Page 9 (1/2)

She rolled to the side, shoving at Donovan as she slid to the floor Her knees buckled, and she would have gone down in a heap if Donovan hadn’t shot up to catch her

Still, she shook hirasp A spasm of pain whitened her face, and her blue eyes went pale

Sam moved across the room to cut off her escape route to the door Hearound her waist to trap her against hiht

"Get the shot ready," he ordered Donovan

"No!" She struggled harder until he feared she was going to hurt herself more "Sam, you can’t keep et that you don’t care about me, but for God’s sake, think about your child Your baby!"

He maneuvered her to the bed and wrestled her down until she was pinned to the mattress Tears were trapped in her eyes, but none fell, probably held back by sheer deterri into her torive a daet that clear You were a lay A fling You played me Okay, fine I can deal with that But if that’soddamn well protect what’s ain, he felt like he was crushing an innocent Sohter

"I don’t deserve to die, Sam No matter what you think I did, I don’t deserve to die"

His hands gentled on her shoulders as Donovan closed in with the syringe Despite his anger and shock, Saestureto die, Sophie"

Donovan slipped the needle into her flesh, and she jerked in surprise, her shocked gaze going to Donovan Panic flared in her blue eyes, and she went crazy

"No!" she shouted hoarsely "God, please, letnearly undid Sam Even Garrett looked discomfited by the desperation in her cries

Saainst hiured out she couldn’t win against hi sharply across the room

"Jesus," Donovan rily into his bag and turned away, his shoulders tense

Sa her coive

There were severalA lot didn’tit out of her She was hysterical, in pain, and soon she’d be out when the drugs hit her system

Most importantly, he and his brothers had to move fast If all she said was true--if there was any possibility that she was telling the truth--they had to lock down their entire family

He needed to contact Sean He needed to pull in Steele and Rio and their teams Mom and Dad and Rusty were vulnerable, as were Ethan and Rachel They could all be targets

He looked up to find Garrett staring fiercely back at his he was

Sophie went coainst him, and he carefully pried her away from him to see that her she had finally surrendered to the painkiller Donovan had injected

Her eyes were swollen and her skin was blotchy and red fro She looked delicate and frail, but underneath that deceptive façade was a devious wo out the orders of her father--a man who’d been responsible for more deaths than a lot of wars

And the hell of it was she was carrying Sa to be forever tied to hih that child No matter what she’d done in the past or what her motives were now, he had to protect her and keep both her and his son or daughter alive

He carefully extricated hied comfortably on the pillows He pulled the covers up over her body and then turned to face his brothers

"Let’s go," he said griot to move fast"

CHAPTER 8

"DO you believe her?" Garrett asked when they asse room "Do you believe any of that shit?"

Garrett still wore a look of discomfort after the episode with Sophie just moments before, but Sam was sure his brother didn’t realize how much her distress had affected him It would just piss Garrett off

"Whether I believe her or not, we have to treat this as a legitimate threat Her wounds aren’t faked and neither is the fact that I pulled her half-dead out of the lake"

"I agree," Donovan said

Garrett blew out his breath but nodded

Saet in touch with Ethan Give hi on Make damn sure he keeps his ears and eyes open for any threat to him and Rachel And for God’s sake tell hi into a trap"

Garrett nodded his agreeet on the phone with Sean Tell hiet over there"

He glanced over at Garrett "We need to have a look and see if anything’s out there I’ht with Sophie when I don’t knohat if anything’s out there waiting"

"I’ll go," Garrett said "You keep an eye on Sophie and stick by the radio If there’s anything out there, I’ll find it"

While Donovan h the base down to the lake, and Sa for any possible angles a shooter could use

The basement was solid, almost as much of a fortress as the war room on the adjacent lot, but there was only one way out of it if the house was breached, and he’d prefer to use it as a last resort

On the main level, the proble the wooded area across the road in front of the house, and Sam’s bedroom, where Sophie slept Thethere was an open invitation for someone to take out anyone in the room

He hoped to hell she was still under fro he wanted to do ake her up and have her wanting to split when he and his brothers hadn’t fully scoped the situation

Carefully he slid his ar his breath when she stirred and snuggled into his chest

"Sam," she murmured in her sleepy, sweet voice One he’d heard so ain

It was a compulsion to slide his lips over her hair It was still damp and matted by the lake water, but she still smelled uniquely Sophie