Your poor feet,” Nonny whispered, crouching down to examine them.
Grace Fontenot was in her eighties. Very slender now, so that she looked small and appeared fragile with her thick, silver white hair, braided and looped in a bun at the back of her head. Her skin was thin and pale, the blue of her eyes faded. The color might have faded a bit, but her eyes were sharp and took in everything, including the multitude of gauze strips beneath the thin blouse Zara wore.
Zara didn’t want to be rude and pull her feet under her skirt, but everyone was staring and she was embarrassed. She looked around for Gino. The room held women, no men. Bellisia had hugged her too tightly before she got control of herself, and the wounds were throbbing all over again in spite of the painkillers Gino had given her earlier. Now, Bellisia curled up in the chair beside Zara with tears in her eyes. She kept petting Zara because, like everyone else, she didn’t know what to do.
Zara couldn’t stop looking at her best friend. Drinking her in. She hadn’t thought she’d ever see her again, but there were too many people around and she couldn’t talk to her alone. The things she needed to say—to know—were locked up tight and she could only sign to Bellisia, using the code they’d perfected after they became aware there were cameras on them at all times, to tell her that she needed to talk.
Thankfully, Bellisia signed back she’d find a way to be alone with her. Ezekiel had given her two more pain pills after Bellisia had hugged her, and she was beginning to feel the effects. Right now, she was beginning to feel very off-balance. As always, when that happened, she looked for Gino.
Wyatt’s grandmother took charge. “Back up and give her room,” Nonny ordered.
The three women, Pepper, Bellisia and Cayenne, automatically obeyed. It was clear they respected the older woman and her word was law in her home.
Zara took her first real breath since Gino had left her with the women, dragging the scents of the Fontenot home into her lungs. It was … comforting in a weird way. Spices, delicious smells drifting from the kitchen. Freshly baked bread. Chicken. The chicken smelled like heaven. This was the way a house was supposed to smell. Inviting. Homey. Not like a barracks and rations. Someday, she was going to have a home like this one and fill it with similar scents so anyone coming in would feel instantly welcome.
“It smells wonderful in here,” she blurted.
Nonny looked pleased. “I always like to have somethin’ on the stove to welcome the boys after they’ve been out workin’ so much. My boys were always hungry when they were growin’ up. The ones I have now don’t seem to be filled night or day.”
Pepper and Bellisia laughed. Cayenne nodded her head, her lips curving, but she didn’t make a sound. Zara understood. It was difficult to laugh when for so many years, she hadn’t had anything to laugh about. Zara had tried to be “normal” with her friends, with Bellisa and Shylah, but she hadn’t been happy at the compound or out in the real world. There didn’t seem a place for her. She could tell Cayenne felt a little of that.
Zara wondered what, when Cayenne had total freedom now, kept the woman in a place where she was uncomfortable. Maybe for women like them, there was no place to call home. She studied Cayenne while Nonny examined her feet. A part of her saw Bellisia and Pepper looking at her feet with a kind of horror. Both got tears in their eyes. Cayenne’s face gave nothing away.
Zara’s heart began a slow acceleration. The room tilted a little, and her stomach lurched. Somewhere there was the sound of dripping water and she remembered the water in the bathroom where Zhu had tortured her. The steady drip she hadn’t acknowledged until right at that moment. She hadn’t noticed it then, probably because she had other things to worry about, but now she knew she would always connect dripping water with the lash of the whip and the whistle of the cane.
Her body jerked. She felt the strike on her body. A low whimper emerged, and she hastily pressed her fingers to her mouth. Uneasily she glanced at the windows. It was midafternoon. Gino had let her sleep in and then brought her breakfast in bed. He’d had her nap again before getting her dressed to meet the other members of the household.
Zara knew with all the windows, anyone could see into the house. Anyone. Whitney would get the information she stored in her brain from her, dead or alive. He didn’t need her alive, just her body. He would keep coming at her until he got what he wanted, and anyone near her would be in terrible danger.
