Safe in His Arms (9 page)

“We need to go inside. I have to talk to the guys about some news.”

“What? What happened?” The sharp question and her immediate shift had his guard up.

“Just a rumour. One I can’t let go by, though, without checking it out. It will be fine, okay, but we should go in. Ace won’t like the news.”

“News? What news?”

“Mandy, it’s complicated. I don’t want you to worry until I know for sure the rumour is more than just that. Okay?”

“Okay, but I want to talk to you. Later, though.”

He wanted to stop her and ask what was going on, but she brushed at her eyes and he simply nodded. “Sure thing, sugar. We have plenty of time to talk, right? Maybe even dance, huh?”

She smiled and nodded. “Do you dance?”

“Sure, come on, I dance,” he said, following her up the stairs from the beach and over the patio. “Here, you’d better put these on, huh?”

“I guess so, right.”

“Just watch where you throw those things, okay?”

“Mac”—she gripped his arm and stopped him—“I’m sorry—”

“Baby, don’t say it, it’ll just piss me off. You thought I cheated on you. I only wish you had thrown a shoe at me then.”

“Instead of running,” she said miserably and another tear fell.

“Don’t, sugar, don’t. Ace will get all bent out of shape if you go in there with tears in your eyes. We’ll go by the bathroom if you need to take a minute, okay? Then hit the table.”

“No, I’m fine. Let’s go inside.”

He watched her for a second before opening the door and letting her back in the noisy club. How she had even known this was an exit, he wondered, closing the door. Glancing back he saw no exit sign over it, but she’d hit it like she’d known it was going to lead her outside.

Maybe she just hit the first door, dumb-ass, to get away from you. That could be it too
, he thought with a smile.

“Hey, man, where you two been? I’ve almost eaten all the snacks,” Eagle called.

“Things good outside, Wolf?” Ace asked before he could tell Eagle to go to hell for eating Mandy’s food. Instead, he had to break the news to Ace that his honeymoon might have a completely new load of shit coming their way.

“Yeah, gotta talk, though.” He jerked a nod to Dare and waited until he’d walked over, before including him in the conversation. “Get some of the men inside, we need to talk.”

“What? What’s going on, Mac?” Lacey asked, but he waited until Dare spoke into his com before turning back to Lacey.

“Not anything like that, Lace, just some issues from the past. Things are good here.” He reached out and squeezed Lacey’s shoulder. “Things are fine, just some intel for Ace, okay?”

Lacey hesitated, but finally nodded. Her blue eyes were worried, though, and when Mac glanced at Mandy, he saw her unease, too.

“I’ll be right back. I got you some nachos, and that dip you like, okay? Eat, then we’ll talk.” He slid his hand over her bare back and leaned closer. “Talk, Mandy, we’re going to do that. No more running,” he added, only for her ears, but he felt her back stiffen under his hand. “We need to settle things, sugar.”

He waited until she nodded, then stood, joining the guys.

“Ten minutes, that’s all we need,” he told Lacey and the girls. Mandy nibbled her lip, but nodded.

Ace narrowed his eyes over at Mac, clearly not pleased. “Ten minutes is all you get, Wolf. This is Lacey’s—”

“Our wedding, Russell, our wedding. Just hurry, okay?” Lacey murmured when Ace bent to give her a kiss.

“Ten.” Ace nodded and headed out of the door, Mac a step behind. Ten was all he was giving himself. Something more was going on with Mandy. She wanted to talk. Mandy saying that made his gut clench, but he headed out, ready to face anything to get her back in his arms.

Chapter Seven

Mandy watched Mac take the other guys outside the club, using the front door leading to the street, rather than the back to the patio. Her heart still beat wildly in her chest from his kisses. Her mind felt like it was spinning, processing the new information, trying to make more sense of her past after Mac’s words. The new details shot through her, causing her to readjust her thinking, and affected her future in ways she struggled to understand. She’d thought for so long she’d not been enough. That kind of fear didn’t simply go away. She’d tried for years to face her past and appreciate that she’d survived it, but the tiny insecurities instilled in her from Sarge, then Mac, were like cracks in her self-confidence, rearing their ugly heads when she was least prepared.

