Wounded Courage (Lucky Thirteen) Read Free Page B

upward in an amused smirk. God, that was sexy. So were the long eyelashes that would make any girl jealous. Every little muscle on his arms was visible, which created a longing in me that I hadn’t felt in a long time, even with Alex. So different from the scrawny boy I’d crushed on as a teenager. He was two years my senior, and at the time, the body he’d had then appealed to my young fifteen year old self.
    Shit. As he leaned against the table on his elbows, his shirt stretched across the sculpted muscles of his chest. This boy was dangerous. He didn’t move like a weapon. He had honed his body into a weapon.
    Maybe it was the idea of him being a weapon… But waves of desire washed over me, amping up with each look he gave me. How did he do that, invoke such powerful want in me? Damn it. I’d hoped to be done with that stupid teenage crush.
    “Can I ask you a question, Murphy?”
    “What?” His eyes flicked to the corner behind me. I’d almost forgotten about the cameras. I wondered how many people were behind that mirrored glass too. I had a secret to keep, and no doubt, those people would want to know about it.
    “What is this place?”
    “I can’t answer that right now,” he said.
    Murphy was always about duty and honor. He and Chris had always wanted to be career navy. They’d always wanted to be SEALs. But this place? This didn’t look like SEAL duty. It looked like… well, spy work. Not that I knew what spy work was like. But it definitely wasn’t SEAL work. Those guys busted down doors and rescued hostages. They were the unsung heroes of the United States military. They weren’t guys known for the subtlety of espionage.
    “At least you’re honest.” Not that it was ever in question. Murphy had never lied to me.
    “Tell me about Simon Giroux. Did you ever meet him?”
    “No. Alex was very careful to keep me away from most of his family, especially Simon. No one sees Simon. Ever.” Lie. This was part of the problem, because Simon knew me, knew what I looked like, knew who my family was. If I stepped out of line, he’d have gone after them first. Simon knew just how to destroy a person the most effectively.
    Alex had wanted out, and I wanted him out. And I’d done everything I could to help Alex gwith that goal in mind. His family had been killing him, slowly, milking away his soul. That was the one good thing about him being dead. His soul was safe from his family now.
    “Yet when you found out who they were, you stayed.”
    I fought back tears. I missed him. Alex and I… well, we sucked as a couple. We’d both known that. I’d stayed because we’d become friends, and I did love him. I wanted to see him free.
    The tone in his voice wasn’t accusing, but it rang flat. I looked up at him and frowned. He was angry. With me? What right did he have to be angry with me?
    “Listen,” I said. “I have made bad choices. I own that. But you don’t just leave a Giroux, even one like Alex, who didn’t even want to be there anymore. Not if you want to survive it.” Murphy’s mouth quirked into a knowing smirk, but thankfully, he said nothing. “I didn’t even know I was stuck there… until I tried to leave.”
    There was more, but I couldn’t tell him all of it. We’d set me up as a target to draw out the betrayal in his family, but it had gone wrong. Rene had shown his hand too soon, and now Alex was dead, and I was left hanging out to dry. Supposedly, I should have been safe from attack, but we hadn’t counted on Rene’s desire to see me dead, or his willingness to kill his own brother.
    “Why don’t you tell me about that?” Murphy said.
    I gripped the locket around my neck, rubbing my thumbs over the smooth silver surface. I wasn’t sure how much to say. I hadn’t left Alex because he’d asked me not to… and then he’d locked me in his bedroom. But I was saved from having to speak again when the door clicked open.
    Chris carried a paper plate with a sandwich on it, and a