With Every Breath (3 page)

Just a few more days, she promised herself. A few more days to pull the rest of her plan together, to gather everything she needed and give her carefully orchestrated lie to Dane and then she'd be on her way.

Sorrow gripped her and she briefly closed her eyes before pulling into traffic. It would be the last time she saw any of them, which is why she'd approach Dane after the “state of the union” meeting given the first of every month by either Caleb Devereaux or his brother, Beau, in the offices of DSS.

It would give her one last opportunity to see the people who'd grown so important to her. Her family. People she would and did go to the wall for each and every day. People who did the same for her. Her only regret was that she wouldn't see the Devereaux wives and Zack's wife, Gracie, before she left.

She inwardly flinched because she knew she'd hurt Gracie's feelings more than once by avoiding her every time Gracie had been around Eliza. Eliza had promptly fled when Gracie appeared, and it had been obvious to the other woman, and the last thing in the world Eliza ever wanted to do was hurt Gracie.

Gracie was the epitome of sweet, and she'd already been hurt so much in her young life. She was shy and still struggling with her confidence. Eliza was so very happy that Gracie and Zack had found their way back to one another after over a decade of misery for both of them, but especially Gracie. Eliza dearly loved all the wives. Ramie, Ari and Gracie. And Tori Devereaux, Caleb's, Beau's and Quinn's baby sister, who like the other women had suffered greatly at the hands of a madman. She had been brutalized by a serial killer and was still recovering from the horrific attack. Perhaps she'd never fully recover but then Eliza could hardly blame her.

If it hadn't been for Caleb hunting down Ramie, a gifted young psychic, and giving her no choice but to aid in his search for his sister, they wouldn't have rescued Tori in time and she would have died.

All the women were gifted with extraordinary powers. Tori had dreams of future events, though of all the women, her gift was not as fully developed or focused as the others. Her gift was more of a curse, giving her glimpses, but without enough knowledge revealed, she was helpless to prevent the events or even warn anyone they were in danger, and it was a source of great torment to her. Ramie could track the same kind of monster Eliza now found herself about to track. But Eliza would never pit Ramie against a man who was likely every bit as psychically gifted as Ramie was herself. Ari had enormous power, a lot that hadn't even been tapped into yet. She grew more powerful all the time and as she learned to control it, she would be an unstoppable force. And Gracie . . . Eliza winced again, because it wasn't the other two she avoided like the plague. Only Gracie because Gracie could read minds and Eliza couldn't chance being in close proximity to her because if she read Eliza's mind, it would be all over and Eliza wouldn't allow that to happen.

Eliza aimlessly drove in the direction of her apartment, stopping at a drive-thru to get lunch though her heart wasn't into eating, but she had to keep her strength up. She couldn't be weak when she faced off against Thomas. Weak physically or emotionally.

Her lunch laying unopened in the bag in the passenger seat, she pulled into her parking spot and when she saw the vehicle next to her and the man standing arrogantly in front of the expensive car, leaning against the hood, her mood went from bad to worse.

What the hell was Wade Sterling doing here?

Her lunch forgotten, she climbed out of her car and slammed the door with unnecessary force, a scowl already forming on her face. To her further annoyance, Wade only smirked, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he took in her reaction to his presence.

Deciding that acknowledging him would be far worse than asking him what he was doing here, she clutched her keys and stalked around to the front of her vehicle and started to walk by him without a word. Her “welcoming” expression could do the talking for her.

To her utter shock, as she was nearly past him, a hand suddenly gripped her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. She narrowed her eyes, pasting her most ferocious snarl on her lips, and rounded furiously on him.

“What the fuck is your problem, Sterling? Take your hand off me.
Now
.”

“Is that any way to express gratitude to the man who saved your life?” he drawled.

She wanted to scream. No one and she meant
no one
knew how to push her buttons like this man did. But then his mere
presence
was a huge button. Anytime he opened his mouth, instant push of her many buttons. And the arrogant pull of his lips, all that alpha superiority and smugness? Every single button she had was pushed simultaneously.

