With Every Breath (Slow Burn 4)

Dane ran the show. He was the leader even if he wasn’t the one signing everyone’s paychecks. DSS was run by the Devereaux family, primarily the two oldest brothers, Caleb and Beau, while Quinn had been dubbed the geek and tech whiz who knew and ran all things computer and technology related. This was something that irritated and insulted Quinn to no end, but only Eliza knew this bit of personal information. Like the rest of the Devereaux clan, he was tight-lipped, extremely private and not one to share his feelings with anyone. None of them ever made public anything that would make them vulnerable, especially now that the elder Devereaux brothers had wives they loved and who were their heart and soul.

In an unexpected move, Quinn had approached Eliza—privately of course—and after swearing her to absolute secrecy, threatening to fire her—as if!—had she revealed his mysterious request. He knew and accepted with resentment that he wasn’t considered the ultimate badass alpha male his older brothers were, though he was several years younger and already exhibiting that annoying trait, even if he hadn’t yet recognized it. And he had asked Eliza to become his personal trainer. He knew her reputation. That she wouldn’t go easy on him and wouldn’t offer him platitudes because she worked, in a roundabout fashion, for him, or rather his family. And so on certain days, Eliza’s regular days off unless shit was going down, Quinn always found something that had to be done and would start spouting tech language none of the others could hope to understand, which meant they avoided him like the plague for the rest of the day, leaving him free for Eliza to put him through the paces.

And she had no mercy. Quinn would have been pissed, embarrassed and insulted if she had. He was often bruised, sore and limping when she finished with him, but she could see the fire of satisfaction in his eyes, even with the sweat, obvious fatigue and the fact that he’d just gotten his ass handed to him by a girl. And to his credit, he was improving. Quickly.

He worked hard, not just during his workouts with Eliza, but on his own time as well. And he never missed a session with her. Never made an excuse. She would miss those times between them, but she would ensure Dane would take over Quinn’s training when she left. Dane would never betray Quinn’s confidence and while Eliza was good—more than good—Dane was the best. There were no better hands for her to leave Quinn in.

Yeah, it suited Dane for Caleb and Beau to officially run the show even if everyone, Caleb and Beau included, damn well knew that it was Dane who called the majority of the shots. Dane was . . . well, he was a badass through and through. He had a persona that was impenetrable. Icy. No one could see past his carefully constructed guard unless he chose to let you in, and well, that was rare. She’d gotten a few glimpses, usually when women, or rather the women the men of DSS had claimed, had been endangered, nearly killed, certainly harmed.

She nearly laughed. Claimed was such an old-world, outdated term, not in keeping with her modern sensibilities, but then not so very long ago, she would have proudly and without shame used that term for a monster who had certainly claimed her. She’d reveled in that sense of ownership. The idea that she belonged. That she mattered and was important to someone in the world after a lifetime of mattering to no one. Now it was only a source of never-ending shame because the claim Thomas had on her was sick, twisted and it was not love. Nothing like the claim Caleb, Beau and Zack had on their women. That was love. It was pure, beautiful and magical and it was the epitome of everything she’d once wanted more than she wanted to breathe and would have died for it. She nearly had.

She’d even caught a crack in Dane’s icy veneer when she herself had been the one in danger on their last mission. He’d come close to completely losing all vestiges of that legendary composure when she’d lain there so still after enduring unspeakable torture and it wasn’t known whether she lived or had died.

Until that Neanderthal Wade Sterling had inserted himself into a situation he clearly didn’t belong in. She scowled at the memory of just how he’d taken over. He’d picked her up, had held her, cradled her, actual concern dark in those mesmerizing eyes as though she had mattered to him.

She caught herself before she did something stupid like shake her head vehemently in denial of such a crazy, unwanted thought. But a nagging voice inside her, one she wanted to bitch slap and banish forever, innocently asked if she was so certain she didn’t matter to Sterling.

To get her mind off Sterling and to delay, for now, the overwhelming grief and dread of her impending meeting with Dane, she turned just enough so she could see Zack in her periphery, but made certain it wasn’t obvious she was watching him. The voice of Caleb droned on and on and she could see she wasn’t the only one impatient for the meeting to be done. Several of the people she worked with had bored, impatient expressions and the eyes of others were glazed over, obviously having tuned out the endless drone completely.

Her gaze slowly settled back on Zack and she went still, remembering to bring and adopt the same bored expression the rest of the team wore when he looked in her direction. Her heart plummeted because it wasn’t a friendly look. Not remotely. His expression was black and brooding. Yeah, he was pissed. But then she couldn’t blame him considering how protective he was of Gracie and then there was the fact that before that fucking phone call, she had been tight with Gracie. She’d been tight with all the wives. But especially Gracie, with whom she’d formed a special bond after all the shit that had gone down.

Unable to bear the anger and, worse, the disappointment in Zack’s expression she averted her gaze, shutting him out. She glanced in Dane’s direction, not feeling any better about the deception she was perpetrating. Guilt flooded her.

She shuddered, tears stinging her eyelids and she blinked them back, furious at her lack of control. And she should have known that if no one else would pick up on that nearly imperceptible slip up, Dane would.

He eyed her sharply, his gaze flickering over her as if revealing every secret she ever held, every thought she’d locked down permanently, never to escape and see the light of day again.

He moved closer with casualness that had her blinking because he made it seem unplanned, like he was growing weary of the prolonged meeting and was merely shifting his weight. He donned an impatient look, one he was famous for, one that said, “Are we done now?”

The others caught on and Caleb and Beau began the wrap-up and for a moment Eliza thought she was safe from Dane’s scrutiny. Years working for this man and she still made a rookie mistake by underestimating him.