Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“This is a bad idea.” Kane was adamant. “You can’t do this, Gray. The woman is a civilian. She is not set to handle the kind of nightmare you’re planning.”
Gray looked up from his laptop. “You need to give Luna Black more credit. She eluded Marcus and his men for weeks. She managed to contact me. To convince me that she was legit. She stayed alive. She stayed hidden. No small task, I can promise you.”
Kane slapped his hands on the desk in front of Gray. A temporary desk Grayson had been given at the FBI office in New Orleans. “You are going to use her,” Kane accused.
“Um, she is a material witness. She can bring down some very bad people. Not just Marcus, though he is a freaking walking nightmare. But everyone in his web. This could be a major score.”
Kane shook his head. “She’s a lamb being led to a slaughter. I saw her. I spoke to her. She is not ready for what you’re planning.”
Carefully, Gray closed his laptop. He’d just sent the intel report to Ronan. In order for the scheme he was hatching to work, he’d need Ronan fully on board. He’d also need to move around a few more pieces on the chess set. “You don’t know what I’m planning.” He pulled off the glasses he’d been wearing and dropped them near Kane’s right hand.
“You think the bastard has trophies. You want to find them. Only in order to do that, someone will have to get very close to the guy.”
Yes, that was all true.
“You’re gonna leak that she’s still alive.” Kane leaned forward more. “And when you do, Ronan is going to kick your ass.”
Gray straightened his tie. “I’m not leaking anything.” Yet. “I’m just coming up with options. That’s all. I can’t have Marcus turning his homicidal attention elsewhere. Better he be focused on the prey that happens to have herself an around-the-clock guard. A very skilled and capable guard, as we both know.”
“He will kick your ass,” Kane said again. “The worst beatdown ever.”
“He’s like my best friend.” Sort of. Pretty close? “He’ll understand. Ronan knows that sometimes, a job can get…messy.” Understatement.
“He’s won’t let anything get messy when it comes to her.”
Okay, there was something about Kane’s voice that worried him. “You know something I don’t?”
Kane sent him an enigmatic half-smile.
Well, that smile told him jackshit. Gray sighed. “I’m not throwing the woman to the wolves, okay? I’m just considering options.”
“You’d better reconsider them.”
Kane didn’t understand the situation. He had no clue how many murders might actually be tied to Marcus. But, if Gray could get to the truth…
This wouldn’t just be about putting Marcus Aeros away for one murder. This could be about ? —
“Ronan isn’t going to let her be put at risk.”
“Of course, no one is putting her at risk. Whatever happens, I’ll make sure Ronan is with Luna twenty-four, seven.” Hadn’t he said that already? Or something similar? Gray sent Kane what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
Surprise, surprise, though, Kane didn’t appear overly reassured. He looked extra grim as he charged, “You were setting the pieces in motion when you got me to text the pic of the dead man to Marcus.”
“You sent that?”
“You damn well know I did. Was that the first part of the plan? You trying to enrage him?”
“Marcus needs to see that there is no one he can trust to do the dirty work for him. His number one guy, Kurt, is cold in a morgue. With a bullet in his chest. Hmmm…” His fingers tapped against the top of the closed laptop. “Just who do you think Marcus will believe sent that text? And killed his cousin?”
“He’ll think it was Ronan, of course.”
An incline of Gray’s head.
“You want him going after Ronan?”
“I think that Marcus is probably scared shitless of Ronan.”
“Most people are,” Kane agreed. “Kurt had his gun drawn at that cabin. He was ready to fire. Ronan was faster.” A low whistle. “No hesitation. Just fast as hell.”
Ronan had always been fast, and when it came to killing, he never hesitated. “Scared men are dangerous. Scared men are sloppy.”
“You want him going after Ronan.” Not a question this time.
“Ronan is hidden.” For the moment. Until Gray was ready for him to step into the light once more. “We don’t have to worry about him or Luna right now.” Because more plans needed to be put in place first. He was just at the beginning stages. All the players weren’t on the board yet. Or, if they were, they weren’t in their correct positions. “I sent Ronan intel he needs on Luna.”
“What kind of intel?” Suspicion darkened Kane’s features.
