Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“Clearly, you were made for the protection business. You just can’t take your eyes off your target.”
Behind the lens of his sunglasses, Ronan did, in fact, have his eyes on his target. She was currently snorkeling about ten feet off the shore. Every few moments, she’d bob up, let out a delighted laugh, and call out to him as Luna raved about some amazing fish she’d just seen.
She’d wanted him to come in the water with her. And, oh, but she had certainly been tempting in that little black scrap of a bathing suit that she wore. How could a one-piece be described as a scrap? Fine, it probably wasn’t. Probably was meant to be demure and covering, but her breasts filled the top and her hips curved in the bottom so damn temptingly, and every single thing about her was sexy to him.
He’d stayed on shore, the better to watch over Luna. If his fool head was underwater, he might miss a threat.
Ronan couldn’t miss a threat. Especially because…
I don’t trust Gray. I think he sold her out. Sold us out. And now I’m about to learn the truth. A truth he’d get from Tyler, one way or another. He’d expected this meeting. Had, in fact, been surprised Tyler hadn’t approached him sooner. It was nearing noon. What had his buddy done? Slept the day away?
“My wife is the most gorgeous sight on this beach,” Ronan responded. “Why would I want to look anywhere else?”
Without an invitation, Tyler lowered into the chaise next to his. Luna’s chaise.
“I thought we were going to be strangers,” Ronan noted, voice lower. Only for Tyler.
“We are. We’re strangers who are quickly becoming fast friends.”
Ronan turned his head toward Tyler. Tyler—also wearing sunglasses—saluted him with a giant pineapple drink.
“What the fuck is that?” Ronan demanded. The top of the pineapple had been cut off and a straw perched inside it.
“Esme insisted we buy one. Then she took one sip and hated it.” Tyler sipped. Considered. Then announced, “I don’t mind it.”
“Fantastic for you.” Ronan’s head turned back to the best view just in time for Luna to pop up. She waved at him as a broad smile curved her lips.
“Someone seems to be having the time of her life,” Tyler murmured. “Or, is that the time of her death?”
“Fuck off,” Ronan replied pleasantly.
Instead, Tyler just spread out on the chaise and got more comfortable. “There’s a new hit.” Mild, like they were talking about the weather.
Only there was nothing mild about the reaction that blasted its way through Ronan’s body. Fury filled every cell, and a red, killing haze covered his vision. “That bastard let it leak that Luna was still alive.” Damn Gray. He would pay for his betrayal. “I told him I wasn’t going for that plan. Warned him that it would be carried out only over my dead body.” He leapt up. “I’m taking her away.” Done. Decided. Choice made. “I’ll hide Luna, and no one will ever find her.” Luna would have to stay with him now. Forever. He didn’t have to fight his instincts. This would be about her protection. Keeping her safe. Doing what was best for Luna.
He fucking had this. He took a step forward.
Tyler’s hand reached out and lazily curled around his wrist. “Slow your roll. You’re looking a wee bit too desperate and dramatic on this beautiful day.”
Screw that. “A hit is on my wife. ” Low and guttural.
“First, not really your wife. Did you forget that part?”
Luna disappeared beneath the water.
“Second, I never said the hit was on her.”
Once again, his head whipped toward Tyler.
Tyler smiled at him. “Try to look less ferocious, would you? I know that you’ve been the cold-blooded killer a while.” Barely a whisper. “But you’re playing a new role. Get with the program.” He tugged on Ronan’s arm. “And maybe get back on the chaise?”
Slowly, Ronan lowered onto the chaise. “If the hit isn’t on Luna…”
Tyler let go of his wrist, only to slap him on the shoulder. “Yeah, sorry to tell you, buddy, but it’s on you.”
“Someone put a hit on me ?”
“Considering that you offed his cousin-slash-goon, Gray thinks Marcus now believes you must be coming after him. Apparently, he hasn’t paid you for services rendered.”
Tyler hadn’t checked the offshore account. He left stuff like that to Gray and the federal crew. They were the ones who tracked down the charges and sent people away for paying killers. He stuck with the dirtier work.
The bloody work.
