Free Hot & Bothered (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 8) by Lynn Raye Harris Page B

she could turn into an addict, but she had. That’s what cocaine did. Thank God it had only been cocaine and not meth. She’d been terrified of meth, and that had saved her.
    At least until Zaran found her. He’d been an addiction of another kind, though she hadn’t realized it at first. She’d only wanted to please him. She’d done everything to please him—and he’d turned on her.
    Everyone turned on her eventually.
    “No,” she hissed, staring at her reflection with glittering eyes. “That’s not true.”
    Victoria hadn’t turned on her. Men might come and go, but her sister would always love her.
    Emily dashed the tears from her cheeks and patted her face with a towel before grabbing her weapons. She checked her .45 and holstered it, then slipped her knives into the ankle and belt sheaths designed for them.
    If the Freedom Force came after her, she’d fight back. She’d die fighting back if she had to. Never again would she allow others to harm her.
    Emily went downstairs and crossed the compound toward the dining area. She held her chin high as she stepped into the room. Men looked up from the groups in which they sat. She crossed over to the table where the cook dished chicken and rice onto a plate for her. She took it and went to join a group of men she knew.
    Rascal made room for her, and she sat down and picked up her fork. She could feel eyes on the back of her head though. Her scalp tingled, and her fingers trembled as she fumbled the fork.
    “You still not feeling better, Em?” Rascal asked, his brow pleating in concern.
    “I’m all right. It’s just noisier in here than usual.”
    Rascal shot a look across the room. “Yeah. Eighteen military operators make a difference.”
    “Two teams then.”
    He lifted an eyebrow in approval. “Yep, two teams. Guess Uncle Sam wants those hostages back pretty bad.”
    “No one deserves what will happen to them if they aren’t freed,” she said softly.
    “No, no one does.”
    “Emily?”
    A chill went over her and she looked up. Her sister’s fiancé, Nick Brandon, stood there, looking cool and casual and somehow murderous at the same time.
    Great.
    “Hi, Nick.”
    He grabbed a chair and turned it, straddling it so he could face her. “You okay?”
    “Yes, I’m fine.”
    “You’re here because you want to be?”
    “Yes.” She swallowed and set her fork down. She wasn’t so hungry now. “I’m sorry I skipped out like that, but Victoria would have tried to stop me. You know that.”
    “I know she went through hell to find you the last time. I know what it cost her.”
    “Hey, man, don’t guilt the girl.” Rascal was looking kinda pissed. “I worked with Victoria for a couple of years. Girl is tougher than hell. Or was until you showed up. Speaking of which, I ain’t forgot that you lied to us. Tried to pretend you were some kind of asshole that’d been kicked out of the Army and wanted to join up with us. All you wanted was to take us down.”
    Nick’s gaze slanted to Rascal. “I did my job, Rascal. Same as you. And you’re still here, right? Nobody got taken down.”
    “If you two could stop the pissing contest,” Emily said. They looked at her with expressions ranging from amused to annoyed. “Nick, I’m sorry, but I had to do what I had to do. Victoria has paid for caring about me, and I’m here to fix that. She’ll never stop worrying about me, never stop blaming herself for being unable to get my life back for me with no strings attached. When I can’t fly out of the country, she’ll blame herself. When I can’t get a government job, or any job that requires a security clearance, she’ll blame herself. When I have to tell a man who might want to marry me that his life will change if he stays with me, Victoria will blame herself when he leaves me because he doesn’t want to take that chance. If Ian can change that—if he can give me back what I lost when I married Zaran—then I’m going to seize the opportunity