From the corner of his eye Graham could see Lyrica coming down the stairs silently, eyes wide, her face brutally white as she met his gaze.
God help him.
He could feel the rage simmering inside him, building to a force he wasn’t certain he could control. Every instinct, every fucking urge he harbored inside himself was screaming at him to do something, to do something now.
“Dorne,” Davis growled, fury filling his voice as Lyrica came down the last step. “Where is Carmina?”
The question seemed to distract Dorne for the moment, allowing Lyrica to ease in between Graham and Dawg.
Dorne gave a low, jeering laugh before glancing to his side. “Carmina.” He called her name softly.
She stepped from behind him, dressed in the black mission suit she’d worn on the lake. Graham recognized her figure now, and the black, snug suit minus the heavy vest that had disguised her breasts that day.
Graham glanced at Davis. The other man wasn’t an idiot. There were no protestations, no disbelief.
“Why?” The question was simple and to the point. But the sound of his voice displayed the betrayal raging through him. A betrayal Graham was certain wasn’t feigned.
Pouty red lips formed a little sneer as derision filled Carmina’s brown eyes. “You were a means to an end,” she said in answer. “I needed a reason to be here, and we needed someone to take the fall for little Lyrica’s death. It was a simple enough plan until Graham decided to hide her away so effectively.” She stared around the foyer, frowning.
“Why me?” Davis’s question had her watching him for a long, thoughtful moment.
“Because you were the missing link to Betts.” She shrugged. “I knew how easy it would be to make it appear you had killed Lyrica and her family in retaliation for my sister’s death.”
He was shaking his head as she spoke.
“What?” Her eyes narrowed at the smirk pulling at his lips.
“That wasn’t going to happen,” he told her softly.
“And why wouldn’t it happen?” She snarled. “You’re simply pissed I fooled you.”
“That’s true enough. I had no idea Betts even had a sister,” he agreed. “But your plan wouldn’t have worked because after Betts’s death, the rumor of my death was begun so I could track him.” He nodded toward Dorne. “I was part of army intelligence before Betts ever pulled me onto her team. Every time I’ve arrived here, I was on leave from my team and our search for Dorne.”
“How interesting,” she laughed. “But it doesn’t matter either way. The proof of your intent will be found and no one will look further. There will be no one alive to question anyway.”
Graham eased Lyrica slowly behind him as Natches and Dawg drew closer to help shelter her. She was too fragile, he thought helplessly. Too damned easy to hurt.
Too fucking easy to lose, and he hadn’t even told her how imperative it was that he not lose her.
—
Lyrica couldn’t fight them and she didn’t dare risk it as she was slowly, firmly pushed behind the men. It gave her the chance she needed to slip the weapon from the back of her jeans and slide it into the back of Graham’s.
He tensed at the feel of it, and then Kevin Davis was drawing her back as well, placing his body beside Graham’s as the four men created a wall between her and the danger.
“So protective,” Carmina murmured, flicking Dawg a look that assured Lyrica the woman was seriously underestimating not just her brother and cousin but Graham as well. “Too bad you and your cousins are all but old men now. Not hardly in your prime any longer, are you, Dawg? And once we have the four of you nicely bound, you’ll have to trust our tender mercy where she’s concerned, I’m afraid.” She shot Lyrica a mocking little wink.
“I ain’t as good as I once was,” Natches murmured, the line coming from a favorite country music song. “But I’m as good once as I ever was.” Natches was fond of repeating the song’s title line. He may not have the stamina, but he sure as hell had experience.
Carmina sniffed at the reference. “Get them with the others,” she ordered Dorne, the order causing the tension in the air to rise that much further. “I’ll make certain everything’s ready up here, then we’ll take care of them and leave.”
“She orders you?” Graham said mockingly as a frown brewed on Carmina’s smooth brow.
Lyrica could see the other woman’s uncertainty, and her anger. She hadn’t expected the men to arrive. She’d only expected Lyrica.
“Betts was head of the team before.?
?? Dorne chuckled, the lazy unconcern drawing another sharp look from Carmina. “Her sister’s doing a damned fine job of taking her place.”