What of Zhu? He would be coming as well. Gino and the others might think they were finished with him, but they weren’t. She saw his face and heard his promise. He would come after her and would take pleasure in killing those around her. Whitney might kill them, but there would be no pleasure in it. He would consider them sacrifices for the greater good. Zhu would enjoy the killing, making her—and everyone—suffer in the process. That would be his enjoyment.
Her body gave a shudder she couldn’t hide and she looked around. Needing him. Gino. Her shield. It was wrong to force the man into that role. He had rescued her. Taken care of her. Watched over her. And he’d delivered her to Bellisia and was gone. She knew he was probably sick of her clinging to him. Sick of having to hear her whine. How much whining had she done? She didn’t even remember. She was getting a little confused because of the additional pain pills Ezekiel had given her. She had to let Gino go. He was probably hiding out, so relieved to be away from her when she looked everywhere for him and listened with everything in her for the sound of his voice.
What was she thinking? Gino had kissed her. He’d declared his intentions, made it very clear that he intended to pursue her, that he wanted them to be in a relationship. He wasn’t the type of man to lie to her. Doubling up on pain medication when Gino wanted her to back off from it a bit clearly was affecting her thinking processes. He’d kissed her. He wanted her. She wasn’t going to let go of that.
“Zara, would you like a cup of tea before you eat anything? Tea can settle the stomach.”
Nonny asked her the question gently, but Zara had the feeling it was to give the other women something to do besides cry over her. God knew, if they saw the lacerations and bruises on her body, they would really fall apart. She couldn’t handle that. She felt like she was well on her way to healing, with the exception of her feet, but she knew her body looked as if she’d been through a battle.
She nodded gratefully. She wanted a cup of tea and then a room that was quiet, and mostly, she wanted Gino. She felt scared without him. She couldn’t help looking through the windows again, wondering if a sniper was taking aim at her head right that minute. She should have told him the truth about what she’d been doing there in Shanghai. She had to tell him soon. But if she did, he would have to share the information with whoever ran his team, that person would share with the major general and then they’d come for her. There was no way they would leave the intelligence in her head.
“We’ll fix you right up, child,” Nonny continued. Her thumb very gently brushed over Zara’s swollen face.
“It’s so much better already,” she assured the horrified women. She barely glanced at them. She didn’t care how she looked, although always, when she was in public, her looks were her armor. Now, she needed Gino. Her shield. “Gino really helped me. I couldn’t open my eyes before.”
Pepper, Wyatt’s wife, returned with several supplies, sent her a small smile and left again. She was the sexiest woman Zara had ever seen. Her skin was perfect. Her eyes, exotic. The color was difficult to describe, one moment almost a lavender, or deep purple, but there was a strange diamond color that looked like a starburst that spread through that dark purple. She had a natural pout to her full lips and thick, dark hair that had strange patterns in it that seem to come and go with every movement of her head, making the silky mass mesmerizing. Zara could hardly look away.
Gino was around Pepper every single day. He saw that sexy woman. Small, exotic, so sensual she could steal the breath from a man or woman. What he’d seen from Zara was blood and vomit and eyes swollen shut. And don’t forget the bathroom. Repeatedly. Lovely. How could he possibly want her after seeing Pepper?
Cayenne was very small, like Pepper, with dark hair so black that it gleamed blue under the light. When she moved a rich, red, hourglass came and went in the long fall. She had an oval face and high cheekbones. Her eyes were a deep green framed with long black lashes. Her mouth was generous. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were watchful, and Zara had the feeling that if she made one wrong move, Cayenne would pounce and end her life instantly.
Ordinarily, Cayenne would have intimidated Zara. Nearly everyone did unless she was lecturing. Right now, she was so miserable she didn’t care how watchful and alert Cayenne was. It didn’t matter in the least to her. She wanted Gino. She didn’t even care that Cayenne, Bellisia and Pepper were beautiful, petite women. Warrior women, and she was … not. She needed him and she willed him to come to her, but once he’d turned her over to the women, he’d walked out without looking back. She knew he hadn’t looked back because she’d watched him walk away from her. She’d watched his back until he was out of sight.
