Page 4 of Beautiful Vengeance

We meaning her and her older sister, Amber, their resident technical wizard and hacker. They’d been separated not long after they were put into foster care, then shunted into the Valkyrie Program in facilities on opposite sides of the country.

It still horrified him. They’d only found each other again last summer, when Megan and Ty had literally hunted Amber down. “Do you think she ever tried to find you both again later?”

“Don’t know, and don’t care.” She tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. “But Amber’s hell-bent on finding her and getting answers about why she ditched us.”

“And what are you two up to in here?”

Marcus’s head snapped up at the sound of that soft voice coming from the kitchen doorway. The sight of Kiyomi standing there made his entire body tighten.

She’d filled out during the time she’d been here, and it looked damn good on her. She wore snug jeans that clung to her hips and thighs, and a cherry-red sweater that hugged her small breasts. Her shiny black hair was pulled up in a clip, and the smoky eye makeup made her dark brown eyes look dramatic and mysterious. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Marcus is making us Sunday dinner,” Megan replied.

“Supper,” he corrected.

“Is he?” Kiyomi watched him with a little smile that made his pulse skip.

She’d transformed before his eyes in the few months she’d been here at Laidlaw Hall. From the beaten, half-starved captive that Amber and her boyfriend Jesse had pulled out of that dungeon in Damascus, to this vibrant, stunning woman standing in front of him. All the Valkyries were in danger, but there was a multi-million-dollar bounty on Kiyomi’s head that put her most at risk.

“Aye,” he said, doing everything he could to hide his reaction to her while reminding himself why she was off-limits.

She’d healed physically, but he wasn’t so sure about the mental or emotional wounds, and after what she’d endured there was no way she was ready to be with a man yet. Not only that, he couldn’t make a move because he was essentially her landlord and didn’t want her to feel like she owed him anything simply because she was staying in his house.

“Can I help?” she asked, coming toward him.

“Yes, come help me with these carrots,” Megan said, waving her over.

Marcus caught himself drawing in a deep breath as Kiyomi passed by, pulling in her light floral scent. He didn’t know if it was her shampoo or lotion or what, but it drove him crazy and he wanted to bury his face in her hair, the side of her neck to inhale more of it.

Banishing those thoughts, he spooned some of the drippings into the bottom of each muffin tin for the Yorkshire puds, then slid the roasting pan onto the stove and lit the burner to start the gravy while the women chatted.

“Did the fireworks keep you up last night?” Kiyomi asked him a minute later.

“No, I was still awake.” He didn’t sleep well or much. He added the flour and started whisking. “You?”

“Same. Here, let me do that and you can make these Yorkshire puddings I’ve heard so much about. What are they, anyway?”

He glanced at her in surprise. “You’ve never had them?”

“Never.”

“They’re a savory batter baked with hot beef drippings and served with roast meat.”

“Like crispy little pillows of deliciousness to pour gravy into,” Megan added. “You’ll love ‘em.”

The three of them worked in comfortable silence to get the rest of the meal ready, and Kiyomi watched closely as he made his aunt’s Yorkshire puddings. When everything was done, Marcus wiped his hands on the tea towel and stepped back from the cooling puds. “Right, I think we’re ready. Call in the troops.”

“Roger.” Megan dropped her apron on the counter and sauntered out of the kitchen as Marcus reached for the platter of sliced beef.

“I’ve got it.” Kiyomi took it from him, standing so close that her hip brushed his groin as she turned away.

Marcus froze, biting back a hiss at the contact. He was in trouble. One unintentional touch and it lit his whole body up. She tempted him like no other woman ever had, and his body was on edge around her.

Once he had himself back under control he carried everything to the table in the dining room, and soon everyone arrived. Six Valkyries and four significant others, every one of them a skilled operative in their own right. They rarely got a chance to eat as a group. Marcus enjoyed it.

When everyone was seated, he stood at the head of the table and raised his glass as Karas laid down beside his chair. “To friends, who have become family.”

He caught Megan’s eye, and gave her a private smile. After he’d made it through SAS selection, The Regiment had become his family. Since the mission in Syria he’d been alone, missing that sense of purpose and belonging. Megan and the rest of the people around this table had given that back to him.

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