Taste Me Deadly (Sensory Ops) (3 page)

Grey did not back down from Aidan, instead she made sure she stood tall, which wasn’t especially easy given her height. “I’m her sister. She needs a kidney.”

“Hold up.” Liam interrupted any response Aidan may have had and crossed quickly to Grey. “
That’s
why you’re here? To donate a kidney?”

“Know your wife real well, I see.”

Grey smirked, clearly enjoying her moment. “Guess Micah didn’t tell you everything.”

“Who’s Micah?”

Liam waved Aidan off, not that it would work. His brother was a bulldog. Hell, the whole team was and any one of them would come up with some questions.

“How did you hope to protect yourself if you’re under anesthesia?” Liam’s demand sounded harsher than he’d intended, but he couldn’t ease it any more than he could slow his racing heart. “What if I hadn’t been here waiting? Would you have called me? If you’d needed help, would you have reached out?”

“I told Micah I would.”

“Which isn’t an answer.” Liam knew an evasion when he heard one, and he knew the primary reasons for them—uncertainty and to avoid a lie. He didn’t know Grey well enough to know which reason was hers, but he didn’t care.

“That’s not an answer.” If they were at an interrogation table he’d be standing, towering over her. They weren’t, though, and he was struggling to keep his cool. She was dealing with a lot, but she wasn’t the upfront woman he’d thought her to be. “Would you have called?”

“I don’t know.”

Aidan moved to the chair Liam had spent the night in and settled. He would have plenty to say about Liam being married but he’d wait and learn more first. It’s what he did, just as pretending to ignore him was what Liam did.

“You came here without Micah’s protection. Did anyone know you were coming?”

“Ruby’s doctor. I called to set up an appointment to talk about donating.”

“Did you tell him who you are?” She’d changed her looks, which was smart, but calling ahead could too easily undo that precaution.

“Only my name.”

“You think they won’t figure out you’re sisters when they start doing tests?”

“They ought to see it by looking at her.” Aidan spoke more to himself than either of them, but it was the absolute truth. And clearly one Grey didn’t want to consider.

Marshal Carpenter hadn’t shared any details about Grey’s time in WitSec or her connection to the case she was testifying in. Liam could only find so much, but what he hadn’t missed was the impression that if Carpenter had known
why
he’d wanted to find Grey he would never have called.

“How do you know this isn’t a trap? How do you know Ruby isn’t being watched by someone other than me? How do you know her doctor isn’t on Karl Jessup’s payroll?”

Liam tossed Jessup’s name out with the slightest weight added. He’d given Aidan a crucial piece of information, but more importantly, the tiniest flicker of her eyelids evidenced that he’d hit his mark with what he knew. She’d considered the same possibilities.

“I don’t know any of that, but how do you know I haven’t given this proper consideration?” she challenged.

“I hope you have, because while I get wanting to help Ruby, you need to be smart about it.”

“I’m smart.” Grey rested her hands on his waist and looked into his eyes. The connection weakened his resolve to argue. “And you’re already here so we don’t have to worry about what I might have done.”

He really hated evasiveness, hers more than most because it did nothing to ease his suspicion. The biggest one being that she wouldn’t have reached out, or if she had it would have been too late.

“Well, since I am here and you need protection, you get to play by my rules.”

“Depends on your rules.”

“The ones that keep you and Ruby safe while allowing you to be here for her.”

Aidan’s cocky grin stretched his mouth, probably because he knew how fast and flat that demand would fall if directed at any of the women in their lives. Grey was different. Her circumstances were different. She was used to living under restrictive dictates, and unlike the U.S. Marshals, Liam offered something she wanted.

“I’m going to need a few more details,” she insisted.

“You had zero details when you left with Micah. I’m not going to take you away from your sister.”

“Yes, but your deal sounds as if I’m going to have a babysitter twenty-four seven.”

Liam nodded. “Because you will.”

“Then no deal.”

Aidan laughed. “Oh, she’s going to fit in nicely with the girls. Especially Lana.”

Liam turned on his brother, who was obviously enjoying seeing someone else fight a willful woman. “You’re not telling anyone else about her. Even Lana.”

“Lana’s going to know I know something. Woman’s a damn savant like that,” he muttered. “And you’re going to have to tell the rest of the team at some point.”

“Yes,
I
will tell them.”

Aidan leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees so his hands dangled. It was a stance they both took often and they were rarely as relaxed as they looked. “Let’s see if I’ve pieced this together correctly and then maybe you’ll let me help.”

Grey shook her head. Liam didn’t bother.

“And you accuse Lana of being pushy.” Any attempt to stop Aidan from hypothesizing would be wasted so he gave it no energy.

Expectedly, Aidan ignored him. “You found yourself in some kind of danger that drove you into hiding. Now, your sister is hurt so you’ve left your safety net—I’m guessing his name is Micah—and you need my brother, your husband, to watch out for you while you have and recover from a surgery.”

“If I qualify as a donor. And I can protect myself.”

Aidan shrugged off her argument and indulged his preference for facts and things he could control. “What I haven’t figured out is who Micah is. Can’t be a brother or you’d have left him behind with Ruby. Judging by the kiss I walked in on, and hoping for the best in a sister-in-law, I don’t think boyfriend.”

“Is he always so—”

“Annoying?” Liam finished for Grey as he stepped up to stand directly in front of her. Locking his gaze with hers he tried to ignore Aidan.

“Yes,” she said with a sigh.

“We Feds like our puzzles. Aidan’s missing a lot of pieces.”
So am I.

“The biggest piece is when you two got hitched. Before, during or after you went into hiding. It’s obvious you’re into each other, so for you to stay apart I’m guessing after the danger and during the hiding.”