It wasn’t like she could blame him. No matter what he felt for her, he had to take a break sometime. She hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him the truth about the information stored in her head. She took a deep breath and let it out, afraid she might cry in front of the very sympathetic strangers and Bellisia. Was she still upset with Bellisia? Gino had insisted she shouldn’t be. As it was, her skin felt clammy. Cold. She could barely catch her breath. She really needed air because she was getting dizzy, and there was a strange ringing in her ears. How long had she been out of the safety of the bedroom? How long away from Gino? Minutes? A half hour? An hour? It felt like an eternity.
“Zara.” Bellisia’s voice was gentle but very firm, catching her attention. “What is it? You’re having a panic attack.”
“Where’s Gino? Where did he go?”
“I’ll get him for you.”
Shockingly, that was Cayenne. One moment she’d been leaning her hip against the wall, draped there so casually and still. The next second she was all movement, slipping from the room before Zara could protest. It was one thing to ask where he was, another altogether to have them go get him. She realized these women were going to get her whatever she indicated she wanted.
“How much time did Whitney give you before the capsule breaks?” Bellisia asked.
Zara bit down on her finger to keep from screaming. She needed air. She needed a way out. Why did she always feel like she was less then everyone around her? She didn’t belong anywhere. How many times had Whitney drilled it into her that she was worthless? The other girls had something to contribute to their country, but she was a waste of his time. All the effort he’d put into her, and she was always a disappointment.
“Princess, take a breath.”
Gino was there, crouching in front of her, eye to eye. She couldn’t look at him, but that terrible burning in her chest, the raw soreness in her lungs eased enough to allow air to slip inside her. He moved right past Nonny’s protest and lifted her, settled into the wide, comfortable chair she’d been in and put her on his lap. His arms were familiar to her now. Safe. Comforting. She snuggled into his heat, those firm muscles that went on forever.
Instead of forcing her to talk to him, Gino rocked her gently and addressed Nonny. “What do you think about her feet?”
“It’s going to take some time to heal,” Nonny answered. “I’ve got some poultices for her face. I can bring down the swelling faster, but her feet are a problem. I’m thinkin’ on the best herbs to help them. Has Wyatt looked at them yet?”
Zara didn’t want everyone looking at her mangled feet. They were long and flat like two skis. Everyone really had to stop looking at them, especially Gino.
There was a small silence, and she realized she’d said it out loud. Bellisia broke the spell by laughing. “You always say that about your feet, Zara, and it isn’t true.”
“They are twice the size of your feet.”
The other women laughed along with Bellisia. “My feet are twice the size of her feet,” Cayenne shocked her by saying. “She’s teeny.” Zara knew Cayenne was a couple of inches taller than Bellisia, but not much more, not six or seven inches taller.
“But lethal,” Bellisia pointed out. “Zara, your feet are just fine. Whitney is an ass. He likes to be the smartest man in the room, and a woman having your kind of brains didn’t fit with his concept of women being disposable. He had to make you feel inferior to him—probably to convince himself as well. He did it from the time we were toddlers. I remember him talking about your feet and your hair and what a mess you were even then.”
That didn’t make her feel any better, now that everyone in the room knew Whitney despised her from the time she was a baby. She couldn’t remember a single word of praise from him. Also, Bellisia was teeny, even smaller than the other two women. If Zara was standing, she would have appeared a giant next to the others. The Amazon woman. The giant woman in the movies that stepped on cities.
Nonny applied a soothing cloth to Zara’s feet and then straightened. She was taller than Zara realized because she was so thin and fragile. She held herself straight, unbending, and she clearly didn’t care that she was taller than Pepper, Cayenne and Bellisia. She exuded a quiet confidence that Zara wished she could have.
“I was just asking Zara how long Whitney gave her before the virus is activated,” Bellisia said to Gino. “I imagine you or Zeke are going to go in after the capsule.”
