“Why would you do that when you didn’t even have the laptop?”
“Call it a gesture of goodwill. One which I hope you will share with the Wild Mustang Security Firm.”
She nodded. “And you’ll leave all the members of the firm alone?”
“Yes. Please, Zara, come and sit. In the past, we have always dealt with each other, if not as friends, then at least as friendly adversaries.”
“That was before your second-in-command involved his sister in this fiasco and tried to have me killed.”
“As I said, a most unfortunate circumstance—one which I have already moved to address. As for anything you might have heard about the firm’s headquarters, what was sent was an EMP to destroy the data. Ask yourself, unless I knew for certain I could get all of them, why on earth would I try to move against them? Ethan McDaniel has put together a team that would stop at nothing to take revenge.”
“What you say makes some sense…” she said, preparing to move forward.
Zara’s arms were crossed over her chest, holding the messenger bag with the laptop in place as a kind of shield. Glancing down to check her footing, she saw a small green dot dead center of her chest mere seconds prior to a shot ringing out. The impact of the blow knocked her backward, causing her to lose her footing and stumble back into her own boat.
Fariq was shouting orders in Arabic and sending his men for the shooter. Before she could react, a wet hand closed over her mouth—a hand she knew intimately.
“Stay down,” Noah ordered, then sprang up behind the wheel of the boat and opened the throttle to full.
Knowing her boat had been secured to Fariq’s yacht, Zara tried to belly crawl to the back of the boat to see if she couldn’t set them free. Noah’s hand grasped her ankle and dragged her back.
“Damn it, woman. Stay.”
“The line…”
“I already cut it. Now, stay down,” he commanded as the boat lurched forward.
She could hear bullets and could feel the spray of the water both from the speed of the boat, and she supposed, from the bullets hitting the water instead of their intended targets. She lifted herself just enough off the deck to be able to peer over the side, which earned her a hard swat from Noah’s hand.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to get up. In fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever have the opportunity to get up. She crawled back to Noah and curled at his feet. He rested his hand gently on her head and shot her a brief smile. They gained speed until the front of the boat began to lift out of the water.
Zara’s heart beat fast in her chest, then she wondered why it was, in fact, beating at all.
Noah reached down, and she took his hand as he helped her up and brought her to stand between him and the wheel. Zara glanced over her shoulder and could see that ever-increasing distance between them and Fariq’s yacht and patrol boats. New boats had joined in the attack on Fariq’s floating fortress.
Noah nuzzled her neck. “You’re all right. I’ve got you.”
She couldn’t suppress a nervous giggle. “That’s what worries me.”
He chuckled. “It should. Can you drive at this speed?”
She nodded and took the wheel as he walked to the back of the boat.
“What happened? This should have been a straight exchange—the laptop with the information—and we walk away clear.”
“It looks like there’s been a break between Reid and Fariq.”
“Fariq said he put out the word that the contract on me was off. He also said he had arranged for an EMP to hit the firm.”
“He did, but because you alerted us there was a threat, it only did minimal damage.”
He came back to where she was standing and took the wheel as he handed her the messenger bag. Zara looked down and saw the bullet lodged in it.
“I don’t understand,” she stammered.
“The bag has a Kevlar lining, and the laptop has a bulletproof case. That sniper’s bullet probably destroyed both, but they saved your life. The next bullet would have been right between your eyes.”
Turning, so she could see they weren’t being pursued, she asked, “How safe is my life now?”
“Your life is perfectly safe. Your ass… not so much.”
“Noah, I can explain…”
“He threatened my life, and you went off to save me,” he said melodramatically.
“How did you know?”
“My phone records everything automatically and transmits it back to base in Mesa unless I turn off the feature.”
“Then you know I had good reason.”
“You had good reason to talk to me, but not to try to take on one of the most notorious arms dealers in the world. What were you thinking?”
“Didn’t you read my note?”
“It said nothing.”
“Nothing?” Her voice increased in volume and intensity. “I told you I loved you. That’s nothing to you?”
Noah pulled her hard against his body, and his mouth descended on hers with fury and passion. He had her locked up against him as his tongue plundered her mouth and sought to remind her that he was the dominant one. Zara lost her will to resist and melted against him.
“It means everything to me,” he growled.
“Then why was my note nothing?”
He grinned at her. “Because it didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know… including that you are stubborn and reckless.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I thought I was obnoxious, insufferable, and arrogant?”
“And mine,” she whispered against his lips. “All mine.”
“Yes, sweetheart. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“What now? Is there a plan?”
“What? Do you think we just make this shit up as we go along? Of course, there’s a plan,” he snorted.
“Mind filling me in?”
“Not at all. Because, unlike some people, I don’t think I have to do everything myself. We’re meeting Thom at the dock. He’ll take care of the boat, and you and I will head back to the cottage, where we will come to a meeting of the minds about doing what you’re told and keeping yourself safe.”
“Why is it I don’t think it’s my mind you plan to explain things to?”
“Because you’re a bright girl, and you know you deserve to have me take my belt to your backside.”
“Noah…”
“Don’t start, Zara.”
“At some point, will you still make me that scallop risotto?”
He laughed again. “Don’t believe by making me laugh, I’m not going to put you facedown over my knee when we get back to the cottage.”
Noah slowed the boat as they started into the harbor. Zara walked up and ducked under his arm, so she was once again standing in a loose embrace. He pressed himself into her, and she could feel the evidence of his need… a need that matched her own. Turning around, she wrapped her body around his, needing to be close to him. She laid her head on his chest, closed her eyes, and relaxed against him.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”
He docked the boat, and he and Thom tied it off, then he extended his hand and helped her off the boat. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close, and she took sanctuary in his strength.