“The hit is on you. Gray thinks it was offered because Marcus now wants you to be the dead one. So, I hate to be the one to tell you the news but…”
“But if I’m with her, I’m the one putting a target on Luna’s back.” Because there would be plenty of people eager to take down Ronan the Relentless. Fuck. Stupid moniker. That name had been Gray’s idea.
Tyler didn’t speak. His silence was agreement.
The waves crashed into the shore. Ronan tried to unclench his fists, swallow his rage, and think.
“I learned about the hit last night. That was long after I’d been told to haul ass down here. So I’m thinking Gray had a different plan in the works, one where he was going to use me as your backup, then he got word of the hit.”
Yeah, there had been a different plan, all right. Gray had wanted to bring Luna back into the land of the living and wave her like a red flag at Marcus. Not happening.
Tyler let go of Ronan’s shoulder. Settled comfortably against his chaise. Sipped his drink. “Pretty sure Kane is on the way here, too. Whole team assembling thing, you know.”
“We haven’t been a team in a long time.” Tyler worked with the U.S. Marshals. Gray worked with the Feds. Kane worked with—well, hard to say for sure.
And I just deal with death.
“We’ll always be a team, Ronan.” Low but adamant. “Time doesn’t change that. You need me, I’m there. I do what you want, no questions asked.”
Shit. Now the guy was getting all sentimental. But usefully sentimental.
Luna broke the surface of the water. She wore her face mask. The snorkel tube poked out and bobbed near her ear.
“Gray was going to use her as bait,” Ronan spoke slowly as he came to a decision. “He needed someone to get close to Marcus. An up close opportunity for a kill.”
“He wants Marcus dead?”
I want him dead. Gray probably just wanted the prick in prison. “We think Marcus keeps trophies. If that’s the case, then we can link him to a shitload of kills.” And now Ronan had the perfect means to provide Gray with an up close opportunity to find those items. Only Luna would not be the bait in this scenario. Luna would be safe. Protected.
I’ll be the bait. Or, even better, he’d be the predator who turned the tables on Marcus Aeros. “No questions asked, huh?”
“Ronan…”
“That better not be a question coming because you just said no questions asked. ” Maybe his voice was too harsh. He didn’t care. His eyes were on Luna. She’d stood in the shallower water and was staring toward the sailboats in the distance. She’d talked about them renting a sailboat. Or going kayaking. And getting up early to watch the sunrise the next day.
All adventures he would not have with her.
But Luna? She would have every single adventure she wanted. All he had to do was eliminate the threat that dodged her steps. Then she could sing on any stage she wanted. She didn’t have to hide her talent from the rest of the world. She could live as big of a life as she wanted.
Only it will be a life without me.
“I just don’t want you to make a mistake,” Tyler warned softly. “No need to act all irrationally.”
He was being stone-cold rational. He could handle killers. She couldn’t. “Keep her on the island. It’s safe here. You’re here. Esme is here.” Tyler’s lady was hell on wheels. Ronan would never, ever bet against her. “And you just said Kane is on the way.” He considered his friend’s arrival. “I can meet up with him.” Probably in Key West. “I’ll get him to cover my six.” It was always better to launch an attack with backup. But before he left the island, he had a few more instructions for Tyler. “Make sure Luna gets to go kayaking.”
“What?”
“And she’ll want to get up early in the morning. Seeing the sunrise is important to her.”
“You know Esme doesn’t do mornings.”
“Seeing the sunrise is important to Luna.” Grim. “Set an alarm.”
“If it’s important, then show her the damn sunrise yourself!”
Ronan’s head turned. He stared at his friend. Tyler was one of the best men he’d ever met. Talk about having a true-blue core. Esme had originally sought Tyler out just because the guy was so good. Someone who couldn’t be bought. Or bribed. One of those few individuals who always did the right thing.
Ronan knew that was the reason Gray had sent Tyler to him on the island. Because Tyler would do what was right. He might not like it. He might want to fight Ronan, but in the end… you’ll keep her safe for me. “I’m leaving.” Words that he absolutely hated to say.
But they had to be spoken.
This will hurt Luna. Because she truly did believe she loved him, and he was going to leave her. Just as her father had left.
