جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Scottie ended Hunter’s descent with an upraised fist that commanded him to stop. His voice was calm, his eyes intense as he stared up at him. “That’s an order, Hunt. Get your ass up there.”Everything in him rebelled at the command, but he knew Scottie was right. His first duty was to the diplomats they’d voluntarily come to save. He’d get everyone to the roof and direct the bird in, then come back for Scottie if necessary. “Roger that.”Suddenly Scottie’s head snapped around to face the corridor and he fired twice at more attackers. Hunter turned and ran, taking three stairs at a time. Four strides up, he heard Scottie grunt. Hunter whirled in time to see him struggling to his knees, blood pouring out from beneath the bottom of his tactical vest.Without hesitation he lunged down the stairs toward his friend.“I said go!” Scottie’s annoyed gaze bored into his, filled with resolve. Hunter read the unspoken message there. Scottie was prepared to give his life to save the rest of them.

“He’s here.”Khalia blinked and looked up from her laptop at Ray Dunlop, the fifty-eight- year-old co-founder of Fair Start Foundation, standing in the hotel room doorway. “What? Who?”“Your team leader.”Huh? Was her jetlag so bad that she’d screwed up the date somehow? A quick check of her calendar assured her she hadn’t. “He’s a day early.”“Yeah, how about that.” Ray’s sun-weathered features gave nothing away about what he thought of the head of her newly arrived security detail. She knew nothing about the man in question except that he’d been handpicked by Tom, the owner of Titanium Security. Normally she would have at least read a file on the men in her detail before arriving here in Pakistan but in light of recent events, Tom had been left scrambling to find replacement contractors for the job.“Downstairs?” she asked, a little nervous about meeting the man who would be responsible for her safety for the duration of her visit.Ray nodded. “In the lobby.”Okay then, apparently f

The knock on her hotel room door came at exactly nine the next morning. Hunter was punctual, that was for sure. She liked that he cared about attention to detail.Khalia strode over to answer the door, took a deep breath to quell the butterflies flitting around in her stomach before pulling it open. She and Hunter hadn’t gotten off on the best footing yesterday, and it was her fault. He probably thought she was a total bitch and hated the thought of being near her for the next week. She was determined to make amends for any damage she’d caused and smooth things over.She pulled the door open. Hunter stood there with his hair still damp from a recent shower and wearing cargo pants and a collared shirt. “Hi.”“Morning.” His intent gaze swept over her, taking in the modest knee-length blue dress and black silk scarf she’d covered her hair and shoulders with. Though there was nothing overtly sexual in the perusal, she could sense the male approval there and a shocking burst of heat filled

What? Too stunned to protest, Khalia sprawled flat on the pavement. The breath whooshed out of her as Hunter’s hard weight landed on her back, squashing her against the burning hot sidewalk. Someone near her screamed. A split second later she heard the loud bang of an impact, then the still air was ripped apart by a violent explosion. The force of it tore over her like a raging wind, whipped through her body like a shockwave. Her eardrums and lungs felt like they’d exploded from the pressure. For a split second the sidewalk rolled and bucked beneath them as if they were on a boat.It took a moment for the truth to sink in. A bomb.Her heart hammered against her ribs. Hunter was still on top of her, his arms crossed over her head and face to shield her. She didn’t dare move. People were screaming, running past them, even over them. Hunter grunted when someone stepped on him, but he didn’t budge from his position atop her. She could hear the sound of glass shattering close by, hitting t

Gage stuck his hands in his back pockets, obviously in no hurry to leave. HadHunter asked him to stay with her? “So, how you holding up?”She stopped what she was doing to meet his eyes. Did he want her to lie? “Honestly? I’m not sure.”A wry grin curved his mouth. “Not the nicest introduction to Pakistan.” “No.” Worse than she’d ever imagined, and she’d imagined plenty of awfulthings in the past few weeks.“Well if it’s any consolation, you held it together better than most civilians would have under the circumstances. You impressed the hell out of Hunt, and that’s not easy to do.”That piqued her curiosity. She set the tube of ointment aside. “He said that?” “Pretty much.” He lowered his tall, muscular body into a wing chair near thebed, leaned back into it. “We called Ray to tell him you were all right. You want something to eat while you wait for him to get back?”“I couldn’t eat right now, but thanks.” Her stomach was way too iffy at the moment to even contemplate putting anyt