“Pretty much every detail of her life.” Obviously. “Knowledge is power, you know that.”
“What the hell do you expect him to do? Manipulate her?”
If it became necessary, yes. “Sometimes, it gets really messy when you’re trying to stop a monster.”
“And sometimes, you can become a monster if your fool-ass isn’t careful enough.”
Too late for that warning, my friend. “This isn’t Luna’s world, but she’s in it now. And there will be no easy way out. Not even for a dead woman.” He looked pointedly at Kane’s hands. Hands that were still slapped on the top of his desk. “Now, do you mind giving me a bit of personal space? It’s late. I need to crash.”
“Got to have that beauty sleep before you start wrecking lives, check.”
His eyelids flickered. “Ronan hauled me out of hell.” On more than one occasion, actually. “I love him like a brother. You should know that I would never, ever put him at unnecessary risk.”
“Sure, but Ronan lives for risk, doesn’t he? That’s pretty much the only time he actually feels alive. When he’s facing death.” Kane yanked his hands off the desk and spun around. Kane started to march away but then stopped. “What about her?”
“Excuse me?”
He glanced back. Gray had already stood. Gray made sure no emotion showed on his face.
“What about Luna? His new bride?”
“That’s just a cover story.”
“Ah. Right. Sure.” Kane scraped a hand over his jaw. “You do enjoy using those stories, don’t you?”
It was a convenient ruse. “A man and a woman have been thrown together. They have to stay close to each other, twenty-four, seven. Either they are lovers, or they are brother and sister. You tell me…would anyone in the world buy that Ronan was her brother?”
A sharp bark of laughter escaped Kane. “Not the way he looks at her.”
Again… Problematic. “Good thing that Ronan knows how to stay professional.”
Kane winked at him. “Yep. Keep telling yourself that. Professional. Cold as ice. Hard to the core. That’s our Ronan. No heart in his chest. No soul in his body. That’s a man who will never get caught up in a woman’s web.” He faced forward. “Not a man who would throw everything else away because all he wants to do is keep her safe and keep her. ”
“ Kane!” Real alarm flashed through Gray. “Kane, are they involved? Is it personal?” But, no, impossible. This time, he was the one to laugh. Kane hadn’t even glanced back at him, but Gray laughed. Hard. “Nice one, buddy. But they just met. The woman has practically lived like a nun. She never takes risks. She’s safe and dependable. And he is ice cold. Not like he’s going to meet her and fuck her instantly. Not like she’d ever be the type to do that with a dangerous stranger.”
“Uh, huh. You keep right on using that psychology degree of yours, bro. Keep right on impressing me with how much you know about the human psyche and personal interaction.” He reached for the door. Paused. And did look back once more. “You’ve never been in the field, trapped in a life-or-death situation, with a woman who makes you ache, have you?”
Gray frowned. Something was going on here. Suddenly, he wasn’t even sure that this was about Ronan and Luna.
“You want her more than anything. Is it the adrenaline? The constant pump of danger? All emotions are heightened, even emotions that you damn well didn’t think you possessed. You have to stay with her. You have to be close to her all the time. Sometimes, even a saint would be tempted.” Kane cleared his throat. “We both know Ronan is no saint.”
No, he was death.
But the way Kane was talking… “I thought you’d gotten over the past.” Or maybe he’d just hoped that Kane had.
Kane rolled his shoulders back. “I’m not talking about the past. I’m talking about Luna Black. Obviously. That’s the woman Ronan is protecting. I’m talking about Luna.”
“No.” He hadn’t been. Kane had been talking about someone who’d gotten through his careful guard. The one woman who’d been his kryptonite.
“I’m trying to give you a helpful word of warning. I didn’t cross a line.” Kane turned his head away. “Wish like hell that I had, though.” He opened the door. Paused on the threshold. “This is a bad fucking idea.”
Unfortunately, it was the only idea that Gray currently had…
The only chance that he had of taking down an individual he deemed a major threat. Someone responsible for too many deaths, with too many dangerous ties.
In order to bring him down, Gray just needed help from one woman.
Luna Black.
A woman with a protector who would kill for her.
Ronan will keep her safe. He will do the job.
He always did the job.