her cell phone and keys before their little confrontation. No point in giving her any hope that she could escape.
She couldn’t.
He couldn’t let her.
“Why are you doing this?” she muttered as he started the car.
He shot a glance at her. Her face seemed wan in the lights of the dash. “Orders.”
“Are you often ordered to kidnap women?”
“Often enough.”
The drive from town to the base was about half an hour, and in that time she didn’t say a word, but her annoyance washed over him in waves. She crossed her arms and stared out the window and occupied herself with making little noises of exasperation at extended intervals. It slayed him, how cute she was, because she had no idea how serious the situation was. She had no idea she’d just poked a hornet’s nest.
And the hornets were ruthless.
Chapter Five
Sterling slowed as they approached the gate of the compound. It was deceptively nondescript, a broad, empty plain surrounded by a chain-link fence with razor wire on the top. The signs posted every few feet proclaimed Private Property: No Trespassing. What the sign didn’t say was that every square inch was under video surveillance and had motion detectors.
He pulled out his keys and pressed the button on the fob and the gate lifted; the teeth guarding the entrance lowered with a grating whine.
Roni shot a glance over her shoulder as they headed down the dirt track toward the compound, which wasn’t visible from the gate. Sterling could see her wheels turning again. They always did with this one.
“Doesn’t seem like much security for a secret military base,” she observed pithily.
He didn’t respond. She didn’t need to know that the second they’d appeared on the radar, there had been high-powered rifles trained on them as well as an RPG for good measure. Or that deep below the innocuous surface of their base, the shit was hitting the fan.
She had no idea what was in store for her.
He tried not to let the burn of regret and guilt singe him too much. But while he’d never had trouble compartmentalizing his work before, this felt different. He knew one thing though—he wasn’t just going to hand her over and waltz away. He was in this for good or ill. He felt responsible for her safety. And he would do whatever he could to protect her. Whether she liked it or not.
What really scared him was that the thought of taking her and running had crossed his mind. He’d banished it, but it had been there. Lingered.
That in itself was a huge red flag, because this team, these guys, were his family. He owed them everything—his life many times over. And she was out to destroy them.
He knew he might not be able to save her from inciting her own destruction—she was far too stubborn and outspoken and fierce for that—but he could try. He had to.
True to form, she took in every detail as they passed the airfield, the living quarters and the man house, which held the rec room, communal kitchen and boy toys. He didn’t care, because this was the skin of the operation and as innocuous as it could get. The meat of the operation was all hidden beneath the surface.
He parked her car inside the hangar so it couldn’t be spotted from the air, and got out, coming around to take her arm. Her glare made it clear she neither wanted nor needed his help.
But it was more than help and they both knew it.
Though she couldn’t escape—not now that he had her here—she might try. He tightened his grip as a warning to belay any such thoughts.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as he pushed the button for the elevator down to the command center.
He shot her a dark look. “Where you wanted to go.” He herded her onto the elevator and fitted his key into the slot, then pushed the button marked CC. As the doors closed she pulled away from his hold and crossed her arms. A classic defensive pose. A pointless one too. Crossed arms could not protect her. Not from this.
She blew out a breath as the elevator descended. “I can’t believe you actually kidnapped me.”
“Really, Roni?” He shot her a look. “What did you expect? That I would roll over and tell you everything you wanted to know? Just because you’re phenomenal in bed?”
Her features softened, but only a smidgen. “Do you really think I’m phenomenal in bed?”