Chapter 8
B eth stomped out of the kitchen. Kane watched her perfect sequined ass until she turned out of view.
Scarlett sighed. “Give her some space until she wraps her head around all this, okay?”
Kane nodded. She could have all the space she needed in this house, but once they left for her hometown, he’d be glued to her side whether she liked it or not. As VIPER’s therapist liked to point out, his past didn’t just leave him with a responsibility to protect those he might leave behind but also those he cared about.
Edgar pulled his keys from his pocket. “My gut tells me this is just the beginning of her troubles. Keep her safe until we figure out this cake stealer, stalker, cartel mess.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you, Admiral.” Scarlett clasped both of her hands around his. “I appreciate you taking the threat seriously.”
“Anything for my favorite genius. For now, we’re working under the assumption the stalker and Chavez are operating independently.”
Nic grabbed a handful of chips. “So even though we have no idea why Chavez didn’t steal Beth instead of the disco ball cake, we can assume the stalker watched it go down. Either that or Chavez’s been her stalker since the beginning.”
Chris shook his head. “But that doesn’t add up. The cartels aren’t into psychological warfare. They strike fast and draw blood.”
Kane agreed. It didn’t add up at all.
Ryan looked up from where he typed at the table. “You’re all set for pre-activation.”
Kane thought the passphrase to bring his weaponry online. Prior to a recent fiasco that almost caused VIPER to be disbanded, his weaponry could only be made live by headquarters. New protocols gave him the ability to bring his weaponry online quicker. If he was in a pre-activated state, all he needed to do was simply repeat his unique passphrase in his head and V-Strikes were at his command.
Seconds later, the chip at the base of his neck pricked and he twitched.
“Still sting?” Scarlett asked.
He gave her a side-eye. Fuck yeah, it still hurt to have a powerful current triggered in his body. Not as much when he was fully activated in phase two, and the current pulsed from his neck, down his torso, and into his leg, but enough to still cause a reaction.
Edgar pointed his key at him. “You only activate phase two if it’s life or death.”
“Understood, sir.” He prayed Beth’s situation wouldn’t come to that.
Scarlett tugged him down the short hall to the pantry as Edgar and Ryan packed to-go containers with leftovers. “You’ll take good care of my friend without taking her to bed, got it? Succumbing to what I see in your eyes when you look at her could be a matter of life or death. ”
“Jeez, when did you become so intense?” And when had he let his feelings for Beth become so transparent?
From the moment I met her.
When he’d run into Scarlett’s house after her townhome was breached, her gorgeous friend with the bag of ice on her head, fear in her gaze, and her chin up in the air had stopped him in his tracks. Despite the pain from Beth’s head injury and the scare from the break-in, the anti–damsel in distress with the defiant nature clearly was just as attracted to him as he was to her.
Scarlett giggled. “How could I not become more intense when I’m surrounded by super soldiers?”
“Glad to see we’ve been a good influence, but your delivery would have been better if you’d thrown in a few swear words.”
“Fine. I’m fucking serious.”
“Ah, there’s the potty-mouthed genius I’ve come to love.” He tapped her nose. “I already had this conversation with Chris. The only reason I’ll touch your friend is to push her out of danger.”
Scarlett stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t die, okay?”
“I’m a super soldier. You and your techy magic made me nearly invincible, remember?”
“Yeah, but there are some things science and technology can’t protect you from.”
Beth perched on the edge of her bed. “Kane cannot come home with me.”
Scarlett stood in front of her. “Why? Are you planning on falling in love with him?”
“You know I can’t do that, but if I could, it wouldn’t be with someone like Kane. He’s pigheaded and bossy and thinks I’m helpless.”
But you are.
For the last two years, she’d armed herself with defensive techniques in case her stalker returned. She’d installed a top-of-the-line security system that was even more secure since she’d won a free upgrade a few weeks ago. All her precautions might be enough for a lone stalker, but an enforcer from a Mexican drug cartel?
“Overbearing and protective are VIPER prerequisites. Chris is the same way. I can’t wait to watch Nic and Linc fall for someone and get all caveman on them.”
“Kane isn’t my someone.”
Scarlett sat next to Beth on the bed. “He is for the time being.”
“But he can’t be.” Beth dropped her voice to a whisper as if Kane could hear from downstairs. “He’s bound to hear people talk about my curse.”
Scarlett grabbed Beth’s hands between her palms. “And he’ll think it’s nonsense, just like you should.”
“I do think it’s nonsense.”
“No, you don’t.”
