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“It’s love,” she whispered, that explosion of happiness radiating from her soul to warm his own as she threw her arms around his neck and hung on tight. “Oh, God, Brogan, it’s love. ”
A part of him had been dark for so many years, even before Candy. The deliberate destruction of his child had only cemented the bitterness that had raged in him for so long.
The moment he met Eve, he’d felt light touch that darkness. Each time she touched him with her smile he had become even more vulnerable to her. He’d become locked firmly beneath her spell.
“Have patience with me?” he whispered as he buried his face against her neck again, holding her close to his heart.
“Always,” she swore, and he was warmed by her heart touching his.
“It may take me a while. ” Closing his eyes, he prayed—prayed he could keep the evil of his world from touching her. “I promise to get the hang of it soon. ” He lifted his head from her neck; then his lips lowered, touched hers, and he belonged.
“I love you, Eve,” he vowed.
And her smile completed his dreams, filled his life with light, and once again Brogan knew hope.
“And I love you, Brogan Campbell. Forever and always. I love you. ”
NINETEEN
There was something about Eve, Brogan decided, that just made it impossible to maintain distance.
She’d declined the job offer before they had shared a shower, then cussed him out when she realized she was too sore to take him again. She’d decided instead to make the trip to the store for the groceries her mother needed, kissed him with enough heat to damned near blow his tiny mind, then drove off.
Shaking his head at her particular brand of revenge, Brogan mounted the Harley, listened to the smooth throb of the motor, then pulled out of the inn’s gravel parking lot and headed toward the Mackay Marina.
He’d accomplished what they wanted; now he wondered what those three intended to do with, basically, a license to kill with impunity.
It would have been damned concerning if he didn’t know the Mackays as well as he did.
Fortunately, he did know them that well, and he knew they weren’t stupid men. They wouldn’t risk the agreement, especially considering the compensatory package was for the single purpose of ensuring that nothing risked their ability to protect their family, friends, and the county itself from the undercurrents of treason and homeland terrorism, and the people who had been attempting to use the sheltering mountains as a cover for their activities.
The same thing he intended his own agreement for. He wasn’t a stupid man either. While ensuring the Mackays’ protection, he’d taken steps to ensure his own, as well as that of any family he might have. How much more dedicated could a loving husband and father be?
He intended to find out.
Pulling into the marina’s nearly full parking lot, Brogan wasn’t in the least surprised to see the three men leaning against Natches’s black-on-black Mercedes Roadster, waiting for him.
They didn’t look too damned happy with him either. Especially Dawg. Brogan was guessing Eve had gone to her brother for advice while he was gone. Not that he could blame her. It wasn’t as though Brogan had been there for her, or had given her reason to believe he would return.
Pulling the Harley in behind the expensive little Roadster, he inhaled for strength. For a man who prided himself on never asking anyone for a damned thing personally, he was about to ask the Mackays for a hell of a favor.
Stepping from the bike, he moved the slight distance to the three men and stared back at them without so much as a hint of the nervousness he could feel in his gut. His nerves were on edge, a sense of foreboding that made no sense filling his gut.
As he stepped to them, the three men watched him with narrow-eyed suspicion.
“Dawg, Natches, Rowdy. ” He nodded in an attempt at politeness. “Before we take care of business, I need to ask a favor. ”
Dawg’s gaze sparked with anger as the other two watched him with cool suspicion.
“Seen Eve since you got back?” Dawg actually showed his teeth.
Brogan turned his gaze to Rowdy, usually the tolerant one of the group. There would be no hope there.
“Dawg, could you stop . . . ” being an ass, he wanted to say.
“Have you stopped breaking her heart? Because once was too damned many times to hold my sister while she cried over your worthless ass. ”
“I still say, get the papers we need, then tie his feet to cement blocks and dump him in the middle of the lake,” Natches grunted.
