Page 49 of One Last Stand
One side of his mouth lifted, his blue eyes catching hers, and for a second, she was back at The Kiss. At the feel of his arms around her, the taste—oh boy. She swallowed. “I didn’t know you were attached to the Rangers.”
“Yeah. We trained with them in some alpine settings—which is how I met Colt. He was a ranger, and we actually went through a blizzard together in a snow cave. After spending a year with them, I knew it wasn’t a life I wanted. I was made to save lives, not take them.”
There was more to that story; she knew it in her bones. And for the first time, she realized they’d spent most of the last year sharing movie preferences, making dinner, and training together. But his life, he kept guarded.
Maybe she didn’t know him at all.
His strong hands worked her feet. “So, why did you join the Black Swans?”
Deflecting.Sheesh,she should pay attention a little more. Hard to do when he looked at her with those blue eyes, though, and a voice that always made its way under her skin to turn it warm.
“I guess I just . . . I liked the idea of doing something . . . extraordinary.”
“Your parents are international diplomats. That’s pretty extraordinary.”
“My mom is the diplomat. My dad is an international lawyer. And he advises her. But yeah, it was . . . okay. I didn’t have a lot of friends—hard to do that when everyone you bring home has to be vetted. And we moved a lot. I was mostly friends with the bodyguards, or even the kids of other attachés.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“A little. But my parents tried to get me involved in sport clubs. I took dance class and tae kwon do, gymnastics and swimming club. . . . anything to help me feel connected, I think. I spent the longest time in Russia. We also lived in Paris, and then Berlin, a year in Rome. . . .”
“All the really boring places, then.”
“We even went to Taiwan for a while. We finally ended in a small country called Lauchtenland, where I met my best friend, Pippa. She and I attended post-secondary together, a sort of prep school. We roomed together in our first year of university, but it wasn’t for Pippa—she wanted to be a royal guard, so she joined the Lauchtenland military. And about that time, I was approached by Pike to join the Black Swans. It sounded . . . well, sort of cool.Mission: Impossible, you know? So . . . I signed on and went through the most grueling four years I’d ever known.”
“Ziggy as your trainer.”
“Yes. She has her own interesting past, but she’s not cold, or even cruel. She’s just . . . resolute, I guess. Does what she has to in order to get the job done.”
His mouth tightened and he nodded.
She glanced over at Tomas, who now had his eyes closed, leaning against the side of the plane. Turned back to Shep and cut her voice low. “Listen, I know that Tomas keeps calling me Laney, but you have to know, Shep—I’m not that person anymore. I’m just going to get another bio card. Because Tomas is right—the Bratva would keep coming for me. But if I give the money back and they think it’s stolen from them by another terrorist organization . . .”
His gaze met hers. “This could backfire, badly.”
And for some reason, his voice, his words, pierced her, deep inside.
Backfire. Yes. And Shep could get hurt.
Aw . . . shoot.
See,this was why Ziggy forbade personal relationships for Swans.
“Promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll listen to me. Andtrustme.”
He frowned.
She leaned up, grabbed his hand. “Promise me.”
“I promise. I mean, I do trust you—and I do listen.”
But he wasn’t hearing her. “I don’t want—I can’t . . . please don’t get hurt. I couldn’t bear it.”
His smile fell and he swallowed. “I will do everything I can to keep you—and myself—safe.”
But something about his expression seemed almost . . . haunted.
She nodded, however, then leaned back and looked out the window. A ridge of tall mountains rose from the deep valleys. And just like that, his words, spoken to her inside a snow tomb three years ago, spiraled back to her.