Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,30
said.
The woman’s gaze narrowed. “That’s not happening.”
Surprise registered on everyone’s faces when they looked at Zoey. Kristof noted the tension filling the air. “I clearly missed something.”
“I’m not sure what you think I do after women are saved from those auctions, but even if I did do something, there’s no way in hell I’m touching those women. Do you think I’m an idiot? Who are they? Plants?”
“Little Bit,” Gage whispered. “I think you’ve lost most of us.”
“She thinks he faked an auction and engineered their rescue so he can put people through whatever process she may or may not have for them after they’re supposedly rescued,” Addy said. “She doesn’t believe he’d buy them back without an ulterior motive.”
Damn but he loved brilliant women. They never ceased to amaze him. No wonder Jud loved being at The Arsenal so much.
Kristof chuckled. “I admit I wouldn’t have thought that far ahead to devise such a brilliant plan. The only ulterior motive I had was keeping my word to Addy and all of you. You trusted me to deal with the situation, and I did in the only way I could. Sadly, I can’t help the women beyond what I’ve done. Freeing them to return back to wherever they were taken only assures that they’d be taken again.”
“And you and Gavriil would both be exposed,” Marshall said.
Kristof nodded. “I didn’t think my actions would be seen as having malicious intent.”
“You know I don’t trust you,” Zoey said. “None of us do.”
“You see what everyone else does,” Kristof replied. “The women shouldn’t suffer because of that.”
“Fine.” Zoey looked up at Gage. “We can take them in and get them out of the country. Then we can figure out what to do.”
Kristof didn’t like the fact that they didn’t trust his intentions, but he understood and respected them more for taking whatever precautions they would to keep the women safe. In their eyes, he was the monster.
He couldn’t fault their logic. He lived in a hazy operational gray that bled deeper into the dark than the light they thrived in. Even though The Arsenal never backed down from entering the gray, they didn’t mire in it daily like him.
“Have they told you where tomorrow night’s auction will be?” Thunder asked. “We should do recon now if we can.”
Kristof glanced at Maksim. “Maksim will forward what we have. It’s a remote location I’m not familiar with.”
“Anything else we need to discuss?” Zoey asked. She glanced about the room. “Okay, then. You all go off and be kickass commandoes, and I’ll keep doing the geek thing.”
Gage laughed and kissed her lips. “You’re a nut, Little Bit.”
Kristof watched the couple and wondered what would’ve happened if he’d made different decisions years ago. He’d once hoped to have the kind of love Gage and Zoey did, but his life wasn’t one where happily ever after was a possibility.
He stood and left the room.
Addy escaped the swarm of people in the living room and stepped outside. A cool breeze offered a bit of comfort despite all the problems awaiting her inside. Footsteps drew to a halt behind her. Though she didn’t know who had followed her, she suspected the conversation would be about Kristof.
“Zoey told me you were moving in to his house,” Marshall said. “I’m not sure that’s the right move.”
“It’s what Iriana would do. He’ll be safer and we’ll have eyes inside his domain. We all know he’s hiding something.” She gripped the black metal railing in front of her and peered out at the park in the distance. “I need you to trust me to handle this; to handle him.”
Focusing on what Iriana would do gave her the emotional distance she needed to escape the shroud of worry blanketing her. She couldn’t let anyone hurt Kristof. Why that mattered was a truth she wasn’t willing to accept, much less discuss with anyone else.
“It’s not you I don’t trust.”
“He won’t hurt me.”
“How do we know that? How do you?” Marshall touched her arm. She turned to face him.
Intensity resonated within his green eyes. Worry filled his face. She often wondered how the man remained sane with all the responsibilities he took on without hesitation. He took on the government organizations of every country reaching out for help and led Arsenal operations. Although he’d turned over a lot to his brothers and let Mary and Vi lead back office operations, everything funneled through him.