Page 13 of Too Guarded to Love (Project VIPER #3)

“Here’s what we know.” Edgar turned his back to the elevator doors. “Dr. Olivia Darren. Ran off the road, allegedly on purpose. Shot by a sniper.” Edgar rattled off the time and location. “Surveillance showed Nic’s V-Strike hit its mark based on the way the sniper staggered as he fled. ”

Ryan looked to Kane and then Nic. “It shouldn’t be long before we find him.”

Nic nodded. Scarlett used to be VIPER’s security officer before she handed the reins to Ryan. Now she headed up a special innovative task force across the military with the sole focus on advancing technology to keep the nation’s best safe in the field.

Edgar flipped to a photo of Gran as he backed out of the elevator.

“Mrs. Ava Darren. Poisoned an hour later at bingo with a substance that stopped her heart. We have a team poring through surveillance feeds.”

Nic followed the group down the hall, lined with bright white walls adorned with photos of military vehicles, aircraft, and ships. Hearing Edgar refer to Gran as Mrs. Ava Darren sounded weird. From the day she’d welcomed Nic into her home, she’d been just Gran.

Gage met them at the conference room door. He stopped short when he saw Bradley and snapped to attention. “Mr. President.”

“Nice work tonight, Gage. I’m told you saved Ava’s life. How’s your daughter? I know she and Ava are close.”

“Lucy’s fine. She’s watching a movie in MedLab with the demolition twins.”

President Bradley laughed. “That really is a great nickname for Patience’s boys. It’s a good thing their mama is a doctor because those two play hard. My staff is still finding foam darts in the residence from our last battle.”

Nic raised an eyebrow. “With all due respect, Mr. President. You started the fight.”

He grinned. “And I can’t wait to do it again.”

Edgar snapped his folder closed. “Agreed, but we have a real fight to worry about. We all know it’s not a coincidence two women related to VIPER were targeted tonight.

We don’t know when and if they will come after another one and we’re not taking any chances.

Until further notice, we’re all locking down here at headquarters. ”

“Wait.” Nic held up his steel hand, as if the gesture would somehow halt the implications of Edgar’s words. “All of us? Here?”

Edgar motioned the group into the conference room. “Until we get some answers, yes. If VIPER gets called on a mission, I want those left behind protected until we find whoever is behind this.”

If Nic’s biofeedback was online, his vitals would blow up Ryan’s computer.

So much for keeping Olivia safe and then sending her on her way.

He leaned against the long conference table and faced nearly everyone in this world he trusted with his life.

“You know the thing I said I needed to discuss earlier? That may have something to do with what happened tonight.”

Olivia inhaled as she concentrated on opening her eyelids. A soft light, not the burn-your-retinas kind from the ER, greeted her gaze. The smell of flowers wafted into her nostrils.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Olivia turned her head toward the feminine voice. The movement lanced pain through her shoulder. “Shit, that hurts.”

“Gunshot wounds will do that to a girl.” A woman in a white lab coat, who appeared to be around the same age as Olivia, held a vase of wildflowers in her hand. “Welcome to VIPER headquarters.”

So the heart of the military program that Kane couldn’t talk much about was the “somewhere safe” Nic had taken her to. Was she in that much danger?

The woman set the vase on a side table. “I brought these from my office to cheer the place up. I keep telling Admiral Edgar to order somebody to put artwork on these boring white walls, but he doesn’t consider it a mission priority. How do you feel?”

“I’m with you on the artwork. As for the getting shot part?

I never want to do that again.” In the hospital, everything had hurt from her scalp to her toes, but she’d been too drugged up to care.

Now the pain centered in her wound felt like a blazing ball of molten lava imbued with a magical potion that intensified the agony a hundredfold.

“Well, if you can feel the pain, then you’re alive. That’s what I tell the VIPER boys. And my twins too.”

“You must be the demolition twins’ mom.”

Patience nodded and laughed. “I see Kane has shared tales about my darling hellions.”

“Nice to finally meet the famous Dr. Patience Fairbanks. Kane’s a big fan of yours.

” Olivia winced as the burning in her shoulder reminded her there was nothing nice about the reason for being here, but she was alive.

Maybe gratitude for every breath she took kept her from freaking out that she’d been shot.

“Your brother’s super leg wasn’t all me, but I’m proud of the part I had in it.” She handed Olivia a small cup with a large white pill in it. “It’s ibuprofen for the pain. If you want something stronger, I can give that to you, but I thought you’d want to be coherent for your debrief.”

“Yes, ibuprofen is fine.” Maybe she’d take something to make her sleepy later, after she’d gotten answers to the dozens of questions flitting in her brain.

Did the bullet wound in her shoulder have something to do with the uneasy feelings about someone watching her?

Maybe whoever tried to hit her head-on reverted to a good old-fashioned gun after their first plan failed.

Or maybe Jonathan hired a hit man because he was furious she’d dumped him. Again.

An image of her ex-asshole standing in the shadows with binoculars, a dark raincoat protecting his expensive suit from the elements as he watched to make sure the hit man did his job, popped into her mind.

A laugh gurgled in her throat. Had they given her a hallucinogenic in the emergency room? Jonathan saved lives. He didn’t take them.

Maybe her brain really had gone haywire, though. She’d swear she hadn’t imagined the intense pull she felt toward the dark-as-sin stranger, as if Satan had come out to rescue her and then demanded a favor in return.

But Nic and his voice, which had melted over her body like warm caramel, hadn’t demanded anything.

He’d let her lead. And when she’d kneeled at his feet and the appendage he’d been blessed with popped into her vision?

Well, she should run to the nearest church and thank God for sparing that body part.