“He’s hiding them now,” Gino said. His arms tightened fractionally around Zara, as if he didn’t like the idea that she could be in any kind of danger. “He put two capsules in Zara, not just one. I’m going to look again, now that I know what I’m looking for. She told me she had about another week and a half.”
The room went silent. She tried hard not to tense up when Gino talked about looking again. She had to confess. Tell him everything before he found the SSD in her brain, but not in front of everyone. She desperately needed to talk to Bellisia alone. “Whitney always gave me extra time to get back just in case something went wrong. If it did, Damon came to me to give me the antidote and he’d inject another capsule to give me the time needed.”
“Your time was pretty exact, wasn’t it, Bellisia?” Gino asked.
Zara did stiffen. There was no way to help it. He knew she was holding something important back, and he wasn’t going to let up until he knew what it was. She had to have a little time to think things through. People killed over the kind of information she carried in her head. Certainly, covert agencies would do anything to get their hands on it. She needed alone time with Bellisia to ask her advice. She knew these people and whether or not they could be trusted.
Bellisia nodded. “Whitney liked us to keep to a timetable, but Zara was different in that she was very exposed publicly. He sent her all over the world, not to spy on governments, but mostly research centers and businesses. He likes to know what others are doing and project further out. He is brilliant, I have to give him that.”
Bellisia had inadvertently given Zara some breathing room. She still held herself away from Gino. She didn’t know if he could be counted on her side now that he knew she was hiding something from him. He didn’t like it, that was for certain. She really wished she was a badass agent like Bellisia. The woman could hold her own with anyone. She wouldn’t be trembling and sick because Zhu beat the holy hell out of her. She wouldn’t be so frightened that she could barely breathe unless a man held her. She wouldn’t be upset that she had disappointed the man she had come to care about. More than any other thing, that was what she hated the most—that she knew she’d disappointed him.
“Lean back,” Gino instructed.
She sent him one look over her shoulder, intending to tell him silently to back off. Gino’s dark eyes glinted with warning. She refused to be intimidated. What could he do to her when they were surrounded by women, including Nonny, Wyatt’s grandmother? A wicked gleam shone in the depths of all that obsidian, and he brushed her hair from the nape of her neck with gentle fingers. He leaned into her, his face disappearing. Zara held her breath. His teeth bit into the nape of her neck. She yelped and muffled the sound by putting her hand over her mouth.
“Something wrong?” Bellisia asked.
Zara glared at her. “You snicker and I’m going to build a robot that gobbles water faster than you can run a bath.”
It was a long-standing joke between them. Zara had actually done it and placed the robot in their shared bathroom. It hadn’t been easy either. She had to figure out how to dispose of the water and yet not give the robotics’ secrets away. She also had to steal the tools to make the robot, one at a time over a period of weeks and months. That was the most difficult part, since Whitney was very precise in his accounting. Fortunately, Zara had learned how to doctor the inventory books without his knowledge—she’d been doing it from the time she was a teenager.
“Not that.” Bellisia gave a pretend shudder, her smile wide. It faded fast. “Nonny, can’t you make the swelling go down on her face faster? That looks like it hurts.”
Weirdly, her face hurt the least of any place on her body. Still, she didn’t want Bellisia to call attention to the swelling in front of Gino, not that he couldn’t see it. He’d seen her so much worse, but it felt worse in front of the other women.
Gino tugged until she found herself relaxing back into his hold. Now that he was there, she was determined to enjoy herself a little with the other women. “Seriously, Bellisia,” she assured. “Gino got rid of most of the swelling in my eyes. I know they’re both black and blue, but my face doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the rest of me.” She wanted them to give him more credit than they were. It almost sounded as if Bellisia had been complaining that he hadn’t taken proper care of her.
“Cheng did this to you?” Bellisia asked, her small hands closing into tight fists.
“It was his partner, Bolan Zhu,” Zara corrected. “He’s a very scary man.”
