Bound to Danger: A Deadly Ops Novel (24 page)

She looked at him as if he were crazy, but when she moved he thought she was obeying. Instead she grabbed Mihails’s fallen gun. At a whisper of sound, she raised it at the same time Cade rolled back over, his own weapon drawn.

Immediately he lowered it when he saw his team.

“Mihails is dead. The other tango came from the engine room. Haven’t secured it yet,” he told Ortiz as he attempted to sit up. His shoulder ached in agony as he moved, but he wasn’t going to just lie there helpless.

Ortiz nodded as he continued past him, leaving red footprints tracked from Mihails’s blood.

Jack knelt next to Cade.

“He needs medical help now,” Maria snapped, her hoarse voice tinged with fear.

“I’m fine,” he muttered as he leaned against the wall. It hurt but he’d been injured worse than this. And he didn’t want her there. He wanted her away from all the death and blood.

“We’re heading back to the marina. He’ll have help in less than five minutes,” Jack said as he withdrew one of his knives.
That meant Freeman was driving the vessel. Good.

With practiced efficiency, Jack cut away the neoprene suit at the shoulder without even grazing Cade’s skin.

Maria helped peel the sleeve off his arm. Once it was
free, she stripped off her shirt and wrapped it around his shoulder and under his arm to slow the bleeding. Jack pulled it tight and knotted it.

A ridiculous possessiveness built inside Cade at the sight of her wearing nothing but a bra and pants. It didn’t matter that the sports bra covered more than most bathing suit tops.

She cupped his face with her palm. That was when he saw the tears in her eyes. “Thank you for coming for me,” she rasped out.

He covered her hand with his. “Maria . . .” His gaze landed on her bruised neck. “Did they hurt you? Do you . . . need medical attention?” He didn’t want to ask the other question. She hadn’t been alone with the terrorists that long on the yacht, but . . .

“Ozols choked me in the car. I think they were going to do worse, but you showed up. . . .” Her voice cracked on the last word as she trailed off.

Not caring about his injury, he lifted his good arm and tried to pull her close.

“Your arm!” she admonished, but buried her face against his neck anyway.

Grunting at the discomfort, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and looked at Jack, who was busy talking to Burkhart over their radio frequency. Cade had been half listening to the conversation and knew by now that the engine room was clear, all the terrorists neutralized and accounted for. The only thing they needed to do now was clear the explosives and make sure there weren’t any more rigged on the boat.

“Burkhart and the medics are coming down now,” Jack said as he gently pulled Maria back.

Cade didn’t want to let her go but knew he needed to.
Until they’d secured this boat, he wanted her away from it. Hell, he wanted her completely away from the marina. “You’re going to go with some agents. They’ll keep you safe until I can get back to you,” Cade murmured, weakness overtaking him with each second that passed. Maybe he’d lost more blood than he thought. Or maybe he was just dizzy with relief that Maria was okay.

She nodded and batted away some errant tears. “What about you?”

“He’s going to be taken to the nearest hospital,” Jack said. “Come on, let’s get you up.” He stood and looped his arm under Cade’s shoulders.

Cade was taller, so he leaned into Jack. The pain and weakness hit him all at once like a full-on body blow.
No way.
He’d been shot worse than this. He had to stay awake. His body didn’t listen to his brain. He stumbled, his knees giving out as blackness engulfed him.

Two days later

H
olding two to-go coffee cups, Maria opened the hospital door to Cade’s room and pushed it open with her hip. As she entered the room she jerked to a halt at the sight of Cade standing next to his hospital bed shirtless, his jeans unbuttoned and unzipped.

And he was definitely commando, the proof of that clear. Even with, or maybe because of his bandage, he looked even sexier.

“Like what you see?” he asked wickedly, a grin teasing his lips as she met his gaze.

She ignored the heat spreading across her cheeks. “You
know
I do. Did the doctor discharge you?” He was supposed to have come by an hour ago, but when no one had shown up, she’d gone to get them coffee.

“Yeah.” He picked up his collared shirt off the bed. Wincing, he slipped it over his head. The bandage around his shoulder pulled with the movement.

She cringed watching him and wanted to offer to help but knew he wouldn’t take it. She’d already tried more than once the past couple of days and she’d quickly learned that he was crabby when he was injured, not wanting anyone to do anything for him. Closing the
distance between them, she asked, “Are you sure you should be leaving?”

“There’s nothing else they can do for me. I was lucky.”

He’d been more than lucky. It was an absolute miracle. The bullet had gone right through his shoulder, missing anything major, and while she didn’t understand most of the medical-speak from the doctors, the important thing was that he wouldn’t lose any mobility. Which meant his injury wouldn’t affect his career. For that, she was grateful. She might hate that his job put him in danger, but he clearly loved it and was good at it. If that had been taken away from him, it would have killed her.

“Thanks for the coffee.” He plucked one of the cups from her hand and brushed his lips over hers. The kiss might have been nearly chaste, but she felt it all the way to her toes. She wanted to lean into him, to discard her cup and wrap her arms around him. Well, she wanted more than that. She craved to feel his naked body against hers again. With his injury, however, she wasn’t pushing anything. Of course he’d tried a couple of times, but until the doctor discharged him she hadn’t been willing to risk injuring him.

