave of sexual awareness. Oh damn. Maybe letting these feelings rule wasn't such a good idea after all.

She was reacting way too strongly to Niko.

But then Niko wet one of the cloths and touched it lightly to a cut on her forehead. The heat from the cloth seeped into her, relaxing her despite the slight sting as water met wound. The gentleness with which he moved the cloth made her throat tight and achy. She felt...treasured.

Her sexual awareness changed into something softer, but infinitely more dangerous. Afraid of what she was feeling, Jenna closed her eyes.

Yet without sight, she became hypersensitive to Niko's scent—sweat, clinging odors of cigarette smoke and alcohol from the bar, his uniquely spicy fragrance—and his sounds—the soft scrape of his shoe against the linoleum, the even rhythm of his breathing, the splash as he wrung out the cloth and rewet it.

For a time she just floated, basking in his soothing ministrations. Even when he cleaned the cut along her hairline, hesitating before touching the ridge of scar tissue, the peaceful spell cocooning her didn't waver.

But when he dabbed at a cut at the corner of her mouth, her eyes flew open on a sudden jolt of arousal. He was close enough that she could see the tiny beard hairs pushing out from their hiding places along his cheek. Could count the grooves of his full bottom lip.

Mere inches separated her from his mouth. Suddenly nothing seemed as important as reaching forward and tasting him.

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.

His breathing hitched and he jerked the cloth back, quickly turning his head away as he rinsed it out.

She inhaled deeply, then let the air out very slowly, trying to tell herself she wasn't disappointed he'd turned away. But she'd never been a very good liar.

This time, when he turned back to face her, he held a bottle of antiseptic. "This might sting a bit." Was it wishful thinking, or was his voice a bit husky?

She shrugged to let him know she accepted the discomfort, then almost groaned in sensual delight when the cotton ball slid over a cut at the corner of her eyebrow. It was sweet torture, the bite of the antiseptic negated by the gossamer touch of cotton.

And despite her best efforts, her eyes closed again.

Lost in her rising desire, it took her a moment to realize Niko had moved away.

She opened her eyes and saw him reach for the tube of antibiotic ointment. Who would have guessed that watching a man uncap a tube and squeeze ointment onto his finger would be erotic? But as she watched him, she felt herself grow damp with need. And when he touched her, stroking his finger lightly over her wounds, her breath backed up into her throat and her nipples hardened.

This time, she managed to keep her eyes open, but only by severe force of will. It was worth it, though. Niko's eyes darkened as he moved from cut to cut. The tempo of his breathing increased.

Fire raced up from her belly and spread through her limbs as she realized he was feeling some of the same heat.

When there was only the cut at the side of her mouth left untended, Niko's arm fell to his side. His eyes fastened on her lips and he leaned forward.

Every cell in her body quivered, waiting for his kiss.

But with an angry hiss, Niko jerked back.

"Sorry," he muttered. Keeping his head turned away from her, he washed his hands, then returned the first aid items to the medicine cabinet.

Dammit, no!

This was the first time she'd wanted a man since before the attack. No _way_ was she letting him ignore the sexual tension between them.

She waited until Niko moved away from the sink, then hopped off the counter. Before he could step away, she put her hand on his cheek, went up on tiptoe, and pressed her lips to his.

Every nerve in her body leapt joyously at the contact. His lips were soft and slightly open in surprise, and as she took his breath inside her, she could taste the beer he'd been sipping at the bar. It made her senses spin. Hmmm...drunk on Niko.

This must be how a recovering addict felt, tasting the forbidden after months of abstinence. Seconds ago she'd thought she was alive. Thought she understood what she needed.

She'd had no clue.

She moved her body against Niko, wanting to feel his arms around her and nearly groaning in frustration when he kept his arms rigidly at his sides. When after a few moments he didn't return her kiss, her heart turned to lead.

He didn't want her.

Oh, God. Disappointment flattened her. The burn of arousal flared into a hot flush of embarrassment. But as she started to step away, Niko's lips moved tentatively against hers, gently exploring the outside of her mouth as his arms swept around her in a light embrace.

She felt a flash of fear at being contained, but it quickly faded as Niko kept his touch gentle. He was treating her with such exquisite care, tears stung her eyes. When was the last time she'd been treated with gentleness like this?

Long before she was ready for it to end, Niko broke away. He stared at her like he'd never seen her before, his eyes wide and dark with confusion and a host of other emotions she couldn't identify.

Then he blinked and his face hardened. "That was a mistake. I can't—" He cleared his throat and licked his lips as his eyes went to her lips. When he realized he was staring, he swore in Greek.

He spun around and headed toward the door. "Our relationship has to stay professional," Niko snarled.

Then he was gone, his anger lingering in the small room like a cloud of exhaust.

Jenna stared after him for too long, trying not to feel hurt by his words. Letting a tinge of anger creep through her. Professional? Was soothing her after her nightmares professional? Was holding her throughout the night so she'd sleep soundly professional?

With a sigh, she turned toward the sink. She glanced in the mirror and winced. She looked like Frankenstein's monster's disreputable sister.

Without the distraction of Niko, every ache and sting from the fight suddenly made themselves known. Weariness crashed into her.

Hands shaking, she grabbed a couple of ibuprofen and chased them down with a glass of water. She must have misunderstood Niko's reaction. He'd responded to her on instinct, as a male holding a willing female.

Not as Niko wanting Jenna.

Which, she tried to convince herself, was okay. Niko was right. Theirs was a professional relationship, nothing more. It had been wrong of her to push the boundaries.

Only...he'd tasted like paradise. Of every pleasure she'd denied herself in her quest for vengeance. Seeing the Christmas presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Biting into a rich chocolate truffle. Laughing with her girlfriends.

Coming apart in her lover's arms.

_Stop it! Niko did you a favor by walking away. Vengeance, remember? That's all that matters._

Unconvinced, she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. As she pulled back the covers on the bed, she told herself that it was a good thing Niko had rejected her. She couldn't afford to give in to his type of temptation.

Her mission had to come first.

Even if it meant crawling into bed alone.

And lonely.

* * *

_Saturday, Night_

_Andes Mountains, Peru_

"There is a man who has been inquiring about Mikhail Nevsky," Doña Serafina said, her voice through the speakerphone sounding so close she might have been sitting next to Alvarez on the sofa.

Alvarez pulled his robe closer against his body and stood up. "What is this man's name? What does he look like? Tell me everything you know about him." But he knew who it was. Kai Paterson. Who else would be searching for Doña Serafina, Dr. Nevsky's mistress?

"I have not yet met the man. I wished to speak with you first and get your instructions. He will not give me his name. The man only says that he has information for me regarding a bequest Mikhail left me, but that has been tied up in the American legal system since his death."

Clever. Who wouldn't want to learn more about an inheritance?

Alvarez paced from one end of the room to the other, his bare feet slapping against the polished wood floor. But why would Paterson need to talk to the woman? What was he missing that had prevented him from selling the microchip on the black market? Was there some code Paterson was after that would unlock the data?

Bah. It didn't matter. This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

A chance to catch Kai Paterson.

The cool air swirled around his bare calves as he turned and walked back into range of the speakerphone. "This is what I want you to do..."

After Doña Serafina hung up, Alvarez stared at the now mute phone, running possibilities. Trapping Paterson alone was too easy. As long as the man was in Acapulco, Alvarez had him.

The one he truly wanted was Niko. Niko was supposed to return crawling on his knees, offering Paterson and the chip in exchange for his aunt. Since things were not going according to plan, it was time to make the game more challenging.

Alvarez activated the phone and called his personnel manager. "Who do we employ who could pass a piece of information on to the SSU?"

* * *

_Saturday, Night_

_Rocky Mountains, Montana_

Niko's heavy breathing played harmony with the slap of the jump rope against the gym's wood floor. He'd run for half an hour, lifted weights for forty-five minutes, and at minute eleven of jumping rope he _still_ hadn't settled down. All thanks to Jenna and that amazing kiss that never should have happened.

_Stop thinking about—_

A hard male body slammed Niko to the ground. Furious blows rained down on his head so fast Niko barely blocked them in time.

"You told us she was dead!" a familiar voice bellowed.

What the fuck? "Rafe? What are you doing here?"

"All these years we thought she was dead, you bastard!"

Niko caught his brother's hands and flipped them both over. "Jenna?"

He pinned Rafe on his back, hands overhead.

"Who? No. Aunt Madalena, you bastard," Rafe snarled. "You told us she died, but..." Rafe went limp, his eyes closed.

"Ah, shit. You saw the video. What the fuck were you doing in my office?" Niko sighed and sat back on his heels, releasing his grip on Rafe's arms. "I'm sorry."

Rafe hit Niko with a look molten with betrayal and fury. "Sorry for what, you bastard? Sorry I found out the truth?"

"Rafe..." Niko shook his head and climbed wearily to his feet. God, he'd tried so hard to keep Alvarez's ugliness away from the rest of his family.

"You told us she was dead." Rafe's voice shook. "You said Alvarez killed her a year before he was arrested. Yet that—" He motioned in the direction of the house.

Niko glanced away, wishing there was some way he could erase the images from his brother's mind. "Aunt Madalena was ashamed of the way she'd been used by Alvarez. She considered herself soiled. She made me promise not to tell the family the truth. After the raid I set her up in a little cottage in Spain with a contingent of guards I trusted." Niko made himself meet Rafe's angry glare. "Somehow Alvarez got to her anyway."

Niko offered Rafe a hand up, but he slapped it away. So Niko crossed his arms over his chest as his brother surged to his feet and stalked over to the water cooler.

"She was a prisoner of Alvarez until the raid?" Rafe asked. "Being treated like she was in the video?"

"Yeah." Niko forced the word out, trying to block out the memories.

Rafe gulped two cups of water before turning to nail Niko again with a hard look. "Why didn't you get her the hell out of there?"

Niko grabbed a towel and started mopping up the sweat and new blood dripping down his face. "You don't think I tried? We had an escape all planned. Someone betrayed us. She was caught and forced to sit by while Alvarez punished me." Alvarez had nearly tortured Niko to death while his aunt watched. Alvarez had even forced Madalena to wield the whip against Niko's already shredded back, under threat of turning Niko over to his dogs if she didn't. But hell if Rafe needed to know that.

Rafe crushed the paper cup and shot it into the trash basket. He opened his mouth to speak, but Niko cut him off.

"She swore she'd never put me through that again and refused to let me try to arrange her escape, no matter how hard I begged."

"Fuck that." Rafe took a step forward until he was practically sharing breath with Niko. "You should have knocked her out and gotten her the hell out of there."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, asshole. I did knock her out. We got as far as the gate. She woke up, somehow got the gag off, and started screaming." Niko shoved Rafe away. "That was the last time I saw her in person until after the raid. But Alvarez made sure I was kept updated on his sessions with her by sending me home movies." The content still starred in his nightmares.

"Niko—"

"Don't you think it fucking killed me to see her with Alvarez? To know what sick, bloody games he played with her and be helpless to stop it? Dammit, I tried everything to get her out of there. But every time I got close, she did something to screw up my plans. She was terrified of what Alvarez would do to me." He shook his head.

"As long as she was with Alvarez, he owned me. All he had to do was threaten to give Aunt Madalena to his men for a night, and I'd do anything he ordered. Anything, Rafe. I killed men for him." He'd told himself the dead men weren't law-abiding citizens and not to mourn their deaths, but Niko had grown to hate the man he saw staring back in the mirror every morning. "God, Rafe, every day ate away a piece of my soul!"

Rafe stared at him a long time. "You've never talked about..." He shook his head. "I remember how you were when you came home. Wild. Bleak. I was scared we were going to lose you."

Niko turned and fired his damp towel at the laundry bin. "You almost did," he admitted gruffly. "When they kept me in prison after Alvarez's arrest...that came closer to breaking me than anything in the previous five years." For five years he'd lived for the day Alvarez was arrested. Whenever he grew desperate to break free of Alvarez's vicious world, Niko had reminded himself that the evidence was piling up to justify a raid.

And that any price was worth paying to put Alvarez behind bars for ordering the hit that had paralyzed Pop.

When the day of the raid finally came, he hadn't minded being rounded up with the rest of Alvarez's men and taken to jail. It fit with his cover. But he'd expected to be released within hours.

Instead, he'd been moved to a solitary cell. His DEA handler walked in and told him he was going to have to serve time for the crimes he'd committed under Alvarez.

Niko had stood frozen, barely understanding the man's words. They were going to credit the twelve months he'd spent in jail five years ago establishing his cover. And his handler had petitioned for extra consideration, since Niko had been only eighteen when first approached by the DEA.

Given that Niko had never been an official DEA employee, but an independent contractor, he wasn't going to be charged with breaking DEA rules. Still, the men in charge wanted Niko to serve a minimum of five years.

Niko's desperation had stuck in his throat, choking off his air so he'd nearly missed the man's addendum. If Niko agreed to work for the DEA upon release, doing the jobs no one else wanted for at least three years, then it was agreed he'd only have to spend twelve months inside.

Niko had panicked at the thought of spending another second in jail. He'd started to reach for the man, under some wild idea of taking him hostage and demanding to be set free.

Maybe the man had read Niko's intent. Because he'd said the words that made the whole thing tolerable. "Weekly visits."

Niko sensed Rafe stepping closer. He turned and met Rafe's eyes, his throat tight as he said, "If I hadn't been allowed visitors...If you and Mamá, Maria and Pop hadn't visited and shown me your forgiveness and love, I wouldn't have survived prison."

"I never stopped believing in you, Niko. No matter what they told me." Rafe's eyes shone with everything good and strong that had kept Niko going in prison and the long years after as he sought to put himself back together. Unlike their father, Rafe hadn't known the truth about Niko while he was with Alvarez. Based on the evidence, Rafe should have hated him.

"I know," Niko said past the lump in his throat. "I didn't deserve your belief in me, but _Dios_ , some days that was all that kept me going."

Rafe stepped in and slapped his arms around Niko in a fierce hug. Niko hugged him back, feeling like some weight had been lifted off his chest. Seconds later, they broke apart, both surreptitiously wiping their eyes.

Damn. Misty-eyed like two old women.

"So...uh...Rafe, what are you doing here?"

"Paterson is in Acapulco."

"Huh." Niko picked up the jump rope and tossed it into a bin. It just fucking had to be Acapulco. The one place on earth where simply landing at the airport meant triggering at least a dozen death threats. "That's damn convenient. Right in Alvarez's backyard." Could someone say setup?

"Maybe Paterson's been waiting all this time to sell the chip to Alvarez." Rafe shrugged. "So what's the plan? I—"

The sound of cloth scraping against wood floated from the doorway.

Rafe dove forward.

There was a whirl of activity, then Rafe fell back. Niko recognized Jenna an instant before they hit the floor. Jenna's bottom landed directly on Rafe's groin. She sat partly up and twisted, driving her sit bone deeper into his brother's crotch.

Ouch. "Jenna! Ease up. That's my brother you're turning soprano."

Jenna glanced over at Niko, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I know he grabbed you. He didn't know I had company. He thought you were a threat."

"Sorry," she muttered and rolled away. As she stood up, she bit her lip and shot Rafe a worried glance.

"Rafe, man, don't be a wuss. Get the hell up and say hello to Jenna." Rafe was curled in a fetal position, hands covering the area Jenna had just mangled. Niko knew his brother was hamming it up a bit and was tempted to kick Rafe himself.

"Uh...are you sure he's okay?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah. Trust me, it's not the first time someone's hit him where it counts. Rafe, you gonna lie there all night? Former Army Rangers are supposed to be tougher than this."

Rafe responded with a string of curses in Greek and flipped Niko the bird. Niko just laughed.

But when he turned to Jenna, expecting to see some of his good humor reflected in her eyes, instead he saw eagerness.

"Is it true? Kai's in Acapulco?"

Christ. She was all but bouncing up and down on her toes like a little girl waiting to open her birthday presents.

Niko stifled the urge to lock Jenna in a box and put her away someplace safe. If she could help draw her brother out of hiding, he had to use her.

Dammit, Rafe was going to owe him for this. So much for sneaking off to Mexico and leaving Rafe and Jenna behind.

He could still do it, but they'd both be on his tail. Rafe hadn't come all this way expecting to stay on the sidelines. His brother probably already had his plane ticket.

Rafe pushed to his feet and stood up.

"Rafe, meet Jenna Paterson, Kai Paterson's sister. Jenna, this is my younger brother, Rafe. He also works for the SSU."

But Rafe wasn't listening. He took one glance at Jenna's battered face and swung to face Niko. "What the fuck happened to her?"

Jenna stepped in and put her hand on Rafe's arm. When he looked at her, she gave Rafe a proud smile. "It's not Niko's fault. I insisted on tagging along to The Hole last night." She shot Niko a sly look out of the corner of her eye. "Then I started a fight."

Rafe stared at Jenna's hands and her scrapped, swollen knuckles. His mouth set in a tight, angry line. "Why the hell would you start a bar fight?"

"To test myself. To prove that I won't panic every time I'm attacked." She grinned proudly. "And it worked. I gave as good as I got."

Rafe raised a brow in Niko's direction. Niko just shrugged.

"Well, then," Rafe said. "Pleased to meet you, Jenna."

"Likewise." She held out her hand. Rafe took it very gingerly and shook it without closing his fingers over her damaged knuckles.

The hope Niko had that he'd distracted Jenna from the news about her brother was immediately dashed.

"We're going to Acapulco?" she asked.

"Yeah." He knew he was going to regret this. He shot a glare at his brother.

"And Rafe's coming with us."

# Chapter Seventeen

_Sunday, Afternoon_

_Acapulco, Mexico_

Mark Tonelli used his silk handkerchief to dab at the sweat beading his forehead. Damned Mexican heat.

He pushed his way through the flow of afternoon tourists, trying not to lose the woman he was tailing. Just before the corner she entered a restaurant. He hovered just outside until he saw through the large window that she'd been seated, then headed inside.

A blast of cold air hit him as soon as he stepped through the door, raising goose bumps. Ah, this was more like it. He declined a table on the patio, asking to be seated at a table inside, where he could keep an eye on both the woman and the entrance. He didn't think he'd been spotted, but it didn't pay to be sloppy.

After a brief survey of the menu he chose the fish of the day and the white wine as least likely to turn his stomach. When the waiter left with his order, Mark flicked a breadcrumb onto the floor, wishing he was back in Moscow.

Once again, he could blame Jenna Paterson for his current state of disgrace. By scaring away her brother and then disappearing from Moscow with Niko Andros, she'd made him look like a fool. But it was his failure to find Kai Paterson that had caused the most problems.

Jamieson's anger had been so frigid, Mark had ground his teeth to stop himself from groveling. He didn't care how desperate he was to get the name of the man who ordered the hit on his father. Mark was sick of the man's power games. He'd done his best to find Paterson in Moscow, but the agent had escaped. There'd be another opportunity.

So he'd ignored Jamieson's rage. Jamieson wasn't even his official boss, that honor belonged to another man. And his boss had told him to stay in Moscow and work on a smaller issue the CIA needed handled.

He'd finished that job two days ago and been enjoying some free time in his favorite city, until another call came in from Jamieson. Paterson had been spotted. Within twenty-four hours Mark was airborne, headed for hot, pathetic Mexico.

And now here he was. South of the border and all things civilized.

Mark tapped his fingers slowly against the table. He'd never spent much time in Mexico and hated relying on the CIA's contacts here. He much preferred to build his own network of informants, but there was no time.

Unfortunately, none of the CIA's contacts he'd been in touch with had been able to verify Paterson's presence here. One of the men had shrugged, pointed out a group of Alvarez's men, and told Mark to follow them.

So he had. The men visited the house of the woman now sitting four tables away from him. They'd stayed for only a few moments, and instinct told Mark to follow the woman instead. As they'd approached this restaurant, he'd seen Alvarez's men waiting in a car half a block down.

He prayed that Paterson was involved.

And that somehow he'd be able to nab Paterson, get the chip, and stay out of reach of Alvarez's men. He'd heard the stories of Alvarez's brutality and had no wish to experience it first hand.

He picked up the salt shaker, moved it a quarter inch, and put it back down, turning it slowly in place. His fingers tightened on the shaker, then he consciously relaxed his hand and let go.

Jamieson's increased obsession with the microchip worried Mark. A formula that could create extraordinary soldiers? It smacked of myths of the fountain of youth and immortal elixirs. The man shouldn't waste his time on data that might prove to be no help at all to Kerberos. Instead, Jamieson should put all his time and effort into expanding Kerberos.

Kerberos's mission was one Mark wholeheartedly believed in. Protect the interests of the United States at all costs. A businessman interfering with American trade? A nation's leader opposing the U.S. on a security issue? Buy them out. Blackmail them. Kill them.

A nation as powerful as the United States shouldn't have to play by the rules. And Kerberos didn't.

Mark wanted that unlimited, unrestrained power almost as much as he wanted the name of his father's murderer. All things considered, the chip was an easy entrée into Kerberos. He would gladly kill for the privilege of joining.

* * *

_Sunday, Afternoon_

_Acapulco, Mexico_

Kai Paterson stood in the shadows of a jewelry store, watching the decoy he'd hired enter the café across the street. Through the plate glass window he saw the man look around the room and then start walking toward a woman seated in the far corner. As he passed a table occupied by four men in suits, one of the men suddenly stood up, knocking against the decoy. An instant later, Kai's man slumped into the suit's waiting arms.

Kai pivoted and slipped around the corner. His motorbike was parked at the end of the street and he strolled casually toward it, ignoring primitive instincts screaming at him to run. His decoy was close enough to his own weight and build to fool anyone who'd never seen him at close range. With luck, one of the men at the table would realize they had the wrong man and let the poor guy go. If not—

Police sirens howled in the distance. Kai had put in an anonymous call to the local police. He could only hope they arrived in time to save the man from being taken back to Alvarez.

Kai wove in between the pedestrians along the crowded street, ignoring the grumbling of his stomach as he passed his favorite café. The brief scent of coffee and fried dough would have to satisfy him until he got back to his hotel.

He'd hired the decoy because Dr. Nevsky's mistress had been a little too willing to meet with him this morning. The takedown in the café confirmed not only that Alvarez knew about Nevsky's mistress, but that she reported back to him.

Still, the trip wasn't a complete waste of time. He'd learned that two men who'd worked briefly at Nevsky's lab were in Mexico. One was rumored to be in Cuernavaca, not far from Acapulco.

The men were long shots, but he was desperate.

Kai reached his motorbike without being followed. A few minutes later he left the bike in back of the rental agency, changed clothes and switched wigs in a public restroom, then walked several blocks to where he'd left his car.

It was time to get out of Acapulco. Let Alvarez's men go back to their burrows. He'd check out of his hotel and hit the road for Cuernavaca. And consider whether another approach to Nevsky's mistress was worthwhile.

* * *

From two tables away, Mark Tonelli watched Alvarez's men drop the man in the middle of the café. Fools. That wasn't Paterson. The man wasn't quite tall enough. Mark shifted in his chair and looked out the window, rapidly scanning the passersby. Paterson had to be close.

There. A man mostly hidden by shadow, turning away. The height and build were right, even though the hair was dark and curly, not blond.

He was confident this was the man who'd run from Jenna in Moscow. Mark threw some pesos on the table and hurried from the café, his blood pumping with excitement.

By the time he reached the end of the street, he was running. But the man was gone. Mark cursed and scanned the busy street ahead of him. Damn. It was like the man had evaporated.

He mopped his brow with his handkerchief and headed back to the café. He didn't care what role the woman played in the search for the chip. He needed to talk to her.

Yet both the woman and Alvarez's men were gone when he returned and the café was full of police officers. Mark swerved away before he reached the front door. He found a table inside a café on a street four blocks away, ordered a café au lait and pulled out his cell phone. At least this time he had good news to report to Jamieson.

* * *

_Sunday, Evening_

_Andes Mountains, Peru_

Madalena jumped as Alvarez's angry voice echoed down the hallway sharp as a bullet's ricochet. Hands shaking, she laid her book on the table next to her comfortably stuffed chair and went over to the door. She cracked it open just wide enough that she could hear what was being said.

"Why did you not have men outside the café watching for Paterson?" Alvarez was in one of his rare fits. Usually he expressed his anger calmly, even coldly, but today he spat the words violently, using his voice as a weapon to flay the unfortunate bearer of bad news. "I do not pay you to be an idiot. Must I do all the thinking around here?"

There was a moment of silence, and she realized he was on the phone.

"Paterson is not an imbecile. He would have been watching the decoy. Now he knows that we are after him. What do you think the odds are that we will find him again?...No. You and your men return here...This is not over between you and I."

There was a crash, as if he'd thrown the phone against the wall. Madalena closed her door silently. Her whole body shook. Whenever he had his fits of temper, it always ended up with extra pain for her.

She hated the idea of that monster touching her again. She wrapped her arms around her body, clenching her teeth to fight back the fear and loathing. She must think.

Alvarez wanted this Paterson person very badly. So much so that the price for her freedom was Niko turning over both this man and the microchip. If Paterson was in Acapulco, Niko wouldn't be too far behind. Which meant she had less time than she'd thought to kill Alvarez.

Because she would not allow Niko to make any more sacrifices for her.

"Madalena!" Her door flew open and Alvarez stormed into the room.

She braced herself and raised her chin. She was done cowering before him.

The first blow knocked her into the lamp. As she lay on the floor trying to catch her breath, she considered picking up the lamp and beating Alvarez over the head with it.

_Not yet,_ she cautioned herself as his toe caught her under the ribs. _Have patience. The time will come._

* * *

_Monday, Evening_

_Acapulco, Mexico_

Jenna accompanied Niko through the opulent hotel lobby, acutely aware that they looked like a couple. Niko's hand on the small of her back only added to the illusion of intimacy. Unfortunately, the warmth of his hand was giving her libido ideas.

God, sitting next to him on the plane had been sweet agony. Every inhale had brought his spicy scent into her body, where it wound through her system like an aphrodisiac. Every time his shoulder accidentally brushed hers, or their thighs bumped, she felt a zing of electricity.

Dammit, this wasn't right. For the first time since the attack she felt so alive, she had trouble focusing on her goal. Instead of thinking about the questions she'd fire at Kai before she killed him, she found herself fantasizing about making love to Niko.

She was disappointed that their time in Montana had been cut short. She'd felt safe there. Free in a way she never had at the busy SSU compound, where every time she left her cabin she felt like people were watching and judging her. Pitying her.

Niko made her feel normal. Still, she knew she was better off away from Montana. She'd gotten used to sleeping part of the night in the shelter of Niko's arms, sitting on his lap. Dangerous, this feeling of intimacy. She should be glad that last night Niko hadn't arrived to hold her after her nightmares. It was time to start distancing herself from him. Try to soften the pain that was coming. Both for herself and for him. Because what she planned for Kai was something she had to do on her own.

And when Niko found out, he was going to hate her.

Sometimes, though, she wished she could be a normal woman. She'd like to have a relationship with Niko.

_Stop that. Haven't you learned yet not to wish for things?_ There was only wish she needed to come true. The wish that her parents and the twins were still alive. Since that was impossible, nothing else mattered.

A woman with long, shiny black hair walked across the lobby. A tight white sarong with a huge red hibiscus painted on it hugged her generous curves. As she passed them, she checked Niko out and smiled flirtatiously.

Jealousy sizzled through Jenna's veins. Without thinking, she slipped her arm around Niko's waist and glared at the woman. Until this was over, she could at least pretend he was hers. The woman's smile deepened and she exaggerated the sway of her lush hips. Jenna's hand tightened.

Niko chuckled and squeezed her arm. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

She pinched him and let go, making a big show of looking around the lobby while trying to hide her embarrassment over her reaction. Water fell from the center of the atrium's roof into a shallow pond dotted with lily pads. At the far end of the pond, water tumbled into another pool set on the lower level next to the coffee shop. Palmettos, palms and a variety of flowering plants she didn't recognize sat in pots and hanging baskets.

The air was slightly humid and smelled rich and earthy. It was beautiful. Yet not the sort of place she imagined SSU agents being able to afford. Niko, however, said the top-notch security justified the price.

He'd made it very clear on the plane that Acapulco was Alvarez's territory and therefore extremely dangerous. She wasn't to leave the room unless either he or Rafe was with her. She couldn't trust anyone but him and Rafe. Given the cuts and bruises on her face, she was to keep her face hidden beneath this wide-brimmed hat and dark glasses when out in public, until he told her otherwise.

She squelched her surge of resentment over Niko's rules. But Rafe's flight was still stuck in Los Angeles, so for now she had to stick with Niko.

Kai. Revenge. That was what mattered. Not her feeling hurt and angry because Niko was bossing her around like she wasn't capable of taking care of herself.

Although a tiny part of her thought his need to protect her was rather sweet.

Five minutes later, Niko had checked them in and she followed him into their suite. Uh-oh. The peach and cream bedroom had only one king-sized bed.

She thought about lying in the bed next to Niko. Heat and longing spiraled through her veins. God, but she wanted to pull Niko onto the bed. Lose herself in the taste and feel of him until she had no memory of pain and humiliation. Wanted to fall asleep, exhausted, in his arms.

She coughed and turned away, pretending interest in the contents of the mini bar. Glad that the dark glasses she wore concealed her expression from Niko.

"I'll sleep on the sofa bed," Niko said as if reading her mind. "When in public, you're my woman. You'll be safer that way. Once this door closes, we're just...colleagues."

Jenna nodded, seeing the wisdom in his plan, even though part of her wanted him beside her. They had so little time left. With any luck they'd find Kai in a day or two. Niko would return to his life and she...Well, her course had been determined the night of the attack. She'd always known this time would come.

Her heart clenched on an aching denial. Just because she didn't want to say good-bye to Niko, didn't mean she could give up her revenge.

Niko's phone beeped. He glanced at the display a second before a knock sounded at the door. "That's our SSU contact with our weapons and gear," he said. "Wait in the bedroom. The fewer people who see you, the safer it is. In case Alvarez compromises someone."

She nodded and slipped into the large bedroom. With the door closed behind her, she removed her sunglasses, took off the large, elegant hat, and slid her feet out of the strappy high-heeled sandals.

The plush cream carpet was soft beneath her bare feet and she sighed in relief. Once upon a time she'd loved dressing up in heels and skirts and being girly. Back then, she hadn't thought twice about wearing stilettos for an entire day. But after a two-year vacation, her feet had screamed at her to get the tight shoes off.

She arched first one foot, then the other, sighing out loud as the tired muscles relaxed. Her whole body was tight after the plane ride, so she worked through a short series of stretches.

When she was done, she spun around, enjoying the feel of the dress twirling around her. During their long layover in L.A., Niko had taken her shopping for tropical clothes. She hadn't been able to resist buying a few fun, flirty outfits along with more practical garb.

This dress was aqua with bright orange and yellow flowers. The fabric crisscrossed between her breasts in a generous drape. The skirt fell loosely to a handkerchief hem and floated behind her when she walked. She felt feminine, yet not at all slutty like the way she'd felt in the clothes Mark had made her wear in Moscow.

And the expression on Niko's face when she'd walked out of the dressing room had sent a sensual thrill down her spine. Before he masked it, he'd looked like he wanted to devour her.

The door handle turned. Niko stepped inside, carrying a duffel bag. Jenna stopped mid-pirouette, embarrassed. Unable to meet his eyes, she hastily smoothed down the skirt and busied herself with the flower arrangement on the dresser, hoping he couldn't see the faint flush on her cheeks.

"Don't be shy. Dance if you want. I like watching you." His voice was warm with approval, which only caused heat of a different sort to flood into her face.

"You don't smile enough," he added.

She shrugged and looked away. Happiness still felt like a guilty pleasure. But there was no way to explain that to Niko without giving herself away.

As if sensing he'd embarrassed her, Niko changed the subject. He dumped the bag on the bed. "Take your pick of weapons. Keep at least a knife on you at all times. There should be appropriate sheaths to go under your clothes."

Jenna raised her eyebrows. "How did you arrange all this so quickly?"

Niko's slight smile was pure devil. "I could tell you, but then—" He shrugged.

Jenna rolled her eyes. Right. As if the SSU didn't handle such requests all the time. Still, Niko's humor warmed her.

"I'm going to shower," he said. "Then I'm going to leave you here while I look up some of my old contacts."

Her head shot up. "Hey! No fair."

His open hand warded off her protest. "No. You can't come with me. I have to do this alone. The people I'm meeting won't talk to me if I'm with you. Besides, I wouldn't let them in the same room with you. They have no manners when it comes to women."

He made the statement casually, but she sensed an underlying tension. And there was something bleak in his eyes that made her want to tell him not to go.

How much danger was he putting himself in?

"Niko, why are you so tense? What's so dangerous for you here?"

His eyes grew cold and distant. "None—"

"Don't you _dare_ say it's none of my business. You've told me how much danger I'm in." She waved her hand toward the door. "If there's a chance you won't come back, I deserve to know why. Please. You can trust me."

She knew Niko had no reason to trust her. Plus, she was keeping far too many secrets from him. Yet it was suddenly critically important she understand the shadows in his eyes.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Sighed and rubbed his upper arm. Then his lips flattened and he bit out, "I used to be Alvarez's right-hand man. This was once part of my territory. I still have a lot of enemies here."

She flinched. Dear God—

"Yeah, I'm no saint, Jenna, and I've served the prison time to prove it. Remember that." Before she could reach out and smooth away the bitterness on his face, he pivoted on his heel and stalked into the bathroom.

Jenna sank onto the sofa. Steepled her hands and rubbed her fingertips over the crease between her eyes. Certain that whatever had caused the haunted flare of pain in his eyes was the reason he understood her nightmares so well.

How many people heard his words and believed Niko a criminal at heart? Too many who mattered, judging by the hurt underneath his bitterness. Oh, she was certain the facts were true. That would explain why he was so familiar with Alvarez and why he was such a ferocious fighter.

But Niko wouldn't have tried so hard to get her to give up her search for Kai, been so determined that she stay innocent, if he was as evil as Alvarez. She had no doubt he'd been undercover, forced to hide his true nature from the vicious men she heard Alvarez employed. Forced to appear to be like them.

How had he survived without losing his soul?

Scared at the urgent need to comfort him, to assure him that he'd misunderstood her reaction to his news, she pushed to her feet. But the sound of the shower stopped her. She couldn't storm in on him. Not when he was naked.

And that brought up other images she immediately rejected. Other ways she could comfort him.

Dammit, she had to stop these bursts of emotion and fanciful imaginings. They were messing with her head. Interfering with her mission. She turned around and stormed over to the window.

She shouldn't be worrying about Niko venturing out into a city where death stalked him. She should be thinking about Kai. She clutched the drape in her hand and stared blindly out the window. Thank God Niko had left her alone for a little while. She needed time to shore up her defenses and remind herself of her mission.

But as she worked to clear her mind of her worry over Niko, clarity eluded her. Instead, her mind returned to the fact that Niko was naked. Just on the other side of the bathroom door. She closed her eyes, imagining only too well how the water would sluice down his body. Wanting desperately to join him. To feel his muscles slippery under her hands as she—

_Stop it!_

In desperation, she spun away from the window, finding a much needed distraction in the television remote control sitting enticingly on the coffee table. She snatched it up and flipped channels until she found a telenovela. Maybe watching fictional drama would keep her mind out of forbidden territory.

Fifteen minutes later she sensed Niko's presence. She ignored him, pretending to be engrossed in the program.

" _Tu comprendes español_?" Niko asked.

Jenna turned around. Oh, Lord. He looked fantastic. Too sexy for her peace of mind. His slightly damp hair was slicked back from his face, showcasing his strong jaw darkened with a day's worth of beard. He'd put on a crisp black suit with a black silk shirt and tie. He looked like a well-dressed gangster. Or the right-hand man to the head of a vast criminal organization.

She wanted to apologize to him, to kiss him and chase away the distance in his eyes. But some little voice of self-preservation told her it was safer to let him keep his distance.

She yanked her mind back to his question. "Yes," she answered in Spanish. "I dated a guy from Spain my freshman year in college. He helped me ace my Spanish class. You said you'd learned Spanish from your mother?"

"Yeah. Mamá is Mexican," Niko said. "A distant cousin to Alvarez."

She narrowed her eyes. His repeated reference to Alvarez was obviously an attempt to make her distrust him, maybe even hate him. But why?

Niko shot his cuffs and glanced at the television. "I'm heading out now."

His reluctance to leave her alone ruined his attempt to play the bad boy. Maybe he wasn't trying to scare her. Maybe he was just trying to put himself back into the role he'd played with Alvarez.

"I'll be fine," she reassured him. "No one could possibly have recognized me under that hat and those huge sunglasses. We're registered under false names. How on earth would Alvarez know we're here?"

Niko's expression turned flat and cold in that way that always scared her a little. "Don't underestimate Alvarez's power."

He walked over to the bag of weapons. Two pistols and at least as many knives disappeared into his suit.

She stood up, alarmed at the idea he was in such danger he had to arm himself to the teeth.

"Remember, don't leave the room," Niko instructed.

She saluted him. "Aye, aye! I'll be good and stay here." She didn't care about the danger to herself, but she knew if she followed him Niko would be too worried about her to mind his own safety.

Which made something deep inside her go all soft and heated.

He reinforced his command with a hard glare, then walked toward the door. But after four paces, he stopped. Cursed softly. Retraced his steps and pulled her against him for a kiss that managed to be both passionate and achingly tender.

A moment later, he was gone.

Stunned, Jenna stared into space for a very long time, her trembling fingers touching her lips. Trying to convince herself she shouldn't ask for another kiss when he returned.

Finally, she shook herself out of her reverie and refocused on the telenovela. When it was over, she unpacked and took a shower, then changed into a loose cotton jumpsuit. But she still couldn't settle down. She walked over to the window, but even the peaceful scene of the waves breaking against the beach below did nothing to calm her restlessness.

She felt like she was about to burst through her skin. She was buzzed on the anticipation of finally finding Kai and edgy with worry over Niko.

Underneath it all lay a racing desperation. A small voice chanted that she had to finish her mission soon, before her rioting emotions gained root, softening her into someone incapable of killing.

As much as she missed that girl she'd been Before, she couldn't afford to be that girl again. That girl was incapable of vengeance. That girl had to stay dead.

But her soul cried out "Unfair!" and the air spun in and out of her lungs in a dizzying rhythm.

She pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. Trying to tell herself she wasn't trapped. That her goal was just and right.

Yet she envied the people down on the street below. Moving about their business with nothing more important on their minds than meeting a friend, picking up a trinket for a sister's birthday, or finding a new place to try for dinner. Things she'd never experience again.

God, she had to get out of here!

Niko claimed hotel security was strong, so it had to be safe if she just went downstairs to the gift shop. Right?

Of course, right. Besides, she had insurance in case she got into trouble. She took out one of her suicide pills and tucked it against her back tooth. She strapped a knife to her thigh and put a small handgun in her purse, along with some pesos, her room card, and the cell phone Niko had bought her in case of an emergency, programmed so she could text him. She put on her hat and tinted glasses, then headed out.

The hotel had a series of gift shops along the concourse branching off from the lobby. Jenna browsed through the clothing shops, pretending she was normal and would live long enough to need a large wardrobe full of beautiful clothes. Deciding what she'd buy and on what occasions she'd wear the clothes. Every now and then she glanced out the window to the sidewalk beyond, hoping to see Niko returning.

She had just looked back at the rack of bolero jackets in front of her when her mind caught up with her eyes. Her head snapped around and her eyes focused on a man walking past the next shop window. His hair was the wrong color, but his gait was terribly familiar.

Kai!

Jenna rushed out of the store. She glanced to her right. There. Passing the nightclub.

She hurried down the street. Remembering Niko's warning, she pulled out her cell phone and sent him a brief text message. She couldn't wait for him, though, or she'd lose Kai.

# Chapter Eighteen

Niko pushed through air congested with lies, blood and fear, heading desperately for the door of the upscale strip club. Dark memories choked him. He slammed his palms harder than intended against the door, causing it to bounce off the wall with a loud smack.

He had to get out of this place. Away from the knowledge of the people he'd hurt in order to establish dominance as Alvarez's second-in-command. But the terrified eyes of the club manager were hard to forget. The man remembered Niko, and the week he'd spent in the hospital after Niko disciplined him for embezzling.

