Free Mine To Protect (Mine #6) by Cynthia Eden Page A

clue.”
    Zoe laughed. She looked down at her chest, then back at him. “Two kinds of showgirls. Some do go topless…for certain roles. Others…like me…we usually had some kick-ass sparkly rhinestones that covered all our parts. Dancers like me are Bluebells.”
    His eyes had widened. “I will remember that.”
    “Good. See that you don’t forget it.” Her head cocked as she studied him and some of her happiness faded. Not surprising, really. Most of her happiness was fleeting these days. “Are you…all right?”
    He just looked confused.
    She glanced toward the front of the plane, then back at him. “After what happened last night…you didn’t talk about it…”
    “That’s because I’m still getting used to the way I want you.” His voice deepened. “I should have more control. I should keep my hands off you, but I can’t.”
    Oh, wow. She sucked in a deep breath. Then another. “I was actually, um, not talking about us.” She wet her lips. “I meant the shooting. The hitman.”
Taking a life.
    A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Not anything to talk about there. It was kill or be killed. Only one choice to make.”
    He sounded so cold. “You don’t have to be that way, with me.” And she kept her gaze on him. “You don’t have to shut me out like you do everyone else. You can talk to me. Tell me how you feel. How you
really
feel. Tell me your secrets—”
    “Will you tell me yours?”
    The question caught her off-guard.
    “No, wait, forget it.” He raked a hand through his hair. “You want to know how I
feel
?”
    Maybe. Maybe not.
    “I feel like the guy had it too easy at the end. He wanted to
kill
you, Zoe. He was hunting you like prey. He wasn’t stopping. His only goal was to take your life, and shit, he almost succeeded. When I think of how close he came to killing you…” His hands grabbed the armrests on either side of his body and held tight. “I want to shoot him all over again.”
    That
wasn’t
the response she’d expected.
    He laughed, and the sound was bitter. “Wrong answer, huh? Not what an FBI agent is supposed to say, is it?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve never asked another FBI agent that question.”
    His stare raked over her. “You were supposed to be so much easier to handle.”
    Unease slithered through her. “You’re…handling me now?”
    He smiled at her. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Nothing new there, he was always so guarded. Too guarded. “My job is to be your handler. Your protector.”
    “Why?”
    His smile dimmed.
    “When we first met…” Not a happy memory. Not even close. She’d been held captive in a basement, with a bomb strapped to her chest. Another of her father’s enemies had been planning to kill her. “I asked you to just let me vanish. I wanted to disappear, not get sucked into the FBI’s web.”
    “My boss had other plans.”
    “And just who is this boss of yours?”
    “Assistant Director Percy Chase.”
    “Yes, okay, that name means nothing to me.” But the fact that he was finally talking to her—actually sharing information about the FBI—that mattered. “Why didn’t you just let me go? Why didn’t the FBI let me disappear?” At first, she’d thought she was safe, but that illusion had been shattered fast.
    The FBI had always been watching her.
    Always.
    “Your father…he’s supposed to be working with us, did you know that?”
    Now she was shocked. “Luther Bates never works with the cops.”
    “He does…if we have something he wants badly enough.”
    No, no, no.
The plane jostled then, hitting some turbulence, and her heart shuddered.
    “Do you know what Luther wants?” Victor asked her, voice completely devoid of emotion.
    “Luther wants his freedom.” This she knew. “He wants to be back out on the streets and back in full power.”
    Victor nodded, but he said, “Don’t hold back, Zoe.”
    “He wants me.” She said those words in a quick rush, like they were a dark secret that no one else