Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers 9)

he word on the street to kill her?"

"Dead or alive," Mack's voice was grim. "Preferably alive, but they'll take what they can get. It's more money if she's delivered alive."

"They plan on taunting Whitney with her," Javier said. "Showing him they will retaliate."

"The bottom line for me," Kane said, "is that they said dead or alive. That's unacceptable."

"You can't go to war with the cartel," Rose said.

The three men smiled at one another, and there was nothing at all pleasant about those smiles.

CHAPTER 14

Rose stood on the rooftop and looked around, a little awed by the view. Three stories up, she could see the ocean as well as a good portion of the city. A garden had been started on the roof, mainly, she could see, for defense purposes. She was coming to realize this team did everything with both offense and defense in mind.

"Urban warfare is different than what you've been trained for," Kane said, indicating the buildings around them. "See all those windows? Every one of them can house an innocent family. Women and children, a good man working to provide for his family--or an enemy can be sitting there waiting for you to give him a good target. Sometimes, it can be extremely difficult to tell the difference between that good man trying to protect his family from what he perceives as a threat, and the man waiting to take you out."

Rose felt a small chill steal down her spine. Sebastian lay quietly in the front pack, snuggled against her, his blue green eyes staring around him in a kind of wonder. She suddenly felt exposed there on the roof and wanted to rush back inside and keep him safe.

"The field of vision is always limited in a city," Kane said, moving along the side of the roof that looked out over the street. "You have to really take your time and study our area here. This is a very three-dimensional world, with a lot of areas for a sniper to sit back and pick off one of us. Gideon Carpenter and Ethan Myers--I think you met both of them on the helicopter--are up here daily, familiarizing themselves with every conceivable cover, both for them and for the enemy."

Rose narrowed her eyes and looked down at the busy street. They were near the docks, and everyone seemed to be hustling to get on or off the boats. She took her time, studying each warehouse, the balconies and small alcoves and fire escapes that could hide potential enemies.

"Once we have complete control of the buildings on both sides of the street, we'll be in a much stronger position. Our biggest problem at the moment is that building right there." He indicated a three-story warehouse that had been renovated into apartments. "So far, we've been unable to purchase it. People come and go all the time. It would be easy enough for an enemy to infiltrate and set up shop right there. Any of the front apartments face our home. Gideon is building his home on the top floor of the next building and Paul has the floor beneath him. The training center will be on the first floor."

"You all are keeping Paul on the middle floor, to protect him," she mused aloud.

Kane shrugged. "The truth is, we do look out for him, but make no mistake, Rose, Paul can handle any weapon. He went through all the same training we did, just as Jaimie did. She can work in the field, just as Paul can, but neither are really cut out for it. The thing is, an enemy would underestimate Paul every time. He's got courage and loyalty and would stand. I'd have him at my back any time."

"Yet you still protect him. All of you do."

He flashed a small grin. "Yeah. We do."

Paul was special, and they all recognized it. His intellect, his powers of observation, and his incredible psychic talent earned him a consideration, but it was his heart that had eventually won them all over. "We're lucky to have him on the team."

"So your plan is to have your homes in these buildings, with each man getting his own floor for his house."

"We'd command this entire street. The water on one side would be an asset and escape route, plus we've got an underground escape as well. Once we secure the buildings, we'll connect the tunnels."

"What about the local police? How are you going to have a military compound in San Francisco?"

"Jaimie's adept at getting through paperwork, and of course, we're more than willing to help the local police any way we can. They know we're military, but these are our homes. This is our neighborhood. Since we've been here, crime has gone down significantly, not only here but in a seven-block radius around us. We know every store owner, every bar owner. We make it a point to keep goodwill. We've already built up a network, and we're friends with most of the fishermen and dockworkers. They'll leave us alone."

"So no tanks driving through the streets."

Kane laughed and swept his arm around her. "Don't sound so disappointed. We'll have plenty of excitement."

"Speaking of which, I thought I'd go shopping with Jaimie this afternoon. Sebastian will be safe with you."

Kane felt every muscle in his body lock down. He stared down at her little pixie face. So innocent looking. So very devious. She'd dropped the bombshell on him without so much as blinking. And what the hell was he supposed to say to that? She wasn't a prisoner. She didn't need his permission. But he envisioned her first foray into their neighborhood with him as her armed guard. And maybe six or seven of the other team members.

