Now she was learning that her marriage was fragile, too.
“You should go and help Ian.” Perhaps being with Ian for a few days would be good for him. Ian would watch out for him.
She trusted Ian with Alex’s life. Though Warren had been his partner for the last few years, she preferred knowing that Ian was watching his back. Perhaps Ian could talk to Alex. Ian hadn’t hesitated around her. Ian had reached for her and when she’d flinched, he’d growled at her. He’d told her he wasn’t that “motherfucker who hurt her” and he demanded that she accept his comfort.
Ian didn’t feel the guilt Alex did. Maybe he could help Alex.
She needed her husband. God, she needed her Dom so badly.
“I love you, Eve.” He whispered the words. “I’m so sorry.”
She closed her eyes as though she was going back to sleep. She heard the door close.
She didn’t need his sorrow. She didn’t need his guilt. She needed his strength, but she couldn’t ask for it because she’d changed on a fundamental level. She wasn’t his sweet little innocent sub anymore.
Time. She needed time.
She let her hand find the bandage over the spot where he’d nearly split her throat.
Did time heal all wounds? Perhaps not. Perhaps it just brought scars that proved she’d survived on a physical level.
But she might have lost her soul because she wasn’t sure her marriage had survived at all.
Eve closed her eyes and prayed for dreams of yesterday.
Chapter One
Dallas, Texas
Present Day
Alex McKay felt his stomach churn as he stared at the projection in front of him.
“Do you know how dangerous this could be?” Ian Taggart asked.
The conference room was quiet. Not one sliver of early morning light made it past the tightly drawn shades. The sun was coming up. He knew it because of the time, but in the dark conference room, it still felt like night, utterly dark, the only illumination a series of slides that depicted his life in tragic photos.
He sighed and simply clicked to the next slide. The last thing he needed was Ian telling him how dangerous Michael Evans could be. He knew that up close and personally. Michael Evans had cost Alex McKay just about everything he cared about in the world. His job. His future. But most of all the fucker had cost Alex his wife. And that was why he was going to find him no matter the cost.
“The last time I had a source contact me, they believed Evans was in Argentina, but that was over a year ago. This is the first time he’s surfaced since then.” He kept his voice moderate, like he was just going over another Tuesday morning case file and not the most important events of his life.
Adam Miles slipped into the room, sliding into the seat to Alex’s left. “Is there a reason we’re having a meeting at six in the morning? I don’t think I should have to be awake before the sun is.”
Jake Dean rolled his eyes as he followed his partner. Jake and Adam always worked together, but then they pretty much did everything together—including their wife, Serena. “He’s bitching because I refused to let him wake up Serena this morning.”
“I don’t do well without a good-bye kiss,” Adam said, sulking a little.
Ian groaned, sitting back in his massive leather chair. Dressed for business, the early morning hours did not seem to faze Ian at all. Unlike Alex, who was still in sweat pants and a T-shirt, Ian had come into work in a designer suit. It would make most men look civilized, but Ian just looked like a well-dressed gangster, the kind who could kill a man and never even wrinkle his clothes. “Adam, dude, get out from behind Serena’s skirts.”
“I spend all my time trying to get into her skirts, boss,” Adam shot back.
“If you’re all done here, I would like to continue.” Alex really didn’t have time to sit and listen to how fucking happy Adam was. “Or we can just close this thing up right now and I can handle this on my own.”
“What crawled up Alex’s butt and died?” Jake asked in a whisper that absolutely everyone in the building could probably hear.
“Shut up, Jake.” Ian leaned forward. “Michael Evans seems to have surfaced.”
“Fuck.” Jake looked up, and even in the dim light of the predawn conference room, he could see the solidarity in Jake’s eyes. “Anything you need, man. We’re here. Where’s Li, by the way? Tell me he didn’t kill the English asshole?”
“Like he bloody well could.” Simon Weston was damn quiet. He’d slunk into the room without anyone noticing. As the newest member of the McKay-Taggart Security Service’s team, the former MI6 agent hadn’t much tried to fit in with anyone past Ian. Ian seemed to have taken the man under his wing despite the fact that Simon had nearly blown up their last assignment. He’d been fooled by Eli Nelson, and didn’t Alex know that feeling. Despite his surly attitude, Alex felt a bit of a kinship with Simon. He knew damn well what it was like to get his ass handed to him on an operation. “Liam had other plans this morning, and this is just a friendly little info share. I can fill him in later.”
He’d pointedly not invited Liam this morning, and he’d lucked out because this was Liam and Avery’s weekly breakfast with Eve. Liam and Eve had gotten close over the years, and she adored Li’s new wife, Avery. They were the perfect distraction. Eve usually came in early, but Tuesdays were spent at a local café.
“Who’s Michael Evans and why does everyone look like their best mate just got run over?” Simon asked. He stood in the back, not bothering with one of the four seats left.
Alex directed his attention to the projection on the wall. It was a picture of a man he knew far too well. “This is Michael Evans, thirty-seven. He’s a homegrown terrorist. He ran a small commune in the northern section of Idaho. No name. Just two hundred acres and a belief that the United States government has grown corrupt. I’ll admit, it’s not just the US government Evans has a problem with. It’s mostly all of society. The FBI didn’t pay much attention to him until we discovered his ties to jihadist leaders in Mexico. Between 2001 and 2005, Evans made over fifty trips to Central America. The CIA marked him as a potential stateside contact for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and other associated groups.”
Simon nodded. “Yeah, I remember him now. He was all over the news a couple of years back. I was actually in the States when he was arrested. He grew drugs on that land of his and funded small cells. They bombed low profile sites, if I remember correctly. I found it rather odd that they didn’t choose high value targets.”