Page 9

Leila had never met a man like Diego Campos. If someone had told her about him, she would have laughed at them. Called them a dreamer. A believer in fairy tales. She’d been around men since she was ten and she’d never come across a single man like Diego.

How he managed to get her to his cabin, she had no idea. In a way, his strength was frightening. He had a will of iron. Having known him now for several days, she felt he was undefeatable. She knew he made a relentless, merciless enemy, but he was the sweetest, gentlest man she’d ever known.

She looked around the cabin. It was surprisingly neat—and homey.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Diego said, breaking the silence.

Leila thought that over. It wasn’t exactly silent. There was music outside the cabin, the wind blowing through the trees, the continual buzz and call of insects. She found that her ability to hear was even better than it had been—and she’d always had excellent hearing.

Night had fallen by the time they made it to the cabin. Diego had to be exhausted. He’d carried her the entire way, insisting on taking the smoothest trails so he wouldn’t jar her. He seemed to know each time she felt like she couldn’t take the pain anymore, and he’d call a halt, acting as if he were the one who needed the break.

When they reached the cabin, he’d allowed her to rest, and then he took her into the shower. He didn’t seem in the least embarrassed to strip down to his boxers while he washed every trace of blood and dirt from her. He took his time with her hair, shampooing it twice and conditioning it. She should have found the experience mortifying, but instead, she enjoyed every second of his care. She’d never had anyone treat her the way he did.

He wrapped her in towels and sat her in an extremely comfortable rocker while he dried her hair with a towel and then braided it for her. He seemed to have energy in reserve because after he found her a clean shirt from his pack, he started chopping vegetables for dinner.

Were there really men like Diego in the world? She didn’t think so, but he was living proof. Watching him work in the kitchen was actually mortifying when showering with him wasn’t. She could hunt down a target and kill them, but she had no real idea of how to cook a single thing. Just learning to heat up bottles for Grace had been challenging. She had no interest in cooking—until now. She wanted to be able to make Diego something so she’d have it ready when he got home after a long day.

Leila felt the color rising under her skin. What was she thinking? That the three of them, Gracie, Diego and her, were going to be a family? That was ludicrous. She was beginning to believe in fairy tales, and it had to stop.

At that precise moment, as if he had radar or was locked into her, Diego half turned, looking straight at her. “What is it, sweetheart?”

He did that. He called her “sweetheart.” “Honey.” Once or twice, it had been “baby” in a soft, velvety tone that kept her from telling him she was no baby. She liked it when he called her those things. She especially liked when he called her “Warrior Woman.”

She shot him a faint smile because how could she not? He was so beautiful to her, standing there in the kitchen with the single light shining on him. His hair gleamed from the quick shower he’d taken. He wore soft jeans that clung to his narrow hips and butt quite lovingly. It was the thin tee stretched over his chest and abs that caught her attention. He had more muscle than she’d realized, yet she should have known. He’d carried her all that way without breaking a sweat.

Placing the tongs he’d been using on the stove, Diego turned to face her fully. “Leila? Tell me what’s distressing you.”

She couldn’t help herself. He melted something inside her that just seemed to open the floodgates. She was certain it was his voice. He put some kind of compulsion on her to blurt out the truth, no matter how humiliating it was.

“I was thinking, like an idiot, how nice it would be to have Gracie with us. The three of us.” She choked out the last admission.

He went to her immediately, crossing the short distance in the silent way he had. He gave the impression of a great jungle cat stalking prey, yet she felt comforted by his presence. She already had such faith in him that she wasn’t in the least intimidated.

Diego bent to brush a kiss on the top of her head. Her heart slammed hard against her chest. Her mouth went dry. She rubbed her palms on her thighs, wondering how he could possibly look at her the way he was—so intensely. So focused. As if she were the only woman in the world. He seemed to do that a lot.

“Why like an idiot?” he asked, his voice low and mesmerizing. “The idea sounds perfect to me. This is a nice place to visit, but I want to take the two of you to my place in Louisiana. The house is empty right now. Lonely. I couldn’t stand to be there, but you and Grace would make all the difference in the world. You’d turn that empty house into a home just by sharing it with me.”

