Christy - Loving a Mercenary (Project Zeus - Olympia Book 3)

Chapter 6

Christy awoke with a gasp, her heart racing in her chest, as she fought the bile that rose in her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Vlad set up next to her, tense, ready to defend them both.

“It’s nothing. Just a nightmare.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She looked over at the alarm clock and groaned. It was only six in the morning. No point in trying to go back to sleep.

“It’s ok. We still need to talk.” The covers fell down to his waist, exposing his broad, muscular chest. Christy felt desire stir between her thighs.

“How about if we just have a repeat performance of last night?” Her pupils expanded in excitement as she walked her fingers up his bare chest.

“I mean it Chris, we need to talk.” She saw interest light his eyes even as he gripped her wandering hand.

“If you want to have a serious conversation, I’d advise you not to try it naked.” She leaned over and nipped his bottom lip. “I get distracted.”

“Chris!” His tone was a warning growl, but her hand was already snaking under the covers.

“Mmm, I guess you get distracted, too.” She muttered against his lips as she slivered across him. All rational thought fled as he gripped her around the waist and flipped her under him. She gave a breathless giggle and then a quick gasp as he entered her swiftly.

Vlad glanced over at Chris as he led her back towards the room her siblings shared. Nothing had been resolved between them this morning. None of his questions had been answered. He had tried to broach the subject this morning, but she distracted him. Hell, the term distraction was an understatement. She had seduced him. His body tightened just at the very thought of what they shared this morning.

“I can’t wait to see Brendan.” Her excited tone cut through his thoughts as they stopped at the door. Chris gave a light tap and then the door swung open.

“Brendan!” Chris threw herself into the arms of the man standing there.

“My little Chaos.” His voice was deep with amusement as he swung her off her feet and gave her an enthusiastic kiss. Vlad felt jealousy flood him as he watched the reunion. The man before him was the type of pretty boy that women fell all over. He was about an inch taller than his on 6’2 frame, with a lean, rangy build. His dark hair tumbled wildly to his shoulders, accentuating his chiseled features, but the most compelling feature he possessed, were his eyes. They were a shade of brown so light they nearly looked transparent. Full sensual lips smiled down at Chris before those fascinating eyes landed on him.

“Chaos, perhaps you should introduce us before your man try to kill me.” Amusement lit his eyes as he spoke.

“Brendan.” Chris laughed with a shake of her head as she pushed playfully at his chest. “Vladimir, this is Brendan. Brendan, Vladimir.” Vlad banked his anger and shook the offered hand.

“And be nice, Brendan, he helped save your life last night.”

“I know. I was filled in.” He stepped back, letting them in. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Vlad nearly bit out as he stepped around the man and entered the room.

Chris felt the tension flowing off Vlad and frowned in confusion. What the hell? Before she could go over and question him, Brendan gripped her arm.

“Why are you closed off?” She felt fear grip her heart at his question, but she didn’t allow it to show on her face. He couldn’t know the truth. Instead, she pulled her arm away and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Feel around you, brother dear, we’re all closed off.”

“But why are you closed off to me? It takes more to close out your other half.” Before she could form a quick retort, she felt him push through her guard. She gave a sharp gasp and pushed him back out.

“That’s rude.”

“What the hell did you do, Chaos?” His heated question had her other siblings turning to face her. Great, just what she needed, all of them focused on her.

“Nothing.” She said through gritted teeth.

“Bullshit!” Brendan snapped. “You saw Donovan!”

Well, here was where it was going to get tricky. She knew that if Brendan kept pushing, he’d break through, and if he managed to break through, they would all be in danger.

“We’ve all seen Donovan.” She retaliated.

“You saw him recently.” The accusation in his voice nearly had her caving, but she knew that she couldn’t.

“Yeah, he recently shot Cullen with the same thing they used on you.” She responded with a roll of her eyes.

“You’re hiding something, Christy.” Desolation filled her eyes at the accusation. Of course she was hiding what she had done. She wouldn’t allow her stupid choice to effect her family.

“Leave it alone, Brendan.” The sadness in her tone had him wrapping his arms around her.

“You know you can tell me.” He pressed a kiss to her head as he pulled her close, bringing tears to her eyes.

“It’s nothing.” She assured him with a watery smile. It was nothing that they could change anyway. “Why don’t we just order breakfast and then get the hell out of here?”

            “Sound’s good to me.” Brendan responded with a shrug, letting the subject drop for the moment. Chris gave a sigh of relief and turned away only to find herself staring into Vlad’s concerned blue eyes. She walked slowly to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, offering him a silent apology. She only hoped that he could forgive her.

