“Of course. I will take care of him.” James unlocked the door and left silently, leaving Briana with her tumultuous thoughts.
It was wrong to sneak away from Alex, she felt it in her bones. But she needed a clear head now, and her sparring session with James had proven what a distraction the vamp was. Alex was never meant to be more than a temporary pleasure—they’d been doomed from the start—and now the present circumstances were too dangerous. She knew he wasn’t the one directly responsible for the leak of information, but someone he told was. And after their encounter in the workout room, he’d become a liability she couldn’t afford. She cared about him too much to get him involved with this. Who knew what would happen?
Lifting her chin, she moved into the head to take a shower and wash his scent from her skin. As she stepped under the spray, she hardened her aching heart and steeled her resolve. She hadn’t reached her level of power by wavering or allowing her emotions to rule. She’d always relied on her wits to survive.
And if she could stop thinking about Alex, maybe she could actually use them.
* * * * *
Alex awoke to the headache from hell. His hand reached up and touched the rapidly healing bump on the back of his head while his senses searched for Bree’s presence. He paused, frozen with his hand at his nape, his eyes closing as he concentrated on searching every inch of the ship. His heart began to race.
Briana was gone.
Panicked, he leapt to his feet and flew through the corridors. Once he’d ascertained that the shuttle pod was gone, he returned to the bridge and replayed the security video, not surprised to see the damned sex bot/PA bashing him over the head with the blunt end of a synapse interrupter. Alex growled. He really hated droids and his inability to sense them or read them.
Dropping his head back against the headrest, he closed his eyes as pain lanced outward from his injury. Was it his love that had caused Bree to flee? He’d felt her surprise like a tangible thing and knew he’d frightened her. But they were almost to Tolan. The pressure had been on him to win her trust before they arrived at the planet and she tried to leave him behind.
He knew now that he should never have left the training room like he did. Had he been thinking clearly, he would have known she would be fragile after the brutal way he’d taken her. And a woman used to treading a difficult path alone would find the thought of relying on someone too scary. He should have set aside his own vulnerability to be there for her. Instead, he’d been equally distraught and arrogant fool that he was, he’d wanted her to come to him.
Because of his stupid pride, the woman he loved was now out there in danger without him. His worry was such that he was near mindless with it. He could barely sit still, barely keep from letting his beast free to tear apart anything that would threaten her safety. He wanted to howl out his frustration, but nothing would save her if he couldn’t think clearly.
Alex reached over and hit the comm link. Due to the unusual time of his call, he waited long moments before Derek’s face filled the screen.
“What is it?” the president asked without preamble.
He steeled himself before admitting, “Representative Michaels fled the ship with her droid an hour ago.”
Derek took a deep breath. “Now she’s Rep. Michaels again? You had a fight or lover’s quarrel, right? Goddamn it!” the president roared, his fist hitting the table. “Where the hell are you?” He looked away to check the readout. “Tolan. I’ll notify your backup to begin searching for her. Return to Thieves’ Cove and await further instructions.”
“I’m not leaving!” Alex protested. “Not while she’s in danger.”
“You’ve done quite enough. You transported her to Tolan. Leave the rest to the agents on the surface. Continue to shift through the information you downloaded from the droid and keep me posted.”
“I’m not leaving,” he said again, his voice softer than before, but no less determined.
Derek arched a brow. “You are if you want to continue working for the STF. Disobey a direct order, Night, and see what happens.”
His hands clenching into fists under the console, Alex kept his face impassive. “As you wish, sir. Night out.”
He turned off the comm and sat for a moment, considering what he should do next. One thing was certain—he wasn’t leaving Tolan without making sure Briana was safe.
He reactivated the comm and a moment later the screen was filled with a blond man with laughing blue eyes. A longtime STF agent, Christian Beaumont was one of his best friends and the only person he trusted to do what he was about to ask.
“Hey, Alex,” Christian greeted with a wide smile that made most women melt. “How’s it going?”
