Page 36 of Deadly Alliance

Chapter Fourteen

Shane hadn’t letEmme leave his side since he’d gotten back from the car wreck. He didn’t give a fuck what the rest of the team thought, his nerves were still shaken at the thought of what could have happened. The threat to her and the thought that this sick bastard had gotten close enough to set a bomb had more of an effect on him than any lecture would.

It was time to start accepting that she meant more to him than he’d ever planned—this little spitfire had got under his skin. When he and Emme had locked eyes, something had passed between them that had been visceral, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but at that moment everything had changed between them. She’d walked straight over to him and kissed him as if she never wanted to let him go; his heart had pounded with the need to pick her up and run. Hide her away until the threat was gone, but he knew he couldn’t. If they had any chance of making this, whatever this was work, then he had to treat her with the respect she had earned and deserved.

He just hoped he got the chance to get his hands on the fucker that had tried to blow him up and had killed his best friend’s baby sister. Ten minutes in a room with them was all he would need. He felt his fists and jaw clench with bloodlust. He wasn’t usually so emotional about things, but from the very beginning, this had been different.

They were now holed up in a large farmhouse on the outskirts of Bromyard. The vehicles were hidden in a barn close to the main house. Zack and Bea had been ensconced in another room for the last two hours as Will and Dee worked furiously to find any CCTV footage of whoever had planted the bomb. Zin had returned to Fortis with Lance, eager to take a second crack at getting some info out of Bolton. The man took it extremely personally when his Pixie was threatened, and Zin was a scary bastard when his ire was up. He would hate to be on the wrong side of him—ever.

“How are you doing?” Emme asked as she moved closer to him, where he stood at the kitchen island. The entire kitchen was cream, featuring sleek cabinets with a marble island and a black Aga in the corner. It was the kind of house you brought a family up in. Idly, he wondered who owned it. It was the type of home he would love to own one day. Immediately his mind threw up an image of him and Emme living here, a couple of kids around their ankles. Perversely, it didn’t terrify him as it would have in the past. In fact, he found he quite liked the idea of her carrying his child.

He pulled Emme to him, holding her to his front as she leaned her head against his chest.

“Better now,” he grinned, burying his nose in her hair. He inhaled her scent. Even though he had showered the smoke and grease from himself, he could still smell it in his nose.

“I was so scared, Shane!” Her voice was low, but he caught the tremor she was desperate to hide from him.

“I know, sweetheart, so was I.” She leaned away from him, catching his eyes. Hers showed surprise and he wasn’t sure why. “Why so surprised?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulder. “I guess I didn’t think anything scared you. You always seem so in control.”

Shane shook his head. “You couldn’t be more wrong. I get scared. I’ve just learned how to control it.”

“That makes me feel a bit better. I guess I have to work on that.” She smiled sweetly, and he felt his heart jump in his chest. He was so fucking gone for this girl.

“It takes time, sweetheart, but don’t let your desire to become the best operative change the essence of who you are. This job can swallow you whole if you let it.” He stroked his thumb over her soft cheek, watching as she leaned into his touch. “Don’t let it.”

“Okay.” Her eyes held his and he felt like they were the only people on the planet. So lost in each other, he didn’t hear Zack and Beatrice until Zack spoke.

“Shane, Emme,” Zack said tersely.

Shane knew it wasn’t personal, but Zack was one of those bosses who got particularly pissed off when one of his was threatened.

He pushed off the island and walked towards Bea, Emme beside him. She had pulled back, now totally professional as she faced Zack.

“What do we know?” she asked, her voice calm, controlled. Shane watched as Zack pushed his sleeves up his forearms—he meant business.

“Not a whole lot. Will and Dee have been going through the CCTV footage and there is no sign of anything suspicious at Fortis. We picked up something outside your house last night, but it’s very blurry. And as we suspected, a bomb was found under your car. Don’t worry, it’s been taken care of. Will is using some software to enhance and clean up the image to see if we can get an ID on the bomber.”

“Zack is kindly handling the police situation so that we can keep this on the down-low. He also has a contact handling fingerprinting,” chimed in Bea.

“So, what do we do now?”

Shane saw Zack look at Bea, his instincts going on full alert. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was said next.

“We continue with the original plan.”

“No fucking way! Are you out of your minds?” Shane raged as he began to pace, anger making his movements sharp.

“Listen, Shane. I don’t like it either, but it’s our best shot,” Zack said calmly, the tick in his cheek belying the calm exterior he allowed everyone to see.

“I don’t care. You saw what happened and now you want to put Emme right under this sick bastard’s nose again? No, I won’t have it.”

Beatrice raised an eyebrow and looked at Emme who had stayed silent until now. Shane twisted to look at her and she was glaring daggers at him. She looked fucking beautiful and he tried and almost failed to control the impulse to tell her she couldn’t do it. But he knew if he did, she would anyway.

“It’s dangerous, Em,” he said quietly, his intense gaze on hers.

“I know, but you’ll protect me.” She walked to him moving into his personal space so confident in his ability to keep her safe.