Conspiracy Game

for some reason he’s very angry that I’m not carrying his child, so I’m afraid for our baby.” She looked up at him, her dark eyes meeting his gaze squarely. “They aren’t taking this baby from me.”

Jack was stuck back on our baby. Her voice echoed through his mind, repeating the words in that soft, almost loving tone. He let his breath out slowly, arms coming up to enclose her small frame, drawing her back against him so his hand covered the small, soft, rounded stomach. His child lay beneath his hand, nestled deep inside her body, protected by her. Wanted by her. Deep inside where he was hard and cold and carved of stone, he felt a curious shifting, melting, a softening he couldn’t explain, and it scared the hell out of him. For a moment she stiffened, tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his hold in warning.

Briony went very still in his arms. It seemed too intimate to have his hands over her stomach, covering their child, protecting it, yet he said nothing, gave her no indication of what he was thinking or feeling. But it was obvious he wasn’t going to let her go. “Kadan Montague offered us protection, but I don’t know anything about him.”

Jack’s body jerked and his arms tightened around her. “No one is taking this baby from us,” he corrected.

Briony held herself stiffly away from him. “Aren’t you going to ask for a paternity test?”

“You said the baby is mine, then it’s mine.”

Briony sagged against him in relief. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes. She hadn’t realized how she’d been holding herself together under such rigid control. She drew in a deep, ragged breath and tried to stop the sudden trembling. “I thought, if you were willing, we could work something out.”

Jack ignored her statement, pinning his gaze on Jebediah. “Did you fly into the Superior airport? Is that how you arrived?”

“No, we were afraid to. Whitney’s managed to find Briony everywhere we stashed her. All of my brothers flew to the States, rented cars, and went in different directions in the hopes of throwing them off. We took great care to keep anyone from tailing us, but they’re good, Jack. Tyrel, my youngest brother, fought them off of Briony about a week ago. Tyrel nearly was knifed and he’s good. Briony saved our butts that time, but she’s worried about taking a hit in the stomach and losing the baby. They found us again at a villa and nearly managed to get Briony; that’s where she got the bruise on her face. He punched her.”

Jack’s hands went to her shoulders. “You fought someone with a knife while you were carrying our child?” He bit out the reprimand, the words all the while echoing in his head: He punched her. He hoped Luther found Briony again because Jack was going to be right there, and if the man wanted to hit a woman, he was going to get a lesson in manners he’d never forget.

Briony jerked away from Jack, forcing him to drop his hands. “What did you expect me to do? Meekly go with them? Let them kill my brother?”

“Your brothers are big boys. The only thing you need to be worrying about is keeping the baby safe.”

She backed up two more steps. “I’ve been keeping the baby safe, tough guy. You ran off, after fucking me, remember? Being the baby’s biological father doesn’t give you the right to dictate to me. In fact you have no rights when it comes to me. I asked for help protecting the baby, not someone to order me around.”

Jack inwardly winced as she threw his words back in his face. He’d made a big mistake using that word, implying that making love with her meant nothing at all to him. She tried to act confident, but she’d hesitated, just that little bit, telling him she wasn’t used to that kind of language-not even being around her brothers. She was a lot more sheltered than he’d first thought, and that only made the gap between them that much wider.

He ignored her outburst as he turned back to Jebediah. “Are they specifically tracking Briony, or all of you?”

“I think Briony,” Jebediah said.

“I can’t figure out how they’re tracking me,” Briony interrupted. “I’ve gone through my clothes and even my jewelry. I’ve been so careful.”

“They sure as hell didn’t follow us up here,” Jebediah said. “It was easy enough to watch the back trail on the switchbacks.” He glanced around uneasily. “I just have a bad feeling about these people, Jack. I don’t want them to get their hands on my sister.”

“You won’t be able to communicate with her for a while,” Jack said.

“We can set up something safe,” Briony said in contradiction.

Jack shook his head. “We’re going to play it my way. No communication between you and your brothers. Jebediah gets the hell out of here and goes back to Europe immediately. When I know you’re safe, Briony, we’ll contact them.”

“That’s not going to fly,” Briony said calmly. “I don’t care how bad it gets, I want to know my family is safe at all times and they’ll need to know I am.”

Hello! I’m getting a little tired of sitting here with my finger on the trigger. You want them dead or you going to invite them up to the house?

You’re out of shape, Ken. Go on in. It’s safe enough. I’m not letting the woman go. She’ll be staying with us.

Like hell. Until you’re under cover, I stay out here.

“Did you hear me?” Briony challenged. “I asked for help, not a dictatorship.”

“I heard you.” Jack shrugged. “I don’t believe in arguing, so there’s really not going to be a problem. Where are your things?” He could breathe again. He didn’t have to find the strength to let her go a second time. He didn’t have to compromise his honor by forcing her compliance. She’d made the decision on her own. The knots in his gut began to relax.

And what do you mean, she’s staying with us? There was shock in Ken’s voice as Jack’s message sank in.

She’s carrying your niece or nephew. There was immense satisfaction in revealing the news to his brother. By telling his twin, it made the news real.

Holy shit, Jack. You could have told me. What the hell have you done?

“I only brought a small bag and it’s still in the SUV. If anyone was watching, I didn’t want them to think I intended to stay for any length of time. Besides, I’m going to get a lot bigger and I’ll need new clothes, so there wasn’t much point in bringing a lot of my things.” Briony rubbed her temples. “Who are you talking to?”

Jack’s head jerked up. No one had ever been able to tell when he carried on a conversation with his brother. They’d been doing it as long as he could remember. Instead of answering, he caught her wrist, his touch gentle this time. “Do you have a headache?” His fingertips brushed over her temples in exactly the same spots she’d been rubbing.

“It’s been a long trip and I’m just tired,” Briony said.

“She was pretty sick on the way up here,” Jebediah volunteered.

Jack removed his shirt and held it out to Briony. “I want you to strip. Take off everything including underwear, jewelry, and your watch. Put on my shirt and give your brother the rest of your things. My shirt will be long enough on you to be a dress.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, I’m not taking my clothes off and parading around in your shirt. We checked for bugs and didn’t find any.” His tattoos glowed at her in the dark. She couldn’t help looking at his chest, at the terrible scars carved so deep into his heavy muscles. Her gaze traveled lower, following the series of slashes to the waistband of his jeans before she could stop herself.

His eyes darkened, slashed at her face. “I’ll be more than happy to help if you can’t manage on your own.”

There was a very seductive note in the command, and Briony’s body responded. Her gaze jumped to his. She felt the rush of heat. Her breasts ached. There was a welcoming dampness between her legs. Just like that. A note in his voice. Taking off his shirt. Even when he was being a bastard, her body wanted his.

She retreated, taking several steps away from Jack, back toward her brother. “This isn’t going to work. I thought you’d be reasonable.” She glanced at Jebediah. “It was a mistake to come here.”

“Maybe,” Jack conceded. “But you did come here. Go into the trees and take off your clothes, Briony.” He gentled his voice. “If you make me force you, Jebediah is going to get all protective and then we’re going to have a problem. He can’t take me, and there’s a high-powered rifle trained on him. Ken has an itchy trigger finger.”

Briony went very still, her stomach churning, her heart beating too fast. Jack sounded so matter-of-fact. He never raised his voice. Even when he gave commands, his voice was always soft, but he expected to be obeyed.