A familiar sense of shame crept through Beth. She was a scientist, for Christ’s sake. She, of all people, should know better that curses didn’t exist. It was ridiculous to believe God or the powers that be had said, “Hey, this Beth Parker chick is a bad person, so let’s punish her.” But that’s what North Benson’s gossip brigade whispered behind her back. Even though Beth had no idea what grievous sin she’d committed, the doubt her hometown’s resident gossips planted had taken root so deep into her psyche a part of her believed it.
Beth sighed and stood. “You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am on your side, but I agree with the plan. ”
“What, you work for the Department of Defense, and now you’re an expert on strategic planning?”
Hurt clouded Scarlett’s green eyes. “That’s not fair. I want you safe, and I trust Kane. Besides, all you talked about when I started working with VIPER was meeting the ‘hot vets.’”
Obsessed with meeting them had been more like it. She may not be on the hunt for love, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t discover if the nation’s finest on the battlefield were good in bed. And then Kane sauntered into Scarlett’s house in his cowboy hat and that dimpled smile. A dozen ways he could heal her had come to mind, and none of them included going to the hospital.
Yet, she’d gone with the hot, strong vet. Even though she’d fought going, he didn’t press for a reason why. Instead, he’d used his cocky charm to get her seen quickly. Made her laugh while she fought memories from the last time she’d been in the ER.
And he’d taken her for ice cream.
She sighed as she turned to her dresser and inhaled the lingering fragrance of her lilac-scented perfume. Scarlett always said the VIPER boys were more than hot vets. By the time she’d left the ER, Beth understood Kane Darren really was more than muscle, dimples, endless blue eyes, and the tightest ass she’d ever seen. He was the kind of guy a girl could fall in love with.
She liked him too much to sentence him to that fate.
Scarlett sidled up to her side. “What’s this?” She picked up a silver chain with a shiny medallion about the size of a nickel hanging from it. A heart gleamed from the center.
Beth smiled. “It’s a gift from the North Benson hospital for my fundraising services over the years. They presented it to me at the last meeting when we finalized details for the Christmas party. I attended virtually, but Evangeline was there, so she sent it to me.”
Scarlett placed the medallion back on the dresser and brushed her palms together as if they were dirty. “I hadn’t realized she was back from Dubai.”
Beth picked up the necklace and clasped it around her neck. “She got back a couple of months ago. Her three-year contract was shortened to two for some reason.”
“Are you sure the board didn’t make her send you the gift? Doing something nice doesn’t sound like her.”
Beth shrugged. “Maybe she’s trying to make amends.”
“Maybe. Either way, she’s going to be green with envy when she sees you with Kane. You’ll need to guard him like you’re his protection detail.” Scarlett opened the jewelry box on the dresser and riffled through the earrings. “I know I don’t know Evangeline that well. Maybe I’m jealous because she became your best bud after I was shipped off to boarding school. Or maybe I don’t like her because she worships my stepfather, which is a giant red flag, but she always seems like she has to one-up you. And I haven’t forgotten about the cruel things she said after Danny’s funeral.”
Beth hadn’t forgotten either. She hadn’t seen Evangeline since she’d moved to Dubai days after Danny’s burial. They’d only spoken in the last couple of months because Evangeline joined the fundraising committee at the hospital.
“Wear these to the party.” Scarlett handed Beth a pair of silver hoops encrusted with delicate crystals. “And look on the bright side. At least you don’t have to introduce Kane to your mom and dad.”
“There’s that.” Her parents were embarking on an African safari first thing in the morning. She’d already been warned communications would be spotty, thank God. If her mom got wind she’d brought a guy home for Christmas, she’d be on the first flight back with the wedding halfway planned. “I do have to contend with the gossip brigade though. They’re almost as scary as the Diablo cartel.”
“You handle the dumb gossips. Let me and the VIPER team handle the stalker and drug lords.” Scarlett swiveled her head around the room as if to make sure nobody was listening.
“Don’t worry. Kane and Nic swept the entire place for surveillance equipment.” Beth’s gaze darted toward her bathroom. How thoroughly had they checked? Earlier, she’d put her vibrator into her toiletry bag on the sink. God, she hoped she’d zipped it up.
Scarlett closed the jewelry box. “Of course they secured your place. They’re professionals. And the way they refer to themselves as super isn’t an exaggeration.”
“Can you elaborate on these superpowers?”
“No, I can’t. Just know you have four loyal, dedicated men on your side and the best technology in the world at their disposal. You’ll be safe while they work to end this.”
But would Kane be safe? While his leg felt strong enough to repel a bullet, and he looked like he could take on a gang in a dark alley with one hand tied behind his back, he was still vulnerable to forces out of his control.
The forces she shouldn’t believe in but stupidly did.