You Are Mine(6)

“And yet you saw how well that worked out for Alex.”

An uncontrollable shiver crept through her and she had to turn away from him, face the fire, to hide it.

But he knew. Oh yes, he did. He always knew.

“Angel.”

“Fuck off, Zac.”

“You won’t even trust me with this?”

“Have I ever asked you about your past? No, I don’t freaking think so.”

There was a long silence.

The fire in front of her was hot and yet she didn’t feel it. The cold had set in her bones, icing her marrow. Nothing was going to heat her up.

“Very well.” Zac’s deep, husky voice was expressionless, his upper-class Brit accent polished like fine silver. “Have it your way. But you can’t run from this forever.”

The flames burned bright gold, the color of Zac’s eyes and just as hot. She put her hands out to try to feel the warmth. “Yeah, actually I can. Just watch me.”

“I have never asked you about that night, Eva. Not once in seven years. Remember that.”

Oh yes, she remembered. He’d never pushed her for answers about that night or anything else to do with her past. Just like she never asked him about his.

Don’t ask, don’t tell.

They were friends and yet perfect strangers. Which was the way she liked it.

She didn’t turn around when the door opened.

Or when he closed it carefully behind him.





CHAPTER TWO

“We need that information,” Alex said.

Zac stood by the windows in Gabriel’s Meatpacking District apartment, his hands behind his back, looking at the snow falling steadily outside.

Alex was sprawled out on the massive leather couch behind him, Gabriel standing off to the side, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

It felt wrong to be having this meeting without Eva, but since it was about her, she hadn’t been invited.

She didn’t bloody invite you to the meeting she was giving either.

He ignored that thought. It was childish and this wasn’t about tit for tat. He’d agreed to the meeting because the others had a point—they needed information and Eva was withholding it. That she may have good reason didn’t make any difference. Lives were at stake, the lives of his friends and their loved ones.

“I know,” Zac said, keeping his gaze on the falling snow.

“You have any idea why she might not want to tell us?” Gabriel asked.

“I do, but it’s not my secret to tell.” It was Eva’s and he would never betray her trust. Besides, he only had supposition in any case. He knew nothing about what had happened to her the night he’d picked her up.

Eva had first come into his life in the form of code. A gremlin in the Black Star Security systems. A hacker, exploiting loopholes no one had even known were there. He’d been incensed, since his tech people had assured him that Black Star’s systems were impregnable, and so the hunt had been on. He’d spent weeks trying to catch the mysterious hacker known only by the handle Void Angel, but she’d escaped every trap he’d laid.

One night, as he’d logged into his personal account, the screen of his laptop had gone dead and then lit up with a pair of white angel wings on a black screen. Then a chat window opened up and what started as Void Angel taunting him, ended with him offering her a job.

She’d agreed, on one condition: he come to a location she specified and take her away, no questions asked.

So he had, opening the door of his car on an innocuous suburban street, shocked to find a very young woman with silver hair, bloodied and bruised, and dressed only in a man’s black overcoat.

His Void Angel. Eva.

He didn’t know for certain what she’d escaped from, but not for want of trying. He kept his promise by not asking her any questions, however, he’d privately decided then and there that he’d track down what had happened to her. Find out who had brutalized her. And it had become an obsession. Like the woman herself was an obsession.

Not a healthy one either. She’s got her hand around your cock good and proper.

Jesus, he didn’t like that thought. Not one bit. The previous night in the club and his general lack of interest in doing a scene with anyone was a fucking worry. A Dominant being led around by his dick. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

“I have an idea,” Alex said slowly.

Zac shook off the uncomfortable thoughts and turned to face him. “You do?”

Alex, his shoulder still heavily bandaged, shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. Just from a couple of things she’s said I get the impression that we share … a common experience, shall we say.”

“What kind of experience?” Gabriel took a couple of steps closer to the couch.