“Hold that thought for another hour,” he murmured, his voice pulling her gaze up to meet his.

The lust she felt was mirrored in his electric green eyes. Mesmerized by that intense stare, she found it impossible to look away.

At the sound of a throat clearing, she jerked around, nearly sloshing her coffee.

Wesley Burkhart stood in the doorway in a dark suit, a crisp white shirt, and a dark tie. His expression was unreadable, which wasn’t a surprise. From the limited
time she’d spent with the man, he was like a closed book. Stepping inside, he shut the door behind him. “How’re you feeling?”

Cade just grunted in response, which apparently his boss took as a good thing because he half smiled.

“What’s up?” Cade asked.

“I know you’re taking some time off, but I wanted to give you a couple updates in person before I head out of town.”

Maria blinked in surprise. She hadn’t known Cade was taking time off. She’d been too nervous to broach the subject of them or the future, especially since he’d been shot. And he’d been a bit of a bear the past couple of days. She was positive the nurses would be glad to have him out of the hospital.

Cade wrapped his good arm around her, pulling her tight to his side. She leaned into his embrace, holding on to his waist as she waited for Burkhart to speak. She loved that Cade wasn’t afraid to show that he cared for her. No matter what happened between them, his actions in front of his boss and other people meant so much to her.

“Paul Hill has been indicted on over three hundred separate charges. He and his partners turned on one another pretty damn quickly, each wanting to cut a deal. He’ll never see the light of day again and neither will they. The state’s attorney will likely ask for the needle for him. Not sure yet about his partners. Ozols still isn’t being cooperative, but he and his crew are going away forever too. He’s definitely getting the death penalty and I don’t even think he’ll be fighting it. He’s refused all legal counsel. So have his men.”

“What about the rest of their plans?” she asked. Cade
had told her the NSA had found explosives and a detailed map of the Port of Miami along with blueprints laying out the schematics of two hotels downtown. Apparently the hotels had also been used by Paul Hill’s disgusting network. Now the owners of those hotels were also under investigation.

“All the explosives have been accounted for and each target thoroughly swept. They hadn’t got that far in their plan yet. Westwood was horrific, but it could have been a lot worse for Miami. Ozols actually seemed . . . relieved after we told him what was happening to Hill and his partners.”

Most people would never know how much worse the devastation could have been. The NSA and FBI had decided to keep what they could out of the media. Maria was still coming to terms with everything and knew she’d never get over the loss of her mom. But she was glad the nightmare was over.

“Did we ever find out how Maria was tracked?”

A hard smile crossed Burkhart’s face, the glint in his eyes lethal. “A very talented hacker exploited a weakness on Jack’s phone, but he won’t be a problem ever again.”

Maria felt a chill go down her spine at that blunt statement. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines. “Thank you for everything,” she said to Burkhart. She was just one person and she knew that she could easily have been considered collateral damage in the NSA’s effort to bring down the terrorists. While she knew Cade didn’t consider her that at all, she also understood that if his boss had wanted, he could have made any decision in regard to the terrorists and excluded Cade in everything. But he hadn’t.

He simply nodded and did that same grunting thing Cade had, before focusing on Cade. “Can I talk to you a sec?”

It was slight, but she felt Cade tense next to her. Even though she didn’t want to leave the warmth of his embrace, she stepped aside. “I’ll give you guys some privacy.” Without waiting for his response, she hurried from the room.

Once outside she leaned against the wall and texted Leah, her dad, then Nash. Her father wanted to have dinner at his house tonight with her, Cade, and other family members. Nash was included and she’d already invited Leah but wanted to make sure her friend was still coming. In between staying at the hospital the past couple of days, Maria had spent as much time with her dad as possible. He was a wreck, and would likely never get over the loss of his wife. There was just no cure for that kind of grief. Time would dull the edge of pain, something Maria kept trying to remind herself. It didn’t help much, because that ache still sat heavy in her chest. She missed her mom so damn much. Being around Cade certainly helped, but she wondered if soon she’d have a new ache when he moved on to his next mission. Things had been so intense between them, but he’d left once before and she still wasn’t sure why. Oh, she knew what he’d told her before, but deep down, she felt he was holding something back from her. With everything going on, there hadn’t been much time to question him. Nothing was stopping her now. Unfortunately she wasn’t sure if she wanted his answer.

When the door to his room opened, she straightened and pushed away from the wall. Burkhart held it open for her with a half smile. “He’s all yours.”

She wished that were true. Inside she found Cade lifting his duffel bag from the bench by the window. Immediately she went to him and grabbed it. “I don’t care how grouchy you get, I’m taking this.”

“Grouchy?” His eyes widened, but he let her take it.

“Seriously? You’ve been a total terror from the moment you woke up at the hospital.” She couldn’t fight the smile tugging at her lips as she said it. Once she’d been positive he was going to be fine, it had been a little humorous to see him acting so out of character.

His ears actually turned red as he rubbed a hand over his skull trim. “I haven’t been that bad,” he muttered.

“Hmm.”