Leaving without a word. Dick move. A move he would never want to make. Never. Fuck. But if he stayed, if he told her his plans…
She would worry. She would fight him. She would refuse to let him go. He was the hitman, but he didn’t trust that Luna wouldn’t try to blow their cover and sacrifice herself in order to keep him safe. “It has to be this way.”
“Yeah, no. I’m pretty sure this deal can go down in a thousand different ways. So how about you slow your roll, take some breaths, and let’s talk.”
“Marcus wanted me to cut off her finger and give it to him as proof of her death.”
Tyler put down his drink. “Bastard.”
“Now he’s sending heavy hitters after me. Per your intel.”
“Uh, per Gray’s intel. I’m just passing along the info that he gave to me.”
“They hunt me, they get near me, and they see her? It will be over for Luna. And I happen to like her damn fingers.” He liked everything about her. “You can’t tell her I’m in danger.”
“I have never liked lists of things that I can and can’t do.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re more about giving orders than getting them. Noted.” An exhale. His gaze tracked back to Luna. She’d turned toward him.
For a moment, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. He wanted to remember her this way. The sun shining on her. That dark hair wet around her smiling face. The waves brushing lightly against her from that gorgeous water.
She waved to him once more. Then turned around to look down in the water before pulling up her mask again.
“If you only could see your face right now,” Tyler murmured.
Immediately, he locked down his expression. “She’ll fight if I explain why I’m leaving. So I’m not explaining.” He had to act, fast. Cut the ties before they are too deep. Hell, he already feared they were too deep. “Watch her. She’s a runner.”
“Fantastic.”
“I’ve had to cuff her a few times.”
“I do not need to hear about your kink.”
He’d never had that pleasure. Cuffing Luna during sex? That would have been great. So many things with her would have been great. “Some things are better left in fantasies.”
“Yeah. Like you and your cuffs. Say less, man. Say less.”
He wasn’t talking about cuffs. He was talking about the life that he might have been able to envision with Luna. But…it wouldn’t have been a life of safety. His gaze slid to the stupid snake on his wrist. He’d left his watch in the bungalow. “I hate snakes.” What if one of the enemies from his past came after him?
The same way Marcus is coming now?
If he tried to have a life with Luna, a real one, danger would always stalk them. Ronan Walker had made too many kills. Too many enemies.
“Yeah, well, if I’d been bitten after shoving my hand in a freaking tub of snakes, I’d probably hate them, too. Glad I could get you that antivenom in time.”
Because Tyler had been there. When he shouldn’t have been.
A man Ronan could always count on. “Keep her safe.”
“You need backup. Don’t do this alone.”
“I’ll contact Gray.” His lips hitched into a half-smile. “He’ll be waiting for the contact. It’s the whole reason he told you about the hit. He knew I wouldn’t serve her up as bait, but he knew I’d?—”
“Put your own fool self on the chopping block in order to protect her? Yep, noted. Gray is a sneaky SOB that way. I’ve always hated his mind games. One day, he’s gonna find a woman who is even better at mind fuckery than he is. When that blessed day happens, I will be laughing my ass off.”
They both would.
The waves rocked gently against the shore. “Maybe…” Ronan stopped. Maybe what? Maybe he’d trap Marcus, find the evidence to absolutely bury the creep for the rest of his life, and then Ronan could come back and live happily ever after with Luna?
Hitmen didn’t get happily-ever-after endings.
More than that, Luna deserved better. She didn’t deserve a fake life with a fake name. She deserved a stage. A crowd clapping for her. She deserved all of her adventures. A husband who worshipped her and touched her with hands that weren’t blood-stained.
“Okay, so now you’re looking all pissed and grim. Want to tell me what you’re thinking about?”
“Killing Luna’s husband.” An honest reply.
The wind blew lightly against him.
“Uh, aren’t you her husband?”
He was her pretend husband. One day, she’d have a real husband. Someone who kissed her and loved her and gave her kids.
Ronan had been thinking about killing the faceless bastard.
“Bro, you have some issues.”