The manager had gotten off lightly. Alvarez would have killed the man if he'd known the truth. But that didn't make Niko feel any better.

Christ, he felt tainted. Dishonorable.

He rolled his shoulders. He hated slipping back into this role. Hated the fear and slavering respect people gave him. Hated the way Jenna had flinched when he'd told her the truth.

He wanted to shout that he wasn't that vicious, callous man any more. But until he found Aunt Madalena, he must be that man.

Niko took a deep breath, letting the faintly salty air clear his lungs. The club's air conditioning hadn't kept sweat from pooling under the Kevlar vest he wore beneath his shirt. He wanted to tear off his suit jacket, but walking down the street with an exposed shoulder holster was a bad idea. He'd either get shot or end up having to shoot someone. And while violence would release some of his spiraling tension, he couldn't afford that kind of attention.

Instead, he jerked out the knot holding his tie and unfastened the first button of his shirt. Finally took his first easy breath in hours. The oppressive heat meant he'd be soaked with sweat by the time he reached the hotel, but he'd deal.

He'd accomplished his mission. That was what mattered.

The men who ran in the shadows knew he was back. This was the fourth place he'd visited tonight, and everyone assumed he was still Alvarez's right-hand man. His lips quirked. He'd been right. Alvarez's pride hadn't allowed him to denounce Niko as the man who'd turned him in to the authorities.

And that was going to work to Niko's advantage. Because the men he talked to said Alvarez was offering a reward for Paterson. With Alvarez out of town, people would now bring that information straight to Niko.

It had been a risk hitting the clubs alone. There were too many men who wanted to test him. Who wanted to brag that they'd finally beat the man Alvarez called son. Or men who had a personal score to settle with _la mano derecha_. Who watched him and waited for the right moment to attack.

Even now, outside the club and away from the low-level gangsters inside, he felt eyes watching him. Measuring him. Making his nerves hum and the back of his neck tingle.

Yeah, well, bring it on. He could do with a good fight.

But no one approached him as he walked down the street. No one even gave him more than a cursory glance.

Once he hit the decent, tourist-riddled part of town he relaxed. And thought about what he'd learned. Alvarez wasn't in town, but was rumored to be arriving very soon. If Alvarez followed precedent, Aunt Madalena would be with him.

Making it all that easier to rescue her. Niko wondered if he should even bother with Kai Paterson. He had Rafe. And Jenna.

Someone else could go after the chip.

Yeah, right, who was he kidding? Alvarez's homes were guarded like the Pentagon. It would take more than the three of them to rescue his aunt.

His phone signaled an incoming text message.

_Spotted Kai. Following. Near hotel._

Dammit, no! Niko bolted down the street, feet drilling fearfully into the pavement. He'd told Jenna to stay put. What the _hell_ was she doing?

At the corner before the hotel he slowed to a walk. He didn't want to scare Paterson away by barging onto the scene.

He scanned the street, trying to spot Jenna among the throngs of window-shopping tourists taking advantage of the cooler night air.

There. At the end of the street. Jenna's hat lit by a street lamp. She'd stopped in front of a shoe store and appeared to be checking out the selection. But, Jesus, that outrageous hat was a damn beacon for any man searching his six, looking for a tail. What was wrong with her? She knew better.

Even as he thought it, she pulled the hat off and tied a dark scarf around her hair. She preened at her reflection and then passed her hat to a startled teenage girl.

Stay there, sweetheart, Niko thought as he dodged a family with three whining children. Let me catch up with you. He sent Jenna a brief text message.

_Wait for me._

Then, hoping Rafe's plane had landed, Niko dialed his brother's cell. But his call bounced straight to voicemail. Niko didn't bother leaving a message.

By the time he reached the shoe store, Jenna was gone. A few yards ahead of him, two men detached themselves from the shadows and turned left down the next street.

Shit. He recognized one of the men by the way his head tilted to the left every time he took a step. Ignacio Jimenez. One of Alvarez's more vicious minor lieutenants.

Niko followed. Half a block down, Jenna sauntered along, glancing in store windows as if simply out for an evening stroll. He couldn't see the man she was following.

She either had her phone off, or was ignoring the phone's announcement that his text message had arrived, damn her. It was too dangerous to catch up with her now. Jimenez would recognize him and he didn't want to draw the man's attention to Jenna.

With any luck, Alvarez's men would walk right by her.

As the street worked its way closer to the ocean, the stores gave way to houses and an occasional boat rental shop already closed for the night. There were fewer people on the street to hide behind. Jimenez and his partner were gaining on Jenna. Down at the end of the block, a man disappeared around the corner, heading toward the marina.

Jenna broke into a trot.

Jimenez and his friend paused, glanced at each other, and gave chase.

Shit. When he got Jenna back to the hotel, he was going to wring her sexy little neck.

Jenna and Alvarez's men disappeared around the corner. Niko ran after them.

Too late. As Niko rounded the corner, Jimenez grabbed Jenna.

"Let the woman go," Niko shouted in Spanish. Dammit, he couldn't shoot, not with Jenna held so close against Jimenez's body.

Jimenez turned his head toward Niko. Jenna took advantage of his distraction by driving her elbow into his gut and following up with a fist up Jimenez's nose.

_Atta girl!_

Jenna spun away as Jimenez fell. The other man lunged for her, but Niko got to him first. Niko knocked the man out before he realized the danger.

Neither man was going to stay down for long, though. Niko took Jenna's hand and started to run back the way he'd come.

She tugged him the opposite way. "That's Kai!" she said, pointing frantically toward the man she'd been following just as a white sedan sped past them.

At the end of the street, Paterson glanced back over his shoulder, then bolted.

Two shots cracked the silence of the night. Paterson jerked and fell face down.

Jenna gave a sob of denial. She kicked off her high heels, broke free of Niko and ran toward her brother.

The car reached him first. A large man in a black suit leapt out and dragged Paterson's body into the car. Another face Niko remembered from Alvarez's entourage.

A moment later, the car turned a corner and was gone.

Jenna reached the spot where her brother had been shot and sank to her knees, head in her hands.

"Get up, Jenna," Niko told her. "C'mon. Stay strong for me just a little longer, _chica_. Alvarez's men are behind us." He pulled her upright and urged her into a run in the same direction the car had taken. "That's right. Keep moving."

They sprinted down the street. If they made it to the next corner before Jimenez caught up with them, there were several small cross streets where they could hide.

But Jenna stumbled, then began limping. Damn. She must have stepped on a piece of glass or other sharp debris.

He heard the men's rapid breathing drawing nearer. Saw a couple of other men approaching from an alley between two houses.

He pulled Jenna in front of him and twisted to the side an instant too late. Jimenez grabbed Niko, yanking him away from Jenna.

Niko pivoted and threw a punch toward the man's head.

Silver flashed in the streetlight. Niko pulled back as Jimenez's trademark ivory-handled switchblade arced past him. Shit, the man was fast as ever. Niko didn't have time to reach for his weapon or one of his knives. Jimenez kept moving forward, slicing the air with his blade in a deadly pattern that forced Niko farther and farther away from Jenna.

Cold, dark rage swept over Niko. To hell with this.

Niko stepped toward Jimenez, putting up his left forearm to protect his face. The knife bit through his suit jacket and deep into his skin. Niko ignored the pain. Because the movement got him underneath Jimenez's defenses.

After that, the man went down easy. Jimenez had always relied too much on his knife work. And Niko had learned to fight from some of the most vicious men in Alvarez's organization.

As Niko leaned down to pick up Jimenez's knife, a bullet split the air where his head had been seconds ago. Niko flicked his wrist and Jimenez's perfectly balanced knife found a new home in the shooter's heart.

Niko stepped over the man's dead body. When Alvarez learned that one of his men had been killed with Jimenez's own knife, Jimenez was going to wish Niko had killed him, too, instead of leaving him unconscious.

Whoa, there was another man on the ground. Jenna must be—

_Jesus H. Christ._

Jenna lay on her stomach with a man straddling her back. His hands were around her throat, choking her. Jenna's fingers clawed frantically at the skin on the back of her attacker's hands.

Niko couldn't tell if her struggles were just to get air, or if she was panicking.

It didn't matter. The asshole would pay for hurting Jenna.

Niko slammed his boot heel into the side of her attacker's head, knocking the man away from her. When the man tried to stand, Niko kicked him again.

Everything dark and ugly inside of Niko focused on hurting the man. He didn't want the fight to end quickly. He needed to punish the man for attacking Jenna. He needed to—

Jenna pulled his arm.

Niko blinked, and the rage slowly receded. Leaving him standing in the middle of the street, a bloody, unconscious man at his feet.

Fuck. Niko ran his hands down his face. He'd nearly killed the man. If not for Jenna...

God, he hadn't lost it like that in years.

He took a deep breath. It wasn't safe here. They had to get away.

Niko stepped toward Jenna.

Something hard slammed into his chest, knocking him backward. His head smacked against the pavement and the world went black.

* * *

Jenna froze as Niko toppled backward.

Oh, God, please, no.

A bullet ricocheted off the pavement to her left. Jenna threw herself at Niko, shielding him with her body.

She looked up, trying to see who was shooting at them, and met the furious eyes of the man Niko had been fighting. He held a pistol aimed at her head.

Jenna pulled off the scarf hiding her hair, hoping that this man belonged to Alvarez and would recognize her as Kai's white-haired sister, and therefore too valuable to shoot.

The man muttered something about a white-haired devil woman, but didn't lower his weapon.

"I do not care what they say, _señorita_ , I will shoot you to get to him," the man said in Spanish. "I will not permit him to take back his power."

So this was one of the men who wanted Niko dead. Jenna tightened her arms around Niko, waiting for the slightest twitch to show her the man had pulled the trigger. So she could roll Niko away at the last minute.

But five men ran came around the corner at a run, yelling. Shots almost hit the man with the gun. Anger, frustration, and a helpless rage dashed across the man's face before he turned and fled.

Three of the new arrivals gave chase. The other two slowed to a walk and approached Jenna.

Beneath her, Niko began to stir.

Oh, thank God!

Jenna scrambled off him. She ran her hands over his chest, trying to find where he'd been hit. She found a tear in his jacket, but no blood.

"Kev...lar, vest," Niko gasped. "I'm okay. Just winded."

But her fingers had come away wet from his left sleeve. She reached for his arm, but Niko knocked her hand away. "No. Help me to my feet."

She wedged her shoulder under his bad arm, giving him enough support so he could stand.

One of the men walked over to them and Jenna tensed.

"Shit," Niko muttered. "What's he doing here?"

# Chapter Nineteen

The man stepped forward so that the light from the streetlamp illuminated his features.

Mark Tonelli.

Jenna tightened her grip on Niko.

"You okay?" Mark asked.

Niko just grunted. "Yes," Jenna answered warily.

"He ran Alvarez's men off?" Niko whispered for her ears only.

She nodded.

"Thanks," he told Mark.

Mark gave Niko one of his superior smiles. "You're welcome." He looked up and down the street. At a signal from Mark, the other man walked away and disappeared down the block. "Where are you staying? I'll help you get back."

Jenna felt Niko's hesitation. If he wanted to reject Mark's offer, she'd support him, but she really wanted to get off the street before Niko passed out from loss of blood.

The three of them were alone now and Jenna was acutely aware of being exposed underneath the street light. Without the sounds of traffic or conversation, she could hear the waves breaking against the pier and the occasional buzz of a cicada.

The hairs on the back of her neck tingled. She felt like they were being watched. She dug her fingers into Niko's side and glanced around, but it was too dark to tell if someone lingered in the shadows.

"You have a car?" Niko asked.

Mark nodded.

"Then let's go."

Mark turned back the way they'd come.

Damn, it was a good thing she was strong for her size, because Niko leaned heavily on her as they followed Mark. By the time they reached Mark's car, Niko had vomited once at the side of the road and was swaying so forcibly, she could barely keep him in a straight line.

Mark, the selfish jerk, didn't offer to help.

Niko didn't make a sound as she eased him into the backseat of Mark's low-slung sports car, even when she accidentally knocked his wounded arm against the door frame. The leg room was so scarce, she figured it would be more comfortable for him to lie across the seat, so she situated him with his back against the far door.

She gnawed on her lip. He must be hurt worse than he'd let on, because he let her move him like he was a rag doll. His eyes were closed and she wasn't certain if he was unconscious, or simply conserving energy.

The last thing she wanted to do was sit up front with Mark, but there wasn't enough room for her in back with Niko. As soon as her door was closed, Mark gunned it.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped.

She glanced over at Mark, not understanding why he was angry. Why did he care? Not interested in arguing with him, she gave him a shrug.

He pulled out onto one of the main streets, then glanced at Niko in the rearview mirror. "Hospital?"

Somehow Mark managed to make the word sound like an insult.

"No...hospital. Hotel...Excelsior." Niko's voice was the merest vibration, barely audible over the roar of the engine.

Mark's flash of jealousy as he recognized the name of the expensive hotel made Jenna feel good in an entirely juvenile way. She hoped Mark was staying in a pit.

The rest of the ride to the hotel was made in silence.

The moment Mark pulled the car up to the back door, Jenna hopped out and maneuvered Niko from the backseat onto his feet. After one step, his knees gave out. Jenna banged on the car's roof to get Mark's attention.

"I need help."

"Figures," Mark said grudgingly, climbing out of the car. He put his arm around Niko's waist and together they got Niko up to the room, into the bathroom and seated on the counter. Niko started to fall sideways, but braced himself with his good arm.

"Thanks," Niko said to Mark, his voice slightly slurred. "We'll take it from here." For a long, tense moment, the two locked gazes, Niko clearly challenging Mark.

Then Mark shrugged. "Good-night."

Jenna followed him across the living room. As Mark pulled open the door, he muttered, "Nice company you're keeping. Do you know Andros used to work for Alvarez?"

Jenna went still with rage. How dare Mark bring that up!

She expected Mark to step out into the hall, but instead, he backed away from the door, crowding her back into the sitting room.

Jenna peered around his shoulder and saw Rafe standing in the doorway, cold eyes measuring Mark for a shroud.

"For the record," Rafe said in a voice so chillingly polite it was menacing, "My brother was undercover with Alvarez. His work led to Alvarez's arrest."

Mark made a rude sound of disbelief, pushed past Rafe, and disappeared down the hall.

Rafe glared after him. Then he looked at Jenna. "You okay?"

She nodded.

"Good. I'll be right back." He started to follow Mark, then hesitated and turned back to her. "Niko's a good man. What he did during his time with Alvarez, it hurt him."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "It's another reason why I respect him."

"Thank you." Rafe smiled, planted a quick kiss on her cheek, then hurried after Mark.

Shaking her head in bemusement, Jenna closed the door and returned to the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway, her heart squeezing tight.

Niko's head rested against the wall, his eyes closed. A scrape running along his right cheekbone sluggishly oozed blood.

He looked vulnerable and defeated. This was a side of him she'd never seen before. She wanted to pull him into her arms and heal him. Yet at the same time, she didn't want to disturb him.

He must have sensed her presence, however, because his eyes opened. He stared at her, gaze unfocused and without recognition. She quickly stepped forward, afraid he might lose consciousness. But then, with a force of will she could practically feel, his eyes focused on her.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

He glanced down at his arm. "I don't know. Hurts like a sonofabitch though." He lifted his head and met her eyes. "You're going to have to take my shirt off so we can take a look."

The thought of undressing him made her mouth go dry. Her pulse quickened as she remembered the sensual tension that had built when he'd tended her wounds back at the cabin. Underneath the pain in his eyes, she thought she saw an answering flare of heat. But it was so brief, she probably imagined it. So she nodded and stepped in between his legs.

Her fingers shook slightly as she worked the first button free. The smell of sweat, blood and Niko's own spicy scent teased her nose. She barely managed to stop herself from leaning forward and nuzzling against his throat.

Telling herself to stay objective, she briskly slid the shirt off his good shoulder and down his arm past his tattoo. This close, she could see that part of the skin under the tattoo was raised. She traced her finger over it. The skin was rough and uneven.

"Scar tissue?"

"Yeah. Alvarez used a branding iron to mark me as his." Niko shrugged. "Once I was free, I had the tattoo done. Those are, uh...symbols of honor, courage and strength. Aztec and Greek, mostly."

Jenna clamped her lip between her teeth. She could picture it all too well, men holding Niko still while the hot iron seared his flesh. Yet she was sure he hadn't made a sound of pain.

Sorry she'd asked, and needing to do something to soothe him, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the branded skin. Niko hissed in a breath, as if she'd shocked him.

She pulled back quickly, embarrassed, and kept her eyes lowered as she finished moving the shirt sleeve off his arm. It got stuck at Niko's wrist where she'd forgotten to undo the buttons. She shook her head and shot him an apologetic smile. She fumbled open the button and a moment later his arm was bare. She peeled the shirt away from him until it hung from his injured arm.

Now she could see the flattened bullet still lodged in the Kevlar mesh, inches from Niko's heart.

The room spun and she closed her eyes. He'd come too close to death. She couldn't...she wouldn't...

This is why she didn't want to care about Niko. There was too much to fear. Too much that could happen to a person.

"Hey." Niko tipped up her chin with the tip of his finger. "I'm okay. I'll have a bruise, and breathing will be uncomfortable for a while, but the vest did its job."

She didn't want to think about why the vest was necessary in the first place. So she shoved all her concern down into her internal lock box, and focused on unfastening the heavy vest.

She lifted the Kevlar away from Niko's body. And just stared at his bare skin.

Oh, God, he was just as magnificent as she remembered. A strange mix of lust and tenderness burst inside her. She wanted to run her hands over him, both to soothe and arouse.

_Focus on the job._

She set the heavy vest on the lid of the toilet, then took hold of the other side of his shirt. But some of the blood was starting to harden over his knife wound.

She bit her lip. "I don't want to hurt you," she said, gesturing to the bloody shirt.

"I trust you."

Three simple words, but they cut her to the bone. Her throat tightened around a lump of emotion and she swallowed hastily. She nodded, then slowly began to peel his shirt away, occasionally pausing to wet the fabric with water dribbled from a plastic cup.

It wasn't as stuck as she'd feared and Niko didn't make a sound throughout. Finally she tossed the shirt in the trash, then took a good, long look at his arm.

She sucked in a breath. The slice was deep enough to expose muscle.

Niko glanced down and cursed. "This needs to be stitched, dammit. Hand me my cell phone. I need to call a doctor."

"I'll dial for you."

He nodded and rattled off a string of numbers. As she punched in the last digit, she handed the phone to him. To give him some privacy, she stepped into the hallway, but she stayed within earshot so she could reach him quickly if he needed her. She knew she was being foolish. He was no stranger to pain.

Yet, foolish or not, she couldn't stop herself from hovering. She felt an urgent need to help him. Because it was her fault he'd been hurt. She should have been more careful trailing Kai. She'd just been so excited to find him so quickly, she hadn't thought about the danger. She'd acted on impulse.

Just like she'd done too often as a kid.

_"Hello, little Miss Impetuous." Kai's head appeared first, emerging from the leaves of the tree branches below her like a God rising from a pond. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"_

_"I climbed the tree to get Missy, but she jumped to the ground. And now my ankle's stuck in this stupid crack."_

_"Well, today's your lucky day, Jen-shine. Your kitten is safe on the ground and I'm here to rescue you."_

Jenna shook her head, forcing the memory away. She didn't want to think about that, or all the other times Kai had rescued her while growing up.

Her heart skipped in panic. Kai had been shot tonight, but she refused to believe he was dead. Couldn't bear it if her revenge was snatched away from her. Instead, she held onto the grim hope that Kai was alive and a prisoner of Alvarez. If so, she'd do whatever was necessary to reach him.

Absolutely anything. Because failure was unacceptable.

" _Gracias_ ," Niko told the person on the other end of the phone line. He put the phone down on the counter, then leaned sideways to rest his head on the wall.

She let him be for a moment, then asked, "Do you want me to clean your cut?"

He swiveled his head so he could look at his injured arm. "No. There might be bits of shirt embedded in the wound. Let Dr. Perez clean it."

"Can I get you anything? Ibuprofen? Something to drink?"

"I'm good, thanks." He raised his eyebrows and his eyes drilled into her. "What the _fuck_ were you thinking? Didn't you learn anything from Moscow? It's not safe for you to run around the streets alone."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I didn't think. I just reacted."

"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it. Next time you might not be so lucky." His last words were slurred and his eyes drifted closed, as if that small outburst had sapped his remaining energy.

Jenna resisted the urge to smooth his hair back. Instead, she contented herself with watching him.

A loud knock at the suite's door made her jump. She hurried over to the peephole and saw Rafe and a stranger. She opened the door and nodded to Rafe. The other man was tall and muscularly bulky. A doctor's kit was in his left hand. " _Hola, señorita, yo soy Dr. Perez._ "

Jenna shook his hand. " _Tengo mucho gusto en conocerle,_ " she answered. " _Me llamo Jenna._ "

"So where's my lazy brother?"

She stiffened, even though she knew Rafe was teasing. She turned and pointed to the bathroom.

The men walked down the hall and crowded into the small space in front of Niko.

"Ah, Jesus Christ, bro." Rafe's words, soft as they were, roused Niko and he gave Rafe a wan smile.

Dr. Perez set his bag down and lifted Niko's injured arm. "This will need to be stitched. Where else are you hurt?"

"Chest. Nothing's cracked, just sore. Vest took a bullet. Head," Niko said. "Hit the pavement."

"Ah." The doctor turned Niko's head toward him and flashed a penlight in his eyes. "Is there dizziness? Double vision? Nausea?"

Niko shrugged. "Some."

Jenna saw what she'd missed before. The hair on the back of Niko's head was sticky with blood. As if he'd felt her gaze on him, Niko met her eyes. "Out."

"No," she said.

Rafe raised his eyebrows and glanced between her and his brother. His mouth turned up at the corners, but he didn't say anything.

Niko glared at her, trying to force her by sheer will to back down. But she needed to stay.

Dr. Perez started swabbing Niko's arm with antiseptic, but Niko's eyes didn't leave Jenna.

She couldn't keep her gaze from flickering back and forth from the wound to Niko's eyes. The sight of the blood, of the doctor's latex covered hands, of the needle puncturing Niko's skin as the doctor stitched up the wound, everything combined into a dark, greasy mass sliding through her stomach. Threatening to bring up her dinner and cut off her air.

She dug her fingernails into her palms and concentrated on breathing. Whenever she started to remember her mother's blood-stained face, she'd look into Niko's eyes. And although she knew she ought to be sending him messages of warmth and comfort, instead she took strength from him.

Finally, the doctor gave Niko two shots and it was done. "You shouldn't use this arm for several days," the doctor warned as he placed his trash in a portable biohazard bag. "But I have little doubt my recommendation will be ignored, as usual." He shook several pills out of a bottle and placed them in a plastic baggie.

"For the pain," he explained. He handed two to Niko and waited patiently until Niko obediently swallowed them with a glass of water.

"You must keep the wound clean and watch for infection. Also, you have a slight concussion. Someone needs to wake you every hour while you sleep and check your pupils."

Both Jenna and Rafe nodded and the doctor smiled in satisfaction. Then the men assisted Niko into bed.

"Now, _señorita_ , let me take a look at you."

"What?" Niko struggled to sit up. "Jenna's hurt?"

"No, I'm not."

Dr. Perez pointed at her hand. "Your hands are badly scraped, my dear." He nodded toward her feet, "and you're limping."

She blinked and looked down to see dried blood on her palms and knuckles. As if someone had removed a veil, she suddenly felt the pain.

"Jenna, goddammit, why didn't you say something?" Niko started to swing his legs to the floor, but Jenna rushed over and pushed on his shoulders so he couldn't get out of bed. She kept pushing until he leaned back against the pillows.

"Stay here," she ordered. She turned away, but he grabbed her wrist, turning her hand over so he could examine the scrapes on her palm.

He scowled. "Dammit, you are hurt. Go with Dr. Perez and let him fix you up."

She rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom. Then it was her turn to scowl when Rafe arrived at the door with Niko propped against him.

At her glare, Rafe gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. He invoked big brother status. I have to do what he wants." He helped Niko sit on the toilet seat cover. "Besides, he's stubborn enough to try and walk in here on his own."

The doctor finished cleaning the dirt and gravel out of her hands and poured antiseptic on them. Jenna sucked in a pained breath. Shaking her hands at the sting, she marveled that Niko hadn't so much as grimaced when the doctor poured the same horrible stuff over his much deeper wound.

Her feet were worse, though. They weren't scraped so much as bruised, but she had two deep cuts where she must have stepped on a piece of glass or metal. She hoped she hadn't bled on the carpet.

When the antiseptic hit the cuts, she bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Then the doctor smoothed cream over the cuts, bathing them in cool relief. Ah, much better.

"When was the last time you had a tetanus shot, _señorita_?"

"Uh...two years."

Dr. Perez nodded. "Good. Then I won't have to give you a shot." He smiled gently at her. "I'll give you a similar warning, and I hope you are more obedient than our friend here. You should avoid walking until the cuts have started to heal."

Jenna glanced over at Niko. How well she obeyed the doctor depended on what they could learn about where Kai had been taken. If Alvarez had him, then they'd have to arrange an immediate rescue.

She saw from Niko's slight nod that he understood the direction of her thoughts. "We'll do our best to obey you, doctor," he promised.

"Hmm." The doctor's eyes twinkled as he handed Jenna her own set of pills.

"No, don't bother to get up," he told Niko. "Let your brother show me to the door and then help the two of you to bed." He carefully touched the uninjured tips of Jenna's fingers in place of a handshake, then spoke quietly to Niko. Niko nodded, clasped the man on the shoulder and said good-bye.

Jenna was afraid to meet Niko's eyes, but the silence in the bathroom wore her down. To her surprise, his expression was a mix of exasperation and...pride? She felt her cheeks heat and looked away. He didn't say anything, for which she was extremely thankful. But he did reach out and take her hand, raising it to his lips so he could kiss her bandaged knuckles. The simple act of tenderness sent a curl of warmth through her.

"Okay, who's first?" Rafe asked from the doorway.

Jenna pointed at Niko, who was pointing at her. Rafe laughed. "Ladies first, then." He swung her up into his arms, startling a small growl out of Niko.

"Relax, bro. I'm not hurting her or honing in on your territory. I promise to be a perfect gentleman." He carried her into the bedroom and left her sitting on the edge of the bed. It took him considerably longer to help Niko into the room.

"I'm staying the night," Rafe announced once Niko was settled on the bed. "I'll bunk on the sofa bed and check in on Niko every hour."

"I can—" Jenna started, but Rafe shook his head.

"No, Jenna. I don't want you waking up to check on him. You're also hurt. You need to sleep."

"Damn straight," Niko muttered.

"Besides." Rafe's grin was wicked. "Those pills the doc gave you should knock you out shortly. I don't think you'll be in any shape to check on him, even if you wanted to."

Which, of course was the problem. She did want to be the one caring for Niko. Yet already she could feel the effects of the pills, like a soft blanket being pulled over her mind. So she nodded her agreement.

"Right. Sleep well."

Jenna helped Niko get settled under the covers, noticing that his belt was gone and the button of his pants was undone so he'd be more comfortable. It made her realize she didn't want to sleep in her bra. So once the lights were out, she reached underneath her top and behind her, struggling to undo the fastening with hands made clumsy by bandages.

"Here, let me." Niko's breath was warm on the back of her neck, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. He nudged her hands aside and deftly undid the hooks.

Her breath caught as the rough pads of his thumbs smoothed over her skin, rubbing away the marks left by the snug elastic.

Her body stilled, poised on the verge of something she barely remembered. As if she were waiting with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation to welcome back a friend after years apart.

What if she couldn't feel desire when actually touched by a man? What if this low hum was all that was left to her after the attack?

But then Niko nuzzled against her neck, and the heat of his mouth burned all the way to her belly.

He removed her shirt and bra and tossed them away, leaving her vulnerable to the chill of the air conditioner. She started to reach for the blanket, when he ran his hands across her bare skin from shoulder to wrist, along her waist and up her back. Everywhere he touched, he called nerve endings to tingling life, turning chill into inferno.

Her breath exited on a shuddering sigh.

Dear God, she'd forgotten what it felt like to be caressed by a man. But her body remembered and was greedy for more. She shifted restlessly on the bed, wanting his hands on her breasts.

Niko smoothed away the fringe of hair at the back of her neck and placed a kiss on her nape. His tongue licked her neck, savoring her skin as if it was the finest ice cream cone. Suckling her.

She closed her eyes as pressure built inside her.

Niko's lips were suddenly gone. His hand slid onto the bed. His breath came slow and steady against her ear.

Damn those pills of Dr. Perez's! Niko was asleep.

With her blood hot with arousal, she thought she'd never fall asleep. But in no time at all, the effects of the pills took over and she was out.

# Chapter Twenty

Niko awoke before Jenna the next morning, despite the fact that Rafe had done his promised duty and woken him every hour to check his pupil response. Each time, Jenna had stirred in her sleep and then snuggled back against him when Rafe left.

It had been a very long time since he'd slept in the same bed with a woman without making love to her. He had a vague memory of touching Jenna last night. Of putting his mouth on her neck. The sweet smell of woman and the taste of peaches.

Dammit. He had no business starting down that road with Jenna.

He was using her. She was using him. Period. The end.

It didn't matter if he liked her. If he wanted her so much, his insides were tangled up tighter than a Boy Scout's knot.

He was here because of Aunt Madalena. Because this time, Alvarez wasn't going to walk away free.

And with Paterson kidnapped, Jenna's role was now over.

As he looked down at her, watching her sleep, he wondered what she was going to do with her life after her brother was rescued. She'd spent the past two years at the SSU compound learning skills only an agent would need. He still didn't think she had the ruthlessness to be an agent. So, what would this former art conservation student do once she left the protection of the SSU?

_Why do you care? You're not going to see her again after this is over._

Problem was, he wanted to.

_Stop dreaming. She'll go on to live a normal life. Get married. Have kids. She deserves better than a man with questionable honor who lives in the shadows._

Of course, he might not survive the coming fight with Alvarez. Which was another reason not to get any closer to Jenna.

So he eased himself into a seated position. The cut on his arm was a hot pulse of pain, and he tried not to put any weight on it.

Jenna must have felt him move, because she stirred, stretched, then blinked sleepily up at him.

On its own accord, his good hand reached out and smoothed over her short, spiky hair. His finger traced a line from her forehead down her cheek to her chin. "Good morning." Dammit, his voice gave him away, so husky he might as well hang a sign around his neck that said, Horny Male.

Jenna turned her face into his hand and ran her tongue along the pad at the base of his thumb.

He sucked in his breath and jumped out of bed before his body took complete control and he found himself inside her.

_Easy, boy._

Jenna frowned at him in confusion chased by embarrassment. Then her expression settled into her usual stony mask.

Shit. He'd hurt her.

"Jenna—" He shook his head. Cleared his throat. Shuffled his feet. Then sighed. "Never mind." Whatever he said would only make the situation worse. So he turned his back on her and headed for the bathroom.

But somehow he found words coming out of his mouth, anyway. "We've no time for games, _querida_. Alvarez is skilled at torture. If your brother is still alive, I have to find him fast, or there won't be anything left to find."

He caught her stricken expression in the mirror over the chest of drawers and wanted to kick himself.

_Way to go. Try a little tact next time, why don't you?_

Too bad it was the truth.

Jenna scrambled out of bed, tucking the sheet around her. "What do you mean, if 'you' don't find Kai fast. You mean 'we' don't you?"

Oh yeah, he was just batting a thousand in tact this morning. "No. I'm going to look for your brother. I'm sending you to Ryker."

"No!"

He pinned her with a look. "Your role was to act as bait for your brother. That won't work with him either kidnapped or dead. I don't need you anymore. None of the other players will care about you once word gets out that Alvarez has your brother. You're useless now."

Jenna's head snapped back as if he'd landed a fast punch to her jaw. Her lips parted in shock.

"I'll arrange for someone to escort you home this evening."

"But—"

"No buts. One—I don't need your help. Two—" he waved his injured arm. "This is exactly the type of violence I didn't want you exposed to. Three—You disobeyed orders and not only left the room last night, but ran after your brother. Proving you still don't have the right attitude to survive in this world."

"I texted you!"

"A lot of fucking good that would have done you if I'd been thirty seconds farther away."

"But if I'd waited, we would've lost Kai!"

"So? I almost lost you!"

Shit.

There it was. The elephant in the closet. A cold vise squeezed his heart every time he imagined Alvarez doing to Jenna what he'd done to Aunt Madalena. No matter what Jenna wanted, Niko wouldn't be able to function unless she was someplace safe. And Ryker would protect her.

Jenna blinked in surprise. Then frowned.

Niko didn't give her a chance to speak. "Just forget it. You're not leaving the suite again until it's time to take you to the airport."

"He's my brother! I have to be the one to find him. Me. No one else!"

"No!"

A feral, vicious anger briefly lit Jenna's eyes. Turning her into a deadly stranger.

Niko blinked, and the Jenna he knew was back. Furious, but not a killer.

Still, something was off here. She wasn't being honest about her reason for going after Paterson. He remembered how he'd wondered before if Jenna was a danger to her brother. Was her ferocity simply a sign of strong family loyalty? Or did she plan to punish him for his role in the attack? Whatever her motivation, Niko's gut told him it was safer for everyone if she went back to the States.

She flicked a glance at the bedroom door and he knew she was going to fight him. Try to run. Dammit, this was so not the way he'd wanted this morning to go.

"Rafe!"

His brother opened the door just as Jenna made a dash for it. She stopped short, pulling the sheet more tightly around her.

Rafe's eyes bounced from Jenna's bare shoulders to Niko's naked chest. His eyebrows rose, but thankfully he kept his smart mouth shut.

"Don't let Jenna out of the suite and don't trust her to behave." Niko glanced at Jenna, reading the depth of her fury in her rigid back. Tough shit. "She once pulled a pistol on me, so keep her away from the weapons."

"Uh...mind telling me what's going on?"

"She's pissed because I'm sending her back to Ryker as soon as I find a secure flight for her."

Rafe's lips rolled in, hiding his amusement. "Right."

"Thanks. I'll be in the shower." As he headed toward the bathroom, he pretended he hadn't noticed Jenna's eyes shooting amber fire at him over her shoulder as she hissed, "Bastard."

It didn't improve his mood that her impulsive reaction last night _had_ helped their mission. He now knew that Paterson was in Acapulco and with Alvarez's men. Finding out whether the man was dead or alive was something only Niko could do.

Knowing how Alvarez liked to draw out torture, Niko was betting on Paterson being alive. Although by now the man was probably praying for death.

If Paterson weren't a murderous bastard, Niko'd almost feel sorry for the guy.

* * *

_Tuesday, Morning_

_Ixtapa, Mexico_

Jaime Alvarez buttered his croissant while he waited for his men to bring Paterson up from the dungeons. He smiled at the archaic word. This building had originally been a military fort, complete with dungeons. They were the main reason he'd bought the place. Not only was it close to Acapulco, where a majority of his businesses were located, but the facilities were perfect for carrying out his interrogations and retributions. And it suited him to play lord of the manor.

He sat outside on the terrace, his table overlooking the edge of a cliff. To his left, the waves crashed mercilessly against the rocks. The sea was an additional benefit to the fort's design. It made this side of the property impregnable.

A gull swooped low, diving for the basket of rolls in front of him. Alvarez nodded and his attendant raised his rifle and shot the bird out of the sky. It landed on a thin strip of beach between the jagged rocks below. "Set the dogs on it, after my session with Señor Paterson," he instructed.

" _Sí, jefe._ "

The sound of booted footsteps on the marble stairs leading up from the dungeons announced the arrival of his guest. A moment later, Paterson was dragged into view. The man wore thick iron manacles on wrists and ankles and his arms were chained behind his back. Bruised, cut skin peeked through tears in his clothing.

Last night, Alvarez had ordered his surgeon to remove the bullets from Paterson's upper back and thigh. He didn't want lead shifting inside the man's body, maybe doing enough damage to kill him before Alvarez had learned the location of the chip.

"Ah, Señor Paterson, how kind of you to pay me a visit." Alvarez placed the piece of croissant in his mouth and chewed delicately as he watched Paterson's eyes struggle to focus on him.

"Jorge, how badly did you treat Señor Paterson last night?" Alvarez let a hint of his annoyance creep into his voice. "He lacks attentiveness this morning."

Jorge's eyes shifted between the prisoner and his boss. "We worked him for three hours, _jefe_. Just as you told us."

"Alvarez," Paterson finally acknowledged. Even slurred, the word was full of contempt.

"So, you do recognize me. Did you enjoy your little talk with Doña Serafina last night?"

Paterson flinched slightly, the only sign that he recognized the name of Dr. Nevsky's mistress.

"I always suspected someone would come calling on her looking for information," Alvarez continued. "She knows nothing, of course, but still," he shrugged. "Since I'm the one who introduced her to Dr. Nevsky, she was more than willing to help lure you into the open. Of course, you should have been more wary after you avoided the first trap so easily." He hadn't been certain that having the woman arrange a second meeting would work. Yet she'd played Paterson perfectly, moaning about how scared she was and how she hadn't known Alvarez's men were at the café. Insisting that she still had information for him.

The plan had exceeded his expectations. When his men followed Paterson away from the whore's house, they'd noticed that he picked up another tail. A woman that Jimenez claimed had white hair.

The sister.

Even more astounding, Niko had shown up to rescue the sister.

With a little careful maneuvering, he could get Niko in his dungeons. A piece of revenge he'd dreamed of for years. As additional pleasure, he'd make Madalena watch, then send Niko's body parts along with a videotape of his dismembering to the traitorous bitch that was his mother.

After all, everything went back to her in the end. She was family. Distant, yes, but blood bound. Fresh out of university, she should have been grateful to be given a position in one of the Alvarez family businesses in Juarez. Instead, she'd befriended a young DEA agent, Leander Andros and started passing the man information about the company's role in the drug business.

She'd given Andros the information about a crucial shipment going out. Information that led to a DEA raid that destroyed the business and left Alvarez's older brother dead.

Niko's death would only be the beginning of the final stage of his revenge against Galena Andros.

Paterson coughed.

But first, he had to deal with the current problem. "Señor Paterson, you were paid to steal Dr. Nevsky's microchip. You received your down payment. Now you will give me the chip."

"No."

Alvarez shook his head in mock disappointment. "Jorge."

The man stepped behind Paterson. With a quick motion, he twisted Paterson's right arm up behind his body. Paterson winced, but said nothing. Alvarez signaled Jorge to continue. He kept twisting until Paterson dropped to the ground, head hanging, gasping in pain.

"I don't have the chip." Paterson's voice was harsh, rasping across the ears like sandpaper.

"Don't lie to me. You told me you were going to retrieve the chip the night of the fire. I know you met with Nevsky before the lab burned." He buttered another croissant, enjoying the man's pain too much to hurry this along. Slowly, one small section at a time, he ate the entire croissant. Then, very calmly, he asked, "Where is the chip?"

"I don't have it!"

Jorge popped the man's shoulder out of its socket. Paterson screamed, startling a flock of gulls into flight.

"You have until this time tomorrow to reconsider your answer, Señor Paterson. I do hope you reconsider." He waved his hand and the guards lifted the man to his feet and started to drag him away.

"Jorge?"

" _Jefe?_ "

"Let Señor Paterson rest until this evening. Tonight your men may continue to practice their technique on him for two hours only."

" _Sí, jefe!_ "

Alvarez took a sip of his coffee, pleased with the results of his interrogation. It was always disappointing when they broke too quickly.

He stared across the pure, azure water. Of course, Niko and the sister would attempt a rescue. He would allow them onto the property, then see them dragged into the dungeon.

With a wave of his hand he signaled for his attendant to bring him the phone that called inside the fortress.

"We will soon be receiving two additional guests," he told his head of security. "This is what you will do."

* * *

Madalena Andros remained perfectly still, watching from the shadows beside the solarium window. Alvarez was getting careless. Before prison, he'd kept guards on her room to make sure she didn't wander his home and stumble across sensitive information. Yet, since they'd moved to Ixtapa, she hadn't been guarded.

