Mine to Protect (Mine 6)

“Why?”

His smile dimmed.

“When we first met…” Not a happy memory. Not even close. She’d been held captive in a basement, with a bomb strapped to her chest. Another of her father’s enemies had been planning to kill her. “I asked you to just let me vanish. I wanted to disappear, not get sucked into the FBI’s web.”

“My boss had other plans.”

“And just who is this boss of yours?”

“Assistant Director Percy Chase.”

“Yes, okay, that name means nothing to me.” But the fact that he was finally talking to her—actually sharing information about the FBI—that mattered. “Why didn’t you just let me go? Why didn’t the FBI let me disappear?” At first, she’d thought she was safe, but that illusion had been shattered fast.

The FBI had always been watching her.

Always.

“Your father…he’s supposed to be working with us, did you know that?”

Now she was shocked. “Luther Bates never works with the cops.”

“He does…if we have something he wants badly enough.”

No, no, no. The plane jostled then, hitting some turbulence, and her heart shuddered.

“Do you know what Luther wants?” Victor asked her, voice completely devoid of emotion.

“Luther wants his freedom.” This she knew. “He wants to be back out on the streets and back in full power.”

Victor nodded, but he said, “Don’t hold back, Zoe.”

“He wants me.” She said those words in a quick rush, like they were a dark secret that no one else should hear.

“He does. You’re his family, Zoe. He wants to make sure that you’re protected. The FBI pulled you back in…because that’s part of the deal we have with him.”

“I don’t think I want to hear anymore.” She didn’t. Not another word about her bastard of a father. She’d already figured this out, anyway. After all, she’d known there must have been a reason she had FBI guards. Why they were trying to keep her alive. Why—

“As long as you stay alive. Luther has promised that he’ll cooperate with us. And he has been…giving up some bits and pieces about his empire. Telling us about his enemies. Their organizations. Helping us to make drug busts. To stop cartels. To find shipments of weapons.” He gave a grim shake of his head. “Luther may be behind bars, but he still knows exactly what is happening on the streets.”

“Because he still has control.” Another jostle of the plane had her whole body tensing.

Victor started to speak. She saw his lips part, but then he stopped.

“What?” Zoe asked.

No answer.

“Victor…”

He unhooked his seat belt and came to sit beside her. “You’re afraid.”

The plane jerked again. “The plane won’t stop bouncing.” And to think, she’d been so impressed by the fancy jet. Not anymore.

He checked her seat belt, then twined her fingers with his. “You’re safe.”

Sharp laughter escaped her. “You tell me that a lot, but…” She squeezed his hand. “I don’t always believe you,” she confessed.

“I know.” He lifted their twined fingers and kissed her knuckles. “I’m working on that issue.”

He was so confusing. “You want me to feel safe?” Zoe asked him. “Then distract me. Tell me something. Tell me about you.” Because she’d been the one doing all the talking. All the sharing.

“Fine. You ask me anything—anything at all—and I’ll answer you honestly.”

Okay. “Why did you join the FBI?”

Silence.

“Victor…”

“Because I would have made too good of a criminal.”

What?

The plane bounced, she squeezed his hand harder, and her attention stayed on him.

“I grew up hard,” Victor told her. His eyes seemed to turn darker with whatever memories he experienced. “I was on the street most days, and I spent plenty of nights literally fighting to survive.”

At those words, her gaze dipped to their joined hands. She looked at his knuckles—really looked at them—and saw the faint scars that lined his hands.

“The fights weren’t exactly sanctioned. You stayed in the ring until your opponent couldn’t move or until you were the one who got dragged out.”

That couldn’t be Victor’s life. He was…

That isn’t him.

“I was barely skirting the law most days. Going down a path I shouldn’t take. A path that was too easy, but I fucking didn’t want to end up a criminal. I had a choice. I figured, maybe if I was so good at the criminal life…if I could think like them…maybe I could stop some of them.”

Her breath left her in a quick rush. “So you risk your life every day—”

“Because I’ve seen firsthand just how many lives are destroyed by monsters. By men like…”

But he stopped.

