Chapter 8
Hunter took Savvie’s hands in a gentle grip. When she didn’t pull free, he tugged lightly, bringing her close. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her.
He didn’t hold her tightly. If she wanted to be free, all she had to do was step back.
She didn’t.
For a long moment, she stood, her body stiff, her breathing labored. “The last time I told anyone what happened was in front of a judge when I was held for the murder of my stepfather.”
“Couldn’t they see that you’d done it in self-defense?” He smoothed a hand down her back in a soothing, repetitive motion. “Didn’t your mother tell the police what happened?”
Savvie snorted softly. “She told the police that I’d killed him.” Her head moved side to side. “No. She screamed to them that I’d killed him. She continued to scream as they loaded her into the ambulance.”
“Oh, Savvie.” Hunter’s fingers gripped her upper arms.
Savvie leaned back and glared up into his eyes. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for me. You’re the first person I’ve told what happened outside the court. I didn’t tell you so that you could feel sorry for me.” Though she’d leaned back, she didn’t leave his embrace.
“Okay. I won’t feel sorry for you.” Hunter brushed a strand of her hair off her cheek. “But I want to understand what happened.”
She allowed him to bring her close again. “I just told you. I killed my stepfather.”
“Defending yourself and your mother against that bastard.”
“Yeah, well, it didn’t help that my mother called me a murderer.”
“They took you into custody?”
Savvie nodded, the stiffness in her back easing slightly. “I was sent to a juvenile detention center because my mother was in no condition to care for me. I was in the detention center through most of my last year of high school. I finished by taking the GED.”
“Smart.”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t have gone back to my school. Everyone thought of me as a cold-blooded murderer. Besides, I had to have my day in court. Because of the nature of the crime and the fact I was seventeen, they tried me as an adult.”
“And they saw reason and let you walk away, free,” Hunter concluded. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to join a government para-military assassination team. You’d have been classified as high risk.”
Her lips twisted. “After high school, I was going to join the Marines. They pulled me out at MEPS to interview for the organization. They’d studied my background. They asked me if I was given the same situation with my mother and stepfather, would I do it again?”
“What did you say?” Hunter held his breath.
“I said without hesitation.” Her fingers curled into the soft cotton T-shirt he wore.
He liked the way her fingernails scraped across his skin beneath the jersey. “It was him or you and your mother. You had to do it. Did your mother ever clear up her version of the event?”
Savvie leaned her forehead against his chest. “No. Ralph had kicked her so many times with his steel-toed boot she had internal injuries and bleeding. She spent the last days of her life in the hospital. They couldn’t stop the bleeding.
It turned into an infection. She wouldn’t forgive me for killing her husband.
My mother claimed she had nothing left to live for, so she died. ”
“Wow.” Hunter couldn’t believe a mother would put that guilt on her child. Because she didn’t want his pity, he didn’t say he was sorry, though he was. He stood in silence for a long time, holding her.
Her stiffness faded until she melted into him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“My mother didn’t forgive me. That hurt. But I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I’d let that bastard continue to beat her. I should’ve killed him sooner. She might still be alive today.”
“They recruited you to be an assassin. What made you accept?” he asked.
She looked up at him. “They promised me that the people I would target were bad. They gave me their dossiers prior to the missions. I did my own research as well. My hits were truly bad people who’d done terrible things to others.
In a way, I was trying to save more people like my mother from being abused or murdered.
The world is a better place without people like Marcus Caldwell. ”
She looked away. “But I only did a fraction of the job. There’s more work to be done to shut down their operation and free the people they’ve captured.”
With his thumb, Hunter turned her gaze back to him and stared down into her eyes, his heart swelling at the passion and conviction reflected in their gray-blue depths. “You’re not manning this mission solo anymore. We will finish the job.”
Her brow furrowed. “I worry that bringing your people in on this task will put them in danger.”
“It’s what we do,” he said. “We chose to be a part of Brotherhood Protectors, knowing the job would be risky. We accepted that risk when we signed on. All of us are prior military. We’ve fought in wars and know what it means to run into a hot zone.”
“But Kyla…” Savvie shook her head. “Her baby didn’t sign up for danger. What if by helping me, we put her baby at risk?”