In fact, this morning there had been no other people in the hallways at all. Possibly due to the new prisoner. The man, Paterson, was the one Alvarez had told Niko to find. She felt sorry for him, but she could do nothing to help. She would not risk drawing attention to herself and having this freedom taken away from her.

Because Niko was near.

She'd heard Alvarez ordering his security chief to set a trap with Paterson as bait. She couldn't allow that. It was bad enough that Alvarez had kidnapped her again. For him to get his hands on Niko was unthinkable.

Ah. Of course. That was the real reason she had no guards. Alvarez hoped Niko would come to her rescue.

She'd been witness to some of the atrocities Niko had been forced to commit while undercover with Alvarez. She knew how close her nephew had come to being destroyed by the role he'd played. How he'd fought not to give in to the dark rage that governed so many of Alvarez's men.

She was proud of Niko and the man he'd become.

No matter the cost, she had to keep Niko away from Alvarez.

Silence from the patio let her know it was safe to move again. Still, she peeked quickly out the window to check that Alvarez had indeed left before she headed down to the kitchen. For all she was allowed to wander around the house, if she tried to step outside, she'd be stopped. So, how could she warn Niko?

* * *

_Tuesday, Afternoon_

_Acapulco, Mexico_

Niko slouched insolently in his chair and ignored the blatant come-ons from the scantily clad waitress. He lifted the bottle of beer up to his mouth and pretended to take a swallow while he watched the entrance from half-lowered lids, wondering if his contact would show up. The man was already twenty minutes late.

If Carlos didn't show his face in five, Niko was out of there.

To kill time, Niko pulled out his pocket knife and a sharpening stone. The waitress plunked a basket of American potato chips on his table, eyed the knife, and hissed a warning that he'd better not cause any trouble and get her fired. Niko reassured her he would behave like an angel and she huffed off.

Thirty seconds before the five minutes were up, his contact strutted in. Niko sighed. He almost wished Carlos hadn't shown. The man thought he was God's gift to the world and had a temper like a cockerel. He was useful, though. A mercenary, Carlos knew just about everything that went on in Acapulco, legal and illegal.

So far as Niko could tell, Carlos didn't know, and didn't care, who'd put Alvarez in prison.

"Heh," Carlos huffed in surprise as he stopped in front of Niko's table. "So it's true," he said in Spanish. " _La mano derecha_ is back. You come with _El Jefe_?"

Niko reached out and shook Carlos's hand without standing up. "No," he answered in the same language, putting a look of distaste on his face. "Me and Alvarez, we're through. He had a rat in his organization and the gringo cops locked me away." He turned his head and spat onto the floor, adding to hundreds of previous wads staining the dark wood.

Carlos nodded. He pulled out a chair, turned it around, and straddled it, leaning his scrawny arms along the top. With a wave of his hand and an appreciative leer, he signaled the waitress and ordered tequila.

"That why you're back? You want revenge on _El Jefe_?"

Niko shrugged. "Maybe."

Carlos laughed. "Yeah, you do. Why else you want my help?" He thumped his chest. "Because I'm the best and you need the best to take on _El Jefe_."

No, if he'd been the best Carlos would be working solely for Alvarez. The men on Alvarez's payroll were the most violent, amoral, sadistic men Niko had ever met. Each man had a kill specialty. Knives, guns, garrote—the weapon didn't matter. The team who killed the Patersons was known for scalping their victims. Each of them had had a personal section of wall at Alvarez's compound in Peru where the scalps they'd taken were displayed.

Niko's fist clenched around the sharpening stone. He thanked God the compound didn't exist any more, because sure as shit, Jenna's family's scalps would be there.

The waitress returned with the tequila and Carlos sunk his peso notes deep into the cleavage mounding over the edge of her top. She wriggled, laughed and gave Carlos a peck on the lips before she sauntered off. Carlos watched her with a predatory eye that made Niko want to call the waitress back and tell her not to leave the club alone after her shift. When Carlos finished with a woman, she was lucky if she ended up in the emergency room.

Carlos lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a long swallow. "Heh, you're not alone in wanting to take down _El Jefe_ ," he continued. "Pepe Marone owns half the city now. Word is he's pissed Alvarez is back. He's either going to kill him or turn him over to the authorities."

Niko grunted noncommittally. As satisfying as it would be to let Marone have Alvarez, Niko needed Alvarez alive, at least until he freed his aunt.

"You're awfully quiet, _Derecha_."

_That's because you talk too much, asshole._ Niko shrugged and tested the edge of his knife with his thumb. Perfect.

Carlos eyed the knife warily. "If you don't got something to say to me, I'm gone." He started to stand up.

Niko pointed the knife at him. "Sit."

Carlos paused, then lowered himself back onto the chair.

"I was supposed to meet a man last night. Alvarez's men grabbed him instead. I want to know where he is." Niko balanced the tip of the knife on his index finger while Carlos watched, mesmerized. For all his toughness, Carlos had a tiny little phobia of knives. Give him a pistol or shotgun, and he was deadly. He wouldn't run screaming if you pulled a knife on him, but his momentary freeze gave opponents an edge.

"I don't know anything about this man you claim was taken."

Niko described Paterson as best he could from his brief glimpse of the man and Jenna's description of what her brother had been wearing last night. "Jimenez and another man were following him." With a flick of his wrist, Niko sent the knife in an arc and caught it with his right hand. His other hand pulled some pesos out of his jacket pocket and set them on the table, the movement tugging at the stitches in his forearm.

Carlos grabbed the money. "I'll ask around."

"Be fast, Carlos. You're not the only one I'm asking." Niko tossed the knife from hand to hand. "I'll double the money if you're the first one with the news. Otherwise, you get nothing."

Carlos's eyes gleamed with greed. "Understood."

Niko gave him the number of the disposable cell phone he'd picked up on his way out of the hotel, then watched as Carlos got up from the table and went over to flirt with the waitress before strutting out of the bar.

"Stay away from that one, honey," Niko murmured when the waitress came over to collect his empty glass. "He's a killer."

The woman just laughed. "As long as he pays well, who cares?"

Niko shook his head and made for the exit.

Outside, the sidewalk was crowded. As he turned toward the hotel, a body slammed into him from the side, knocking him off balance. He felt the slight tug as a hand slipped into his jacket pocket, but by the time he'd regained his balance, the person was gone.

Niko continued with the flow of the crowd for a block, then ducked down a side street. He stopped behind a thick tree and put his hand into his pocket. His fingers touched the edge of a note.

He unfolded the plain, unlined piece of white paper.

_Your aunt cries nightly for you_ , the note said in Spanish. _New terms. Bring me Jenna Paterson and I will release your aunt._ It was signed, _A_.

_Madre de Dios._ Niko shoved the note back into his pocket and started walking. Yet his sudden panic didn't fade. He should have guessed Alvarez would want Jenna as leverage against Paterson.

But there was no way in hell he was letting Jenna anywhere near that bastard. He'd found a charter plane to take Jenna home tonight. He'd worked with the pilot before and the man hated Alvarez with a vengeance. Jenna would be safe with him.

Freeing Niko to go after Alvarez.

The muscles at the back of his neck twitched, letting him know he was being watched. He moved alongside a parked van and saw in the side mirror the image of a man slipping into the shadow of a building half a block behind him.

Shit.

There was no telling if the man belonged to Alvarez or one of the other criminals Niko had pissed off during his tenure in Acapulco. Either way, it meant trouble he didn't have time for. He detoured down the next street and his tail followed. Okay, time to get serious and shake the man loose. There was no way he was leading his pursuer back to Jenna.

The soft scuff of a shoe a few yards behind him had him glancing at the reflection in a car window. Two men in jeans and black t-shirts were swaggering toward him, confident he hadn't noticed their approach.

He scanned the street ahead of him, looking for places to hide and avenues of escape. This was a mostly residential neighborhood and there was no one else walking the block. So his pursuers had no reason not to attack.

He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket, opened his cell phone and by feel sent a quick 9-1-1 text to Rafe. Then he let his hands hang loosely by his sides and transferred his weight to the balls of his feet.

# Chapter Twenty-One

The sound of claws on pavement signaled the start of the attack. Shit, where'd the dog come from? Before he could dodge, the animal plowed into his back. He rolled, grunting in pain as a paw dug into his wounded arm. Then he was flat on his back with one hundred plus pounds of Rottweiler sitting on his belly, marinating his neck with drool.

Shadows moved out from the shade of trees and telephone poles and resolved into five lean, muscled men. Great. There were more of them.

The men formed a circle around him. Switchblades snicked open and knives were pulled from sheaths. The leader stepped forward and laid a hand on the nape of the dog. "Stand down, Rosalie," he ordered in a husky, broken voice. The dog whimpered, but backed up and planted her rump on the pavement.

Niko stared up into the hate-filled eyes of Chale Romero. The last time he'd seen the man, Chale had been on the ground in an alley near the waterfront, gasping for breath after Niko had nearly crushed his windpipe.

The man's network of informers had obviously improved if he'd learned Niko was back in town so quickly.

"It wasn't wise of you to return to Acapulco," Chale informed him. "Get up so I can fight you like a man."

Right. And after he'd whipped Chale's sorry ass, the other four men would jump him. He didn't think so. He wasn't going to fucking die and leave Jenna.

Niko tucked his shoulder and rolled into the dog, using his hands to push her into her master. Snapping blindly in outrage, her teeth sank into Chale's leg. While Chale fought to free himself, Niko continued rolling until he was safely underneath a sedan parked at the curb. He paused for a moment, sucked in a deep breath to steady himself against the pain in his arm, then rolled out the other side and dashed down the sidewalk.

A knife clattered to the asphalt beside him. Chale's gang had an old-fashioned preference for knives. They claimed that close-contact fighting was the only honorable way and rarely carried guns.

Niko, however, didn't care about honoring the old ways. He dove behind a low stone wall on someone's front lawn and pulled out his pistol. Two men sprinted into firing range, the dog charging behind them. The men he shot, but he didn't want to hurt the dog. She was just following her training.

Still, his finger tightened on the trigger as powerful legs carried the dog closer. Just as Niko raised the weapon to fire, Chale gave a piercing whistle and the Rottweiler ground to a halt. The dog quivered, but held her position, feral eyes focused on Niko. Her low, angry growls carried across the tense silence.

In jarring counterpoint, the playful tinkling of bells suddenly floated down the street. A moment later, an ice cream truck careened around the corner. The truck rocked side to side as it sped toward them, in danger of tipping over at any moment.

Chale raised his knife, but before he could throw, an automatic weapon discharged from the ice cream truck, spraying the area around Chale with bullets. Two of the men fell.

Red exploded out of Chale's shoulder. He staggered, but stayed upright. With a final glare in Niko's direction, he whistled for the Rottweiler and fled with his men, leaving the wounded behind.

The ice cream truck rocked to a stop in front of Niko's hiding place, bells still tinkling.

Niko stood up as Rafe poked his head out the door. "What the hell is this?" Niko pointed to the truck.

Rafe grinned. "Pretty spiffy, huh? My rental car was blocked in at the hotel and there weren't any taxis. The American entrepreneur driving this baby was only too happy to lend me his truck, providing I pay for the ice cream."

"Where's Jenna?" Niko demanded as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Rafe settled behind the wheel and put the truck in reverse. "I left her back at the hotel."

"Shit. I told you to watch her, not leave her alone. She'll be long gone by now."

"Relax, big bro. The last thing on her mind is escape." Rafe reached over from the driver's seat and punched Niko on the arm.

"Hey!"

"That's for leaving her alone with me. All morning she was doing a fine impression of a glacier. I think I've got frostbite on strategic parts of my body. Then I got your call and instant thaw. But don't think you're off the hook with her," Rafe added. "She was working up a good head of steam before I left. I think she's going to kill you when she finds out you've reopened your wound. Not to mention the lovely scrapes on your face."

Niko scowled. "Still—"

"Trust me, she's not going anywhere. She's setting up triage for you while she waits for Dr. Perez."

Rafe flung the truck around a corner and Niko snatched at the door frame to stop himself from being thrown from his seat.

"Jesus, Rafe, you trying to kill me? Slow down already."

"Huh? So, who were those guys?" Rafe asked.

"Just some local thugs I crossed paths with when I worked for Alvarez. This was a personal attack. Nothing to do with the other matter."

Rafe shot him a glance, but thankfully didn't press for details.

"By the way," Rafe said. "I got a call from your pilot friend. His plane was sabotaged. It could take days to get the necessary parts to make the repairs."

"Ah, hell." He didn't want Jenna on a commercial flight because it was too unprotected, and all the other pilots he trusted were booked.

Niko supported his injured arm with his right hand as the truck jolted across a pothole. "Jenna must be psyched."

Rafe made a sound of agreement and swerved the truck around a double-parked taxi. "You can make it up to the suite if I drop you off? I need to return the truck."

Niko nodded.

The truck skidded to a stop in front of the hotel and Niko climbed out, hissing slightly as he jarred his wounded arm. The doorman didn't bat an eye at Niko's bloody, dirty appearance, but Niko felt all eyes on him as he walked slowly across the lobby.

Just as Rafe had promised, Jenna and Dr. Perez were waiting for him in the suite. From her seat on the couch, Jenna took one look at him, pursed her lips, then glanced away. He saw a brief flash of worry in her eyes and it made him feel like hell.

Yet as she silently handed Dr. Perez supplies, her expression was cool and distant, any concern buried under icy calm. Hyperaware of her displeasure, Niko tried to catch her eye, but she avoided looking at him.

"Hey!" The prick of a needle in his arm jerked his attention back to the doctor. "What the hell did you just give me?"

Dr. Perez stuck another needle in him before he answered. "The first shot was another dose of antibiotics. This is a sedative. If you don't rest, you're never going to heal."

"Dammit, doc—" He had to be conscious in case his contacts needed to reach him.

The doctor ignored him, giving Jenna a list of instructions. She nodded somberly, then shot Niko a warning glare. He held up his hands. "Yeah, fine, I'll be good."

Not like he had a choice. The doc had obviously injected him with some heavy duty meds. He was feeling woozy already.

Jenna showed the doctor to the door and Niko fully expected her to light into him when she returned. Instead, she picked up the packets of pain pills Perez had left behind and put them in her pocket.

He watched her, trying to gauge her mood, but she seemed content to pretend he wasn't in the room. Which probably meant he was in a shitload of trouble.

* * *

Jenna wanted to scream at Niko. He'd staggered through the door with fresh blood on his face and staining the arm of his long sleeved t-shirt. His mouth had been thin as a thread, his eyes dark with pain. This was the second time in the past twenty-four hours he'd been at the end of his reserves.

She tried to tell herself she didn't care what happened to him as long as he helped her find Kai. Tried to tell herself she was still furious with him for planning to send her back to Ryker.

It didn't work.

She wanted Niko strong and unhurt. Not because he was the only person who could help her free Kai, but because she liked him and...dammit...cared about him.

Instead of focusing on her mission, she was spending too much time worrying about, and nursing, Niko.

But she couldn't allow herself to be distracted. Or, worse, allow herself to care so much for Niko that she put his life above getting Kai. Her duty to avenge her family came first.

"Jenna?"

She shook her head and pointed toward the bedroom, refusing to look at Niko. If he didn't get out of her sight soon, she'd end up doing something stupid like throwing herself into his arms and crying. Because when Rafe had received the emergency call and bolted from the couch, she'd been terrified that Alvarez had killed Niko. And she was ridiculously relieved he was alive.

Jenna started as Niko's fingers stroked her cheek. She thought he'd gone into the bedroom.

"You were really worried about me, weren't you?" His voice was tinged with awe.

She thought about denying it, but didn't want to lie to him. Not about this. She nodded slowly. Opened her mouth and tried to speak, but only a croak came out.

He brushed a feather-light kiss on her forehead. "Thank you. But just for the record, I'm damn hard to kill."

She quirked up the corner of her mouth to let him know she appreciated his attempt to ease her mind. And as she stared into his eyes, she realized for the first time how fundamentally different they were.

Because she saw no concern in his eyes for the pain he was suffering. If asked to rush out the door this moment and fight again, he'd do it without thought.

And this was the life he wanted.

While she...

Jenna looked away, her tongue touching the cyanide cap on her tooth. She endured the threat of danger because vengeance was worth any risk. And because she knew that on the day she confronted Kai, all her pain would disappear.

But to choose to spend her life constantly in danger? No.

How would she able to live with herself? She'd grown to hate the hard, unemotional woman she'd become. Maybe that was why her emotions kept resurfacing. Because maybe Niko was right. Maybe deep down there was still some of her pre-attack self left.

Shaken by the realization, she started straightening the pillows on the sofa.

Only a few more days, she told herself. Then it will be over.

"Jenna?"

Oh, God, please don't let Niko guess where her thoughts had been. She shook her head. Finally managed a weak, "Go to bed." She pointed again to the bedroom.

"Yes, ma'am." Niko saluted and shuffled into the room.

Part of her wanted to tuck him in, but she was much too vulnerable right now. If she touched him...

The bedroom door closed, leaving her alone.

She sank to the sofa, head in her hands. Fighting to put her world back on the simple track it had moved on before she'd met Niko. A life with one purpose...and no regrets.

# Chapter Twenty-Two

Niko awoke to a dark bedroom and the dull throb of a headache. He moved his arm. There was only a twinge of pain, easily ignored.

He turned on the light, slipped into a loose shirt and pants, and stepped into the sitting room. The television was on. Rafe sat at one end of the couch. Jenna was curled up at the other end. An empty bag of popcorn sat between them.

The scene was so cozy and domestic, Niko felt his throat close around a pang of some unfamiliar emotion. Rafe would be a good match for Jenna. He was an honest, solid man she could depend on. Rafe had never gone so deep undercover he'd been in danger of losing himself. Each time Niko walked down another street in the underbelly of this town he felt the darkness claim a little bit more of his soul.

He wanted to protect Jenna from the man he'd been. The man he was once again becoming in order to save his aunt.

Jenna's exterior toughness hid a caring heart. She needed someone to shelter her. To make her trust and laugh again. Someone who would be there to hold her through the nightmares that woke her every night.

Rafe was good with emotional stuff. Unlike Niko, who still had nightmares of his own.

So it made no sense that he wanted to throw his brother out of the suite. Or that, instead of telling Jenna he was going back out onto Acapulco's seedy streets tonight, he opened his mouth and said, "I'm hungry. How about we head over to El Mirador, grab some dinner and watch the final show of the cliff divers?"

The quick interest on Jenna's face morphed into disappointment. "No. We have to look for Kai. You said it yourself that we don't have much time to save him."

"I've already put the word out that I want his location. After the show I'll go out again. Until then, we need to eat."

Rafe stood up. "No. It's too dangerous. Jesus, Niko, those men tried to kill you this afternoon. If you're not safe on the streets, what do you think they'll do to Jenna if they realize she's connected to you? Isn't that the reason you're sending her home?"

Niko propped his shoulder against the door. "I think I'm capable of coming up with a disguise good enough to fool Chale and his men for a couple hours. And Jenna's never been to Acapulco before. I can't take her on a tour of the town, but the restaurant has always been neutral territory. I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought she'd be at risk."

"And the cuts on her feet?"

Niko scowled.

Jenna waved her hand in the air. "Hey! I'm right here, guys. Rafe, my feet don't hurt that much. As long as I don't do too much walking, I'm fine to go out. But Niko, you need to heal. You should stay here."

"I've already got Rafe fussing after me. I don't need you doing it, too," Niko snapped. "If you don't want to come, don't. I'm going out, anyway."

Rafe grabbed his brother's good arm. "Excuse us a moment." He pulled Niko into the bedroom and shut the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded in Greek. "Alvarez's men saw Jenna last night. Even if she's safe from attack inside the restaurant, what happens when you're in transit on the street?"

"I'll get her a wig. Trust me, I won't let anything happen to her."

Rafe clapped him on his bad arm and Niko flinched.

"Right. Like you're strong enough to protect her."

Niko flung off his brother's arm and stepped forward until their noses almost touched. "I survived Chale's attack. I'll keep her safe."

Dammit, the truth was he wanted more time with Jenna and the plane delay was giving it to him. As soon as they found her brother, she'd return to her life and he'd never see her again.

Was it so bad to want to show her a good time before they parted? She'd been through a lot since he met her. He didn't want her memories of him to be all bad.

Yet, at the same time, he'd hate himself if he took her out tonight and something did happen to her.

He walked over to the window, pulled back the curtain and glared at the night. "Look, I—"

His cell phone rang.

Grateful for the temporary reprieve, he checked the caller id and flipped it open. " _Dígame._ "

Carlos responded with an excited babble. It took Niko two tries to get the man to calm down enough to be understandable. When he did, Niko listened intently.

"Okay," he said in Spanish. "Don't let him leave. I'll be there in ten minutes." He closed the phone, slipped it into his jeans pocket and grabbed his pistol from under the pillow.

"Where are you going?" Rafe stood in front of the door with arms crossed, as if he'd stop Niko from leaving if he didn't like the answer.

Jesus, you'd think Rafe was the big brother here. "Out. One of my informants is in a bar with a man who works at Alvarez's place up the coast. He's shaken enough by recent events there to be talkative."

"You think that's where Paterson is being held?"

"Yeah. Alvarez has places here in town, but they're small and more exposed. He owns a fortress in Ixtapa that's built on a cliff with dungeons below. Perfect for holding and torturing prisoners." Niko walked over to the closet, pulled out his suitcase, and removed an extra magazine of ammunition from the false bottom. "I didn't expect to get confirmation on Paterson's location so soon. The Ixtapa place is one he owned when I worked for him. I know it well. If the info's valid, then we might actually get Paterson away from Alvarez before he gives up the chip. And get Aunt Madalena free at the same time."

"You want backup?"

Niko shook his head. He picked up the dented Kevlar vest and put it on, figuring it was better than nothing. "Stay here with Jenna. Keep her busy, so she doesn't try to follow."

"She'd be a lot happier if you stayed with her and I went out. You shoulda seen her when you called in the 9-1-1. She was all set to go charging after you. I think she's got it bad for you."

Even though it was all wrong, warmth still spread behind Niko's breastbone at the suggestion Jenna might care for him. Jesus. He felt like he was in junior high and had just been told the most popular girl in school liked him.

Niko shook his head to snap himself back to reality and slipped the magazine into the pocket of his windbreaker. He strapped a small throwing knife to his calf and put a switchblade in the other coat pocket. The pistol went into its shoulder holster.

"Jesus Christ, Niko. You're arming yourself like you're walking into Armageddon, yet you refuse backup. Are you insane?"

Niko's lips lifted in an uncivilized smile. "After the past two days, you really need to ask?"

"Yeah, well, that didn't work out so good for you, huh?" Rafe stepped up to Niko, put his hands on either side of his face, and placed a kiss of benediction on his brother's forehead.

"Stay safe, brother mine." The left side of Rafe's mouth quirked up into a half smile. "I don't wanna be the one telling Mamá you're gone."

More touched by his brother's concern than he cared to let on, Niko nodded brusquely. "I've got to move." He took the coward's way out, barreling out of the bedroom and through the living room without looking at Jenna.

"Back in a bit," he threw over his shoulder, yanking open the door. As he stepped into the hallway, he sensed Jenna coming to her feet.

"Hold on, Jenna," he heard Rafe say. "Let me explain."

* * *

Glancing up from his seat at the end of the bar, Niko bit back a groan as he recognized the men entering the room. They were dressed to blend in with the regular crowd of taxi drivers, cooks, and other low-income workers, but Niko had worked with SSU agent Enrique Gonzales before and recognized the man even under his stained coveralls and grease-spattered baseball cap.

"Damn it, Rafe," Niko muttered. "I told you I could take care of myself. I'm not a damn greenhorn."

He caught Gonzales's eye and the man gave a slight shrug before joining his companions at the bar.

Niko leaned closer to the man sitting next to him, straining to catch his mumbled words. Something about the dogs and a man who'd lied to _El Jefe_...nightmares...screams...the sound of flesh being ripped by canine teeth.

Whoever the poor son-of-a-bitch had been, it wasn't Paterson. Niko tried to steer the conversation in a new direction, asking questions about other guests of Alvarez. But the man was obsessed with the dogs and was too far into his cups to pay much attention to Niko. He was just a poor cook's assistant and desperately needed to talk through the horror.

Christ. He wasn't the man's shrink, already.

Then the man said something that made Niko's head turn. "What was that?"

"At least this time he didn't make the woman watch."

"What woman?"

"His mistress. So beautiful. Like an angel, she is. But very sad." The man shuddered. "I think _El Jefe_ hurts her. And sometimes he forces her to watch what he does to the men."

Hallelujah. He finally had a confirmation of Aunt Madalena's location.

"And now there's _el gringo_." The man's hands shook as he tried to pour the last of the tequila into his glass. "I had to bring the guards their dinner one night and I heard him screaming." Giving up on the glass, he tilted his head back and poured the liquid straight from the bottle into his mouth. But the tequila must have hit the wrong passage, for the man leaned forward, coughing most of the liquid out onto the bar.

Niko's fingers itched to shake the man back to sense. But he forced himself to wait quietly until the man was finished coughing. Then he prompted, "And _el gringo_?"

"I hear his screams also in my dreams. _El Jefe_ wants something from the man, but the man, he claims he doesn't have it."

So Paterson was still holding out. Good.

Niko's companion grabbed a napkin and started mopping up the mess he'd made. "The pay is more than I ever dreamed," he muttered. "But for such nightmares as it brings me, I do not think I can continue."

"Are there any other prisoners?"

The man shook his head. "Only _el gringo_."

Although it was entirely possible that the man was a plant from Alvarez, Niko had no choice but to trust him. "If you help me free _el gringo_ and the woman, I'll find you another job where Alvarez can't hurt you."

The desperate hope in the man's eyes hit Niko with the force of an accusation. All the man wanted was a decent life for him and his family.

Niko had no right asking the man to risk death. But he was going to use the man anyway.

# Chapter Twenty-Three

"You're a good brother," Jenna said, referring to Rafe's telephone call to Ryker requesting backup for Niko. "Watching out for him." Even though they both knew Niko wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

"Of course," Rafe said. "I'll do anything to keep him safe. But you understand, don't you? You love your brother. That's why you want to be the one to bring him in. To find out the truth about the night your family was attacked and make sure your brother is treated fairly."

Jenna glanced away, afraid Rafe would read the truth in her eyes. Love Kai? Yes, once she'd loved and adored her older brother. She would have done anything for him. Even when he'd stopped coming home so often, she'd still believed he was the kind, honorable man she knew.

_I won't ever let anyone hurt you again, Jen-shine._ She'd been maybe five or six, Kai almost eleven. Her brother held her in his arms, protecting and comforting her. Two boys had pushed her off the ladder to the playground slide. Kai had punched both of them and they'd run off, crying.

Until the night of the attack, Kai had still been her white knight.

_"Kill them."_ Kai's voice, followed by his laughter.

Even now, she almost cried at the injustice. How could he do that to them? How _dare_ he?

He didn't deserve to live. Not after his betrayal.

She touched her tongue to the cyanide capsules resting against her back molars. One capsule for her, one for Kai, in case she didn't have the strength to use her knife. Then it would be over. Justice served. Her family at peace.

No more pain.

Jenna fought to control her breathing and willed her fingers to stay relaxed at her sides instead of curling into fists.

"Jenna?"

She jumped. Dammit, she had to get away from Rafe before he picked up on her mood. "I'm tired," she said with a shrug. "I think I'll take a bath and climb into bed."

He nodded. "I'll make sure we don't disturb you when Niko comes in."

"No! I want to know when he's back."

Rafe's smile said he understood what she hadn't said, that she cared, but all he said was, "Okay."

She felt like a coward, running away to the bathroom. But she'd felt off-kilter all day. Unfocused and edgy. Between her frustration at losing Kai, and her worry about Niko, she needed to relax. Maybe a long soak in the giant tub would do the trick. While she waited for it to fill, she sorted through the bottles of bubble bath and jars of bath salts lined up neatly on a shelf under the window.

Before the attack, she'd loved using light, floral bath gels, the more feminine the better. Since the attack, she'd only used cheap bar soap.

Tonight though, something propelled her to indulge herself. She lingered over the task, giving serious consideration to her choices before finally settling on peach bath salts.

The water foamed as she dumped in a generous helping of the fine crystals. On another shelf she found an inflatable pillow, a small radio that also played soothing nature sounds, and some scented candles. It felt decadent to indulge in such luxury, but as she slipped beneath the hot water, she closed her eyes in ecstasy.

Oh, she'd needed this.

And why shouldn't she treat herself? In a few days she'd be beyond such needs. Condemned prisoners got a last request. Why shouldn't she?

She set the radio to play ocean waves, then leaned her head back against the pillow and let the hot water work its magic. As her muscles softened, her mind started to drift back to last night and the feel of Niko's hands on her. Of the heat of his mouth against her neck.

Had her body always been that responsive to such light caresses? Or was it just Niko? She couldn't remember.

A little jolt of panic tightened her skin. The doctors had assured her she had no memory loss, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember how she'd been with other lovers. She knew there'd been pleasure, but not how much.

She reached up to scratch an itch on her nose, and found her face wet with tears.

They'd done this to her. Kai and the other men who'd murdered her family had stolen everything pleasurable from her. Turned her into a woman too afraid to remember even the good times in case it led to more pain.

For just a moment, she let anguish flow through her, grieving for something she hadn't even realized she'd lost. Then she pushed the sadness away and focused on the eternal ebb and flow of the ocean waves on the radio. Slowly, her tension melted and her mind drifted.

As an experiment, she traced her hands over her body—cheeks to breasts to belly—to see if she still had the power to arouse herself. At first nothing happened, so she did it again, letting her hands move of their own accord, discovering places that when touched sent the first tendrils of pleasure through her.

Her skin became extra sensitive. With each inhalation small waves lapped at her breasts like a lover's mouth. She shifted her legs, trying to find a more comfortable position, and the water surged against the juncture of her thighs. Her back arched and her legs parted slightly, searching for some forgotten sensation.

She slid her hands down under the water and touched herself, imagining Niko's fingers sliding against her folds. Picturing his mouth on her instead of the push of the water.

Sensation built, slowly, like the gentle hug of a long missed friend. So welcome, tears burned her eyes again.

A cold draft skirted across her skin, pulling her out of her sensual haze. Her hands stilled.

"I...ah...um...Sorry. I thought you were in bed already."

She turned her head. Niko stood in the middle of the bathroom. His jaw hung loose and his eyes were fixated on the center of her body. A quick glance down at the water confirmed that the bubbles had dissolved, giving Niko full view of where her hands rested.

Thank heavens her cheeks were already flushed from the heat, because she blushed like a virgin. She jerked her hands away and positioned them to cover herself. She didn't understand how he could like what he saw. Her body had changed so much since the attack.

There was nothing left but muscle and bone. And her collection of scars.

"Don't hide on my behalf." Niko's voice was a taut, husky growl that made her belly clench. "God. You're so beautiful."

Her hands slowly dropped away, compelled by the strength of his words. She let Niko look his fill while her embarrassment faded under a punch of arousal.

He walked toward her with uncoordinated steps, as if pulled by marionette strings. His eyes traveled up her body and clashed with hers.

The heat in his eyes consumed her. Incinerated every thought of her mission, scorched through the lingering memories of pain and violation left by the attack, and turned her will to smoke. Her lips parted and her body arched toward him.

"Finish it," Niko commanded.

She glanced at the door.

"Rafe went back to his hotel. He's gone until the morning." Niko took another step toward her.

Her hands moved of their own accord, stroking over her breasts, down her stomach, and back between her legs.

She kept her head turned so she could watch Niko.

Color washed into his face. He groaned. His fingers flexed at his sides.

She stared at those strong, battered hands, once again imagining them taking the place of her own touch. But dammit, her neck hurt too much turned at this angle. And she felt...lonely.

"Why don't you save my aching neck," she said in a husky whisper she didn't recognize, "and climb in here with me?"

Niko took another step forward, then halted abruptly, like he'd run into an invisible wall. "You..." he gestured to the tub, then to the bulge behind his fly. "Me." He cleared his throat.

"Jenna, with everything you've been through, are you sure you're ready for sex? Because that's what's going to happen if I come any closer. Me. Inside you."

It took a moment for her brain to pull back from arousal and focus on the worry behind Niko's words. There he was again, watching out for her. She would have smiled if she hadn't thought he'd take it the wrong way.

"I want this," she said. "It's been too long since I felt like a woman." Now she did smile, hoping to break through Niko's reserve. "The assassins stole everything from me that night. I need to take this back. Help me, please." She moved restlessly in the water. "I'm not afraid. Not with you..."

She crooked her finger. "Come here. Please."

Niko flung off his clothes, cursing when his bandaged arm got in the way.

She grinned, enjoying the quick strip show and Niko's flare of temper.

But then he was lowering himself into the water, giving her a close up of fully aroused male.

Oh. Damn. She felt a faint lick of panic. Remembered how torn and hurt she'd been after the rape. Could she take Niko without pain?

With a groan of appreciation, Niko settled himself at the opposite end of the tub and stretched his legs out so they bracketed hers, while keeping his injured arm propped on the rim of the tub. The relief on his face as the hot water soothed his aching muscles banished her fear. Instead, she felt the warmth of tenderness and a fierce protectiveness. He'd been hurt and she wanted to heal him.

Underneath it all was the shimmer of growing need.

Niko's eyes flicked to her face, then down to her hands. "Please..." He swallowed. Wet his lips with his tongue. "Continue."

She hesitated, suddenly shy. Aware how out of practice she was. Afraid she wouldn't be able to climax.

Niko must have sensed her nervousness. His good hand reached under the water and lightly stroked her shin. Up. Down. Circling. Re-igniting the fire within her.

She lost herself in the heat and approval in Niko's eyes, and without further thought, she touched herself. His nostrils flared and he stared at the juncture of her thighs through the water as she slowly worked herself toward a gentle peak.

And there it was. Fullness. A sense of being helpless to hold back the pleasure.

She held his gaze until her neck arched and her lids closed, then gave herself to the sweet, short climax. Aware, when it was over, that her face was wet with tears again.

She brushed them away and opened her eyes, afraid to see the expression on Niko's face. Not wanting him to pity her.

But pity was the last thing on Niko's mind. His left knee was bent and he was stroking himself with long, mesmerizing sweeps of his hand.

"That was so beautiful," he whispered.

The raw appreciation on his face jolted her body back to awareness. But she didn't want to stay on this side of the tub any longer. She wanted his skin against hers.

She wanted to feel the rush from being in control. Of watching Niko as he came apart.

She shifted forward and pulled his bent knee down, so both legs were straight in front of him. Then she knelt with her legs on either side of his. Holding his gaze, she leaned down and placed her lips on his for the barest whisper of a kiss. Then she sat back, brushed his hand aside and touched him intimately.

Even through the warmth of the water, he burned. Jenna closed her eyes so she could savor the sensation. Relearning how to touch a man this way. Discovering what gave Niko the most pleasure.

"Christ!"

Niko bucked beneath her and Jenna smiled. Yes! This was what she wanted.

Niko's hands traced down the outside of her arms, moved across the water to her breasts.

She opened her eyes and shook her head at him. "Uh-uh. This is my show. No touching until I tell you." She captured his wrists and placed them firmly on the edge of the tub. To emphasize her point, she looked first at one hand, then the other, then fixed him with a stern eye as she pushed firmly down on his arms.

His body arched toward her. She readjusted her position, but didn't let him go.

"Okay, okay, I get it." He gave her a strained smile. "No touching. I promise."

She nodded and went back to her exploration. Each movement of his hips toward her roaming hands gave her courage. Made her feel powerful.

She wanted to see all of him without the distortion of the water, so she flicked the drain open with her foot. Deciding she wanted to taste him, she put her mouth on his flat copper nipple. His uniquely spicy flavor warmed her tongue like a cinnamon-spiked mocha and she couldn't stop herself from gorging on his skin. Over the flare of his pectoral. Along the scar under his collar bone. Sucking on the wildly pulsing vein at his throat.

Her mind reeled under the sensory overload until she was writhing against him, seeking some outlet for the energy burning through her veins.

Finally, she couldn't take any more. She sat back, desperate to catch her breath.

And noticed that the veins on the back of Niko's forearms stood out from squeezing the edges of the tub so hard.

God, she'd forgotten about forbidding him to touch her. Even though she could tell it was costing him, he didn't ask to be released. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that he would stay in this position forever if she demanded it.

So, perversely, she realized it was the last thing she wanted. She lifted his arms and placed them around her in a loose hug.

"Jenna? You sure?"

She started to nod, but before her chin had lowered more than a quarter of an inch, Niko's hands were all over her. Pulling her mouth to his for a long, thirsty kiss. Stroking up and down her arms. Making patterns on her back. Teasing her breasts.

Yet never caging her or pressing her with enough force to make her feel threatened.

Instead, she felt cherished. Desired.

Until finally, she couldn't take the pressure any more. She had to have him. Now.

She scooted back and slowly positioned herself to take him in. Her body was wet, open, weeping for this. She took him in hand, and for an instant, froze in doubt. What if this hurt? What if she panicked?

"It's okay, Jenna," Niko said in a voice almost unrecognizable with lust. "Take as long as you like. Stop if you have to. I'll...survive."

The flare of denial she felt at his words gave her the confidence to slowly bring him inside her.

And there wasn't pain. An uncomfortable fullness, yes. Almost like she was a virgin again. But her body gradually opened, accepting him. And, like a dancer revisiting a routine she hadn't performed in years, Jenna felt the exhilaration of muscles taking up a rhythm beyond her control. Remembering moves she couldn't have predicted to save her life.

She looked into Niko's eyes and the pride she saw shining back sent her even higher. He gripped her hips, matching her rhythm and steadying her for his deeper thrusts.

Music whirled through her blood. Bright, shining notes carried her into the heavens. Stars pierced the sky, welcoming her with long, brilliant pulses.

Somewhere far below, a woman's voice cried out in ecstasy. "Niko!"

Jenna floated in the clouds, starting a slow, gentle descent back to earth. Niko's arms cradled her against his body and she cuddled against him, drowsily content.

Niko's lips pressed a kiss into her hair. "You okay?"

She nodded. She was more than okay. Fabulous. Limp with pleasure. Truly alive for the first time since she'd watched her mother die.

She jerked upright. No!

Her mother. Isabel. They'd never experience pleasure ever again. What right did Jenna have to feel such overwhelming pleasure? Could she be more selfish?

She pushed away from Niko and scrambled out of the tub. No! Her lips formed the words but no sound came out.

"Jenna? What's wrong, _querida_?"

Her foot slipped and she went down on one knee. No, she couldn't fall. She had to get out of here. She couldn't have—

She pushed to her feet and bolted for the bedroom door.

"Jenna?" Niko's voice was sharp with alarm now. "Did I hurt you? Dammit, talk to me!"

She heard his feet slap wetly at the tile. Tried to tell him to leave her alone, but couldn't speak the words. So she just shook her head frantically at him.

She bolted into the bedroom and locked the door behind her just as a tsunami of screams burst through her mental defenses, driving her to her knees.

Isabel's scream, ending with a whimpered, "It hurts."

Justin's scream of rage and helplessness as his twin was raped.

Her father's protest, "No! Kai—" never completed.

Her mother's hoarse command, "Run, Jenna!"

Her own screams rising, falling, burning their way out of her throat. Pain. Fear.

Pleasure.

Pleasure? Oh, God, what had she done? She'd betrayed them.

Tears ran down her face into her open mouth. How could she?

_Forgive me, please forgive me. I didn't mean to find pleasure. I'm sorry._

She was cold. So cold.

She put her back against the door, pulled her knees up to her chest, and held on while grief devoured her body.

* * *

Jesus H. Christ. What was wrong with Jenna?

Niko stared at the bedroom door. When she'd pushed away from him, he'd been afraid he'd hurt her. But one look at her face and he realized her pain wasn't physical.

She'd been on the verge of an emotional meltdown.

Which didn't make him feel any less like a total shit. He ran his hand over his hair. Should he go in there? Or give her space?