“Cheng doesn’t have a partner,” Bellisia said. “I read all the data on him. Zhu works for him as a kind of enforcer.”
Zara shook her head. “Zhu is definitely more than an employee. If anything, he’s the senior partner. Not in terms of age, but certainly in every other way. Cheng pays him deference.” She frowned, unsure whether she should share the speculations she’d been turning over and over in her mind with them. On the surface, they seemed far-fetched, given the amount of information on Cheng and the little they had on Zhu. In the end, she decided it would be good to at least give that much to Gino. “I think there’s a possibility that they’re related.”
Gino and Bellisia shared a look, but Zara told herself she didn’t care whether or not they believed her, but she really did. Bellisia knew her. She would know she picked up details no one else did. She noticed things. More, she had a feeling about the two men. Her feelings were nearly almost always right.
A small tremor ran through her body at the thought of Zhu. She wished she could forget the look on his face when he promised her that if she didn’t do exactly what he said, when he returned, her punishment would be so much worse and she’d suffer for a long time. She was certain running away with the GhostWalker team qualified as not obeying him. He was so handsome and so deadly. For some reason, his good looks made it so much worse that his actions were so horrifying. He terrified her, and she knew it would be years before she dared fall asleep without taking safety precautions.
“Related how?” Pepper asked. “I read the file on Cheng. He seems very alpha, and he definitely is older than Zhu by several years.”
“I think they’re brothers. Maybe half brothers,” Zara qualified. She might as well say what she thought. What did it matter if they all thought she was crazy? Maybe she was. “I know they don’t look that much alike. At first, I thought cousins, but they share some of the same movements, but more specifically, identical markers. Their hands, for instance. Their fingers on their hands are too exact. The way they’re formed, the length and even width. Both have a flattening on the upper joint of the thumb that’s very distinctive and unusual. Cheng isn’t particularly beautiful, but he is attractive and the things that make him attractive, his bone structure, he obviously inherited from his mother. Zhu has that same bone structure. He’s quite beautiful in a deadly sort of away.”
“The only reason I’m not taking offense is you tacked on the ‘deadly sort of way,,” Gino said, a trace of amusement in his voice. “You’ve never described me as beautiful.”
Pepper and Cayenne laughed softly. Nonny’s lips twitched. Zara pulled forward so she could look at Gino over her shoulder. “I think you’re beautiful even if I don’t say it out loud.” She didn’t care if everyone heard. She didn’t want his feelings hurt. Her gaze moved over him.
He didn’t have an ounce of fat on his body and he had more muscles than anyone she’d ever met, although they were subtler than some of the other GhostWalkers’. His shoulders were wide, his hair shaggy and his black eyes were cool and calm. He had scars and a permanent five-o’clock shadow. He might not be traditionally handsome, but she thought he was far more beautiful than Zhu—or any other man she’d ever laid eyes on.
“Princess.”
He didn’t believe her. “No, I do. I think I did tell you in the car earlier, when the drugs were kicking in.”
“I think they’ve really kicked in now, but thank you. I appreciate your assessment, skewed though it might be. And if any of you gossipy women tell your man what my woman just said, I’m going to have to plan revenge.” Gino pulled Zara closer to him, wrapping her up tightly in his arms. His chin nuzzled the top of her head.
“This is too good to worry about your revenge,” Cayenne said. “Trap is so going to love me when I tell him this.”
“What’s wrong with saying you’re beautiful, Gino?” Zara asked. The drugs really were slowing things a little bit for her. She felt dreamy. “Is there something wrong with it, Cayenne?”
“Not at all, Zara,” Bellisia assured.
“Then why are they laughing?” Zara demanded. She noticed Bellisia wasn’t laughing. She had gone silent and looked at her strangely, as if she was suddenly worried. Her gaze moved speculatively between Zara and Gino and clearly, she didn’t like what she was thinking.
“Tea’s ready,” Pepper announced, trying to change the subject. “Is it for a poultice or for drinking, Nonny?”
