Free For the Bond (Romantic Suspense) (Beyond Blood, #3) by Nora Flite Page A

of the past, he'd do anything to keep the people he loved safe. I refused to lose Kite. I'd never lose anyone I cared about... never again.
    Once had been enough.
    Where did Marina fit into this pledge? She doesn't, I warned myself. Marina isn't part of the bond. She can't be.
    Killing was easy. Letting her live had become the struggle. My divided wishes would drive me to the brink and fracture me. Who was I kidding? I was already broken, the edge of insanity was tickling my toes.
    “Jacob,” Kite said softly. The strain in his tone shook me awake. If he'd been crying or trying not to cry, I didn't know. But the way he sounded dug at me. “...I'm sorry.”
    “Why are you sorry?” I asked, ducking my chin into my jacket's tall collar.
    “I shouldn't have said we could trust her. I should have listened. You were right about her... I just wanted to think... fuck. Fuck everything. Dammit .” The bluetooth wavered. Kite's breathing was raspy.
    He had no clue what had happened in the club. All he'd seen from his position staking out the area was Marina crossing the street and going into Calloway's. He didn't know the danger I'd been in, or what she'd done for me.
    Lifting my hand, I perched my finger on the power button. “Blood Brothers. That's all we can trust. Nothing changes.”
    Tapping the device off, I was left to wallow in my thoughts.

- Chapter Nine -
    Marina
    ––––––––
    T he name cut through the air of the club and stabbed my guts. Frank. The kid behind the bar had mentioned Frank. Whoever the gangly guy was, he was talking to Jacob like he knew him and rambling about things that sounded like a flood of clues for the lock-box of my life. The fucking revenge that alluded me.
    This man had answers.
    Jacob was sitting there, stiff as a mountain. I was close enough to hear the conversation, but I'd slowed my approach. At first, I'd been relieved to see Jacob. It meant this place was important, that maybe the guy I was after was really nearby.
    The pain in his blue eyes when he'd seen me had cooled my excitement. Okay, yeah, I guess I had lied to Kite when I said I wouldn't come. Was that why Jacob looked so hurt? The lines that had crawled over his frown were unnerving. I had the oddest sensation that he'd been waiting for me.
    Forget that, I told myself firmly. Listen to what they're talking about! But I couldn't, not easily. The fear that was permeating off of Jacob was probably invisible to others. I'd seen a lot of the faces he could make. Facets, as he'd called them. Fear was a weird one. For some reason, this kid behind the bar was freaking him out.
    There are moments where you have to decide to take advantage of a situation, or to give it up for the greater good. My greater good was a clean-cut man with clever hands and a fierce smirk. I hated that his delicious lips were stuck in a scowl.
    Jacob's eyes moved. They darted down, I saw the white plastic on the bar peeking from under the kid's pointed fingertips. His ID? Yeah, that was it. Jacob was trying to get his identification back. He needed it, but couldn't just force it out of the guy's hands. My intuition warned that if the bartender saw his ID, Jacob was fucked.
    My life was full of weird shit lately. What I was about to do was up there on the list. Passing an empty table, I snatched a glass that was half-full of some unknown drink. Mostly melted ice, I figured. I did it all in mere seconds; jacket off, glass at the ready. The kid was my target.
    Pretending to stumble, I cried out. Shooting my torso over the bar, I splashed him and me with the drink. It was fucking cold. His eyes shot wide, hands flying upwards. Before he could get angry, I started apologizing. “I'm so sorry! My foot caught on the chair and I just—I'm really sorry!”
    Jamming my hip towards Jacob, I somehow missed him. He was already standing, good. I tossed him the quickest of looks. I couldn't tell his expression, but I did see the bluetooth. No question, he'd been