He thought about the look on her face. About the sheer horror and panic in her eyes. Like a wild animal caught in a hunter's trap.

He could hear her crying through the door.

Okay, probably not a good idea to go after her. Let her calm down.

But shit...he hated the idea of her suffering alone. So he knocked on the door.

He heard a hitch in her sobbing, which he took to mean she was listening.

"Jenna, knock once if I hurt you, twice if you're physically okay."

One heartbeat. Two. _Come on, sweetheart, answer._

Two knocks.

_Ah, thank God._

"Okay, so...I'll be out in the sitting room if you want a hug or to talk or anything." Je-sus could he possibly sound any lamer?

She didn't knock back.

He barely resisted the urge to walk around to the door from the sitting room into the bedroom to see for himself how she was doing. Ignoring the voice that demanded he fix whatever was bothering Jenna, Niko walked over to the shower.

But even after he'd showered and ordered a snack from room service, Jenna still hadn't emerged from the bedroom. He couldn't hear anything through the door, and this time he figured he was justified in checking on her.

Jenna was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, snuffling wetly with every other breath.

_Ah, querida._ Niko's heart did a long, slow roll.

He picked her up, amazed at how light she was despite her muscles. He tucked her in bed without her breathing breaking rhythm.

As he watched her sleeping, his hands clenched into fists. She didn't belong here. Tonight's breakdown proved she wasn't ready to handle the coming fight with Alvarez.

He glanced at the clock radio on the bedside table. It wasn't too late to call Ryker and set up a bodyguard for Jenna. Someone to protect her on a commercial flight home.

Niko grabbed the second pillow and a spare blanket, and headed into the sitting room.

Thank God Rafe had returned to his hotel. His brother would take one look at the open sofa bed and bust a gut laughing.

Niko shook his head and dialed Ryker. His boss agreed to the bodyguard and was able to do one better. He'd ask a friend with a private plane to make a special trip down to Mexico. Jenna could hitch a ride back the next afternoon.

As Niko ended the call, the room phone rang.

* * *

Jenna stood at the door that led from the bedroom into the short hallway to the sitting room. The door was cracked open enough that she'd been able to hear Niko's call to Ryker, but not wide enough to let Niko know she was awake.

She was drained, and shaky with it. All she wanted was to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over her head. But Niko was sending her away, and she couldn't allow that.

She closed her eyes and tightened the lock on the box holding her emotions. Making love with Niko had been wrong on so many levels, but she was focused now. Not even Niko could distract her from her vengeance again.

The phone rang. Jenna listened as Niko instructed the front desk to send up the envelope that had arrived for him.

She opened the door a bit wider so she was able to see Niko's expression as he dumped the contents onto the coffee table. His mouth flatlined and his hands clenched. With a vicious curse, he kicked the coffee table onto its side, spilling photos and the hotel's plant arrangement onto the floor. Then Niko stormed into the bathroom.

Jenna crept down the hall.

Good. The bathroom door was shut.

Keeping her ears trained for any sign that Niko was returning, she knelt down and looked at the photographs.

Oh, dear God. Bile rose in her throat and she clamped a trembling hand over her mouth.

The photos were of an older Hispanic woman being raped. Her mouth was contorted in a scream and her body was bruised and bloody.

Jenna bit her lip to stop from crying out again, but...oh, God, she felt like she was being ripped apart. The man pulled the woman's hips higher, his next thrust so hard and deep, she screamed.

Jenna shoved the photos and her memories away. As she pushed to her feet, her hand slipped on a sheet of plain white paper. She glanced down.

_You have thirty-six hours to bring the girl to Ixtapa, or you will never see your aunt again. And I will enjoy her this way every night for the rest of her short life. –A_

Jenna couldn't breathe. The room shimmered like she was viewing it through a waterfall. No. She couldn't faint. Niko would know she'd seen the photos.

She turned and fled back to the bedroom. Then she crawled into bed.

She tried to shut out the images of Niko's aunt. Of her mother lying on the dining room carpet next to Jenna while they were both raped.

Stop. Stop. Stop! She pushed her hands against her eyes, as if the physical pressure could turn off the video playing in her head.

This had to end. Niko would never hand her over to Alvarez. He would try to save his aunt _and_ protect Jenna.

She didn't need his protection. If she turned herself in, maybe Alvarez would release Niko's aunt. And if she was really lucky, she'd find a way to get to Kai and finally end this.

# Chapter Twenty-Four

_Wednesday, Morning_

_Ixtapa, Mexico_

Kai surfaced slowly from unconsciousness, floating in and out of awareness. When he tried to roll onto his back sharp needles of pain brought him gasping awake. He must have cried out, because he heard the angry squeak of rats as they scampered away. He pressed his cheek against the cold dirt floor and cursed the fact that his cell had neither window or light source. From the few times his guards let him out, and let light in, he knew the walls were several feet away from him, but in his mind, they pressed closer with every breath.

Claustrophobia. Another souvenir from the days he'd spent in the Indonesian warlord's prison. His cell there had been closer to a crypt. With barely enough room to roll over, never mind stretch out to his full length.

In comparison, this cell was a palace. If only he could convince himself of that.

He breathed shallowly, focusing on the pain instead of the fear.

His right shoulder was dislocated. Left shin—broken. Bullet wounds in left upper back and left buttock. Breathing was excruciating, so three or four of his ribs were cracked.

Jesus, Alvarez's men gave the Indonesians a run for their money. They knew just how much pain to inflict to keep him coherent enough to answer Alvarez's persistent questions.

Kai's lips twitched. Alvarez had lost it this morning when Kai again refused to give up the location of the chip. The bastard had grabbed a whip and starting whaling on Kai's back. The lash bit over and over in the same place until skin and muscle split, then moved on to decimate a new patch. Unconsciousness had been a welcome relief, until he came to on a scream of agony, salt water burning the wounds.

His back still throbbed. So he lay on his side, trying hard not to move. Trying not to wonder if he had any skin left on his back at all.

To distract himself from the pain, he considered his odds of escaping. Not good. Even if he managed to get to his feet and stay upright long enough to make a break for it, he'd overheard the guards betting on how soon Alvarez would turn him over to the dogs.

There was no way, bleeding like he was, he could evade dogs. He'd be like a walking piece of raw steak, the scent of blood screaming, "Come get me!"

_Face it, bud, the only way you're getting free of here is through death._

_Hell, no._

His family had been slaughtered in retaliation for Kai failing to turn the chip over to Alvarez. He'd be damned if he died before he destroyed Nevsky's data and sent Alvarez on a slow journey into hell.

As long as Alvarez thought he knew where the chip was, Kai knew he wasn't going to be killed. So he'd just have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity to get himself out of here.

Which meant forcing his body to move. He couldn't afford to stiffen up. So he inched his way through pain into a sitting position.

Ah, shit. In the total darkness he didn't know which way was up or down. His head swam and the world tilted like he'd just stepped off a carnival ride.

Before he regained his equilibrium, the door at the far end of the corridor banged open. A moment later, his guards dragged him out of his cell and up the ninety-four stairs to the patio.

Yeah, he'd actually counted the stairs the first time he'd been hauled up out of the dungeon. How many days ago had that been? One? Two?

Shit.

He shook his head and tried to focus through the pain-induced haze. Two nights. One day.

Jesus. He'd only been here a little over a day?

As Kai was thrown onto the slate tiles in front of Alvarez, he glanced up. Two black, remorseless eyes looked back at him.

"Señor Paterson, have you any news to give me this morning?"

Kai forced the syllable past clenched teeth. "No."

"Pity." Alvarez's eyes were alight with anticipation. He held out his hand.

Kai squinted through the glare off the glass dining table, trying to make out what tool Alvarez was using today.

Pliers.

Ah, God, this was going to hurt.

* * *

_Wednesday, Mid-Morning_

_Highway 200, Mexico, Between Acapulco and Ixtapa_

Niko pushed his crappy rental car faster along the winding highway toward Ixtapa.

God _damn_ it, what the hell was Jenna thinking, leaving him like that?

She'd still been sleeping the last he checked on her before he bunked down on the sofa bed. This morning when he'd poked his head in, he'd found pillows lumped beneath the covers and a note propped against the beside lamp.

_Good-bye_ , the note said. _Thank you for your help, but I have something I need to do. Alone._ _When it's over, you'll have your aunt back._

As soon as he'd been able to speak through the icy lump in his throat, he'd called Rafe, knowing they had to move fast to intercept Jenna. If word got out she was on her own, she'd be in even more danger.

He could barely see the road through a black haze of terror. Good thing he knew the route well enough to drive blind. He instinctively knew where he could floor it and where he needed to slow down. Where there were likely to be checkpoints, and where there were speed ramps that would send the car airborne if he hit them at too high a speed.

He'd swallowed his pride and called Ryker to ask for backup. But Gonzales and his partner had moved offshore, working a joint training operation with the military. And Niko didn't trust Tonelli.

So it was just Niko and Rafe. And he preferred it this way. Rafe was the only other person he'd trust with Jenna's life.

Christ, how stupid had he been? He'd treated Jenna like a partner instead of a prisoner, believing she'd given up any thoughts of heading out on her own.

_Sucker._

She'd snuck away from Tonelli dressed as a boy, and from the responses Niko and Rafe had received to their discreet questioning, she'd done the same thing here.

Just before dawn, a boy that had to be Jenna had boarded a bus heading to Ixtapa. The ticket seller thought it strange because the sun wasn't up yet, but the boy wore sunglasses.

The bus was scheduled to get into the station in Ixtapa in half an hour. Normal driving time would put him and Rafe there at least an hour later.

At the rate Niko was driving, they'd reach the station maybe ten minutes after the bus.

"You going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Rafe demanded.

Niko didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. He'd been such a goddamn fool, he might as well be a rookie. But last night he'd seen the woman she once was. Sensual. Playful. Knowing exactly what she wanted and not afraid to take it. And he would have done anything she asked.

Anything but put in her in danger.

"Alvarez sent more photos last night," he told Rafe. "Along with a note demanding I turn Jenna over within forty-eight hours if I want to see Aunt Madalena again."

Rafe cursed in Greek. "Jenna saw the photos. She read the note."

"Yeah." If he could, he'd go back and kick his own ass. "I thought she was asleep. She had..." To hell with it. If she was going to run off, then he could let Rafe in on what had been a private moment. "Jenna had a meltdown and was sleeping it off. But the phone must have woken her up. She probably snuck out to look at the photos when I was in the bathroom." He'd been so sickened by the pictures of his aunt, and terrified of Jenna ending up like that, he hadn't been listening for sounds from the sitting room.

"She's going to turn herself over to Alvarez." Rafe made it a statement.

Niko's stranglehold on the steering wheel made the car swerve right. He fought to get them back on a straight line before answering. "Yeah, that's what I figure. She said that when she's done, we'll have our aunt back." And the note fucking said good-bye, he wanted to shout. She'd brushed him off like a mosquito, as if making love last night hadn't changed everything. As if she didn't feel the wrenching pain he did at the thought of never seeing her again.

"So...ah...you do something to set Jenna off?" Rafe asked.

Fuck. No way in hell was he telling his brother he'd made love to Jenna. That was none of his goddamn business.

"Yeah." Niko said. He could feel Rafe's curiosity sizzling in the hot air sluggishly circulating through the underpowered car vents. But thank God his brother didn't push him.

They didn't have time for him to stop and beat the curiosity out of his brother.

"What's the plan?" Rafe asked, confident Niko would have one.

Niko was both glad of his brother's calm presence and pissed that Rafe wasn't as freaked out about Jenna as he was.

"Alvarez will follow-through on his threat. Once we have Jenna, I'm going to put word out she escaped me. That will divert Alvarez's attention for at least a day while he searches for her. Give us time to plan our assault."

Rafe cut his eyes over to Niko. "We're going in?"

"One way or the other, yeah." Only, it wasn't what Rafe thought. Niko already knew the fortress had no weaknesses from outside. Alvarez had excellent security. He'd have to contact the old man who worked in the kitchens. See if he was still willing to let Niko inside.

Niko. Not Rafe. Not Jenna. Just Niko. He wasn't risking anyone else's life.

"You think we can free Paterson and Aunt Madalena without help?" Rafe asked.

With Niko on the inside? Yes. Unless Aunt Madalena didn't cooperate, then they were screwed, because his plan hinged on her being conscious. If he had to knock her out to get her free, he'd do it, but damn if he knew how they'd escape if he had to carry her. "Why? You have an assault troop hiding in your back pocket?"

Rafe shot him a look. "Maybe. Tell me exactly what we need, and I'll make some calls after we find Jenna."

He'd forgotten that Rafe had been a Ranger. He had some crazy loyal friends. For the first time, Niko began to hope that maybe they'd all make it out of this alive.

* * *

Jenna trudged away from the Ixtapa bus station. She didn't have much money, barely enough for one night at a cheap hotel. She wasn't sure how she was going to discover the location of Alvarez's home. Let alone how she'd get to the man.

She tugged her baseball cap farther down on her head. Okay, so running out on Niko hadn't been the best idea she'd ever had. With his background, he'd know the information she needed.

But he wouldn't give it to her. That's why she'd had to leave. Niko still planned to send her to Ryker, as if Jenna meant nothing to him. As if making love hadn't bound them together.

Her heart hurt and she swallowed bitterness. Angry, she shook her head at her foolishness. So what if she missed Niko? So what if every step made her feel more lonely. More isolated. She had a mission. A vow to avenge the deaths of her parents and the twins. She would not be denied her vengeance.

And now she had a secondary mission. Free Niko's aunt.

Surrendering to Alvarez would put her that much closer to Kai. And if she had a chance to take out Alvarez as well, all the better.

Jenna squinted against the glare not even her dark glasses could dim. She turned left, heading down a mostly empty street toward the sound of waves. If this was her last day alive, she wanted to have her feet in the ocean again.

A car swerved to a stop in front of her. Jenna jumped back and spun away, dashing toward a gap between two stores.

Dammit. Had Alvarez found her already?

No! She wasn't prepared. She needed to set up a plan. A way to bargain with him so Niko's aunt would be freed before Alvarez got Jenna in his control.

"Get in the car, Jenna." Niko's icy voice cut through her panic like a whiplash. She froze for just an instant and heard the car door open.

Uh-oh. Niko wasn't supposed to find her so quickly. He must have driven like a bat out of hell to catch up to her. Without looking back, she broke into a run again.

Only to be pulled to a stop by a hand on her arm. She tried to twist free, but instead found herself in an arm lock. She shot a murderous glare over her shoulder and her jaw dropped.

Rafe was her captor. Not Niko.

He turned her around and propelled her down the street. Up ahead the driver of the car was in shadow, but she could feel Niko's rage roiling out of the vehicle.

She dragged her feet, making Rafe work to move her. She scanned the rest of the street. A few people were shooting curious glances their way, but no one seemed alarmed. If she screamed and fought, would people help her?

"Don't do it, Jenna," Rafe warned. "Niko's on the edge as it is."

"Ten seconds, Jenna," Niko growled. "Get in the fucking car or Rafe is going to knock you out."

Rafe met her eyes and nodded. Gone was the light-hearted, teasing man she'd spent yesterday afternoon with. His expression now only reflected anger and a hint of disapproval.

What did Rafe have to be angry about? She hadn't betrayed him when she'd left. Only Niko.

She told herself to call Niko's bluff and fight. She didn't believe Rafe would really hurt her and that would give her an advantage in getting away. But before she could convince herself to act, she found herself shoved into the backseat. Rafe climbed in beside her and the instant the door closed, Niko slammed his foot on the accelerator.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the cold touch of plastic around her right wrist snagged her attention.

Dammit! Rafe had joined his wrist to hers with flex cuffs. Her gaze flew to the rearview mirror. "Hey!"

Niko stared back at her, his dark eyes frigid. "Sorry, _querida_. I've learned my lesson. You can't be trusted to look after your own safety. So I will damn well keep you a prisoner until this is all over."

Once again she opened her mouth to speak.

"Not. One. Word." Niko warned.

Rafe's hand squeezed hers. She raised her eyebrow at him and he shook his head slightly.

Fine. She'd wait until they were alone to ream Niko. He wasn't the only one in a temper.

# Chapter Twenty-Five

Later that evening, Niko stormed into their rented bungalow, startling both Rafe and Jenna to their feet. He stalked past them without a second glance, heading toward his bedroom.

He'd been so mad at Jenna earlier, he'd dropped her and Rafe off and driven away. Might as well have saved his time. He was so fucking frustrated he wanted to hit something. The only thing that had gone right today was that he'd put word out he'd lost Jenna. People would be looking for her, but not with Niko.

He'd also sent a message to Alvarez. Offering to trade himself for Aunt Madalena. Which was what Alvarez had been after all along. Jenna was just icing.

Everything else had gone to shit. His contact inside Alvarez's was gone. The cook's assistant had grabbed his family and fled after today's shift was over. Which was just fucking great. He'd been counting on the old man letting him into the fortress. It would take time he didn't have to find another person willing to turn on Alvarez.

So Niko had driven out to the jungle surrounding the fortress for a bit of surveillance. The place had been well guarded before, but now...

Niko shook his head as he pushed open the door to his room. He had a plan for getting them inside. But unless Rafe's Ranger buddies showed up, nothing short of a miracle was getting him, Aunt Madalena, and Paterson out of the fortress alive.

Niko tore off his shirt and fired it at the chair in the corner. He needed to burn off some energy. A long run on the beach, followed by a swim, sounded about right. He didn't care how damn dark it was outside.

His fingers were at the button to his pants when someone cleared their throat.

He spun around and met Jenna's worried eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

As if she didn't know? "I've got nothing to say to you tonight. Get out." He undid his pants and let them fall, leaving him standing there in only his shorts.

Jenna didn't move, but her eyes flicked down his body before she jerked them back up to his face. A dark, vicious anticipation swirled through him. "I'm warning you, Jenna. You do _not_ want to mess with me tonight. Turn around and walk out that door. Because if you're still here when I lose my shorts, I'm going to assume you don't want to talk, either. And I'm going to be all over you."

Her eyes flared. She took a tiny step back. But then she stopped.

Niko dropped his boxers.

Jenna licked her lips.

That was all it took. He lunged at her, yanking her roughly against him as he dove into her mouth. Her hands fisted in his hair, pulling him closer.

Oh yeah, that was what he wanted. More parts of him touching her. He backed her up until she was pressed against the wall. Now he could move deeper into her mouth, drown in the honeyed taste of her. His hands pinned hers beside her head, just so he could feel himself along the length of her from finger to ankle.

It wasn't enough.

Jenna bit his tongue, and only then did he realize she was struggling to get free.

Shit.

He jumped back and opened his mouth to apologize.

But Jenna's fingers tore at her clothes. "I'm overdressed," she muttered. She ripped free her shirt and tossed it over his shoulder, leaving her in a lacy yellow bra.

His mouth was too dry to talk. His brain shorted out, ideas shooting out of it like sparks, flaring and dying before achieving anything of substance. He wanted to press his mouth against every inch of her satiny skin. No. He wanted to run his fingers under the edge of her bra. No. He...

Jenna pushed both pants and panties to the floor, then unhooked the clasp of her bra.

Wait. He'd wanted to do that. But before he could voice a complaint, Jenna was reaching for him, drawing him up against her naked body and raising her leg to trap him around the thigh.

He was lost. Driven by an urgency undercut with fear. He never wanted to let her go, yet in order to keep her safe he needed to send her away.

There was a fissure splitting his heart. The only way to avoid the pain was to overload his senses with Jenna. With her fast whimpers of need that matched the rhythm of her nails clawing into his back and releasing, clawing and releasing.

He filled himself with the hot, sweet smell of her. Let his mouth explore her skin, searching out all the sensitive places that made her gasp, and all the tasty places that made him want to take a bite out of her.

At some point he picked her up and carried her to the bed, never losing contact with her mouth. Because if he lost contact with her...

God. He'd be lost without her.

His kisses turned desperate. He batted aside Jenna's hands as she tried to wrest control from him. He pushed her to her peak and over. Once. Twice. Making her scream his name. Making her beg for relief. Making her beg for more.

"Niko, please! Inside me. Now." Jenna squirmed underneath him, trying to position herself so he'd have to enter her.

Hell, no. He intended to keep up this sweet torture until he was burned so deeply into her soul, she'd never be free of him. But then her teeth closed over his earlobe, and he snapped.

His vision went hazy. He thrust into her, trying to meld them into one. Jenna's arms pulled him down and her mouth attacked him.

As the finish line sprinted toward him, his soul took up a chant, matching the tempo of his body. _Mine. Don't leave me. Mine. Don't leave me!_

And suddenly he was there. A supernova exploding. He hollered Jenna's name. Heard it mingle with her cry of "Niko!" and echo off the walls.

He collapsed like a puppet with all its strings cut.

Jenna pushed slightly at him, and he realized he was crushing her. Even as he rolled onto his side and cuddled her against him, as he slipped into sleep, he was afraid what they'd just done wasn't enough to bind her to him.

And he wanted to howl.

* * *

Jenna roused to the sound of a knock at the bedroom door. The bed shifted next to her as Niko got up to answer it. "Tell Rafe to go away," she mumbled sleepily. Niko had made love to her twice more tonight, the final time with such gentleness she'd teared up. Now all she wanted to do was lie in bed snuggled next to Niko. Pretend the world didn't exist.

Niko pulled on his pants.

"Where are you going?" Oh geesh, she sounded way too shrewish. Like she was angry he hadn't asked her permission to go, instead of being afraid that something bad had happened.

"Just into the other room to talk to Rafe. Go back to sleep, _querida_."

Not without him. She wanted more time to get to know him. More time to explore the passion between them. If he wouldn't stay in bed, then she wanted to be near him. Their time together was slipping away and she needed to grab as many memories as she could.

Jenna rolled off the bed. She didn't even bother looking for her discarded clothes. Instead, she grabbed Niko's shirt. She was still buttoning it as she followed Niko into the sitting room.

He turned, scowling at her when he realized she wasn't fully dressed. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Please. Put some clothes on."

She stuck her tongue out at him. It felt good to act childishly. And she liked seeing amusement light Niko's face. Still, she turned around and walked back into the bedroom.

While she dressed, she told herself she should be thankful Niko trusted her to be alone. He hadn't spoken a word after he'd found her and told her to shut up. He'd just driven grimly to this bungalow, held a quick conversation with Rafe in that language she now knew was Greek, then driven off without so much as glancing her way.

All afternoon Rafe had never been more than a few feet away from her, although he'd released her from the flex cuffs shortly after their arrival. He'd even insisted she keep the door open while using the toilet. At the time she'd been furious, but now she smiled. Rafe had turned an interesting shade of red during her two bathroom breaks, and she'd taken petty pleasure in his discomfort.

When she reentered the sitting room wearing a sweatshirt and loose pants, Niko's eyes warmed with appreciation. Her pulse skittered.

Feeling self-conscious, she looked pointedly at Rafe. Niko's expression shuttered, turning him into the grim man from yesterday and Jenna bit back a sigh of regret.

"So, bro. We finally gonna get down to business?" Rafe asked. "Night's not getting any younger."

Just like that, Jenna's heart slammed back to earth. "What's going on?"

Rafe raised his eyebrows and looked at Niko.

Niko gestured to the sofa and Jenna sat. But even though she wanted Niko to sit beside her, he took the adjoining armchair.

Ouch. Guess they were back to all business.

"Before we talk about Rafe's news, tell me why you ran," Niko said.

She froze, trapped by the demand in Niko's eyes. _Because Kai ordered my family killed and vengeance must be served,_ her heart screamed. _Because I hate him._

_Because I'm going to kill him and I don't want you to see me do this. I want your memories of me to be positive. And because I don't plan on living past that moment._

Niko's eyes narrowed. For a single panicked moment she thought she'd spoken aloud.

She glanced away. Forced her muscles to stop betraying her with their tension and relax. Then slammed her eyelids shut when she realized Rafe was looking at her like he suddenly found her puzzling.

"Jenna?" Niko prompted.

She sighed, and gave him the only part of the truth she could. "I ran because I saw the photos of your aunt and freaked out. I...know that kind of pain and degradation..." She shrugged like she was just being silly, but the tremor in her voice gave her away. The thought of Alvarez inflicting such pain on Niko's aunt still made the room spin and Jenna's stomach curdle. "How could I not surrender, if it would give your aunt freedom?"

"Do you really think Alvarez is just going to let my aunt go?" Niko asked.

She shrugged again. Yeah, it had occurred to her that Alvarez wasn't the type to honor promises. _After_ she'd been on the bus. "I had to try. Because I couldn't live with the what-if."

Niko crossed his arms over his chest. "Why didn't you trust us to come up with a solution to free both my aunt and your brother from Alvarez, without sacrificing you?"

She swallowed nervously. _Because I want to be sacrificed. Once I've killed Kai, I have nothing left to live for._ But after her time in Niko's arms, that didn't seem quite so true.

_Remember the mission,_ she reminded herself.

"How many times do I need to tell you? I have to be the one to find Kai,'' Jenna snapped as she pushed to her feet.

Niko's eyes probed hers as he rose out of his chair. "I know you can handle yourself in a fight. But..." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. "Jenna," he started. He reached for her hands and traced the scrapes on her palms. Then he raised her fingers to his mouth and placed kisses along her knuckles.

"I don't want to see you hurt, _querida_." He raised his injured arm with its bandage stark white against his bronze skin. "I don't want you stitched up. More importantly, I don't want you to have to kill."

"I'm prepared to kill to protect myself," she said.

Niko shook his head. "It's not simply a matter of training. It's a matter of nature. Even if you kill someone in self-defense, it stains you. I want better for you than that. Please, go back to Ryker. Let me bring in your brother for you."

"No! Kai's mine." She forced herself to take a deep breath, even though she wanted to scream at Niko to stop protecting her. She wasn't worth it. But how could she make him understand without giving herself away?

"Kai's my brother," she pleaded. "It's my responsibility to see he gets the treatment he deserves. Would you give up on Rafe?"

There, that sounded reasonable, didn't it?

If Niko got any hint of her plan to kill Kai, he'd tie her up and ship her back home so fast, she'd see stars. Worse, if Niko learned the truth he'd no longer look at her with this combination of frustration, warmth, and tenderness her starved soul drank in like honey.

She blinked her eyes against unexpected tears and turned away.

Niko was silent for a long time. Then, to her surprise, he walked up behind her and pulled her back against his chest. "You can stay," he said, giving a sigh that stirred the hair at the back of her neck. "For now."

Somehow, the fact that he'd given in didn't make her feel any better. It just made her dread the coming betrayal even more.

"So...what's going on tonight?" she asked.

"I sent a message to Alvarez today, telling him you'd run away, so there could be no exchange. His response came back just a little while ago."

Jenna turned to face Niko and dug her fingers into his forearms.

"He says he'll release both my aunt and your brother if I surrender."

"No!" She shook Niko. "You can't do that!" God, nothing must happen to Niko. She had to know he lived on. That his strength, honor, and integrity hadn't been destroyed by evil.

Niko rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm not surrendering. Alvarez knows better. This is just the start of negotiations." He pressed a quick kiss to Jenna's cheek and set her on her feet.

"I'll wait until tomorrow morning to send back a reply. Tonight, we're going to observe Alvarez's fortress. I want to see if there are any changes in the security patterns at night from what I observed during the day."

"We?"

"Yeah. I need Rafe's eyes. Since I can't leave you here alone, you're going to be my shadow." Niko shot her a quelling glance. "You will obey me and do nothing to draw attention to yourself, hear?"

She nodded. Inside, her stomach was a whirlpool of fear and excitement. This was it, then. Tonight was the end. She...

_No. Push the emotions back in their box. Don't let Niko or Rafe sense what you intend. Bury regrets and wishes. Become the cold, focused woman you were before you met Niko._

But God, it was so hard to go back to being that person.

* * *

Two hours later, Niko stared at Alvarez's fortress through his binoculars, all too aware of Jenna lying an arm's length away. Successful surveillance required a calm head and steady nerves. But Jenna had him twitchy as oil in a frying pan.

Part of him wanted to jump Jenna right now, here in the darkness of the jungle. But the rest of him didn't trust her. That hard, fanatical edge had crept into her voice again when talking about her brother. Although he'd do anything to save Aunt Madalena, it was out of love. What he'd seen in Jenna's eyes had been something darker. Something that made him keep her in sight at all times.

His gut insisted she'd lied to him. That she didn't want her brother protected and safe. The alternative made Niko's blood run cold.

Yet so far tonight, Jenna had been nothing but cooperative and professional. Equipped with her own set of high magnification binoculars and a specially equipped camera, she alternated between observing the sectors that were assigned to her and snapping photographs. Occasionally she made notes in the small spiral-bound book in front of her, using the tiny red light attached to her pen. A black stocking cap covered her white hair and she wore black fatigues the same as he and Rafe.

Her boyish clothing did nothing to dull his awareness of her as a woman. Despite her muscles, she was slight. Delicately made, so that even as honed down as she was, her femininity still shouted to him, compelling him to protect her. He was terrified that if they were spotted, she'd instantly be recognized as female.

His jaw clenched. The things Alvarez and his men did to women were inhuman.

He tightened his grip on the binoculars, fighting back the urge to snatch Jenna up and run for the safe house.

He wiped a bead of sweat off the side of his forehead. _Mind on the job, Andros._

Niko swept his binoculars toward Alvarez's front gate.

_Shit._

Six men and four of the nine dogs marched out of the compound, heading down the long driveway toward the road.

Niko activated his lip mike, tapping out the code for a split retreat. Rafe immediately signaled back acknowledgement from his position on the other side of the driveway. According to plan, Niko and Jenna would return to the car while Rafe hiked in the opposite direction to a predetermined rendezvous spot. If the security team was nowhere in sight on the road, Niko and Jenna would drive directly to the pick-up point. Otherwise, they'd signal Rafe to retreat farther down the coast and they'd go the long way around to get him.

At Niko's signal, Jenna stowed her gear, pulled on her night vision goggles, and indicated she was ready to go. Taking a path he hoped would keep them clear of the dogs, Niko slid his own goggles into place and moved deeper into the jungle. The moon was almost full, but under the jungle's canopy it was pitch black.

They'd almost reached the car when the sound of dogs barking grew closer, accompanied by the sound of bodies crashing through the underbrush. Niko cursed and pulled Jenna toward a large tree. He lifted her up until her fingers closed around the lowest limb.

The dogs burst upon them.

Niko kept his focus on Jenna, knowing the protective weave of his pants would keep the dogs' teeth from penetrating deep enough to break skin. He shoved at Jenna's right leg. She'd just swung it over the branch when gunfire punctured the night.

Searing pain in his left thigh. Niko stumbled against the tree.

_Ignore it._

He jumped. Managed to grab the branch, but one of the dogs fastened on his ankle and the extra weight unbalanced him. He lost his grip.

The dogs lunged after him as he fell. He curled his arms over his face and head and rolled away, expecting to feel the sting of teeth. But a sharp command cut through the dogs' growls and the beasts retreated.

Five men with automatic weapons and night vision goggles took up positions in front of the tree. Three weapons pointed toward him, two at Jenna. Niko pushed up to his knees.

A man stepped out from behind a tree and raised his goggles. Niko found himself pinned by the malicious stare of Berto Mendoza, the head of Alvarez's security.

_Ah, fuck._

After Alvarez, Mendoza was the most sadistic bastard Niko had ever met. And he hated Niko's guts. Mendoza's smile promised that Niko might make it back to Alvarez, but he was going to bleed before he did.

One of the dogs at the base of the tree whined, diverting Mendoza's attention. "You in the tree, climb down slowly," Mendoza ordered in Spanish.

Niko called out a translation, hoping Jenna understood not to give away her knowledge of the language.

He started to turn around, wanting to watch her descend. As if his will alone could keep the dogs away from her. But the man nearest to him jabbed his rifle into Niko's back, forcing him to stay facing Mendoza.

He heard a soft thud as Jenna landed on the ground. Then a grunt and the sound of a body hitting dirt. Ignoring the rifle pressed to his spine, Niko twisted around.

Jenna was on her stomach. One of the men knelt over her, securing her wrists with flex cuffs.

Niko held his breath, waiting for Jenna to panic or fight. But she lay docile. That was so unlike her, it scared him. He wished he could see her face. Was she afraid? Angry? Unconscious?

Didn't matter. The bastard was going to pay for the rough way he handled Jenna.

Once her wrists were secure, the man pulled out a pistol and held it to Jenna's head. Niko feigned calm while his own hands were bound and his weapons removed.

If the situation had just been Alvarez's men versus Niko, he'd try to escape. But Alvarez's dogs weren't just trained to hunt and attack intruders. They were encouraged to feed on their prey, preferably while it was still alive.

There was no way in hell he was doing anything that might put Jenna on their menu. So he'd play along. For now.

Rafe was still free. He'd find some way to help them.

The radio at Mendoza's waist squawked. He answered it, and whatever he was told didn't make him happy. He jammed the radio back in its holster. His fingers hovered over the hilt of his knife, clenching and unclenching.

His lips formed a mutinous pout, but he let his hand drop. "Move," he snarled. " _El Jefe_ is waiting for you."

"What's the matter? Alvarez tell you not to hurt us?" Holding back a laugh, Niko lurched to his feet, testing to see how much weight he could put on his injured leg. The bullet had caught him on the outside of his thigh. The bone was intact and would support his whole weight when the time came. But they didn't need to know that. He stumbled, pretending he couldn't walk unassisted.

Mendoza swore. "We must go. Drag him if you must."

Two of the men stepped up, grabbed Niko under the arms and yanked him forward. He sagged, forcing them to carry his entire weight. Let them work to get him to Alvarez.

He turned his head slightly to check on Jenna. She marched gamely behind him, her captor's rifle prodding between her shoulder blades in case she faltered. Her hat sat low on her face. With the camo paint smeared across her skin, he hoped to hell no one realized she was a girl.

As they stepped into a small clearing, bushes shuddered on the other side. Something loud crashed through the trees, coming closer. The men dropped Niko and raised their weapons. The dogs crouched, ready to attack.

Niko tensed, ready to bolt.

A man stumbled into view.

Shit. Mark Tonelli. And Jesus, the man was in bad shape. Blood streaked his face. His pants and sleeves hung in tatters from multiple dog bites. When he noticed Mendoza's group, he fled back into the jungle. The dogs and two of the guards gave chase.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Niko rolled, knocking down the man to his right. He kicked out both feet, landing a blow to the side of the other man's kneecap. The man fell, firing wildly. But Niko had already moved on. The first of his guards toppled into Jenna's captor. The second guard's shot caught the man in the back. Niko jackknifed and pulled his knife out of its ankle holster. In a well-practiced move, he slit the flex cuffs.

As soon as his hands were free, he jumped to his feet. Jenna was frozen in place, caught by a man's scream. Damn. The dogs had Tonelli.

"Come on!" Niko urged, grabbing Jenna by the arm and turning her away. He sliced her restraints, then broke into a lurching run, forcing Jenna along with him.

They hadn't gone very far before there was a shout behind them. Niko kicked up his pace, ignoring the pain in his leg. He veered to the right, running parallel to a ravine.

Jenna stumbled against him, throwing him off his stride. Her legs tangled with his and he tripped. He landed on his stomach at the rim of the ravine. The ground gave way beneath him and he started to slide over.

_Dammit, no!_

His right hand snatched at a small bush along the edge. The force of his momentum carried his legs in an arc. His left leg went past the edge before his momentum stopped.

_Shit._

One wrong move and he was headed down the long slope to the ocean below.

"Jenna, grab my waistband and help pull me back." He didn't dare move his head to look at her, afraid any movement would send him over the edge.

"I'm sorry," Jenna whispered. "What I have to do, you can't be part of."

The toe of her boot shoved his hips over the edge. He threw his left hand out to hold the bush, and managed to stop himself before he'd slid more than a couple inches.

He jerked his head up. "Jenna? What the fuck?"

The faint moonlight shimmered against her camo paint, making her seem like a creature of the wild. Her face was utterly calm, but her eyes were tormented. "Please, forgive me. I love you."

She twisted her body and kicked him in the left shoulder. The impact tore his hand free of the bush so that he dangled by just his right hand.

"Why?"

He thought he heard her whisper, "Because Kai has to die," before she slammed her boot into his other shoulder.

He lost his grip on the bush and fell.

His hands scrabbled frantically for another handhold. He grabbed a vine, but it tore out by its roots, sending dirt and rocks cascading after him, stinging his eyes and clogging his nose and mouth.

Then he was airborne. The last thing he heard before he hit bottom was a male voice shouting in Spanish, "On your knees, boy. Hands on your head!"

# Chapter Twenty-Six

The ravine dropped Niko twenty feet onto a thin strip of beach. He landed on his back with the wind knocked out of him and his goggles askew. Reality swam out of focus. He drifted.

Some time later, furious barking along the top of the ravine snapped him back to attention. Men shouted at each other, arguing whether it was worth their time to follow Niko down and make sure he was dead.

"Enough!" Mendoza's bellow cut through the chaos. "We take the boy and the man back to _El Jefe_. If Niko is still alive, he will attempt to free the boy and his aunt and we will capture him then. _Ándale._ "

The men moved away with much stomping and grumbling, taking the whining dogs with them. Taking Jenna to Alvarez.

_No!_

Sheer terror propelled Niko to his feet. His wounded leg screamed a protest and he almost collapsed. But he grit his teeth and searched for a way up the side of the ravine. He had to get Jenna free. If Alvarez touched her....

He found a section of cliff where the bushes were thinner and began climbing toward the top. His fingers grabbed at precarious handholds, and he slid back a foot for every two feet he gained, but he slowly approached the top.

Each second of delay caused his heart to increase its frantic rhythm. He was going to be too late. No! He pushed himself faster. The thought of Alvarez hurting Jenna terrified him like nothing ever had.

With a giant heave, he pulled himself over the rim onto the jungle floor.

Mendoza's group was gone.

Panting with exertion, pain, and fear, he checked the compass on his watch to verify the direction of Alvarez's fortress. Left.

He started off at a hobbling run. He'd barely gone fifty feet when a man's arm snaked around his neck, pulling him to a stop against a solid chest.

"Easy, bro," Rafe's voice whispered in Greek as Niko struggled. "You can't stop them."

"Jenna—" Niko choked back a sob, but he didn't care. Rafe didn't know what Alvarez would do to her. The photos of Aunt Madalena were tame compared to what Alvarez was capable of.

"Niko, we have to get out of here. You can't help her now."

No. He couldn't abandon Jenna. He couldn't.

He didn't realize he was still fighting until Rafe's arm tightened around his throat, cutting off his air.

"Don't make me knock you out and carry your sorry ass out of here," Rafe growled. He squeezed hard enough to make Niko see stars, then eased up on the pressure. "There are two of us, six of them and four dogs. You're too injured to fight. Give it up. You're more help to Jenna on the outside than as a prisoner."

Niko sagged in his brother's arms. "Fuck. I hate it when you're right."

Rafe released his stranglehold on Niko's neck. "I'm always right, haven't you figured that out yet?" He draped Niko's left arm over his shoulders and put his right arm around Niko's waist. "C'mon, let's get you to the car."

The journey through the forest was agony. Niko's vision pulsed in and out with the throbbing in his leg and arm, where the stitches had torn out. But the worst pain was the knowledge that no matter how soon they rescued her, Jenna would be hurt. And Aunt Madalena might be dead.

_My fault._ Niko bit his lip to stop the howl of denial from bursting out.

The moment Niko settled in the passenger seat of the car, he escaped into unconsciousness.

When he woke up, Rafe had parked next to their backup rental car on a quiet residential street. He let Rafe help him into the other vehicle, then waited while his brother transferred their equipment and wiped down the first car.

As they drove toward their bungalow, Niko squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the pain in his leg. Otherwise, visions of what Alvarez might be doing to Jenna would drive him mad.

"So what happened?" Rafe asked.

Niko thought about pretending he was unconscious. But Rafe needed to know, even if remembering made Niko sick. He explained about the hunting party finding them, Mendoza, and the appearance of Tonelli. "We got free but then..."

Niko glared out the window. "Jenna tripped me and pushed me into the ravine," he admitted. "She fucking apologized, but she said she had something to do that I can't be part of." He banged his head against the headrest.