She actually
growled
at him. Or rather it was a combination of a vicious sounding snarl and a throaty growl of frustration. She was tempted to do something incredibly childish and decidedly un-Eliza like, such as stomp her foot, pull her hair out by the roots or throw the mother of all hissy fits. God, she didn't have time for this bullshit today! They had successfully—and mutually—avoided each other ever since the incident he'd just referred to, one that Eliza would prefer to just forget all together. Saved her life, her ass! If he hadn't been there, and if she hadn't been so goddamn busy trying to make sure
his
dumb civilian ass didn't get shot then she would have never nearly taken a fatal bullet. One that he'd taken for her instead, and it chapped her ass that apparently he thought she should be on her knees in gratitude for taking a bullet that was his own goddamn fault! Mutual avoidance had been working just fine, so what the hell was he doing at
her
apartment. And why?

Sure there had been a few times when being in the same room had been unavoidable. Zack and Gracie's wedding for one. And on those few occasions, Sterling had goaded her mercilessly. First he'd called her a coward and accused her of hiding from him. Then he had pissed her off to no end by “claiming” a dance with her at the reception, and since she had just so happened to have been giving Zack and Gracie her well wishes in preparation of fleeing the way too happy, gushy,
mushy
lovefest involving more than the “just married” couple it was in honor of, she couldn't gracefully—or ungracefully—get out of it. Gracie had seemed delighted and had told Eliza that
of course
she just
had
to dance with Wade, after all they were two of her most favorite people in the world.

Eliza had groaned, knowing she'd been royally set up by the bastard. He'd planned it meticulously and had approached her when he damn well
knew
she couldn't tell him what to do with his invitation to dance along with a few other choice words that would have singed the hair of most people and embarrassed the radiant bride. It hadn't, however, stopped her from purposely baiting
him
the entire time they danced. But he hadn't responded to her sarcasm, insults or her attempts to get a rise out of him. Instead he'd simply stared at her with smug amusement, those dark eyes peeling back every layer of skin on her. To add insult to injury, he'd held her far closer than necessary, making it appear like they were glued to each other and practically fucking on the dance floor. The only way she'd managed to get through it was by imagining at least a dozen different scenarios in which she separated his balls from his anatomy.

In the end, she'd fled as if the hounds of hell were after her, and damn it, but his laughter had followed her the entire way out. As had his last words: “Little coward.” Something he'd become increasingly in the habit of calling her and the second time he'd hurled it at her that night.

And now as they stood in an apparent standoff, her glaring holes through him and him looking as though he found her hilarious, those images of bodily dismemberment she'd entertained during their dance were even more appealing.

Sterling didn't even attempt to hide his smile at her growl. His eyes twinkled and then his lips broadened into an honest-to-goodness real smile. She stared at him, momentarily forgetting just how furious she was with him. She was completely flabbergasted by the change to his features. He
never
smiled. Not really. He'd always done this half smile thing that came out more as a smirk and sometimes as a grimace, depending on his mood. But he'd never, at least not in her sight, actually smiled a broad, teeth-flashing smile that extended all the way up to his eyes. Sweet Jesus but it made him look . . . delicious. She nearly groaned at that betraying thought.
Delicious?
She needed her head examined. But she couldn't stop her perusal to save her life.

She continued to stare in equal parts bewilderment and feminine fascination, riveted by how freaking gorgeous he was with that million megawatt smile. Holy hell, now she could understand why he never lacked for female company. Gracie had told her, after it was established that a romantic relationship between her and Sterling was never going to happen and the two settled on being just friends, that she lost count of the women who sailed in and out of his life.

At first Eliza had misunderstood, thinking that he was such an ogre that he couldn't keep a woman. That idea had appealed immensely to her and she'd warmed to it immediately. Until Gracie burst that bubble by telling her that
he
never kept a woman more than a few dates before moving on to the next one. Figures. Apparently he was a complete player out for only one thing. But, a man with his looks and money could be as picky and selective as he wanted. Women flocked to that badass, bad boy, darker edge persona and the danger that seemed to swirl in his eyes and fit him like a second skin. Eliza scoffed at that.