“Not good. Listen, I need you to do something for me and you can’t let Derek find out what you’re up to.” Alex would lose his job for this, something that up until a week ago had been the most important thing in his life. But now he had something far more precious to lose.
“Aw shit.” Christian groaned. “Are you in trouble again?”
“I’m going to send you some files I downloaded from a droid. Go through them and see if anything jumps out at you.”
“Like what? What the hell am I looking for?”
“Recordings of ransom threats and anything at all pertaining to the Eastern Bill. It’s a PA droid’s database. It should contain your basic PA information. If anything doesn’t fit, flag it and let me know. Oh…and you’ll be looking these files over on a flight to Rashier 6.”
“Rashier 6?” Christian cried. “I’ve got assignments of my own to do. What do you need on Rashier 6?”
“I’m going to send you some vid captures for visual reference. I want you to find the couple in the photos and guard them. But don’t let them know what you’re doing.” Alex couldn’t be two places at once and keeping Bree’s family safe was as important to him as protecting Bree herself. He couldn’t bear to see her injured, either physically or emotionally.
“Alex, you’ve got to be kidding. This isn’t a favor. This is like ‘you owe me your firstborn child’ territory.”
“I can’t have kids, neither can you, but if you do this favor for me that could change.”
The blond vamp stilled, his features changing from scowling frustration to alert awareness. “You’re serious.”
“Yeah. Can you help me?”
Christian nodded. “Send me what you have and I’ll take care of it. Take a comm with you in case I have questions or find something you might want to know.”
“Will do. I owe you, man. Huge.”
“Yes. You do. Beaumont out.”
The comm went dead.
Alex stood and left the bridge. He went to his room and breathed deeply as he entered, absorbing Bree’s scent into his lungs. Inside him, the hunger stirred as it always did at the smell of her, clawing at his vitals with burning need, desperate for the feel of her beneath him and the taste of her upon his tongue. His mouth watered and his muscles rippled beneath his skin. Alex intended to use his endless craving for her to his advantage. He would track her with it and hunt her down. He’d find a way to keep her safe.
That way, when all was said and done, he could throttle her himself.
* * * * *
Briana stood outside the shuttle pod and gazed at the nearby forest. The brightness of the twin suns was slowly waning as the day lengthened into late afternoon. Tall, green grass grew to her hips. Swaying gently in the fragrant breeze it resembled the rippling waves of water in the lake just beyond the rise. Birds larger in size than she was flew in the air above her in swirling, dipping patterns she remembered fondly from her childhood. Despite the bleakness of her present task, it didn’t detract from the knowledge that she was home. It had been a long time since her last visit. Too long.
Shortly the authorities would come to investigate the unauthorized landing, but that wasn’t what worried her. The local police could be dismissed with a quick eye scan to verify her identity. It was Alexei Night th
at gave her the shivers. Vampires were predators. He would be able to track her easily if he wanted. And that was one thing she’d never doubted about him—he wanted. Badly.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said grimly, her fingers finding comfort in the grip of her blaster.
James stepped out of the shuttle and raised the ramp, sealing the craft. “I have everything we need.”
They jogged quickly across the packed dirt of the clearing and slipped into the woods, heading toward the public transport hub just a few kilometers away.
As they moved silently through the golden trees, Bree felt occasional brushes of awareness along her spine. Alex couldn’t be on her heels yet, there were still a few hours left before nightfall, but she was as cognizant of him as if he walked directly behind her. She quickened her pace.
Some type of tampering had happened to James, she didn’t doubt her droid’s claim. But why would Alex need to access her PA when her own thoughts were an open book? And who had he been communicating with the last week of their journey? She couldn’t see any reason for him to have shared her information with anyone unless he’d meant to profit from it. Despite how well that fit in with his past record and his reputation as a criminal, she couldn’t believe Alex would hurt her for credits. She was, however, starting to believe that he loved her. Or maybe she was just hoping he loved her. But if she was hoping for his love, wouldn’t the implication be that her own feelings were stronger than she’d acknowledged?
What a fucking mess.