Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(18)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Once.” Pain had trembled in her voice. A longing for what couldn’t be. Juliana had been so sure that death waited for her. And it had. She’d drawn in a ragged breath and said, “But Logan didn’t love me back.”

Diego stared down at the picture. Tough SEALs weren’t supposed to show fear. Not any emotion. But…right there, on Logan Quinn’s face, Diego saw that the man had been afraid.

Not for himself.

For the woman he held so tightly. The woman he’d shielded with his own body when the car exploded, and Diego knew he was staring at—

Her Logan.

Ah, Juliana, I’m not so sure he didn’t love you back.

Diego picked up a red marker and circled the face of his target. “You have six hours to find Quinn.” The man wouldn’t have left the area with Juliana, not yet.

Not…yet.

Diego glanced back up at Luis. “You know what happens if you fail.”

Luis gave a grim nod. Then he grabbed for the photo and hurried toward the door.

“Your daughter…” Diego called after him softly. “She’s six now, isn’t she?”

Luis’s shoulders stiffened. “Sí.” More growl than anything else.

“I’ll have to make sure to send her an extra-special gift to celebrate her next birthday.”

Luis glanced back. Ah, there it was. The fear. Flashing in the man’s dark eyes. “Not necessary.” His Spanish accent thickened with the broken rasp of his voice. “You’ve done enough for her. For me.”

Diego’s gaze fell to the rough scars on Luis’s throat, then after a moment, he looked back up into the other man’s eyes. Let the tension stretch. Then he smiled. “She’s such a pretty little girl. So delicate. But then, children are always so fragile, aren’t they?”

Luis lifted the photo. “Do you want him dead?”

Now the man was showing the proper motivation. Diego considered his question, then nodded. “Once you have Juliana in your custody, kill the agent. Do it in front of her.” The better to break her.

Luis’s fingers whitened around the photo. “Sí.”

Diego watched him walk away, satisfaction filling him. His resources were nearly limitless. With Diego’s power behind him, there would be no stopping Luis. Money could motivate anyone. The right targets taken out—the right information gained, and Luis could attack.

If someone else was trying to kill Juliana, then they’d just offer more to keep her alive. An insurance policy. Diego liked to have backup plans in place.

And as for the SEAL, they wouldn’t need others to kill him. Luis could send out near-instant checks on Quinn, find any property he had. Find his friends, his family.

Hunt the bastard.

Then kill him.

Luis might be a good father, but he was an even better killer.

Especially when the man was properly motivated…

Logan Quinn was already dead; the fool just didn’t know it.

Chapter Five

“It wasn’t Guerrero.”

Juliana blinked at the rough words and tried to push away the heavy darkness of sleep that covered her. She blinked a few more times, letting her eyes adjust to the faint light.

Where am I?

She glanced around. Saw the old, gleaming wood. Felt the lumpy couch beneath her.

Met Logan’s bright stare.

The cabin.

The memories flooded back. Fire. Death. A nightmare that she wouldn’t be waking up from anytime soon.

She pulled the blanket closer. “What? What are you talking about?”

He sat on the couch, his legs brushing her thighs. The move made her too aware of him, but then, she always felt too aware when he was close.

And he expected me to sleep in that bed upstairs? Oh, no. She wasn’t up for that kind of punishment. Too much pleasure. Too much pain waited up there.

She’d bunked on the couch. She wasn’t even sure where he’d gone.

“I got a call from Sydney.”

Juliana scrambled to a sitting position. Okay, maybe she was just trying to put some distance between her body and his.

Logan shook his head. “There’s a price on your head. Damn high.”

“We already knew that….”

The faint lines around his mouth deepened. “The money is being offered if you are taken in alive.”

“What?” No, that didn’t make any sense. “The car exploded. That’s not exactly a way guaranteed to keep me breathing.” Or Charles. Poor Charles. Dead in an instant, for no reason.

He ran a hand through his hair. “That hit…Sydney doesn’t think it was from Guerrero’s crew. The chatter she’s hearing all indicates that was from…someone else.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs. “You’re telling me that two people want me dead?” Could this get any worse for her?

Logan touched her. It could. The heat of his touch burned through her. His fingers wrapped around her arms. “Guerrero doesn’t want you dead. Syd is sure that he wants you brought in alive. And he’s willing to pay top dollar to make sure you arrive breathing.”

Her breath whispered out. “Because he thinks I have the evidence?”

A slow nod. Did he realize that his fingers were caressing her arms? Moving in small, light strokes against her skin. “I don’t have it,” she whispered. If she did, then maybe this could all end.

Logan could go back to his life.

She’d go back to hers.

“Syd is working with local law enforcement. They’re gonna find out who rigged the car.” He exhaled on a rough breath but didn’t release her. “The limo was swept before it left the senator’s house. It was cleared.”

But then it had still exploded.

She’d never forget the fury of the fire sweeping over her.

“I’ll be with you. Don’t worry. You’ll stay safe.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one being targeted by two killers. She stared into his eyes.

But…

But Logan had been targeted for death plenty of times before. She knew it. Death was his life. His job.

He was a survivor. A fighter.

If something were to happen, if one of those men hunting her came too close…

I don’t want to be helpless. “Teach me,” she said, pushing away the covers.

Logan blinked in surprise. “Uh, Julie…”

Under the blanket, she wore a loose T-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts. Not exactly sexy, but his gaze still dropped to her legs, lingered.

Her heartbeat kicked up a beat. “Teach me to fight, Logan.” He’d already taught her to make love years before.