Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

you’re male or female.
    Kane pushed Whitney’s voice out of her mind, fil ing her with warmth. His tone caressed her, gave her the courage to look up at him. His green eyes had gone nearly emerald, a heated promise that made her breath catch in her throat—made her want to believe the impossible. The moment their eyes met, hers fil ed with tears of guilt, and she looked away again.
    “I’ve put some clothes out for you, Rose,” Jaimie said. “I’m going back downstairs to contact Flame and have her start spreading the word that Eric has compromised al of us so the other teams can take precautions as wel . He was inside the compound up in Montana as wel as being in Wyoming with a couple of the GhostWalkers there. No one wil bother you here for a while, so go ahead and use the shower, and if you want to eat, there’s plenty of food.”
    Rose shifted her gaze to Jaimie, alarmed. Had Mack sent for her telepathical y because Brian had taken a turn for the worse? She studied her face.
    No. She was being polite, giving her time to be alone with Kane. She silently shook her head in protest, but Jaimie just patted her shoulder and walked away, leaving her to face her son’s father alone.
    She swal owed hard. Guilt and shame were ugly things. She hadn’t even had time to be terrified. She pressed her lips together and shook her head, knowing Kane was wil ing her to meet his incredible green gaze again. “I can’t, Kane,” she whispered once she’d heard the door close behind Jaimie. “I don’t think I can ever look at you again.”
    “Because Whitney fed you bul shit to justify his experiment?”
    The smal edge to his voice made her glance up at his face. The lines were carved deep, making him look tougher than ever. His jaw was set in a stubborn line she’d come to know. He didn’t understand. Her shame wasn’t about Whitney—maybe he added to the voices in her own head tel ing her what a screwup she was—but her shame was al about the way she’d acted toward his family members. As if they weren’t trustworthy enough to be alone with her child. In her mind she had been the only one who could adequately protect Sebastian. Okay, there was Kane. She had trusted him—maybe.
    Her face flamed. Not completely, not with Sebastian. She was so determined Whitney wouldn’t get his hands on their son, and she didn’t think Kane adequately understood the danger Whitney presented. She’d been so foolish. Without his family, without the very men she’d snubbed, her son would be in Dr. Whitney’s laboratory.
    “I’m so sorry,” she whispered again, shaking her head. How could there be forgiveness? Kane had brought her into his home and offered her a life with him. She wanted him—but she hadn’t real y wanted the rest of them. She didn’t know how to act with them, what to think or do. She felt such an outsider, and yet they had risked their lives for her son.
    “Tel me what happened. Al of it. What each person had to do to get Sebastian ...”
    “And you,” Kane said quietly.
    She shivered continual y, unable to stop her body’s reaction from the aftermath of the drug, or perhaps the time spent in the cold seawater. She could smel fish on her hair and skin. Dragging the blanket closer, she nodded. “And to get me back. Tel me.”
    She listened in silence to the quiet sound of his voice as he detailed the rescue and what each team member had contributed.
    “If Javier hadn’t spotted the SUV, they might have gotten away with it.”
    “It may have taken longer, but we would have found you and Sebastian, Rose,” Kane said. “We had the microchip in Sebastian, and Whitney isn’t the only one who can track with a satel ite.”
    She felt a wave of raw fear. “My tattoo. Javier and Jaimie got rid of it.”
    “They deactivated it. There’s a difference.”
    Now her teeth were chattering, but she didn’t care. She was horrified. “If they know a way to activate it, so wil Whitney.”
    He shook his head. “I’l put Jaimie and Javier up against anyone Whitney has in electronics. Jaimie’s figuring out how they managed the lock on the door, but my guess is, the doc had something to do with it.”
    She felt color flooding her face. Once again she’d not trusted the members of his team.
    Our team, he corrected. “Our family. We’re a unit, Rose. You. Me. Sebastian. And our family. We have to think that way, believe that way. It has to be absolute. No individual is going to be able to fight