Liam ran an index finger over her stomach, wishing they were alone and naked but settling for what he could get. “You may as well tell him. Or let me.”

“The fewer who know the better.”

“Do you trust me with what I know? Do you trust me to watch out for you and Ruby?”

An instant and resounding yes would have been nice, but she took her time with the answer. Her hesitation and consideration lent credence to whatever she’d say. “I do.”

The whispered words whipped him back to Vegas and had him smiling as broadly as he had that night. He wouldn’t let her down. In fact, he’d do everything possible to win a second chance after the threat to her life was gone. “Then trust me when I tell you I’ll only bring in people I trust with my own life.”

“And you trust Aidan.”

Liam nodded. “Plus a few others.”

Eleven others to be exact, and though they didn’t all see each other daily they would all circle around Grey and Ruby with fists and weapons at the ready. When they heard she was his wife they’d grow especially protective.

“Fine.” Her shoulders dropped. “Tell them.”

Chapter Three

Grey picked at the Band-Aid that pulled the fine hairs on her arm. The cotton ball beneath the tan strip was intended to apply pressure and stop the bleeding faster. It applied pressure. Everything since reading the hit-and-run article about Ruby applied pressure.

Her sister was in a coma and could die.

Pressure.

The U.S. Marshal who’d kept her safe suspected a trap.

Pressure.

Her FBI husband had found her.

Pressure.

She needed protection but had left WitSec.

Pressure.

Liam was asking her to trust him and his friends.

Pressure.

The vein that had already given body-weakening quantities of blood throbbed. A bruise spread around the Band-Aid and darkened the skin of her inner elbow. Her entire arm ached, but, perversely, she preferred it to feeling nothing. With only a brief respite two years ago, she’d lived a numb existence for too long and while she wasn’t thankful for Ruby’s accident, she was grateful for the changes it forced in her.

Opening the door of the exam room with a stack of pamphlets and forms in hand, Grey found Liam leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Not all the changes filled her with thanks.

“Liam.”

He fell silently into step beside her as they headed for Ruby’s room. His arm brushed hers, or rather, the sleeve of his jacket did. No skin touched and no intimacy was intended, but she felt it.

He’d asked for her trust, which had been easier to give than she’d expected. Then he’d said he wanted to bring his team, his friends, in. That was when things got dicey.

She could count on one hand the number of people she’d trusted in the last twenty-nine years. She’d even have fingers left over. Liam could practically fill a notepad with his list and he wanted her to blindly trust them.

It was more than she’d expected or thought herself ready for.

“How’d it go?” Liam asked as they entered the stairwell, hushing the hospital sounds behind them.

“Fine. Why aren’t we using the elevator?” They’d used the stairs earlier too.

“Always have an escape plan, Grey. Elevators are traps.”

It made sense, especially when she recalled how she’d felt sharing the elevator with the man earlier. Cornered. Threatened.

“Did the doctor say when they’d have test results?”

“Tomorrow hopefully. They’re putting a rush on them given Ruby’s condition.” Grey lifted the papers she’d been given. Wincing when the move put pressure on the bruise, she ripped off the Band-Aid. “While I wait I have homework and an appointment for a psych evaluation.”

“Is that such a great idea?”

“A psych eval?” She dropped the bandage and cotton ball in the trash can as they turned for the next level. “I can’t exactly avoid it.”

“I can’t imagine they’ll go easy with the questions.”

“Your concern is touching, Liam, but I don’t have a family history of mental breakdowns to worry about.” And I’m not a stranger to a therapist’s couch.

His eyes crinkled a tad, suggesting the tiniest of smiles might grace his mouth. The man had a beautiful smile. “You know that’s not what I mean. I’m not fishing for secrets.”

She shrugged, but said nothing.

“I worry that the questions, how you answer them, will bring danger closer.”

“You’re seeing conspiracies where there are none. Jessup’s a murderous ass, but he’s not powerful enough to have the hospital staff in his pocket.”

Grey brushed her fingers over Liam’s, curling the tips enough to create a hook of sorts. She stopped, maintaining her touch. He turned and faced her with a look in his eyes she couldn’t quite decipher. Then he quirked a brow in a way that deepened the vertical line in his forehead. He was intense, but the line made him approachable, because it showed her his concern when his words didn’t.

“Besides, I’ve had five years to perfect the art of a lie.”

“So I shouldn’t believe anything you say?”

“The only lie I ever told you was my name.” Nerves set in and had her fidgeting with Liam’s fingers.

“As I recall, you never told me anything more.” He squeezed her fingers gently. “Now, seeing you as a devoted sister willing to risk herself and remembering the vivacious mystery woman from Vegas, I find myself growing curious.”

“About?”

“Which woman is the real one?”

“Is a stairwell really the place for marital confessions?”

Without releasing her hand, he set his free hand on her waist and backed her toward the banister. “It’s a safer alternative to what I’ve wanted to do with you since you walked into Ruby’s room.”

Her heart pumped faster. The taste of unquenched passion from earlier lingered between them. Grey swallowed. “Your alternative to the alternative is pretty tempting.”

“Greycen Burgess,
you
are the temptation.”

Greycen Burgess.
With two words that sounded distinctly intimate Liam doused her in ice. Moving up a step, she eased away. “Grey Craig,” she corrected.

The line in Liam’s forehead creased again. His eyes twitched at the corner. “We’re married. Using my name could add a layer of protection.”

“Not really. It just connects me more closely to you, which would tell Jessup’s people exactly where to look.” Regret set in and immediately had her wanting to retract her argument. That had sounded like an assumption she’d be staying with him. Talk about dangerous. “We should get back to Ruby.”