“Mandy, what’s going on?” Lacey moved closer, taking a seat next to her, while Katya leaned in from where she sat.

“Yeah, what are they talking about?”

“I don’t know.”

Lacey frowned, immediately shaking her head. “Did you tell Mac about this guy?”

“No, not yet, there was no time.” She nibbled her thumbnail and turned to watch the door. “Do you think something happened? Mac said it was just a rumour.”

“I don’t know. Mac knows all about the crew outside, so if they said something, well, it wasn’t about my issues.” Lacey rolled her eyes in frustration.

“I’m sorry, Lacey. When will this all be over for you?” Mandy asked.

“Ace seems to think this year. The last of the people are up for trial and, if convicted, it will break their control over most of the U.S. If that happens, they’ll be too busy trying to regroup to come after me.”

“That’s scary stuff, Lacey.” Mandy couldn’t imagine being under the constant strain of running from a threat. Once she’d arrived in Africa, she’d never heard another sound out of her stalker.

“Yeah, but Ace knows what he’s doing.” Lacey sipped her drink and sighed. “What happened with you and Mac?”

“You look like you two had a bit of a fight, huh?” Katya asked quietly. She’d ordered some blue drink in a tall glass with red at the bottom. Mandy thought it looked like a Popsicle. She sipped the beer Mac had ordered for her, preferring it to the sweet mixed drinks.

“We talked. It was good, though,” she managed after her sip. She took a deep breath, then another. It felt good. She still worried over her stalker, but inside, the pain and anger had lessoned their stranglehold.

“Look, Mandy, trust your heart,” Lacey said. “Don’t think with anger and hurt, but listen with your heart. Believe me, all that anger is going to make you blind to the facts. The fact is, Mac is nuts over you.”

“For now, Lacey.” Mandy met both girls’ surprised looks. She’d never voiced her doubts, her fears before. There’d never been a chance. He’d swept in and out too quickly for her to do more than feel hurt.
He’s here now.
The fear remained. “For now, but for how long?”

“For how long?” Lacey stared at her in disbelief, giving Mandy a boost of confidence with just a look. “Mandy, open your eyes. He’s not here for the wedding. He’s not here for anything but you. Listen to him, that’s all I’m saying. If he’s done something you can’t forgive, heck, I’ll let Ace beat his butt. He wants to you know.”

“He does?” she asked, then grinned.

“You bet.” Lacey winked. “He thinks Mac had to have done something to, and I quote,
‘fuck up a good thing like Mandy’
end quote.”

They all busted up at Lacey’s interpretation of Ace. The dance floor suddenly erupted with laughter from a group of rowdy Germans. Their calls and shouts in German made her laugh. Even Lacey grinned over when two of the men started doing some kind of jump and chest bump thing. Ace was good for Lacey, she thought. Her friend was happy, truly happy.

Ace was different, too, so protective of Lacey and she guessed her too. He’d always been so big and silent, the most intimidating of the guys Rob had brought over after a mission. Not that he hadn’t been respectful, even quiet like, but she sensed within him something that had always made him a bit sad to her. Kind of like Mac—but unfamiliar. Mac, his pain, she knew, had tried all her childhood to ease—until he’d shut her out. Had he done that because he’d wanted her even then, at sixteen? The idea brought a sad smile to her face. So much wasted time. So many wasted nights without him. Could she simply put that in the past?

She spotted the now sober-looking guys walking back towards them through the crowds by the bar. Mac was frowning—an intense expression she knew meant trouble on his handsome face. Something had happened. Had the men after Lacey found them? Fear made her shiver, but when she glanced at Ace, he didn’t seem concerned for Lacey, only harder, more the solider than she’d ever seen him before.

As soon as he reached them, Ace drew Lacey to her feet. “We gotta go. Nothing about you, but enough to worry about that we need to check on some intel, sunshine.”