That sounded very much like he would want them to stay. Visit? Stay? Would she want that? Could she do it? “I don’t know the first thing about making anything into a home.”

“You did for Grace,” he said.

“You don’t know that.” Just the fact that Diego believed he wanted her to make a home for him and said it with so much conviction warmed her.

“I do know it.” He turned back to the stove.

That conviction in his voice got to her. Turned her to mush inside. “Are you real?” she had to ask, because if she ever allowed herself to believe and he wasn’t—he would shatter her. She hadn’t realized she could be so vulnerable or that she had the capability of falling for a man so fast. It was out of character.

“Unfortunately for you, sweetheart, I’m all too real. And I’ve made up my mind you’re the one.”

His tone was so mild, so matter-of-fact, that at first his declaration didn’t sink in. When it did, the blossoming joy she felt was shocking. Too shocking. Why would a man like Diego look at someone like her? Especially now, when she had to rely on him for everything. The only reasonable explanation she could think of was that he had white knight syndrome. She wasn’t a woman who needed to be rescued. Was she?

Leila wanted to leap up and pace. Go running. Do something physical to stimulate her brain. She had to figure things out before she allowed herself to get swallowed in the fairy tale. Maybe she could have the fairy tale for a few more days if she didn’t push too hard and demand answers. Would that be so bad? She couldn’t go anywhere. She couldn’t get to her daughter. Why couldn’t she have this fantasy just a little longer? But she knew better. If she stayed with him any longer, with his sweetness and the idea in her head that she had a chance, her heart would shatter when it all fell apart.

“Diego, you know I’m very independent. Once I’m back on my feet, you won’t have to take care of me.”

“I like taking care of you, but I’ll like you being my partner even more. I’m not the kind of man who wants or needs a woman who can’t defend our children. I need someone strong. Had a shit childhood, babe. Not going to have that for my children.” He reached up into the cabinet and pulled out two plates.

There it was again, that low, velvety voice that seemed to brush along her skin, creating the most amazing reaction in her body. Just his voice alone was enough to give her fantasies. But she wanted the real thing, not a fantasy.

She watched him serve the mixture of vegetables and protein noodles onto the two plates while she considered the last possibility of why he was so interested in her.

“Do you think, and I don’t know how it could have been done, that Whitney paired us together and we’re reacting to that? Marcy told me about a rumored program he had to get children from those he’s genetically altered.”

“You were never around Whitney.” He placed one of the plates on a small, hand-carved tray. “How could he pair us?”

“I don’t know, but he had my sister.”

He flashed another heart-stopping grin at her. “Then I’d be paired with your sister. I can assure you, while it might appeal to some men to be attracted to sisters, it holds no attraction for me in the least. In fact, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. And smacks of disloyalty.”

She liked that he’d tacked that on, the part about being disloyal if he was attracted to her sister.

Diego handed her the tray and placed his dinner on the small table beside the chair that was opposite the rocker. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Just water.”

“The spring water here is extraordinary.” He brought her a glass filled with clear liquid before seating himself opposite her. “I thought we’d rest tonight and tomorrow start on your PT. We need to get serious about it.”

“PT?” She carefully put a forkful of vegetables and noodles in her mouth and was a little shocked at the burst of flavors. He hadn’t just chopped up the vegetables and heated them; he’d actually used spices to make them taste good.

“I allowed one of the men who came after you to live. The others were very much like the five who were rushing you up the mountains, but he was a decent man. I gave him a message to take back with him. They’ll know you’re alive, and it will depend on how seriously they take me whether they send a little army against us. Just in case, it will be best for you to be in good shape. They won’t expect it.”

“They know I have to go back,” Leila reminded him. “They know I’ll never give up my daughter.”

“No matter what, we’ll get Grace back. You don’t have to sell your soul to have your own daughter given back to you. I made it very clear that I’m a GhostWalker and that the carnage belongs to me, not you. I also made it clear why those soldiers weren’t going home. Terry recognized my name. He knows who I am, and I have no doubt his commanding officer will know my reputation as well.”