She didn’t. “Men like my father.”

His head inclined toward her.

“Thank you for telling me,” she whispered.

Once more, he raised their joined hands to his mouth and pressed a quick kiss to her knuckles.

It took her a few moments to realize… “No more turbulence.”

“No. It’s stopped.”

But he didn’t let her hand go.

And she didn’t mind.

***

When the plane touched down in Vegas, Victor escorted Zoe out of the airport, and he found a sleek limo waiting for them.

His brows rose at the sight. Drake Archer was leaning against the back of that limo, dressed in a high-priced suit and wearing dark glasses. His blond hair was tousled, and a smirk rested on his face.

Drake smirked well.

He was a tough sonofabitch. Smart. Dangerous. Victor hadn’t much cared for him when they first met, mostly because Drake had been too interested in—

One of the limo’s back doors opened. “You think you can come to Vegas, use my husband’s jet and not call me?” Jasmine Archer demanded, her red hair shone under the airport lights.

Jasmine. Jazz. The closest thing to a sister he’d ever had.

Beside Victor, Zoe had stiffened. She probably wondered what in the hell was happening. He should explain things to her. Only—

Jasmine rushed forward and gave him a hug. “Seriously, I should kick your ass,” she muttered. “Coming to our town and not calling me. Trying to leave me out of the fun.”

“It’s not about fun.” Dammit. She wasn’t working with the FBI any longer. He was trying to keep her safe. “I’m working a case.”

Jasmine eased back. She glanced from him to Zoe, then back to him. Speculation glinted in her eyes. Then she smiled at Zoe, flashing the dimples that always made her look deceptively innocent, and offered her hand. “Hello, there. I’m Jasmine, Drake’s wife.”

Shock flashed across Zoe’s face. “I’m Zoe. Zoe—”

“She’s just Zoe,” Victor interrupted, knowing that he sounded too gruff, but he’d busted ass to give Jasmine a safe life. The last thing he wanted was for her to get too involved in the mess that was his case with Luther Bates. He tossed a glare at Drake. “I asked for the plane. The plane and a low profile.”

Drake shrugged.

Zoe was still shaking Jasmine’s hand.

Victor tugged her free of the other woman and pretty much pushed them all into the limo. Just standing around outside wasn’t the safest plan ever. When the door shut behind them and the driver started the car a few moments later, Victor tossed a hard glare at Drake. “Is it so much to ask that you keep Jasmine safe?”

Drake’s eyes turned to slits. “You know I’d give my life to protect her.”

Actually, yeah, the guy almost had done that very thing.

Jasmine cleared her throat. “We don’t have secrets, Vic.” Her fingers twined with Drake’s. “It’s kind of our thing.”

He could feel his cheeks flushing. Only Jasmine could do that to him. He’d met her

so many years ago. When he’d been a different person. When she had been.

He, Jasmine, and their third damn Musketeer, Saxon Black. They should never have formed that weird ass family unit. They should have hated each other. Or at least, he and Saxon should have.

He and Saxon had been fighters, in a match that had been far from legal. They’d been kids, too big and too strong. Rough teens. Their job had been to pound each other until only one guy was left standing. Too bad he and Saxon had both been very good at giving punches—and taking them.

Their fight had gone on too long. And in the end, they’d both still been on their feet, staggering.

Everyone else had left. He and Saxon had been about to collapse, then Jasmine had appeared. She’d patched them up. Kept them both alive.

And the three of them…for a long time, it was the three of us against the world.

But Jasmine was with Drake now. And Saxon…the guy had cut ties with the FBI and moved out to California…where he was currently settled with his new wife.

A wife who had some very, very personal ties to Zoe. I can’t tell her about those ties.

More secrets. More lies. Because that’s our thing.

Victor’s gaze darted around that darkened limo. Traveling via the private jet had definitely saved them a whole lot of time. Now the big goal would be to keep Zoe out of the spotlight. He cleared his throat and said, “The fewer folks who know Zoe is in Vegas, the better it is for her.”