Chapter 31
“ C ome on.” Kane tugged Beth out of the conference room and down a long hallway lined with paintings of military battle scenes. She had to jog beside him to keep up with his long, determined strides, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was making Beth believe he’d come home alive.
“Where are we going?”
He stopped at a scanner by a door at the end of the hall and peered into it. “I need to show you something.” The seconds it took for the device to verify his retinal signature seemed like hours. As soon as the door opened, he tugged Beth inside and pinned her to the wall. “You want to know about the voodoo magic Scarlett and the rest of the brainiacs here at VIPER put in my body?”
“Did Edgar give you permission to tell me?”
The perk of excitement in her voice assured him that sharing his secrets wasn’t just right; it was essential. Edgar had instructed him to only use his weaponry if it was a matter of life or death. Telling Beth what VIPER engineered him to be, why his chances of surviving the bloodiest, harshest, deadliest situations imaginable were life or death. It killed him to know she feared she’d be the cause of his demise. She needed to know that coming back to her gave him more reasons to live.
“No, I don’t have permission, but I’m telling you anyway.” He wasn’t waiting for Edgar to sort through red tape. The worry needed to be wiped from her psyche now. He trusted her to not tell a soul about what she was about to witness. She’d kept Triple X to herself for years. He had no doubts she’d keep VIPER’s secrets and no doubt his brothers would understand why he disclosed classified information. Beth wasn’t just Scarlett’s bestie any longer. She was part of the VIPER family because she was…
Mine.
He wasn’t about to tell her that yet though. Hell, he wasn’t ready to say it aloud either, but between Jenna’s last words, Gran’s insight into his mother and her warning about regretting not living every moment on this earth with the snarky scientist he hadn’t meant to fall for, his thought didn’t seem so scary.
Beth took in the four bays with paper targets at the end in the shape of bodies. “This is a shooting range.”
“Yeah, it is.” He picked up a pair of thick, red-tinted glasses and handed them to her. “Put these on and watch.”
“Watch what?”
“You can’t see what I’m about to show you unless you put the glasses on.”
She opened her mouth, presumably to ask more questions, but he silenced her with a quick kiss. Against her lips, he murmured, “Just do it and watch.”
Slipping into bay number two, he stared down the long stretch and focused on the target. He’d never been in the range without his brothers, but it didn’t feel weird. Being here with Beth, sharing what he’d become, felt almost as intimate as making love to her.
He froze as his thoughts echoed in his brain like a gunshot.
Shit, is this what it felt like to be in love? What Chris had felt like when he’d fallen for Scarlett? Like he’d tear down any enemy that threatened the woman who had infiltrated his mind and heart so quickly, so easily, he’d been powerless to stop it. Chris had put his job on the line to protect Scarlett. Kane was about to do the same thing for Beth. If Edgar found out—no, when Edgar found out because that man knew everything that happened at headquarters—Kane would be in big trouble.
He grabbed glasses from a hook by the door and shoved them onto his face. He didn’t care about the consequences. The only thing that mattered was proving his point.
And the way to do that was to blow shit up.
On that thought, he activated his weaponry and welcomed the deadly current. The pain-laced pleasure reminded him that he was alive. That being a super soldier didn’t sentence him to the same fate as his father. That he hadn’t lost everything that day in the desert. That he’d been granted a second chance at life—at love—and he’d been too afraid to take it.
He glanced back at Beth as he adjusted the safety glasses that allowed him to track his V-Strikes as they streamed down the corridor and found the target. Witnessing his weaponry in action always gave him a thrill, but he spun to face Beth as he thought the command to fire.
The wonder on her face, like she’d unlocked a scientific secret that could change the world, made him feel ten feet tall. Her work with Triple X would change the world, and he was the lucky devil who had a shot at witnessing it with her.
No regrets .
Serve first, love later.
The two camps battled in his mind as V-Strikes streamed from his leg in rapid succession, each one fueled by his drive to obliterate everyone who hurt the smart, beautiful reason a war waged in his mind. As his V-Strikes hit the target, he locked his gaze with that reason and ticked off the degenerates who had hurt her.
Chavez.
The men in black who’d infiltrated the safe house.
Judy Martin and her big-mouthed entourage.
A few seconds and a dozen V-Strikes later, he powered down his weaponry. His breath puffed in short pants, not from exertion but from what the amazement etched on Beth’s pretty face did to his heart.
Catching his breath, he motioned to the speaker on the wall next to the door.
She yanked off her glasses and hit the button. “Holy shit, Kane. Are those lasers?”
He smiled at the astonishment in her voice as he pulled off his own glasses and exited the bay. “We call them V-Strikes, but they are a kind of a laser.”
She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Her other hand covered his heart. “Based on what I just saw, you truly are a superhero.”
He felt the reverence in her words deep down in his core. “Yes. I am, but I didn’t bring you in here to show off.” Although hearing her say it inflated his ego and his heart tenfold.
“You seem kind of excited by that display, and who could blame you? That was out-of-this-world.” She pressed her palm against his chest. “No wonder your heart is racing so fast.”
He gently nudged her away as excitement pounded in other places besides his heart. “As you pointed out, the only bulletproof part of me is my leg, but I need to prove to you I’m well-protected when I go into battle. A bulletproof helmet covers my head and face. Body armor covers my arms, my other leg, and torso. My neck is even protected by it. I have the fastest reaction time of any soldier out there because I don’t have to pull a trigger. Scarlett engineered us to control our weaponry with our minds. I think, and a chip implanted in the back of my neck works its cyborg voodoo magic, as you call it, and the V-Strike lands where I want it to.”
“Holy shit. My friend really is the biggest genius on the planet.” She brushed her hand along his thigh. “I can’t fathom how this is all possible. I have so many questions.”
