Page 18 of Justified Lies (TFH Team Bravo #3)

Ten

By the time they arrived at the safe house, Kap could tell Eden was exhausted. Not that she would ever admit it to him. Instead, she had that spine of steel and laser focus like always.

They had decided to split her brother and her up. El had gone to a Dillon Security safe house, and TFH was taking care of Eden. There had been no way that Kap would have let her out of his sight. He was starting to worry that he wasn’t going to be able to let her go.

Graeme parked the SUV in front of the house as the other TFH SUV slid into the spot beside them. Kap had always liked this house for its security. It was built into the mountain, so there was only one way in, and it was easy to keep whoever they were hiding safe.

Adam and Tamilya from TFH Alpha went into the house. From their security, they knew it was safe, but TFH didn’t screw around with people’s safety. They triple checked everything.

Kap glanced at Eden again. This woman…fuck. She was a puzzle, one that he would always want to solve. He knew it was definitely the wrong time for those kinds of thoughts, but he was beginning to realize he was still in love with her.

After all these years, he was finally admitting to himself that she had him wrapped around her little finger. Worse, he knew he would be happy to be there. He would take all of the baggage that came with her as long as he could have her.

“I’m not going to fall apart, Kap. I can handle this.”

He didn’t doubt that. Her voice was quiet but determined. The person hunting the twins had probably made the biggest mistake of their life. This woman wasn’t going to let it go until she made sure the bastard was dead.

“I know that.”

She finally glanced at him. Then after a long moment, she nodded in acknowledgment.

The light on the front lanai blinked on and off, giving them the all clear. With that, they headed into the house, grabbing their bags out of the back of the SUV. Once the door was shut behind them, he pulled in a deep, cleansing breath.

“That seemed easy enough,” Adam said.

“Almost too easy,” Tamilya said.

“I agree, but who knows what’s going on right now. Did the bastard who shot at me actually do the shooting? Or did he hire someone for that?” Eden asked.

“Why would that matter?” Kap asked.

“If he or she were a hire, like contracted, there’s a good chance there will be another attempt soon.”

“And if not?”

“The person will lie low and try when our guard is down.” She sighed. “Which room do you want me in?”

One thing about Eden was that she understood how they worked protection.

The Team Alpha members stared at Kap, as if willing him to take the lead.

“Top of the stairs, to the left. There’s a master bedroom.”

She nodded and trudged toward the stairs. She paused. “Thank you, everyone. I don’t know what El and I would have done without the help of TFH.”

Then she ascended the stairs. He watched her go, his heart breaking with each step she took. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized just how worried she was about the whole situation.

“That is one tough lady,” Adam said.

He nodded and looked at the Alpha Team leader. “You have no idea.”

“So, are you going to pretend that you two aren’t back together?” Adam asked.

“We aren’t together.”

Did he want that? He was starting to realize that he definitely wanted that. He wanted her in his life, in his bed. Hell, he had only been with one woman since they’d split, and that had been a drunken night of trying to forget the woman who owned his heart.

One woman.

Fuck. He was definitely still in love with Eden. He loved her smile, the way she gave him shit, and he loved that she would show her vulnerabilities to him. He had a feeling she didn’t do that with many people, even her brother.

Tamilya stepped up beside him. “Hey, you might want to go up there.”

He glanced at her. She was a stunning woman.

Tall, athletic, and an expert on terrorism, she’d joined the team after it had been formed.

She and her husband, Marcus—the captain of the newly formed Team Charlie—had had a relationship years earlier.

Kap didn’t know the entire story, but he knew that they found their way back to each other.

“I thought she would need some space.”

She shook her head. “Believe me, she wants space from us, but not from you.”

Tamilya’s voice dripped with experience, and if anyone understood what was going on right now with Eden, it was probably Tamilya. She might not know Eden well, but her relationship with Marcus gave her intimate experience to provide the advice.

Ignoring the other two men, Kap made his way up the stairs two at a time. Urgency filled his gut. There was something in the way that Tamilya told him she would need him, that she thought Eden would want to see him.

He found her sitting on the bed, staring off into space.

“Eden?”