The man was nebulous at best. She'd done some checking into him when he'd contacted DSS about a potential job and nothing in her research led her to believe he was completely on the up and up. Dirty, she'd suspected and had told Zack as much. The problem was, she had no solid proof. Only discrepancies and her own suspicions. And her gut, which she never ignored.

But that likely appealed to the section of the female population who were shorter on brains and superficial enough not to care about anything beyond good looks, lots of money—that was likely the biggest attraction—and the aura of dark and dangerous that cloaked him at all times. Who cared if he killed puppies, kittens or people as long as he was rich, handsome and good in the sack? She nearly bared her teeth in irritation but instead returned to getting the handsome, rich
asshole
out of her space.

“Do tell, what do you find so amusing?” Eliza asked snidely. She'd never in a million years admit or confide to anyone
how
flustered she'd been over that smile. Or that for a moment she'd entertained a few naked fantasies about him.

Though disappointment was keen when the smile was replaced by the more common mocking twist of his lips, which told her he was about to start firing back the same insults and resort to the same ribbing and cut downs she routinely gave him. Oh well, it would hardly be fun if he
didn't
fire back. She would have been disappointed if he acted like she'd hurt his little feelings or his masculine pride. Goading him was the only fun she had these days. Besides, when he was being a dick, it was too easy to despise him and then at least she wouldn't become a damn
girl
and start thinking about licking those delectable lips.

And then she remembered that she didn't have time for fun or for juvenile fantasies. Hadn't that been what had got her in the mess she'd become so firmly entrenched in years ago? How could she have even thought about
anything
else when all her focus, her concentration and her training should be on preparation for the single most important mission of her life?

Suddenly Sterling's eyes narrowed, and his hand was curled around her chin before she even registered it was there. He turned her to face him, his sharp gaze boring into hers, studying her, probing deeply until she felt stripped bare and utterly vulnerable before him.

“What the hell were you just thinking about?” he demanded. “And don't make this about me, Eliza. I'll call bullshit and you know it. You enjoy taunting me, hurling insults and doing your damnedest to make me believe you want no part of me, which we
both
know is untrue. Whatever it was that just crossed your mind was
not
a source of enjoyment. You went
pale
and your eyes went from fiery and spitting sparks at me to dull and shadowed and your shoulders sagged and you are
nothing
if not confident. Your back is always up, shoulders straight and you don't lower your head to fucking
anyone
and yet you just did all of those things. What the
fuck
is going on with you?”

She stared at him in astonishment, not knowing which of his absurd statements to refute first. In his own way, he'd just complimented her. As much of a compliment as Sterling ever gave anyone. At least she
thought
he was complimenting her. He hadn't listed her attributes with a distasteful look nor did he seem disapproving. He was just . . . matter-of-fact.

She went backward through all the other crap he'd said, and it
was
crap. Then her cheeks blazed with a mixture of fury and abject embarrassment when she got to the most important, most errant assumption the arrogant little prick had made.

She got into his face and jabbed her finger into his chest, causing him to take one step backward before steadying himself. He simply brushed her finger away and then folded his very muscled arms over his very muscled chest and stared down at her, his lips pressed together as if . . .

“Don't you dare laugh!” she shouted. “And as for me not wanting any part of you? Get a clue, Sterling. A woman who wants a part of you doesn't tell you to fuck off every time she sees you. She doesn't constantly insult you. Nor does she avoid you because you annoy the ever-loving fuck out of her. Get it into your head. I want
nothing
to do with you. In fact, I don't want you here right now. Which begs the question, why
are
you? Our avoiding each other is
mutual
. I avoid you. You avoid me. I think it's established that neither of us can stand the sight of the other. Neither of us wants to be in the same room together. It's an arrangement that suits me just fine. So don't tell me that we both know it isn't true that I want nothing to do with you!”