Some? The wind blew against him once more. In the distance, it seemed like the sky was darkening. If a storm was coming, travel off the island would be harder. They might have to suspend the boats. Good. He could get out now, before the storm hit. Then Luna wouldn’t be able to leave even if she did manage to get away from Tyler and Esme. Which she would not do. The storm would trap her. “Tell her…” He stopped.
“I think you should tell her yourself. No one likes to be abandoned.”
Fuck. “It wasn’t real. It was all just pretend.”
“Yeah, that is not what I want to tell the woman. I don’t like breaking hearts.”
Those words hadn’t been for Luna. He’d said them to convince himself. Their relationship had just been pretend, though it had certainly felt like the most real thing in his life. “I’ll never forget her. She should have every adventure she wants. And soon, she’ll be safe. No more worrying about the darkness. I’m taking it out of her life.” He stood. She was snorkeling again. Having the time of her life.
Luna, I think you were the best time of my life.
His hand rubbed over his chest. Fuck. He was going soft. Maybe it was time to get out of the business. After he eliminated one final problem. “Either I’ll get the evidence to lock Marcus away for the rest of his days or I’ll bury him in the ground.” A roll of his shoulders even as his hand dropped back to his side. “One way or another, Luna will get her life back.”
It would be a life without him.
One final look, and he turned away.
“I think this is a mistake.” Tyler’s low voice.
Ronan stilled. “If someone was sending a parade of eager killers after you, would you want Esme close by? Or would you keep her the fuck away?”
Tyler didn’t speak. But Ronan knew the truth. Tyler would live and die for his Esme.
After a moment, Tyler said, “She’ll stay safe.”
Ronan’s breath released. When had he started to hold it? “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m pretty sure I’m helping you to make one of the worst mistakes of your life. That woman…she loves you, doesn’t she?”
The pain knifed into his chest again. “Worst mistake of her life,” he said, tossing those words back at Tyler. “She’ll be much better off when I vanish. And when I make all the threats to her vanish.” He wanted to look back. To glance back at her one more time. But if he glanced back and she happened to be looking his way…
Would he be able to go?
Why the fuck was he not moving already? Why did it feel like his feet were glued to the spot? Was he sinking in the sand or something?
“Do you love her?” Tyler asked him. Words so soft that the sound of the waves rushing to the shore almost hid them.
Ronan didn’t speak. He took a lunging, slightly staggering step forward. Then another one. Another one and he…
Nodded.
Ronan wasn’t on the beach.
Luna had just seen the most amazing sea turtle. It had been graceful and gorgeous, and it had darted right beneath her. She’d been so excited, and she broke the surface because, okay, Ronan had to come into the water. He’d love to see all the beauty with her.
Except, this time, when she broke the surface and turned eagerly toward him, Ronan wasn’t there.
The other guy was still there. Tyler. The man who’d nearly scared the soul right out of her body the previous night. He was lounging in a chaise and sipping out of a giant pineapple. He waved to Luna.
Her gaze drifted to the left. To the right.
No sign of Ronan.
Maybe he’d just gone back to their bungalow.
Or gone to get one of those fancy pineapple drinks for himself.
The woman appeared—hadn’t her name been Esme? She took the empty chaise that had belonged to Ronan. She spoke with her husband.
Luna pulled off her mask. Headed toward shallower water. Kept going forward until her feet touched the sand beneath the waves. She hadn’t bothered with the flippers that were offered at the snorkeling booth. Maybe she should have used them, but?—
Esme’s face had just flashed with anger. Now she was looking back toward Luna.
Only the anger was gone. Wait. Did she look sad?
Luna hurried forward. As she burst onto the shore, water rolled down her body. The mask and snorkel banged into her thigh. “Where is Ronan?”
Esme and Tyler looked at each other. Then Esme peered at Luna once more.
No, no, no. Why was that pity on Esme’s face?
Luna stopped right in front of them. The day didn’t feel so warm or beautiful any longer. She sucked in a breath. She could feel her wet hair sticking to the side of her face. Sand covered her feet. She shoved away the sticking hair even as she kept a grip on the mask and snorkel. “Where is my husband?”
But she knew, the giant aching in her heart told her the truth even before Tyler softly answered, “Gone.”