“I just don’t like being sick or laid up.” He slung an arm around her shoulder.

“Clearly,” she said as they headed for the door. “Is everything okay with your boss?”

“Yeah, he just wanted to go over some work stuff.” There was a hesitant note in his voice she couldn’t read.

“Oh.” She was such a wimp. She had half a dozen important questions she wanted to ask and couldn’t force the words out.

He paused at the door and leaned against it. Plucking the bag from her hand, he dropped it on the floor and tugged her close, his fingers flexing around her hips. “What is it?”

She placed her hands over his chest, savoring the feel of his raw strength. “Nothing, I . . .” She didn’t want to do this here. He was recovering from a gunshot wound. Not the best time to ask about their future. She knew exactly what she wanted from him but wasn’t sure he was ready for anything serious. Not with his type of job. “Let’s get you out of here.”

He looked at her for a long moment, as if searching for something. “Shit, Maria. I wanted to wait until we were out of the hospital to tell you, but I love you. You don’t have to say the words; I just need you to know how I feel. I had strong fucking feelings for you eight years ago, but now it’s different. More.”

Pretty much everything he said funneled out after “I love you.” “You love me? Why didn’t you tell me two days ago? I love you too!” She hated that her words came out all angry sounding.

He shook his head. “Wait. There’s something I need to tell you.” Fear seeped into his gaze then, so potent she nearly stepped back from the force of it. His fingers flexed tighter on her hips, as if he read her mind. “It’s about when Riel died.”

A heavy weight settled in the pit of her stomach. “Okay.”

“When we were in Afghanistan, we were on a routine mission—I can’t tell you where or for what—using intel from one of my contacts. This guy was part of the local police and my friend. I
thought
he was. Everyone told me you can’t trust
anyone
but your own team over there. . . .” He released one of her hips and rubbed a hand over his face.

Her heart twisted at his pained expression when he looked at her again. “We walked right into an ambush and got pinned down by insurgents. It was a fucking nightmare. We were . . . in a remote location and I called in air support, but they didn’t make it in time. By the time they got there, I was the only one alive. I should have died, not Riel or my men. I trusted the wrong person and got all my friends killed.” He dropped his hands and if the door hadn’t been behind him she was pretty
sure he would have backed up from her. Guilt poured off him in waves.

She felt terrible for him, but fury detonated inside her. “That’s why you cut contact with me, isn’t it? Not that bullshit you told me before?”

His expression tight, he nodded. “I understand if you . . . don’t want to see me again.”

“You’re such an asshole!” He flinched and she realized he thought she meant because of what he’d told her. “Not because of what happened. Riel told me more than once how hard it was to trust people over there. Did you intentionally or willingly go into an ambush?”

“Of course not,” he muttered.

“Were you written up or demoted for the operation?” Meaning, had his superiors deemed him in the wrong?

“No.” His jaw clenched tight as he watched her, clearly understanding where she was going.

“You’re human, Cade.
Human.
It tears me up that my brother died, but I can’t believe you’ve been carrying that guilt around for so long when there’s nothing to feel guilty about. I just can’t believe you cut contact with me for eight freaking years.” Her heart twisted at all the time they’d lost. “If you weren’t injured I’d punch you.”

“I deserve it.” From his tone she realized he meant because of what he perceived as his wrongdoing. Before she could respond, he continued. “It’s my fault, Maria.” His voice was raspy, unsteady. “I still have nightmares about . . .”

The pain in his voice took all the steam out of her anger. “Oh, Cade.” She linked her fingers behind his neck, plastering her body to his, mindful of his injury.

He tentatively slid his arms around her waist, but the fact that he was touching her was good. “You trusted
someone you shouldn’t have. There’s no rule book for war and I can’t even imagine how hard it is to make the types of decisions you and Riel had to on a daily basis, knowing that you held lives in your hands. You became a Marine because you care about your country, and you would never have deliberately put your men in danger; I know that. Now you’re working for the NSA, dedicating even more of yourself. Clearly they think the same thing about you. They wouldn’t have hired you otherwise. You’re one of the bravest men I know, Cade.”

The guilt etched on his face tore at her insides, but she knew that if she didn’t get this out now, she never would. “You hurt me badly when you just cut me out of your life like that. You were one of my best friends and we’d just admitted our feelings to each other. Then Riel died and . . . nothing.” It sliced her up if she thought about what a dark place she’d been in eight years ago.

He gently cupped her face, rubbing his thumb over her cheek once. “I regret it. More than you know. I . . . I should have just told you, but I’d fallen for you. Hard. The thought of losing you after I lost so many people in my life. I didn’t think I’d survive it.” The truth was in every line of his face.

Her throat tightened as she imagined how hard that had been for him, to literally lose all his friends, then to be worried about losing her too. She could still see fear in his expression as he dropped his hand back to her waist. As if he expected her to reject him now.

She tightened her grip on him. “I’m not angry at you and I’m never going to hold you responsible for something that you couldn’t have prevented. Trusting the wrong person is not a crime. Look at me; I thought Andre Moran was a trusted family friend. So if you think
this confession is going to push me away, you’re wrong. I love you, Cade. Nothing will change that.”