Was it? It would have to be.
“I guess so,” she answered, still unsure. But knowing that Rome had such strong faith in her went a very long way.
She shook her head to clear away her anger and uncertainty. They had a job to do. And no matter what plan they came up with, she was going to make sure justice was had.
One way or another.
“I still don’t like it,” Rome grumbled, his gaze riveted on the map resting on his lap.
Her gaze was riveted to the same area, but for a very different reason, his being naked and all. They’d released some of their tension by spending some heated time in the big bed and were just now finalizing a plan to bring Jeff and his faction to justice.
“Your opinion is beside the point,” Harper said, lounging on her side. Her head was propped in one hand while her other traced a scar on his sturdy knee. “It’s the best option, and you know it.”
Rome’s searing glare nearly branded her. But she knew that he knew she was right. Revisiting the plan of using her as bait was still troubling him. But no matter how much it rubbed him the wrong way, it was the quickest and easiest solution to drawing the faction out of the compound. And he had to know it.
“I know it, but I don’t have to like it,” he said grumpily with a heavy sigh. He reached for a prepaid cell phone as it trilled, one of the many untraceable phones in his secret stash from the car. He pressed the button on the phone to answer it. “What?”
After a few seconds of watching his delicious lips as he talked in curt phrases, she rolled onto her back and thought about the plan they’d hatched.
Right now she assumed Rome was talking to a trusted contact to help with reinforcements. Bringing down the splinter group would take more than the two of them, Rome had said. They needed backup if they were going to round up and bring in the Five Watch faction, and Rome knew good people he trusted who could help.
The plan was simple. Harper would contact Jeff and claim she wanted to surrender and work together. Whether Jeff believed her was irrelevant. Both she and Rome knew the call would be enough to entice the jerk to meet her. And she knew the magic words to make him agree.
With one phone call, she would set up a parley with Jeff. She was to walk into the open courtyard area of the remote Five Watch facility in broad daylight. That should lure Jeff and his group out soon enough. Then she was to give up willingly and turn herself in. Once they moved in to take her, Rome would come barreling in with the good guys to take Jeff and the bad guys instead.
Simple. Straightforward. But hardly satisfying.
“It’s all set,” Rome said confidently. She looked at him. “Tomorrow. One o’clock. Help will meet us there.”
“Just like that?” she asked.
“I trust them to be there,” he answered, and ran a hand through her hair. She almost purred. “I’ll meet them, you’ll go in; then we’ll come and save the day. Just don’t rile the faction up.” He tweaked a few strands playfully.
“Okay, just don’t take too long to save me.” She gave him a half smile. “Or I’ll have to save myself.” Her half smile blossomed into a full-blown grin at the alluring thought of revenge. It was so close now, she could taste it. And she savored the flavor.
No, wait; hold on. She wasn’t supposed to antagonize them with her powers. That would make the capture of the faction unpredictable. Rome explained that plans like this never quite worked how they were supposed to, anyway, no matter how simple and precise they seemed. But he’d asked her to stick with it for as long as she could.
And she would. For as long as she could.
The bed shifted as he set the map aside and nestled down to face her, side by side. His muscular arm snaked around her hip, tugging her snug against him. Clasping his arm, she leaned in for a languid kiss.
“I can’t wait until this is all over,” Rome said, his fingers caressing her neck, trailing along the old swimming scar that marked her shoulder.
Not knowing quite how to respond, she let herself get lost in the bluest eyes she’d ever known.
Resting her hand on his hard chest, Harper realized she didn’t want to think about what would happen next. Because really, what would happen when this was all over? What did Rome expect? What did she expect?
Her mind whirled at the endless possibilities. And then stopped. When this all began, she’d planned on revenge. And, honestly, she hadn’t planned to survive it. She hadn’t cared.
Until Rome. Now maybe she actually had something to live for. Well, live as long as she could.
She had told him she loved him. And she meant it. But, she hadn’t planned for it.
“Hey,” he said, running a gentle finger across her cheeks to tap her temple, startling her. “What’s going on in there?”
His honest concern snuggled inside her heart, warming her from within. Should she confess she still had doubts? Grave doubts about restraining from using her psionic powers once she faced Jeff, the man responsible for orchestrating her brother’s murder?
Probably not.
And if they did make it through tomorrow, what then? What kind of life could she even lead? She was as good as dead. Her entire existence had been altered beyond repair. Her mind was reeling with questions she had no answers to and probably never would have.
“Nothing.” Harper shrugged it off. She couldn’t talk to Rome about it. She didn’t even know where to begin. Didn’t want to burden him with her doubts and fears. He said she had enough strength to handle everything. She wanted to prove him right. “Nothing.” It was all she could say. “Let’s call Jeff later.”
Reaching with both of her hands, she pulled his face close, covering his lips with hers. Tasting. Memorizing. Hoping that this wouldn’t be their last night together, but knowing it was.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jeff Donovan sat in the plush chair of his office within the drab confines of the downtown facility, running over the disturbing events at the remote facility two days before. Someone had been eavesdropping. Two someones, actually.
His best agent, Rome Lucian, and that damned bitch, Harper Kane. The men who had chased the two of them in the forest had confirmed their identities.
And the two of them had escaped.
His cell phone trilled, and he stared at it with a withering glare, willing it to shut up.
He was angry. More than angry. How had they gotten into the laboratories? How had they known what to look for? More important, how did they manage to escape? Together, they’d managed to become seemingly unstoppable.
Another trill, this time with a buzz, sending the little phone skittering lightly across his immaculate desk. He seized the annoying device, almost chucking it against the wall just to see it break and fall apart into little pieces, just as his plans seemed to be doing.
But instead he gazed at the display. UNKNOWN CALLER. Why not? Probably another inept scientist offering up a new excuse as to why they couldn’t get the formula right.
Jeff was beginning to think maybe he shouldn’t have killed Dr. Robert Kane. If only to use his sister against him. He had so loved to hear Harper Kane’s screams when Dr. Andy had played with her in the romper room.
He opened the phone and pressed the green button to answer it.
“What?” he barked to the unknown caller on the other end.
“Mr. Donovan?” The cool voice was low and gravelly, yet very feminine. Speak of the damn devil. It was her. Harper Kane.
“Ms. Kane,” Jeff responded cordially. Somehow he should have seen this call coming. “What can I do for you?” He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to dismantle her body and examine every single microscopic scrap, inside and out, to extract the formula, molecule by molecule. Instead, he decided to hear what she had in mind first.