Page 11 of Too Guarded to Love (Project VIPER #3)

“Thank you.” The red clouding the edges of his vision drained as he followed the pretty blonde nurse through the double doors, away from Natalie and his past and down the hallway to Olivia’s room.

“Are you accompanying Ms. Darren on the transport to DC that her brother arranged?”

“Yes.”

“Too bad.” Brittany’s lips puckered in a pout. “I’m off in an hour and headed to see my friend’s band play at a house party. They’re really good.”

He didn’t miss the unspoken, “and so am I,” as she pouted her lips.

“Sounds like fun, but maybe next time.”

“Rain check, then. Let me know next time you’re in town.” With a smile, she put her hand on Olivia’s door. “We just gave Ms. Darren another sedative to keep her comfortable during the trip. It’s best to keep her calm and let her fall back to sleep. I’ll be back shortly with her discharge papers.”

“Roger that.”

Nic sighed, half from exhaustion, half from annoyance as he entered the room. A conversation about why Olivia didn’t tell him who she was would have to wait until later, but the family traits he’d missed earlier broadcast their appearance under the fluorescent lights.

If he’d met her during the day, when she hadn’t been wet, when her hair hadn’t been a beautiful mess and her gaze calm instead of tumultuous, he may have recognized the resemblance.

She had Gran’s skin, a shade paler than Kane’s.

A smattering of freckles dappled her cheeks and nose.

The light illuminated the reddish tones in her hair he hadn’t noticed in the dark.

He touched a curl on her pillow. “You’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when you wake up.”

A mind comms call sounded in his head.

“Status?” Ryan asked.

“Secure. What do you have on Jonathan Garrity?”

“ Nothing yet, but we have more pressing matters to deal with. Gran didn’t have a cardiac episode. She was poisoned.”

An ear-splitting beep sounded from above. “Code blue,” screeched through the hallways, as if punctuating the severity of Ryan’s news. Nic slid to the edge of the bed on instinct and angled his body between Olivia and the door. “Any leads?”

“No. Gran is being transferred to headquarters. We’ve arranged air transport for Olivia. An Army medivac helicopter will be there in ten minutes.”

A beep signaled another had joined the conversation as the code blue alarm ceased.

“ I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but it can’t be a coincidence my sister and grandmother were almost killed in one night.” Kane sucked in a harsh breath. “Don’t leave Livvie’s side until she’s safe at headquarters, you hear me? If anything happens to her, I swear I’ll ? —”

“Roger that.” Nic would do anything for his family.

He loved his brothers, and the ones they loved, as much as he feared losing them.

He sure as shit didn’t love Olivia, though.

He was still pissed she’d lied by omission, but he was damn sure Kane still wanted to kick him in the balls with his super leg.

Regardless, he’d protect Olivia with his life as fiercely as he guarded his heart .

Failure held consequences he didn’t want to pay.

He placed his hand on her uninjured shoulder, afraid if he lost touch, never mind let her out of his sight, she’d wind up with another bullet hole in her body.

He looked from her pale face to the bandage covering her shoulder. In his experience, snipers were deployed to kill. This one hadn’t been successful and might try again, and he had no idea why except a wild theory.

But if it’s true…

No, he wasn’t the reason Olivia had been shot. He couldn’t be. The buzz in his neck zipped down his spine. The unease wrapped around his torso and clawed into his gut, each gouge an event in tonight’s timeline he desperately needed intel about.

Olivia’s crash.

The sniper.

Gran’s poison-induced heart attack.

His head felt like it might explode as he backtracked to the two deaths before Stella’s murder he no longer thought were accidents.

Olivia’s eyelids fluttered open. “Nic?”

His breath caught at the sea of emotions in her gaze.

“That’s me, but you knew that already, didn’t you?” He brushed a steel finger over her knuckles as he subdued the urge to press her for information. Gunshot wounds, even ones where the bullet didn’t hit anything vital, were no joke. This wasn’t the time for interrogation.

“My brother knows, doesn’t he?”

Nic rubbed the imprint of Kane’s fist on his jaw. “He knows enough.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to ask for which part—withholding pertinent information or him getting punched because of her omission? Instead, he held her gaze. “We’ll talk about that later. ”

She scrunched her nose but didn’t press him further. “Where’s Kane?”

“He got called away for an emergency.” She didn’t need to know about Gran yet. A gunshot wound was enough to worry about.

Her eyelids drooped. “I’m so sleepy, but I have so many questions.”

“You were given a sedative to help relax you for the flight.”

“Flight?” Her eyelids shot to her forehead. “Why? Where?”

“We’re taking you someplace safe.”

“What’s going on?” She grabbed his wrist. “Did the police find who shot me?”

He caressed his steel knuckles over the back of her hand. “Cierra los ojos.” He murmured, “Close your eyes” again, this time in English, and stroked her forehead as he assured her she was safe. A few murmured protests and a minute later her breathing evened out.

Brittany slid back into the room. “She’s cleared for transport.”

“Good.” The quicker they got to the safety of VIPER headquarters, the better.

The chip in the back of his neck vibrated.

He rubbed it. Just yesterday, he’d been on foreign soil rescuing hostages from a terrorist stronghold and hadn’t felt this uneasy.

But he hadn’t personally known the women being kept as concubines for leaders of the terrorist cell.

He’d done his job, focused and calculated, in perfect unison with his team.

But tonight, he didn’t just know the subject of this job. She was his best friend’s sister.

He liked her.

Nearly fucked her.

A few minutes ago, he’d wanted to wring her neck. Now he wanted to offer comfort. Once things settled down, he and Olivia would have the talk he’d promised. Then he’d never think of her again.

He pulled his hand from his pocket and rubbed his temple.

Brittany zeroed in on his steel. “Oh my God. Is that a bionic hand?”

He shoved it back into hiding where it had spent most of the night. “Yes, and don’t ask me more. It’s classified.” He winked. “I wouldn’t want to have to kill a pretty senorita like you.”

“Wow. What can you do with it?”

He forced a smile at the question he’d heard from women more times than he could count. “I can get this bed to the elevator faster than a speeding bullet. You game?”

She giggled and released the brake with her foot. Nic ignored her chattering and scanned the surroundings as they wheeled Olivia into the hall. As they turned the corner, Olivia’s eyes popped open. She wheezed as she clutched her injured shoulder.

Nic jerked the bed to a stop. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Sweat dotted her forehead. “Pain hit me so hard I couldn’t breathe.”

Brittany reengaged the break on the bed. “Can you describe the pain?”

Olivia’s chest heaved with staccato pants as she rubbed her collarbone. “It felt like…”

Nic’s heart raced as the color drained from Olivia’s cheeks. “Breathe.”

“I am.” She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That was weird. It felt like a bee with a supercharged stinger drilled into my collarbone. It doesn’t hurt anymore, just burns, but it made me nauseous.”

Brittany looked back to Olivia’s room. “Why don’t we go back and check this out? Your X-ray didn’t show anything concerning, but…”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m fine now. I broke my collarbone a few months ago. The injury might have been aggravated when Nic tackled me to the floor.”

Brittany furrowed her brow as she ping-ponged her gaze between them.

“She’ll get an X-ray when she gets where she’s going.” Nic pulled out his most charming smile. “Promise.”

She touched Olivia’s arm. “Do you feel secure with this plan?”

“Yes.”

Nic didn’t. Secure was the last thing he felt with Kane’s sister under his protection.