"Christ, Rafe. I think she said she's going to kill her brother."

Wasn't the fucking joke on him? He should have listened to his instincts. He'd guessed right. He slammed his fist against the dashboard.

Rafe shook his head. "Why? If you were Alvarez's prisoner I'd be hell bent on rescue, not murder."

Niko slumped in his seat. "No one ever proved what her brother's role was in the attack on her family. If she holds him responsible..." He pressed his hand to the aching center of his chest. "Still, letting Alvarez's men take her doesn't make sense. Even if she's put in the same cell as her brother, there's no way she'll survive. Particularly not if she manages to kill her brother before Alvarez gets the chip."

Every instinct screamed at him to rescue Jenna now, but with ruthless control Niko shut off his emotions. His body was weak and his thinking cloudy. He needed to regroup. To plan.

To remember that he had three...no four, dammit, counting Tonelli...four people to get away from Alvarez.

Hell, they needed a miracle.

* * *

_Wednesday, Night_

_Alvarez's Fortress_

_Ixtapa, Mexico_

Jenna was dragged into a large, airy and well-lit living room. Lush plants sat in heavy terra cotta pots in the corners, hung from macramé baskets, and perched on rattan end tables. Bright, jewel-toned pillows and richly gleaming Mexican ceramics added festive color to the room.

In the center of it all, a stocky, middle-aged man sat on an overstuffed couch, watching a telenovela's drama play out on a plasma television screen. Some might call him handsome, with his thick, black hair and well-trimmed mustache. But when she was forced to her knees in front of him, she found herself looking up into eyes dark and empty as a cave. Bat wings of terror beat at the edges of her mind.

Jenna shivered and looked away.

Mark Tonelli landed in a heap on the floor next to her. The dogs had caught him not long after he'd fled. Her eyes flicked over him. He was unconscious, his face pasty under streaks of blood. Why had he been in the jungle? Had he followed them?

Idiot.

She felt sorry for him, but he was on his own now. There would be no rescue. Not after the way she'd left Niko.

Given all she'd been through, she'd thought she had no more room for pain. Yet hurting Niko like that had torn a giant hole in her heart. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide from the agony.

_Stop it!_ She couldn't afford such weakness. Not here. Not when she had to stay alive long enough to reach Kai.

"Welcome to my home, Señorita Paterson." Alvarez's voice was deep and cultured, with only a slight accent. The power of it rolled through her, setting off alarm bells. Every evil thing she'd heard about him came back, filling her with heavy dread. Suddenly, it didn't seem such a good idea to have surrendered.

Her mouth dried out as she realized she might not survive this meeting.

Alvarez seemed to be waiting for something from her. How had Alvarez seen through her disguise so quickly, when his men still thought she was a boy? When she didn't respond to his greeting, the man behind her yanked off her stocking cap and grabbed her hair.

"Answer _El Jefe_ ," he barked in thickly accented English.

_Not in this lifetime,_ she thought.

"You do not answer my greeting?" Alvarez's soft voice held only mild inquiry, yet her palms grew damp at the underlying threat.

"How is it that you were raised without knowing proper etiquette?" the crime lord prodded.

The man holding her forced her head up meet Alvarez's scrutiny. His lifeless eyes stripped her naked and she barely smothered the urge to cover herself with her hands. Instead, she forced herself to look at the bridge of his nose, and hoped her fear didn't show on her face.

"Speak," the man behind her ordered, swatting her head with the back of his hand.

She opened her mouth and moved her lips without talking, hoping Alvarez would get the message.

"Ah, yes. My man slit your throat during the attack on your family. You have lost your voice?"

Jenna nodded.

"How...unfortunate." Alvarez's predatory smile would have stopped a hungry shark in its tracks. "I do so like to hear my guests scream."

His eyes roamed over her again and she froze, afraid to so much as twitch in case he took that as a sign of weakness. When he shifted his gaze to Mark, she felt like she'd received a last-minute pardon on the night of execution.

Alvarez asked a curt question of one of the men in Spanish. The man grunted, kicked Mark, and replied with a harsh laugh.

Alvarez waved his hand. Two of the men picked Mark up and carried him from the room. The oppressive force of Alvarez's eyes immediately smothered her again.

"I would like for you and I to get better acquainted, my dear Señorita Paterson. However, you must be anxious to see your brother." He nodded to the man behind her and she was pulled to her feet.

"Tonight you can share your brother's cell. Do try and convince him to be reasonable when I question him tomorrow morning about Nevsky's microchip. If not, I'm afraid you will find the consequences...unpleasant." His slow smile sent her stomach cowering behind her ribs.

"Sweet dreams, _niña_."

Her guard dragged her across the room. They had just reached the door, and she was congratulating herself for having gotten out of the encounter unharmed, when Alvarez spoke up behind them.

"On second thought...Manuel, bring the lady back here."

Jenna struggled, even though she knew it was useless. Her guard simply picked her up around the waist like she was a stuffed toy and carried her back to Alvarez. The man set her on her feet and wrapped his arms and one leg around hers, trapping her against his body.

"For every day that passes without your brother's cooperation, you will be cut." Alvarez held up a short, wickedly sharp dagger with a turquoise and silver hilt.

Jenna flinched, hating the way Alvarez smiled triumphantly at her reaction.

"What's the matter, _chiquita_? Afraid of knives?" His left hand darted out and grabbed her chin. With his right hand, he placed the dagger at the front of her eye, so that just a tiny upward movement from him would slice her.

She sucked in air and widened her eyes, afraid that if she blinked, if she so much as breathed, she might inadvertently cause the knife to shift position.

Alvarez's voice was full of good humor as he continued. "I could easily cut your eye out, or slice it enough to blind you. But not yet."

He moved the knife a fraction of an inch away. Jenna exhaled in relief.

Too soon.

Alvarez's grip shifted on the hilt. The knife sliced down, cutting open her skin from just below the bone of her eye socket to the point of her chin. He leaned in, his hot breath fanning across the stinging cut. "Never forget that I hold all the power."

His tongue darted out and licked across the wound.

Jenna whimpered, then realized that she'd made a mistake when Alvarez practically purred over her fear.

His smile grew wider and he laughed. "Oh yes, you and I are going to have such fun." Still smiling, he ran his thumb down the cut, using his nail to separate the torn flesh farther. He smeared blood across her forehead and down her nose, almost like he was blessing her.

Leaning back enough to meet her eyes, he licked the rest of the blood off his thumb.

"Dream of me, Señorita Paterson. I'll see you in the morning." He winked at her. "On second thought, I hope your brother proves resistant to your persuasion. There is so much more I'd like to do to you." With a dismissive nod to the man holding her, he turned away.

Jenna went without protest, letting her guard carry most of her weight. She was trembling too much for her legs to be any good, anyway.

The man dragged her through a long series of corridors and down several sets of stairs. She didn't bother noting their route. There wouldn't be any need to travel it again. By the time morning came, both she and Kai would be dead.

And thank God for that. The idea of having another encounter with Alvarez paralyzed her with fear.

* * *

_Wednesday, Night_

_Zihuatanejo, Mexico_

Niko didn't let Rafe carry him into the backup bungalow the SSU had rented for them. They'd made a quick stop at their old house for Rafe to pack their things, but with Jenna in Alvarez's possession, that location was compromised.

Knowing his leg would stiffen up if he didn't use it, Niko hobbled across the tiled floor, glad that the bleeding had slowed so he was no longer dripping blood. Rafe dumped their bags inside the front door. He pulled out a white box and a brown leather shaving kit.

"I'm putting the first aid stuff in the bathroom," Rafe told Niko as he headed down the hall. "Your prescription pain killers are in the shaving kit." His cell phone was already at his ear. A moment later, Niko heard the bedroom door close.

Rafe was going to do his best to arrange for help with their rescue by calling in every favor owed him by the special ops community. And he was going to report in to Ryker.

Niko limped into the bathroom, holding on to the wall for support. He carefully tugged his pants off and examined the wound. The bullet had taken a quarter-sized chunk off the outside of his left leg, a few inches down from where the bullet had hit him in Afghanistan. What, did he have an X marking this spot? His lips curved in a grim smile as he wet a washcloth and prepared to clean away the blood.

This latest wound wasn't as bad as the previous one, but it still hurt like a mother.

He unzipped the shaving kit, searching for the painkillers. He couldn't afford to take more than one, but he needed something to dull the edge.

But the kit held only soap, deodorant, and a few tubes of moisturizer. Jenna's kit. Not Niko's.

The pain that stabbed through him had nothing to do with his leg. Furious that she had the power to hurt him, he grabbed the kit and threw it against the wall.

Damn her! If Alvarez hurt her...if he raped her.

_God!_

Niko gripped the edge of the counter and made a vow to his reflection. If Alvarez hurt Jenna, Niko would make sure the man died a slow, painful death. Until then, he had to pull himself together. He wouldn't be any use to her or Aunt Madalena if his leg gave out.

_And if Jenna hurts her brother?_

Uh-uh. He so wasn't going there. Instead, he blanked his mind and focused on cleaning his wound.

Rafe knocked on the doorframe. He glanced at Niko's leg, assessed the damage, and dismissed it as bearable. "Go ahead," he said to his cell phone, "I'm with Niko."

"Rafe filled me in on what Jenna said to you, Niko." Even through the slight echo of the speakerphone, Ryker's voice sounded tense.

"My fault," Ryker continued. "I should have warned you."

Niko taped a piece of gauze over his wound, then gave all his attention to the phone.

"I thought she was over her anger at Kai," Ryker said.

Niko closed his eyes. Dammit, he'd been right.

"Jenna claims she heard Kai's voice the night of the attack," Ryker said. "She says she heard him tell the assassins to kill her family. She claims she saw him leaving the house, as well. We all know the knife they found with his prints could have been a plant. Or not."

Ryker paused, and Niko had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he heard next.

"Jenna doesn't know this, but I also saw Kai outside the house that night. He looked furious. Deadly cold."

Niko swore.

"He'd left me a threatening message a few days before. He cursed me for sending assassins after him, then promised that if I did the same to his family, he'd make sure I didn't survive. I have no idea what he was talking about. Someone had deleted the message from my phone. I came across it by accident while trying to retrieve another message, and immediately warned her father to get the family out. But it was too late."

"Does she know it was Alvarez's assassins who initiated the attack?" Rafe asked.

"Yes," Ryker answered. "But she never showed the anger toward him that she did toward her brother. Still, she stopped mentioning Kai after the second session with the psychiatrist. I hoped she'd put her anger aside and was just after the truth, not vengeance."

Niko shook his head and bent down to pick up the contents of Jenna's toiletry kit. "You fucking misread that one, boss." When he went to transfer the spilled items into the kit, he saw that the bottom of the kit had shifted, revealing a hidden compartment.

Niko lifted the fake bottom away. Inside was a small, rectangular plastic case. He thumbed open the clasp and shook out the contents.

_Fuck._

He put his hand to his chest. He couldn't breathe. It felt as if he'd just been stomped on by a pair of size fourteen boots.

Rafe glanced down at the two small objects on Niko's palm and exhaled sharply. At first glance, a person might mistake the round wax caps for ear plugs, but these devices were meant to fit over a person's back teeth.

Because they were fucking old-fashioned cyanide tablets. Also known as suicide pills. Bite down hard on them during interrogation, and you died before giving up your secrets.

There were two empty spaces in the container, meaning Jenna's mouth was loaded.

"Ryker, do you have any reason to believe Jenna might not want to survive?" No wonder her "I love you" at the ravine had seemed more like good-bye. She'd let Alvarez's men take her not just knowing she might not survive, but fucking _planning_ on dying.

Ryker's sigh sounded weary. "I don't know. She appears to have adjusted well. Maybe a bit too focused and solitary, but she's not the only operator like that."

Rafe's hand grabbed Niko's wrist. Only then did Niko realize his fingers had closed around the caps like he would crush them.

"The psychiatrists give a high probability that she'll have some sort of emotional breakdown in the future," Ryker added. "But they can't predict when. Is she bent on murder? On suicide? I can't say. Why?"

Niko slowly let his hand open. "Because I just found a case of cyanide tooth caps in her toiletry kit."

The silence on the other end was frightening. Niko wondered if Ryker felt the same sense of betrayal. Of fury. Of crushing pain in his chest, like someone had performed open heart surgery on him without anesthesia.

But Ryker's voice gave nothing away. "Whatever her intentions, it doesn't change your mission. We need the chip and we need to know the truth. Get both Kai and Jenna out of there alive."

"About that," Rafe began. He looked a question at his brother and at Niko's answering nod, took the call off speakerphone and walked back toward the bedroom.

Niko trusted Rafe to take care of what they needed to stage a rescue. His job was to get this damn leg ready to carry his full weight, at a run if he had to. He'd figure out how to deal with Jenna once she was safe.

* * *

_Wednesday, Night_

_Alvarez's Fortress_

_Ixtapa, Mexico_

Jenna's guard halted in front of a thick wooden door with heavy iron hinges. Torches in sconces to either side of the frame provided smoky light. For a moment Jenna wondered if they'd somehow traveled back to a medieval castle.

The man pulled a thick iron skeleton key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock and threw his whole weight backward in order to pull open the door. With a swift motion he drew his knife from its sheath and sliced away her flex cuffs.

He could have just slit the connecting piece and left the bracelets on her wrists, but no, he hacked away the bracelets too, leaving her skin peppered with cuts.

Then he shoved her into the dark, foul-smelling room. She fell onto her stomach, her canteen digging painfully into her hip. The man placed one of the torches in a sconce inside the cell. "Enjoy your brother while he's still alive," he said in Spanish.

His laugh echoed in the room before the door slammed shut with a solid thud.

Jenna pushed to her hands and knees, unbuckled the canteen and let it fall away.

About two feet away, a man lay on the floor, wrapped in a thin, heavily stained blanket. Seeing him, something dark and ugly broke loose inside her.

"Kai, you bastard," she screamed. She flew across the small space separating them and began pummeling his head and shoulders with her fists.

"Why?" Smack. "Why did you kill them? What did they ever do to you?" Smack, smack. "How could you do that to them? How?" Her voice broke on a sob and her hands dropped to her sides. "How could you betray us like that?" she whispered.

Kai groaned, a long, agonized sound of pain that reminded her too much of the attack. Part of her wanted to put her hands over her ears and block out the sound, but the wounded animal inside her said to enjoy Kai's pain.

"Jen-shine?" he mumbled. The hoarse endearment was distorted, as if Kai's lips couldn't properly form the words.

"You don't get to call me that!" she snarled.

"Am I dead?"

"Not yet, you bastard." She fumbled with her belt buckle, releasing the hidden knife. The feel of the thin steel in her hand gave her courage. "Turn around."

When all she got was another low moan from Kai, she moved around until she faced him, knife at the ready. "Why, Kai? Why did you tell the assassins to kill us?"

He looked up at her with amber eyes cloudy with pain. His face was so swollen and bloody she barely recognized him. "Jen-na. Sorry. So sorry. Didn't mean..."

His eyes closed.

"You didn't mean it?" she screamed. "They died because of you!" She pushed Kai over onto his back and raised the knife. With a howl of fury, she drove her hand toward his heart.

Her hand spasmed. The knife plunged into the dirt floor, sending a shockwave of pain reverberating through the bones in her arm.

Jenna released the knife and cradled her aching arm against her chest. She stared at Kai's battered body. At the broad target of his chest. How had she missed?

Furious at herself, she yanked the knife out of the ground and raised it again.

Kai opened his eyes.

He stared at her knife and she swore the torn corner of his mouth lifted in a tiny smile. "I knew it. You're an angel." Calm acceptance shone through his pain. "Kill me, angel. Make the pain go away. Please. I'm so tired of hurting."

Jenna shivered.

_Don't cry, Jen-shine. It was just a bad dream..._

_I won't let those boys hurt you again..._

_That's it. Keep pedaling. I'm so proud of you!_

_Kill them. Kill them all._

"No!" She drove the knife toward Kai's heart again.

Her hand spasmed again. Only this time the knife fell from her numb fingers.

She skittered away from Kai until her back pressed against the wall. Stared at him in horror as her soul tore open.

Oh, God. She couldn't kill him. He was her brother. No matter what he'd done, there'd been too many deaths. Too much pain. Her body began to shake with such violence, she thought she'd fly apart. She wrapped her arms around her torso, trying to hold herself together. But a fierce convulsion bowed her back and she collapsed forward, her forehead almost touching the floor.

She'd been lying to herself since the attack. Deep down inside, she still loved him.

"Mom, dad, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I can't kill him. Can't. C-can't."

Her tears soaked her cheeks, ran into her open mouth and into her throat, choking her. Her grief poured out of her in a long series of ululations that echoed in the tiny cell. She cried until the dirt underneath her face turned to mud. Until she was so lightheaded, all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep for weeks.

Until eventually her voice choked off.

In the ensuing silence, she heard the thud of boots hitting the corridor floor. Then shouting, muffled by the thick door.

_No!_ She jumped to her feet. Snatching up her knife, she glanced at Kai. His expression was one of stark terror.

His expression was one of stark terror. He feared Alvarez's men but not death by her hand? Why?

The key turned in the lock. _No time!_

She stood to the left of the door, raised her knife, and waited.

# Chapter Twenty-Seven

The door was flung open. Someone dove low into the room, catching Jenna off guard. Hands grabbed her around the knees and toppled her to the floor. Something hard slammed into the back of her head and she blacked out.

When she came to, she was hanging in the center of a small, dimly lit stone room. Her hands were chained above her head to an iron bar that was anchored by posts on either side of her. Her feet skimmed over a fist-sized drain in the floor.

And she was naked.

She struggled with a strength fueled by wild fear. But all her twisting and turning accomplished was scraped wrists and aching shoulders.

Her head sank onto her chest and she gulped in frantic lungfuls of air. She was going to die. She'd never get to hear Kai explain why he'd betrayed her family. She was never going to see Niko again.

Tears dripped onto the floor. For the first time in two years, she didn't embrace her death as a reward for her hard journey.

How was she to know she'd been fooling herself? This love she still felt for Kai had been buried so deeply under her anger and grief it had been undetectable.

But somehow Niko had sensed the truth. He'd tried to turn her away from this path, but she hadn't listened.

Now she was trapped. Unable to hurt Kai. Unable to help him thanks to this latest in a long string of impetuous moves. Niko had been right. She didn't have the head for this dangerous shadow world. When push came to shove, her emotions drove her.

And now her family might never be avenged.

The depth of her failure shattered her. Destroyed the last remnants of the tough, cold-hearted Jenna. Leaving her scared and drowning in remorse. And unsure who or what she was anymore.

She watched more tears disappear down the drain.

Somewhere behind her a key clicked in a lock. The door opened, letting in a breeze that chilled her skin. When the door closed, it sealed the fresh air outside, leaving her alone with an oppressive silence.

She sensed someone standing behind her, knew who it had to be, and wondered how long Alvarez intended to let the silence build.

It took every ounce of self control not to let her breathing speed up in fear. She rolled her bottom lip in and bit down on it to keep from whimpering. With each beat of her heart her nerves stretched tauter as she waited to feel a blow.

Yet the weapon Alvarez chose was speech.

"You have displeased me most deeply." Alvarez's voice thrummed with anger. "I need your brother alive, yet you attempted to kill him. What type of sisterly love is that?"

Jenna bit her tongue so she wouldn't stammer out an apology.

There was an odd whistle of air, then a sharp sting of a whip against the bare flesh of her thighs.

Jenna's hand convulsed on the chains overhead as her body arched away from the blow.

"Talk to me. Explain yourself. That room was monitored, so I know you are not mute."

The whip sliced across her buttocks. More tears leaked out from between her tightly closed eyelids.

_No. Push them away._ She would _not_ show Alvarez any weakness.

"You were meant to be incentive to get your brother to talk. But if there's bad blood between you, then you are useless. Give me a reason to spare your life. Tell me why you tried to kill your brother."

Another whistle and the whip bit into her back with enough force that she tasted blood where her teeth had cut into her tongue. There wasn't any reason not to tell the truth, so she gasped, "Because he was there that night. I heard him order your assassins to kill my family."

Silence.

Then Alvarez laughed. Quietly at first, then with such great whoops, she imagined him slapping his knees in mirth.

Memories of that night still had the power to cut more deeply than this man's whip, yet he found it funny? Her eyes popped open and she stood as upright as her chains allowed. She turned her head to glare at him over her right shoulder.

His face was alight with glee.

"Oh," he choked out between chuckles, "this is a gift I never expected. The divine perfection of it!"

His mirth made her want to throttle him.

He sucked in a breath, then exhaled gustily. When he spoke, his words were pregnant with humor and his eyes as they met hers actually twinkled. "Your brother was not in the house that night, _chica_."

She shook her head. "Yes, he was. I heard him. He said 'Kill them.' Then he laughed. And I saw him leave the house." She bowed her head, barely able to swallow past the lump in her throat. Anguish sank its teeth into her heart, as sharp now as it had been two years ago.

Kai had betrayed them, yet she'd failed to kill him. What did that make her?

_Failure. Coward._

She closed her eyes against a wave of self-loathing.

"No, _señorita_ , that was a recording you heard. My men put it together from telephone conversations with your brother. I do not know who you saw sneaking away, but I assure you, he wasn't there that night. He had already disappeared with the chip. My men hoped the recording would encourage your father to tell us where your brother was hiding. But your _padre_ , he didn't believe it was really your brother saying those things. He died without revealing where your brother had fled. He trusted your brother completely. Unlike you."

"But...the knife. The police retrieved a knife with his prints on it."

She heard the whip move and tensed, waiting for an attack. But the lash only tapped softly against the post to her right.

"A plant. Insurance in case your father didn't reveal the information we needed and it was necessary to kill him. With your brother framed for the murders, he would have no place of safety among his law enforcement friends."

He chuckled. "To think that you've hated your brother all this time. What mental anguish you've been through. It's exhilarating."

Kai was innocent?

_I knew it,_ a tiny voice deep inside her rejoiced.

But her mind couldn't wrap itself around Alvarez's story. She'd spent too long believing Kai's guilt. Even if the rest of what Alvarez said was true, she knew she'd seen Kai on the back porch.

Jenna gripped the chains, grateful for their support. Afraid that otherwise she'd fall into a jumbled heap.

Ryker had warned her that Kai might be innocent despite the evidence. But she'd been so certain of Kai's guilt, she'd refused to believe.

And...hadn't Kai just apologized to her? Begged for death? Why, if he was innocent?

Maybe Alvarez was lying to her.

Alvarez lightly traced the surgery scars on her back with the whip. She twitched, as if she could move her skin out of his reach. "As much as I'd like to stay and play with you a while, I think it better that I return you to your brother." He slapped the whip across the welt on her buttocks. "Make sure you convince him to give me the information I want, or you will find yourself back in this room tomorrow, and you won't leave until you've shed at least a pint of blood."

Her eyes flew to the drain beneath her. It was too easy to imagine her blood flowing away. Jenna shivered.

Behind her, the door creaked opened. Moments later, men unchained her, carried her back to Kai's cell and threw her clothes in after her. Minus the belt and the second knife hidden there.

For several minutes, Jenna just lay on the dirt floor, grateful to have survived Alvarez's questioning. Her mind still couldn't absorb all she'd been told, but two things were clear.

It was possible she'd almost killed an innocent man.

And if she couldn't find a way to get them both out of here, she was going to have to use the suicide pills after all.

Aware that Alvarez's men watched her every move, Jenna carefully stood up. She ran her fingers lightly over the raised welts on her back, buttocks and thighs. In a couple of places she touched a pinpoint of blood, yet overall, she was intact. She pulled on her clothes, wincing only slightly as the fabric abraded the tender spots.

A few steps brought her closer to Kai. He'd rolled over onto his side, causing the blanket to pool on the floor. Giving Jenna her first view of his injuries.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

The angle of Kai's limbs was all wrong. Looking at him was like looking at one of Escher's drawings. His body went off in directions that fooled the eye into thinking they were normal, but on second glance were clearly unnatural.

With a sick twist of her stomach, she realized that one leg was broken and his right shoulder must be dislocated, because his arm wasn't meant to hang at that angle. Filthy, bloody strips of cloth barely covered the blistered, shredded skin of his back and legs.

There was a bullet hole in his left shoulder from where he'd been shot the night he'd been taken.

She shoved her fist in her mouth, seeing new bruises from where she'd hit him earlier. Hissing in sympathy and regret, she moved to the front of him.

Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. The front of his body had been subjected to the same treatment as the back of him. How could he suffer so much and still be alive? His face and hands were purplish, bloody distortions and his hair looked like it had been used to clean an outhouse.

No wonder he wanted to die.

"Oh, Kai." She gently tucked a lock of short, matted hair back behind his ear. Underneath her fingertip, his skin was as hot as noontime sand.

He opened his eyes. Blinked and squinted as if even the meager light from the nearly burned-out torch was too much. His unfocused gaze met hers for a moment. "I'm not dead yet?" he mumbled.

Jenna shook her head.

Kai's eyes closed. "Knew it was...too good...to be...true." Then he lost consciousness.

A sob worked its way up from deep in her belly and stuck in her throat.

Her lips moved soundlessly. This was her big, strong, larger-than-life brother? This man, who'd been tortured to within an inch of his life, was the man she'd sworn to kill?

Very likely an innocent man.

She threw her head back and screamed in outrage. Two years—wasted on the wrong man.

Kai groaned.

She murmured reassuringly to him and lightly stroked his hair. She had to find a way to get him out of here. She ran her tongue over the cyanide pills against her teeth. They were a last resort, one she'd lost any desire to use.

Because Alvarez had to die.

* * *

_Thursday, Morning_

_Zihuatanejo, Mexico_

Niko prowled around the sitting room of their bungalow, working through the pain in his leg. He'd managed to grab a few hours of restless, nightmare-filled sleep and was ready for action. Only there was nothing to do now but wait. Wait to see if Ryker could put together a team and get them here by tonight. Wait to see if Rafe's calls to his special forces buddies brought in any additional men.

Damn, he needed to get out of here. He knew all too well the weapons in Alvarez's arsenal. Thinking of Jenna suffering through even the mildest of Alvarez's tortures was enough to make Niko want to punch a hole in the wall.

And Aunt Madalena. How much more abuse could she take before she broke?

God, he resented the hell out of Rafe. His brother was asleep in the bedroom. Niko knew the Rangers had trained Rafe to sleep under any condition, mental or physical, but sleeping wasn't helping them put together a rescue.

_You could do with a few more hours shut-eye, yourself._

But he knew he was lucky to have slept at all.

When his phone rang, he pounced on it, praying it would be Ryker.

But it was Carlos.

"Hey, _Derecha,_ fine morning."

"Cut the small talk, _amigo_. What's up?"

"You remember Manny the Rat?"

Manuelo Rodriguez, aka the Rat because of his pointed chin and beady eyes, was an international fence who'd hated Alvarez ever since the crime lord raped Manny's only daughter. "Yeah. So?"

"So one of Alvarez's guards drops Manny a note last night. Only, the note's for you, man. He didn't know how to contact you, so he put the word out. I've got the note now and let me tell you, it's got some sweet perfume on it. You got a sweetheart with Alvarez?"

"Like I talk about my women? You know better than that." Niko's pulse kicked into overdrive. Jenna didn't wear scent, but Aunt Madalena wore perfume. Usually something heavy that Alvarez picked out.

"I'm in a meeting," Niko snarled. "Read me the note." Let Carlos think he was still in Acapulco. That info would be passed on to Alvarez and it would give the crime lord a distorted sense of how long it would take Niko to reach the fortress.

"Ah..."

"Carlos? What have you done?"

"Nothing! I swear, I only tried to read the note when Manny gave it to me. Nothing bad. But see, I can't read it. The note is nothing but weird figures that don't look like any language I know."

Holy shit. After all these years, Madalena still remembered the Greek alphabet Uncle Tasi had taught her. But damn, this was a complication he didn't need.

He sighed. "Okay. Take the note to a business center and fax it to me. You know I'm good for the expense. Here's the number..." He gave Carlos his e-fax number, which would deliver the fax as an e-mail attachment.

"Oh, and Carlos? I expect the fax within half an hour, or I'm coming after you. _Comprendes?_ "

" _Sí._ "

* * *

The fax arrived in his e-mail's inbox within twenty minutes, so Niko figured he owed Carlos a little extra cash for his speedy response.

He quickly scanned the note written in modern Greek.

_Niko, Alvarez is waiting for you to make your rescue. He has three prisoners in the dungeon—one woman and two men. The woman and one of the men are in the third cell on the left. The other man is in the fifth cell to the right. I know you will come for your friends and nothing I say will stop you. I will do what I can to help when I hear fighting. Be careful. Do not risk your life for mine. Love, Aunt Madalena._

Niko stared at the message. His aunt's courage humbled him. He could only imagine what it had cost her to sneak the note out. But this was just what he needed. Not just information as to where Jenna was being held, but confirming that his aunt was still in the fortress.

Alvarez should have evacuated Aunt Madalena as soon as he learned Niko was in town. But of course, Alvarez wouldn't believe Niko could beat him again.

The man's arrogance had always been his greatest weakness.

Niko's mind ran through the additional measures necessary to free his aunt. The fortress was a huge place. If she was in the same suite of rooms she'd used before, rescuing her would be easy. But if he had to hunt around for her, there was a high chance he'd be discovered before he found the right room.

Paterson and Tonelli were likely in no physical shape to walk, so they'd need to be carried. _If_ they were still alive. Then there was Jenna. If she was determined to die, would she resist rescue? Was she even now biting down on a cyanide capsule?

Hell. Niko rubbed his chest, trying to dull the pain squatting there.

Jenna couldn't die. He—

Rafe's cell phone blared from the bedroom. Niko headed for the door, intending to answer it, but heard his brother's groggy voice.

A few minutes later, Rafe emerged, rubbing a towel over his face. His steps were energized. "You, big brother, can get down on your knees and worship me. For I am the king of all miracle workers."

"You got us backup?"

"Fuck yeah." Rafe fired the towel toward the kitchen counter. "That military exercise the SSU team was participating in has now been changed to include a live ammo assault on Alvarez's fortress. Which means we get not only SSU guys, but SEALs, Rangers, and Marines. Hoo-yah we are in business!"

Niko had been so braced for bad news, at first Rafe's words didn't register. Then a disbelieving grin split his face. "The entire training contingent? No shit?"

Rafe grinned. "They're sitting offshore on a carrier, locked and loaded. Their commander will be here in an hour to go over our operational needs and get maps. We can send them in tonight."

"Damn." _Thank you, God._

Niko prostrated himself before his brother. "Rafe, you are a god," he intoned. "I worship and adore you."

"About goddamn time." Rafe laughed. "Seriously though, thank Ryker for getting the Mexican government's permission to carry the raid out."

Talk about miracles. Some day he hoped he'd find out who Ryker knew in the Mexican government with the power and the balls to authorize the raid on such short notice.

Niko stood up. "Remind me to buy Ryker a drink when we get back."

* * *

_Thursday, Afternoon_

_Zihuatanejo, Mexico_

Niko glanced across the room to where Rafe and the leaders of the special forces team were swapping war stories. It was clear from their body language that the men respected Rafe. Since Niko spent his time deep undercover, while Rafe's specialties were strategy, assault, and covert rescue, he'd let Rafe take the lead in planning this assault. Niko had added a couple of alterations to the plan based on his knowledge of the layout of Alvarez's fortress and the internal security.

The plan was simple, but Niko believed it would work. The SEALs would launch from the water, scale the cliff, and blow open a section of the dungeon wall that had been damaged decades ago when part of the cliff had crumbled during a hurricane. Despite Alvarez's best efforts, that section always had problems with leakage during storms.

While the SEALs were breaching the western wall, the combined Ranger, Marine, and SSU force would attack from the road.

He shook his head, still amazed that Rafe and Ryker had come through so quickly and in such a big way. Yet when the SEAL commander had entered the bungalow, he'd acted as if Niko and Rafe were doing him a favor.

"This will give my men a better workout than a training mission." He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Nighttime amphibious attack. No practice run. Live ammunition. What's not to like?"

Across the room, the leaders stood up. "It's time to brief our men," the SEAL commander said. He and the others shook hands with Rafe, then slipped out the door.

"Rafe."

His brother looked up from the map he was studying, his eyes bright with anticipation. Niko swallowed past a sudden tightening of his throat. This was the first time he'd seen Rafe prepare for battle, and it brought home that his sometimes annoying, always laughing kid brother was really gone. No longer needing protection. Because the boy had been replaced by a warrior Niko respected and trusted to watch his back.

He just hadn't fully acknowledged the change before now. Niko cleared his throat.

"Yeah, Niko?"

"I...ah...just want to say that I'm proud to call you brother."

Rafe blinked in surprise, then one corner of his mouth quirked up as if he were going to laugh. At the last second, he changed his mind and his mouth flattened out again. "Likewise."

Niko nodded and turned toward the bedroom and his weapons.

"Niko." Rafe's voice was a warning. Niko tensed.

"If you don't make it out, I'm going in after you."

Shit. "Rafe—"

"That's non-negotiable, bro. Don't be stupid. Follow the plan. Leave Alvarez to the assault team."

He wondered if he was that transparent, or if Rafe had guessed his plan because his brother wanted the same thing. "Rafe—"

"We lost you once already to Alvarez. I'm not gonna let it happen again."

Niko heard the echo of pain in his brother's voice and winced. The last thing he wanted was Rafe putting himself in danger by trying to protect him. "Rafe—"

"I. Am. Not. Letting. You. Go." Rafe snapped. "Even if it means dragging your sorry, unconscious ass out of there. Deal with it."

Niko searched Rafe's face, seeing only truth and fierce determination in his brother's eyes. God _dammit_. He didn't want to hurt Rafe, but prison hadn't stopped Alvarez from destroying lives. It was time for the man to die.

"I'll...do my best to come out alive. But no promises." Because once Alvarez was dead, his guards would be all over Niko. He wouldn't go down easily, but he'd need a lot of luck to survive.

Niko dug his fingers into the scar tissue on his biceps. Had Jenna felt this strong sense of anticipation before she'd surrendered to Alvarez's men? Had there been any regret in her mind at all? Had she even once considered how Niko would react to her death?

The sudden pain in his heart made Niko want to break something. Instead, he turned toward the bedroom and his weapons. "Let's go kick some ass."

# Chapter Twenty-Eight

_Thursday, Night_

_Ixtapa, Mexico_

Niko stood at Alvarez's front gate, triple-checked the time on his watch, and pushed the intercom buzzer again. The SEALs should be in place by now, waiting for his signal before breaching the dungeon wall. Rafe waited in the jungle with one of the land-based assault teams. The second land-based team was in position along the road behind Niko. They'd secure the front gate once he was inside.

Up by the house, the dogs barked excitedly, the sound carried by the faint breeze coming in over the ocean. Good. Someone had finally noticed his arrival.

Tiny pinpricks of light bobbed across the lawn as his welcome party left the fortress. Niko held himself steady, trying to look as if he didn't have a care in the world. As the group drew nearer, Niko saw through the iron bars of the gate that he'd rated a first-class welcome—six of the nine dogs with their handlers, plus an additional four of Alvarez's security staff.

When the group was ten feet from the gate, he pulled a hand grenade out of his pocket, yanked out the pin, and tossed it past the group toward an electrical box partially hidden by some trees. The instant the device was airborne, he sprinted right, along the wall.

The explosion signaled the SEALs to move in. The blast should also have knocked out power to the electric security wires on top of the wall. He'd know if he was right in a moment. He started climbing. When he reached the top he pulled a pair of wire cutters out of his back pocket, held his breath, and snipped the wire.

No sparks.

He exhaled heavily, but didn't relax. The dogs would pick up his scent soon. To distract them, he opened a bottle of pig's blood, threw it into the trees on the outside of the compound, then slid down the other side of the wall and raced toward the house.

Shouts from outside the wall proved his diversion had worked. The men never considered he would run inside the compound. That gave him a few precious minutes to make it to the fortress.

The nearly full moon added a necessary bit of illumination as he navigated the slight hills and valleys of the lawn. It also meant he'd be easy to pick out if anyone was still monitoring the area. When no one shot at him, he figured he'd been right again and all the guards from this sector of the compound had been in the welcome party. It was a stupid maneuver, leaving their sector unguarded, but they'd done it before.

Of course, maybe the remaining guards had spotted him and waited for him to draw closer to the fortress before closing in on him. He didn't care, as long as he stayed alive a bit longer. Alvarez never let the dogs into the fortress, so once he was inside he'd only have to worry about human opponents.

He'd almost reached his destination when his wounded leg buckled. He stumbled and almost went down, but determination and years of training helped him retain his balance. He changed his gait so he put more weight on his right leg, and forced himself to keep running.

His destination was a tall, flowering hedge that grew all the way around the foundation of the building to the cliff edge out back. He spared a moment to wonder how the SEALs were doing climbing that nearly sheer rock face, then ducked into the bushes. If someone let the remaining three dogs out, the tangled vegetation would slow them down.

The overgrowth stopped a foot away from the house, providing him with enough of an unobstructed pathway to move freely. He followed this around to the right to a narrow door next to the garage. The door led to the communications and security center. He slapped explosive charges on the hinges, then stepped back. When the door blew open, he tossed a grenade into the room.

He didn't enter. That was a job for the assault team. Niko's job was to clear out any opposition.

By the time the smoke lifted, he'd bolted across the garage and was halfway up the interior stairs.

This was the tricky part. Where would Alvarez be? He had several favorite rooms. Odds were better than good that someone would notice Niko sneaking around before he found Alvarez.

Of course, if the assault teams did their job, it wouldn't matter if he was captured. They'd free him quickly.

He glanced once at the entrance to the dungeons. No matter how much he longed to rush down there and free Jenna, he had to stick to the plan. The dungeons belonged to the SEALs. So he walked the corridors, echoes of other times he'd been here ringing through his head with each slap of shoe rubber against marble floor. Times when he'd failed to save innocents from Alvarez's hands. When he'd failed his aunt.

Then, from the direction of the front parlor, he heard a man's hoarse shout. And his blood froze.

* * *

Kai awoke to the realization that something had changed. He held himself very still, trying to figure out if he was in danger. His head no longer rested on the cold dirt floor, but on something warm. And he wasn't alone. He heard ragged breathing above him.

Then a hand lightly stroked his hair, filling him with an odd sense of peace.

He opened his eyes, surprised to find his cell dimly lit by a sputtering torch.

His head was cradled in someone's lap. A woman with short, spiky, white hair. Her face was streaked with camo paint and rivulets of tears. Blood clotted along a knife wound leading from below her eye to her chin.

If not for the familiar amber eyes that so resembled his, he wouldn't have recognized this warrior as his sister. "Jen-na?"

No. He closed his eyes. He was either hallucinating, or dead.

Dead was sounding pretty good right now.

"Hey, Kai."

His eyes flew open. That was Jenna's voice. Slightly hoarse, but unmistakable.

Alive!

"But—" His elation faded under a surge of panic. God, what was she doing here? How could he protect her from Alvarez when he couldn't even protect himself? How—?

The door to the cell slammed open and six guards carrying rifles stormed in. Jenna jumped to her feet, hands up in a defensive posture. One of the guards charged her. She evaded and sent him to his knees, but another guard slammed the butt of his rifle against the side of her head and she went down. The man flung her over his shoulder and left the cell.

Two other men dragged Kai to his feet and followed Jenna's captor to a room bare of all furniture except for a carved wooden chest and matching table along one wall.

Alvarez stood in the middle of the room. Jenna lay on her stomach on the floor in front of him. A guard pressed the barrel of his rifle against the base of her neck. Two guards stood watch a few feet away.

Jesus, he'd thought the nightmare couldn't get any worse.

"Good evening, Señor Paterson. Have you decided to tell me where the chip is?"

"I told you," Kai said. "I don't have the chip." He tried to move toward Jenna, but he couldn't stand on his own and his guards easily kept him in place.