Babysit? She wanted him to stay home and watch the baby sleep while she walked among the enemy. There was probably an entire battalion of Whitney's men waiting to kidnap her. And surely some spy had contacted every bounty hunter both in America and overseas, giving her exact location. Along with that, the cartel probably had assassins blanketing the area.

"You look a little pale, Kane. Are you certain you should be walking around so much just yet? We should go in." She took his arm.

There was nothing wrong with his physical strength. If he was pale it was because she terrified him sometimes. "Do you think that's really wise?"

She blinked up at him, giving him that little frown he found sexy. "Yes, absolutely. I think you need to go back inside and rest. Wisest course of action for you, Kane. You're working out too much. Even that rude surgeon says so. I hate to agree with anything the man says, but unfortunately, he's making sense."

He pulled her close to him, bending his head until their mouths were inches apart. "I'm not above putting you over my knee."

She went up on her toes to cover the scant couple of inches needed to find his mouth with hers. "Sounds intriguing," she murmured against his lips. She brushed kisses back and forth across his mouth. "But you'd better really enjoy it, because once you let me up, I'll have to retaliate, just for the sake of all women across the world."

He choked, laughter welling up. The day was foggy and a little windy, but right then, the sun seemed to burst over him. There was something about her that made him feel good. Her small stature, a little Asian porcelain doll with her dark chocolate eyes and her wild, shiny hair spilling around her face, was at odds with her tough core. She made him want to be her hero, the man who she depended on when everything around her fell apart, yet more than likely, it was going to be the other way around.

He framed her face with his hands--hands that were so big in comparison to her. He was twice her size, twice her weight easily, and yet in her small hands he was lost, completely lost. And he wanted to be. Somewhere in between running from the cartel and fighting Whitney, delivering their baby and lying next to her soft body in the middle of the night, he'd given himself, heart and soul, to her.

"I'm in love with you, Rose," he said, looking into those beautiful, dark eyes. He felt as if he was tumbling into a dark, warm, bottomless well.

The laughter faded from her eyes, and she blinked as if her eyes were burning. "You don't have to say that to me, Kane."

"I don't say what I don't mean, Rose."

She took a deep breath and blinked. This time he could see tears glistening on the tips of her lashes.

"Sweetheart." He bent to kiss the tears from her eyes. "That's a good thing, not a bad thing. We've committed our lives to one another. Loving you is g

ood."

"Is it real?" Her voice shook. A whisper of sound. Maybe a plea. Or denial.

"Are you asking me if it's something you can count on? Because if that's what you're worried about, Rose, the way I feel about you isn't going to go away. I'm in love with you. I've never thought it, let alone said it, to another woman. Pairing is about physical lust, not love. Whitney can't manipulate emotion, only our bodies. What I feel for you is real, Rose. It's about you and the person you are."

She searched his face, a long, slow study. He stood very still, letting her see the truth in his eyes. She shook him to his very core. Her strength and courage. Her determination. She'd come to him, committed to him, to a life with him to protect their child. She'd asked Whitney to pair her with him, knowing there was the possibility that they wouldn't find one another--and that she'd never be physically satisfied with anyone else, but she'd done it because she took responsibility for her choice.

How could a man like him, one devoted to duty and honor, not respect and admire her? Everything about her personality appealed to the man in him.

"You might have to say it several times a day for me to believe it," she warned. "I've never been good with fairy tales."

A slow grin teased his mouth. He could feel the warmth spreading through his body--her sun--slowly heating his blood. "So I'm the prince. I always wanted to be a prince."

Rose continued to look into his eyes. Her slender arms circled his neck, and she brought his head down to hers. He watched her eyes go dark and dreamy as his mouth took hers.

Sebastian kicked him hard, squirming as their bodies came together. They broke apart, laughing.

"Sorry about that, son," Kane said, taking him gently from the front pack to cradle him in his arms. "I can't resist your mother. You have to admit she's pretty darn sexy."

Rose rolled her eyes, blushing. "Don't tell him that. You don't know what he understands yet. I'm still reading all those baby books. I have to tell you, Kane, there are so many contradictions with all these so-called experts."

"Well, do we want to start off by lying to him? You are darned sexy. And what's wrong with him knowing his daddy finds his mommy very attractive?"

"I don't know. I don't know the first thing about raising a child." Rose shoved her hand through her hair in agitation. "I'll probably mess up his little psyche."