She blinked and looked at him. It was like watching a scene in slow motion. Then, she was a flurry of action. Popping up off the mattress, she started babbling.

“Sorry, really tired. Need to get in the shower.”

“Eden.”

“I take it we’re all secure?”

She didn’t look at him as she unzipped her suitcase. In fact, she avoided making eye contact.

“Eden.”

Still moving. Still not looking at him.

“Of course, we’re all secure. I mean, TFH is a good organization. Not as good as Dillon Security, but then, what can you do? You don’t have the resources that we do.”

“Eden,” he said, stepping forward. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist as gently as possible. If she had wanted to break free, she could have done so.

She stood with her head down, apparently interested in the floor.

“Are you going to look at me?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “I brought this problem to your door and now you’re having to deal with it.”

“It’s my job.”

She shook her head. “I can handle things like this. I was trained for it.”

He knew that she was trying to convince herself, but it still angered him.

Not particularly at her. Anger at the situation and her upbringing.

Kap kept thinking about what Ian had said.

Being raised like she had, she’d probably always felt she needed to control every situation.

There was a fair amount of his heart breaking for the woman…

the young girl she had been. He heard the recrimination in her voice, and it was directed solely at herself.

Eden thought she had failed in some way.

“Eden.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Woman, you are going to bother me until the day I die.”

Her head snapped up before she tried to twist away from him. Her cheeks had flushed with anger. Good. That was better than her looking like she was on her deathbed.

“Well, rest assured, I will be out of your life as soon as we find this bastard. Also, I can get another bodyguard. I’m sure there is someone at TFH or Dillon who can protect me.”

“No fucking way.”

She blinked. He didn’t cuss much, but he couldn’t stop the anger that whipped through him at the thought of someone else taking care of her needs. He knew that it was probably a better idea because his heart was involved. Still, even if someone took over her protection, he wasn’t leaving.

He pulled her closer. “You seem to think that bothering me is a bad thing, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. I will want you until the day I die. I have wanted you every day since the day I walked away like an asshole.”

Her mouth opened, then closed. Kap liked that. For once, she was starting to understand what she meant to him—even if he was just beginning to understand it himself.

“Do you know that there has not been another woman since you?”

She shook her head. “You slept with Amy Miller.”

Of course, she knew that. The woman was a spy. He should have known that she would have kept tabs on him.

“I was very drunk, and I was hurting.”

“Sure.”

Her tone told him that she didn’t believe him.

“One night. One freaking night that I was missing you, thinking about you, wishing things had been different. But I was angry and, being a typical man. I couldn’t admit I had been wrong.

I knew you couldn’t tell me you were an operative. My brain knew that, at least.”

“Then why did you say those things? Why did you leave me?”

Her eyes shimmered with tears, and that broke his heart. She had always presented herself as this strong woman who could handle anything, and she could. Kap had no doubt about that. Eden was ten times stronger than he would ever be. But…she was human, and he had broken something between them.

“Ego.”

She rolled her eyes, then brushed away the tears with her free hand.

“Eden, you have to understand. I knew that we had something special, but…” He hesitated for only a second, but it was enough for her doubts to take hold.

“Never mind, Kap. When this is all over, we’ll avoid each other again. It’s a small island, but I’m sure we can figure out a way.”

Again, she tried to twist away and step around him, but he stopped her.

“I was fucking scared.”

She stopped moving.

He didn’t take his gaze from hers. “I was a coward. I knew I was falling in love with you, so that fear made me lash out at you. I was a dumbass.”

“You were.”

Of course, she wasn’t going to deny that, and he didn’t think she should. Still, it stung.

“If I had found out before you left, if you had told me, I am not sure what I would have done. My reaction might have been different, but my pride was hurt, and I took it out on you.” He swallowed and tried his best to steady his nerves.

“I was going to tell you that weekend.”

Her whispered confession hit him straight in the heart with a dagger. Three years, and each day, he had convinced himself that he didn’t want to be around her. He had been lying.

“There has been no one else. Not here,” he said, pressing his hand against his chest. “And after that one stupid night, there has been no one else.”

She blinked. “Don’t lie to me, Kap. I never expected you to stay away from women.”

He shook his head.