Page 24 of Too Guarded to Love (Project VIPER #3)

N ic hurried into the conference room and slid next to his brothers. Gage and Hudson followed seconds behind him. The tension in the room matched the quiet frenzy in the building as everyone readied to report to Level Black.

Kane nudged him in the arm. “How’s Olivia holding up?”

“She doesn’t listen for shit.” He recapped her defiant heroics in the garage. “But she’s okay.”

And brave, and tough, and resilient, and fucking reckless.

Kane shoved his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants. “This is out of control. Between Richardson’s escape, your alleged vendetta, and the shit that happened to Olivia, we don’t know where threats are coming from.”

Chris sidled up behind him. “Or who might strike next.”

Edgar strode in and took position at the head of the conference table.

“Level Black was created in the event headquarters was compromised. I’d hoped to never use it, but we are in a situation, gentleman.

While we repair the damage and figure out who’s responsible for tonight’s clusterfuck, we’ll remain in Level Black until further notice. ”

The chip in Nic’s neck sparked under his skin.

Level Black wasn’t just a code word. It was a bunker VIPER built into the existing tunnel system underneath DC.

He’d toured it last week. The underground facility had all the technology and supplies they’d need to function for months, including a hidden entrance.

Between that and the cloaking technology Scarlett and Ryan were giddy about, they could come and go covertly.

Just when Nic thought his life couldn’t get any more like a sci-fi movie, another plot twist altered his world. Since joining the military, he’d learned to embrace the challenge of the unpredictable, but he didn’t welcome the unexpected hold Olivia had on him. Not just unexpected, but dangerous.

He’d never had trouble keeping his feelings for a woman in check.

Never had to try. He adored women. Worshipped their bodies.

Enjoyed talking and laughing with them and respected their privacy and their minds.

Hell, Valentina was quickly becoming a close friend, and he’d thought she was the most exotic creature he’d ever laid eyes on.

Until Olivia.

Christ. If that beam landed on her, or if the fire had spread, he’d be having a different conversation with Kane right now.

It didn’t matter that his duty to protect her wasn’t given an official stamp of approval.

Nor would it have mattered that she’d put herself in harm’s way.

If she’d died under his protection, he would pay the consequences, and rightly so.

He shuddered, thinking about the last time he’d suffered the repercussions because of a woman.

Rachel Matthews, with her big blue eyes, sharp wit, and talents in bed, had made the long nights in the Middle East bearable.

Those traits, especially the last one, had hidden unsavory qualities he’d failed to see.

Even though he’d followed procedure the day she died, and she’d disobeyed his orders and put herself at risk, he still had to defend his actions in front of a review board.

Clasping his steel behind his neck, he glanced at his brothers one by one. Defending his actions to them, especially Kane, was a landmine he needed to avoid at all costs.

Olivia may intrigue him. She absolutely turned him on.

And he still planned to have a conversation with her about the deal she’d been about to offer, but that was all he planned to pursue.

The closer he got to her, the harder it was to resist the alluring pull he didn’t understand and didn’t dare explore.

Distance was his friend.

Ryan strode in and handed Edgar a tablet.

Edgar took it. “Listen up. I hate to sound like a sheriff from the Wild West, like you all say I am, but I’ll say it anyway. The attacks on Olivia and Gran, and then a car full of women and a baby, lead us to believe that someone is targeting our loved ones.”

Hudson cursed.

Kane clamped a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get these motherfuckers.”

“Yes, we will. I don’t want the women alone, even underground.

” Edgar looked at the tablet in his hand.

“Chris is assigned to Scarlett. Kane with Beth. Hudson with Tessa. Gage and Linc with Gran, Patience, and the kids. Me and the rest of our support team will rotate in.” He looked at Nic. “You stay with Olivia.”

What? No. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? She might be more comfortable around her brother.” And Nic would be less likely to do something stupid that could bite him in the ass.

Edgar shot him a glare that brooked no room for argument as he stepped toward the door. “Head to the tunnel. Someone will have room assignments when you get there. Remember, twenty-four-seven protection. You eat, sleep, and breathe together.”

As Nic turned to go, Kane caught his arm.

“You keep my sister safe, and don’t fuck with her in the process. Are we clear?”

Olivia downed a handful of ibuprofen. Groaning, she picked up her duffel bag from the floor.

She’d been given five minutes to gather her things from her room in MedLab and report to the reception area.

