Page 48 of Gold Mine (The Diamond Trilogy 2)
“Come on,” I murmur against her lips. “Let’s get your things.”
I start up the SUV again and maneuver into the flow of traffic. One conversation cannot erase a lifetime of shame. One conversation cannot assuage my guilt over derailing her life.
It’s a start.
She’s the one who stepped out of the church. Instead it feels like I’m the one who finally left my self-imposed prison. It feels like I’m the one warmed by sunlight for the first time in years.
It feels like hope.
At least until we step inside her loft.
The lieutenant colonel sits in her favorite armchair for writing. He’s flanked by two men in uniform who look ready to shoot us on sight. The lieutenant colonel smiles. “There you are. You’ve kept me waiting, but I won’t hold that against you. Sit, sit.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Holly
It’s easy to think of Elijah North as invincible.
Only when he’s naked and underneath me, brought low by desire, made weak by how much he needs me, can I really see that he’s flesh and blood. A man.
Which means he can be shot. Hurt. Killed. Even as my mind rebels against that idea, my body pumps blood fast and hard. I’m preparing for combat. I may not be a soldier the way that Elijah is, the way these men on either side of the lieutenant colonel are, but I’m a fighter.
“Good afternoon,” Elijah says, his voice casual and sardonic, as if he isn’t surprised. The only thing that betrays his shock is his stillness. “Sir.”
“I see you haven’t lost your manners. Though I think we should disarm you to make sure.”
There’s a moment of taut silence. Then Elijah moves with deliberate slowness, taking a gun from his ankle holster and a knife from his pocket. He sets them down on the foyer table alongside a vase of fake calla lilies.
“One more,” the lieutenant colonel says, and Elijah produces another compact gun.
He sets it down and stands with his hands at his side. I have to peer around him to see the lieutenant colonel, and I realize that he’s blocking me with his body. He’s using himself as a shield to protect me in case someone starts shooting. And I’m close enough to the door that maybe I could even escape, however unlikely.
If I were willing to leave him behind.
If I were willing to sacrifice him to save myself.
Elijah lifts his hands. “What now?”
“Now we talk,” the lieutenant colonel says. “I did warn the girl what would happen if you found her again. I thought it wasn’t likely, though. I thought you were smarter than that.”
“Nope,” Elijah says. “Dumb as a rock. Makes me wonder why you want me to work for you. Seems like you have enough dumb fuckers under your command already.”
“Elijah, Elijah. You always were the best. Much better than Adam.”
“Adam?” I ask before I can stop myself. He’s been inextricably linked to Elijah for the entire time I’ve known him, but I know there’s more to the story.
“Yes,” the lieutenant colonel says. “Though he always took after his bitch of a mother more than me. She was a spy, you see. I thought I was getting a nice, obedient mail-order bride. Instead I got one of Russia’s finest.”
Shock leaves me rooted to the floor. “He’s your son?”
“My one and only. I would have preferred if our Elijah here were my child.” He grants him a fond look that feels more creepy than paternal. “We have much more in common.”
“No, you don’t,” I say.
“Of course we do. Both of us are coldhearted sons of bitches with a talent for killing people. Neither of us care much what flag we do it under.” His expression turns cold. “And both of us have a weakness when it comes to sweet pussy.”
I shiver at the crude description. And the way it does seem to apply to Elijah. Only the dark side of him. There is another side, one that’s held me, cradled me. Protected me. “You’re wrong.”
“Don’t bother,” Elijah murmurs. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. The only thing that matters is that we make a deal with him.”
“Deals require leverage,” the lieutenant colonel says. “You don’t have any.”
“No? I think some members of the US government would be very interested to know about some of the shadow operations you’ve conducted. Some against its own citizens.”
“Those operations would implicate you as much as me.” The lieutenant colonel breathes harder, and his eyes take on a harsh beady gleam. Certainty washes over me; he’ll never leave Elijah North alone. He’ll never stop following him. Never stop hounding him. Elijah had more freedom trapped in that French church than he does anywhere else. He’ll never be free.
“Mutually assured destruction.”
“I could blame you completely. Nothing was ever in writing.”
“Mostly because you can’t write a form with complete fucking sentences. The good news is that I recorded some of our conversations. Senators who conveniently disappeared. Judges who were blackmailed. It would destroy you.”