"How...disappointing." Alvarez gave him a cold smile. He pulled a knife and dropped to his knees, straddling Jenna. At his nod, the guard moved away. Alvarez grabbed a handful of Jenna's hair and pulled her head back. His other hand held a knife in front of her face. Jenna's eyes were round with terror. She let out a frightened whimper and struggled to get away.

Kai shook his head, clearing his vision. No. Wait. That was fury in her eyes, not terror. And she wasn't struggling to escape, but to reach Alvarez's knife.

"Leave her alone!" He had to distract Alvarez before the man realized what Jenna was up to. "I don't know where Nevsky's chip is."

Alvarez tsked in disbelief. His knife lifted the edge of Jenna's hair to reveal a long, thick line of scar tissue along her hairline.

Jesus Christ.

Kai had seen the photos of Jenna after the attack when he'd snuck into the backdoor of the SSU's database, but seeing her scar in person knocked the breath clear out of him. God, she'd come so close to dying.

"Did you hear how your family members died, Señor Paterson?" The flat of Alvarez's knife stroked along Jenna's scar.

Jenna gave another false whimper while her eyes shot fire.

"They were scalped," Alvarez explained.

"Yes, I know," Kai said. "Why else would your assassins have been found the same way?"

Alvarez's eyebrow rose in surprise. "It was you who scalped and killed my men? I did wonder." He chuckled. "You have _cajones, señor_."

Alvarez glanced down at Jenna. "Unfortunately, the scalping of your sister was never completed." He dug the tip of his knife into Jenna's skin, drawing blood.

Jenna held very still, but Kai could see the fingers of her left hand creeping toward Alvarez's hip. Dammit. One wrong move and Alvarez's knife would slip. She could lose an eye.

"Stop!" Kai shouted. God, his voice was so hoarse, he could barely understand the words himself. But he had to make Alvarez understand. "I'm telling you, I don't have the chip. I don't even know where it is."

"Do not lie to me." Alvarez's voice was deadly in its very lack of inflection. "You told me you knew where Nevsky had hidden his backup. You promised me the microchip."

"I know. I thought it was the truth. But when I got to the lab that night, I overheard Nevsky arguing with Kaufmann, his second in command. Nevsky bragged about how he'd hidden the chip someplace no one would ever find it. How if he died, someone he trusted to restart the program would receive instructions on how to locate the chip."

Jenna almost had hold of Alvarez's knife.

Shit. Kai had to keep the crime lord distracted. "When Nevsky triggered the self-destruct, Kaufmann panicked and shot him." He took a deep breath, relieved to have the truth finally out in the open. "I swear to you. I've—"

The door behind Alvarez burst open and a man dove into the room. He rolled like a professional, coming up with his weapon already firing. One of Kai's guards staggered back, releasing his hold. Kai used the distraction to collapse his full weight against his other guard. The man lost his balance and fell with Kai on top of him.

Kai's fingers found the hilt of the man's knife. He slid it free from its sheath and struck.

But he was too weak. Instead of delivering a killing blow, he barely managed to cut the man. The man grabbed Kai's wrist and twisted. Kai fought to hold onto the knife, but then, with an audible crack, his wrist bones broke and the knife clattered to the floor.

Someone behind him reached down and grabbed Kai's other arm, the one with the dislocated shoulder. They raised his arm high above his back and Kai's vision flared white with pain.

Just before he passed out, he thought he felt the earth move.

* * *

Niko! Alvarez couldn't see the intruder's face, but he knew instinctively who it was. No one else could have managed to penetrate this far into the fortress.

Alvarez dropped to the floor on his side, pulling the girl next to him as a shield. He pressed his knife to her throat and kept her arms pinned against her torso as he inched the two of them away from the action.

Across the room, someone grunted. Alvarez risked a look.

Ah. _Bueno_. Two of his men had pinned down Niko, and Paterson had been rendered unconscious.

Alvarez stood up, yanking the girl with him. The floor heaved, almost tossing him to his knees, but he kept his grip on both the girl and his knife. He pulled the girl toward the secret exit that led to his escape tunnel.

Just a few more feet...

"Alvarez!"

Alvarez pulled the girl high up his body, so she blocked all but a small section of his face and left eye, denying Niko a killing head shot. The frustration on Niko's face drew a chuckle from him.

"Ah, Nikolos. Once again you have my home under attack. But this time, I hold the advantage, _sí_?" Alvarez took two steps back. "Of course, you could shoot me through the girl."

Niko kept his weapon aimed at Alvarez and moved forward. Alvarez jabbed his knife hard under the girl's chin. "Stop."

Niko froze. "Let her go, Alvarez. I'm the one you want. Release her and fight me. Right here. Right now. One on one. We'll see who's the better man."

Alvarez shuffled back another foot. "Strength was never what this was about, _hijo_. I am your elder. Of course you will best me in any physical fight." The girl wriggled, trying to break free, and Alvarez crushed her ribs with his arm until she sagged against him.

"I took you into my organization as revenge for all the harm your family has done me." Alvarez shuffled back another few steps. The girl was deadweight against him, making movement awkward. "But thanks to your betrayal I lost ten years of my life. You will pay for every minute I spent in that demeaning prison."

Where was the wall? Surely he should have reached it by now. Alvarez glanced behind him and cursed. He'd been moving at an angle toward the corner, not the center of the wall where the hidden door was. He adjusted his course.

"Once you are dead, I will send your head to your mother. After a sufficient amount of time, I will order her killed and my revenge will be complete."

The girl slipped down, exposing his head.

Then three things happened.

As he shifted his grip on the girl, she raked her fingernails down his cheeks.

The lights went out.

And Niko fired.

* * *

"No!"

Niko's cry echoed in the dark. He leapt toward the place he'd last seen Alvarez and Jenna.

Dammit, the lights going out had thrown off his shot. What if he'd accidentally shot Jenna instead of Alvarez? How would he live with himself?

Just then the backup generator kicked in, throwing the room into stark relief.

Alvarez's leg disappeared through a door in the wall, the tapestry that had hidden it piled in a graceful heap on the floor. Jenna was on the floor, pushing to her knees.

Niko allowed himself a second of blinding relief that she was alive, then followed Alvarez down a set of stairs where emergency lights glowed faintly along the edges.

Niko heard Alvarez thudding down the steps ahead of him. He tried taking the stairs two at a time, but on the first landing, his wounded leg shuddered and almost gave out. One of Alvarez's bodyguards had pounded his fist into the wound during their scuffle and now it throbbed in time with Niko's pulse. Chafing under the restriction of walking down every step, Niko pushed himself to go faster.

Down below, a door slammed.

Four steps later, Niko rounded a ninety-degree turn and pulled up barely in time to stop from crashing into a dull metal door.

Niko knelt, knowing gunfire would be aimed at where his head should be, and slowly opened the door. It led into a garage. Not the one he'd used to enter the house. In the middle of the space, Alvarez was climbing into a black town car. On the other side, a guard pushed Aunt Madalena into the vehicle.

Niko shot the guard, then the front tires.

The guard went down. The bullet bounced off the tires and ricocheted off the concrete floor. Shit. Reinforced. Niko ducked back into the stairwell to avoid being hit. When he opened the door again, the car had already rolled out of the garage and into a tunnel.

Niko ran after them. He knew he couldn't do any damage to an armored vehicle, but he needed to know how far the tunnel stretched.

As the taillights disappeared, Niko cursed and relayed the information to Rafe out on the road.

Then he limped back toward the stairs.

* * *

Jenna glanced at the door that Niko had disappeared through. Was he nuts? Running headlong into an enclosed space where Alvarez could easily ambush him?

She started to go after Niko, thinking she could back him up, but then she saw Kai's inert body. Her heart froze.

She dropped to her knees beside him. "Please don't be dead," she murmured. Her fingers slid across Kai's neck until she found a slight pulse. She was so relieved, she kissed him on the forehead.

Kai stirred and opened his eyes. "Jen-na?" His voice was thin and muffled.

"I'm here, Kai." She smoothed her hand over his hair. "We're safe now."

His lips started to curl in a smile, but the effort was too much for him and he lost consciousness again.

The doors behind them burst open. Men in black assault gear stormed in, taking up positions around the room. The eye of a deadly automatic weapon stared straight at Jenna.

Her hands were on top of her head before she even realized what she'd done. She held her breath as the men on the far side of the room poked at Alvarez's guards. None of the men stirred.

She didn't care if they were unconscious or dead.

At the sound of footsteps from the direction of the hidden door, several soldiers shifted the aim of their weapons.

Niko stepped through the opening and immediately dropped to his knees with his hands up. "Mary Had a Little Lamb," he shouted.

To Jenna's surprise, one of the soldiers grinned. "And its fleece was white as snow," he sang in a beautiful tenor.

The soldier nearest to Jenna muttered, "Can't wait 'til that girl of his grows up. I'm sick of kiddie code phrases."

Jenna choked back a laugh. Across the room, one of the men helped Niko to his feet. But when he went to put weight on his left leg, it gave out. The man put his arm around Niko's waist and draped Niko's arm across his shoulders. They spoke quietly a moment, the soldier said something into his lip mike, then he helped Niko out of the room.

Not knowing if it was okay to lower her arms, Jenna kept them up as she watched Niko leave. He didn't even glance her way.

A tight band squeezed her heart. She didn't want him to go! There was too much she wanted to tell him. Too much—

"It's okay to lower your arms, ma'am."

Jenna started. She hadn't even realized that the soldiers no longer had their weapons aimed at her and Kai. She let her arms drop with a grateful sigh.

"How badly is this man hurt, ma'am?"

She looked at Kai. "I...I don't know. Bad, I think."

"If you don't mind—?" The soldier dropped to his knees beside her. "I'm a medic. We'll get a helicopter to medevac him, but it will help if I can tell them his condition."

Jenna nodded and moved back so that the man had room to examine Kai. She felt tears prick her eyes and blinked them back. Kai's injuries didn't seem life threatening, but she couldn't bear the idea she might lose him now, when she finally realized how much she still loved him.

When she'd surrendered in the jungle, she'd never imagined ending up in a situation like this. She'd thought she and Kai would be dead by now. Her vengeance complete. Her soul finally at peace.

She'd hoped to find a way to rescue Niko's aunt, too, but she hadn't seen or heard of the woman since her arrival.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. The medic finished examining Kai and decided not to move him until the helicopter arrived. The rest of the soldiers rounded up Alvarez's men and marched them off. They asked if she wanted to wait outside, but she elected to stay with Kai.

Several minutes later a new team of soldiers arrived with a stretcher. "Your ride's here," a lanky man with a charming grin told her as he supervised Kai being lifted onto the stretcher.

Jenna followed the men out of the fortress, taking the time to notice the exotic artwork and high quality furniture. A hard knot of anger lodged in her throat. Pain, intimidation, and death were behind every graceful piece of art. Even the abundance of living plants couldn't mask the evil of this place.

She shuddered and hurried after her brother.

The soldiers settled Kai on the floor of a helicopter next to Mark Tonelli. He looked awful, but not nearly as bad as Kai. She was glad Mark hadn't been left behind, but that was all the thought she spared him.

She buckled in to the sideways facing seat and one of the men started to close the door.

Niko stood on the lawn, talking with some of the soldiers, unaware that he was about to be left behind. "Wait!" she called out. "Niko!"

He glanced up. Motioned for the soldier to close the door. Then, when she called out again, he turned his back on her.

Jenna sank back in her seat, the center of her chest aching as if she'd just been kicked.

As the helicopter jumped into the air with a sickening lurch, she had the terrifying feeling she'd never see Niko again. She told herself it didn't matter, but when her teeth started chattering, she knew it wasn't just from cold.

In a few short weeks she'd come to trust and depend on Niko to be there when she needed support. Now, she felt as weightless as an astronaut in zero gravity.

One of the soldiers knelt in front of her. "Let's clean you up a bit, ma'am," he said. He reached out with a damp cloth and ran it lightly over the cuts on her face. She bit her lip and closed her eyes so she wouldn't cry. She wanted Niko to tend to her, like he had that night at his cabin.

_"Suck it up, Paterson."_ She could almost hear the gravelly voice of Grayson yelling at her. " _You gonna be a girl and cry because you can't have everything you want? Or are you going to be a soldier and deal?"_

_That's right,_ she reminded herself. _Don't cry. You came away alive. Kai is probably innocent. That's more than you expected. Be happy._

But her greedy heart wanted both Kai and Niko in her life. She spent the entire helicopter ride fighting against self-pity, and losing.

# Chapter Twenty-Nine

_Friday, Early Morning_

_U.S. Naval Carrier_

_Off the Coast of Mexico_

"I lost him," Rafe told Niko, leaning against the doorway to the small infirmary. "He had too much of a head start and he knew the roads better than me."

From his seat on the exam table, Niko shook his head. "Don't blame yourself. Alvarez had his getaway well planned. We had no way of knowing he'd take Aunt Madalena with him." In fact, Niko hadn't even realized the escape route existed. It was one of the few things Alvarez had kept secret from him.

He scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. Dammit, he'd vowed to end things tonight, and instead he'd let Alvarez escape. With Aunt Madalena.

Not only had he screwed up and let Alvarez get away, but he hadn't handled Jenna well at all.

What could he say? He'd seen the blood on her face from a new knife wound and been filled with rage. Even now, he wanted to kill Alvarez for cutting her. At the same time, he was blazingly aware that if she hadn't surrendered in the jungle, she wouldn't have been hurt in the first place. He was so angry with her, he was afraid he'd do or say something unforgivable.

So he'd turned his back on her when she'd called out to him from the helicopter.

But now he wondered if he'd been wrong about her wanting to kill her brother. She'd seemed so loving and concerned for him back at the fortress, hovering over Paterson just like she'd hovered over Niko when he'd been hurt in Acapulco.

No. She had definitely planned to kill her brother. And herself. What other explanation was there for her surrender? For the cyanide pills?

Hell, maybe he should have asked to examine her mouth to see if she still had the tablets in place.

Right. Like that wouldn't have ended up with his tongue halfway down her throat, all thoughts of investigation blown away. And wouldn't that be a fucking mistake. He didn't even know who she really was. How much of what he'd seen from her these past weeks had been a lie? Just an act to get him to help her find Paterson?

Until he figured that one out, he'd damn well keep his distance.

"Niko?"

He shook himself out of his thoughts and realized that Rafe was looking at him with a puzzled frown. "Sorry. What?"

"I asked what you plan to do next. Other than get that leg treated and have the stitches in your arm examined." Rafe's stare made it clear that he'd stop any attempt Niko made to leave the infirmary before he'd been looked at by a medic.

"I need to talk to Paterson," Niko said. "Just before I entered the room, I heard him tell Alvarez he never had the chip. If that's true, and he's been searching for it all this time, then Ryker needs to know." And if Niko was very lucky, he'd still find the chip and trade it for the release of his aunt.

"Shit." Rafe crossed his arms over his chest. "That...Yeah, that would change things."

_You have no idea._

* * *

_Friday, Evening_

_San Diego, California_

Jenna sat down on one of the hard, neon orange chairs in the hospital's waiting area, then immediately stood back up again. She picked up an old news magazine, thumbed through it, then tossed it onto the wobbly, metal coffee table when she realized she didn't have any idea what she'd been looking at.

Half an hour ago, Niko and Rafe had walked into Kai's room and asked her and the guard to leave. When Kai reinforced their request, she'd reluctantly retreated to this lounge. But waiting here alone was sheer torture. She'd remembered that the SSU wanted to bring Kai in to question him on the location of the microchip and what happened the night of the attack. The SSU also believed Kai had been responsible for the fire at Dr. Nevsky's lab that killed the scientist and his assistant.

She wished she knew if the guard assigned to Kai was for his protection, or to prevent his escape. Although it remained a mystery how anyone would think he'd make a getaway when Kai couldn't even walk.

Except for the few minutes when she'd been taken to another room to have her cuts and scrapes cleaned and the knife wound on her check stitched, she'd been by Kai's bedside since they'd wheeled him out of surgery. She'd fought the entire time against a smothering panic brought on by the familiar beeps and hisses of the medical equipment monitoring Kai's vitals. Deluged by painful memories of weeks spent trapped in her hospital bed.

If it had been anyone else, Jenna would have run. But this was her brother. She owed it to him to stay.

Owed him out of guilt for believing him guilty all these years. Out of her newly recognized love for Kai that was slowly filling up the void in her heart.

And she had to stay because she'd never had anyone by her side when she awoke in the hospital. All her memories from that time were tinged with fear and despair and a gnawing loneliness that still hollowed her out.

Kai deserved better, so she'd stayed.

And when Kai finally opened his eyes, his smile of joy at seeing her had melted her heart and driven away the remnants of suspicion.

Now Jenna nibbled on the side of her thumbnail. She'd heard Kai tell Alvarez that Dr. Nevsky had triggered a self-destruct mechanism that had started the fire at the lab and led to his death. But how long would it take for Kai to convince the SSU of his innocence?

After two years hating Kai, it felt strange to think of him as one of the good guys. Yet, perversely, she was now filled with a fierce need to protect him.

She stood up, prepared to go storming back into Kai's room and demand to know what was going on. After only a few steps, she stopped, remembering the guarded look Niko had given her upon his arrival. He was back to being the cold-eyed warrior she'd first met.

She couldn't bear having Niko look at her like that again. She'd gotten so used to the warmth of his eyes that his sudden chill frightened her. Was he still angry with her for kicking him into the ravine? Didn't he know that she'd done it to protect him?

Hadn't he heard her tell him that she loved him?

She sank down onto the nearest chair and put her head in her hands. At the time, she'd been shocked that the words "I love you" came out of her mouth, but they'd also felt right.

Was it true? Did she love him?

She dug her thumbs into her temples, massaging in slow circles as she stared at a crack in the pale green linoleum floor.

Oh, God. She didn't know what she felt. Until she'd found Kai, she would have denied being capable of love any more.

But now? What she felt for Kai was familiar, like a favorite sweater slightly too tight from too many washings, but that was sure to stretch back out into a comfortable fit.

What she felt for Niko was new. Fragile as an early spring flower. But was it really love? Or just an infatuation brought on by having Niko treat her like a woman when she'd so long denied that part of herself?

She shook her head. She couldn't think about her feelings for Niko. Not yet. Her vengeance wasn't complete. Alvarez still had to die.

Yet she was smart enough to know that if she tried to go after Alvarez on her own, she wouldn't survive. And she no longer wanted to die. As terrified as she was of living with the memories of the attack, she had Kai to live for now. She wasn't alone.

And, maybe, if she was very, very lucky, she had Niko, too.

A door banged at the far end of the hallway. She glanced up, but it was a stranger who walked past, not Niko.

She sat up and rolled her shoulders. She eyed the vending machine, trying to decide if she wanted to risk a cup of coffee. After a moment's deliberation, she decided to test her luck. But as she looked into the deep brown liquid in the Styrofoam cup, it reminded her of Niko's eyes. Her throat clogged with tears.

Maybe the arctic treatment was Niko's way of saying good-bye. They'd found Kai. Niko's mission was over. He had no more use for her.

As he'd said before, he only needed her for bait.

Jenna bit her lip. Had she really meant nothing to him? Her stomach tumbled over and she rubbed it, trying to sooth her sudden queasiness.

To hell with that. If this was really good-bye, he could damn well say it to her face. Until then, she'd keep on hoping for some sort of future with him.

She tossed the untouched coffee into the trash.

_Future. Right. Only if you survive your revenge against Alvarez._

* * *

Kai watched the two men standing by the side of his bed. Their dark, deep-set eyes, coupled with the sharply jutting noses and firmly chiseled mouths identified the men as brothers, even if he hadn't already heard of Niko and Rafe Andros.

Niko was something of a legend in the undercover world of anti-narcotics. He'd heard whispers that the man had helped out on some counter-terrorism operations too, but apparently the man was now SSU.

On the other hand, rumor had it that Niko's younger brother, Rafe, was being primed to take over from Ryker when the SSU director retired.

Despite their reputation for being honest, Kai wasn't sure how much information he wanted to trust them with. Eventually they'd report back to Ryker, and he still didn't know if Ryker had personally burned his cover and sent assassins after him, or if the SSU had a mole. Until he knew for certain, he had to play this safe.

He couldn't risk the wrong people getting Nevsky's data.

"Do you have the chip?" Niko demanded.

Kai took as deep a breath as his broken ribs would allow. "No." He explained about his two-year search for someone within the ranks of Dr. Nevsky's lab assistants who knew where the scientist had stashed the microchip. How each of Dr. Nevsky's assistants claimed they knew the chip existed, but had no idea where it was hidden. Each assistant had given him the name of someone else who might know, filling him with false hope. Kai ended by explaining he'd come to Mexico searching for Dr. Nevsky's mistress.

"That's all?" Niko frowned and ran his hand through his hair. Rafe looked equally disappointed.

This was the moment of truth. Could he trust these men? Did he really have any choice? He was in no condition to leave the hospital. Cuts and bruises he could handle. A broken leg was a bit more difficult, but he'd worked with broken bones before.

Having a bruised kidney and some other internal damage that had required repair, well that changed the picture. It would be suicide to go out in his condition. Hell, he wasn't even peeing on his own. If he didn't confide in these two, he'd have to find someone else he trusted.

They needed to move quickly before Alvarez discovered the chip's location.

"No," he said slowly. "That's not all." He glanced at the door. The guard in the hall was probably far enough away not to be able to overhear their conversation. Still, Kai kept his voice to a whisper. "I want you to promise me that the information I'm about to tell you will not be reported to Ryker. Not until you've checked it out personally. Either Ryker wants me dead, or there's a mole at the SSU."

Rafe shot Niko a glance. "It's not Ryker," Rafe said. "He's suspected for some time there might be a mole. What made you suspicious?"

"The night of the fire at Nevsky's lab, I called Ryker from my cell phone to give him an update. Ryker didn't answer, so I left a message to call me back. I never heard from him, but the next day two men broke into my motel room and nearly killed me. I hadn't even told Ryker where I was staying, but the assassins called me by name. The only way the men could have found me was by using the SSU's tracking program to find my cell phone. So I ditched the phone and ran."

"Ryker thought you'd gone rogue because you disappeared," Rafe said. "He never said anything about receiving a message from you."

Kai briefly closed his eyes. "Yeah, I figured that was a possibility. I was in bad shape after the attack at the motel and I spent a couple weeks recuperating at the house of a lady doctor I'd met on a different assignment. By the time I was well enough to leave, there was an APB out on me." He paused. "And there was an e-mail from Alvarez in the account I'd set up using my undercover name. Only this time he called me Paterson. Told me I had twenty-four hours to turn over the chip or he'd retaliate against my family." Kai remembered the panic he'd felt when he'd seen that the email had been sent three days earlier.

"I knew I couldn't make it home fast enough to save them, so I called Ryker and threatened him. Warned him that I would hold him responsible if anything happened to my family, because only the SSU could have slipped my real name to Alvarez."

Some nights he still woke in a panic after dreams where he raced frantically to reach his family, only to arrive too late. "I got to the house just in time to see a van speed off. I ran inside and found..." His voice broke. Even though he'd known his family was dead, that no one could survive such gaping throat wounds, he'd still tried to revive his parents and the twins, performing CPR until his hands and clothes were stained with blood.

Then the sound of sirens had jerked his self-preservation instincts into motion. He'd slipped out the back door and down the porch steps, where he'd almost stumbled over Jenna's body. He'd bent down, feeling for her non-existent pulse, when the ambulance braked to a stop at the front of the house. He'd bolted for the neighbor's yard.

"Shit," Niko breathed. "I'm sorry, man."

Kai had to look away from the sympathy in Niko's eyes. "I couldn't stop myself from moving toward the front of the neighbor's yard, keeping to the shadows at the edge of the crowd on the street. I guess...shit...part of me hoped that one of them would be wheeled out on a stretcher instead of inside a body bag." Kai shook his head. "That's when I saw Ryker. He was there and he saw me. I'm telling you, there was guilt in his eyes."

"That doesn't mean he gave Alvarez your information," Rafe countered. "I know Ryker. He was torn up over your family's murder. Your father was his best friend."

Niko nodded agreement. "He's very protective of Jenna. Thinks of her as his daughter."

Yeah, but did he truly care or was it merely atonement for letting Kai's real name slip? "I can't take your word for it," Kai said. "Not yet. I need your promise that you won't repeat what I'm about to tell you to anyone at the SSU."

The brothers exchanged a long, serious look. Then Rafe nodded. "You have our word."

"I need to hear Niko say it as well."

"I promise," Niko said.

"Okay. Dr. Nevsky had a mistress in Acapulco, Doña Serafina. She told me that Dr. Nevsky's personal assistant, Eduard Percone survived the fire at the lab and is living in Puerto Vallarta under the name Juan Duarte." Kai gave a rueful half smile. "I was only questioning the men I knew survived the fire and I thought Percone was dead. I'd seen Percone rushing toward Nevsky's office after the self-destruct was triggered. I tried to warn him of the danger, but he was desperate to get to Nevsky and ignored me. I don't see how he survived." He shook his head. God, if only he'd stuck around. Maybe he would have seen Percone leave and saved himself two years of chasing the chip. But the explosion had thrown Kai out of the building and knocked him unconscious. When he'd come to, he'd seen the entire building engulfed in flames and figured there'd been no survivors.

"I didn't entirely trust Doña Serafina's information," Kai continued. "Even though she claimed she was tired of being used by Alvarez and didn't see the harm in telling me the truth. But as I was leaving her house the maid took me aside and told me that the man in Puerto Vallarta is a decoy hired by Percone. The real Percone is in Cozumel."

"How recent is this information?" Niko demanded.

"Recent. Alvarez's men grabbed me after I left Doña Serafina's house that night. The maid's sister is living with Percone and she'd spoken with the woman just that afternoon." Kai leaned back against the pillows, all his energy having abandoned him. "If this man doesn't have the information we need, then I don't know where else to turn. I'm out of names to check." Percone _had_ to have the chip. Kai was so damn tired of the search. He wanted to return to what remained of his previous life.

"You got any pictures of Percone?" Rafe asked.

"Yeah, they're in the cottage I was renting." Kai gave them the address. "My stuff should still be there unless Alvarez's men found it. I paid in advance for a week."

"Damn," Niko said. "I still can't believe you've been searching for the chip for two years. Dr. Nevsky must have been a wily old bastard."

Kai gave a rueful shake of his head. "Try brilliant and secretive. He did an excellent job of appearing the absent-minded professor, when he was really sharp as a tack. Did I mention paranoid? Each section of the lab knew only their mission objective, not the big picture. He was terrified of someone stealing his data."

Kai coughed, his whole body shaking with the effort. "Hell, for all I know, it was my assignment to the team that pushed him over the edge and had him encoding and hiding the data."

"We'll let you rest now. You'll hear from us once we've got Percone," Rafe said.

Niko held up a glass of water and Kai sipped eagerly through the straw.

"Jenna—" he croaked. He coughed, then tried again. "Keep Jenna away from Alvarez. It's too dangerous."

Niko's expression tightened. "Yeah, now that you're found, she's done," he promised.

"Thank God." The thought of Alvarez doing any more damage to his baby sister made him want to cry.

The men walked over to the door, then Niko paused and looked back over his shoulder. "You hear about what happened to five of the six assassins that killed your family?"

"That they died in the same manner? Seems I might have heard that somewhere." Kai knew his smile was feral despite his torn lips. "No less than they deserved, gentlemen."

Niko nodded, a hint of respect crossing his eyes. "Just so you know, an inside source claims Alvarez threw the sixth assassin to the dogs a few days ago."

"Good to know." He'd wanted to be responsible for the deaths of all six of them, but he wasn't going to complain. Having personally experienced Alvarez's displeasure, he knew the man had suffered. And despite the savage satisfaction he'd gotten from exacting vengeance personally on the other five assassins, he didn't need more blood on his hands.

Niko followed Rafe out the door and Kai closed his eyes. He wasn't the same man Jenna had once looked up to with love in her eyes. The attack on their family had unleashed a primitive anger he still couldn't fully control.

But from what he'd seen in Jenna's eyes back at the fortress, his sister had changed, too.

He would gladly give up his life if he could change her back.

# Chapter Thirty

_Saturday, Morning_

_San Diego, California_

Jenna walked down the corridor toward Kai's hospital room. She couldn't stop herself from wincing as she remembered how last night, as Niko left Kai's room, he'd brushed past her like she didn't exist. Even Rafe's smile had been cool.

What had she done to piss them off? And why did their anger hurt so much?

She forced herself to smile at the guard and knocked on Kai's door. At her brother's voice telling her to come in, the guard opened the door, then followed her inside.

She went over to the bed and picked up Kai's good hand. "How are you feeling?"

"More human with every minute." He glanced at the guard. "Did you need something?"

"No, sir."

"Then would you mind giving us some privacy?"

The guard shook his head. "Sorry, sir. My orders are to make sure you're not left alone with your sister."

"What?" Kai demanded.

Oh, God. Who had figured it out? Niko? Ryker? She felt her cheeks heat.

Kai, of course, noticed her guilty expression. His eyes narrowed. "Jenna? What's going on?"

"Umm..." She shot a quick look at the guard. "Do you need to frisk me or is it okay if I sit next to him? I promise I'm not going to hurt him."

"I'll need to search you, ma'am. Sorry."

By the time the man had finished his search for weapons, Jenna wanted to melt into a mortified puddle. _I was wrong_ , she wanted to shout. _I don't want to kill him any more._

But at least the guard went to stand just inside the door. She hoped he was far enough away not to hear what she was about to say.

She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at a fold in Kai's blanket, unable to meet her brother's eyes.

"Talk to me, Jenna. Why do I need protection from you?"

She started to answer, then shook her head. "Why did you say you're sorry when you saw me back in your cell? Why did you beg me to kill you? Was it...because you were part of the attack that night?" She plucked at the blanket.

Kai swore, the sound so full of pain, Jenna glanced up. Underneath his cuts and bruises, his face was white as snow. "God, no," he rasped. "Why would you think that?"

She twisted a section of blanket around her index finger. "Because during the attack I heard your voice telling the men to kill us. And I saw you leave the house."

"No!" He grabbed her hand. "Jenna, look at me."

She raised her head and met his eyes.

"Jenna, I spent years trying to distance myself from the family so none of you would ever be hurt by the men I dealt with while undercover. I did not order the attack that killed our family. I swear it. I arrived that night, saw the van speeding away and..." Kai swallowed heavily. "I knew I was too late."

The anguish in those words tore the remaining scabs from Jenna's wounds.

"But I had to see," Kai continued. "I thought maybe...maybe I was wrong. Or that someone could be saved." A tear spilled down his cheek. "I checked everyone's pulse, tried CPR, even though it was clear no one was alive."

Kai's hand landed heavily on her head, awkwardly stroking her hair despite the thick bandages around his fingers. "I even checked your pulse, Jen-shine. Nothing."

"But—" She frowned, thinking back. "I could barely breathe, but somehow I opened my eyes. I saw you hurry out the back door and shut it behind you. The light threw shadows on your face, but what I saw was the face of a stone cold killer. I tried screaming your name but nothing came out. And then I—."

"Died." Kai's voice cracked, and Jenna nodded.

"I'd heard the ambulance coming down the street, indicating it was time for me to leave. Until I knew who all my enemies were, I couldn't risk talking to the authorities. I ran out the door, then tripped over you on the lawn. When I leaned down to check, you had no pulse. Otherwise, I never would have left you."

"The paramedics revived me right away," she said. Then admitted, "Sometimes I wish they hadn't."

"Oh Jenna, no, love." Kai's arms gathered her into a light hug. "Your survival is a miracle."

His familiar warmth and strength reminded her of all the times he'd comforted her as a child. Helped chase away the last doubt as to his innocence.

He wasn't the monster she'd thought him.

She pushed back and looked into his eyes, seeing only sincerity and anguish there. "I believe you." Her lips curled in a wry smile. "After all, even Alvarez admitted you weren't part of the killing team. But since you're innocent, why did you apologize to me when you were feverish back in your cell?"

He sighed. "Because I wasn't careful enough. Someone betrayed my identity to Alvarez, leaving the family vulnerable to attack." He cleared his throat. "It's my fault everyone's dead. If I hadn't taken that assignment...God, Jenna, when I saw what had been done..." Kai's eyes shimmered with unshed tears and he glanced away. "It destroyed part of me. How did you survive without going mad?"

Now it was her turn to look away. "I'm not sure I did. Kai, all this time I've believed you guilty." She pinched a piece of lint off the blanket. "All I've lived for is vengeance. The thought of making you pay with your life." She stared at her fingers, pale against the dark blue blanket, remembering how they'd looked clutching the hilt of the knife as it plunged toward Kai's body.

"Can you forgive me?" The words came out in a frightened rush. What if Kai hated her for not trusting him?

"Jenna. Oh, honey." His hand gently stroked her hair, just like he'd used to do when she was a little girl and couldn't sleep. She relaxed under his touch, knowing she was forgiven.

"I tried to kill you," she whispered. "Back in your cell. But I...couldn't..." She shuddered, knowing she'd come within a hairsbreadth of making the biggest mistake of her life.

"I remember. I saw the knife and thought you were an angel come to save me from my pain." Kai closed his eyes, but not before she saw the unbearable sadness and weariness there. It called to the dark place inside her where she'd locked all her grief, bringing a tightness to her throat that made her breath catch.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the guard move to the far corner of the room.

"How did you find me, Jenna?"

"I've spent months training with the SSU," she said. "After the attack, Ryker transferred me to the compound's hospital. When I was healed, he let me enter operator training. Then you were spotted in Moscow and Ryker sent me to draw you out of hiding."

"The boy in the bar. That was you?"

She nodded.

"I thought so, but when I hacked into the SSU database it said you were dead."

"False information, meant to protect me."

"Ryker," Kai said. "You...trust him?"

She glanced up, surprised. "Yes. He's been very good to me. Why?"

Kai explained about unreturned phone calls and assassins. "But...that doesn't make sense," she said.

"Ryker was there the night of the attack," Kai insisted. "After I left the backyard, I found I couldn't walk away. So I stayed in the shadows at the back of the crowd, hoping no one would see the blood on my clothes from my CPR efforts. And I saw Ryker. Our eyes met and his were full of guilt. He knew he'd failed to protect you, even though I'd given him plenty of warning."

"He never mentioned anything about being there that night," Jenna said. "But Ryker did warn Dad. We were just about to evacuate when the assassins burst in."

Was it possible Ryker had leaked Kai's name to Alvarez then deliberately arrived too late to save them? No. Jenna shook her head. "I can't believe Ryker had anything to do with the attack. You should hear how he chokes up when he talks about Dad."

Kai didn't answer, just ran his hand down her back. She flinched slightly as the pressure touched the welts left by Alvarez's whip, but Kai noticed. His hand stilled and she felt his muscles tense. But she didn't want to talk about it, so she snuggled closer and Kai gently resuming his stroking.

"Kai, I've...changed. I'm not your sunny little sister anymore. I'm not sure I even like who I am now."

"Doesn't matter." He placed a kiss on her hair. "We're both alive. We can work everything else out later. But...I think it's time you told me what happened that night."

Underneath her cheek, she felt his heart speed up. "Are you sure? Maybe I should wait until you've recovered."

"Uh-uh. I want to know now. I've imagined so many different scenarios over the years, all of them terrible. Tell me the truth, so I can understand."

This was the moment she'd been dreading. She'd given the facts to the police. Told parts of it again to Ryker and her psychiatrists at the SSU. Even shared a few details with Niko. But this would be the first time she talked honestly about not just what happened, but how she'd felt. Kai deserved no less.

"I was so happy that day..." she began.

Kai was a good listener. And with his arm around her and his chest cradling her head, the horror didn't pull her under like it usually did.

"By the time I left the hospital, I was convinced you had to die," she concluded.

He tightened his arm around her shoulders and they stayed like that, in silence, for a very long while. When she finally lifted her head, she saw that Kai's face was also wet with tears. She gave him a shaky smile and dabbed carefully at his face with her sleeve, trying not to break open any of his cuts.

"Sometimes I can't believe they're really gone," Kai said. "Even though—" He cleared his throat. "I knew that working with Alvarez was dangerous. I'd warned Dad to take extra security precautions."

"He did. The police told me that he'd wired the house with a silent alarm. And officers made regular patrols past the house. That's why help got to the scene so fast."

Kai nodded. "It didn't make sense Dad would leave you guys unprotected." He looked into her eyes, so solemn she almost started crying again. "Jenna, I would never do anything to hurt my family. I love—" His voice broke and he closed his eyes.

She reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand. He nestled against her.

"I loved everyone so much." He opened his eyes and took her face in his hands, wincing slightly as the movement jarred his sore, newly relocated shoulder.

"You're all I have left." He gave her a grief-tinged smile. "I know you thought I was overprotective before, but...I think I'm going to be worse now. You need to stay away from Alvarez, Jenna. I can't let anything happen to you. I don't think I could survive losing you again." He pulled her back into his arms.

Jenna shook her head and disengaged. "I'm sorry. I can't do that. Our family died because of Alvarez. He has to be punished."

Kai grabbed her hand. "Yes, Alvarez deserves to be brought to justice. But not by you, Jenna. Leave that to the professionals. Like the Andros brothers."

"No. I need to be involved. I vowed to get vengeance and I'm not backing down."

"Too late, sweetheart. They're leaving this morning for Cozumel, following a lead I gave them on the chip."

"That bastard! Niko didn't tell me." She leapt off the bed.

"Jenna, wait! You can't go with them. It's too dangerous."

Jenna ignored him and raced out the door.

* * *

_Saturday, Afternoon_

_Puerto Vallarta, Mexico_

Alvarez glared at the dead body on the autopsy table, impervious to the stench of voided bowels and blood. The man had been tortured for hours, but never once changed his story. This man named Juan Duarte was not Eduard Percone. He knew nothing about the microchip or Dr. Nevsky.

His rage was so great, Alvarez forced himself to turn around before he completely desecrated what was left of the body. Nevsky's mistress had lied to him. After all he'd done for her, providing her with money, with a fancy house, she'd betrayed him. She'd given Kai Paterson this man's name and location, when in two years she had revealed no such knowledge to Alvarez.

Yet Doña Serafina's secrets were forever out of his reach. The whore had been weak. She hadn't survived her interrogation last night.

Much like this man.

Alvarez nodded to his companion, exerting all his control to keep his fury from showing. He exited the room, knowing that the doctor who'd assisted him would clean up the mess. Otherwise, Alvarez would expose the truth to his very conservative, very religious wife. She would be horrified to learn her husband enjoyed torturing people.

Alvarez left the small adobe building and climbed into his bullet-proof limo. He closed the privacy screen and placed a call to his lieutenant in Acapulco.

"Find out which hospital in the United States is treating Kai Paterson."

Alvarez closed his phone and stared out the window, his fists clenched on his lap. After all this time, he was no closer to finding Nevsky's microchip. Paterson had lied to him about the location of the chip. He might not have it, but he knew where it was.

His men would torture the location of the chip out of Paterson, but it might be too late. Niko might even now be on his way to retrieve it.

If that was the case, Alvarez would still come out victorious. Because he held Niko's aunt. And Niko would do anything to free her, including giving up the precious chip.

* * *

_Saturday, Afternoon_

_Somewhere over Mexico_

He was losing his edge.

Niko tapped his forehead against the window of the small plane. Fifteen minutes ago, after the plane had completed its ascent, Jenna had crawled out from behind the last row of seats.

Un-freaking-believable.

Her damn brother must have spilled the beans. And Niko had stupidly trusted the SSU pilot when he'd said the plane was clear.

She'd probably bribed the man.

So much for sneaking away without her. With him having some peace of mind, knowing Jenna was safely in the States and well-guarded. Out of Alvarez's reach.

Knowing Jenna was someplace else, so Niko didn't have to talk to her. Or look at her. Because he didn't want to think what a fool he'd been. How she'd used him.

How she'd planned to fucking _kill_ herself.

Dammit, he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to throttle her, or kiss her and hold her so close she could never get into trouble again.

Niko ground his molars. Yeah, right. Keep her out of trouble. She _wanted_ trouble.

So why the hell did he care if she had a death wish? Let her be useful and distract Alvarez while he went in for his aunt.

Let Jenna sacrifice her life if that was what she wanted.