Stabilizing the guard’s leg and the rushing around had left her shoulder throbbing like a whiny bitch, but she’d managed to take off her bloody T-shirt and throw it in the trash.

Readjusting her sling over the blood-speckled denim jacket she’d managed to put back on and button up, she stepped into the hall. Patience smiled at her as she and a man in scrubs wheeled her grandmother to the exit.

“See you soon, Gran.” And wake the hell up so you can yell at me to take a shower because I smell like a bonfire.

Were there showers in Level Black, or were they going to live like hobbits? She’d read the books and seen the movies about the quirky underground dwellers. Everyone in Hobbit-land knew each other’s business, and they all looked about as dirty as she felt.

Hoping she’d see sunlight soon, she stepped into the hall and spotted Beth at the end of the hallway. As she hurried toward her, questions about what she’d witnessed in the garage begged to be voiced. Maybe Beth had a few answers. “Hey, can I ask you a few more questions?”

“Sure, but if it’s about the explosion, Scarlett would be the better person to ask since she has the security clearances.”

“Understood.” But she wouldn’t wait for Scarlett. And she didn’t need security clearances. She could think of a few ways to get the information out of Nic. Using drastic tactics on him was risky, though. If she wasn’t careful, she could fall victim to his charm.

Charms that could apparently burn through metal.

Beth reached for the door to the reception area.

“Wait.” Olivia gripped her elbow. “Are we being watched in here? Listened to?”

Beth shrugged. “I have no idea. I imagine there are cameras all over headquarters for security reasons, but Scarlett told me she and Chris had sex in MedLab once. She wouldn’t have done it if she knew anyone was watching or listening.”

“Really?” Olivia giggled. Even though her throat still hurt, the sound felt good. “Scarlett? She seems so…”

“Straitlaced? Shy?” Beth smiled. “Chris has done wonders for our sister’s self-esteem.”

“Our sister?”

“Yup. She’s my sister and so are you. So that makes us all bestie siblings.” She winked. “I can’t wait until the three of us—well, five with Patience and Tessa—can have a girls’ night.” She wrinkled her nose. “Without snipers, and poisonings, and explosions, of course.”

Olivia muttered, “Of course,” as she followed Beth into the reception area.

“And if Scarlett drinks enough, which is like only two glasses of wine, we can get her to spill about her MedLab sexcapades.”

Olivia sank against the wall like a roller coaster had launched her into a dizzying spiral.

How had she ever thought she and Nic could have a clandestine affair?

One kiss, and not even to his lips, had led her into a soap opera complete with drama, danger, and family who knew everyone else’s business.

“You know about my grandmother, right?” Olivia lowered her voice just in case someone had stashed a listening device somewhere. “I mean about her apparent soulmate sense?”

“Ooh, Kane calls it a sixth sense, but I like soulmate sense better.”

“Did Gran have anything to say about you and Kane when?—”

The door to the reception area opened. Her brother strode in and pulled Beth to his side. He kissed the top of her head as he looked at Olivia. “You all right?”

“Oh yeah. Just two sisters catching up about normal stuff like bombs and underground bunkers.”

Kane raised an eyebrow as he reached for her duffel bag. “We need to go.”

She brushed away his help as she eyed him take Beth’s hand.

He used to revel in teasing her about secrets he knew and she didn’t.

He didn’t look amused now, or smug, and he held plenty of secrets he couldn’t share.

Back home, he always somehow managed situations with humor, like when a horse was in distress or after their father died and Mom was too incoherent to make decisions.

Not a hint of humor tilted his lips now.

As twins, she thought she knew all the sides of Kane.

Sometimes, she swore she felt what he was feeling.

For months after their father’s funeral, she distanced herself from him.

Being around a mirror image of their dad doubled her grief.

And the day Kane’s leg had been blown off, a searing pain had torn through her hip while she’d been jogging.

The knot in her belly tightened as Kane hurried her and Beth into the elevator.

As the doors closed, he placed his hand on Beth’s back, as if she’d disappear if they didn’t have contact.

The hard set of his jaw, so like their father’s, spoke of danger and secrets, commitment and love.

While she’d only been at VIPER headquarters for a short time, she knew life inside the VIPER-verse, and not just these four walls, required commitment to country, justice, and family.

It also demanded a sacrifice of privacy and security.

She admired the commitment but wanted nothing to do with the sacrifice, yet she couldn’t help but wish Nic were here to take her hand, even if he did consider her a problem.