Bruises were scattered along her ribcage, some the size of a fist, others smaller, purple fingerprints
against pale skin. When he saw the dark smudges close to her nipples, his jaw tightened in rage.
“Did they rape you?” he demanded bluntly.
Braden yanked his startled gaze to his brother, and his brows drew together in admonishment.
Katie’s eyes flew open, and she too stared at Ian in shock.
“N-no,” she stammered.
“Did he try?” Ian pressed, not sure why it was so important that he know the depths of Ricardo de la
Cruz’s depravity.
A dark flush stained her cheeks, and her eyes glittered with anger.
“I doubt he’ll be able to use that part of his anatomy for a long while,” she said darkly.
A grin flirted with the edges of Braden’s mouth. Ian relaxed, unaware of just how tense he’d been until
some of the edginess left him.
“Okay, so what exactly did he do?” Ian asked as he tended to a cut just below her left breast.
She let out a sigh. “Does it matter? I have no plans to get caught by him again. I wouldn’t have this time
if you two hadn’t slowed me down.”
Braden winced. “We were only trying to help.”
She turned to look at Braden for a long while. “I’d like to believe that. Really, I would. But I still don’t
know why you’re here. You say Gabe sent you. Why? You hint that someone else is after me, but I’ve
spent all my time running from Ricardo.”
Ian absorbed that latest piece of information. He and Braden exchanged glances, and then Braden cleared
his throat.
“Why don’t you get dressed, Katie. Then we can have that conversation we talked about.”
Ian raised one eyebrow in question.
“We worked out a trade,” Braden explained. “While you were…sleeping. She gives us information, and
we give her the same.”
Katie wrapped the towel around her body and struggled to sit up. Ian put his hand behind her neck and
helped her forward. His fingers lingered at her nape, drawn to the softness of her skin. Tiny little goose
bumps prickled and raced across her flesh, and her muscles quivered beneath his palm.
She wasn’t immune to him any more than he was immune to her.
Unsure what to do with that realization, he pulled his hand away and let her get up from the bed. For a
brief moment, she hesitated and looked back at him, her eyes wide with equal parts confusion and
uncertainty.
Then she clutched the ends of the towel tighter around her and grabbed her bag before heading to the
bathroom.
“I get the distinct impression that we’re not going to like what we hear,” Braden murmured. “What could
she possibly have done to make a man treat her like he has?”
“Sometimes a woman doesn’t have to do anything,” Ian said with a growl. “Maybe he just couldn’t take
no for an answer. Whatever the case, we need to get her the hell out of the country.”
“So we can use her,” Braden said in a low, dissatisfied voice.
“Do you see another way?” Ian kept his voice as low as Braden’s. “Hell, Braden, I don’t like it either.
She’s obviously had a shitty time, and God knows why Gabe left her alone, but do you really want to stay
like this for the rest of your life? Half man, half wild animal with no control, no choice?”
He cupped his hand to the back of his head and rubbed up and down to the base of his neck in agitation.
“At least we’ll keep her safe. Hell, when was the last time you think she ate? Did you see how slim she
is? She had, what, two hundred dollars on her? Yeah, we need her to draw out Esteban, but that doesn’t
mean we’re going to throw her under the bus.”
Braden stared back at him, brief uncertainty flashing in his eyes before his lips drew together in a fine
line. “No, I don’t want to be this way forever. But maybe…maybe we need to be realistic. There might
not be a way to fix this, Ian.”
When love is threatened by truth, every moment counts…
Steve’s Story
© 2009 Jess Dee
Steve Sommers is having a gut-wrenching week. His fiancée has left him, the woman who broke his heart
is back in town—and they’re all gathered at the bedside of his best friend, who’s in a coma. The
emotional ties between them are strained to the breaking point. Like it or not, it’s up to Steve to find the
strength and compassion to support the four of them through the toughest ordeal of their lives.
In the midst of the turmoil and trauma, passion unexpectedly flares anew between Steve and the woman
he loves. Suddenly the future he’d believed lost lies within his reach. But she still carries the secret that