Across the aisle, Jenna laughed at something Rafe said. Niko gripped the armrests of his seat, fighting the urge to go over and pull her away from his brother.

Ah, shit. Who was he fooling? She was tearing him up inside. The thought of losing her scared him to death.

Tamping down the rise of jealousy, Niko closed his eyes. Of course Jenna was friendly with Rafe. His brother had laughed his head off when Jenna revealed herself as a stowaway. Just like that, Rafe's iciness had melted.

But even though Niko didn't know if he'd ever be able to forgive her, he wanted the focus of those sexy amber eyes on him and no one else. Christ. He was so fucked. Because as soon as they landed, he was going to make certain Rafe understood that Jenna was off-limits. Niko might not be able to see his way forward, but he damn well knew he wasn't ready to give her over to another man.

Even his brother.

# Chapter Thirty-One

_Saturday, Evening_

_Cozumel, Mexico_

Jenna followed Niko into the small adobe hacienda they'd rented on the outskirts of town, swamped with guilt as she watched Niko's slight limp. She hadn't known he'd been shot when she kicked him into the ravine.

So she watched him carefully, wondering where else he hurt and how much of it was her fault. Of course, Niko would never admit to being in pain. He hadn't even been the one who told her about the bullet wound. She'd learned that back at the hospital from a gossiping nurse who'd stomped out of Niko's room after he refused to use crutches or a cane.

Jenna was pretty sure Rafe was the only uninjured person in their party. They'd decided to split up for safety reasons, so Rafe had taken an even smaller bungalow down the road, leaving her and Niko alone. Not necessarily a good idea, given Niko's anger.

Luckily, she and Niko hadn't had more than a few minutes of alone time since their arrival this afternoon. They'd done little more than stow their bags and check their maps earlier before heading into town trying to find Percone. After several hours, Jenna had finally learned that after a nasty fight in front of one of the bars, Percone's girlfriend had left the island in a huff that morning. Percone had driven off toward his bungalow at the opposite end of the island.

The woman who'd told the story gave Jenna directions to Percone's home, but warned that he had a vicious temper when he was drunk. He hadn't been home when Jenna and Niko had stopped by after dinner, so Rafe was taking first watch on the house. Niko would relieve him in four hours.

Niko crossed to an end table and turned on the lamp. The sitting room glowed with inviting warmth as the light bounced off the terra cotta tile floor and soft peach walls. Hand-woven Mexican rugs in bright blues and peach tones covered the floor, matched by ceramic pots lined up in an arched niche next to the kitchen. It was a cheerful house, completely out of kilter with their grim mission.

Jenna closed the thick wooden door behind her and glared at Niko's back. She was sick and tired of him giving her the cold shoulder.

"Niko," she began.

"You want something to drink?" Niko avoided her eyes and headed for the brightly painted drinks tray.

"No. Niko, dammit, look at me!"

But he ignored her, calmly pouring himself a drink. He ambled over to the sofa and sat down.

Finally, he raised his eyes to hers.

Not good. They were cool, distant, and guarded.

He sank deeper into the sofa cushions and stretched one arm along the back, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. But a muscle at the corner of his eye pulsed to an angry samba.

Too bad. He'd done enough sulking. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why won't you talk to me?"

Niko surged to his feet so quickly, she took an alarmed step backward.

"Gee, let me see. What could possibly have ticked me off?" He took a menacing step forward. "How about you kicking me down that ravine?"

"I did that to protect you, you idiot!"

"Then there's the little matter of you trying to kill your brother."

She felt her jaw drop. How had he figured it out?

"See? You don't deny it." He took a swig of his drink. "I was right." He nailed her with a look heavy with loathing. "You used me. Used me to turn you into a fucking assassin. Only something must have gotten in your way, because your brother's still alive. What happened? You learn that he was innocent?"

"Actually—"

He held up his hand. "Never mind. I don't fucking care. What really pisses me off is the fucking cyanide pills I found in your toiletry case." He drained his glass and threw it across the room. It shattered against the adobe wall like a heart breaking. "Rafe and I busted our asses putting together a rescue, but you never intended to come out of there alive, did you?"

She backed up a step and shook her head. Oh, my God. She'd never seen Niko this angry. "I'm sorry—"

His nostrils flared and a vein pulsed in his jaw. "You're sorry? That's supposed to make it all better?" He gave a short, bitter bark of laughter. "Christ. You just don't get it." Niko spun around and stalked over to the picture windows.

The roil of emotion coming off him stunned her. And she had the oddest feeling that whatever was said in the next few minutes was going to change her life.

"Niko, what's going on?"

* * *

Y _ou were going_ _to leave me!_ Niko closed his eyes and clamped his lips together until the urge to shout those words went away. He took a long, shaky breath. "Forget it. It doesn't matter now."

He heard the soft sole of her shoe scuff against the tile as she moved closer.

"Don't push me on this, Jenna." His voice was harsh, but he didn't care. He needed her to back off. Anything she said right now would push him over the edge.

He was scared of what he'd do to her if he lost control. He'd never raised his hand to a woman in anger, but he was damn tempted to put his hands around Jenna's neck right now.

Shit. Even the idea of touching her in anger made him feel queasy.

He gave a strangled laugh and let his forehead rest against the cool window glass. At least the nausea calmed his temper.

Who was he kidding? He could never hurt Jenna. If he lost his temper tonight it would probably end up with her beneath him on the carpet, screaming her way through a mind-blowing orgasm.

That was so not the way to start letting go of her.

Despite the sharp pain in his heart, that was precisely what he was going to do. She'd been ready to fucking kill herself, that's how little he meant to her. That's how much she'd been using him. At the end of the day, her little deception would have ended up with two dead bodies—Jenna and her brother.

Two deaths that would have haunted Niko forever.

So he was damn well going to send her away and never see her again. Because her presence here meant she hadn't given up. She intended to bring down Alvarez.

He was _not_ going to stand by and watch her take that walk toward death. He couldn't bear losing her that way. Better to cut the ties now.

Jenna stepped up behind him. Close enough that he could feel her body heat and catch a faint whiff of coconut from the suntan lotion she'd applied earlier in the day. His body tensed. He dreaded her touch, yet at the same time he craved it like an addict needing one last hit before entering rehab. In the window's reflection he saw her lift her hand and he braced himself.

But then her hand lowered and she turned away.

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt his muscles relax.

"I'm...sorry," she said, her voice pitched so low he almost couldn't hear her. "I knew I was going to kill Kai. And that someone would eventually figure out it was me who'd killed him. I had no intention of going to prison. And..." Jenna moved toward the sofa and he strained to catch her next words.

"Killing myself was my reward. It was the only way I was going to find peace. Because I couldn't continue living alone, struggling with the memories of the attack. I thought, if I was dead, I'd be happy. Reunited with my family." She picked up one of the cushions from the sofa and clutched it to her chest. "Honestly, I never meant to hurt you. Why would I think you'd care what happened to me?"

_Because I love you!_ He bit his tongue to stop the words from coming out.

Shit. It was true. He loved her. She was strong and courageous and still had elements of the generous, compassionate woman she'd once been, even if she refused to acknowledge it.

"I..." He shook his head. "Never mind."

"No. Tell me."

"It's nothing." He crossed the room and poured another glass of tequila. Maybe if he got drunk, this hollow ache in his chest would go away.

"Nothing, huh?" Jenna's voice rose. His head snapped up to regard her warily. "You're a liar, Niko Andros."

She slammed her hands onto her hips. "You're too angry with me for it to be nothing. You know what I think?"

He shook his head.

"I think you care a lot more about me than you like. I think I scared you." She stalked toward him and Niko realized he'd never seen this side of Jenna before. Man, was she pissed.

It totally turned him on.

She stopped in front of him and slammed her palms against his chest. "I think you're so scared, you're running away." She inhaled deeply, then ran her tongue around her lips as she exhaled.

She was close enough that each breath warmed his shirt and turned his body hard.

Jenna's voice dropped an octave. "Guess what? I'm scared, too. I stopped feeling emotions after the attack. Nothing but anger was allowed. Until you. Now I have so many emotions racing through me I don't know how to handle them. Handle you." She glared at him. "But I'm not a coward. I'm running toward you. Not away."

Niko had only a moment to wonder what the hell she meant, before she grabbed his head and pulled him down for a merciless kiss.

The world shuddered to a halt. All his good intentions went out the window. He crushed her against him, sweeping his tongue deep into her mouth.

With a low whimper, Jenna forced him closer. Her lips met his with equal ferocity, teeth and tongues dueling, advancing and retreating, until the kiss became a struggle for dominance.

Niko forced himself to raise his head. He was at the edge of his control. Still so angry he didn't trust himself with her body. He tried to step away, but Jenna had other plans.

She growled low in her throat and lifted her right leg to wrap it around his waist. Then she tilted his head back so that she could use her teeth on his throat.

"Jenna!" The ragged cry was torn out of him as she bit down on the juncture between his neck and his shoulder. His back arched as intense pleasure tore through him.

She responded by trying to climb up his body, while her mouth placed little bites along the bare skin at his collar.

"Bed," he gasped.

"No."

Her teeth pinched the skin at the front of his throat, startling a groan from him.

"Here," she demanded. She pulled him down to the floor and pushed him onto his back. Her clever hands had his shirt off in seconds. She trailed her fingers over his skin, across his shoulders, down over his pecs, along his abs. With each touch he grew harder and more desperate to feel her satiny skin beneath his fingers.

Her lips and tongue followed her fingers, maddeningly avoiding the places he most needed her touch. And when he reached for her, she punished him with little bites. "Jenna...I want to touch you."

"No." She pushed his hands under his butt. His back bowed, bringing his chest closer to her mouth. Christ, he felt like a damn sacrifice.

Jenna's teeth closed over his nipple and his control snapped.

He wasn't some fucking toy she got to play with whenever she felt aggressive. He yanked his hands free, put his arms around Jenna, and rolled until she was underneath him. He pinned her wrists above her head.

"Niko?" Jenna shifted until her hips were cradling him.

"Shut up." God, she was so beautiful. It killed him to see her smooth skin marred by Alvarez's knife. As if his lips could somehow heal her, he covered her face with desperate kisses.

Her head turned, her mouth seeking his. He kept out of reach, tormenting her like she'd done to him.

But it wasn't enough. He couldn't stand the barrier of clothes between them.

He released her wrists and jerked her shirt over her head. He popped open the front clasp of her bra, and tossed the pretty lace away. Shoved her shorts and panties down her legs until there was nothing before him but Jenna.

Ah, God. Her breasts were so dainty. Soft. The hard points of her nipples just begged for his mouth. He wanted to pounce on her and feast.

Make her understand she was his.

Instead, he let his fingers play over her skin, watching her breathing grow more rapid and her eyelids flutter closed. Loving the beads of sweat his touch raised on her skin.

He bent his head and took one of her breasts into his mouth. Man, he was addicted to the salty sweet taste of her. He could suckle her all night.

Her hands plucked at his hair, trying to get him to raise his head.

He ignored her and licked his way down her body until he reached the sweet spot between her legs. Then he tasted her intimately, working her with lips and tongue until she writhed on the verge of orgasm.

Oh yeah. This was what he wanted. Her mindless. No thoughts of killing herself. Only pleasure.

Pleasure _he'd_ given her. He scraped his teeth lightly across her clit and she bucked.

He did it again, this time also sliding a finger inside her. She screamed as her orgasm ripped her over the edge.

His breathing was fast, in time with hers. Damn, he loved that he'd made her lose control. But if he didn't get inside her soon, he was going to disgrace himself.

He pulled a condom out of his pocket, jerked down his zipper, and covered himself just as Jenna opened her eyes.

He loved the warm, satiated look she gave him. She reached for him, and he moved up her body until his face was buried in her hair and her arms held him close.

God, he loved her. And he was terrified that when this was over, she'd leave and he'd be lost.

"Don't ever leave me."

He didn't realize he'd said the words aloud until Jenna shoved him away. "What?"

He levered himself above her and positioned his hips at her entrance, so that just the tip of him penetrated her.

Her hands clutched at his back and she sucked in a breath. She raised her hips, trying to take more of him. But he held back.

"Promise you'll never leave me," he growled. He pulled his hips back, then pressed into her a bit farther.

Her eyes flared with some emotion he couldn't decipher. Then her hands dropped to her sides, her eyelids lowered and she turned her head to the side.

She couldn't have hurt him more if she'd stabbed him through the heart. Whatever her plans were for the future, they didn't include him.

Fuck.

He shoved away from her and jumped to his feet.

"Niko?"

He barely managed to push the words past the glacier in his throat. "I'm going to grab some sleep until it's my turn to watch Percone's house." Feeling like he'd left his bleeding heart behind, he stalked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

* * *

Tears leaked down Jenna's face as she lay on the floor. Dammit, she hadn't meant to hurt Niko. But she couldn't tell him about her plan to kill Alvarez. He'd try to stop her.

And now that she'd decided Alvarez had to die, she needed to do it herself. No matter the danger.

The cold tile underneath her bare skin made her shiver, so she pushed slowly to her feet. Ever since she'd left the SSU compound her life had been spiraling out of control. And whenever she tried to take back control, she ended up making things worse. She swiped angrily at her tears.

_Stop it! No self-pity allowed. You have a new mission. Focus on that._

Right. She grabbed her clothes off the floor and headed toward the bathroom, her heart dragging on the floor behind her.

A long, hot shower washed away the sorrow and regret. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the sitting room. There was only the one bedroom. If she wanted to sleep, her only option was the couch. Which wasn't a sofa bed.

She glanced at the bedroom door.

What she really wanted was to sleep next to Niko.

She gnawed on her bottom lip. Why not? He was asleep. He wouldn't kick her out. And if she didn't make it back from Alvarez's, she wanted her last memory of him to be sweet, not sour.

Mind made up, she opened the bedroom door. Niko was sprawled on his back in the center of the bed. He'd removed his cargo pants and was covered only by his boxers and the bright white bandages across his thigh and forearm.

His chest rose and fell with each breath and his legs were slightly spread. The vulnerable position made her realize how exhausted he must be.

As she tiptoed closer, she saw the lines of fatigue around his mouth, the dark circles under his eyes, and his drawn-in cheeks. She felt a new stab of guilt. How could he still want her when she'd brought him nothing but pain?

Careful not to wake him, she dropped her towel and lowered herself onto the bed until she was lying on her side, facing him. He muttered something she didn't catch and turned toward her.

One thick arm landed across her hip.

She held her breath, afraid that he'd wake up and push her away. But in sleep, at least, he trusted her.

Reassured that he wouldn't rise and kick her out, Jenna inched closer until she was snuggled against him.

Content, she dropped into sleep.

# Chapter Thirty-Two

_Saturday, Night_

_Cozumel, Mexico_

Niko blinked into the darkness, trying to figure out where he was. A clock radio's glow threw dim light on an unfamiliar bedroom. He'd been asleep a little over two hours.

Jenna's head was a warm weight on the center of his chest. She clutched his right arm between her breasts like a security blanket.

Her breathing was even, but her lips moved as if holding a conversation with someone in her dreams. He raised his right hand and smoothed it over her head. He loved touching her short hair. Stroking her was like petting a cat, the contours of her head fitting sensuously into his hand. As he ran his hand over her bare nape, she smiled slightly and snuggled closer to him.

He wanted to stay like this forever. But that was a fool's wish.

Jenna had as much as admitted she wasn't going to stay with him. Proving his suspicion that she planned to go after Alvarez. Alone.

His cell phone rang.

He slid out from under Jenna and scrambled to find his pants. He grabbed his phone out of the front pocket just before the call rolled into voicemail.

"Andros."

* * *

Niko's voice pulled Jenna out of the drowsy haze she'd been drifting in. She stretched, already missing his warmth.

"He's alive?"

Niko's sharp tone made the hairs at the back of Jenna's neck stand on end.

She bolted upright. "What's wrong?" Had Kai taken a turn for the worse?

Niko opened the door and stepped into the hallway, so the rest of his conversation was lost to her. Yet from the tension in the bare muscles of his shoulders, she knew the news wasn't good.

She told herself not to jump to conclusions. The call wasn't necessarily about Kai. But she couldn't shake a deep sense of uneasiness.

She jumped out of bed and hunted down her suitcase. Whatever was going on, she couldn't face it naked.

"Jenna."

She flinched, then turned around slowly, afraid of what she'd see on Niko's face. But his expression was carefully neutral. She moistened her lips with her tongue. "What?"

"That was one of the guards from the hospital. Last night, a man disguised as a doctor entered Kai's room."

Jenna's knees gave out and she sank onto the bed. She clenched her hands together on her lap as Niko continued.

"The fake doctor switched the drugs in the intravenous line for a mix that would slowly kill your brother. By the time the guard double-checked the man's credentials and learned he wasn't legit, the impostor had left. The guard heard Kai's voice during the fake doctor's visit, so we suspect the man questioned your brother about the chip. We have to assume Alvarez now knows Percone's location."

"And?" Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.

"I'm sorry, Jenna. Kai is in a coma."

Jenna jumped to her feet. "I can't...I have to..." She couldn't lose Kai now! Niko's image wavered through the tears brimming in her eyes. "I have to go. Can you help me get back to him?"

Instead of the sympathy she expected, Niko looked her over with contempt. "Jesus, you're a good actress. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you actually cared about your brother."

His words slammed into her with the impact of a tire iron. "I...I'm sorry," she gasped. "What did you say?"

"Come on, you admitted you wanted to kill him, Jenna, so cut out the concerned sister act. There's no way I'm letting you anywhere near the poor guy. If this attack didn't have all the markings of Alvarez, I'd think you'd set it up."

Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut on a fierce surge of anger. "How. Dare. You." She took a step forward and swung her fist at the side of his head.

He caught her hand easily, then dropped it like she had a contagious rash. "What? Suddenly all's forgiven? Excuse me if I find your change of heart suspicious."

She stepped up to Niko and shoved him. "Yes. I tried to kill Kai." She shoved Niko again. "I raised my knife and drove it toward his heart. But I couldn't do it. My hand spasmed and I dropped the knife." She pushed Niko so hard, he fell back onto the couch.

"I thought he'd ordered the hit on my family and yet I realized I still loved him." She took a deep breath and explained about hearing Kai's voice. "But now I know the truth. He's innocent. Alvarez confessed Kai's voice was just a recording."

Only now she might lose Kai. She had to go to him, even though it meant giving up her revenge against Alvarez. Kai needed her. The living had to come before the dead.

"I swear to you," she said. "I don't want to kill Kai any longer. I really do love him. He's the only family I have left." Her voice caught on the last syllable and she turned away, afraid she was going to cry again. She tried to tell herself she wasn't going to lose Kai, but she knew life could be that unfair.

"Now will you help me get back to San Diego?" she demanded, turning back to face him.

Niko studied her for a tense moment, then nodded.

* * *

_Sunday, Early Morning_

_Cozumel, Mexico_

Jenna watched the blocky airport buildings appear on the horizon. In a few minutes, she'd be airborne, headed for San Diego and Kai. She glanced at Rafe. His hands were sure on the wheel, expertly steering their car clear of the road's numerous potholes. Niko had called Rafe off his surveillance of Percone's house, then told his brother to drive her to the airport and make sure she got on the SSU's plane.

She was disappointed that Niko wasn't driving. Before she'd left, she'd stepped forward to kiss Niko good-bye, but he'd backed away. He'd tipped his head in a curt nod, then left her alone with Rafe.

She'd almost run after him. Had actually bit her lip to stop from calling out, "Be careful."

If Kai hadn't been in critical condition, she would have turned around and confronted Niko. Because she couldn't accept that the caring had only been on her side. Not after the way he'd looked while worshipping her body last night, as if she was the most precious thing in his life.

Jenna pulled her t-shirt away from her chest, trying to create a small breeze to dry the sweat from her skin. Dawn was still a few hours away, but the heat coming in through their open car windows was already oppressive, and the car's air conditioner was broken.

They passed the main terminal building, heading toward the part of the airport that catered to private aircraft. Rafe swerved out of the way of a black limousine speeding in the opposite direction and pulled onto the tarmac near the SSU's plane.

"Don't worry," Rafe told her as they got out of the car. "Your brother is tough. He'll pull through." He moved around to the trunk and unloaded Jenna's suitcase.

Down the road, the limo slammed to a halt with a squeal of tires. Jenna narrowed her eyes as it reversed toward them at a fast clip.

"Run, Jenna! Get to the plane!" Rafe dropped her suitcase and knelt behind the open door of their car, weapon out and pointed at the approaching limo.

But Jenna's feet wouldn't move. She heard a shot and saw the limo's back tire blow out, sending the limo into a skid.

The limo spun almost one hundred eighty degrees before it screeched to a halt. As its doors opened, Jenna burst into motion, sprinting toward the plane. The sound of automatic gunfire made her stumble. She glanced back. Rafe lay facedown on the tarmac, blood already darkening the back of his shirt.

"Rafe!" She screamed. Pivoting, she ran back to him. She was still a few feet away when a body slammed into her from the side. Her head smacked into the pavement with enough force to rattle her teeth. Then there was nothing but blackness.

* * *

Mark Tonelli stepped off the private jet Jamieson had hired to take him to Cozumel. It had been sheer luck that while in the hospital parking garage he'd overheard a doctor calling Alvarez and telling the crime lord that Paterson had given up Percone's true location. The man hadn't realized that the acoustics meant even whispers carried. Now all Mark needed was the exact address and he'd finally learn where to find Nevsky's damn microchip.

As Mark walked across the tarmac, he saw a black limousine driving away on a flat tire, and a pilot rushing toward a figure crumpled on the ground.

The pilot called out for help, but Mark ignored him. He didn't have time—

Wait. He was close enough now that he could make out the features of the person on the ground. It was the other man he'd seen with Jenna. Rafe Andros.

Mark hurried over. The pilot knelt next to Andros, trying to stop the bleeding from several gunshot wounds.

"Jen...na," Andros murmured.

"Sorry," the pilot answered. "The men in the limo took her."

"Andros," Mark demanded, bending down so the man could hear him. "Where's your brother? Where's Percone?"

Andros opened his eyes. "Who're you?" he slurred.

"Mark Tonelli, CIA. I'm the one who saved your brother's life in Acapulco."

"S'right. What're you...doin' here?" Andros's voice was barely audible.

"I'm assigned to the team looking for the microchip. What's Percone's address?"

Andros mumbled directions. "Warn...Niko...Alvarez...coming."

"Sure." Not on his life. Mark didn't care if Alvarez and Niko slaughtered each other. He just needed the damn chip.

Mark straightened up and turned to leave.

"Hey!" the pilot protested. "Don't just leave us here. At least help me get him on the plane."

Mark ignored him. He ran for the main building and the car Jamieson promised would be waiting.

# Chapter Thirty-Three

_Sunday, Early Morning_

_Cozumel, Mexico_

Jenna emerged from unconsciousness to the sound of a melodic female voice singing quietly to her in Spanish. Though her eyelids were too heavy to open, her mind was alert and processing data from her other senses. She heard the faint splash of water followed by dripping, as if a cloth was being wrung out. Felt the cool glide of damp cotton across her face and soft sheets under her body. Smelled a woman's heavy gardenia perfume.

All the data indicated she was safe, so Jenna forced open her eyes. She was in a small room with unadorned, whitewashed walls and dark, wooden beams.

The woman sitting by her bedside was striking, with the arrogant bone structure of Spanish aristocracy. Her thick black hair was slightly silvered and pulled back into a simple bun. Yet her eyes were ancient, brimming with despair and untold pain.

When she saw that Jenna was awake, the corners of her mouth lifted tiredly in welcome, as if a full smile was beyond her strength. She placed a washcloth back into the water held by a china basin sitting on a small wooden table next to her.

"Who are you?" Jenna asked. "Do you speak English?" Her mind was too muddled to translate her thoughts into Spanish.

"I am Madalena Andros," the woman answered in perfect American English.

"You—?" As if cued by her voice, a headache stampeded through Jenna's skull, leaving such pain in its wake she saw stars. But there was something important she wanted to say. She squinted her eyes and took shallow breaths until she felt capable of speech. "You're Niko's aunt."

The woman blinked in surprise. "Yes." She glanced fearfully over her shoulder at the door. "And you are the woman they found in the jungle." She pointed at Jenna's cheek. "I was there, in the corner of the room, when Alvarez cut you."

The note Jenna had found before she surrendered had been to Niko from Alvarez. Offering to trade Jenna for this woman. "But...I thought you were Alvarez's prisoner."

Madalena leaned forward. "I am. It is most unusual for him to have put you in a guest room and let me tend you. You have a bloody lump on the back of your head and I suspect you have a slight concussion." She bit down lightly on her lower lip and glanced at the door again. "Whatever Alvarez's reasons for putting us together, they cannot be good."

Jenna tried to sit up, but only managed to raise her head an inch or so off the pillow before the pounding in her head forced her to lie back.

That's right. She remembered now. She'd been at the airport. Someone tackled her. And before that—

"Rafe!" Jenna tried to sit up again, but Madalena pushed her gently back down.

"I fear my nephew is dead." Madalena's voice trembled with sorrow. "When Alvarez's men took you, they left Rafe's body on the tarmac."

Oh, God. Not Rafe with his laughing eyes and teasing smile. It would kill Niko.

A door slammed somewhere close by. The sound of boots on tile echoed down the corridor.

"Listen to me." Madalena squeezed Jenna's hand. "Alvarez is coming for you. Whatever it is that he wants from you, give it to him. Immediately. I cannot emphasize this enough. That cut on your face is only a small measure of the pain he is capable of inflicting. Do not fight him and it will go easier for you."

"And if that means giving up information that will lead him to Niko?"

"Do it. My nephew can take care of himself."

* * *

Niko lay on his stomach in a clump of flowering bushes, looking down a slight hill and across the street to the front door of Percone's house. Twenty minutes ago, a taxi had dropped the man off. Literally. The cabbie had opened the door and shoved Percone onto the flat strip of sandy dirt that served as parking space in front of his rundown bungalow. It had taken Percone almost ten minutes to drag himself over to the fence and use it to leverage himself to his feet.

He then proceeded to stagger through the gate and up his front walk, tracing an erratic serpentine. The only reason the man had managed to open the door was that it hadn't been locked. No lights had gone on since Percone entered nine minutes ago, so Niko wondered if the man had passed out on the other side of the door.

Or maybe coming home shit-faced was so common the man could find his way to bed in the dark.

Niko glanced at his watch. Rafe should be back from dropping Jenna at the airport in another hour. He'd promised his brother he'd wait so they could question Percone together.

Niko raised his night-vision binoculars and swept the area around the house looking for other watchers. But the yard and the surrounding area were clear, as was the portion of beach visible behind the cottage.

This area of town had long ago been abandoned by the locals in favor of homes closer to the commercial center. During the tourist season these bungalows had a waiting list, but it was off season and from what Niko could tell, Percone's was the only inhabited cottage on the entire street.

All remained dark and silent.

To hell with it. Niko's instincts told him not to wait.

Enough time had passed since the attack on Paterson for Alvarez to have flown in from Acapulco. The one advantage Niko had was that Paterson hadn't known Percone's address. But the island was small and even at this hour it wouldn't take long for Alvarez to rouse someone who could point him to the right house.

Niko backed up until he was deep in the jungle that crowded this shallow hill. Then he sent Rafe a text message, letting him know of the change in plans.

He was going in.

* * *

Jenna stood up as the door to the room opened. Madalena squeezed her hand, and together the women faced the monster that walked forward.

Alvarez raised his eyebrows at their show of strength.

With a quick flick of his wrist, men poured into the room. They flung Madalena against the wall and shoved Jenna to her knees in front of Alvarez.

"Señorita Paterson, how good to see you again. I always like to settle my debts in person." He gestured to his face, where three bloody lines marked each cheek. "And I owe you for scratching me back in Ixtapa."

Jenna didn't know what possessed her, but she spat at his feet.

Alvarez stared at the mucous on his shoe for a long moment, until the tension in the room equalled the weight of an anvil. Then he stepped back and motioned for one of his men to wipe the shoe clean with a handkerchief.

The instant the man was finished, Alvarez's foot shot out. If Jenna hadn't been watching him so closely, she never would have managed to turn aside and raise her arm, so that his kick hit her triceps instead of the tender underbelly of her jaw.

Still, the force of the blow knocked her to the floor.

Hands grabbed her and forced her to stand. Two men held her upper arms and stepped on her feet so she couldn't run. A third man held her left arm out as an offering to Alvarez.

"While I cut you," Alvarez said conversationally, "You will tell me where Percone lives."

The knife bit into her skin. Jenna clamped down on her teeth to keep from crying out.

Alvarez pressed harder, drawing more blood as he moved the knife slowly down her arm.

"I don't know," she said.

The knife reached her wrist and Alvarez dug the tip in deep before pulling it away. "I think you lie."

He went to work on her other arm.

"I...don't...know..." she gasped. The world swam and she gulped air, struggling to breathe through the pain.

Alvarez finished slicing her other arm and stood back. His eyes admired the cuts like a glass blower viewing a particularly successful vase. "Beautiful work, yes?"

He beckoned with his fingers and two men dragged Madalena forward. Alvarez pushed his knife up under the woman's throat. "I will ask you one more time." He flicked the knife so that Madalena bled. "What is Percone's address?"

Madalena nodded slightly.

Through clenched teeth, Jenna gave Alvarez the address.

* * *

Five-hundred-dollar loafers in hand, Mark Tonelli cursed Dr. Nevsky with every painful step he took down the beach, the god-awful, filthy sand squishing between his bare toes. Even though Mark hated the beach, he'd decided to approach Percone's house from the unlit back side, rather than from the road with its occasional streetlights. But that meant slogging through the thick sand, getting his feet dirty, and picking up who knew what types of bacteria.

The waves crashing against the shore made such a racket, he wanted to scream at someone to turn them off before the sound drove him crazy. To top it all off, the dog bites on his legs throbbed. If he wasn't careful the wounds would reopen, leaving a trail of blood any idiot could follow.

It was a good thing Dr. Nevsky was dead, because Mark was ready to commit murder. Why couldn't the scientist have put the microchip in a safe deposit box? Then Mark wouldn't be here on this miserable island, chasing after Niko Andros.

Mark stepped in something wet and slimy and barely bit back a curse. He rubbed his foot quickly over a spot of dry sand, not wanting to even speculate about what had touched his skin. Not caring that a beach held different organisms than a filthy Moscow alley. In his mind, it was all the same. If you were dirty, you lacked power. He would never be powerless again.

Where the _hell_ was Percone's bungalow?

Mark glanced back the way he'd come and counted the widely-spaced houses. Three...four...five. There, the next house. Just past that little piece of jungle.

To his surprise, the house was dark. Was it possible that Andros had already come and gone? His heart sped up. Or maybe his luck was changing and Andros hadn't arrived yet.

Mark set his shoes down on a rock by the bungalow's back gate, pulled out his gun, and slipped quietly up the walk.

* * *

Sandwiched between two huge bodyguards, Jenna stared woozily across the guard to her right and out the window of Alvarez's limousine. Dawn was a faint smudge on the horizon, not yet bright enough to chase away the darkness.

She shivered. Blood loss and lack of food had made her light-headed and cold. Alvarez hadn't allowed the cuts on her arms to be bandaged and they still bled sluggishly. She probably needed stitches, but despite the throbbing pain, she thought she could use her arms if necessary.

God, she was scared.

Alvarez sat opposite her as the limo traveled through the deserted early-morning streets toward Percone's house. Another guard protected his left side. Madalena huddled on his right, her eyes fixed on the crotch of the guard next to Jenna. Out of the corner of her eye, Jenna saw Madalena lick her lips, then shoot the man a heated glance between her luscious eyelashes.

She suspected Niko's aunt was angling for a partner in their escape. The man shifted uncomfortably, struggling to hide his arousal from Alvarez.

He shouldn't have bothered. Alvarez was too busy communicating with his men, ordering them to surround the house and capture Niko and Percone.

Alvarez's voice held a mad excitement. Mad, because he hadn't just sent a few carloads of men to the house. He'd sent _truck_ loads.

A convoy of army transports had passed them two blocks back, leaving the limo rocking in its dusty wake. As Jenna watched them race by, she'd realized that Alvarez was expecting Niko to have another military team backing him up like the one in Ixtapa. She'd tried telling him it was just Niko out there, but Alvarez ignored her.

The light from a streetlamp threw devilish shadows across Alvarez's face. His normally soulless eyes shone bright with fanatical hatred and his lips curled into a thin, anticipatory smile.

Jenna wanted to shrink away from him, but refused to show any sign of weakness. Instead, she encouraged her fear, using it to drive back the fog in her brain. She needed to be sharp if she had any chance of surviving the night.

_Please, keep Niko safe._

Jenna surreptitiously pulled her wrists apart, testing the strength and fit of the satin cord binding her hands in front of her. Alvarez had been livid when his men couldn't find handcuffs for her and Madalena. Apparently, with all the prisoner activity lately, the men had used up all their restraints. So Alvarez had sliced off pieces of cord from the thickly braided satin ties holding back the drapes. He'd used the cord to tie the women's hands in front of them. Unfortunately, he'd secured the cords tightly enough to slow the blood flow to Jenna's hands. She wiggled her fingers, hoping to keep them functional.

Her only weapons were her mind and her body.

Niko had insisted she carry both a pistol and a knife on the trip to the airport, but those weapons were long gone. Alvarez had even remembered the knife she'd used in her attempt to kill Kai, and had removed her belt.

But she had two advantages. Her training, which included ways of fighting even when bound, and Alvarez's chauvinism. He knew she had the desire to kill, but except for securing her hands, he'd left her unrestrained. If there hadn't been three bodyguards surrounding him, she would have tried to kill Alvarez right now. But she wasn't going to risk her life in a doomed attempt.

She'd just have to wait for the right opportunity to make her move. Because if she was going to die, she intended to take Alvarez with her.

* * *

Niko could not get Percone to wake up. He'd tried everything. Shaking him. Slapping him. Dousing him with cold water. The man had indeed collapsed just inside his front door, as Niko had suspected, but he must have hit his head on something on the way down, knocking himself unconscious.

Niko stood up and glanced out the window. The street remained deserted, but the hairs on the back of his neck said the situation was about to change. He needed to get Percone out of here. Now.

It didn't take Niko long to walk through the small house, searching for an exit that wouldn't expose them to watchers from the sea or the street. A wild tangle of palms, vines and flowering plants at the right side of the house, under the bedroom window, offered the only exterior cover.

Niko tried one more time to wake Percone up. When the man still didn't stir, Niko hoisted him in a fireman's lift and limped to the bedroom. He lowered Percone out the window, then dropped down beside him, wincing as the landing jarred his wounds.

From down the street, he heard the rumble of trucks.

Shit. No more time. He'd wanted to get Percone across the street and into the safety of the jungle, but that would expose them to the headlights of the approaching vehicles.

Just as he lifted Percone back onto his shoulder, his instincts told him he wasn't alone. He drew his weapon, let Percone slide to the ground, and had the intruder pressed up against the side of the house before the other man could close in.

"Relax, Andros," a vaguely familiar voice whispered. "It's Mark Tonelli."

Niko didn't release the pressure on the man's neck. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tonelli always seemed to show up at critical moments. The coincidental timing roused Niko's suspicious nature.

"I ran into your brother at the airport. He sent me as backup."

Not fucking likely. Rafe didn't trust Tonelli any more than Niko did. Still, Ryker had trusted Tonelli enough to send Jenna to Moscow with the man, so Niko backed off, noting with some satisfaction that the other man took several deep, shuddering breaths as the pressure on his windpipe eased.

From out front, Niko heard the squeal of tires as the trucks slid to a stop. "I've got to get this guy into the next house," Niko told Tonelli. "Check and make sure no one's home."

Niko hadn't seen any activity at the neighbor's place and Rafe had reported the same before he left for the airport. But there'd been a gap of an hour between the time Niko pulled Rafe away from Percone's house and the time Niko arrived.

Niko hoped the neighbor's house really was deserted, because otherwise, the inhabitants were about to get a rude wake-up call.

Tonelli hesitated a moment, then nodded and pushed his way through the tangled bushes.

Niko picked up Percone and followed, hoping the noise Tonelli made wasn't loud enough to carry over the sound of the ocean and the rattle of chains as the heavy tailgates of the trucks lowered.

Niko squeezed in between two tightly-placed palms, then froze as he heard the unmistakable thud of booted feet hitting the ground.

Shit. It sounded like a damned army was disembarking. Niko increased his speed. There was only one person who would send such force.

Alvarez.

Niko reached the side of the neighbor's house. "Tonelli," he whispered.

"Inside. The place is deserted. There's an open window to your left."

Niko lifted Percone to Tonelli, then pulled himself through the window. A moment after Niko closed the window, a team of twenty soldiers surrounded Percone's house.

"Wha—?"

Now the man woke up. Niko clamped his hand over Percone's mouth and bent down so he could speak into the man's ear. "Eduard Percone?"

Percone nodded, his eyes wide with fear above Niko's hand.

"You know who Jaime Alvarez is?"

Again Percone nodded.

"We're in your neighbor's house because Alvarez's men have surrounded your place. If you want me to keep you alive, you'll tell me the location of Dr. Nevsky's microchip." Niko knew this wasn't the best place to question the man, but in case Percone didn't make it out alive, Niko needed the directions to the chip.

Niko lifted hand enough so that Percone could talk. "Whisper," Niko ordered.

"I—" Percone's frightened eyes moved from Niko to Tonelli and back again.

"We're with the U.S. government," Niko reassured him. "You need to give us the location before Alvarez tortures it out of you."

For a minute, Niko thought he'd gone too far and Percone was going to faint from fear. But the man swallowed heavily and stammered, "His daughter, Susana, has it. I overheard a telephone conversation he had with a surgeon. Nevsky wanted reassurance that the chip had been implanted in the woman during some routine operation she was having done. She—"

The staccato sound of automatic weapon fire tearing through the house next door cut Percone off.

Shit. Niko went over to the window to check the status of Alvarez's men. It wouldn't take them long to realize Percone's house was empty and start searching the surrounding houses. He had to get the man out of here.

He heard a slight sound and turned around. Tonelli crouched over Percone, holding a suppressed pistol. Tonelli's hand swung out. Niko dove out of the way as a bullet sliced the air inches from his head.

_What the—?_

Niko returned fire but Tonelli was already halfway out the window.

And Percone was undeniably dead. Killed at close range by a bullet through the heart.

# Chapter Thirty-Four

Alvarez's limousine pulled to a stop across from Percone's house. Streetlights illuminated soldiers lined up in the road, spraying the house with bullets.

Alvarez leapt from the vehicle before it came to a complete halt. Two of his bodyguards followed, the third, the one sitting across from Madalena, stayed behind on Alvarez's order.

"Why are you shooting?" Alvarez screamed at the commander. "I need Andros alive!"

Jenna met Madalena's bleak eyes.

No. She would not accept that Niko was dead. Not before—

She shook her head.

Madalena gave her a sad smile and inclined her head slightly toward the door. Then she reached up to her blouse with her bound hands, and began to undo the buttons as she crooned in Spanish to the guard.

The guard stared glassily as the tops of Madalena's breasts were revealed. He licked his lips. Madalena held out her wrists, and as if in a hypnotic trance, the man untied her.

Once she was free, Madalena laughed, then grabbed the man and pulled him into her for a kiss. Behind the man's back, her hands indicated for Jenna to run.

But Jenna's stomach turned over, remembering the feel of the Russian's body pressing her against the hallway in Moscow. She couldn't leave Madalena in the arms of the guard. She just couldn't.

The man was so focused on devouring Madalena he didn't notice when Jenna grabbed his pistol off his belt. Madalena tightened her embrace, holding the guard immobile while Jenna slammed the pistol butt into the back of his head. He grunted, then slumped against Madalena. Just to make sure he didn't wake up soon, Jenna hit him on the temple as well.

Madalena pushed the man to the floor and wiped her mouth. "Why didn't you leave?" she snapped. Her eyes darted to the window, but Alvarez and his men were still focused on Percone's house.

Jenna held out her hands for Madalena to untie. "I know what it's like to have a man you despise touch you intimately." Her voice trembled. "We're not in such danger that you need to make such a sacrifice."