“So, let’s order.” She tossed out a grin that had her siblings laughing in return and doing as she suggested. Just as they were finishing up breakfast, Chris felt something vibrate under her skin and then heat up in her blood. The tracker. She was out of time.

            “How about we hit the road? The sooner we get back the safer I’ll feel.” As she spoke, she pulled the keys to her rented SUV, and tossed them to Vlad.

“I’m going to check us out.” Before anyone could say anything, she quickly escaped out of the room. She took her time going to the front desk, giving her family time to erase their presence from the room and load up. Just as she was handing over the keys to both rooms, Vlad came strolling through the door.

“Are you ready?” His question had sadness filling her. No, she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the man she gave her heart to, or the brother she so recently found.

            “Go ahead, I’ll meet you out there. I’m just going to head to the restroom.” She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. She knew that he would taste the despair in her kiss, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to leave him, not when she just learned what love was, but she wouldn’t endanger him.

“Ok.” Confusion wrinkled his brow but he turned and left. Chris stood and watched him until he rounded the corner and was no longer visible.

“Wow, isn’t he a nice, strapping young fellow.” The teasing voice called out from behind her, sending chills down her spine.

“What are you doing here, Donovan? I said I’d come turn myself in to you.” She turned around slowly to face him.

“I couldn’t wait.” He shot her a sheepish grin out of a ridiculously handsome face.

“I bet.” She muttered in disgust. She looked at his sweetly dimpled cheeks and felt her stomach roll. How could so much evil hide behind such a gorgeous face?

“Are you alright, Miss?” Nerves danced in the thick Hispanic accent, as the tiny woman looked from her and then back to Donovan, her hand hovering anxiously over the telephone. It was nice to see that she wasn’t fooled by a handsome face.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Chris assured her. Even though she appreciated the help, she didn’t want the girl to piss Donovan off.

“Are you sure?” She looked nervously from Donovan to Chris again. Before Chris could offer more reassurance, a muffled shot rang out. She looked in disbelief as the young girl crumbled to the floor.

“She’s sure.”

“Was that necessary?” She snapped out.

“Necessary, no.” Donovan gave a careless shrug as he holstered his .38 special. “But it was fun.”

“Still the same heartless bastard as always, I see.” Chris sneered at him.

“Sticks and stones, Love.” He shot her a charming grin as he pulled a syringe from his pocket. “Shall we?”

“What’s that for?” Her eyes darted nervously to the needle and then back to his face.

“My little insurance policy. I can’t have you telling your little siblings where you are, now can I?”

Chris wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary. She wouldn’t call her family into what could possibly be a trap. Instead she muttered, “Get it over with” and held out her arm. She felt a tiny prick and then…nothing.

Vlad set in the rental listening absently to the chatter of Chris’s siblings as he pondered over her behavior. Obviously he wasn’t the only one to notice her weird behavior because Brendan had called her on it as well.

“Chris is in trouble.” Brendan’s frantic words crashed through his thoughts, freezing his heart.

“What?” He tried to swallow the panic as he looked at the other man.

“Everything just went dark around Chris.” He pushed out of the vehicle and started across the lot. Vlad and the others piled out and followed him. As they entered the lobby of the small hotel, an eerie silence greeted them, along with the unmistakable smell of death. As Vlad drew closer to the front desk, he could see a pool of blood congealing on the floor. He stepped around to have a look.

“Shot in the head, execution style.” He sighed at the wasted life as he stepped completely around the desk to get a look at the security disks. What he saw there had him swearing.

“Take a look at this.” He called out, gesturing to the siblings as he rewound the disks to show them what he saw.

“Chaos, no.” Sadness filled Brendan’s eyes as he turned away from them. “She made a deal with Donovan. I knew she was hiding something.”

“Brendan, it’s not your fault.” Alex leaned in offering him a comforting hug.

            “It is my fault.” He bit out. “She made it for me.”

“So find her.” Vlad barked out

“I can’t. I’m still too weak to connect to her.” Vlad would not let the defeat in his voice deter him.

“Then you do it.” He said, whirling on Ethan.

“I can’t scent her. Whatever Donovan used cloaked her.” When the man offered him a helpless shrug, he felt the panic claw up inside of him, nearly consuming him.

“Then what do we do?”

“We go back to the island. We can’t remain in the open like this.” Vlad turned to look at Alex, and the defeat in her eyes just about tore his heart out.

“We’ll do everything we can to get her back, Vlad.” Her words offered little comfort, but he gave a stiff nod as everything inside of him turned cold. What if everything just wasn’t enough?