Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5) (31 page)

And then the light went out and the room was plunged into darkness once more.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

JACK RUSHED DOWN THE hallway on silent feet, flashlight sweeping the territory in front of him, Sig in his hand and ready to fire. He knew the room Gina had been in. He’d studied the schematic of the house on the way over, as they all had, and he’d counted the windows. It was the library and he knew exactly how many steps it would take to get there. She’d stepped away from the window before the lights went out, but even if she’d been moved, they wouldn’t have gotten far.

He and Brandy reached the door. They looked at each other, and then Brandy kicked the door in. It swung open on silent hinges and crashed into something. But Jack’s attention was on the man standing in the center of the room. He had a gun to Gina’s head. Gina was holding Eli, who’d started to scream.

Metaxas ducked his head behind Gina’s, but he didn’t remove the gun from her temple. Fucking coward.

Gina kept cutting her eyes to the left, to the left, and Jack got that someone was there. Brandy got it too. They had to time this just right or Gina was dead. In that moment, watching her standing there with a gun to her head and tears falling down her cheeks, he knew that losing her would destroy him.

He couldn’t go through it again. Losing Hayley had nearly killed him, but this time he’d be done for. He’d been lucky enough to be loved by two incredible women in his life. And he loved them both with all the passion he had in him. Hayley was gone, but Gina was here. And he wasn’t letting her go.

“I’ll kill her if you don’t drop the guns.”

“If you kill her,” Jack said, his voice deadly calm, “I’m killing you. No second chances, Metaxas. Keeping her alive is your only hope.”

“If I can’t have her, you aren’t getting her either,” Stavros said. And then he laughed, the sound so unbalanced that it sent a chill down Jack’s spine.
 

Gina was trembling, but her mouth was set in a determined line. Eli was crying louder now, and she kept him pressed to her, his head on her shoulder. But she wouldn’t be able to do it for much longer. He would start struggling, and if she moved, Metaxas’s finger might slip on the trigger.
 

Jack had to take the shot. It was risky, because Metaxas was hiding behind Gina, but he had to peek around her head from time to time to see them. And that’s when Jack had to fire, in that split second that Metaxas was visible. If this were a distance shot, he’d have to fire before Metaxas moved. But it wasn’t, and the bullet would travel faster than the man could duck.

“We can make a deal, Stavros,” Jack said. “Take it easy and listen to what I have to say.”

The man snorted. “I’m not dealing with you. I have friends here, powerful friends, and you’re going to regret this—”

Stavros moved, his head barely peeking around Gina’s—

And Jack took the shot. Over Gina’s shoulder, so close to her neck she would have powder burns, so close that if she moved at all, the bullet would hit her too.

But she didn’t, and Metaxas dropped. At the same time, Brandy pivoted into the room and fired at the man who’d been hiding. He fell with a thump and Jack lowered the light so Gina wouldn’t be blinded by it as he rushed into the room to take her and Eli into his arms.

She was cold and shivering, and Eli was sobbing. But he couldn’t let them go. He buried his head against her neck.

“I’m sorry, babe, so sorry I had to do that.”

“I… I…” She sucked in a breath and he steered her over to the couch and sat her down on it. She shifted Eli and he lay down on the cushions and threw a fit.

Richie, Big Mac, and Iceman came into the room, guns drawn.

“Hostages rescued. Target neutralized,” Matt said into his mic.
 

Mendez would get that report in short order. The lights flickered and popped back on, and Jack moved to shield Gina from seeing Stavros on the floor, his head lying in a pool of blood.
 

Gina looked up, her eyes glassy. “You came for me. I knew you would.”

Jack sank down on one knee and slid his hand against her cheek, cupping her beautiful face. Her skin was soft, and his was callused. But she didn’t flinch. “I’ll always come for you, babe. Always.”

“I know you will.”

He’d almost lost her. “But do you know why?”

Her gaze dropped from his. Her body was still trembling, but he knew she was trying hard to regulate it. “No.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Maybe he shouldn’t say this now, with the guys here and two dead men on the floor, but he couldn’t hold it back any longer. He’d almost lost her, and that changed a man’s perspective. “Because I love you, Gina. I love
you
. Even if you lose all your money and grow a wart on your nose, I love you. And I love Eli, too. You got that?”

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Do you really mean it?”

It killed him that she could even ask, but he knew why she did. She’d given him every chance and he’d told her he didn’t know how he felt. Well, that was bullshit. He knew exactly how he felt.

“Yeah, I mean it. In fact, I’m refusing to marry you until you make me sign a prenup. I get nothing if I don’t love you forever.”

“You want to marry me? I thought you were still mad at me.” And then she tilted her head to look at him sideways, her forehead scrunching up. “Jack, did you get hit on the head?”

Someone snorted, and he turned to glare at them. He was putting his heart on the line here, and they were all watching. Nosy bastards.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I did,” he said, fingering the knot on his head. “But that’s not the reason I want to marry you. I want to marry you because you and Eli belong with me. Because I love you both and I’m not letting you go ever again. Yeah, I was pissed, but I’m over it. The future is the important thing here, not the past. I wasn’t ready, but now I am. For you. For Eli. For us.”

Eli burrowed into her side, sniffling as his fit petered out, and she put her arm around him, running it up and down his little back. She was perfect. Eli was perfect. He’d gotten so lucky when he’d rescued her the first time. So damn lucky.

A single tear spilled down Gina’s cheek as she put her free hand on his wrist where he was still cupping her face. She leaned forward and pressed her mouth lightly to his. “I love you too, Jack. And you can have everything you want, but I refuse to make you sign an agreement. We’ll just have to trust each other, okay?”

“Gina, I don’t want anyone ever saying—”

She put a finger over his lips. “Shh. I trust you, Jack. Always.”

