Free Code Name: Kayla's Fire by Natasza Waters

unraveling.” It was partly true, but he’d
caused the roadblock, so he could get to Lapierre before she did. He had no
doubt she’d figure it out, so he had to hurry.
    Lapierre nodded. “A chance for us to have a discussion, is that it?’
    “Feel like a beer?” Thane draped himself in his diplomacy cloak. It
was the only way to deal with Lapierre and not risk losing Kayla. This man was
his competition. It didn’t take thousands of training dollars in psychological
specialization to read Kayla’s deep affection for her ex-brother-in-law. What
worried him was that affection was one step left of a different kind of love,
one that would have Lapierre’s ring on Kayla’s finger.
    “Guess I could do that.”
    Physically their statures matched, although Greg’s features were dark,
his skin swarthy and his eyes brilliant green. The man didn’t show a single
sign of weakness. If he was burning out, he obscured it with his dominance.
    Being good enough for JTF was on par with becoming a SEAL. He
respected the Canadian forces; their expertise and commitment to ending the
reign of terror was equal to the United States. The men they chose were like
his own. If Lapierre was American, he had no doubt he’d want a man like him on
his teams.

 
    Settling on the patio at Breakers, the favored local hangout, Thane
ordered a couple beers from the waitress, Amanda, who was giving the new
man-flesh a healthy gape. Lapierre graced her with a once-over, like any
trained warrior, he took her in without reflecting a thing. “Beautiful woman,”
Thane said after she walked away.
    Lapierre gave a short nod, but didn’t chase her with his eyes. This
guy really was dedicated to Kayla, either that or he already surmised why Thane
had brought him here—interrogation.
    “How is she, Captain? I want the truth. She told me you know what—my
brother did.”
    “Did she tell you what happened at Christmas?”
    “Her brevity leaves a lot of details out, and she does it so I don’t
hop on a plane. Christmas is hard for her. Until this year, we spent every
Christmas I wasn’t deployed, together. This year, she wouldn’t allow me to
come.”
    “Yet, here you are.” He gave Amanda a nod of thanks when she returned,
but wished like hell she hadn’t slipped a hand across his shoulders and offered
an enticing please-let’s-fuck-again smile before she turned to another table.
Lapierre’s watchful eyes filled with understanding, but he made no comment.
    “I’m here because Kayla is my family.”
    “Ex-family, and I know why you’re here. She sees you as a brother, but
you don’t just see her as a sister. You want more.”
    “For twenty years I’ve been her protector and her friend, because
that’s all she’d allow. I can hear it in her voice. She’s maxed out, and she
needs a rest. Kayla’s always worked herself to the point of exhaustion, but she
does it for a reason.”
    How could a guy like Lapierre not move on? For years he’d kept a flame
burning for Kayla, Thane wondered if he might not do the same. “She didn’t tell
you what happened when the Shark murdered the woman in my garage?”
    Lapierre leaned forward, his body tensing. “No.”
    “Since Christmas she’s been having minor Post Traumatic episodes.
Mostly shaking, withdrawing into her mind.”
    Lapierre folded his hands, his jaw tightening as he listened.
    “When she saw how the Shark tore the woman apart, she had a major
episode. We watched her relive the night your brother tried to kill her.
Watched her fight to survive.” The memory made him sick.
    Lapierre’s forehead furrowed into tight lines.
    “She’s scheduled to see a doc this week, but it’s going to take a lot
for me to get her there. She wants to deal with this herself, swears she
already has.”
    “She did in the past. The first six months were the worst,” Lapierre admitted,
staring down into his beer. “Thrashing, sweating, screaming—nothing I could do
would bring her out of it, so I