She responded with an incredulous eye-roll, “No.”
“How did you get a stealth-modified Palmchat Island military helicopter to transport me if you aren’t part of the special ops team?”
She smiled. “I’m impressed. They’ll sell a Cera P19 helicopter to anyone with enough zeros in their bank account.”
“Anyone who can toss away twenty-two million dollars for a stranger’s gambling debts must be loaded.”
“We’re not strangers, Ike.” She leaned closer to him, head tilted, revealing a long graceful neck. The urge to trail kisses along her skin rose within him.
“You may know me, but I can guarantee I would never forget meeting you. If our paths had crossed before, I would remember it.”
“Maybe,” she teased, a sexy smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “If you weren’t distracted.”
He frowned. “Who are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.” Her tone closed the book on that question. She wouldn’t make it easy for him to find out who she was.
“If you won’t tell me who you are, then tell me why you helped me with the Brazhenskys.”
“Because I promised I would save you. I’m a woman of my word.”
“Fine. Who are you working for?”
“Working for?” Her dark eyes flashed with anger. “I don’t work for anyone but myself. Everything I do is because I want to do it. No one controls me.”
Ike leaned forward, closing the distance between them. He could smell the sweet scent of her breath as it brushed against his skin. “Why did you help me?”
“Because of Peter.”
“Peter? My father?”
“Yes.”
“My father is dead.”
“Is he? Do you believe that, Ike?”
“What are you saying? Have you talked to my father?”
“I have not. But I know the circumstances around his disappearance don’t make sense. I don’t know if your parents are dead or alive. But you need to find out the truth. And you couldn’t do that while you were in the hog pen. I had to free you so the prodigal son could return home.”
“How often can the prodigal son fuck up and return home welcomed with open arms?”
“As many times as it takes. Everyone saw how you were turning your life around. You’d found a group of men with similar backgrounds to work with. You wouldn’t be restricted by all the military rules that choked the conviction out of you and led you astray.”
“Until the family plane disappeared.”
“So what if you lost your way? Peter would want you to find it again. What you started two years ago, but didn’t finish, is the key to figuring out what happened to your parents.”
“How do you know all of this? Who told you?”
“Peter. He loved you so much. More importantly, he believed in you and the goodness deep in here,” she said, then pressed a palm against his pounding heart. “The goodness you thought had been corrupted is still in there.”
Ike reached for her, holding her face in his hands. His fingers caressed her soft skin. She closed her eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers. Their mouths found each other in a slow, gentle kiss. He parted her lips with his tongue and deepened the kiss, stroking and sucking on her as if time had paused for them.
She was breathless when she pulled away from him. “It’s time.”
“No. Come with me.” The words rushed from his mouth. He didn’t want to be without her. He’d say anything to keep her with him. “Help me find my father.”
