Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

Standing, she padded over to Mace on her bare feet. “Here’s your datapad.”

Without looking at her, he took it and slipped it into his back pocket. He didn’t even check to make sure she hadn’t made a copy of the file. Friday was right—he was useless with tech.

“I wiped it clean for you,” she said.

He grunted.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I copied the file proving Friday’s alive?”

His shoulders tensed as he realized the weapon he’d handed her. “Did you?”

She sighed. “I should have.”

His shoulders relaxed. But he wasn’t off the hook yet.

“There’s still the issue of my parents,” she reminded him.

He ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign that he was uncomfortable with the conversation. “They were never in danger. It was all a bluff.”

“What?” The word barely made it past her lips.

“My team would never hurt them. Striker arranged for them to be held while this mission was taking place, but even if you hadn’t agreed to help us, they would have walked free anyway. Unharmed.”

She’d been conned? It was adding insult to injury, and she reacted without thinking, striking out and kicking him hard. Only, her feet were bare, and his leg was made of titanium.

“Argh!” She sat down hard to cradle her bruised toes.

“What the hell, Keiko?” Mace crouched beside her to check out the damage. “Isn’t it bad enough that other people are out to hurt you? Do you have to add to it yourself? You need to think before you do things, woman.”

And this was the man who’d been trying to convince her that he didn’t care. “I could seriously use a hug.”

With a shake of his head, he pulled her into his arms. “You drive me nuts. Never met anybody who just asks for what they want the way you do.”

And she’d never met anyone who confused her as much as Mace. He said one thing but did another, trying to convince her that he was the bad guy while looking out for her at every turn. He’d even risked his team to give her the truth. And back in the hotel, he’d been furious at Striker for using her parents against her, yet he’d still taken the mission his team had given him. He was a bundle of contradictions that would take a lifetime to unravel. But, right now, it felt like he was the only calm port in the storm, and she desperately needed to hold on to him.

Wrapping her arms around his strong body, she breathed in the scent that was uniquely Mace. A scent that she could easily become addicted to. “How else are you supposed to get something if you don’t ask?”

His hand rubbed up and down her back, soothing her. “You’ve got me there.”

“It’s all true, isn’t it? Everything you told me about CommTECH.” The words hurt her heart, but they had to be said.

“Yeah, it’s all true.” His voice was soft, gentle. It was clear he didn’t take any joy in her realization. “I wish it wasn’t. I wish I could have left you in your perfect bubble, believing everything was rosy with the world.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He was quiet for a long minute. “I’d like to say it’s because I’m a contrary asshole, but the truth is, I couldn’t stand the thought of you walking back into CommTECH, believing everything they said, and putting yourself in harm’s way. Working for them isn’t safe. You aren’t safe. And I guess that matters to me.”

A warmth settled inside of her at his words. One she would take out an examine later, when she had time to puzzle all that was Mace. “I don’t understand how I didn’t see any of it.”

“You weren’t meant to see anything.”

“You’ve completely upended my world,” she said against his shirt.

“I’m not sorry,” was the recalcitrant reply.

“I’m still mad that your team scared my parents.”

“I understand.”