Liam's Witness Protection (Man on a Mission 4)

Problem was, Liam wanted it to be his business, and that was crazy. He’d known Cate a day. Just a day. Twenty-four hours, maybe a little more. Okay, it was a jam-packed twenty-four hours, with dead assassins, a dead prosecutor and three others in the hospital. Closely confined with Cate—in his SUV, then in the first safe house, then driving to where they were now.

Watching her shy away from him yesterday, as if he would ever—ever—strike a woman. Watching as she turned those betrayed eyes on him in the kitchen this morning, an expression that tore his heart out. Then watching as she placed her hand in his. Touching him voluntarily for the first time. Trusting him...at least a little.

Then she’d withdrawn. Oh yeah, he’d sensed it immediately. She didn’t like him acting as if she belonged to him. Has to have something to do with Vishenko, he told himself roughly. Vishenko...and those scars on her wrists.

So he needed to get himself under control. Especially if they were going to be in close proximity from here to Wyoming. On the military plane...then sharing a hotel room tonight—or a two-bedroom suite if they could get one—because it would be dangerous not to have Cate constantly under his eye, constantly under his protection. Dangerous for her.

But that would be dangerous for him. Not the same kind of danger she faced, but dangerous just the same. Because the knight-errant in him was already infatuated with her—any more time in her company could push him right over the edge. And that was crazy. Just crazy.

But true.

Love at first sight was a fantasy, not a reality. Sexual attraction—yeah, he wouldn’t deny a man could see a woman and instantly be drawn to her sexually. He’d been physically attracted to Cate from the beginning, despite thinking the worst about her. But love? Wasn’t possible. Love was a combination of many things, all of which took more than twenty-four hours to come to fruition. Liam had never been in love, but he knew that much at least. He’d been in lust—heavy lust, on occasion—but no amount of lust for a woman had ever turned into love.

The closest Liam had ever come to being in love had been the six months he’d guarded Princess Mara with his brother and Trace McKinnon. He’d been drawn to the princess from the beginning, despite his assignment as one of her bodyguards, but he’d quickly nipped that in the bud for two very good reasons: he couldn’t let himself be distracted from his duty guarding her...and he’d seen the way she looked at McKinnon from day one.

He’d even taken McKinnon to task for being so hard on her—telling the other man to cut her some slack—wondering in the back of his mind if something would eventually develop between the two of them...and it had. Liam had taken it well, mainly because he hadn’t let himself grow to care for the princess too much since he’d known there was no future in it. But he still had a soft spot for her.

Oddly enough, Cate reminded him of the princess. Not in looks, but in that innocent way she had. Even though he knew she’d been through hell, even though those scars on her wrists told their own sickening tale, there was still something untouched about her. Something pure. Inside, where nothing that had happened to her could really touch the woman she was. A core of untarnished steel.

Which brought Liam right back around to the realization he was falling for Cate. Hard. And that was crazy. Wasn’t it?

Chapter 7

Liam and Cate left right after lunch. D’Arcy had already departed to catch his flight back to DC, but before he went he gave Liam detailed instructions for the trip, including how to contact Callahan once they arrived in Black Rock.

Liam was amazed at how quickly the agency had provided everything he and Cate needed, especially the false identification, credit cards and gun license in his new name. Not to mention the wad of cash he’d been handed, which they didn’t even make him sign for. “Receipts if you can,” was all they’d said, and he’d nodded as he folded half the bills into his wallet and tucked the other half into the duffel bag he’d received at the first safe house.

Liam had already programmed the GPS for Pope Air Force Base, so all he had to do when they got themselves situated in the SUV was plug the GPS in, turn it on and select his preprogrammed destination. He glanced over at Cate sitting so quietly in the seat next to him, and smiled. “You ready?” She nodded. “Then let’s go.”

He waved at the couple who ran the safe house, and in no time at all they’d left the safe house behind.

Even though the drive would be short, Liam turned the radio on and fiddled with the selection until he found a National Public Radio station. Then he realized Cate might prefer something else—music possibly—so he quickly asked, “Do you mind? I’m not much for music when I drive. I’d rather listen to NPR. But if you’d rather...?”