“Both. She should drink a cup, and we’ll cool the rest. Once it’s cold enough, we’ll soak her feet and put some on rags for her face.”
“What’s in it?” Zara asked, suspicion in her voice. She couldn’t help it. The tea didn’t look like any tea she’d ever had before. More, there were flowers at the bottom of the cup.
“Good things. Pharmaceuticals that will help heal you faster,” Nonny assured. “It’s sweet and actually tastes good. One of the few I’ve found that is drinkable without doctoring it too much.”
Gino took the cup of tea and sipped at it. “Doesn’t taste bad at all, princess. Go ahead and try it.” He gave her the cup but kept his hand around hers for support. “Perhaps we might try a little food. She’s been on nonstop painkillers for obvious reasons. I think a little food might help.”
Zara took a cautious sip. The liquid tasted strange to her, but not bad. She could drink it. She waved her free hand in the air. “I like feeling this way. I don’t need help, Gino. In fact, I might be able to walk if I just get the courage to try.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not very courageous. I could never be a spy. Or do the kinds of things Bellisia does.”
“I’m learning to cook,” Bellisia said. “That takes serious courage, and you’re already good at it.”
“I am.” Zara was proud of her cooking abilities. “And don’t listen to Bellisia. She’s very brave all the time.”
“That’s it,” Gino said decisively. “I’m taking you to the bedroom before you start telling people about how you attacked me.”
“She attacked you?” Bellisia echoed.
“She did,” Gino asserted, pushing the teacup closer to Zara’s mouth. “First she took a swipe at me with the cane. Nearly took my head off.”
Zara started laughing. “Not his head-head. A different kind of head.”
Gino rolled his eyes and took the cup out of her hand and put it on the table. “You’re done. Let’s go.” He stood up easily, cradling her close to his chest. “Nonny, when it’s ready, will you bring the tea to put on her feet and face? I’d greatly appreciate it.”
“I have smothered chicken and sausage hot on the stove right now,” Nonny offered. “Give me time to make the rice and I’ll bring both of you a meal.”
“I would appreciate it.”
Zara stroked Gino’s bristles. “I love the way your face always has this perfect shadow,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“Baby, did Zeke give you more meds after I brought you out here?”
She tried to remember. She petted his face again. “He might have. He gave me a glass of water. I really have to go to the bathroom.”
Gino laughed softly. “Yeah, baby, he gave you more. I’m going to have to talk to him about this.”
She clutched his shoulders. “You said you wouldn’t leave, and you did.” The hallway was really spinning, making her feel a little sick. If he left her, she wouldn’t be able to crawl her way out of there. Her feet were beginning to throb again, pain pounding through her toes and the heel of her foot. It was a terrible sensation because, as if in counterpoint, the ball of her foot felt as if a thousand bees were stinging it. The floating feeling only served to make her dizzy. “I might need to get sick.”
The amusement was gone in an instant and he took a detour, turning away from the direction they’d been going to open a door. She could have cried with relief when she realized they were in the bathroom. He carried her straight to the toilet, but shockingly, didn’t put her down.
“Um, Gino. Put me on the floor and go.” She wasn’t in the habit of sitting on a bathroom floor, but her lurching stomach told her that her body was done with painkillers. He’d spent enough time with her at the embassy and on the plane in the bathroom. Now that she was a little better, he didn’t need to be with her. It was too embarrassing.
“That’s not happening.”
She pressed a hand to her stomach, desperate not to vomit in front of him. “Really, my body isn’t used to so many painkillers. I’ve had more over the last six days than my entire life. Whitney didn’t believe we should ever have to use them—me especially. He wanted me to build up my pain tolerance.”
Her stomach lurched again and she leaned over and threw up what little contents were in her stomach. It could have been the most humiliating moment she’d had with Gino so far—and she’d had one terrible incident after another. Her hair hung in tangles around her face and fell like a rat’s nest down her back. Her face was still swollen, which was bad enough, but when he’d first seen her, her eyes had been nearly closed. Her skin was still green and purple and black. Her feet were mangled, and her body a mess. Of course she had to look—and act—her absolute worst in front of the hottest man she’d ever met, especially when three of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen were just in the next room.