“They lost a lot of their soldiers. They aren’t going to be happy about it,” she pointed out.

“They sent them against you, and they know how good you are in the field—they trained you. And they certainly know Luther’s abilities and his experiences.”

“But they didn’t know about you,” she pointed out.

He shrugged, sending her a quick, almost mischievous smile. That little grin lit up his eyes and softened the unrelenting, harsh beauty of his face. Her heart reacted in the now-familiar way it had, a curious wild thumping and then a weird melting sensation. He was potent—at least to her. She had been afraid of those physical reactions to him, but now they just seemed normal to her. She was fairly sure that in fifty years she would have those same reactions when he walked into a room.

“They do now. They also are aware the GhostWalker teams stick together. They go to war with you, me, and Luther, they’ll be declaring war on the GhostWalkers. Those running that laboratory know the advantages we have.”

“You’re in the military. You can’t just declare war on other branches.”

His eyebrow shot up. “Are you in the military? Do you get a paycheck? Did you sign papers joining a branch of the service?”

She frowned. She’d never considered what he was pointing out. “My life has been the training my commanders gave me since I was ten years old. I lived in a small housing dorm by myself until I had Grace, but I never needed for anything. I honestly didn’t need a lot and rarely asked for things. I have a board specifically for making a list of anything I need. I’ve always been provided with everything I needed as soon as it went on the list.”

That little smile turned from his melting one to one of pure predator. “You aren’t technically in the military and have free will to go anywhere you wish. The moment a GhostWalker claimed you as a partner, that put you in our sphere of protection, by all the teams.”

His statement should have bolstered her spirits, but her heart crumbled. A GhostWalker claiming her could make her safe. Make Gracie safe. But that was, once again, white knight syndrome. She stared down at the food on her plate, refusing to react too fast to his statement.

“There you go again, Warrior Woman, thinking I have some redeeming qualities, which I don’t. Stop thinking it, and you won’t be so disappointed when you realize I’m not claiming you for you but for my own selfish reasons.”

Leila couldn’t help looking up at the amusement in his tone. There was that look again, the little grin that softened the crueler lines in his face. Once again, her heart accelerated, drumming out of control.

“Selfish reasons? Because you’re getting such a great bargain with me. I come with a baby and zero skills as a cook.”

“Very selfish reasons, woman.”

“You don’t make any sense.”

His eyes met hers. Intense. Focused. She felt she could drown there if she wasn’t careful. There was no looking away. No pretending she couldn’t see the hunger there. She found herself blushing, the treacherous color sliding under her skin and creeping into her face.

“I make perfect sense. I’m looking at what I want. I am not looking for a cook. I’m looking for a partner. My life growing up was shit, Leila. My mother didn’t want me and beat the hell out of me as often as possible with switches and whatever else she could find. She reminded me daily I wasn’t worth anything but guarding my brother and hunting for food for the family. She didn’t protect us, not even my sisters. I want a woman who will stand in front of my children. Who would fight at my side if necessary. Who would be willing to sacrifice everything for her family. I don’t need a cook. I need you. You’re that woman.”

She had to blink back tears. No one had ever stated anything so amazing to her with the absolute conviction Diego did. He believed what he was saying. She despised that his own mother had told him he wasn’t worth anything. She knew better. He was the best man she knew.

“You’re making me emotional, and I’m not even pregnant.”

His smile was back. “Were you emotional when you were pregnant?”

“It was mortifying. I once started crying because I couldn’t find this silly bracelet Marcy had given me. I’d had it since I was sixteen. I mean, a bracelet? I don’t wear jewelry, but when I misplaced the bracelet, I was devastated and just sobbed.”

Instead of laughing at her as she expected, Diego frowned. “Did you find it?”

Leila nodded. “It was right there on my dresser, but I had accidentally pushed it toward the wall so it had nearly fallen off the back. Fortunately, one of the beads was larger than the others and it caught between the dresser and the wall, and I spotted it when I calmed down. It just felt ridiculous and out of proportion to fall apart over something so inconsequential.”