“The team will make sure Kyla and her baby are safe. You know her.” He brushed his thumbs across Savvie’s cheeks.
“She won’t back down. She’s just as much a part of the team as the rest of us.
When she commits to a task, she’s like a pit bull with a bone.
She’ll sink her teeth in and won’t let go until the mission is complete. ”
Savvie’s lips twisted into a faint smile. “She was that way during our training. She was completely focused and one hundred percent badass.”
Hunter smiled down at her. “Like you. Seeing you in action when we met up was impressive. And you managed to get away from a man choking you and his two thugs. That’s badass in my books.” He bent and brushed a kiss across her forehead.
The gesture sent a blast of heat all the way to his groin. If that little flutter of a kiss elicited that much of a reaction, he could only imagine what a full-on kiss would generate.
His gaze shifted to her lips, and he lowered his head.
The sound of an engine firing up broke through the trance he’d fallen into the moment he’d wrapped his arms around Savvie.
She blinked, stiffened and stepped away.
A tractor emerged from one of the storage buildings and rumbled toward them. The man driving it waved, bringing the machine to a halt beside them. He shifted into neutral, set the brake and climbed down.
“You must be the new girl,” he said and held out his hand. “I’m Tinker, resident maintenance and handyman.”
Hunter didn’t know whether to curse the man or thank him for his untimely interruption. Had he not come out when he had, Hunter would have kissed Savvie. Not a brotherly brush of the lips across her forehead. He’d have claimed her mouth with all the passion roiling beneath his surface.
The woman had enough to worry about. She didn’t need a relative stranger hitting on her.
She’d just opened up to him, spilling her guts about the event that had changed her life forever.
What a jerk to take advantage of her when she had to be overwhelmed with memories. Not to mention, she probably suffered from PTSD from the abuse she’d experienced at the hands of her stepfather. And then to be rejected by her dying mother…
He wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep her there, taking away all the pain and sadness.
Hell, she was a trained assassin, used to operating solo. She didn’t need him to shield her from danger and probably wouldn’t appreciate any attempt to do so.
If he wanted to help Savvie, he’d have to treat her as an equal, someone who could fight alongside him, not take a backseat to any threat.
Tinker shook Savvie’s hand. “Hunter giving you the tour of the grounds?”
Savvie smiled at the man. “He is.”
“Check out the last stall in the barn.” Tinker tilted his head toward the structure. “Someone left a surprise there last night.”
Hunter frowned. “Who left what?”
Tinker shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.” He climbed up onto the tractor. “Got some mowing to do, or I’d show you myself.” Tinker shifted the tractor into gear, and it lurched forward. Moments later, he disappeared around the side of the lodge.
“Tinker’s a retired Marine. Spent his military service in the motor pool. He can fix anything. In fact, he’s got an old Abrams tank behind the barn he’s been working on since I’ve known him.”
Savvie’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
Hunter nodded. “Not sure what he plans to do with it once he gets it running. It’s a favorite with the children of the guests. They can climb all over it.”
“Is everyone who works here prior military?” she asked.
Hunter grinned. “I guess so if you count your organization as a secret branch of the military. Kyla’s the only one who didn’t serve in one of the traditional branches of service.”
“Mr. Jacobs?” she asked.
“Marine.” Hunter turned toward the barn.
Savvie fell in step beside him.
He reached out a hand and captured hers.
She didn’t resist.
They walked together the rest of the way, hand in hand.
Hunter liked the feel of her slender fingers resting in his palm. He admired the strength in her hand. When they reached the barn, he had to release his grip to open the door. He stood back, allowing her to enter first.
When they’d been in the barn earlier, they’d gone straight up to the war room in the loft.
This time, Hunter took the time to show Savvie around the lower level of the large structure.
He opened a door leading into a room to the right.
“This is the tack room where we keep the saddles, bridles, brushes, medications and anything you might need for the few horses that reside here. You’re more than welcome to ride any one of them.
They’re all well-trained and easy to handle.
” He glanced at Savvie. “Maybe I should ask first... Do you ride?”
Savvie shook her head. “Never have. I grew up in Atlanta. When I was eight, I asked for riding lessons for my birthday. Mom could barely afford to put food on the table. There was no way she could’ve afforded riding lessons.”