“And I trust you,” he said when she finally let him speak.

“Then kiss me to seal the deal.”

* * *

When the guys took Gina outside, she saw they had Cassie with a group of men they’d disarmed and made kneel with their hands over their heads. Cassie didn’t look up as they passed by, but Gina trembled with fury. She’d trusted Cassie, liked her, but Cassie was a Metaxas and she’d lied, threatened Gina, and stole her baby.

Gina’s blood pulsed hotly through her veins. She wanted to punch something, preferably Cassie. She ground to a halt and stood there breathing hard.
 

“Babe?”

She looked up at Jack. He was watching her carefully, his eyes vivid blue against the greasepaint on his face.

“I can’t let her get away with this.”

“She won’t.”

Eli held on to Gina’s neck tightly.
 

“Not good enough.” She turned and marched over to where Cassie knelt. “Eli is
not
a Metaxas. You wasted your time because he belongs to that man right there.” She nodded toward Jack. “Three years ago, he saved my life… and Eli is the result. You were just too stupid to see it. Remember that when you’re in prison—you did it for
nothing.
”

Cassie looked up, fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Gina almost took a step back, the transformation was so shocking. “He made me do it, Gina. I had to or he would have hurt me. Hurt my family. Please, please don’t do this to me. I’m sorry. I would have never hurt Eli. I love him.”

Gina lashed out and slapped the other woman hard across the face, causing Cassie’s head to snap back and her eyes to blaze with fresh hatred. “How dare you? You can’t manipulate me anymore, so don’t even try. I trusted you, but never again. You can rot in prison for all I care.”

She turned and went back to Jack, who was frowning. Cassie started screaming, calling Gina every name she could think of, but Gina didn’t turn around again. She was done feeling sorry for Cassie.

Jack put his hand on her back, his touch comforting and firm. She needed that right now. He didn’t say anything, just ushered her away from the scene. Once again, he was there for her, giving her precisely what she needed.

When the door had burst open, she hadn’t been able to see who it was because of the bright light shining on her, but she’d known in her gut that it was Jack.

And she’d been right. He’d dropped Stavros with deadly accuracy, though for as long as she lived she was never going to forget the hot whoosh of that bullet as it passed by her cheek. He’d shot Stavros, and he’d freed her and Eli. She loved him so much.
 

“There’s going to be paperwork and reports tonight,” he said when they stopped by the van that had arrived. “I don’t know how long it will take.”

“I want to go with you, Jack.”

“You can’t, babe. But you can go stay with Evie, if that’s okay. After that, I’ll take you back to the hotel.”

She shook her head. “I’ll go to Evie’s, but then I want to go home with you. Your home, Jack.”

“You know it’s not much to look at.”

“Home is where you are. Don’t you get that by now?”

His smile made her heart break. “Yeah, I get it.”

She hefted Eli up. He was getting heavier the longer she held him.

“Let me take him.” Jack took their son, and Eli put his head on his father’s shoulder as if being held by a grease-painted, dark-clothed man bristling with weaponry and high-tech military equipment was a normal, everyday occurrence.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Gina told him. “Before I ran away.”

“It’s already forgotten, Gina. I was a dick to you, and you were hurt.” He blew out a breath. “But I’ll make it clear here and now that there is no choice but you. If I have to give something up, it’s not going to be you.”

She stepped in and slid her arm around him. “I don’t want you to give anything up. I want you to be happy.”

“So long as I have you, that’s enough.”

They were soon separated. Mendez arrived and sent a HOT support member to take Gina and Eli to Matt and Evie’s place. Evie hugged her, and they took Eli to the guest bed and placed him there. Then, because Gina was too keyed up to sleep, they went back into the kitchen and shared some wine and girl talk. Gina liked the other woman so much. She’d never felt comfortable sharing things with other women, but she found herself telling Evie things that surprised her.

Hours later, when Gina had fallen asleep beside Eli, Jack came and got her. He took her and a sleeping Eli back to his apartment, where he carried Eli inside and laid him on the couch. Gina tucked a blanket around him and sank onto the floor to push his golden curls off his face. When she looked up at Jack, he was watching them both with such an intense expression on his face that her heart melted.

“I want you very much right now,” he said, “but if you want to take him to bed with us, we will.”

She stood and put her hand on his cheek. “I never want to let him out of my sight again, quite honestly. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost him.”

Jack kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’s safe. You’re both safe. No one is coming for you ever again.”

“I know.” She looked down at Eli. He’d flopped onto his back and was completely out. Her heart filled with love. And with the certainty that Jack was right. They were safe here with him, and no one would harm them. She put her hand into Jack’s and he led her into his room.

He undressed her carefully, kissing his way over her body, his fingers following his mouth and making her ache and tremble and want. By the time he was inside her, his body rocking into hers slowly and deliciously, she was a mess of emotion and desire.

“Jack,” she gasped as he moved. “I love you so much, so much…”

“Yes,” he said, his mouth on her throat, “need you… love you… only you…”

She sobbed when she came, and he buried his mouth against her neck, groaning her name as he followed her over the edge.

She was almost shy when he levered off her and pulled her against him. They’d done this before, and yet it was so new and raw now, and she kept waiting for it to hurt somehow.

“I’m leaving HOT,” he said quietly after a few moments, and she pushed herself up to stare down at him, not quite certain she’d heard him right.

“What? Why?”

“It won’t happen immediately. I’m still enlisted, and I have a few months to go yet. But I’m not re-upping. I got a better offer.”

She blinked. “I… okay. Where?”

He frowned. “Don’t tell me you forgot. A million dollars to guard a delicious pop star? How could a guy say no, especially when the perks are so good?”