Madalena's expression warmed into sympathy. "It is okay. For me, sex is nothing but a tool. There is no feeling, bad or good." She glanced over her shoulder.

"The driver got out to watch the excitement," Jenna told her. "We're alone." She knelt beside the guard and quickly searched him. His pistol, knife and a flashlight went into her pockets. With Madalena's help, she used the cord that had bound the women to tie his hands and feet. She stuffed his handkerchief in his mouth, then reached for the door handle. "Let's go."

Because the military trucks were parked in the middle of the street, the limo driver had been forced to park on the right side, at the edge of the jungle. The door swung open, revealing a patch of sandy pavement maybe two yards wide between them and the safety of the jungle.

"Imbecile!" Alvarez shouted. Jenna heard a shot, then an angry murmur from the soldiers that was quickly cut off by a scathing reprimand from Alvarez.

"You!" Jenna heard Alvarez order. "Take some men and search the house. Bring me anyone found alive."

"When you hit the ground, roll into the vegetation," Jenna said, peeking over the tops of the front seats to make sure no one was looking in their direction. "Then get as deep into the jungle as you can."

Madalena nodded.

Jenna gave Niko's aunt a little push. When Madalena's foot disappeared into the thick tangle of vegetation, Jenna hit the switch to activate the door locks, then slid onto the ground and gently shut the door. She tested to make sure the door couldn't be opened, then followed Madalena into the jungle.

Although dawn lightened the horizon, under the trees it was still pitch dark. "Madalena?" Jenna whispered.

"Here."

Jenna wriggled forward until her hand met Madalena's arm. Then she pulled the guard's flashlight out of her pocket.

"What now?" Madalena asked. "We cannot just run away."

"No. We have to make sure Niko is all right."

"And Alvarez has to die," Madalena vowed.

Jenna nodded and their eyes met in a moment of understanding. Then she turned off the light, trying to orient herself. When she was sure she knew which direction to head in to stay parallel to the road, she turned the light back on.

"This way," she said, crawling on her belly. "I have a plan."

* * *

Mark Tonelli slipped out of the neighbor's house. He had the information he needed. Percone was dead and with him the danger of anyone else learning of Nevsky's daughter.

Bad enough that Andros knew. If he couldn't find a way to stop the man, the CIA would end up racing the SSU to find the daughter.

He should have known that even at close range Andros wouldn't be easy to kill. He didn't even think he'd wounded the man, dammit. Andros's shots had forced him into retreat, but he wasn't done yet.

When he passed behind a group of soldiers standing with their weapons pointed at Percone's house, Mark whispered loud enough to carry, "Andros is in the neighbor's house behind you."

He didn't wait to see if the men understood English. With the patches of jungle separating each house, he figured he had enough cover to make it safely to the end of the street. There was bound to be some place down there where he could hide until Alvarez and his men went away.

Then Mark would go after Dr. Nevsky's daughter and the chip.

* * *

Alvarez paced along the dusty street. How had it come to this? Over three decades of work building his empire. He had wealth. Power. Respect.

And a bevy of fools working for him. This is why he needed the chip. To make soldiers that obeyed without question and without mistake.

He had come so close tonight to achieving his revenge against Niko. But no, the imbecile soldiers had poured bullets into the house and were even now checking to see if Niko and the man named Percone were dead.

And his guard had just informed him that Madalena and the girl had escaped.

"The house is empty, sir!" The commander's voice carried clearly across the walkie-talkie.

Alvarez wasn't too proud to admit relief. He wanted to be the one to kill Niko. And if both Percone and Niko died before he questioned them, no one would be left to tell him how to find Nevsky's microchip. He needed the data on that chip.

"Search the neighboring houses," Alvarez ordered. "They can't have gone—"

" _Un momento, por favor._ " The commander spoke to someone on his end of the walkie-talkie. "Your pardon, _Jefe_. We have reason to believe the men are in the house to the left of Percone's. What do you want us to do?"

Alvarez began to smile.

A disturbance at the end of the jungle caught his eye. Several soldiers headed toward him holding a furiously struggling Jenna Paterson between them.

Alvarez laughed. Was this not fate? Niko and the girl back under his control. Madalena was still loose, but she would soon be recaptured. She knew nothing of jungle survival.

"Bring me a megaphone and the belt of the widest man in your group," Alvarez told the soldier nearest him.

Then he activated the walkie-talkie. "Commander, this is what I want you to do."

* * *

Niko was trying to find a way to access the crawl space under the house when Alvarez's voice came across on a megaphone.

"Nikolos! Look out the window, _hijo_. Your brother is dead and I have the Paterson girl. If you want her to stay alive, you will give me the chip."

Niko froze. Alvarez had spoken his worst nightmare aloud.

He sidled up to the window and risked a quick glance outside.

Jenna was on her knees in front of the crime lord. There wasn't enough natural light and she was too far away from the streetlight for him to tell if she was hurt. But as he watched, Alvarez tugged on something and Jenna's head jerked back, her hands scrabbling at her neck.

Shit. Alvarez had some sort of leash around her neck. Niko's fingers clenched into fists, a poor substitute for the murderous bellow he fought to contain.

A single bullet broke through the side window and thudded into the wall several feet from Niko.

Right. Time to go before they lost their patience and turned this house into a sieve.

He dropped into a crouch and moved carefully away from the window. Only when he reached the windowless kitchen did he stand. It was the only room he hadn't searched for crawl space access.

Whether he found it or not, he had to leave the house. Now.

* * *

Jenna took a deep gulp of air as Alvarez relaxed the pressure on the belt he'd fastened collar-like around her throat. She let her hands drop down to her sides as if they were useless. She didn't want to remind Alvarez that he hadn't bound her. He seemed to think cutting off her air was enough.

Only, she had a small throat. And thanks to the stiffness of the belt, it could only tighten so far. Even at its tightest, the belt didn't fully cut off her air.

The crime lord shifted his weight from foot to foot and tapped the end of the belt against his thigh as he waited for Niko to respond to his ultimatum.

Jenna mentally crossed her fingers, hoping Niko was gone.

A pebble dug painfully into her right knee. She moved her leg so that it was slightly more comfortable. Alvarez's men hadn't been gentle with her when they dragged her out of the jungle, and she could feel the sting of new cuts and reopened old ones. Her head felt like the venue for a kettledrum competition, but at least there was no nausea or double vision. She tensed and released all her muscles, readying them to act if the slightest chance of escape presented itself.

She wondered where Madalena was now. The older woman had wanted to let the soldiers take her, instead, but Jenna had nixed that idea.

"Alvarez continues to underestimate you," Jenna had explained. "If you're still free, he won't think he's in any danger." Madalena had protested, but Jenna's final argument had won her over. "Niko will take less risks with me captured. He knows I can handle myself." And he doesn't love me like he loves you, she'd thought. He won't risk death for me.

Now that she was here with Alvarez, Jenna began to see too many flaws in their plan. She was so nervous, it was easy to appear defeated and weak.

She forced herself to take another breath, shuddering as if she still couldn't breathe properly. As she did, she took note of her surroundings.

There were a dozen soldiers arranged in a loose semi-circle around the neighbor's unfenced front yard. All the men held automatic weapons. Alvarez stood behind his two bodyguards, so that he was shielded from anyone inside the bungalow firing a weapon. From her position on her knees, Jenna had an excellent view of the pistols and knives hanging from the bodyguards' belts. If only—

"Nikolos, answer me or I will have to hurt the girl." Alvarez jerked on the belt, arching Jenna's neck back until the top of her head touched his thigh. Her fingers scratched at the skin on the back of his hands, but he only laughed.

"Percone isn't here. It's just me." Niko's voice, thick with anger, carried clearly across the heavy silence. Oh, God, no! She'd needed him to be safely away.

Alvarez released the pressure on the belt, letting Jenna sag forward.

"Ah, but Nikolos, I have word that you indeed have Señor Percone inside with you. Send him out and I will release the girl."

"Percone is dead. He didn't know anything about the chip."

"I know better than to believe you, my friend. Shall I demonstrate what will happen to Señorita Paterson if you don't cooperate?" Alvarez held out his hand to the man closest to him. "Knife, please."

As the bodyguard unfastened his knife, Alvarez released his hold on the belt and used his knee to shove Jenna to the ground.

But Jenna used her momentum to fling herself against the legs of the man in front of her. As he fell, she fumbled for his pistol. She'd just managed to pull the weapon free from its holster when the military truck at the end of the line exploded.

The soldiers closest to the trucks hit the ground.

_Thank you, Madalena!_

Jenna tightened her grip on the pistol and rolled under the truck closest to her. She yanked the belt from around her neck and tossed it aside. Then she started belly-crawling under the line of trucks toward Alvarez's limousine.

# Chapter Thirty-Five

Niko slid out from between a pair of fan-shaped palmettos at the side of the house. The boards under the kitchen sink had been loose and yielded easily to his tugging. From the crawl space he'd worked his way to the front of the house, where he'd yelled back at Alvarez. The quick-witted soldier who'd come to investigate a voice that sounded too close to be from inside lay unconscious, tucked into a patch of shadow.

The man's uniform was too loose on Niko, but the pistol and combat knife were just right.

Unfortunately, the magazine for the automatic rifle was empty and there wasn't a spare. No problem. He'd just walk up to one of the trucks and help himself to as much ammo as he needed.

As he stepped onto the street, the truck at the head of the line exploded. Niko ducked and turned his face away, but kept moving. Most of the soldiers in the yard stayed on their feet, with only the soldiers near the trucks hitting the ground.

It wasn't exactly the help Niko had been hoping for when he'd sent a 9-1-1 call to SSU headquarters a short while ago, but he'd take what he could get.

The soldiers didn't stay down for long. Most of them climbed to their feet and raced left toward the burning truck. One man made a beeline for the cab of the truck behind the wreck, hustling to move the vehicle out of the way before it caught on fire.

Flanked by his bodyguards, Alvarez ran between the second and third parked trucks.

Something slithered from underneath the third truck to the fourth and last truck on Niko's right.

Niko blinked and refocused, sure he must have seen wrong.

Shit.

Jenna slid out from the shadows under the last truck and took up a shooting position behind it, aiming toward the jungle.

Niko couldn't see what she was aiming at, but there was only one target here she'd be interested in.

Alvarez.

And the second she shot him, Alvarez's bodyguards would return fire.

He raced toward her, sending fervent prayers up to every god his ancestors had ever worshipped.

_Please don't let her die!_

Because he wasn't going to make it in time to save her.

* * *

From the shelter of the jungle, Madalena watched Alvarez flee toward his limousine. She still had one grenade left from the two she and Jenna had stolen off the soldier they'd ambushed in the jungle. But she didn't want to use it.

She'd prefer to kill Alvarez with the soldier's rifle. The knife would be more appropriate, but she knew she'd never get close enough to use it.

Alvarez and his bodyguards reached the limousine. The men yanked on the door handles but the doors stayed shut. One of the men thumped angrily on the roof of the car. The other shouted into his walkie-talkie.

Madalena's lips curled in a smile. Locking the limousine had been a brilliant move on Jenna's part. With the limo being bulletproof, the men couldn't break in.

Jenna emerged from behind the last truck, pistol up.

"No!" Madalena whispered. "Alvarez is mine! What are you doing?"

Jenna fired.

Alvarez jerked back, then slid slowly to the ground. His bodyguards turned as one, weapons up.

Jenna dropped, but not fast enough. Madalena saw blood burst on the shoulder of Jenna's t-shirt.

Then hands reached out from under the truck and pulled Jenna to safety.

Madalena stared at Alvarez, unable to believe he was—

His head moved.

Madalena moved along the interior edge of the jungle until she was almost directly next to the limousine.

"Help me to my feet." The raspy voice was Alvarez's.

" _Jefe!_ " His bodyguards stood close to their boss, sheltering him with their bodies as they lifted Alvarez to his feet.

"Where is that imbecile with the keys to my limousine?" Alvarez demanded.

"He is coming, _Jefe_. He was hurt by a piece of metal from the explosion."

A group of soldiers approached the limousine at a run.

Madalena scooted away from the limousine. When she was across from the second truck in line, she pulled the pin on the grenade she held and threw.

The grenade landed under the rear of the truck.

As it exploded, Madalena sent up a brief prayer. _Please let me succeed in killing Alvarez._

She was ready to die. Ready to see her long deceased husband. But not until she'd gotten revenge on his murderer.

Madalena crossed herself, checked that the gun she held was ready, then stepped out of the jungle.

* * *

"Jaime Alvarez!"

Niko's head jerked up and knocked against the underbelly of the truck. Was that Aunt Madalena's voice?

Nah. Couldn't be Aunt Madalena. He had to be hallucinating. Still, he scooted forward to get a better view.

But all that was visible was Alvarez and the limo.

A line of bullets strafed the street in front of the limo. The bodyguard standing immediately in front of Alvarez went down. The other guard pulled Alvarez to the ground and shoved his boss under the vehicle. Bullets slammed into him and he slumped to the ground.

Beside Niko, Jenna groaned and stirred. The bullet had hit the front of her shoulder. He'd stuffed his handkerchief against the wound to help stop the flow of blood, but she needed medical attention. Soon.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Ni-ko," she breathed.

"Shhh, _querida_. Don't let the soldiers hear you."

"Love...you..." Her eyes closed.

His fingers leapt to her throat. The faint pulse he found barely reassured him. Where was the damn rescue team? Jenna needed help.

"Stand up and face me, Alvarez," the familiar female voice shouted. "It is time for you to pay for your sins."

Niko shook his head. Dear God, it _was_ his aunt. She walked out of the jungle holding an automatic rifle like a female Rambo. Her dark hair formed a tangled wave around her scratched, blood-stained face. Her cream silk blouse and rust colored linen pants were torn and stained.

"Hold your fire!" Alvarez's voice crackled over every walkie-talkie.

Niko heard grumbling from the soldiers moving up beside the truck.

Shit. As soon as Alvarez gave the order, Aunt Madalena was dead.

Niko thought fast, but no matter how many of the soldiers he took down, he couldn't save her. Not from where he was. The pistol he had simply didn't have the range.

And if he fired from here, the soldiers would see Jenna.

He wouldn't put her in that kind of danger. So he crawled away from her.

Once he was out from under the truck, he stood up, hoping his uniform would allow him closer access to Alvarez.

"I do not answer to a whore!" Alvarez's defiant voice was muted by the bulk of the limo above him.

Madalena fired again. But the bullets didn't reach far enough under the limo to hit Alvarez. The crime lord was inching his way backward, toward the opposite side of the limo and the freedom of the jungle beyond.

Niko used Madalena's shooting to disguise the discharge of his own weapon. Several of the soldiers fell. The others turned to face this new threat.

Keeping his head down, Niko pushed through the group of soldiers, muttering in Spanish. "Imbeciles. Do none of you have any sense? You don't have to shoot the woman to contain her. She is paying attention to no one but _El Jefe_."

Hoping his aunt would recognize him in time, Niko walked toward her. When he was close enough, he began speaking to her in Greek. He figured that would get her attention even if she didn't recognize him in the faint dawn light. She might not be as fluent as she'd been when Uncle Tasi was alive, but her note the other day proved she still retained some understanding of her late husband's native language.

"Aunt Madalena. Don't shoot. It's Niko. I'm going to grab you and pretend I'm taking you prisoner. When I tell you to, run into the jungle."

He lunged for her.

"No!" Madalena screamed as Niko's arms went around her. "He's getting away."

Alvarez had reached the other side of the limo and was on his feet, bolting for the jungle. Madalena aimed the butt of her weapon toward Niko's crotch. He turned aside, but the blow landed on his wounded thigh.

He loosened his grip and Madalena slipped free. "I'm sorry, Niko," she murmured. "I love you, but this is something I must do."

"No!" Niko grabbed for his aunt, but caught only air. Then his injured leg collapsed, sending him to the ground.

Madalena ran toward Alvarez, firing.

"Jaime Alvarez! Do not run away, you coward. Face your death like a man!"

Niko pushed to his knees.

The soldiers opened fire. Bullets cut across Madalena's body, leaving a trail of red. For an instant his aunt seemed to hang suspended in the middle of the street, before collapsing gracefully onto the pavement.

Niko closed his eyes on a sharp wave of grief. Ah, his brave, strong aunt. He'd failed her again.

_Rest in peace, Aunt Madalena._

From the direction of the beach there came a barrage of gunfire and the distant thrum of helicopter rotors.

Alvarez stopped his retreat and moved toward Madalena's body.

Hell, no. That bastard wasn't touching her in death. He'd done too much of that in life.

Niko moved to intercept the man. He held his right hand up to his ear and kept his head turned away from Alvarez while his lips moved as if issuing orders into a walkie-talkie.

They reached Madalena at the same time. Niko hoped the sounds of fighting growing closer meant that help had arrived.

Otherwise, he was about to join his aunt.

Niko looked left, into the crime lord's face.

Alvarez stopped in surprise. "Ah, Niko." The start of a malicious smile was cut off when Niko grabbed him and shoved his pistol against Alvarez's temple.

"Tell your men to lower their weapons and lie facedown."

"No. You won't shoot me, Niko. Your honor won't allow it."

"Really? You're that certain, you'll risk your life on it?" Niko jammed the nose of the pistol harder into Alvarez's temple. Right now, the mix of grief and anger inside him was demanding he kill Alvarez.

"You, with the gun! Release Señor Alvarez or we will kill the girl."

Niko tightened his grip on Alvarez. Jenna lay on her belly in the street, three soldiers aiming their weapons at her head. Her eyes were open, but Niko couldn't tell if she was alert enough to know what was going on.

Niko's mind processed scenarios, but every one came up with a bullet in Jenna's head.

A military helicopter moved toward them from the beach. The soldiers glanced away from Jenna and that was all Niko needed.

Niko released his hold on Alvarez and shoved the man away from him. Alvarez stumbled. He righted himself, but instead of running, he turned toward Niko. His arm jabbed forward, a knife in his fist.

Niko stuck his leg in between Alvarez's, bringing the two of them down to the ground in what would seem to observers as a chaotic tangle, with Niko in the vulnerable bottom position. But Niko had expected Alvarez to attack him. And Alvarez was weakened by blood loss from Jenna's bullet.

Niko let the crime lord get one good stab in to the fleshy part of Niko's arm, then he wrenched the knife away from Alvarez and jabbed it into his abdomen.

Alvarez's eyes widened.

"This is for my family," Niko breathed against Alvarez's ear. He twisted the knife. "And this is for Jenna."

Alvarez gave a slow gasp and collapsed. Niko shoved the crime lord's body off him and rolled away.

"On your stomach. Hands on your head! Now!" The man's voice had a Texas twang.

Niko complied, then shouted, "Rock a Bye Baby."

"Well, hell," the voice replied. "The cradle will rock."

Niko managed a choked laugh, but as soon as he was sure he wasn't going to be shot, he scrambled to his feet. "The woman needs medical assistance." He pointed to Jenna as he ran to her side. "Gunshot wound to the shoulder."

Her eyes were closed and she lay so still, Niko thought for one time-shattering moment that she was dead. _Dios, please don't let it be too late._

He'd never told her he loved her.

# Chapter Thirty-Six

_Monday, Morning_

_San Diego, California_

Jenna shifted in her hospital bed, trying to find a comfortable position.

Strong fingers smoothed back her hair. "Easy, _querida_."

Niko. Even before she opened her eyes, his voice brought a smile. All through the drifting hours since her surgery, when she'd been neither awake nor asleep, she'd been aware of Niko.

His voice soothing her. His hands easing her.

Like a cat, she pushed against his hand when it stilled, begging for more. He laughed softly and kissed her on the forehead.

"Demanding, huh? You must be feeling better." His voice was warm, but underneath Jenna sensed worry.

That was what helped her finally pry open her heavy lids.

His dark eyes brightened. "Welcome back, _querida_."

She stared at him for a long time, soaking in his familiar features. Not realizing until now that a part of her had been afraid she'd wake and find herself alone. Like the night of the attack.

She couldn't bear being alone again.

But the touch of his hand was too warm to be a dream. And even if she didn't have Niko, she had Kai.

Or did she?

She frowned. Kai had been hurt. In a coma. She'd been trying to reach him when—

"Kai! Rafe!" She tried to sit up, but Niko gently held her down. "They're alive. Wounded, but conscious and raising hell. You're the one we've all been worried about." He brushed a kiss over her lips. "You flatlined in the helicopter." He closed his eyes, but not before Jenna saw the shadows there. "You scared me to death. I...wasn't sure if you wanted to come back."

"I—" Something teased the edge of her memory. She closed her eyes, trying to capture it. She thought...maybe...it was an echo of light and warmth haloing her parents and the twins. Saying good-bye to her. Setting her free.

She looked at Niko. "Yes. I want to live. Now that Alvarez is dead..." She swallowed, trying to clear the lump in her throat. "I think my family is finally at peace now. And I have someone to live for. Kai."

She licked her lips. "And...you?"

Niko's smile erased her fear like dawn chasing nightmare. "Oh yeah. I love you, Jenna. You want me, I'm all yours."

While her heart soared, part of her froze in disbelief. Without her vengeance, she didn't know who she was any more. How could Niko like her, let alone love her? "Even though I planned to kill Kai? And then Alvarez? That's a lot of hatred. I'm...not a good person. And I haven't held much value for my own life." She glanced away.

"Jenna, what's important is that you didn't kill. I saw you line up your shot," Niko said. "You could have killed Alvarez. But you didn't. That took strength, _querida_." He reached for her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I'm damn proud of you."

"Really? It...didn't feel like strength. It felt like failure. But...I realized you were right. Killing Alvarez would have destroyed me. I...would have felt like a monster. Like one of his assassins. So I did the next best thing. Disabled him."

Niko stroked her hair. "See? There's more of that sunny, compassionate girl in you than you think. But I love all of you, Jenna. The dark and the light. Because God knows, I understand the dark. Just don't leave me again."

Her eyes sought his and found truth. And acceptance. She felt the first warmth of hope.

"You really love me?" she whispered.

He raised her fingers to his lips. "Hell, yeah."

This strong, tender, honorable man loved her. She grinned.

"Andros," a dry voice said from the doorway. "I won't go all big brother and beat your ass for touching my sister, since you put that grin on her face. But hurt her and all bets are off."

"Kai!" Jenna swiveled her head. Kai sat in a wheelchair just outside the open door. Between his bandages, casts, and bruised skin, he looked like the Mummy's beat-up cousin. Rafe stood behind him, his teasing grin a dim imitation of its normal wattage. His face was drawn with pain and she was pretty sure the only thing holding Rafe up was his grip on the handles of Kai's wheelchair.

"What are you two doing out of bed?" she demanded.

"We were bored," Rafe answered as he pushed Kai's wheelchair through the door. "What else?"

"Did someone call a meeting and forget to send my invitation?" Ryker asked as he stepped into the room.

Jenna gaped. Wearing jeans and a leather jacket, with his hair slightly rumpled and a day's growth of beard on his chin, Ryker looked like he'd stepped off an action adventure movie set. It was the first time she'd seen him in anything but a suit and tie.

Yet his aura of authority had everyone in the room straightening to attention as much as their physical conditions allowed.

"At ease," Ryker said. "This isn't a military review."

Jenna relaxed back against her pillow, but then sat back up, shooting an anxious look at Kai. Her brother's expression was guarded as he watched their boss. She knew he wasn't entirely certain of Ryker's honesty.

Ryker glanced around the room, touching each of them with a warm smile. "It's good to see everyone alive."

"You'll each be formally debriefed once you've been cleared by the medical staff, but how about you give me the highlights. What happened with the chip?"

"No," Kai said. "Not until you clear up a few questions."

Ryker met Kai's eyes and nodded, as if he'd expected this reaction.

"Did you send assassins to kill me after I called you about the fire?" Kai demanded.

"No. I never even knew you'd called."

Kai studied the director's face, and Jenna could feel him weighing the truth of Ryker's words. Finally, he nodded. "Who knew about my mission?"

Ryker gave a short list of names. "I've had all of them investigated and watched since the attack on your family, and there's been no suspicious activity. I believe there's a mole at the agency, but it's not one of them."

Again Kai digested the information, and again he nodded. "What about the attack on our family?"

"Someone deleted the message from my voicemail, but didn't realize my deleted messages don't get erased immediately. I found the message the night of the attack and I called your father to warn him. He was supposed to evacuate the family and meet me at the airport. When no one showed, I headed to the house."

"Okay," Kai finally said. "I believe you."

"Good. Now, what happened with the chip?" Ryker asked.

"According to Percone, Dr. Nevsky has a daughter, first name Susana, last name unknown," Niko said. "Percone said Nevsky arranged to have the chip implanted in her during a routine operation. We were interrupted before he could say more. Then he was dead."

"Alvarez's men?" Ryker asked.

Niko shook his head. "Tonelli. He tried to shoot me—"

Jenna gasped and Niko squeezed her hand again. "But he was in a hurry and his aim was off. Tonelli heard Percone's confession about the daughter."

"Right. Nevsky's records make no mention of a daughter. So now we're in a race with the CIA to figure out the daughter's identity." Ryker said. "Kai, as soon as you're healed and we have her location, you're going after her and the chip."

"Right."

"Niko. Rafe. I'm sorry about your aunt," Ryker said.

Jenna ran her fingers in soothing circles over Niko's hand, wishing she could absorb some of his pain.

Ryker nodded to Niko. "We have at least a dozen witnesses that say you killed Alvarez in self-defense, Niko. Good job."

Niko nodded back.

Ryker's expression sobered as he looked at Rafe. "Now for the bad news." He paused, waiting until all eyes were on him. "We've been asked to look into a string of disappearances of military and federal law enforcement personnel. All involved were reported dead or missing in action. At least two of the dead later turned up alive, pumped up on some new steroid and homicidally insane, in remote towns along the east coast."

Kai swore. "Sounds like someone's continuing Nevsky's work. Was there ever any proof that his second-in-command, Kaufmann, died in the lab fire?"

"No," Ryker answered.

No one said a word, but the collective tension in the room rose to a high vibration.

"So we've got a potential offshoot program running in an unknown location," Kai stated.

"Right." Ryker turned to Rafe. "When you've been cleared, Rafe, I'm putting you in charge of this investigation."

Rafe dipped his head in acknowledgement.

Jenna bit her lip. Kai and Rafe hadn't even left yet, and she was already worried about them.

Ryker turned his attention to her. "So...ah...Jenna..."

"Jenna and Niko are in lo-ove," Kai said in a sing-song voice.

Jenna rolled her eyes.

"I'd like to request some personal time off, sir," Niko said.

"Already done. Come back to us when you're ready." Ryker shot Jenna a look of mixed frustration and admiration. "Jenna, we'll talk later."

She felt like she was being asked to report to the principal's office. "Okay."

"Right, then. That's all. Good job, people."

* * *

_Monday, Afternoon_

_Washington, D.C._

CIA Director of Special Operations Wayne Jamieson hung up the phone. Tonelli's report had been far from the success he'd expected.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on his chair's thick leather armrests. Dr. Kaufmann's subjects, while useful additions to Kerberos, were only temporary solutions. None of the men survived past four months.

Jamieson needed men that would last years. Kerberos's success depended on it.

He opened up his secure e-mail program and sent Kerberos's researchers hunting for Susana, daughter of Dr. Mikhail Nevsky. He was confident they'd locate the woman before the SSU.

If for some reason the SSU found her first, Jamieson still had a hidden asset within the upstart organization. The man would sabotage any plans to get the chip.

In the meantime, Jamieson had ordered Tonelli to use an alias and take a vacation. He needed the SSU to lose track of Tonelli. Because Jamieson needed Tonelli to retrieve the daughter and the chip, and he couldn't do that if the SSU was following him around.

# Chapter Thirty-Seven

_Six Weeks Later_

_Delaware_

Jenna knelt in front of the simple white tombstones that marked the graves of her parents and the twins. "It's done," she whispered, reaching out to trace Isabel's name with her finger. "All the men who hurt you are dead."

Kai's hand squeezed her shoulder. "I killed them, Dad," he admitted in a hoarse whisper. "Well, most of them. Not Alvarez. Niko Andros did that. And Alvarez had already killed one of the assassins before I could get to him. But the rest knew the same pain before they died. I'm sorry..." His voice broke. "I'm sorry I didn't make it home in time to stop them."

Jenna took Kai's hand and let him pull her to her feet. Then she wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. "It's not your fault," she said, knowing only time would convince him of that. Her heart still ached from missing her family, but her guilt over surviving had finally faded.

"They're at peace now," she said through her tears. "We got vengeance. It's time to move on."

Kai tightened his embrace. "Not yet. Not for me. The chip is still out there. It's the reason they were killed. I won't be able to move on until we've found it."

Jenna stepped back. "Be careful. I don't want to lose you, too."

Kai blinked back his tears and gave her a cocky grin. "Don't worry, I've just found you again. I plan on having many more years playing the protective big brother."

"Not too protective, I hope," Niko said, coming forward from where he'd been waiting by the cemetery path. He put his arm around Jenna's shoulders and placed a proprietary kiss on her lips.

"He scared off my high school boyfriends," Jenna warned with a laugh."Well, at least those that he knew about."

"Wimps. All of them." Kai raised a brow and gave Niko the once over. "I suspect Andros won't run so easily."

"Damn straight."

Then Kai turned and leveled a glare at Jenna. "And what the hell do you mean, those that I knew about?"

Jenna just grinned and snuggled against Niko. A deep warmth spread out from her heart. A few months ago she never could have imagined feeling this content ever again. But not only was Alvarez dead, she had her brother back. More surprising, she had Niko and his generous, loud, crazy family.

"Happy?" Niko said, gazing down into her eyes.

"More than I thought possible."

"Good. Let's go home."

As Niko led Jenna out of the cemetery, she looked back. Kai was staring down at the graves with such a lost expression that for a second Jenna couldn't breathe. Then Kai shook his head, gave a nod to the tombstones, and caught up with Jenna and Niko. His slight limp was barely noticeable and would fade completely once he'd finished healing.

Jenna linked her free arm through Kai's. Until he was cleared by the doctors to head after Dr. Nevsky's daughter in his search for the chip, Jenna planned to keep Kai close. Niko had pulled her back from the darkest edge. She could do no less for Kai.

She took one more peek back toward the graves. A shaft of light illuminated the markers. Jenna smiled, feeling that at last she'd been forgiven, and stepped forward into her future.

Want to read about Niko's time undercover with Alvarez? That story is in the prequel novella _Undercover_.

Yes, I want to join the KierDevils!

www.vanessakier.com/kierdevils1

Want to find out what happens to Kai, Rafe, and the rest?

_The SSU Series Complete Box Set_ contains all six of the SSU books at a fraction of the cost!

Dear Reader,

Thank you for spending time with Niko and Jenna. I hope you enjoyed reading _Vengeance_ as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Niko and Jenna stormed into my head one day while I was trying to write a completely different book. Since they refused to go away until I told their story, that original manuscript never got past chapter one. But I quickly fell in love with Niko, Jenna, Rafe, and the rest of the gang and didn't mind being dragged in a totally different direction.

If you enjoyed reading _Vengeance_ , please consider recommending it to family, friends, and anyone else you think might be interested in Niko and Jenna's adventures. Leaving a review on the retail store where you purchased it or on Goodreads will also help other readers discover _Vengeance_.

Thank you for your support!

If you'd like to know what happens to Kai, keep reading for an excerpt from _Betrayal_ , the second book in the series.

Happy reading!

_Vanessa_
**Excerpt from _Betrayal_**

**by Vanessa Kier**

_Friday, Afternoon_

_Branco River_

_Amazon River Basin_

Kai Paterson paused at the edge of the warehouse. A wide, exposed strip of dirt stretched between him and the safety of the trees along the riverbank. He checked behind him for signs of pursuit, then quieted his breath and listened.

The night contained only the sound of the river softly slapping against the hull of the boat waiting for him in the shallows and the occasional cry of a nocturnal animal. Reassured that it was safe to proceed, Kai sprinted across the dirt and into the protective darkness of the stand of trees. Then he flashed a signal with the red LED light on his flashlight and waited for the proper response from the pilot.

It didn't take long. A couple of minutes later, the boat slipped into view.

Kai picked his way carefully along the slippery surface of a thick root that jutted into the river. Then he leapt lightly onto the deck of the boat.

"Any trouble?" he asked the pilot in Portuguese.

"No." The man handed Kai a pair of night vision binoculars.

As the boat pulled away from shore, Kai removed the backpack that contained his personal supplies, then scanned the land with the glasses. No sign of human activity. Good.

He might actually pull this off.

After all he'd lost, after two years on the run only to end up nearly dying in another crime lord's dungeon, it was about time luck came his way.

Seeing no pursuers, he stowed his pack in the cabin next to his weapons and ammunition, which the pilot had retrieved earlier. Then he returned to the railing, checking for any late arrivals intending to stop their departure.

At least, that's what he told himself. The truth was that he didn't want to think about where they were heading.

_I shouldn't be here._

He shoved the fear back. Where else could he be? Dr. Nevsky's damn microchip had destroyed his life. He couldn't let any governmental agents, criminals, or terrorists get their hands on the data on the chip.

The boat pulled away from the shore and soon reached the center of the river. Refusing to be a coward, Kai strode to the bow. Moonlight rippled across the river. Underneath the boat's odor of fish and diesel fumes he caught the jungle's signature stench of rotten vegetation and sweet flowers. The trees loomed on either side of the river. Little more than an impenetrable darkness at this time of night, Kai nevertheless felt the jungle's violence calling to him.

Nausea churned in his belly. Dark memories threatened to swamp him.

His fingers tightened on the wooden railing.

A fish broke the surface of the river, then quickly disappeared into the murky depths. Yeah, wasn't that a metaphor for his life these days? Barely able to take a clean breath before he waded back into the muck.

Kai shivered. The horrors he'd seen in Nevsky's lab still gave him nightmares. Men so insane, so focused on the kill order given by their handlers, that they attacked their teammates with teeth and nails and fists, fighting like animals to the death. Then biting and mauling their opponent's corpse until the ground gleamed red.

He shook his head, but it was too late. The memories segued into coroner's photos showing his mother lying in a pool of blood. Showing his fourteen-year-old sister, Isabel, with her throat gaping open from a knife wound, her hand reaching toward her dead twin brother.

Kai clenched his fists and jerked his mind away from those pictures. He would _not_ think about their deaths. Not here in the jungle, where his control was so thin. Where the sights, sounds and scents threatened to send him back to the moment in an Indonesian jungle where he'd taken the life of the fifth of the six assassins who'd killed his family.

God, if he'd only known what price he'd pay for going undercover at Nevsky's lab. And now Rafe, his brother-in-law and fellow SSU agent, was missing after investigating a lab they suspected of restarting part of Nevsky's experiments.

Rafe would be better off dead than a test subject.

Kai closed his eyes and tried to breathe past the lump of rage and grief in his throat. He attempted to quiet his mind, but instead he saw blood dripping off his hands onto the jungle floor while the body of the assassin twitched out its final seconds of life.

To his horror, even though he stood on the deck of a boat months after the kill, Kai felt an echo of the hot, primitive satisfaction that had surged through him as he'd stared down at the body. He remembered throwing his head back and letting loose an inhuman cry of triumph that scared birds into flight and scattered a colony of monkeys.

His heart pounded in remembered exhilaration.

Shit, shit, _shit_.

Kai opened his eyes and shook his head. The act of vengeance had stripped him down to his very core. Revealed that underneath his civilized, intellectual veneer lay the primitive urge to protect and avenge his loved ones, even if it meant killing in a manner that horrified his rational, law-abiding side.

He didn't want to be that man who so easily resorted to violence. He was a scientist turned spy. Not an assassin. He preferred to solve problems based on his ability to reason.

Yet if anyone tried to hurt his sister—the only survivor of the attack—he wouldn't hesitate to kill again.

To keep his mind off the past, Kai raised the glasses to his eyes again and ran a quick scan. On the chance someone had seen them leave, Kai had told the pilot to head downriver from the archaeological dig of Susana Dias. They would switch over to a less traveled branch of the river before setting course for the dig.

An image of the supermodel turned archaeologist flashed into his mind. The half-American, half-Brazilian beauty had graced the cover of every fashion and gossip magazine during Kai's high school and college years. He still remembered how the hint of laughter in her large brown eyes made her seem approachable. As if she saw the world as a giant party and had been inviting him to join her.

The irony of the cruel, amoral Dr. Nevsky fathering sexy, vibrant Susana Dias didn't escape him. No one had known he even had a daughter. The media coverage about Susana claimed her father was dead, and nothing in Nevsky's background check had indicated he'd had a child.

Then a recent series of events had uncovered a story so unbelievable, Kai figured it had to be true. Leading him, and every other agent hunting the chip, to the Amazon Jungle and Susana Dias.

With a sigh, he lowered the glasses and moved to the back of the boat to run another scan.

Christ. Even knowing the lengths to which Dr. Nevsky went to keep his data secure, Kai still couldn't believe the man had taken the microchip containing his project data and implanted it in Susana's abdomen during a supposed appendectomy. She probably didn't even know Nevsky was her father.

Susana had become a well-respected archaeologist after leaving modeling. As far as Kai could tell, she was innocent in all of this. Unfortunately, innocent or not, he was about to bring her world crashing down. He'd do whatever necessary to get her to the SSU so the chip could be surgically removed. With any luck, that would only take a few days. Then Susana could return to work.

And Kai would destroy the chip, no matter what his boss Ryker might say about the data having potentially beneficial applications. The chip's very existence brought ruin and death. It had to be taken out of the equation before more innocent people died.

Kai stared at the moonlit lines of the boat's wake and focused on emptying his mind. For a peaceful moment he found the still, quiet place inside himself he'd once been able to access so easily. His muscles relaxed.

Yeah, he could do this.

He inhaled deeply, but the stench of decaying flesh from the riverbank sent him into a coughing fit.

Just like that, chaos tumbled back into his mind. Ah, hell.

_No!_ He gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to give in. He could do this.

_Think only of the mission. Find Susana Dias. Destroy the microchip. Finally end the cycle of pain and death._

_Become the man he'd used to be._

_Piece of cake. Right?_

Betrayal is available now.

# Also by Vanessa Kier

**The Surgical Strike Unit (SSU) Series**

Vengeance \- Book 1

Betrayal \- Book 2

Retribution \- Book 3

Payback \- Book 3.5

Aftermath \- Book 4

Undercover \- Bonus Novella

* * *

**The WAR Series**

WAR: Disruption \- Book 1

WAR: Intrusion \- Book 2

WAR: Opposition \- Book 3

WAR: Retaliation \- Book 4

# Acknowledgments

Bringing a book to publication is a group effort. First of all, I'd like to thank my family and friends for their love and support. Special thanks goes to the Addos for encouraging my early storytelling efforts. My critique partners Virna DePaul and Kristin Miller gave invaluable insight on how to strengthen the story, talked me down when I panicked, and never let me give up on my dream. Thank you to everyone who read earlier versions of the completed manuscript and gave feedback, including Rachael Herron and Nalini Akolekar. My editor Valerie Susan Hayward and my final proofreader Angela Pike smoothed out the rough edges. Frauke Spanuth of Croco Designs created the awesome cover. Last, but not least, I'd like to thank the members of SFA-RWA and BDRWA for their support, encouragement, and advice. I'm proud and honored to be taking this publishing journey with you.

# About the Author

I confess. I spend way too much time thinking up ways to torture my characters. As a worst-case scenario thinker, I channel my persistently dark what-if questions into writing romantic thrillers that combine intense emotion with action-packed plots.

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I'm best known for The Surgical Strike Unit series about a privately run special operations group. My new series, WAR, is set in West Africa, where I lived for a time.

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When I'm not writing, listening to music, or playing puzzle games on my mobile device, I help writers learn Scrivener and take long hikes in the nearby hills.

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**The best places to connect with me:**

My Blog

My Newsletter
**Copyright**

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2013 by Vanessa Kier

Excerpt from _Betrayal_ copyright © 2013 by Vanessa Kier

Cover design by Frauke Spanuth, Croco Designs

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

**License Notes**

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

ISBN: 978-0-9889147-0-4
