Maverick (Elite Ops 2)

“You’ve avoided this party every year that you’ve received an invitation,” he stated. “Why?”

“Because I don’t like doctors,” she said between clenched teeth. “Maybe a better way of saying it is that I despise the bastards. I can barely tolerate my own. How’s that?”

“Not a good enough reason.” His smile was tight and cool, his black eyes flat and hard. “But no one else will expect you to be there either, especially the doctor determined to kill you.”

It was his determined expression, and she was growing to highly dislike it. It usually did not bode well for her.

“You’re trying to force me into remembering who did it,” she said angrily. “You’re trying to make me identify him.”

“Identify your rapist and we identify Orion when we question him. The most elite of the medical field in the world will be at these parties. Orion’s employer and your rapist was rumored to be one of the most advanced scientific minds in the world. He’ll be there.”

“Then why should I be there?” Risa could feel the panic building in her chest, along with the fear. She avoided doctors like the plague, just as she avoided anyone who had been associated with Jansen Clay. “You said it yourself; all you have to do is capture Orion. He’ll tell you who his employer is.”

“Or vice versa,” he said quietly. “If we identify the scientist quickly, then he can’t escape if he’s not American.”

“He’s American.” The words burst from her lips before she even realized the truth of them.

“You’re remembering more.” He stood across from her, watching her closely. “What have you remembered since the dream, Risa?”

She pushed her fingers through her hair as she turned from him, tightening them in the strands as she fought against the fear trying to overwhelm her.

“I don’t want to go to this party,” she breathed in roughly. “You can’t make me go.” She swung around to face him again, glaring back at him fiercely.

“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t force you to go, Risa. But if you let fear control you, then you’re never going to have the life you’ve dreamed of having.”

“What do you know about my dreams?” she charged him, her voice rough. “As far as you know, Micah, I don’t have a single dream.”

His lips quirked in an oddly sad curve. “I know you dream, Risa. You have the pictures and plans of the home you want one day. It even has a white picket fence around it. You keep the picture on your desk. I know you don’t splurge in your money, but you want to. You want the pretty, sexy clothes, but you’re afraid to wear them. I know you dream of a family. A husband and children.” Something flamed in his eyes then; some emotion flashed across his face that she couldn’t decipher.

“Every woman’s dreams.” She shrugged his perception off.

“You want to go to the desert,” his voice lowered. “You want to feel the caress of a breeze that feels as though it’s come from the sun itself.”

She turned away from him. That dream had come to her in the middle of the night as she heard him describe Israel to her. But it was only a part of the dream. She dreamed of being by his side as she felt it.

“You need to do this, Risa. You need to take your life back. Are you going to let Orion or the man that tormented you rule your dreams and hold them back forever?”

She hated his logic. She hated that look in his eyes, the one that said he knew she would do what she needed to when she wasn’t so certain herself.

She looked at the evening gown again. It was simply gorgeous. The dark gold and bronze beaded color shimmered beneath the light. There were bronze heels and a small clutch purse. There were even bronze panties.

The fabric of the dress shimmered with the tiny beads as it ran from dark gold and bronze, steadily darkening to a rich, vibrant black at the hem. It looked as though it glittered with stardust.

“You definitely intend to make me stand out,” she murmured.

“A woman learning her own sexuality and her effect on her lover would want to stand out,” he said, his voice dark, rough. “A woman of your courage, healing from the trauma you suffered, would become bold, adventurous, when her lover encouraged it in her.”

“You’re daring me,” she sighed. “I hear it in your voice.”

“Daring you to live?” he asked. “Yes, Risa, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m daring you to live.”

She wrapped her arms across her breasts and stared at the dress again.

“And if I break down?” She couldn’t look at him now. “If I see him, know him, and I break down?”

“I won’t let you break down. You’ll hold on to me. You will know you’re safe, in my care, and protected, Risa. You won’t break down. You’ll tell me who you suspect, and later he’ll be investigated and questioned. That simple. And he’ll break. Then it will all be over.”

Just as Bailey had broken, Micah thought sadly. His cousin was currently resting in a secured location. Jordan was reluctant to call her director now. The news that Orion was CIA changed many of the team’s options in regards to the assignment.