“The science behind it isn’t what matters right now.” He snagged her hand and pressed her palm against his steel. “This makes me a human weapon, but it’s more than that. As you know, I can communicate with the team in my head. The technicians at headquarters can see me in the field and give me real-time data as an operation goes down. They monitor my vitals and if I’m incapacitated, they can shoot V-Strikes remotely from my body to keep hostiles away until help can come.”
Blood slowly drained the awe from her face. “That all sounds amazing, but really, really dangerous.”
“My job is dangerous, but VIPER has more advantages than any other fighting force out there. The chances of me surviving a mission are much higher than not.”
When she didn’t respond, he cupped her face between his hands. “Do you get it now? Do you understand that I’m safer than most people walking around on this planet? That if I die, it’s because someone—that has nothing to do with you—went through a lot of trouble to make it happen.”
“I get it. You’re a marvel of modern science.” She glanced toward the decimated target. “No, make that modern warfare. You’re nearly invincible.” She bit her lip. “And incredible.”
With a tug, he pulled her flush against him. He smiled at her surprised gasp when his erection pressed into her belly. “Repeat the part about me being a marvelously incredible superhero.”
“No, your ego is already too big.” She grew silent as she traced the muscle of his flesh-and-bone leg through his jeans. “But then again, I’d be damn confident if I could shoot deadly lasers out of my body.”
He hissed as her knuckles grazed his hard cock. “Um, there’s only one thing I can shoot out of that, and if you don’t stop touching it, I’m damn confident my target will be your pretty mouth.”
Instead of using her tongue for a comeback, she licked her glossy lips.
The blood in his cock thrummed at the sexy as fuck sight. “Does that mean you’re about to send me off on a dangerous mission with a huge smile on my face?”
Gloomy shadows veiled her bright eyes. Her gaze fell to the floor as her shoulders slumped.
Shit. Dangerous mission was the wrong thing to say .
He could see an intimate battle between facts and fear raging in her eyes. Could feel it in his soul as deeply as his own clash between no regrets and serve first, love later, raged in his head. He’d brought her here to prove he was strong and nearly invincible, and she’d believed him. Her understanding, her admiration for what VIPER had made him into hadn’t only inflated his ego, they’d given an advantage to the side of the battle he wanted, no needed with every breath he took, with every beat of his heart, to be the victor.
No regrets.
The winning mantra pounded in his brain along with his determination. “Beth, tell me that you get me. You are not a black widow.”
“I know,” she whispered.
The slouch of her body said she didn’t. He raised her chin with his fingers. “What can I do to help you make you understand that you’re not?”
“There’s nothing you can do. It’s me that’s screwed up. I’m a woman of science who believes in a foolish curse. Or used to believe. Maybe.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “God, Kane, I’ve held on to this for so long. I can’t let it go overnight.”
He cupped her elbows and raised her defeated body. “Yes, you can. I let my demons go in the space of a few days.”
“What demons?”
Memories rushed through his mind in bittersweet lucidity. His mom and dad slow dancing in the living room. The sobs she hid behind her bedroom door when his dad shipped out for months. Her joyous, tear-filled smile when he returned. Leave. Cry. Repeat. He’d grown up watching the cycle until it didn’t repeat any longer and his mom got stuck on cry.
But Beth hadn’t got stuck on cry. She hadn’t gotten stuck at all except on that stupid black widow crap. If anyone was tough enough to handle the risks of being in a relationship with him, it was Beth.
Sighing, he scrubbed the stubble on his chin. “The demons I’m talking about are the ones that told me I couldn’t get close to a woman until I was out of the military because I was afraid of leaving her behind.” He sighed into his hand and blew out his fears like an extinguisher to a five-alarm blaze. “Afraid of abandoning my family. Thanks to grief so bad, so strong, Livvie and I lost my mom before she died.” He laced his hands behind his neck and squeezed the gut-wrenching words out for good. “And then she did die, and I blamed myself for not realizing that she was alone and scared and maybe just needed someone to be strong when she couldn’t.”
Beth touched his cheek. “That’s why you felt the need to help me, wasn’t it? Because you didn’t want me to go through it all alone.”
He nodded as he leaned into her palm. The softness of her skin absorbed the last of his worries. “I knew the risks my father took each time he deployed, and I was proud of him for it. But the only risk my mom took was loving a man who chose a lethal career. But now I know that she understood the risks too, and even though the worst scenario broke her, it didn’t break her completely. Gran set me straight about how hard she fought to build herself back up after Livvie and I left for college.” He moved her hand from his cheek and laced their fingers together as the broken parts of him mended at their touch. “Now I’m fighting for you, Beth. Fight for me.”
She placed their joined hands over her heart. “I’m so sorry. For you and your mom.”
“I don’t want your sympathy.” He squeezed her hand to accept her understanding and support though. “What I want is for you to realize you deserve happiness.” His voice rose along with his desperation. He couldn’t admit his love until she accepted that the three gravestones in the cemetery weren’t her fault. “You are not cursed.” He gently shook her shoulders to drive home his point. “Not. Cursed. Understand?”
“I’m trying, but you can’t be the next boyfriend I mourn, Kane.” She shrugged him off and backed away. “And I get what you are saying. You are less likely to die than any other soldier out there, but my heart can’t take it.” She placed her hand over the beating organ. “It never pounded like this for the others. It won’t just break if something happens to you. It will explode and leave me in a billion jagged pieces.”
His heart sped up. “What are you saying, Beth?”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m saying I think I’m falling for you, but I’m scared and…”
He yanked her against him. Cupping both cheeks in his hand, he silenced her protests with a kiss. When he came up for air, two words that scared him more than any mission he’d faced but felt right burst from his lips against hers. “Marry me.”