Her eyes burned and she squeezed her lids closed, terrified she’d cry again. All he’d seen her do from the first moment they’d met was cry. “I hate this so much,” she whispered. She knew part of her emotions could really be the drugs, but it didn’t matter what it was. She didn’t want him seeing her like this.
“Are you finished?” Gino asked.
His voice was so gentle that she couldn’t prevent a couple of tears from escaping, so she kept her head down and nodded. He carried her to the sink to allow her to rinse out her mouth. She did several times. The moment she was alone she was going to try to put her weight on her feet. She had to find a way to be more independent.
“While we’re in here, you may as well use the toilet.”
Her heart nearly stopped in her chest and then thudded like a drum. That was the last straw. “Not with you in here.” She was firm about it. He’d already been with her in the morning, but that was before she’d met the women of the house. Now, she couldn’t bear it if he had to help her.
“I’m not certain how you’re going to cope without me. You can’t stand on your feet yet. It isn’t a big deal. Everyone uses a toilet.”
“Not with you in the room.”
“It isn’t the first time,” he reminded.
It was so humiliating. Before, she’d been out of it, terrified beyond belief, unable to do anything but writhe in pain. Now, there were three women right in the next room that he saw every day and could compare her to. She shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’ll walk back into the bathroom if I have to, but you’re not staying here with me.” Crawl would be more like it.
He was silent for so long she had to work to keep from squirming. She really had to go now that they talked about it.
With a small sigh, Gino set her on the sink. “I’m stepping outside, Zara, but I swear, you’ve got three minutes and then I’m back. Get it done.”
He was clipped. Abrupt. She realized he was upset. She didn’t care. She’d just seen three petite women, all gorgeous and sexy, and realized just how bad she really looked—and probably smelled. She’d thrown up in front of him. She was not going to add taking care of her business in the bathroom in front of him to her list of indignities any longer. If a man wanted a mystery, Gino clearly wasn’t going to get it with her.
She had to crawl to the toilet because she couldn’t take the excruciating pain when she experimentally put her foot on the tile. She managed to get everything done, flush and crawl her way back to the sink. She hadn’t considered the problem of pulling herself back up, so she was sitting on the floor, suffering one more indignity when Gino returned. His face was a mask, all hard lines and planes, as he bent and took her off the floor.
“Gino.” She knew she shouldn’t comment. She should keep her mouth shut. She detested his silence. The look that said he was upset with her. She didn’t want him ever angry with her. He’d done so much for her and she seemed to be repaying him with vomit and whatever else she did to make him look like this.
He kicked open the door so hard it swung viciously, hit a doorstop and came back at them. He kicked it again and strode into the bedroom. “Let it go.”
“Did I do something to upset you?”
He stopped right in the middle of the room. She could feel anger pouring off him in waves. His eyes were so black they were scary. “I’m pissed, Zara, not upset. I’m fucking done with you sacrificing your comfort because you think you need to preserve your dignity.”
She swallowed back a protest, put her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. Hiding. She’d wanted to hide nearly all her life, but she’d been thrust into the spotlight—Whitney’s retaliation for her disappointing him.
All the girls were so envious. She could leave the compound and see the world. She could go to various cities, go to landmarks, see sites they would never witness in their lifetimes. They told her how lucky she was over and over. Bellisia and Shylah beamed when she came back, so proud of her. All the girls sat in a circle at night and she told them stories of the outside.
The universities had been particular favorites to talk about. She hadn’t attended parties, obviously, and Whitney had his men watching her every move, but she’d had the freedom to attend classes, do her projects and mix with like-minded men and women. The other girls had all lived vicariously through her. Sometimes they would tuck a request in her pocket and she’d try to fulfill it, a lipstick from the outside, girly contraband none of them were supposed to have. She had been caught more than once and punished by Whitney. His punishments had been harsh, but they hadn’t been anything like Zhu’s.