Lord, he’d felt like silk over steel and tasted like hot-blooded male.

She gulped the pill down with a cup of water to cleanse her thoughts.

Patience sat on the side of the bed. “So, surgeon to surgeon, what did you think of how we attached the super limbs to the guys?”

“I, uh…” Olivia cocked her head. “Did you just say super limbs? I mean, Kane calls his leg that, and he calls himself a super soldier because his ego is as big as his horse, but it sounds weird coming from a doctor.”

Patience waved her hand. “I stopped trying to use clinical terms ages ago. I learned with my boys to pick my battles, and arguing with cocky soldiers who like to think their shiny metal arms and legs make them superheroes isn’t one I choose to fight.”

“Yup, that’s my brother.” And Nic too, based on the quicker than any human had a right to be way he moved after she’d been shot.

A memory that may very well have been a figment of her traumatized mind wavered in her vision.

Immediately after she’d been hit, Nic had been talking, like he was reporting in to someone, but that was impossible.

There hadn’t been a phone in sight, and she hadn’t felt one in his pants pocket during her exploration of his body.

Yet, she remembered him saying, “activate me,” with a desperate command, and “fire,” and “direct hit” with dark satisfaction.

Who had he hit and with what?

She blinked, but the memory didn’t sharpen or get fuzzier.

Patience sat on a chair next to the bed. “So, what do you think of our boy Nic?”

I know what he tastes like.

Heat blossomed in Olivia’s cheeks. Christ, she’d almost said that out loud. God, she hoped her brother didn’t know about that part. She didn’t need him to revert to the “I’ll kill you if you touch my sister” mode she’d grown up with. “Is Nic here?”

“He’s in the conference room with the rest of the team.”

“I’m guessing you know we were, uh, hanging out in his house while we waited for a tow truck.”

“Oh honey, I know what happened at the beach.” Patience shrugged. “Kane ranted loud enough for our enemies halfway across the globe to hear.”

Olivia winced. “Did my brother beat the crap out of Nic yet?”

Patience laughed. “Not as far as I know. ”

“Well, that’s good.” Olivia glanced at the bandage peeking out from the neckline of the scrub top the nurse had helped her change into at the hospital.

She wanted answers about why she’d been shot, but she didn’t want to talk about Nic or her brother just yet, and she doubted Patience knew that information.

Sighing, she focused on another topic. “So, can you tell me anything about the brilliant way you attached metal to flesh so beautifully? Seriously, you deserve a medal. I have so many questions for you.”

“Much of it is classified, but I’m happy to share what my security clearances allow.”

“I respect that.”

Jonathan’s voice slipped into her mind. If he were here, he wouldn’t respect what classified meant. Even before their friend status turned to something more, he’d bombarded her with question after question about Kane until steam came out of his ears.

“What techniques did VIPER use to attach the leg?”

“What is his prosthesis made of?”

“Does it enhance his strength or speed?”

“When can we go to DC so I can meet him?”

She couldn’t answer many of his inquiries. Well, at least not until tonight. If her memory from the moments after she was shot was true, Nic did have some sort of superspeed.

On the few occasions she’d seen her brother since VIPER had turned him into a bionic man, he’d shared everything he could.

Sure, her curiosity matched Jonathan’s, but the information was classified for a reason.

Kane’s assurance the techniques were being developed for the civilian population gave her hope that someday she’d learn everything about the medical marvels that allowed her brother to not just walk again but flourish.

Patience touched the back of Olivia’s hand. “Your vitals look good. Let’s give you a bit longer to rest before your debrief.”

Olivia nodded as she touched Patience’s arm. “Thanks for saving my brother’s career— and his life. The military gives him a purpose. He thrives on his need to serve.” Just like their father had, except he hadn’t gotten a second chance.

Patience patted her hand. “It was my pleasure. I love Kane like he’s my own brother. And like a good sister, I make him babysit so Mama can have a night out now and again.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? He may be promoting the ‘demolition’ part of ‘demolition twins.’”

“A glass of wine and adult conversation is worth the risk. I need to check on something. Get some rest while I’m gone. If you’re feeling up to it when I get back, I’ll bring you to be debriefed.”

“Do you really think I’m going to rest while my mind is reeling with questions? I’d like to go now.” She lifted her arm off the bed and bit the inside of her cheek to stop wincing. “I feel better already.”

“Liar, but I get it.” Patience turned to the long cabinet against the wall.

“Let’s get a sling for that arm before you face our fearless leader, Admiral Edgar.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I X-rayed your entire upper body to make sure you didn’t damage anything else.

Nic said you hit the ground kind of hard when he tackled you and that you had some intense pain at the hospital.

Everything looks good, but there’s a spot on your clavicle. ”

“I broke it a few months ago and saw that on the X-ray. I had the area tested, and it’s just a benign lesion.”

“Good.” Patience turned from the cabinet, a black sling clutched in her hands. “Rest up for a few more minutes while I find you clothes to change into.”

“I’ll try.” She was exhausted, but how could she rest with so many uncertainties? The one that was the least important wouldn’t relent.

What about Nic?

Soon she’d face him and find out if the connection she’d felt as strong as a storm over water still charged between them.

She hoped it didn’t, so she could chalk up her escapades with her brother’s best friend to a mistake she wouldn’t repeat.

But what if the connection with Nic was still there?

How would she know if it meant something?

Anxiety, doubt, and anticipation copulated in her belly like a threesome. The question she’d never thought she’d ask and could only be answered by one person emerged from the union of her emotions. “My grandmother. I need to talk to her. Right now. Can you get me a phone?”

Patience’s smile faltered. “Um, about Gran…”