Lacey nodded, a worried look flashing over her face.

Mandy met Mac’s harsh expression and stood. “We all have to go?” she asked as soon as he reached her.

“Yep, but don’t worry. We’ll talk on the way back.”

She glanced at her friends, seeing them already heading towards the front of the club. “Can we walk back on the beach?” She reached out, touching his wrist, and watched him turn back to her. He glanced at Daren, then back down at her.

“Sure, we can walk. Dare, see you back at the hotel.”

“Good, I’ll let Ace know. Watch your back, Wolf.”

He nodded casually, but the look he turned to her wasn’t the least casual. He wanted something, and suddenly she wished it was simply the sex he’d wanted early because she had a feeling he wanted answers.

Answers she wasn’t sure she could give him.

Listen to your heart, Mandy.

Mac took Mandy’s hand. They made their way through the crowded bar and out of the back door, only half conscious of not spotting Trigger as they headed down the stairs to the beach. Mandy pulled him to a stop before they cleared the steps and bent to take her high-heeled sandals off, letting go of his hand. He clenched his fist, holding in the feel of her in his palm.

As soon as she’d stood back up, though, she took his wrist again, sliding her hand into his trustingly.

“Mandy—”

“Mac, what happened? Why did you need to talk to the guys?”

Mac exhaled and walked for a bit before he responded, “There are some criminals we took down a few years ago. They’ve gotten out.”

“What?” She tried to stop him but he pulled her closer and kept on walking. “Mac, this is serious.”

“Mandy, it is serious, but until we have confirmation we do nothing.”

“But, you, you’re in danger, aren’t you?”

He shook his head.

“Mac,” she whispered stopping him that easily.

She turned and faced him, a full moon behind her, haloing her in silver. She looked so young, so small he wanted to pull her close and protect her, but from what?

“Is that the truth?”

“Yeah, baby, it’s the truth. We’re checking everything, though. Don’t worry, now, we need to—”

“I know. We need to talk. There’s a lot to say, but not now, okay? Not now. Just give me this walk back to the room, okay? I just need to realise you’re here, to think on what you’ve told me. It’s all so fast, you know? I feel like today was the first day I really got to know you.”

He shook his head, confused. “You know me, Mandy. You’ve known me since—”

“No. I’ve not. Not really. You cut me out for years. Yeah, I get that you did that because you wanted me to grow up, or whatever, but you cut me out. Avoided me. We never hung out, had fun. Never. Not until—” She paused.
So help him if I cried he’d lose it.
“Well, not until you and I made love,” she finished on a whisper. “I think that’s why I believed what I saw that night, you know?”

He nodded. She was right. He’d watched her, stalked her like some ghost for years, but he’d not let her know it. Never told her he slept in his truck more nights than not, simply guarding the house, while she’d been safe inside. He’d never given her a chance to get close, too afraid he’d not be able to hold back. He’d never given her the chance to catch him alone. Had she wanted that? He’d seen her come on base, but he’d hung back, out of sight. Had she come on to see him, not Rob?

“Why can’t we simply enjoy Hawaii, and being in this awesome place? Just for a little longer?”

He frowned at her wording.
‘A little longer’?
He wanted to give her forever to enjoy life with him. She watched him, expectantly, her beautiful face open, touched with sadness still, but she wore a look like she simply needed him here, with her. “We can, sugar. Of course we can.”

“Tomorrow, we can go out again, maybe get some of those jet skis?”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. “Sure thing. Just promise me one thing,” he said. She stiffened against him but didn’t pull away. Something more was up here. He knew it. Instead of pushing, though, he ducked his head and brushed a kiss to her forehead. Whatever else she had to say had her tense, but he held back, allowing her this bit of time before he demanded more. “No bikini, okay?”

She blinked up at him then smiled. “It’s all I brought, sorry.”

“Hell, how did I know that?”

She laughed and tugged on his hair, right where she used to play with it, over that light spot he’d got from a scar.