“Nonny thinks your body would benefit from a soak in a tub,” Gino said, putting his knee in the middle of the bed and gently depositing her on the sheet-covered mattress.
The anger had receded from his voice and she dared to look at him again. His face was close. His eyes dark. His jaw was tight. A muscle ticked there, telling her his voice might not give away what he was feeling, but the tension was there.
“She says the special herbs would help heal you faster. I know it sounds a little wacky, but I’ve seen amazing things from her. The old ways worked for centuries before modern medicine, and just like Eastern medicine, Nonny’s pharmacy out here in the swamp serves a purpose.”
She studied his face, trying to read his mind. What did he want her to do? “I’m really worried about my feet. I need them.”
“They’ll heal. While you eat, I’m going to ask the women to fill up the bathtub with Nonny’s concoction. She swears you won’t need pain pills.”
“I’m not going to take them anymore. I made a total fool of myself. I can’t believe I was blurting out all those crazy things.” And vomiting in front of him.
“Do you really believe Bolan Zhu and Bernard Cheng are related?”
She nodded. “Brothers. I don’t miss the kinds of things that would genetically link them. They both have the same unusual eyes, bone structure from their mother and those fingers are distinct. I think Bolan is a younger brother and he’s very dangerous. Cheng knows it too.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t stay here long, Gino. You know that. Bellisia isn’t going to understand, but there’s Nonny and Pepper and Pepper and Wyatt’s three children. Pepper’s pregnant. Zhu’s going to come after me, and so will Whitney.”
“Why? Why won’t Whitney let up? Every woman here is a GhostWalker and he let them go. Why won’t he let you go?”
She shook her head. “I’ll tell you, Gino, but later. After my bath.” After her talk with Bellisia. She trusted Bellisia implicitly. She had to know if there was corruption here. What she carried in her head was extremely valuable and couldn’t be put in the hands of just anyone. Governments could be toppled with the kinds of information Cheng bought and sold. She was certain he had intelligence on terrorist cells. On traitors and agents for various countries. He knew about weapons they had and those countries developing chemicals in spite of the bans.
“We’re alone right now, Zara, and I’m giving you this opportunity.”
She sighed and looked away from those dark, compelling eyes. He could mesmerize her with them. “I can’t right yet. I have to think about this. I can’t just …”
“What?” he snapped. “Trust me? I parachuted onto the roof of a building for you, carried your ass out of there and risked my life for you. We all did. What more do you need to trust me?”
She blinked her lashes and breathed deeply, turning her face away from him. She was not going to cry. Bellisia wouldn’t cry. Neither would Shylah. They were stoic when they had to be. Not her. Not Zara. Whitney could get to her every time. Apparently, so could Gino.
He swore softly and went to the window to stare out into the night. There was only a shadowed light from a lamp in the far corner illuminating the room, but it would be enough for a sniper to take him out. She wanted him to move. She waited, her heart beating overtime, but he just stood there, his back to her, his anger and disappointment in her coming off him in waves.
“Gino? Could you just please not stand there,” she finally burst out, unable to keep quiet even though she knew it was the absolute worst thing to say.
He half turned, his face in the shadows so she couldn’t read his expression. “Why?”
“It’s dark out there and light in here. A sniper might be able to shoot you.” She really did sound like an idiot, but she was too afraid for him.
Gino stepped forward, and she caught his gaze dropping to her hands. She hadn’t realized she was twisting her fingers together, a habit Whitney detested. Spies didn’t do things like that.
He came to the edge of the bed and reached down to push the tangled strands of hair from her face. “The windows are shaded on the outside and fitted with bulletproof glass. It obviously isn’t one hundred percent safe, so you’re right. It isn’t smart to stand in front of them with a light to my back. Thanks for the worry.”
Relief almost made her giddy, but luckily, Nonny and Bellisia came in with dinner.