Page 42 of Her Chosen Protector

“Okay, you told me what your head is telling you. What’s your gut saying?” Asher was looking at her encouragingly. It was clear he really wanted to know what she thought.

“They’re both dirty as fuck. I don’t know why. But as soon as I saw that note from Suzanne, it clicked. Gerta’s not in on it, and it’s scaring the hell out of me that Leland’s up in that office with them. Not so much Becker, he won’t get his hands dirty, but Carlson? He’ll kill him.”

Asher nodded.

“You got that, Kane?”

“Got it.”

“What have you managed to find out?” Asher asked.

“Nomad Security is as clean as everybody in the industry thought.”

Eden opened her mouth to protest, and Asher held up his hand.

“But,” Kane continued. “Now that we did a deeper check, it turns out that Phil Carlson retired in New Mexico seven years ago. Supposedly, he came out of retirement for this gig, but it wasn’t him.

Phil’s still in New Mexico and this guy, whoever the hell he is, has taken his place. He could be working with Becker, he could be a plant for Maduro, or he could be freelance. Don’t know yet. But Eden, your gut was right.”

“And Becker?” she asked.

“He comes from old, old, old money. The kind that’s been helped along by profiteering on every single war since the Dutch War of Independence, and right now his nephew is being investigated for having ties to the blood diamond trade.”

Eden looked at Ash. They were in perfect accord.

“The bastard. The absolute bastard. He’s using his knowledge on the IMF to figure out how to line his pockets.”

I am not going to cry. And if I am, it’s because I’m angry, not because I’m disillusioned.

“Get the fuck out of there,” Kane told Asher.

“I’m going to get Eden out. Then I’ll work on getting the rest out.”

“Bad plan. I’m staying.”

“Going black for a minute,” Asher said.

“Don’t—” Kane was shut off before he could finish.

C H A P T E R 1 0

The sheen of tears in Eden’s eyes had damn near gutted him.

“Eden?”

“I’m staying,” she said fiercely. “You need my help.”

“Talk to me. We have thirty seconds, then you can be Wonder Woman, I promise.”

He couldn’t help himself, his fingers brushed at the soft, delicate skin of her tearstained cheek.

“Just tell me, Baby.”

“People are starving, dying, being butchered. He was supposed to be their savior, but he’s profiting? He’s trying to make these conflicts last longer so he can make money?” There was such anguish in her green eyes.

Her hand whipped up and grabbed his. Her grip was strong. “Promise me we’ll get him. We’ll make him pay. Promise me we won’t ever let him do this again.”

Asher grinned slowly. She was like a diamond, so many facets that glittered brilliantly, they tantalized the imagination. Here he was in the middle of one of the worst ops of his life, because so many civilians were depending on them, and he’d found an extraordinary woman. How was that possible? Was he just reeling from Xavier’s death and looking for some kind of unique closeness to fill the void left by his big brother? Or was it something like what Kane and Cullen had found with their women?