Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(44)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He also wasn’t alone. He heard the soft rasps of breath coming too fast. So close to him.

There was a faint beam of light on the floor to the right, just a sliver that came from beneath what Logan suspected to be a door.

He tried to shift in his chair but the pain doubled, knifing through him.

Hell, yeah, he’d been knifed all right—

“Logan?”

He stilled. That was Juliana’s voice, and when he took a breath, he smelled vanilla. Beyond the blood and dust and decay in the room, he smelled her.

No. Gunner should have been keeping her safe. He’d made a dumb move; Logan knew it. He’d seen the body falling and fear had made him reckless for a moment, but Juliana—

“Please, Logan, talk to me. Tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m…” He cleared his throat because his voice was no more than a growl. “I’m okay, baby.” A lie, but he would have told her anything right then. He didn’t know how much blood he’d lost; Logan just knew he was too weak.

The cops have been working for Guerrero. He’d figured that little fact out too late. From the sounds of the battle that had echoed in his ears, he knew Jasper had reached that same conclusion.

Too late.

You couldn’t even trust the good guys these days. But then, maybe there weren’t any good guys.

“I was afraid… I thought you were dead.”

“Not yet.”

Her laughter was choked. Desperate. “That’s what Guerrero said.”

And Logan knew how the guy had gotten her out of the house. This time, I was the bait. “G-Gunner?”

Silence from her, the kind that told him something had gone very wrong.

Of course something went wrong. We’re both being held in this hole, and Guerrero is about to come in and start his sick games.

Games that Logan couldn’t let the man play with Juliana.

“Susan stabbed him. When we left…he was alive. He was shooting at Guerrero.”

If Gunner was still breathing, then they had hope. He’d get Sydney. They’d track Juliana through the implant.

All his team needed was a little bit of time.

Logan could give them that time. He could take torture, as much as necessary. As long as Juliana makes it out.

He’d suffered plenty over the years. It wasn’t the first time he’d been taken hostage. He’d gotten out before. He would now.

“I’m sorry.” He had to tell her that. He couldn’t stand to be there, to all but feel her next to him, and not say the words. When he’d last seen her eyes, she’d looked as if she hated him.

If they weren’t in the darkness, would that same hate glitter in her stare?

“I didn’t want to hurt you.” Truth. “I didn’t want—”

“Logan, we can talk about that later.” Something thudded—her chair. Her leg brushed his. So close. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but the rough rope just dug into his wrists and arms.

“You will get out of here.”

“We’re getting out.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “I’ve been in this dark, you weren’t talking, I was afraid—I never want to think that you’re dead again, got it? You were so close, and I thought you had died.”

His hands fisted. “I won’t die.” But he had to warn her. He wasn’t going to lie to Juliana, not ever again. “But it’s going to be bad, baby. What comes…” He swallowed and said what she had to hear. “I can take it, understand? You stay strong and just know that I’ll be all right.”

Guerrero and his torture games. Logan had seen the bodies left behind after Guerrero’s playtime was over.

“I’m not going to let him slice into you!” Her voice was fierce. “I’ll give him what he needs. I don’t care.”

But they didn’t have anything to give him. Even if they did… “The minute you talk, we’re dead.” She was only alive because Guerrero couldn’t stand the idea that evidence was out there floating around. Evidence that could lead a path back to him.

“He’s not letting us escape,” Juliana whispered, her voice so soft in the darkness.

Logan kept pulling at those ropes. She was right. Guerrero wasn’t going to let them slip away.

“What happened?” Juliana asked. “What went wrong?”

They’d trusted the wrong local cops.

The silence must have stretched too long because she said, “Logan?”, her voice sharp.

He exhaled slowly. “The cops were working for him. When I went out, they turned on me instead of fighting off his men.” Those who’d been left alive, anyway. The cops on their side had been taken out or injured instantly. Money could talk, and Guerrero sure had a lot of dough. “Guerrero probably had a contact at the P.D., one who knew just which cops would turn for the cash.” Enough cash could make even the strongest men weak. “Hell, some of ’em might not have even been cops, just plants who were sent in.”

But he’d been fighting them back. He and Jasper had been holding their own against them all.

Until he’d lost his control. He’d seen the body and… “I thought it was you.” He’d never forget the fear. How could he? Echoes of it still burned in his bleeding gut.

“What was me?”

“When the body fell, for an instant…” He wished he could see her through the darkness. His eyes had adjusted, and he could make out the outline of her body, but that wasn’t good enough. He wanted to look into her eyes. To see her while he had the chance.

Time was all they needed. Hurry up, Syd.

His breath expelled in a rush. “I thought it was you, and I’ve never been so scared in my life.” Not even that horrible night when his father had destroyed three lives.

The night that was between them. Always would be.

His fear, that crack in his control, had cost them both. Guerrero never would have gotten the drop on him if he’d stayed focused.

But with Juliana, focus had never been his strength.

“Logan, I need to tell you…” Juliana began, her voice soft.

He wasn’t sure he could stand to hear what she had to tell him. He heard footsteps coming in the hallway, heading toward them.

“Lean toward me,” he told her.

He heard the rustle of her clothes. The creak of her chair. She was bound just like he was, but when they leaned forward, they were just close enough—

To kiss.

Logan’s mouth took hers. He kissed her with all the passion he felt. The need. The hunger. But he kept his control. He just wanted her taste on his lips. Wanted the memory to hold tight and to get him through the pain that would come.